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tawakkull · 3 months

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ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 255

Rida (Resignation)

Rida (resignation) means showing no rancor or rebellion against misfortune, and accepting all manifestations of Destiny without complaint and even better peacefully. In other words, one should welcome all things and events, even those normally associated with distress and terror. Another beautiful definition of resignation is having or showing pleased acceptance of God’s treatment whether it seems agreeable or disagreeable to us.

Even though believers must adopt resignation of their free will at the beginning of the spiritual journey, in reality it is a direct gift of God to those whom He loves. For this reason, unlike patience, neither God Almighty nor the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, commanded it; they only recommended it. Although there is a narration attributed to the Prophet Let him who does not endure misfortunes and show resignation to Divine decrees find another Lord for himself the scholars of Traditions did not accept it as an authentic Prophetic Tradition.

Some saints have considered resignation a higher station than reliance and surrender, while others have regarded it, like other states, as a Divine gift or radiance that sometimes appears and then disappears. Still others, like Imam Qushayri, have seen it as connected with or dependent upon the servant’s free will in the beginning, and as a state or condition of the heart in the end. The Tradition: One who is pleased with God as the Lord and Islam as the religion and Muhammad as the Prophet has tasted the delight of belief suggests that a person must exercise his or her free will to obtain resignation in the beginning, although it is a Divine gift in the end.

Being pleased with God’s Divinity means loving and paying due respect to Him, turning to Him in worship and for help, and expecting everything only from Him. Being pleased with His Lordship signifies that we welcome His decrees for us, raise no objection to any misfortune befalling us (no matter how severe), confide in Him only concerning His treatment of us, and are pleased with whatever He does. Being pleased with the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, denotes unconditional surrender to him, preferring his guidance and directions over our personal views, and using all of our faculties to understand not to criticize his actions and words and the Revelations he transmitted. As for being pleased with Islam, it requires, as declared in: He who seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him (3:85) accepting Islam as the ideal set of maxims and norms, and practicing them in one’s individual, familial, and social life.

In some circumstances, such a degree of resignation may cause one to feel or be left alone even when in a community. However, those who have acquired God’s nearness and follow the way of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, do not feel such estrangement, and those who have a deep familiarity with God do not feel lonely. Rather, they feel God as nearer to themselves and overflow with greater love of and familiarity with Him when they are alone and pray to Him, saying: O God, cause me to remain alone more frequently and do not leave me to the unfairness of the things that will cause me to fall distant from You. Make me feel Your ever-present company with me.

As mentioned earlier, resignation is a Divine gift that can be acquired only by an individual’s conscious decision to exercise free will at the beginning of the journey. One can attain the rank of resignation through depth of belief, solemnity in religious actions, and profound consciousness of worshipping God as if seeing Him. To be favored with the rank of resignation, one also must transcend the ranks of reliance, surrender, and commitment. Since it is extremely difficult to attain the rank of resignation by free will, God Almighty did not order it; He only advised it and highly praised those who attained it.

If one sets out on the journey to attain the rank of resignation at the end, he or she must be solemn in his or her relations with the Lord; gratefully accept all bestowed (and unsought) Divine gifts as His blessings; remain silent about any deprivation; fulfill all religious obligations even in times of distress, loneliness, and hardship; and pray in the presence of God Almighty as if entering a bridal chamber. The most essential foundation of resignation is a continuous feeling of His company in one’s consciousness and experience, discovering Him afresh at every moment in one’s heart.

Fear and hope relate to one’s worldly life, for they render impossible all feelings of despair and security against God’s punishment while in this world. They have no relevance to the Hereafter, except for the reward they cause to be bestowed in the Hereafter. By contrast, being pleased with God and loving Him continue eternally, and resignation to His judgment and being pleased with Him is a source of spiritual peace and happiness in both worlds.

This does not mean that those who have obtained resignation and God’s pleasure or approval are free of anxiety, hardship, and suffering, for there remain many annoying and displeasing things along their way. However, champions of resignation regard them as pure mercies, for resignation or God’s pleasure changes the “poison” they drink into “elixir,” and the troubles they encounter cause them to fall even deeper in love with the Beloved.

The way of resignation, although difficult to follow, is safe and direct. It sometimes leads the wayfarer to the summit of human perfection after a single attempt. Just as a believer can reach that summit by strenuous effort in the way of God or by studying the universe (as if it were a book) in order to feel and find God everywhere (although He is contained in neither time nor place), the summit can also be reached through one’s inner suffering and sorrow arising from personal shortcomings and helplessness upon encountering difficulties while searching for a way to progress on the path.

Resignation results in a thrilling joy or a heavenly breeze from God’s being pleased with the believer that is proportional to the depth of one’s fear and hope. It does not come from feeling God’s nearness, worship and devotion, the struggle against sin and the temptations of one’s carnal self and Satan. Rather, it is a spiritual delight merged with hope and expectation, regulated by self-possession, a direct gift from Him, and a breath of mercy associated only with this station of being pleased with God. This station requires the self-regulation of one’s thoughts, considerations, plans, hopes, expectations, feelings, and actions according to God’s Will. Thus, seeing it as a way to experience pleasure and delight in the expectation of acquiring that pleasure and delight shows one’s disrespect of this station, which is based on the purity of one’s intention and sincerity. In reality, this applies to all other states and stations attained through actions of the heart, or which are themselves actions of the heart. One must love and pursue His approval or pleasure for His sake only.

Heroes of the spiritual life have expressed their views about resignation and being pleased with God since the early days of Sufism. According to Dhu al-Nun al-Misri, resignation means preferring God’s wishes over one’s own in advance, accepting His decree without complaint based on the realization that what-ever God wills and does is good, [1] and overflowing with love of Him even while in the grip of misfortune. ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin describes resignation as an initiate’s determination not to pursue anything opposed to God’s Will and pleasure.[2] According to Abu ‘Uthman, resignation denotes welcoming with the same mood all Divine decrees and disposals, regardless of whether they issue from His Grace or His Majesty or Wrath, and having no conscious preference for one or the other. God’s Messenger referred to this when he said: I ask You for resignation after You have decreed something. [3] Being pleased in advance with God’s decree means being determined to show resignation, while resignation signifies enduring calamity when it occurs.

In short, resignation means that an initiate feels no resentment against or displeasure with whatever issues from God’s Divinity or Lordship. Rather, the initiate welcomes it gladly and is ready to accept or endure his or her fate without complaint. The initiate does not upset the balance of his or her heart. Rather, he or she preserves personal integrity and straightforwardness even when confronted with the most distressing and shocking events, considers God’s predestination recorded in the Supreme Preserved Tablet, and thus feels no regret or sorrow for what happens.

For ordinary people, resignation means not objecting to what God has willed for them. For those with a deeper spiritual knowledge of God, resignation means welcoming their individual destinies. For those who live a life of profound spirituality, resignation means that, without paying attention to their own considerations, they are always attentive to what He wants them to do and how He wants them to be. The verses: O soul at rest, return to your Lord, well pleasing and pleased. Enter among My servants, and enter My Paradise. (89:27-30) encompass all degrees of resignation, and contain responses to the desires of those resigned to the Divine Will and Destiny.

As seen in these same verses, attaining the station of resignation and pleasing God and being pleased with Him depend upon one’s turning to God Almighty. This means complete devotion to, reliance upon, and surrender to Him and committing all affairs to Him. One who has attained this station longs for death and meeting with God, dies with a heart at rest, and is included among the righteous in Paradise.

From another perspective, ordinary people show their resignation by ordering their lives according to God’s commandments in willing submission to His Lordship and administrative authority. This is expressed in the verses: Say: Shall I seek another than God for Lord, when He is Lord of all things? (6:165), and: Say: Shall I choose for a protecting friend other than God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, Who feeds and Himself is not fed? (6:14) Such a degree of resignation is essential to whoever aspires to true belief in God’s Unity and true love of God. Every believer must consciously submit himself or herself to God’s guidance; associate no partners with Him in belief and in ordering one’s life; love Him alone as the Lord, Deity, and Ruler of humanity and the universe; and love others who are worthy to be loved only in His name and in accordance with the limits He has established.

