ISLAMIC ARTICLE :- ~ children, and not even my freedom

children, and not even my freedom."
That was a bad time. But I had myfaith, and I used to weep to Allah,
asking Him to have mercy on me. Ithink I gave up on myself for a
while, but I never gave up on Allah. It would not even have occurred
to me to do so. I did cry to Him sometimes saying, "Why, Allah? Why?
Why am I here, suffering like this?" But it wasn't despair, only
confusion. In my heart I knew that He heard me and that an answer
would come.
Shortly after that I received a letterfrom the parole board granting
me early release. I had previously been told very clearly that I was
not eligible. It was entirely unexpected, and if you are familiar with
the American penal system, miraculous. But for Allah, nothing is
impossible or even difficult.
Within a few months I was free. I found a job a week after my
release, and I excelled. I began writing, sitting at my desk every
night after work and disciplining myself to work on poetry, stories
and articles. Eventually I went back to school and began a new career,
got married, bought a beautiful house, and one day had a child…
What can I say except Alhamdulillah! SubhanAllah! What can I do except
weep in gratitude for these blessings that I did nothing to earn, but
were given to me by my Lord who loves me and cares about me, and wants
good for me. I am so deeply touched and moved by the way Allah has
answered my prayers from the depths of darkness. If I did anything to
merit His blessings, perhaps it was only thatI directed my pleas to
Him. I knew that no one else could help me.
This is a very emotional post for me to write. I want every Muslim to
have this sense of Allah as theirfriend, as someone who cares for them
deeply. I want to put that awareness into your heart like a gift.
When I was in that cell I used to pray the same dua' over and over,
begging Allah repeatedly. If I had made such pleas to a human being
they would have stopped hearing me long ago. When we're needy with
people it pushes themaway, but when we're needy withAllah He comes
closer to us! He never tires of answering our needand forgiving us.
I know of many similar stories of people who have hit rock bottom and
have called upon Allah – or , not even knowing "Allah" by that name,
have called to the Supreme Being, saying, "I know you hear me, tell me
what I need to do, show me the way!" – and then, like a circle of
sunlight piercing a cloud, something or someone comes into their lives
to show them the way forward.
When we're out of ideas, surrounded by problems, and feeling totally
alone… we're not alone . Allah is with us. If we pray sincerely and
strive, He will put light in our hearts and help us from directions we
did not expect.
Ask Allah sincerely, open yourself to Him, and accept what He gives
you even when it goes against your own desires. The answers toyour
questions are there, with Allah, I promise you. All those terrible
questions that you ask yourself in the silence of your mind, the
answers are with Allah.

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ISLAMIC ARTICLE :- ~ Wisdom: Zuhayr

