A Dialogue between the dwellers of Hell and the Dwellers of Paradise

Surah: 7. al-A`raaf
36. But those who reject our signs and treat them with arrogance they are
companions of the fire to dwell therein (for ever).
37. Who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against Allah or rejects his
signs? For such their portion appointed must reach them from the Book (of
decrees); until when Our messengers (of death) arrive and take their souls
they say: "where are the things that ye used to invoke besides Allah?"
They will reply "they have left us in the lurch" and they will bear witness
against themselves that they had rejected Allah.
38. He will say: "enter ye in the company of the peoples who passed away before
you men and Jinns into the fire. Every time a new people enters it curses
its sister-people (that went before) until they follow each other all into
the fire. Saith the last about the first: "Our Lord! it is these that
misled us: so give them a double penalty in the fire." He will say:
"doubled for all": but this Ye do not understand.
39. Then the first will say to the last: "see then! no advantage have ye over
us; so taste ye of the penalty for all that ye did!"
40. To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance no opening will
there be of the gates of heaven nor will they enter the garden until the
camel can pass through the eye of the needle: such is Our reward for those
in sin.
41. For them there is hell as a couch (below) and folds and folds of covering
above: such is Our requital of those who do wrong.
42. But those who believe and work righteousness no burden do We place on any
soul but that which it can bear they will be companions of the garden
therein to dwell (for ever).
43. And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury; beneath
them will be rivers flowing; and they shall say: "Praise be to Allah Who
hath guided us to this (felicity): never could we have found guidance had
it not been for the guidance of Allah: indeed it was the truth that the
apostles of our Lord brought unto us." And they Shall hear the cry:
"Behold! the garden before you! Ye have been made its inheritors for your
deeds (of righteousness)."
44. The companions of the garden will call out to the companions of the fire:
"We have indeed found the promises of our Lord to us true: have you also
found your Lord's promises true?" They shall say "yes"; but a crier shall
proclaim between them: "the curse of Allah is on the wrong- doers;
45. "Those who would hinder (men) from the path of Allah and would seek in it
something crooked: they were those who Denied the Hereafter."
46. Between them shall be a veil and on the heights will be men who would know
everyone by his marks: they will call out to the companions of the garden
"peace on you" they will not have entered but they will have an assurance
(thereof.)
47. When their eyes shall be turned towards the companions of the fire they
will say: "Our Lord! send us not to the company of the wrong- doers."
48. The men on the heights will call to certain men whom they will know from
their marks saying: "Of what profit to you were you hoards and your
arrogant ways?
49. "Behold! are these not the men whom you swore that Allah with his mercy
would never bless? Enter ye the garden: no fear shall be on you nor shall
ye grieve."
50. The companions of the fire will call to the companions of the garden; "pour
down to us water or anything that Allah doth provide for your sustenance."
They will say: "Both these things hath Allah forbidden to those who
rejected Him.
51. "Such as took their religion to be mere amusement and play and were
deceived by the life of the world." That day shall We forget them as they
forgot the meeting of this day of theirs and as they were wont to reject
Our signs.
52. For We had certainly sent unto them a Book based on knowledge which We
explained in detail a guide and a mercy to all who believe.

Etiquette with the Word of Allah, the Noble Qur'an Etiquette with the Word of Allah, the Noble Qur'an