The second degree of resignation that of those with a certain degree of knowledge of God, is manifested in their welcoming God’s decrees and ordinances without objection. It is also seen in the control they have acquired over their hearts, a control so strong that their hearts do not swerve even for one moment. Such resignation is regarded as the relation between God and those hearts furnished with knowledge of Him.

The third degree of resignation is attained by those purified, saintly scholars who are pleased with what pleases God. One who has been rewarded with such resignation feels no personal anger, joy, or grief. Such a person, no longer feeling, thinking, or desiring for himself or herself, experiences the pleasure of annihilation in the Lord, for only His Will and choices remain.

[1] Al-Qushayri, Al-Risala, 195. [2] Ibid., 195. [3] Al-Nasa’i, “Sahw,” 62; Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 5:191. The first degree of resignation, obligatory upon every believer, is the beginning of the way leading to nearness to God, for it is related to free will and a requirement of belief in His Unity. The second degree must be acquired, both because it is the continuation of the first and the basis of the third degree, and because it leads one to consider nearness to God.

The third degree, a Divine gift rather than a station attainable by free will and individual effort, is neither obligatory nor necessary. However, it is commendable to desire it whole-heartedly. This degree encompasses the first two, for aspiring after (full) resignation and living so as to attain it is an essential principle of Islamic life. However, its full attainment is a gift bestowed in return for this aspiration. In other words, the first two degrees relate to God’s Names and Attributes, which can be attained by journeying in their shadow or their guidance, while the third is connected with the reward, enlightenment, or radiance given in return for them.

The verse: Their reward is with their Lord; Gardens of Eden, beneath which rivers flow; where they will dwell forever. God is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him. That is for him who fears his Lord reverently (98:8) points to all of these degrees. This same truth was expressed by our master, upon him be peace and blessings, who said: One who is well pleased with God as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, as Messenger has tasted the pleasure of faith.

I hope that the following considerations will direct the feelings and thoughts of those who desire to attain resignation, help them to overcome the difficulties encountered on this path, and to control and resist their worldly and carnal impulses.

– Human beings are only role players in the Divine drama played out on the stage of this world. Therefore, they have no right or authority to interfere with the quality or form of their assigned part. Whatever happens to an individual has been predetermined by God, Who considered his or her free will, actions, and thoughts in this world. Only God can change this.

– If one really loves God, whatever comes from Him must be welcomed. It is very difficult to perceive the wisdom and good or God’s purpose in some events. Sometimes what is good for us is hidden in bad happenings: It may be that you dislike a thing although it is good for you, and love a thing although it is bad for you. God knows, but you know not (2:216).

– A Muslim is one who has fully submitted to God. Thus, such an individual cannot be displeased with God’s actions and operations. A believer has a good opinion of everybody else, so how can he or she be suspicious of God? The Qur’an forbids us to suspect other people (48:12); how much worse it would be if we suspected God and His acts! Since all things and events were preordained and created by God, and since whatever He creates is either good in itself or on account of its result, a Muslim should keep his or her heart at rest and always be optimistic.

– If our obligations or responsibilities, as well as the misfortunes and difficulties we endure or seek to overcome, have an essential place in our training and education to prepare us for the eternal life of happiness in the Hereafter, then we should fulfill them or endure them willingly. An individual’s resignation to or being pleased with whatever comes from Him means that He is also pleased with that particular individual. Being displeased with the acts and manifestations of Divine Lordship causes distress, grief, and restlessness, while living as resigned to God’s decrees gives relief and exhilaration, even though one has to suffer great difficulties. In short, the continuous pursuit of resignation is an invitation to Divine succor.

– Resignation to Destiny and the manifestations of God, the Truth, is a very important means of obtaining happiness. The truthful and confirmed one, upon him be peace and blessings, illuminates this: It is fortunate for man to show resignation to what God decrees, while it is unfortunate for him to feel indignation against what God decrees. [4] Being resigned to God’s decrees and operations fills one’s heart with breezes from the Divine Realm, while displeasure with them fills it with whims and suspicions coming from Satan. Those who resign themselves to His decrees make their lives into an “embroidery” of golden threads of thankfulness, while those who are displeased with them grind even their most positive works into nothing between the millstones of ingratitude. Showing such displeasure, an all-to-common attitude on the part of many, is one of Satan’s most effective ways of invading one’s soul.

– A believer may join the inhabitants of the heavens by welcoming God’s treatment, which is an honor bestowed by God. One who is pleased with God is following the right guidance, while one who is not pleased follows nothing more than personal fancies. Resignation to God’s judgments or decrees means preferring His wishes to our own. It hardly needs saying what the opposite attitude implies.

– Resignation is like an orchard whose trees yield the fruits of worship and devotion; sins and offenses are the results of being deprived of it. Resignation prevents personal conflicts with God in the believer’s inner world, and means respecting the principle expressed in the supplication of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings: It is pure justice in whatever way You judge about me. The first sin was committed when Satan did not resign himself to what God had decreed for him. [5]

– One can have no greater reward or higher rank than God’s being pleased with him or her, which is only attainable by personal resignation to what He has decreed. This is also the greatest reward that one can receive in Paradise: God has promised the believers, men and women, Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever, and beautiful mansions in Gardens of Eden. But God’s good pleasure [His being pleased with them] is greater still. That is the supreme triumph (9:72).

– Resignation is based on the most important essential of religion: reliance upon God. Its essential quality can be perceived by means of certainty about God’s existence and Unity. It is embedded in love of God, and causes one to gain eternal happiness. It is rooted in loyalty to God and truthfulness, and denotes actual thankfulness. Resignation is such a magical lift that those who obtain it will reach their destination quickly. Love and sincerity, as well as penitence and contrition, are flowers growing in the climate of resignation. It is useless to search for such virtues or qualities in hearts that are not set on resignation and obtaining God’s pleasure.

– However numerous those rewards given in return for acting and speaking to attain God’s pleasure may be, they can be counted and are therefore limited. The rewards given for such actions as resignation, which is done with the heart, are proportional to the heart’s depth and so cannot be estimated.

As the greatest rank in God’s sight, resignation or God’s pleasure is a final target that has been sought by the greatest members of humanity, from the glory of creation, upon him be peace and blessings, to all other Prophets, saints, and purified scholars who have passed the final test through sincerity, certainty, reliance, surrender, and confidence. They have surmounted many difficulties and obstacles, and bore many unendurable sufferings and pains. The following verses seek to describe the sighs of such people:

The suffering You cause is more pleasing than having fortune, And Your vengeance is lovelier to me than my own soul. I am in love with both His torment and His favor; How strange it is that I am in love with things opposite to each other. By God, if I go from this thorn of affliction to the garden of delight, I will be one who, like a nightingale, always groans or sighs. How strange it is that when a nightingale starts to sing, It sings melodies of both the thorn and the rose.

The following verses of Nasimi are also beautiful:

I am a suffering lover, O dear One, I will not abandon You; Even if You cut through my chest with a dagger, I will not abandon You. Even if they cut me into two from head to foot like Zachariah, Put your saw on my head, O Carpenter, I will not abandon You. Even if they burn me into ashes and blow away my ashes, They will hear my ashes sigh: O Veiler (of sins), I will not abandon You.

The rank or station of resignation, of being pleased with God and obtaining His pleasure includes all other ranks. The melodies sung in it are: Whatever You do to me or however You treat me, it is good.

O God! Guide us to what You will love and be pleased with, and bestow peace and blessings upon our Master and the Master of the Messengers.

[4] Al-Tirmidhi, “Qadar,” 15; Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:168. [5] Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:391, 452.

