A happy home

Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):{And Allaah has made for you
from your homes a place of rest.}[Quran 16:80]
You have told the truth, Oour Lord! The home is a place of rest,
stability, comfort, reassurance, safety and tranquility, in which we
live, and with which we protect ourselves from the heat of summer and
the cold of winter. It is also our shelter in which we take refuge
after the trouble and toil of the day.
If a little bird's nest is its shelter, place of rest and abode of
reassurance, it would be more worthy for man to have his homean abode
of happiness and a source of his pleasure. A home is not only walls,
furniture and linen, but it is also a placeof worship, an institute,
and a place for cordiality and comfort. The spousesfill it with love
and affection, and tranquility,calmness and stability shade it.
In the Muslim home, material and sensual rest is combined with
spiritual and emotional rest; thereby the home is comprehensive and
balanced. Also, Allaah TheAlmighty has made the home a place of rest
for the couple; He has made the husband a source of tranquility for
his wife, and the wife a source of tranquility for her husband. Allaah
The Almighty Says (what means):{And of His signs is that He created
for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them;
and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are
signs for a people who give thought.}[Quran 30:21] Thus, marriage is a
source of tranquility, andhomes are places of rest –a favor from
Allaah The Almighty which should be appreciated, maintained and
preserved.
Some of us might wonder: "Why a Muslim home? Is there a difference
between a Muslim and a non-Muslimhome?"
Undoubtedly, the Muslim home differs from any other. Its inhabitants
carry in their chests a glorious belief which fills their hearts with
the light of faith, and this light is reflected on all aspects of
their life. A Muslim person should be (an example of the) Quran among
people, thesame as was the moral character of the Messenger of
Allaah,. For this reason, a Muslim home, with its corners, furniture,
and the way it is arranged, should express the Islam of its owner.
The Muslim home might be a simple hut, or a graceful palace, and in
either there is pleasure, gratitude, satisfaction and living in the
shades of the Noble Quran andSunnah. The family members are happy, not
because they have great furniture or expensive fittings, but because
happiness springs from their believing hearts and reassured souls.
This is because they are pleased with Allaah The Almighty as their
Lord, Islam as their religion and Muhammad,, as their Prophet and
Messenger.
The houses of the Prophet,, were a goodpattern for an Islamic home. As
small in size andmodest in building as they might have been, they were
full of happiness and satisfaction, and remained the highest ideal for
the homes of the Companionsand any of the Muslims who wished to lay
the foundation of a home afterwards.
The houses of the Prophet,, were established on obedienceand seeking
the satisfaction of Allaah The Almighty, thereby representing the best
example of the real Islamic home. Allaah The Almighty Says (what
means):{Then is one wholaid the foundation of hisbuilding on
righteousness [with fear]from Allaah and [seeking]His approval better
or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of abank
about to collapse, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And
Allaah does not guide thewrongdoing people.}[Quran 9:109]
Although the houses of the Prophet,, were as humble, only enough as to
satisfy his need, as simple as to cover (the minimum requirements of)
his living, they were full of happiness, where their inhabitants were
well-pleased with the fate and sustenance endowed to them by Allaah
The Almighty, and believing in the statement of the Prophet,:"He, upon
whom morning comes while being safe and sound, healthy in his body,
and having the sustenance of his day, seems as if the entire world has
been granted for him."[At-Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah]
The houses of the Prophet,, were based on worship and obedience to
Allaah The Almighty, where humbleness, simplicity and abstinence from
the enjoyment of this worldlylife seemed evident. All his houses
surrounded the mosque. Some of them were built of palm reeds covered
with mud, others of stones piled on top of each other, havingtheir
ceiling made of palm reeds.
The home of the Mother of Believers, 'Aa'ishahthe dearest of his wives
to him after Khadeejahconsisted of one chamber, built of bricks
covered with mud, and another room annexed to it, made of palm
reeds,covered with animal hair.Its door had a single wooden post, and
its ceiling was low, like all the other houses of the Prophet,. It had
simple furniture: a bed ofpieces of wood tied with fiber ropes, having
a cushion of leather stuffedwith fiber; a water-skin; and clay vessels
for his food and ablution.
Simplicity and contentment also seemedevident in the homes of the