Etiquette with the Word of Allah, the Noble Qur'an
by Shaykh Abu Bakr Jabir al-Jaza'iri
A Muslim believes in the sacredness of the Speech of Allah, as well as
its honour and virtue that surpasses the speech of all others.
He also believes that the Noble Qur'an is the Word of Allah, which no
falsehood can approach, before it or behind it. Whoever speaks in
accord with the Qur'an, has spoken the truth. Whoever judges according
to it, has judged justly. Its devoted people are the people of Allah
and His special people. Those who stick to it shall be successful and
victorious. Those who turn away from it are the destroyed, the losers.
A Muslim's faith in the grandeur and greatness of the Book of Allah is
increased by what has been stated about it by the one who received its
revelation, the best of creation, our leader Muhammad bin 'Abdullah,
Messenger of Allah (SAW), who said:
"Read the Qur'an, for it shall come as an intercessor for its
companion on the Day of Resurrection."(Muslim)
Allah's Messenger (SAW)| also said:
"The best of you is he who learns the Qur'an and teaches Others." (Al-Bukhari)
Allah's Messenger (SAW) also said:
"The people of the Qur'an are Allah's people and His special
servants." (An-Nisa'i, Ibn Majah, and Al-Hakim with a Hasan chain)
And:
"The hearts get rusty like iron gets rusty "
The people said, "O Messenger of Allah! What will cleanse it?" He said,
"Reciting the Qur'an and remembering death." (Al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab
Al-Iman with a weak chain)
One of the Prophet's worst opponents came to him and said, "O
Muhammad, read the Qur'an to me." Allah's Messenger (SAW)| read to
him:
"Verily, Allah enjoins Al-Adl and Al-Ihsan, and giving (help) to kith
and kin, and forbids Al-Fahsha', and Al-Munkar, and Al-Baghy (i.e. all
kinds of oppression).) (16:90)
The Prophet (SAW) hardly finished reciting the verse when his opponent
[an unbeliever] asked him to repeat it, astonished at its lofty
wording, sacred meaning and clarity. He was possessed by its great
ability to influence man. He did not wait long but immediately raised
his voice to state his confession concerning it and declare his
testimony concerning the holiness and greatness of Allah's Word. He
said,
"By Allah, it has a sweetness. It is full of elegance. Its lowest
portion is for foliage and its highest portion is for fruits. No human
can say such." (Ibn Jarir At-Tabari. The opponent was Al-Walid bin
Al-Mughirah according to a narration with a good chain recorded by
Al-Bayhaqi )
A Muslim and believer, then, must even more so allow what it allows
and forbid what it forbids. He must abide by its manners and behavior
according to how it teaches one to behave.
Etiquette with reciting the Qur'an
When the person recites the Qur'an, he should adhere to the following manners:
1. He should recite it under the best circumstances, including being
in a state of purity, facing the Qiblah and sitting in a respectable,
honorable manner.
2. He should recite the Qur'an slowly and not be hasty in his
recitation. He should not recite it in less than three nights. The
Prophet (SAW) has said:
"Whoever recites the Qur'an in less than three nights did not
understand it" (The Four Sunan, and At-Tirmithi said it is Sahih)
Allah's Messenger (SAW) ordered 'Abdullah bin 'Umar, may Allah be
pleased with him, to recite the entire Qur'an once every seven days.
(Al-Bukhari)
'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, 'Uthman bin 'Affan and Zayd bin Thabit, may
Allah be pleased with them, used to complete the entire Qur'an once a
week.
3. He must have fear of Allah and humility while reciting the Qur'an.
He should demonstrate sorrow and should cry, or he should try to cry
if he is not able to cry. The Prophet (SAW) said:
"Recite the Qur'an and cry. If you cannot cry, then try to make
yourself cry." (Ibn Majah with a good chain)