#allah #god #islam #muslim #quran #revert #convert #help #revert help #revert help team #hadith #islamhelp #how to convert to islam #convert to islam #welcome to islam

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wisdomrays · 2 years

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RIDA (Resignation): Part 1

Rida (resignation) means showing no rancor or rebellion against misfortune, and accepting all manifestations of Destiny without complaint and even better peacefully. In other words, one should welcome all things and events, even those normally associated with distress and terror. Another beautiful definition of resignation is having or showing pleased acceptance of God's treatment whether it seems agreeable or disagreeable to us.

Some saints have considered resignation a higher station than reliance and surrender, while others have regarded it, like other states, as a Divine gift or radiance that sometimes appears and then disappears. Still others, like Imam Qushayri, have seen it as connected with or dependent upon the servant's free will in the beginning, and as a state or condition of the heart in the end. The Tradition: One who is pleased with God as the Lord and Islam as the religion and Muhammad as the Prophet has tasted the delight of belief suggests that a person must exercise his or her free will to obtain resignation in the beginning, although it is a Divine gift in the end.

Being pleased with God's Divinity means loving and paying due respect to Him, turning to Him in worship and for help, and expecting everything only from Him. Being pleased with His Lordship signifies that we welcome His decrees for us, raise no objection to any misfortune befalling us (no matter how severe), confide in Him only concerning His treatment of us, and are pleased with whatever He does. Being pleased with the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, denotes unconditional surrender to him, preferring his guidance and directions over our personal views, and using all of our faculties to understand not to criticize his actions and words and the Revelations he transmitted. As for being pleased with Islam, it requires, as declared in: He who seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him (3:85) accepting Islam as the ideal set of maxims and norms, and practicing them in one's individual, familial, and social life.

In some circumstances, such a degree of resignation may cause one to feel or be left alone even when in a community. However, those who have acquired God's nearness and follow the way of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, do not feel such estrangement, and those who have a deep familiarity with God do not feel lonely. Rather, they feel God as nearer to themselves and overflow with greater love of and familiarity with Him when they are alone and pray to Him, saying: O God, cause me to remain alone more frequently and do not leave me to the unfairness of the things that will cause me to fall distant from You. Make me feel Your ever-present company with me.

As mentioned earlier, resignation is a Divine gift that can be acquired only by an individual's conscious decision to exercise free will at the beginning of the journey. One can attain the rank of resignation through depth of belief, solemnity in religious actions, and profound consciousness of worshipping God as if seeing Him. To be favored with the rank of resignation, one also must transcend the ranks of reliance, surrender, and commitment. Since it is extremely difficult to attain the rank of resignation by free will, God Almighty did not order it; He only advised it and highly praised those who attained it.

If one sets out on the journey to attain the rank of resignation at the end, he or she must be solemn in his or her relations with the Lord; gratefully accept all bestowed (and unsought) Divine gifts as His blessings; remain silent about any deprivation; fulfill all religious obligations even in times of distress, loneliness, and hardship; and pray in the presence of God Almighty as if entering a bridal chamber. The most essential foundation of resignation is a continuous feeling of His company in one's consciousness and experience, discovering Him afresh at every moment in one's heart.

Fear and hope relate to one's worldly life, for they render impossible all feelings of despair and security against God's punishment while in this world. They have no relevance to the Hereafter, except for the reward they cause to be bestowed in the Hereafter. By contrast, being pleased with God and loving Him continue eternally, and resignation to His judgment and being pleased with Him is a source of spiritual peace and happiness in both worlds.

This does not mean that those who have obtained resignation and God's pleasure or approval are free of anxiety, hardship, and suffering, for there remain many annoying and displeasing things along their way. However, champions of resignation regard them as pure mercies, for resignation or God's pleasure changes the "poison" they drink into "elixir," and the troubles they encounter cause them to fall even deeper in love with the Beloved.

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cursed-minus-seventy-five-points · 2 years

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Basic Cube Building

The pillars of any cube are its 10 archetypes; with each archetype centered around a particular color pair. Each archetype consists of 14 cards:

1 dual-colored “payoff” card

3 creatures for each color in the pair

Cards that make creature tokens when they enter the battlefield or resolve count as creatures

3 non-creatures for each color in the pair

Be sure to consider lands that produce only one color of mana

1 colorless card

Be sure to consider lands that produce only colorless mana

The dual-colored card should usually be a permanent, and should reward playing a certain strategy with either a persistent buff or by generating repeated value.

The cards in the archetype should generally be of a variety of different mana costs; tending to skew lower.

As an example, we’ll build an archetype around Urza, Prince of Kroog.

He gives artifact creatures a large bonus and can (expensively) make copies of them.

Considering this, I add:

White Creatures: Court Homunculus, Barbed Spike, Cataclysmic Gearhulk

White Non-Creatures: Tempered Steel, Glass Casket, Paladin's Shield

Blue Creatures: Master of Etherium, Armguard Familiar, Sharding Sphinx

Blue Non-Creatures: Winged Boots, Disruption Protocol, Rise and Shine

Colorless Card: Steel Overseer

Good Payoff cards:

Edgar, Charmed Groom - Rewards you for playing vampires

Savai Thundermane - Rewards cycling

Stonebrow, Krosan Hero - Rewards tramplers

Bad Payoff cards:

Centaur Healer - Its effect doesn't scale with any of the other things you're doing.

Death Frenzy - Not a permanent.

Ral, Caller of Storms - Its effects don't scale with any of the other things you're doing.

Cube Breakdown

14 cards/archetype

1 cycle of dual lands

5 role-players per color

5 colorless role-players

After building each archetype, you will need 10 dual lands; one of each color:

You can do one cycle of 10 or a cycle of allied and of enemy.

Finally, you add the 30 “role-players”; 5 of each color and 5 colorless. These cards are usually

removal

generically efficient threats that don’t fit into any archetypes

pet cards

cycles

Cube Breakdown

14 cards/archetype

1 cycle of dual lands

5 role-players per color

5 colorless role-players

At the end of this process, your cube might look like this:

Archetypes

Artifact Aggro

Urza, Prince of Kroog

Armguard Familiar

Barbed Spike

Cataclysmic Gearhulk

Court Homunculus

Disruption Protocol

Glass Casket

Master of Etherium

Paladin's Shield

Rise and Shine

Sharding Sphinx

Steel Overseer

Tempered Steel

Winged Boots

Instant Speed

Nymris, Oona's Trickster

Aetherize

Bonds of Quicksilver

Brineborn Cutthroat

Dreamspoiler Witches

Drudge Reavers

Faerie Duelist

Faerie Tauntings

High-Speed Hoverbike

Hired Blade

Mutual Destruction

Omen of the Sea

Succumb to Temptation

Wavebreak Hippocamp

Sacrifice

Body Dropper

Artillerize

Blood Aspirant

Blood for Bones

Costly Plunder

Furnace Celebration

Gixian Infiltrator

Havoc Jester

Prowling Geistcatcher

Rapacious One

Ruthless Knave

Taste of Death

Thatcher Revolt

Witch's Oven

Trample

Stonebrow, Krosan Hero

Agressive Mammoth

Almighty Bushwagg

Archetype of Aggression

Bronzeplate Boar

Fire Urchin

Fists of Ironwood

Footfall Crater

Hornbash Mentor

Messenger’s Speed

Meteoric Mace

Ram Through

Rancor

Vorrac Battlehorns

Vigilance

Frondland Felidar

Adarkar Valkyrie

Bitterbow Sharpshooters

Brave the Sands

Brushstrider

Builder's Blessing

Cryptolith Rite

Half-Elf Monk

Overwhelm

Segovian Angel

Sprouting Renewal

Swallow Whole

Warden of Geometries

Wary Okapi

Vampires

Edgar, Charmed Groom

Anointed Deacon

Arterial Flow

Blood Gutton

Bloodbond Vampire

Cradle of Vitality

Duskborne Skymarcher

Gift of Fangs

Glass-Cast Heart

Martyr of Dusk

Queen’s Commission

Squire’s Devotion

Vampire’s Zeal

Voldaren Estate

Dice

Farideh, Devil's Chosen

Arcane Endeavor

Arcane Investigator

Berserker's Frenzy

Brazen Dwarf

Chaos Channeler

Chaos Dragon

Critical Hit

Diviner's Portent

Feywild Trickster

Goblin Morningstar

Netherese Puzzle-Ward

Scion of Stygia

Vexing Puzzlebox

Graveyard

Lord of Extinction

Cabal Therapy

Crawling Sensation

Crow of Dark Tidings

Dakmor Salvage

Dodgy Jalopy

First-Sphere Gargantua

Greater Mossdog

Kraul Foragers

Necrotic Wound

Reassembling Skeleton

Splinterfright

Sylvan Might

Wand of Vertebrae

Cycling

Savai Thundermane

Abandoned Sarcophagus

Astral Drift

Cast Out

Desert Cerodon

Drannith Healer

Drannith Stinger

Flameblade Adept

Flourishing Fox

Go for Blood

Renewed Faith

Slice and Dice

Unpredictable Cyclone

Winged Shepherd

+1/+1 Counters

Bred for the Hunt

Animation Module

Arbor Armament

Essence Capture

Feral Hydra

Fertilid

Floodchaser

Forced Adaptation

Helium Squirter

Ordeal of Thassa

Simic Fluxmage

Solidarity of Heroes

Swarm Shambler

Unity of Purpose

Land: Skybridge Towers, Waterfront District, Tramway Station, Racers' Ring, Botanical Plaza, Silverquill Campus, Prismari Campus, Witherbloom Campus, Lorehold Campus, Quandrix Campus

Role-Players

White

Destroy Evil

Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant

Marble Diamond

Neck Snap

Wrath of God

Blue

Opt

Repulse

Sky Diamond

Tromokratis

Urza's Rebuff

Black

Charcoal Diamond

Diabolic Tutor

Doomfall

Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief

Murder

Red

Abrade

Etali, Primal Storm

Fire Diamond

Reckless Impulse

Twinferno

Green

You Happen On a Glade

Broken Wings

Llanowar Elves

Moss Diamond

Silvos, Rogue Elemental

Colorless

Gateway Plaza

Smuggler's Copter

Sword of Vengeance

Ulamog's Crusher

Unstable Obelisk

#magic the gathering #mtgcube

0 notes

jiggolo · 2 years

Text

oh yeah baby

#almighty rancor

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volot · 3 years

Text

@arucrea ┊it’s the beginning of the end.

wintry, austere... surely, this land bears some resemblance to the hisui of old.

fresh snowfall crunches beneath the press of his boots -- so new and yet still so worn with age -- as he proceeds down the powdered path. the freezing chill threatens to nip at his skin, slip beneath the layers he’d adorned and bathe him blue with winter’s kiss: but the fire burning within the deepest parts of him, untamed at his core, presses him on to endure, endure, endure.

( his desire, even now, cannot be contained: even when rejected by the god he seeks so desperately, he has persevered. knocked from the highest point towards heaven, his crawl back skyward has resumed for a hundred years. fingers rent and raw, teeth grit, refusing to give in: bitterness denies it, ambition destroys it, the divine mission and curiosity pumping the arrhythmic beat of his heart; the blood of the ancient sinnohans burns within his veins, demanding no rest until he has finished what he started. until he, chosen, will witness his ideals fully realized. until a world this cruel is born anew. until god answers for all it has denied him in silence, and bends to his whims. )

a lift, a vault, a leap; he lands, with some minor stumbling, over the fallen tree in front of the split-mouth road he’s hounded. the trail through the undiscovered territory between johto and sinnoh had been a tricky one, maps unreliable and the people scarce; a spit of land that preserves the past so clearly, that if it hadn’t been for the sparse pickings of homes and small settlements on the blurring horizon, perhaps he would have wagered it was a photograph of hisui. untouched by time. not so unlike himself.

but it hadn’t been an impossible task. word with kind strangers had given him a lead and an inch to work with, and when paid in the information he sought, he charged forward with reckless abandon. he was so close, so close -- the sinjoh ruins, the last remaining structure of his people, a holy site long forgotten, a place of calling for arceus, was only a finger’s brush away--

now, it was right over his palm, the lines of it -- his destiny -- matching over where the temple resided. when he rises from his full height and takes in the sight before him, he’s not sure what leaves his chest tighter: the sudden influx of air, or the unforgiving temperature.

had it been the latter, it hadn’t mattered. his heart skips a beat, then begins again: faster now, hammering away in his chest. excitement thunders in his neck, his wrist, in-between his ribs: his mouth trembles, a shuddering breath lost on the cloud of cold that expels from his chapped lips. teeth shine in his smile, wolfish and with unwarranted glee, awe and accomplishment burning in his wide-eyed gaze.

finally. finally.

“the sinjoh ruins... at last, at long last...!” the words fall from his lips in disbelief, to a party of no one other than himself, voice riding on a tremor as a laugh creeps out. his eyes crinkle, head tipping towards the dreary sky above. snowflakes stick to his reddening skin and cling to his eyelashes as he turns a sneer towards the heaven again, as if god will finally peer from its haven and witness its chosen one, scorned, after all this time.

“almighty arceus...” he breathes, ravenous and rancorous, a prayer and a curse, his sneer gone into a sardonic. with only the wilderness to hear his plea, he demands from the heavens again: “so, this is your altar, is it...? hidden away from humanity, where the birth of a new world begins... the final riddle i’ve been looking for! surely, you must have brought me here, haven’t you?”

silence. nothing. the world yawns and stretches on, suffocatingly quiet. the eye behind his curtain of his hair twitches, its gift long since taken from him. ( why, if god had any heart within it, would it rob him so?! why would it steal its blessing from him, and leave him to be cursed?! ) bitterness coats the back of his tongue, turning his smile sour, as he whispers a promise: “no... of course you have, of course. for a century, i’ve searched, solving every mystery... and now, you will heed my call.”

forward, volo charges -- towards history, to unravel the final mystery of the universe, and turn the cosmos on an axis.

#hi jack x2 Let's Go B)#lets say hypothetically... he has some of the plates :) for a little extra flavor #ic.#verse: 04.#arucrea #long post #love making volo just deranged and monologue love it lo [knowing what happens in this thread]#sorry this got long jack u dont gotta match my length i just had to get........ exposition out to set. The Mood #q.

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art-now-india · 3 years

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WALL OF EXOTIC FLOWERS, Baljit Chadha