Companions of the Messenger of Allaah,. The furniture of Faatimahthe
daughter of the Prophet,, with which she was wed to 'Ali Ibn Abi
Taalibconsisted ofa mantle of velvet, a cushion of leather stuffedwith
fiber, a millstone, a water-skin and two jars. That was the furniture
of the leader of the women of Paradise, and the daughter of the master
of all the prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention. This shows howthe
houses of the Prophet,, and of his Companionswere a good model for the
Islamic home.
If such was the state of the houses of the Prophet,, and his
Companionsthis does not mean that Islam impedes one from being blessed
in a graceful spacious home; on the contrary, according to Islam, that
is a sustenance, favor and grace bestowed by AllaahThe Almighty upon
whomever He pleases. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):{Say, "Who
has forbidden the adornment of Allaah which He has produced for His
servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?"}[Quran 7:32] The
Messenger of Allaah,, said:"Four things bring about happiness: a
righteous woman (i.e., wife), a spacious residence, a good neighbor,
and a comfortable means of transport."[Al-Haakim] Man then has to
utilize this pleasure in all that is good, for he would be held
accountable about iton the Day of Judgment as confirmed by Allaah The
Almighty in the verse (which means):{Then you will surely be asked
that Day about pleasure.}[Quran 102:8]
Like other human beings,the Muslim family inclinesto possess the best,
the most spacious, the prettiest, and the richest of homes. Allaah The
Almighty Says (what means):{Beautified for people is the love of that
which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and
silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the
enjoyment of worldly life, but Allaah has with Him the best
return.}[Quran 3:14]
The Muslim family knows well that real happiness is to make the home,
whether it is small or large, a garden full of faith, satisfied with
contentment, shaded with tranquility and reassurance; and to have its
members adopt high morals and upright conduct. It perceives that in
whichever state it might be, it is living in a favor bestowed by
AllaahThe Almighty for which gratitude is due. Gratitude for a favor
develops, purifies and proliferates it as confirmed by Allaah; Allaah
The Almighty (what means):{If you aregrateful, I will surely increase
you [in favor].}[Quran 14:7]
The Muslim family neitherboasts nor shows pride over others because of
the favors of Allaah The Almighty bestowed upon it. It always shows
the bounty and favor conferred by Allaah The Almighty upon it in
response to His statement(which means):{But as for the favor of your
Lord, report [it].}[Quran 93:11] And, acting upon the statement of
the Messenger of Allaah,:"Indeed, Allaah likes to see the signs of His
favor on His slave."[At-Tirmithi and Al-Haakim]
But, at the same time, theMuslim family should not engage in worldly
pleasures and neglect obedience to Allaah The Almighty, nor be mainly
concerned with their house in this worldly life, which diverts them
from working for their house in Paradise, Allaah willing. To this
meaning a poet refers, by saying that one shall have no abode to
reside in after death other than the onehe built before his death.If
he built it well, his residence (in the Hereafter) would be good; and
if he built it with evil, he would fail.
Once, 'Ali Ibn Abi Taalibpassed by a man who was building a house,
thereupon he said to him,"You were dead before you came to life, and
in a short while you will be dead [yet again]. You are building a
house for the perishing abode [i.e. this worldly life], so build a
house for the eternal abode [i.e. the Hereafter as well]."
Blessed be the Muslim family if it is to have the world in its hand
and notin its heart; and blessed be it if it is to utilize all things
surrounding it correctly in such a way asto help it obey Allaah
TheAlmighty, acting upon the following wisdom,"Work for your worldly
life as if you would live forever, and work for your Hereafter as if
you would die tomorrow."[Ibn Al-Mubaarak inAz-Zuhd]
To talk about the Muslim home, its components and furniture, does not
mean that all those specifications should be comprised in every home.
But, it is an ideal we ask Allaah The Almighty to give to every Muslim
on the face of the earth.
The main point lies not inthe walls and furniture ofthe house so much
as it lies in its inhabitants. Hence, every family member could bring
about happiness and satisfaction to his household with the smallest
thing available to him. The faithful believer is intelligent
andprudent, as the Messenger of Allaah,, said:"The sagacious one is he
who holds himself accountable [for his deeds], and works for [the
life] after death; andthe incompetent is he who subjugates his self to
its fancies and has hopeful expectations from Allaah."[Ahmad,
At-Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah]

