Bismillah Ar Rahman Nir Rahim

Relying On Other Than God

The above disease  refers to going against Tawakkul, an Arabic translation of total trust in and reliance of God. This is a source for the introduction of others diseases that are mentioned elsewhere in the book. If we are interested in getting benefits from mere mortals we are likely to neglect obligations we may have to God, who is the only person who can benefit us in the end. Further, reliance in other than God could stop us from performing recommended acts that could reward us unimaginable blessings and the mercy from God.  In the end, it will reduce our certainty in God(Yaqin ) , that he alone is the source of any good that happens or can happen in our lives.

Treatment

The Imam warns us to keep the certainty of God in our mind and that any good or trials in our lives come from God. We need to seek refuge God the Almighty from all the desires and fears of this world that divert our attention away from God and his certainty.

Allah knows best.

 Bismillahi Rahman Arrahim

Fantasizing

The disease of fantasizing is concerned with engaging in irrelevant matters.

Example 1 — Lustful fantasizing about the beauty of a person who is married to someone else. According to the book what’s forbidden to do is likewise  forbidden as an object of reflection.

Example 2 -Imagining about is the faults of other people. Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) had said that there is a tree in Paradise reserved for persons whose own faults preoccupied him from considering others’ faults.Hence its better to focus on our own faults than to fall into backbiting and slandering of our own brothers.

Example 3 — Fantasizing about the nature of God’s essence. According to scholars, this type of fantasizing had caused erroneous theologies within pre Islamic communities.  The book recommends us to instead reflect on the attributes of God that havebeen revealed to us. Anything other than that  is beyond our mortal abilities.The hope is that the reflection on revealed attributes would deepen our love for God and follow his commands and prepare us for the Hereafter where we hope God will help us understand matters we didn’t understand in this world.

Please forward to your comments and questions on this important chapter.

Bismillah Rahman Ar Raheem

Fear of Poverty

The chapter refers to the fear of poverty as the constant fear a person may have that God will deprive him of the essentials to survive. For me, it seemed to be in direct linkage to two other deseases that we read previously — misserliness and wantonness.  One of the main effects of fear of poverty is hoarding wealth and collecting more wealth to hoard. This hoarding deprives people who need this wealth to survive and this is also an effect of the disease of misserliness.  Another effect of this disease is using transgression to retain or obtain more wealth which is also an effect of the disease of wantonness.

This disease can escalate to an advanced stage where the affected person may start imagining crises that would happen in the future that could bring poverty. It also could lend to Satan’s and the evil Gin’s whisperings(waswaas) which can create an acute condition and is tantamount to harboring a negative opinion of God.

An important point to remember is that Allah will always find a way to help the person who fears God above and beyond any other fear. This is explained clearly in the Quran Chapter 65 Verse 2–3 where Allah says And whoever fear God,He will make a way out. And He will provide for him in a way he never expected. And whoever trusts in God, He is sufficient for him. If we can remember  this point at all times  it will help us to have peace of mind.

The book goes on to dscribe a kindred illness of the fear of poverty called Mudaahin in Arabic. This is a condition where a person would compromise his religious beliefs to improve his worldly condition. A current example cited by the book is the condition of been silent when it comes to other individuals transgressions and deviations. A historic example would be the Quraish tribe which tried to maintain their trading position and wealth by trying to persuade Prophet Mohammed(PBUH) to give up on Allah and worshipping their false Gods.

Treatment-   The cure for this disease, according to Imam Mawluud, is having a good opinion of God. Its to know that He will find away for us. This will deflect any harmful whisperings and provocations from Shaitan which leads to irrational fears. We should remember that God can provide us anything and that if he provides someone else with a blessing it doesnt diminish the blessings thats left. So it is upto us to ask God for that blessing in a sincere manner and to have a contentment that God will do whats best for us.We should also thank God for the blessings he has already provided us.

I will close with a very important Hadith where the Prophet Mohammed(PBUH) said that “contentment is a treasure thats never exhausted”.

Allah knows best.

I look forward to your comments and additional points that i may have missed.

Assalamu Alaikum

This is an effort to provide an impact summary of one of the chapters read in the book club established at the mosque. Refer to the book club page for more information.

Some people complain and moan: I do not deserve this! ~ Why me?? This person’s heart develop rancor, a bitterness and long-lasting resentment towards others and life. As a result, he is in denial of God’s omnipotence and decree. God chooses to make things happen and we have no say in that. However, God gives us the ability to choose how we respond to things and events he befalls on us.

Those who keep God in their mind believe that all what happens, good or bad,  is for a good reason. As a consequence, they are people who understand the nature of this life, that it is a trial. They respond with patience.

Those who keep the world in their mind are blind to the wonders of God, his creations and signs. They believe that the world is it. When good things happen to them they are happy and boastful how good, smart or talented they are to achieve such success. When they fail they complain and moan and compare themselves with others who succeeded in the same endeavour.