FLOWERMAN CREATED A WORLD RECORD http://baljitchadha.blogspot.in The exhibition with the most paintings of flowers in the world This certificate is given by WORLD RECORD ASSOCIATION / LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS-INDIA -2014 Baljit-chadha.artistwebsites.com http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&videoid=fCTt1B51fJA http://www.1wra.org/index.php/Worldrecord/detail/id/1241 MY NEW SERIES ZEN MOKSHA FLOWERS/ MANN FLOWERS/MIYOKO FLOWERS /BALJIT’S IKEBANA A PURE HEAVENLY GIFT FOR YOU FRIENDS N RELATIVES • THESE ZEN-MOKSH FLOWERS ARE CREATED WITH A SENSE OF GIVING INNER PEACE,TRANQUILITY, HAPPINESS, SOLACE AND A SENSE OF FULFILMENT, ONENESS WITH THE SUPREME. • I HAVE TRIED TO BRING THEASE ELEMENTS IN MY PAINTINGS,THE FLOWERS YOU SEE DON’T EXISTS, THE MOVMENTS OF MY HANDS,FLOW OF COLORS ARE THE GIFT OF ALMIGHTY GOD. • ZEN-JAPANEASE ZEN IS A SPIRTUAL INSPIRATION; THEY ARE PURE EXPRESSION OF ARTIST’S SPIRITUAL AWARENESS. JAPANEASE ZEN ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN MEANT TO TOUCH PEOPLE FAR AND WIDE. ZEN PAINTINGS ARE OF GREAT POWER, PURE, AND TOUCHING DEEP IN THE HEART, MIND AND SOUL. • MOKSHA- Freedom from life circle. Moksha is attained by dis identification with the body and mind, which are temporary and subject to change, and realization of our true identity Moksh is positive concept in two important ways. First it stands for the realization of the ultimate Reality, a real enlightenment. The mukta is not just free from this or that, It is the master of sense and self, fearless and devoid of rancor, upright yet humble, treating all creatures as if they were he himself, wanting nothing, clinging to nothing. In Sikhism one rises from the life of do’s and don'ts to that of perfection — a state of "at-one-ment" with the All-self. Secondly, the mukta is not just a friend for all, he even strives for their freedom as well. He no longer lives for himself, he lives for others. • APPRICIATIONS • Very interesting work Baljit, the spontaneity, the original technique and the spiritual journey! • i hear music from your flower paintings. What a happy movement! • Baljit! I appreciate that! You have a grand body of work here that shows me some Van Gogh, Miro and Monet and countless others within your style and creativeness. A magnificent talent to behold and appreciate! Keep it up! • I like the original exposition of your beautiful artwork. • Beautiful, cheerful, great colors! • Very fine expressive all Your floral art, not usual • Simply beautiful .It is with great pride and pleasure that I am FEATURING your artwork this week on our special edition of our TOP FEATURES on the Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery Homepage. Your work shows expertise and love in the presentation of this fine art piece. Thanks much for sharing your works with us and being a member of our family of friends and fine artists in our WFS group. Aboard. Liked, Forever .This series is enchanting Baljit, all wonderful visions. Masterful use of your colors creating serene energy. .Baljit, I love these stalks of beauty is a true honor and privilege to FEATURE this creative and wondrous piece of art work on the WFS site, from one of our honored and prestigious members. This awesome piece of beauty is what we are looking for to promote and let others see, including other artists and potential customers, as your works are some of the Best of the Best in my Book! Thanks much for sharing this beauty with us. Liked Forever, Elvisty and love the colors of the floral stems. • • PROFILE • Baljit Singh Chadha • • I grew up as a curious, investigative child helped by my parents’ encouragement to explore and to learn without fear and hesitation. The wonder and awe in God’s creation always held me spell bound. I ploughed my curiosity through love of creation and creativity. At a young age of nineteen years I sailed to a land called Japan that has for long centuries been spiritually bound with India. Like a sleepy rose the petals of my creativity opened as I drank like a honey-bee the nectar of ancient and highly evolved culture of Japan. Japanese art of painting is high meditation in feel and in expression. My Japanese godmother Ms Otha Miyoko a great Japanese artist was my first teacher. She affected my style and expression early on. My journey in art continued and I evolved a style of art that has minimal gap in feeling and expression. Rapidity and quickness of expression in my art comes from the well of inner spirituality. My art is not planned, thought-out and cerebral it is based on spontaneity. Abstract Expressionism is a wider term and my art follows it in variegated dimensions. In my art I experiment with different painting instruments and techniques. My dependence on brushwork is rather limited. I frequently and freely use spatulas, wooden sticks, masking, and sand-mix, push bottles and what comes handy in the moment. I use acrylic with mix media. I have developed acrylic based glazes that were possible earlier only with oil paints. The glazes impart a charm similar to enamel glazes. I created a new technique called ( FLOAT ON COLORS). My art journey finds depth and width in continuous experimentation, forays into the unknown and choosing challenging metaphors of expression. I did an installation (Wall of Divine flowers) with 12000 painting on 12-12-12-12hrs-12mnts-12sec at Zorba in New Delhi and donated entire collection to Smile Foundation New Delhi, for a girl child education. Where my art journey will take me next I leave to higher forces. Presently I offer you ZEN MOKSHA FLOWERS /MANN FLOWERS/MIYOKO FLOWERS AND WALL OF HEAVENLY FLOWERS as my next creations. Group Shows;- Newyork, Singapore, • Canvas Art Gallery , Nehru Place, Delhi 2006 • Studio Vasant, Vasant Vihar New Delhi, 2006, 2007 • Prabhat NGO, New Delhi, 2007 • Nithari, Canvas Art Gallery, 2007 • Sahaj Sankalp, Habitat Centre, New Delhi , 2008 • Aspiration, Charity show at Epicenter Gurgaon, 2008 • New Finds, Singapore, 2008 • Group Show at World Fine Art Gallery, New York, 2008 • Reverberation Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2008 • Art for Prabhat Presents 'The Eternal Circle' MAY-2009 • Art Ponixs Mumbai-2013 Solo Show • Studio Vasant, New Delhi, 2006,2007 • Studio Vasant, New Delhi 2008 • DLF Mall, Saket, New Delhi 2009 • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI-2011 • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI-2012 • WALL OF DEVINE FLOWERS-ZORBA,NEWDELHI 2012(world record) • WALL OF EXOTIC FLOWERS-EPI CENTRE GURGAON-2013 • HOME& interior expo, EPI centor.GURGAON-2013 • Independence day Celebration-EPI CENTRE-2013 • Art-Phonix-NEHRU CENTRE MUMBAI-2014 Artist friend Baljit S. Chadha has a lasting honeymoon with flowers in his artistic expression. He paints sometimes with frugality of a Zen master. I can understand that as he had his early training in painting in Japan where he lived and studied as a teenager and had the benefit of the tutelage of great Japanese masters. But his present series on flowers nonplussed me with wonder and joy. He has in the present works a new dimension and a new personality of flowers that I have not seen before. This is because he has distilled the expression from his inner joy and happiness that is the essence of flowers per se and not from their forms. His flowers have a nearly expressionistic, abstract persona. He uses a watercolour like free flow of colour and tonalities to invest his work with a sensual poetry. His works are acrylic on paper and therefore amenable to idiosyncratic overflows that lends a fresh charm to his oeuvre. Another landmark quality of Baljit’s new works is that they are rendered in fiery shiny glazes. As we know glazes are traditionally done in oil paint medium. But Baljit has worked them with acrylic colour and without the use of pure impasto. The colours diluted with water float and embrace each other and still have lustrous intensity. Baljit Chadha has created a fresh stylistic edifice and his creative expression jumps from the visible-familiar to spiritually felt flowers in a divine Eden. Viktor Vijay Kumar Director Curator European Artists’ Association Germany • ART IS IMAGINATION/ART IS DREAMING/ART IS INOVATION/ART IS THINKING/ART IS CRAETIVITY/ART IS EMOTIONS/ART IS SUPPORT/ART IS COMBINATION OF MATERIALS/ART IS CONCEPT/ART IS TO DO SOME THING DIFFERENT/ART IS TO EXPLORE AND ART IS FOR EVERYONE TO DO AND ENJOY All images © Baljit Chadha All rights reserved. Copying and/or distributing without my permission is strictly prohibited.

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-WALL-OF-EXOTIC-FLOWERS/392880/2559933/view

#baljitchadha #abstractexpressionism

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questionsonislam · 3 years

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What is the importance the religion of Islam gives to solidarity/helping others?

The religion of Islam is a religion of solidarity. No religion and ideology before and after Islam gave as much importance to solidarity and helping as Islam did and practiced this understanding of solidarity and helping like Islam.

Allah states the following in the Quran:

"Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of thy Lord? It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in the life of this world: and We raise some of them above others in ranks, so that some may command work from others. But the Mercy of thy Lord is better than the (wealth) which they amass." (az-Zukhruf, 43/32)

We see this fact, which we learn from the Quran, in our daily life too. In no community today are people who share a common life and future in the same level; nor were they in history. The weak and the strong, the rich and the poor, men and women, etc. form a contrast and a harmony in the human communities. This diversity/contrast in nature forms the source of a movement, which we call "life". Due to this natural diversity, people in social life need one another. A rich person feels the need to apply to a poor person and a strong person to a weak person regarding several issues. No rich person can say, "I do not need anybody." For, he earns money through the power of the people he employs. He can say, "I have money, I can employ anybody I wish" but he cannot change this fact. No matter whom he employs, it means he will need them. We will see the same thing in all social relationships no matter what we look at.