Excellence in faith

In one of the great prophetic narrations which included few, yet very
comprehensive words, the Prophetclarified one of the means for
salvation, and a sign of the excellence of Islam. This narration gives
the believing slave a tool by which to measure himself and realize how
close or far he is from the straight path.
Abu Hurayrahreported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"It is from the
excellence of (a believer's) Islam that he should shun that which is
of no concern to him".[At-Tirmithi].
This narration contains many great meanings which a believer should
understand and apply. It is one of the principles and foundations of
good manners, and thus some scholars considered it to constitute
one-third or one-fourth of the religion of Islam.
Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyimsaid: "The Prophetsummed all the aspects ofpiety
and devoutness in this narration. Heoutlined for the slave what to do
and what to shun, and it is an indication to the first pillar of soul
purification,namely, shunning what does not concern the person, which
leads to the second pillar, and that is busying oneself essentially
with what concerns him"
Heclarified that shunning that which does not concern the person is a
means to attain excellence in religion. This means, that people, in
reality, are of two categories, those who are excellent in Islaam and
those who arenot. The one who appliesIslam inwardly and outwardly is
the one whohas reached the level of excellence , as Allaah says(what
means):"And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to
Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham,
incliningtoward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate
friend."[Quran: 4:125].
On the other hand, the one who does not apply Islam inwardly and
outwardly is the one whose degree of commitment to Islam is low, and
one of the signs of this in him is that he busies himself in that
which does not concern him.
The following verse is proof substantiating the meaning of the
narration, in which Allaah Says (what means):"And they who turn away
from illspeech"[Quran: 23:3]."… ill speech"is anything from falsehood,
and that includes association, other minor sins and all useless
speech, actions and concerns. Furthermore, busing oneself with that
which does not concern him is included in the definitionof "ill
speech".
There are other prophetic narrations which highlight the virtue of
excellence in religion, such as the narration of Abu Hurayrahin which
he reported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"When one of you reaches
the level of excellence in faith, then every good deed is multiplied
for him ten times up to seven hundred times; and eachsin is recorded
as only one, until he meets Allaah"[Muslim].
The saying of the Prophet:"… that which is of no concern to him"means,
that which does not benefit him in his worldly life or the Hereafter,
and this includes things that are prohibited, disliked, doubtful, and
excess permissible matters which one does not really need.
The measure by which one knows whether something is of his concern or
not, is Islamic teachings and not ones desires.
Many people decide to abandon enjoining good and forbidding evil under
the pretext that this is interfering with people's privacy and
personal life. They would do so claiming that it is not a person's
concern tointervene in other people's affairs, basing their argument
on an incorrect understanding of this very narration.
Abu Bakr As-Siddeeqsaid: "O you people! You recite and misinterpret
the following verse (which means):`O you who believe! Take care of
your own selves. If you follow the (right) guidance [and enjoin what
is right (Islamic Monotheism and allthat Islam orders one to do) and
forbid what is wrong (polytheism, disbelief and all thatIslam has
forbidden)] no hurt cancome to you from those who are in
error.`[Quran:5:105] But Ihave heard Messenger of Allahsaying:"When
people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from (doing evil), it
is likely that Allaah will punish them all.""[Abu Daawood &
At-Tirmithi].
In another narration hesaid:"Never that evil is committed and people
do not prevent it, though able to do so, but Allaah will overwhelm
them with punishment".
One other thing that one must concern himself with is the affairs of
other believers and their issues, because he who does not worry about
theaffairs of his fellow Muslims is not one of them.
The need to understand this narration, its implications and
applications intensifies intimes like ours, when people's commitments
and personal obligations have increased and priorities are mixed up.
The implementation of this narration is the first practical step
toward reforming oneself and those under his guardianship and care
which leads to achieving excellence in religion. This happens by
concentrating on that which is beneficial and staying away from all
that is not ones concern.

