Abu Bakr's fear of Allah

One day Abu Bakr (RadhiyAllah anhu) entered a garden where he saw a bird standing under the shade of the tree. He sighed deeply and said: O bird! how lucky you are. You eat from tress and take shade under them. when you die you do not have fear of reckoning on the day of judgement. I wish i were just like you.

It is said that Abu Bakr had a slave who used to give him a portion of his daily income as the masters share. Once he brought him some food , and Abu Bakr took a morsel out of it. Then the slave said to him:" you always inquired about the source of what I bring to you, but today you have not done so". Abu Bakr replied "I felt so hungry that i failed to do that. Tell me now, whence did you bring this food".

The slave said: "Before embracing Islam, I practiced soothsaying. During these days, I came across some people for whom I practiced some of my charms. They promised to pay me for that later on. I happened to pass by these people today, while they were engaged in a marriage ceremony, and they gave me this food". On saying this Abu Bakr exclaimed " Ah You would have surely killed me? Then he tried to disgorge the morsel he had swallowed, but he could not do so, and his stomach had been quiet empty. Somebody suggested him to take some water to his fill and then reach it. Thereupon Abu Bakr sent for a goblet of water and kept on taking water and forcing it out , till he vomited the morsel.

Somebody remarked "May Allah have Mercy on you! you put yourself to such a trouble for a single morsel. To this Abu Bakr replied : " I would have thrust it out even if I had to lose my life for I heard the Prophet Peace be upon him say " Any flesh which has grown out of unlawful earnings will not enter Paradise" I therefore made haste to clear my stomach from this morsel lest any portion of my body should receive nourishment from it".

Abu Bakr used to say " I wish I were a tree that would be cut and done away with it".

When Abu Bakr was praised he used to say : "O Allah you know me better than I do, I know my self better than them . O Allah let me be better than I think I am, forgive me for what they do not know about me, and do not hold me accountable for what they say about me".

Source: Biographies of the rightly guided Caliphs

The story of Abdullah bin Salam and Jews

Anas bin Malik said, "When `Abdullah bin Salam heard of the arrival of the Prophet(Peace be upon him) in Al-Madinah, he was working on his land.

He came to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and said, `I am going to ask you about three things which nobody knows except a Prophet. What will be the first portent of the Hour What will be the first meal taken by the people of Paradise Why does a child resemble its father, and why does it resemble its maternal uncle'

Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) said, (Jibril has just told me the answers.)

Abdullah said, `He (i.e. Jibril), among all the angels, is the enemy of the Jews.

Allah's Messenger(Peace be upon him) recited the Ayah,

Whoever is an enemy to Jibril (Gabriel) (let him die in his fury), for indeed he has brought it (this Qur'an) down to your heart. 2:97

Allah's Messenger then said, 'The first portent of the Hour will be a fire that will bring together the people from the east to the west; the first meal of the people of Paradise will be the caudate lobe of the liver of fish. As for the child resembling his parents: If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and his discharge is first, the child will resemble the father. If the woman has a discharge first, the child will resemble her side of the family.'

On that `Abdullah bin Salam said, `I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and you are the Messenger of Allah.

`Abdullah bin Salam further said, `O Allah's Messenger(Peace be upon him)! The Jews are liars, and if they should come to know about my conversion to Islam before you ask them (about me), they will tell a lie about me.

The Jews came to Allah's Messenger , and `Abdullah went inside the house.Allah's Messenger asked the Jews, `What kind of man is `Abdullah bin Salam'

They replied, `He is the best among us, the son of the best among us, our master and the son of our master'.

Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) said, 'What do you think if he would embrace Islam'

The Jews said, `May Allah save him from it.'

Then `Abdullah bin Salam came out in front of them saying, `I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah(Peace be upon him)'.

Thereupon they said, `He is the evilest among us, and the son of the evilest among us.' And they continued talking badly about him.

Ibn Salam said, `This is what I feared, O Messenger of Allah! (Peace be upon him).'''