We see that everybody needs others’ power, money and ideas. Therefore, they say, "A woman needs a man, a young man needs an old man, a bow needs an arrow / To sum up, people need one another."

That people need one another shows the necessity of helping one another. Helping one another is a natural result of living in a community. It is impossible to live with others without needing others’ help. Therefore, Islam deals with solidarity in the widest range that will encompass all aspects of our material and spiritual life and introduces it as a religious-ethical duty. This issue is mentioned in many verses of the Quran and Muslims are encouraged to help one another. The Prophet (pbuh) expressed the importance of material and spiritual helping in human life in many hadiths.

Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran:

"…Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor..." (al-Maida, 5/2)

If we consider that everything from charity to soft words and treating people kindly are included in the scope of righteousness and piety, we will understand better how wide our religion regards the scope of solidarity.

Self-sacrifice exists in the essence of the understanding of helping one another. This deed of giving is sometimes obligatory like in zakah and fitrah but it is generally voluntary. Zakah is given based on a certain rate but there is no limit in sadaqah. A person can give sadaqah as much as he wishes. Thus, Muslims help one another in great amounts. Along with material helping, Muslims are to do favors and love one another. It is their duty.

It is regarded as sadaqah for a Muslim who does not do any charity not to harm others with his hand and tongue.

Spreading the understanding of helping, which will be explained in detail below, will cause important changes in individual and social life; the benefits of helping one another will be felt at once. They can be listed as follows:

1. The poor will be protected through helping. If their material needs are met, they will be prevented from committing bad deeds. For, poverty and famine lead people with weak characteristics to bad deeds like theft and injustice.

2. Amity and love will occur between those who help and who are helped. The people who are helped in the community will get rid of bad feelings like hatred, envy and enmity; they will not have their eyes on the wealth of the rich. For, the poor know that they give the poor their rights and help the people around them by obeying the order of the religion.

3. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "The hand that gives is superior to the hand that takes." Thus, he told Muslims that it is better to be a person that helps than to be a person that is helped. Those who are helped by their Muslim brothers when they are in trouble and undergo hardship will try to work and to be the people that give instead of the people that take. Thus, a race for virtue will start in the community.

4. Zakah, sadaqah and the other financial supports will become the most important factor that will make Muslims strong and in unity. It is difficult to think of a hungry person being in the same row as a rich person with the feelings of love and fraternity. Helping will close the gap between the rich and the poor along with establishing a bond of love and respect.

5. The feeling of friendship will be strong in a community where helping one another is widespread; wealth and welfare will increase; beggary, which is not regarded as nice by our religion, will disappear; haram deeds like theft and fraud will be minimized.

Types of helping

Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran:

"Knowest thou not that to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth? And besides Him ye have neither patron nor helper." (al-Baqara, 2/107);

"To Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah hath power over all things." (Aal-i Imran, 3/189);

"…To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth..." (al-Baqara, 2/116, 255).

As it is understood from the verses above and similar ones, the real owner of everything we see is Allah. However, Allah Almighty states in other verses that all of the beings in the world and the sky were allocated to serve human beings as a grace and grant of Him:

"And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: Behold, in that are Signs indeed for those who reflect." (al-Jasiya, 45/13)

Allah, who is the real owner of the beings, explains as follows that He will give them to His slaves whom He wishes:

"Say: "O Allah! Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power." (Aal-i Imran, 3/26)

In addition, Allah did not leave human beings, whom He gave wealth and property, unattended and laid some responsibilities on them related to the wealth and property he granted them, and gave them some duties.

"And in their wealth and possessions (was remembered) the right of the (needy,) him who asked, and him who (for some reason) was prevented (from asking)." (adh-Dhariyat, 51/19);

"Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter. They are on (true) guidance, from their Lord, and it is these who will prosper." (al-Baqara, 2/3-5).

We understand from the verses above that those responsibilities and duties are giving some of the wealth and property entrusted to them to other people. In about two hundred verses of the Quran, how, to whom and in what amounts to give it are explained.

As it can be noticed, Allah Almighty orders “infaq (giving away)” just after belief and prayer in the verse above. "Infaq" means to spend/give away the wealth that Allah has given to others in a legitimate way. Infaq has parts like fard, wajib and mandub. Infaq that is fard is zakah and infaq that is wajib is fitrah; detailed information is given about them above.

The order "And be steadfast in prayer..." (al-Baqara, 2/43, 83,110; an-Nisa, 4/77) exists in many places in the Quran. The most important deed of worship in Islam is prayer (salah). That Muslims are ordered to give zakah immediately after prayer shows the great place of zakah as a deed of worship in our religion. After the foundation of the religion is laid with belief and the pillar is erected with prayer, there is an important mountain pass to pass through.

The Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

"Three things go to the grave after the dead person: His family, wealth and deeds. Two of them return and one of them remains with him. Those that return are his family and wealth; the one that stays with him is his deeds." (Riyadus-Salihin, I, 139)

It is an important duty to use and spend the wealth, which will remain in the world, based on Allah’s order. For, this spending will enable us to establish a strong bridge that will reach the pass in the hereafter.

Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran: "…Then strive together (as in a race) towards all that is good…" (al-Baqara, 2/148). Good deeds and charities are done with wealth, hand and tongue. All of those deeds that are done are called "sadaqah"; the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Every good deed is sadaqah." (Riyadus-Salihin, I, 167)

The main good deed and help to be done with wealth is zakah.

"And be steadfast in prayer and regular in charity: And whatever good ye send forth for your souls before you, ye shall find it with Allah: for Allah sees Well all that ye do." (al-Baqara, 2/110)

Zakah is an obligatory kind of helping through one’s wealth. However, helping through one’s wealth is not limited to zakah. Muslims are ordered and advised to give what they have more than their needs to others. The following verses and hadiths tell us to help others by giving sadaqah along with zakah and inform us about its importance:

Allah states the following in the Quran:

"It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness- to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah-fearing." (al-Baqara, 2/177);

"They ask thee what they should spend (In charity). Say: Whatever ye spend that is good, is for parents and kindred and orphans and those in want and for wayfarers. And whatever ye do that is good, -Allah knoweth it well." (al-Baqara, 2/215).

The Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

"Protect yourselves from fire even with half a date and if you cannot find it, with nice words." (Muslim, Zakah, 95);

"What is eaten, stolen and taken from a tree that a Muslim has planted is sadaqah for him." (Riyadus-Salihin, I, 168).

If we accept the individual as the center of social activities, we will see that some concentric circles surround him. The closest circle to him is formed by his children and parents. It is followed by close relatives, neighbors and then the other individuals of the community he lives in. We understand from hadiths that man needs to help others based on this order.

Somebody who wanted to do charity from Sons of Uzra went to the Prophet (pbuh. He had only one slave. The Prophet sold his slave and gave the money to him. Then, he said to the man,

"Spend this money on your needs first. If some money remains, spend it on your family. If some money remains again, spend it on your relatives. If some money remains again, give sadaqah to those people - he showed the poor people around." (Muslim, Zakah, 41)

When Abu Talha wanted to give his orchard away as sadaqah, the Prophet (pbuh) advised him to give it to his relatives. Thereupon, Abu Talha divided the orchard among his relatives and cousins. (Muslim, Zakah, 42, 43).

The following is stated in another hadith:

"The hand that gives is high. Start giving away to the people whom you look after. Take care of your mother, father, sister, brother and then your close relatives and relatives." (Nasai, Zakah, 51)

In that case, if a Muslim wants to help others financially, he needs to start from his close relatives first and expand the circle gradually. The most important thing that he needs to consider is whether the people he will help are really poor or not.

The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"Real wealth is not abundance of property and goods. The real wealth is the richness of the heart."

However, man wants richness of goods instead of richness of the heart, which will never end; he becomes greedy and the more he earns, the more he wants. The Prophet (pbuh) explains this mood of people as follows:

"If the son of Adam were to possess two valleys of riches, he would long for the third one. And the stomach of the son of Adam is not filled but with dust. And Allah returns to him who repents." (Muslim, Zakah, 116)

He states the following in another hadith:

"The heart of an old person feels young for the love of two things: love for long life and wealth." (Muslim, Zakah, III)

Thus, he informs us that love for wealth will continue throughout life.

Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran:

"The Evil one threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly. Allah promiseth you His forgiveness and bounties. And Allah careth for all and He knoweth all things." (al-Baqara, 2/268)

"And let not those who covetously withhold of the gifts which Allah Hath given them of His Grace, think that it is good for them: Nay, it will be the worse for them: soon shall the things which they covetously withheld be tied to their necks Like a twisted collar, on the Day of Judgment. To Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." (Aal-i Imran, 3/180)

It is definitely a very noble act for a Muslim to overcome the greed for wealth mentioned in hadiths, the tricks of Satan and the feeling of stinginess mentioned in verses and to spend his wealth given to him by Allah as a grant, grace and boon in the way of goodness, and in the way that Allah and His Messenger order. Thus, he appreciates the boons, thanks Allah and attains His consent. However, we see that Allah Almighty seeks some qualities in real charity. Allah states the following in verse 92 of the chapter of Aal-i Imran:

"By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love; and whatever ye give, of a truth Allah knoweth it well." (Aal-i Imran, 3/92)

In that case, we need to make a preference between love of wealth and gaining Allah’s consent. We are undergoing a test. We will pass the test if we give away some of the goods that we like to the poor for the sake of Allah. The behaviors of the close friends of the Prophet (pbuh) should be models for us.

Anas b. Malik narrates:

"Abu Talha, of Ansar, was among the rich people of Madinah. He liked the date orchard called “Bayraha” the most. It was near Masjid an-Nabawi. The Prophet often visited it, and drank its famous water. When the verse “By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love…” was sent down, Abu Talha went to the Messenger of Allah and said,

“Allah states the following in His book: ‘By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love.’ The most beloved of my property is Bayraha date orchard. I give it away now for Allah. I expect the reward of this charity and that it will be unending sustenance in the hereafter. O Messenger of Allah! Give it to the people that Allah orders.” (Muslim, Zakah, 42)

A kind of help done with wealth is "qard hasan". "Qard" means to lend money to a person without expecting any usury, interest, etc. It is a kind of financial help that Allah praises. This self-sacrifice is praised so much in the Quran that a person who lends money without interest is regarded to have lent money to Allah:

"For those who give in Charity, men and women, and loan to Allah a Beautiful Loan, it shall be increased manifold (to their credit), and they shall have (besides) a liberal reward." (al-Hadid, 57/18)

In the verse above, those who lend money for Allah’s sake are praised like that. Thus, Allah promises spiritual rewards of manifold in the hereafter to the people who lend money to those who are in financial difficulty without expecting any returns and in accordance with the understanding of helping and doing favors of our religion.

Fountains, bridges, mosques, schools, roads, hospitals, dispensaries and similar things are among the charitable deeds that can be done with wealth. Those charitable works are called sadaqah jariyah (ongoing charity); it makes man gain a lot of thawabs. The understanding of sadaqah jariyah caused foundations that served people to be established all over the Islamic world.

One of the most important ways of financial helping in terms of social and economic life is the rich people’s transferring their wealth to investment and provide employment for those who want to work. That is the best way of helping a person who wants to earn his living by working legitimately. Thus, a rich person will enable such a Muslim to earn his living and help to protect his honor and personality.

Spiritual help: Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran:

"Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity… Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah..." (Aal-i Imran, 3/104, 110);

"…Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor: fear Allah: for Allah is strict in punishment." (al-Maida, 5/2);

"The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practice regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger..." (at-Tawba, 9/71);

"If any one does a righteous deed, it ensures to the benefit of his own soul..." (al-Jathiya, 45/15).

According to what is narrated from Abu Musa, the Prophet (pbuh) said,

"Giving of sadaqah is essential for every Muslim." They said,

"O Messenger of Allah! What do you say of him who does not find the means to do so?" He said,

"Let him work with both his hands, thus doing benefit to himself and give sadaqah." They asked,

"What do you say of him who does not find the means to do so?" He said,

"Then let him assist a needy person who is in difficulty." They said,

"What do you say of one who cannot even do this?" He said,

"Then he should enjoin what is reputable or what is good." They said,

"What about him if he cannot do that?" He said,

"He should then abstain from evil, which is sadaqah for him." (Muslim, Zakah, 55)

The prophet (PBUH) also said the following:

"All of the good and bad deeds of my ummah were shown to me. Removing something that disturbed people from the road was among the good deeds. Dirtying the mosque and leaving it like that was among the bad deeds." (Riyadus-Salihin, I, 157)

"Do not underestimate any good deed even if it is welcoming your believing brother with a smile." (Riyadus-Salihin, I, 159);

"The smallest good deed is the help that starts with removing something that disturb people or animals from the road." (Kashful-Khafa, I, 198)

We are ordered to do favors to people in many other verses and hadiths and we are shown the ways of helping.

It is a good deed for a person to fulfill his duties toward himself and the members of his family. It is also a good deed for him not to offend his neighbor and help him related to everything. It is a material good deed to feed and clothe an orphan and give him a place to live; it is also a good deed to treat him kindly, to win his heart with soft words and by caressing his head with love.

It is a good deed to comfort a sad and aggrieved person, to teach others what one knows, to show the true path to the people around him, to visit sick, old and homeless people. It is also a good deed to help people around in all matters, give one’s seat to a sick, old or disabled person in the means of public transportation, to help a person cross the road by holding his hands and to show a traveler, a stranger the place he is looking for.

It is a good deed to remove something that disturbs and disgusts people from the street, market, etc. like stone, mud, filth and thorns. It is also a good deed to give water to a thirsty person or animal.

In short, it is good deed to do something that Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) want us to do and something that intellect and conscience regard nice. It is also good to avoid evil deeds and try not to do bad things to others. All of those good deeds are sadaqah.

It is the duty of every Muslim to do good deeds that are too many to count as if racing. There is definitely a good deed that anyone can do. In fact, Muslims should not only do these good deeds but also help others do them and encourage them for good deeds and help. For, Allah orders us to help one another to do good deeds and to avoid bad deeds. Allah will certainly give the reward of anyone who does good deeds for Allah and who helps others materially and spiritually for His sake.

It is the duty of a Muslim to help one another in good deeds and also to try to prevent people from doing bad deeds. As it is quoted above, Allah orders us: "Help ye not one another in sin and rancor." "Enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil" is mentioned as a characteristic of virtuous people. All prophets fulfilled this order and tried to prevent the people to whom they were sent from bad deeds. Allah Almighty states the following about Sons of Israel, who did not obey the advice of their prophets and who were rebellious:

"Nor did they (usually) forbid one another the iniquities which they committed: evil indeed were the deeds which they did." (al-Maida, 5/79)

The Prophet states the following in a hadith: "When you see a bad deed, correct it with your hand; if it is not possible, correct it with your tongue; if it is not possible, disapprove it with your heart. That is the weakest belief." (Muslim, Iman, 78)

In that case, both enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil will be through words and deeds. A believer should try to prevent the bad deeds that he sees with his hands whether they are big or small. It is the ethical duty of those who cannot do it to try to prevent the bad deeds from being committed by giving advice to the people and telling them about the badness of what they do. If they fulfill this duty, the bad deeds will decrease, good deeds will spread and peace will be prevalent in the community. Doing the opposite will cause the bad deeds to spread like an epidemic and cause the community to corrupt. Therefore, our religion regards enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil among the important duties of Muslims.

The issues that need to be considered while helping others:

If helping is in question, there is one that helps and one that is helped, that is, one that gives and one that takes. To sum up, help usually occurs between two people. It is necessary to be careful about some issues for the help to be fulfilled properly. It should not be forgotten that the financial help that is given to people without searching usually leads to unwanted results. Therefore, it is necessary to take the following issues into consideration while helping:

1. Help (charity) is given for Allah’s sake. If help is given without considering Allah’s sake, show off, hypocrisy and interest are present in it. Allah Almighty advises us to seek Allah’s sake in charities as follows:

"…Whatever of good ye give benefits your own souls, and ye shall only do so seeking the "Face" of Allah. Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to you, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly." (al-Baqara, 2/272).