Everything that can happen to a person can be in either four states. What is important is how we respond to each of these states:

1. Receiving a blessing (Ni3ma): the person should respond with gratiutude. Gratitude is not merely uttering words of thanks and praise because such words can be just words. A better Gratitude is more practical. It is to perform obligations and then virtuous recommended deeds. Only then can a person awaken the energy inside that makes him appreciate the receipt of the blessing. Only then uttering words of thanks and praise to God have a sweeter and more powerful effect. Someone who doesn’t respond with gratitude will respond with ingratitude (Nakrou Al-I7ssan). Ingratitude may not necessarily be uttering words along the lines of “I’ve done this myself!” but it is more often expressed by saving wealth or knowledge and not sharing it with the needy, or wasting and squandering wealth or knowledge.
2. Receiving tribulations (Bala’e): the person should respond with patience, steadfastness and resolve. Consistent patience that comes at the guts of tribulations, that is free of complaints and that is  not broken by surrendering out of following desires, fearing someone or aggressing someone is referred to in the Quran as a “beautiful patience”.
3. Living in obediance (Ta3a): the person should respond with recognizing that this quality of obediance is itself a blessing from God bestowed upon the person. Otherwise an obediant believer may feel arrogant and self-righteous and that is an extreme disease of the heart. Prophet Mohammed said that whoever has a mustard seed of arrogance will not enter heaven. He also said not to try and make it a job to find faults in others, because God may take away their faults and apply them to you. It is inapproriate for an obediant believer to speak to or look at someone passing by trials or someone unguided, with contempt, let alone spread the word among people that such person’s iman is weak or is carrying a punishment from God. Because someone may be in trial and tribulations as a blessing from God and may come out of it with a stronger faith and more obediance than that obediant believer. a scholar said that a wrong action that leads to a sense of shame and hunility before God is better than obediance that leads to a sense of pride and arrogance. That is the secret of wrong actions. Therefore it is appropriate for a believer to have feelings of compassion towards someone who is less obediant, and to express gratitude to God for not befalling the same trial on him/her.
4. Living in Disobediance (Ma3ssiya): the person should respond with repentence. It is to ask forgiveness, mercy and to resolve not to repeat the mistake again.

If we respond to these four states properly, we get closer to God.

Ibn Abbass said that when someone is passing by a tribulation they can still find three blessings in them, the thought of which can relieve the person. Also, if you feel for someone in tribulation then remind him or her of these blessings:

1. The tribulation could have been worse. Think of practical examples of what could have been worse to clearly grasp this blessing
2. The tribulation has affected tangible wordly matters and not spiritual things which could be irreversible.
3. The tribulation’s scope is still in this finite world and not the next world when it is too late to resolve.

After realizing these blessings, thank God.

Prophet Mohammed passed by many tribulations:

• Only one out of six of his children survived
• He never met his dad
• His mom died when he was a little boy
• his Guardian uncle died and his wife for 25 years died when he needed them the most
• His people who highly esteemed him before turned against him and he incured 13 assassination attempts
• Many of his beloved friends died while supporting him

Yet he never complained, why? because he understood the nature of life and he was pleased with the decree of God, good or bad.

Those who don’t realize this, plunge into heedlisness (Ghafla) and loss. They may blame themselves, others and even God.

Imam Qarfi distinguished between the divine decree, and the reaction to it. He said that we should not be displeased with God allowing bad things to happen. However, we should be displeased with those who plunge and enjoin bad.

This is an effort to provide an impact summary of one of the chapters read in the book club established at the mosque. Refer to the book club page for more information.

Modesty is a defining characteristic of Islam, therefore Muslims who embody Islamic teachings are modest. However, modesty can have variations. This chapter focuses on exaggerated modesty that can lead to harm. When someone is too modest to refrain from either denouncing that which is condemnable or asking sensitive questions concerning religion or other affairs, one is afflicted with blameworthy modesty. That which is condemnable, tyranny or corruption for example must be denounced. And we should all be curious, open and courageous to ask more knowledgeable people sensitive questions so we redress our actions and lifestyle.

Modesty can be noble, that which comes with generosity and kindness. But too much of it can cause harm. On his wedding night with Zainab, a few guests overstayed and prophet Mohammed couldn’t tell them to leave. He hinted at them twice by excusing himself to the other room and coming back. But the guests didn’t leave as they were enjoying his companionship. That harms the prophet and his family. That is why God disciplined prophet Mohammed by revealing a Quran verse to tell his guests to leave at the end of his wedding night while prophet Mohammed was too generous and kind to tell them so.

Modesty can be blameworthy, that which comes with meekness and lack of self-importance. Someone might not face or condemn another about a wrong-doing if the latter is a close relative, an authority or a wealthy person. One might feel modest but what is at work is submissive humbleness to other than God disguised in their own perception as noble modesty. Also someone might not ask a scholar about a sensitive matter in religion or other affairs out of timidness although they feel they are being modest. It’s as if they fear the scholar or people around them will condemn them for asking. Again that is submissive humbleness to other than God. Those who shy away from asking in order to redress their behavior end up doing the wrong things over and over again. This harms them and others. Prophet Mohammed told us that the women of the Anssar were never shy to ask about Islam’s teachings regarding their affairs which could be at times too sensitive to ask such as menstruation. If the prophet needed to demonstrate he would ask his wife to teach them.

The signs of blameworthy modesty may be observed in scholars knowledgeable of religion when they refrain from condemning other scholars because of a difference in opinion. Scholars show respect for the extensive knowledge and scholarship of other scholars especially when each sets forth proof and reasoning that does not contradict the Quran or the prophet. This is the only exception to blameworthy modesty. The author mentions that on the opposite side, there are people not well versed in the subject of the debate who are quick to condemn others. These people are inflicted with self-rightesouness another spiritual disease of the heart.

God ultimately taught through the Quran prophet Mohammed and all of us that the prophet shied away from the truth on the night of his wedding, but God does not shy away from the truth.