Source : Tafsir ibn katheer

Please read. A call to returning to Allah

O Muslims who are negligent with respect to Allah, now is the time for you to repent to Allah, your Lord Who created you and has provided you the good things and has given you abundant bounties, both open and secret. He is the One Who gives you death and then resurrects you and recompenses you with a compensation that is commensurate with your deeds. If your deeds are good then your recompense will be good. If your deeds are evil, then your recompense will be evil. Now is the time for you to return to Allah before you experience the event that brings an end to all pleasures, makes you leave the people and cuts off all your hopes. Now is the time for your tears to flow in sorrow and remorse due to your past negligence with respect to the religion of Allah. By Allah, none of you knows if you are alive in the morning whether you will live to evening or not. If you are alive in the evening, you cannot know if you will be alive in the morning or not. Then you will proceed with what you have done of deeds. If they were righteous deeds, you will be successful. If they were other than that, that, then is is the great loss.

Allah says in Quran:

And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped. And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord before the punishment comes upon you suddenly while you do not perceive. Lest a soul should say, "Oh [how great is] my regret over what I neglected in regard to Allah and that I was among the mockers."(59:18-20)

Know that Allah did not create us without a purpose. He created us to worship Him alone, for Whom there is no partner.

Allah says in Quran:

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (51:56)

Know that when Allah created us to worship Him, He did not leave us without any guidance. Indeed, He sent to us the best of the Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in the same way that He sent to every nation it’s Messenger. He revealed to him the Quran, the best of the books, in order for him to be a Warner for all the worlds. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) conveyed the message, fulfilled his trust, advised the community and strove in the way of Allah as is His right. There is no good but he guided the nation to it and there is no evil except that he warned them about it. On the day of resurrection, he will come as a witness on what he conveyed just as all of the previous prophets will come as witnesses against their people. There will be no argument for anyone against Allah after Allah had sent the Messengers.

Now is the time for you to know that whatever occurred to the people of Ignorance, of enmity, fear poverty, division and destruction, was because of their staying away from revelation and their delving into lusts and desires. Now is the time for you to know that what the Companions of Allah’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) and those who followed them in good obtained affection, love and safety , riches , blessings, power and leadership in the world and the hereafter was because of their sticking to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah.

Now is the time for you to know that what is afflicting the Muslims and their rulers today of division misunderstanding, weakness, being overpowered and ruled by enemies is all because of their distancing themselves from and their heedlessness of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) except for those whom Allah wills. The number of Quran reciters are many today than they were during the time of the companions. However the difference between two sets of reciters is that if one of the companions would learn ten verses of the Quran, he would not go beyond them until he learned their meanings and applied them. Many of the Quran reciters today recite all of the Quran, yet they do not act in accordance with it. In fact they are very far indeed from what the Quran is saying. The proof for that is they do not take on the character and manners preached by the Quran and they do not implement its commands. This is what leads them to their state of evil and their being far away from the truth.

If you understand that, then you must know that there is no savior for us and no happiness in either this life or the hereafter except by retuning to Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him).This must be a sincere return to those sources, a return that springs from the heart. The result of the return is our acting in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah in every aspect of our religious and worldly lives. This is the path of rescue, success and happiness in the two worlds.

O mankind! This is the time for repentance, doing good deeds and fleeing from what is forbidden. So repent to Allah before the fate of death reaches you. It is only a few days, a few hours or a few minutes away before you travel to the hereafter. You will be left in the grave pit alone. Your father, child, spouse, best friends and wealth will not accompany you. You will be laid to rest within your deeds alone. If the deeds were righteous then you will have felicity, delight and bliss. If they were evil, then for you will be punishment, gloom and grief.

Allah has stated about the Hell fire:

There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell); this is with your Lord; a Decree which must be accomplished. Then We shall save those who use to fear Allah and were dutiful to Him. And We shall leave the Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers, etc.) therein (humbled) to their knees (in Hell). (19:71, 72)

That passing over the Hell fire by mankind is when they pass over it on the Day of resurrection, over the bridge that is suspended over the side of the hell fire. That bridge is sharper than a sword and hotter than a coal. People will pass over it according to their deeds. The pious and God fearing will be rescued from falling in to the fire. The evildoers will be captured by their crimes and shall be flung in to the hell fire,being piled upon one another therein. If the fire is to be passed over, how can we, O slaves of Allah be rescued from it except by fear of Allah, obedience to Him and returning to Him?