4. One should also beautify his voice while reading the Qur'an. The
Prophet (SAW) said:
"Beautify the Qur'an by your voices."(Ahmad, Ibn Majah, An-Nasa'i and
Al-Hakim who said it is Sahih)
Allah's Messenger (SAW) also said:
"He is not one of us who does not make his voice beautiful with the
Qur'an." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Allah's Messenger (SAW) also said:
"Allah has not permitted anything like He has permitted a Prophet to
recite the Qur'an in a good voice. "(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
5. He should recite in private if he fears that he would be reciting
for show or reputation only or if he were to disturb those people who
were praying. Allah's Messenger (SAW) said:
"The one who recites the Qur'an aloud is like one who publicly gives charity."
It is known that it is preferred to give charity secretly unless there
is some benefit to doing it publicly, such as encouraging others to
follow one's precedent. The same is true for reciting the Qur'an.
6. A person should recite the Qur'an while thinking about and
pondering over its meaning, with due respect and presence of mind, in
order to understand its meaning and purport.
7. A person should not be one who recites the Qur'an while he is
heedless and going against what it says. In that case, he could be the
cause for his own cursing by himself. For example, if he reads the
verse:
"No doubt! The curse of Allah is on the oppressors. "(11:18)
And:
"Curse of Allah upon those who lie." (3:61)
And he is a liar or a wrongdoer, then he is simply cursing himself.
The following narration will demonstrate how wrong those people are
who turn away from the Book of Allah, who are heedless of it and spend
their time in other pursuits. It is narrated that in the Tawrah it
states that Allah has said:
"Are you not ashamed of yourselves in front of Me? If a letter comes
to you from some of your brethren while you are walking on the road,
you will stop and sit by the side of the road, read the letter, and
understand it word by word, in order not to miss anything. This is the
Book that I have revealed to you. Look how I have clearly explained
everything in it. How many times have you passed by it to ponder over
its lengths and widths and then you turn away from it? It is something
lighter in your eyes than your brethren. O My servant! If one of your
brethren sits next to you, you turn to him with all of your attention
and listen to his every word with your entire heart. If someone then
talks to you or disturbs you, you will motion to him to stop. Here I
am coming to you and speaking to you but you turn your heart away from
Me. In your sight, I am less important than one of your brethren!"
8. A person should strive to have the characteristics that are
descriptive of those people who are Allah's people and His special
people. Abdullah bin Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, once said,
"The reciter of the Qur'an must be known by his night while the
people are sleeping, by his day while the people are not fasting, by
his crying while the people are laughing, by his devotion and fear of
Allah while the people are mingling, by his silence while the people
are talking, by his humility while the people are boasting and by his
grieving while the people are rejoicing."
Muhammad bin Kafa said,
"We would recognize the reciter of the Qur'an by the yellowness of
his skin that indicated spending the night in prayer and reciting the
Qur'an."
Wuhaib bin Al-Ward narrated that someone said to a man, "Do you not
sleep?" He answered, "The marvelous nature of the Qur'an chased away
my sleep."And Dhun-Noon has said in lines of poetry,
"The Qur'an has stopped, by its promises and threats, the eyes from
sleeping at night, They understand from the Great Lord His Speech, an
understanding that makes the necks submit and surrender."