I haven't delved into classical poetry for a while now, so here's one
I liked from a while back (with some basic explanations and thoughts
of my own).
It's a small excerpt from the famous mu'allaqah poem of Zuhayr ibn Abi
Sulmah . He was a poet from the Jahili period (the era before Islam)
who had his own well-celebrated mu'allaqah. Interestingly, it is said
that he would only recite and announce his poems after one complete
year had passed in which he spent perfecting it – hence he was
nicknamed 'Sahib al-Hawliyat'
He says in his poem:
سَئِمتُ تكاليف الحياة ومَن يَعِش *** ثمانين حَولاً – لا أُبا لك – يَسْأم
I have come to hate the burdens of life, and whoever lives
For eighty years will surely come to hate and tire of them
وأعْلَمُ عِلمَ اليوم والأمسِ قبله *** ولكنني عَن عِلمِ ما في غَدٍ عَمِ
I know the reality of today and that of yesterday before it
But of the realities of tomorrow, I am blind and ignorant
ومَن يَكُ ذَا فضْلٍ فَيَبْخَلْ بفَضْلِه *** على قَوْمِه يُسْتغنَ عَنه ويُذْمَمِ
Whoever possesses goodness butproves miserly to his people
Then they shall prove sufficient of him, and he shall be humiliated
The theme of 'Nasihah wal-Hikam' (Counsel and Wisdom) starts to take
shape here with Zuhayr telling people that fadhl (virtue, possessions,
wealth etc) is something that a person is gifted with and thus it's
not proper to be miserly with it, withhold it from society, or prevent
helping others by it etc. It's interesting he says على قومه ('to his
own people'), because the first benefactors of our gifts should
bethose closest to us i.e. family, community etc. By spreading one's
talents, possessions and goodness (whether materialistic and tangible
like wealth or conceptual like uprightness), a community becomes
stronger, progresses forward and allows people to live well.
ومَنْ هابَ أَسْبابَ المَنايا يَنَلنَه *** وإنْ يَرْقَ أسبابَالسماء بِسُلَّمِ
Whoever fears the causes the death, shall only be met by them
Even if he ascends to the heavens upon a built stairway
Death is written for us all, even though the causes and ways may be
different for us. Courage and the act of delving into the heat of
battles, taking up challenges and defending one's tribe have
alwaysbeen seen to high calibre traits. So the more fearless a person
is, the higher of a status they occupyamong their people. This is
Zuhayr effectively saying not to fear the causes of death because
those who fear a certain cause of death will no doubt be met by it.
And there's no running away from death even if you took a staircase to
the heavens. This is a true concept and belief reflected in the
Qur'anic verse:
"Wherever you may be, death shall overtake you, even if you should be
within towers of lofty construction…" [al-Nisa: 78]
ومَن يَجعَلِ المَعْروفَ فِي غَيرِ أهله *** يَكُنْ حَمْدُه ذَمَاً عَليه ويَندَمِ
And whoever pays good duty to those who do not deserve it,
Then his act of praise becomes blameworthy and he shall come to regret
Paying good duty to people and giving them credit is a standard which
we all must live by. However there are times when our act needs to be
reviewed depending on who exactly we aredealing with. Hence it's not a
proper measure of our intellect if we give pay high credit to someone
who does not deserve itin the least, rather we should just let them be
without harming them. It is only those who deserveit that should
attain our key attention, service and goodness; otherwise we'll come
to regret the fact that we perhaps wasted our efforts on one person
when there was someone else more deserving of all that effort.
ومَن لم يَذُدْ عَن حَوضِه بِسِلاحِه *** يُهَدَّمْ ومن لا يَظلم الناس يُظلم
And whoever does not defend hiswater well with his weapon
Will be overpowered; and whoever does not oppress shall be oppressed
This poem was written in the Days of Jahiliyyah (Ignorance) andso you
can really see the nature and outlook of the people at that time.
There were no governing laws and no accountability exceptthose simple
standards set out by tribal chiefs. Effectively, it was 'each man to
his own' or 'each tribe to their own' and in the poetic lines above
you can understand what Zuhayr is alluding to. He is saying that
whoever does not protect his own possessions will lose them toothers;
and the scene he sets is that of a water well. Historically in the
desert and open fields, the tribes would usually settle aroundsources
of water and build a well which sustained them. Without this well, the
tribe will die off due to lack of water. Now what wouldhappen if
another tribe tried to take possession of that well? Yes, you got it:
Warfare (now now, don't be surprised, leading countries do it in our
times too; but it's oil rather than water!). So here, Zuhayr says that
part of wisdom is to fight for what is yours, particularly those
things which are essential to your survival. 'And whoever does not
oppress shall be oppressed' –

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Story - - Remember, there is always someone else who is in more problem than you.

The Patient Old Man
When passing through a mountain pass, a bedouin (villager) once came
across an old man who was blind and who seemed to be afflicted with
various ailments all over his body. It was clear that he was wasting
away. He was even paralyzed and was constantly forced to remainin a
seated position. The Bedouin could clearly hear him say, "All praise
is for Allah, Who has kept me safe from ailments with which He has
tested many among His creation; and Hehas indeed preferred me over
many among those that He created."
"My brother!" exclaimed the bedouin. "What have you been saved from?
By Allah, I think that you have been afflicted with every single kind
of ailment!"
"Go away from me," said the old man, as he raised his head. "Do I not
still have a tongue with which Ican pronounce His Oneness,and with
which I can remember Him every single moment? And do I not still have
a heart with which I can know Him?"
These words of the old man were enough for the bedouin to repent to
Allah for his sins and ask Him for forgiveness.
Remember, there is always someone else who is in more problem than you.

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HADEES & ADVISE:->-

"... He knows what goes into the earth and what emerges from it, what
descends from the heaven and what ascends therein; and He is with you
wherever you are..." [al-Hadid: 4]
One of the beauties of tawhid is knowing about the ma'iyah of Allah -
that He is with you wherever you may be, He is fully aware of you,
your circumstances, your inner and outer reality etc. For some, this
increases them in their love of Allah and closeness to Him, and for
others it increases their fear. But either way, it strengthens our
faith, so letus always remember the ma'iyah of Allah 'azza wa jall.

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