Allah has said:

O mankind! Be afraid of your Lord (by keeping your duty to Him and avoiding all evil), and fear a Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father. Verily, the Promise of Allah is true, let not then this (worldly) present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver (Satan) deceive you about Allah.(31:33)

Source: The delight of faith

Sulayman and Abu Hazim

It is narrated that when Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik (Caliph) entered Madeenah as a pilgrim, he said, "Is there any man here who met a number of Sahaabah" They said, "Yes, Abu Hazim". So he sent for him, and when he came, he said to him: “O Abu Hazim, why do we dislike death?". Abu Hazim said, "All your effort has been for the sake of the world and you have neglected the hereafter, and you hate to leave that for which you have striven to go to that for which you have made no preparation." Sulayman said, "You have spoken the truth"

Then Sulayman said "I wonder what is stored for us with Allah? Abu Hazim said, "Check what you have done in accordance with the Book of Allah?" (I.e. refer your deeds to the Book of Allah and see how far you followed the Book). Sulayman said, “Where will I find it" Abu Hazim said “in the aayah:

Verily the Abraar (pious believers of Islamic monotheism) will be in delight (paradise); and verily the fujjar (the wicked, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners and evildoers) will be in the blazing fire. (Hell)

Sulayman said, "And where is the Mercy of Allah?" Abu Hazim said," The Mercy of Allah is close to those who do good." Sulayman said, "I wonder how I will appear before Allah?" Abu Hazim said "The one who does good is like the one who has been absent when he comes back to his family, but the evildoer is like the runaway slave when he comes back to his master". Then sulayman wept loudly, and said, "Advise me." Abu Hazim said "Beware lest Allah sees you where He has forbidden you to be and does not find you where he has commanded you to be.”

Source: The Minor resurrection by 'Umar S. al-Ashqar

A sermon of Hasan al Basri

Habib al-’Abid reports: Once, when I arrived in al-Basrah, I was surprised to see that the markets were closed, and the streets empty.

I called out, “O people of Basrah, is this some kind of holiday of yours that I am unaware of?”

Someone answered, “No, but al-Hasan al-Basri is in the main gathering place (of basrah), giving a khutbah to the people.”

I hurried to his gathering , and when I arrived there, I saw him sitting down on some high ground .

He was saying:

“O people, prepare for departure, for very little time remains from this world.

Prepare to move (to the akhirah), for there is no way to stay here.

Do you not know that you will soon be surrendered to the place of trial?

Do you not know that each one of you will soon be alone with his deeds and that you will be presented (with your deeds) to Allah on the day of judgment?

He forbade you from sinning, but you have not stopped sinning.

He (threatened) you with the hell-fire, but you are neither afraid nor terrified of it.

He has encouraged you to seek our Jannah, but you do not (seem to) desire it or long for it.

Your white hairs are warning you of approaching death, so what are you waiting for?

O white-haired one, you are able to perform good deeds , so what is your excuse.

O one who obeys his mouth and his desires, who wastes his share of the akhirah by taking his entire share in this world, who persists in committing sins and evil deeds , if only I knew : what your excuse will be before him?

What argument will you put forth when you go to him? You are lost and misguided, so ask Allah, the All-Mighty, to forgive both me and you.”

(al-Mawa’idh wal-Majalis’ , pg 181)

Taken from istighfar.wordpress.com

A thin shaytan

Ibn Abi’d-Dunyâ narrated from some of the salaf that one shaytân met with another, and asked him why he was so thin. The other shaytân replied, “Because I am a with a man who mentions the name of Allah when he eats, so I cannot eat with him, and he mentions the name of Allah when he drinks, so I cannot drink with him. When he enters his home he mentions the name of Allah, so I stay outside.” The first shaytân said, “But I am with a man who does not mention the name of Allah when he eats, so I eat with him. He does not mention the name of Allah when he drinks, so I drink with him. When he enters his home he does not mention the name of Allah, so I enter with him."

Source : Uddat as-Sâbireen wa Dhâkirat ash-Shâkireen by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

How Shuhaib ar-Rumi came to Islam

About twenty years before the start of the Prophet's (Peace be upon him) mission, that is about the middle of the sixth century CE, an Arab named Sinan ibn Malik governed the city of al-Uballah on behalf of the Persian emperor. The city, which is now part of Basrah, lay on t he banks of the Euphrates River. Sinan lived in a luxurious palace on the banks of the river. He had several children and was particularly fond of one of them who were then barely five years old. His name was Suhayb. He was blond and fair-complexioned. H e was active and alert and gave much pleasure to his father.