Fathwa, - Difference in way of life in our marriage

Question:
My problem has been hurting me since I got divorced. My husband and I
have had issues since the beginning of our marriage. We disagreed on
many things getting into the marriage like how big the wedding should
be. If getting a ring was the right thing to do. How big should the
house we're buying going to be. I know these could be very trivial
issues compared to many disasters in the world and I realize this now
but the point is we entered this marriage with many stresses. I know I
wanted more than what he wanted to give but like any girl in my
position I had many suitors ask for my hand with great offers. I
picked one and hoped he will give me what I want. We had nikah right
away after the engagement and it lasted for a year before the wedding.
I felt helpless because I was already married and I wondered had I
stayed engaged , would he have granted me my wishes with much of a
struggle. We have a beautiful child now but we are divorced. We kept
having issues from his mother--incredible interference in all of our
affairs...where we live, when we should have a kid, how much money my
husband should spend on me and so forth. My other issue with my
husband is that I put on hijab right before I met him. We met and got
married. I felt that hijab got me into this mess. Now I'm accepting
the qadar of Allah more that I ever did before and I'm hoping for a
better life. He handled his mother's issues he says but the remaining
issue is how religious I am. I don't and never smoked or drank or
dated. I alhamdullilah am very pretty and I know that I could do all
of that and have fun but I don't want to. Allah's path is better that
any other. I just can't wear the hijab anymore. I emotionally and
physically suffer when I go out with it. I tried personal and family
counseling to fix this problem but we got nowhere we got divorced at a
time of anger. I asked for the divorce and he gave it to me. Now we
both regret it and want to get back together but the deciding factor
is me wearing hijab. He says that he won't expect much from me but he
needs some minimums and hijab is one of them. I really really
understand his point of view and he has every right to feel that way
but I'm really confused. I told him that I always tried to force
myself to do things for him so we won't destroy this marriage but this
time I'm having such a hard time and I am not good at explaining my
feelings. He asked me to stay with my parents until I have figured out
what I will do about hijab and based on that he will decide whether we
should stay together or not meaning divorce if I take it off. I am
lost. I don't want to break this family and I don't want to suffer
everyday. I pray and ask for guidance believe me and I will continue
to do that but for the mean time what do I do? I think sometimes why
couldn't he be more reasonable with me. Out of all of his friends he
one of the most strict ones I've met and yet he enjoys his life too. I
feel that my decision will affect my life, his and our son's and it
won't be pretty. I know I must have confused you already and I swear
I'm much more confused than I ever was. Many women don't wear hijab
but they aren't necessarily not religious. He has no faith in me now
and doesn't trust that I can be a good wife. I went through a lot with
him and what got to me the most is how ready he was to divorce me
whenever we had an issue. I hope your answer will guide me a little.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Dear Sister,
Assalamu alaikum,
Thank you for your question.
Given the seriousness of the situation, I strongly urge you and your
husband to seek marriage counseling.
There are only a few observations I can offer based on what I could
understand of your situation:
1.You and your husband have a child together. You owe it to your child
to consider the impact of a broken home on his future. Are your and
your husband's issues irreconcilable?
2.You seem to be very conflicted about the purpose and status of
hijab. Hijab is a command from Allah Most High. To make the hijab a
bone of contention between you and your husband is a mistake. Are you
really prepared to sacrifice your marriage over hijab?
3.There are obviously deeper issues than whether or not to wear hijab.
You and your husband appear to have some compatibility issues that
absolutely must be resolved before you go any further.
4.There are valuable lessons that can be learned from this situation.
You and your husband need to decide if you can make a fresh start.
(I'm assuming the divorce is non-finalized). You both need to make the
Guidance Prayerand mutually agree to seek marriage counseling to help
you work through these issues.
5.You both need to change the way you handle conflict. Threatening
divorce every time an issue crops up is unhealthy and, from a fiqh
perspective, risky.I pray you can work things out.

Fathwa, - Please tell me what to do...I can't stop my sins..

Question:
I am a 17 year-old female. I been engaged for the past 4 years. I got
engaged because my parents wanted me to and I didn't want to hurt them
in any way. I had decided to try to love the person I am engaged and
do what is the best. But last year I met this guy. We started with
being great friends and then things just got serious between us. We
are so in love that we can't spend a day without talking to each
other. We both know that our parents won't agree. We have known each
other for the past 16 months and in these 16 months we have tried very
hard to separate but it never lasts.I don't know what to do anymore.
Please help me before I take a wrong path. I have tried praying and
all but now I even feel bad that I pray because I am guilty. But I
can't stop myself from this sin.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Dear Sister,
Assalamu alaikum,
I pray this message finds you well.
Thank you for your question.
As I see it, there are two pressing issues you have to deal with:
1.It is unlawful to have a relationship with the man you met last
year. Even if you weren't engaged, it would still be impermissible to
continue this relationship. Because you are engaged, it is imperative
that you extricate yourself from this situation. We women have to
honor ourselves by not placing ourselves in situations which
compromise our religion, our integrity, and our wellbeing. Although
you have strong feelings for this person, you have to look at the harm
that he is doing by involving you in an illicit relationship. If he
really cared, then he would respect the fact that you are engaged and
move on.
2.You must also consider the unhappiness and dissatisfaction that
likely led you to this situation. You agreed to get engaged to someone
just to please your parents. Moreover, you've been engaged since the
tender age of 13. This is a long time. Perhaps this engagement was not
the best choice for you. Perhaps you need to give yourself time to
grow spiritually and emotionally.You need to make the Guidance
Prayerand ask Allah Ta'ala to show you the best course of action. You
also need to break off the illicit relationship. It is better for you
in the short and long term.
You also owe it to yourself, your fiance, and your family to be
honest. Are you really interested in marrying your fiance?
I pray that Allah Most High guides you to the decision that is best
for both your dunya and akhira.