Ideas to change your life

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَإِن تُطِعۡ أَكۡثَرَ مَن فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَخۡرُصُونَ Wa in tuti’ aksara man fil ardi yudillooka ‘an sabeelil laah; iny yattabi’oona illaz zanna wa in hum illaa yakhrusoon Al-An’am (The Cattle) 6:116    Now if you pay heed unto the majority of those [who live] on earth, they will but lead you astray from the path of God: they follow but [other people's] conjectures, and they themselves do nothing but guess.    Do not blindly follow conjectures of other people Towards the end of the twentieth century, Muslim scholasticism saw a resurgence in the literalist tradition, partly due to the economic support offered by certain governments for the same. This has led to a decline in the teaching of so-called twenty-first century skills, especially creativity and critical thinking, and increased emphasis on sticking to opinions of past scholar...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ثُمَّ لَمۡ يَرۡتَابُواْ ... Innamal muu’minoonal lazeena aamanoo billaahi wa Rasoolihee summa lam yartaaboo Part of Al-Hujurat (The Private Chambers) 49:15   [Know that true]  believers are only those who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle and thereafter have had no doubt..... ....   Believe without the need for proof ! I would like to share a little known incident during the life of eminent theologian Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī , which underscores the superiority of belief over reasoning. It may well be difficult to establish whether Razi had become a practicing Sufi towards the end of his life or not. There even exists a letter from Shaykh al-Akbar ibn ‘Arabi , who, impressed by his imaginative faculty ( al-quwwa al-mutakhayyila ), ended up advising (and probably praying for) Razi to try to reach the stage of gnosis and contemplation, even g...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَأَنفِقُواْ مِن مَّا رَزَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن قَبۡلِ أَن يَأۡتِيَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوۡلَآ أَخَّرۡتَنِيٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٖ قَرِيبٖ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ Wa anfiqoo mim maa razaqnaakum min qabli any-ya’tiya ahadakumul mawtu fa yaqoola rabbi law laaa akhkhartaneee ilaaa ajalin qareebin fa assaddaqa wa akum minassaaliheen   وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَاۚ وَٱللَّهُ خَبِيرُۢ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ  Wa lany yu ‘akhkhiral laahu nafsan izaa jaaa’a ajaluhaa; wallaahu khabeerum bimaa ta’maloon Al-Munafiqun (The hypocrites)  63:10-11   And spend on others out of what We have provided for you as sustenance,  ere there come a time when death approaches any of you, and he then says, "O my Sustainer! If only Thou wouldst grant me a delay for a short while,  so that I could give in charity and be among the righteous!".  But never does God grant a delay to a h...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ إِنَّ هَٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ يَهۡدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقۡوَمُ  Inna haazal Quraana yahdee lillatee hiya aqwamu  Part of Al-Isra (The Night Journey)  17:9 VERILY, this Qur'an shows the way to all that is most upright.... Recite the Qur'an as it should be recited As I was growing up in Kashmir, I would come across a well-known saying from the patron saint of Kashmir, Sheikh Noor ud-Din Wali (RA), popularly known as Nund Rishi , which went like this: Quran Paran Kono Mooduk, Quran Paran Goi No Soor Quran Paran Zindeh Koh Rooduk, Quran Paran Dodh Mansoor Why didn't you get annihilated reciting the Qur'an  ? Why did you not turn to ashes reciting the Qur'an ? How come you are still alive after reciting the Qur'an (While) Mansour , reciting the Qur'an, went up in flames? I would wonder what it meant, and how is it that we are expected to be annihilated while reciting the Qur'an, until one day I...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ   ...وَأَحۡسِنُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ wa ahsinoo; innal laaha yuhibbul muhsineen Part of Al-Baqarah (The Cow)  2:195 (last part of the ayat) ... and persevere in doing good: behold, God loves the doers of good..     Plant fruit-bearing trees At the dawn of creation, when Allah created mankind, He decided to give each and everyone of us a small piece of arable land for cultivation. We could grow all kinds of crops in it to feed ourselves as well as feed others.  He also sent many people to guide us on how to best cultivate crops, and what to do with the produce. Eventually, mankind understood that they needed to plant some fruit bearing trees, and although the trees might not bear immediate fruit, if we persevered and took good care of the trees, one day they would bear fruit. Lots of fruit. And this fruit could be consumed by us, or shared with our friends and neighbors, and shared wi...