One day Suhayb's mother took him and some members of her household to a village called ath-Thani for a picnic. What was to be a relaxing and enjoyable day turned out to be a terrifying experience that was to change the course of young Suhayb's life forever. That day the village of ath-Thani was attacked, by a raiding party of Byzantine soldiers. The guards accompanying the picnic party were overwhelmed and killed. All possessions were seized and a large number of persons were taken prisoner. Among these was Suhayb ibn Sinan.

Suhayb was taken to one of the slave markets of the Byzantine Empire, the capital of which was
Constantinople, there to be sold. Thereafter he passed from the hands of one slave master to another. His fate was no different from thousands of other slaves w ho filled the houses, the palaces and castles of Byzantine rulers and aristocrats.

Suhayb spent his boyhood and his youth as a slave. For about twenty years he stayed in Byzantine lands. This gave him the opportunity to get a rare knowledge and understanding of Byzantine/ ire and society. In the palaces of the aristocracy, he saw with his own eyes the injustices and the corruption of Byzantine life. He detested that society and later would say to himself:

"A society like this can only be purified by a deluge."

Suhayb of course grew up speaking Greek, the language of the Byzantine Empire. He practically forgot Arabic. But he never forgot that he was a son of the desert. He longed for the day when he would be free again to join his people's folk. At the first opportunity Suhayb escaped from bondage and headed straight for Makkah which was a place of refuge or asylum. There people called him Suhayb "ar-Rumi" or "the Byzantine" because of his peculiarly heavy speech and his blond hair. He became the halif of one of the aristocrats of Makkah, Abdullah ibn Judan. He engaged in trade and prospered. In fact, he became quite rich.

One day he returned to Makkah from one of his trading journeys. He was told that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) the son of Abdullah had begun calling people to believe in God alone, commanding them to be just and to do good works and prohibiting them from shameful and reprehensible deeds. He immediately enquired who Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was and where he stayed. He was told.

"(He stays) in the house or' al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam. Be careful however that no Quraysh sees you. If they see you they would do (the most terrible things to you). You are a stranger here and there is no bond of asabiyyahi to protect you, neither have you any clan to help you."

Suhayb went cautiously to the house of al-Arqam. At the door he found Ammar ibn Yasir the young son of a Yemeni father who was known to him. He hesitated for a moment then went up to Ammar and said:

"What do you want (here), Ammar?"
"Rather, what do you want here'?" countered Ammar.
"I want to go to this man and hear directly from him what he is saying."
"I also want to do that." "Then let us enter together, ala barakatillah (with the blessings of God)."

Suhayb and Ammar entered and listened to what Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was saying. They were both readily convinced of the truth of his message. The light of faith entered their hearts. At this meeting, they pledged fealty to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) declaring that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

They spent the entire day in the company of the noble Prophet(Peace be upon him). At night, under cover of darkness, they left the house of al-Arqam, their hearts aglow with the light of faith and their faces beaming with happiness.

From Alim® Online

The story of a young Muslim girl

This a true story that happened with a caller to Islam from Egypt called Amr Khalid, he said three days ago I received an e mail from a young lady from Australia, and the e mail reads as follows: and I quote:

I am a young Lebanese lady that has a Muslim father and a Christian mother, for the first ten years of my life I lived in Lebanon then we migrated to Australia which brought an end to my relationship to my connection with the Middle East.

I am currently 22 years of age and after migrating to Australia, my association with my religion also ended completely. The only thing I know is that I am a Muslimah, that's it.

I dont know what the Quran looks like, I dont know how to pray and the religion plays no significance in my life. My mother and father separated each one re marrying another person. I entered university, my mother and father left Australia leaving me behind alone with no family, no brothers and sisters, I know nothing about my ancestry in Lebanon, I lived alone and I had to work to spend on myself, I attended university in the morning and worked at the bar in the evening, I have a boyfriend and have not left out any haram except having done it without any shame. I am fully westernized, I know a little bit of Arabic and because I am extremely beautiful, I joined the beauty competition in New Zealand and won in this competition. I am planning to join a beer competition in New Zealand and I am currently modelling for magazines. During this time I used to visit a Lebanese family residing in Australia and I saw a Ramadan episode on television talking about modesty, the episode had its web addressed displayed. I went through a nervous breakdown; it was as though this episode was addressing me directly.