The gulf between words and deeds

Speaking true words is a facet of action referred to as the action of
the tongue. It is the first tangible deed that someone performs when
he announces his entry into Islam: "I bear witness that none has
theright to be worshipped except Allaah and that Muhammad is His
messenger." But what I mean here, more specifically, is the importance
of action as afundamental value in Islam, in terms of maintaining
one's religion and developing the world around us. The
indispensability of action, by itself, is a major principle that is
supported by hundreds of texts from the Quran and Sunnah )traditions
ofthe Prophet).
The success or failure of an individual, the strength or weakness of a
society, and the happiness of this world with salvation in the
nextlife all depend on action. Good deeds are the recognised valuables
upon which hinge propitious results in the short and long term.
These actions that are deeds of righteousness must fulfil two
important conditions:
1. A proper intention (sincerity)
2. Compliance with the Sunnah and the Sharee'ah (Islamic
legislation)-also referred to as correctness.
Both of these conditions are addressed in the verse (which
means):"[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of
you is best in deed..."[Quran 67:2]
So, goodness of action relies upon two issues: sincerity for Allaah
and abiding by the Sharee'ah.The commentary of Al-Fudhayl Ibn
'Iyaadhon this verse of chapter Al-Mulk (the Dominion) is well known.
He said concerning "best in deed": "The most sincere and the most
correct."
If a deed is done sincerely but is not correct, it is not
accepted.Similarly, if it is correct but not done sincerely, it is
also not accepted. It is only accepted when it is done sincerely and
correctly. I tried to enumerate the number of times that 'righteous
deeds' was mentioned in the Quran. These two words were mentioned
together about ninety times. The word action ordeed when juxtaposed
with another adjective other than righteous appears much more often
(approximately three hundred times). It is a clear indication of the
importance of actionsin life. Even in dying, the deed of making an
intention is required. This is why Allaah Almighty Says (what
means):"…So do not die exceptwhile you are Muslims."[Quran 2:132]
In western schools of thought generally, and inAmericamore
specifically, a new way of thinking, called 'Pragmatism', hassprung
into existence that focuses mainly on work and production. This
philosophy holds that real and palpable benefits are the yardstick of
knowledge, meaning that real knowledge is that which can be
practically applied and not merelytheoretical knowledge that is cut
off from everyday life.
The Divine praise for action implies disdain for two ways thatare not
on the path of truth: The first way is of the doer whose deed is not
based upon true guidance and who has no knowledge of the divine laws.
They are those whose deeds are described as being bad or evil. If the
deed is a worldly one, it will not bear the desired fruit because it
was not based on the proper vision or on true experience.
This meaning is from Allaah, Almighty, when He Says (what
means):"[Some] faces, that Day, will be humbled, Working [hard] and
exhausted. They will [enter to] burn in an intensely hot Fire. They
will be given drink from a boiling spring."[Quran 88:2-5]
And (what means):"Say [O Muhammad]: 'Shall we [believers]inform you of
the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? [They are] those whose effort
is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in
work.'"[Quran 18:103-104]
Every group that is away from Allaah's path falls under this category.
Their worship of Allaah Almighty is mixed with ignoranceand falsehood.
Revolutionary schools of thought that do not formtheir ideas from
Divine guidance also fall into this category. They base their efforts
and actions on false premises. Their situation is as Allaah Almighty
describes it by Saying (what means): "Those before them had already
plotted, but Allaah came at [i.e., uprooted] their building from the
foundations, so the roof fell upon them from above them, and the
punishment came to them from where they did not perceive."[Quran
16:26]
The most illustrative example of this category in our times is
Communism and its philosophical, political and societal roots. Most of
its proponents never expected such disastrous results. All of their
efforts resulted in harm and they were preoccupied infinding ways to
support such a backward system.
The second way is of those who prefer inactivity and comfort. It is
the philosophy that is blind to Allaah's ways. In it, one wants all
desires to come true without effort or toil. The nature of man in
terms of being active and doing things makes the existence of such a
group to seem dubious at best. But the fundamental qualities of this
group become manifest in different ways, for example, those who
persist in following their lusts and desires, or who think that it is
sufficient for them to follow a particular sloganor be known by a
particular name.
On this way are also those who have no goal or aim that they strive
for. They are merely prisoners of their circumstances and their daily
routines. Their behaviour is not steered by an ideology and their work
is not linked to any important mission. They are drowned in work that
has no meaning. Oneof them goes to work to pay off the mortgage on his
house. He comes home to sleep, eat and drink only to be able to find
the energy to perform his tasks at work! A machine withouta spirit is
what he has become. The one who is in these circumstances does not
even realise the precarious situation that he is in.
Further down in the pit isthePhilosophicalSchoolthat gives no value to
theintellect. To them, what isconsidered by man to be existing is in
fact nonexistent. They disbelieve in values. Theiraim is to destroy
without offering an alternative way. Their goal is to destroy the
social structure without having any intention of replacing it with
another system.
Many are those who complain about the reality that they live in. They
strive to destroy thestructure of their society without caring for the
fact that the supplanting system will be chaos.

- Names and Attributes of Allaah - The difference between al-Rahmaan and al-Raheem.

What is the difference between al-Rahmaan and al-Raheem?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Rahmaan and al-Raheem are two of the names of Allaah which refer to
Allaah's attribute of Mercy.
Al-Rahmaan refers to thevastness of Allaah's mercy, and al-Raheem
refers to its effect on His creation. So al-Rahmaan is the Owner of
vast Mercy, and al-Raheem is the Owner of Mercy that encompasses His
creation.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: "Al-Rahmaan
is the Owner of vast mercy, because the fa'laan formin Arabic
indicates vastness and abundance,as it is said rajal ghadbaan (a very
angry man) when he is filled with anger.
Al-Raheem is a name which refers to the action, as the fa'eel
formrefers to the doer of an action. So the phrase al-Rahmaan
al-Raheem indicates that the mercy of Allaah is vast, as is understood
from the name al-Rahmaan, and that it encompasses His creation, as is
understood from the name al-Raheem. This is what some of them meant
when they said that al-Rahmaan refers to mercy in a general sense and
al-Raheem refers to mercy that is specifically for the believers. But
what we have mentioned is more accurate."
From Sharh al-'Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah, 1/22
And Allaah knows best.