I am sending you this e mail to ask, is it possible for Allah to accept me, in other words forgive me? And this is where Sara's e mail ends. Subhanallah! This caller to Islam wrote back advising her about the conditions of repentance and that Allah will of course forgive her if she repents.

Two days later she contacts Amr Khalid and she says: I have repented to Allah and I have left my boyfriend and promised never to see him again, after another two days she contacts him and she says: I want to learn how to pray, then another two days passed and she says: I would like some Quranic audio tapes, so he sends her some tapes via DHL Korea.

A week goes by and he doesn't hear from her until she contacts him and informs him that she has retracted her beauty title of that particular city, then came the surprise, she contacted him saying, I have put on the hijab, however the story doesn't end here, two days after putting on the hijab she experiences a sharp pain so she goes to the doctor who diagnosis her with brain cancer and that her days are limited, she enters the hospital to be operated on, the success rate of this operation as informed by the doctors in Australia is 20 percent, this is what the doctor said. As for Sarah, listen to what she had to say,

she said: I am pleased to meet Allah, I am happy that I repented prior to finding out about my illness, I don't know whether my mother and father will know about my situation, If I live, I will support your website, for this website is my window to Islam.

To Allah we belong, and to him is our return.

May Allah have mercy on Sara who died at the age of 22.

They buried her with the Muslims in New Zealand, prior to her death, she sent a short letter to Amr Khalid saying: I lived far away from my Lord for 22 years but I repented and turned back to Allah 3 weeks ago, I don't know many Muslims besides you and this internet forum, I urge you to make du'a for me that Allah have Mercy on me and to forgive me, make du'a to Allah to guide my mother for she does not know anything about me. Signed Sarah.

From a lecture by Billal Danoun

A complaint about Sa'id ibn Aamir

In the caliphate of Umar bin al-Khattab he made Sa'id ibn Aamir Al-Jumahi the governor of Syria. Umar ibn al-Khattab once went to Syria to examine conditions there. When he arrived at Homs which was called little Kufah because, like Kufah, its inhabitants complained a lot about their leaders, he asked what they thought of their flair. They complained about him mentioning four of his actions each one more serious than the other.

"I shall bring you and him together," Umar promised. "And I pray to God that my opinion about him would not be damaged. I used to have great confidence in him."

When the meeting was convened, Umar asked what complaints they had against him. "He only comes out to us when the sun is already high," they said. "What do you have to say to that, Sa'id?" asked Umar. Sa'id was silent for a moment, and then said, "By God, I really didn't want to say this but there seems to be no way out. My family does not have a home help so I get up every morning and prepare dough for bread. I wait a little until it rises and then bake for them. I then make wads and go out to the people."

"What's your other complaint?" asked Umar. "He does not answer anyone at night," they said. To this Sa'id reluctantly said, "By God, I really wouldn't have liked to disclose this also, but I have left the day for them and the night for God, Great and Sublime is He."

"And what's your other complaint about him?" asked Umar. "He does not come out to us for one day in every month," they said. To this Sa'id replied, " O Amir al-Mu'mineen and I do not have any clothes except what's on me. This I wash once a month and I wait for it to dry. Then I go out in the later part of the day."

"Any other complaint about him?" asked Umar. "From time to time, he blacks out in meetings," they said. To this Sa'id replied, "I witnessed the killing of Khubayb ibn Adiy when I was a disbeliever. I saw the Quraysh cutting him and saying, "Would you like Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to be in your place?" to which Khubayb replied, "I would not wish to be safe and secure among my family while a thorn hurts Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to." By God, whenever I remember that day and how I failed to come to his aid, I only think that God would not forgive me and I black out."

Thereupon Umar said, "Praise be to God. My impression of him has not been tainted.

Source: Companions of The Prophet (Peace be upon him) Vol.1, By Abdul Wahid Hamid