2. When help (charity) is given, it is necessary to look for really poor people. Allah states the following regarding the issue:

"(Charity is) for those in need, who, in Allah´s cause are restricted (from travel), and cannot move about in the land, seeking (For trade or work): the ignorant man thinks, because of their modesty, that they are free from want. Thou shalt know them by their (Unfailing) mark: They beg not importunately from all the sundry. And whatever of good ye give, be assured Allah knoweth it well." (al-Baqara, 2/273).

Virtuous and modest people do not say that they are poor and they do not easily ask money from others. The rich people that help others should seek and find such people and should help them without harming their honor. There are many people who beg though they are not needy. It is necessary to keep away from those people whom the Prophet (pbuh) criticizes and not to regard them as poor people.

3. We should not give worthless things as charity to others. It does not fit generosity to give away things that are mean and worthless. The following order of Allah Almighty should not be forgotten:

"O ye who believe! Give of the good things which ye have (honorably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it ye may give away something, when ye yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise." (al-Baqara, 2/267)

4. The help (charity) given to a person should not be reminded to him later to disturb him. The help that is reminded to the person later will bring no thawabs. It is necessary not to do bad deeds instead of good deeds. There is no doubt that the distress caused by rubbing the charity in will be more than that joy caused by the charity. Allah describes the charity that is reminded later as the work of those who are not believers:

"O ye who believe! cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury,- like those who spend their substance to be seen of men, but believe neither in Allah nor in the Last Day. They are in parable like a hard, barren rock, on which is a little soil: on it falls heavy rain, which leaves it (Just) a bare stone. They will be able to do nothing with aught they have earned. And Allah guideth not those who reject faith." (al-Baqara, 2/264)

5. It is necessary to know about the mood of a poor person and treat him well. The person who helps another person financially should be clever. There are so many poor people who do not ask anything openly because they feel shy; they prefer to express their state indirectly. In fact, a needy person can be understood from his state. The people who help should be careful about it and should help them without despising them. It is necessary to treat the people who hopefully come to ask for help. They will be pleased if they are treated kindly even if they are not helped. Therefore, they say, "Welcome the needy people with smile; they will thank you if you give them something; they will understand you if you do not give them anything."

6. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Do not underestimate any good deed even if it is welcoming your believing brother with a smile." (Riyadus-Salihin, I, 159) Then, no charity should be underestimated.

7. It is necessary for the person to do good deeds and charity to do it on time and not to miss the opportunity. The charity done late cannot meet the need.

8. It is necessary to help people secretly as much as possible. It is essential to help openly in fard worshipping like zakah but giving sadaqah secretly will save man from hypocrisy. Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran:

"If ye disclose (acts of) charity, even so it is well, but if ye conceal them, and make them reach those (really) in need, that is best for you: It will remove from you some of your (stains of) evil..." (al-Baqara, 2/271)

The Prophet (pbuh) stated that those who gave sadaqah secretly so that the left hand would not hear what the right gave would be given shade under the shade of the Throne in the hereafter (Tajrid, II, 620). Hz. Abbas stated the following:

"A good deed is completed with three things: to hurry, to regard it something small and to keep it a secret. When you hurry, you will make the person happy; when you regard it something small, you will make it bigger; when you keep it a secret, you will be completed."

There are also some issues that those who expect help from others should be careful about. If they are not careful about them, those who help will be demotivated and abandon doing charity.

1. They should not ask more than they need.

2. They should accept the help without complaining and underestimating it.

3. They should ask help/money from generous people. To expect help from a person who does not like doing good deeds will lead the person who expects help to frustration. To ask help/money from a person who is not rich will put him into a difficult position. Hz. Ali said, "A person who does not understand that something is “unavailable” until he is told that it is unavailable is stupid."

4. It is necessary to respond to a person who helps with gratitude and prayer, not with ingratitude. The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"He who does not know how to thank people does not know how to thank Allah either and deserves the boon to cease." (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad IV, 278)

In that case, it is an ethical duty not to be ungrateful and to thank for good deeds and help. This duty should be completed with a prayer.

The charities done with this understanding will make Muslims attain Allah Almighty’s consent.

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basicsofislam · 3 years

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BASICS OF ISLAM : Islamic practice : Rida. Part1

Resignation means showing no rancor or rebellion against misfortune, and accepting all manifestations of destiny without complaint and even better peacefully. In other words, one should welcome all things and events, even those normally associated with distress and terror. Another beautiful definition of resignation is having or showing pleased acceptance of God’s treatment whether it seems agreeable or disagreeable to us.

Even though believers must adopt resignation of their free will at the beginning of the spiritual journey, in reality it is a direct gift of God to those whom He loves. For this reason, unlike patience, neither God Almighty nor the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, commanded it; they only recommended it. Although there is a narration attributed to the Prophet—Let him who does not endure misfortunes and show resignation to Divine decrees find another Lord for himself—the scholars of Traditions did not accept it as an authentic Prophetic Tradition.

Some saints have considered resignation a higher station than reliance and surrender, while others have regarded it, like other states, as a divine gift or radiance that sometimes appears and then disappears. Still others, like Imam Qushayri, have seen it as connected with or dependent upon the servant’s free will in the beginning, and as a state or condition of the heart in the end.

Resignation is a divine gift that can be acquired only by an individual’s conscious decision to exercise free will at the beginning of the journey. One can attain the rank of resignation through depth of belief, solemnity in religious actions, and profound consciousness of worshipping God as if seeing Him. To be favored with the rank of resignation, one also must transcend the ranks of reliance, surrender, and commitment. Since it is extremely difficult to attain the rank of resignation by free will, God Almighty did not order it; He only advised it and highly praised those who attained it.

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aethelflaedladyofmercia · 4 years

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The Long Walk

(We have a lot to celebrate this month: 30 years from the publication of Good Omens, one year since the series came out. I, myself, have some big milestones: 666 followers, 200k+ on AO3, and 30 fics posted! And I’m about to hit 4,000 Tumblr posts. Naturally, I choose to celebrate with something VERY melancholy

(This fic was inspired by my prompt for @itsthearoway - milestones of Crowley and Aziraphale through history - but was written right after I went into self-isolation. It’s a bit of a reflection on death, life, and hope. I’m not tagging it for death because technically there are no on-screen deaths, but if you are avoiding fic that make you think about mortality DO NOT READ THIS. It’s hopeful, but also very angst.

(Thank you all! I’m working on a longer light-hearted fic about the early days of the arrangement for @itsthearoway that I hope to have the first chapter ready for in a couple of days. Here’s to another 200k!)

The Long Walk - A short saga of the world, two observers, and the question: what is it all for? (1697 words)

Also on AO3

The sands stretch away from the Walls of Eden, eternally in either direction. Endless empty wasteland. Unrelenting heat fills the air, beaming down from the sun, up from the dunes. The kind of heat that nothing can live in.

Through the endless empty wasteland walk an angel and a demon, side-by-side.

“Seems an awful waste,” says the demon. “Build a whole world with nothing in it. If the Almighty is so powerful, why not make everywhere like Eden?”

“Eden was special,” says the angel, sadly. He hasn’t been cast out, not in the way the humans and the demon have. But the Garden’s time is over, and he can move on, or fade with it. “Eden was perfect.”

“Yeah, a perfect prison.” The demon rolls his eyes. “Too perfect for the likes of me.”

“No, not perfect like that. Perfectly balanced.” The angel holds out a hand, tipping it side to side. “The weather, the animals, all life, everything hung perfectly from the slightest thread. The was no…no room for deviation, you might say. No room for evil, yes, but also for good. For knowledge. For choice or free will. Once the humans had that, they had to leave. Even if they stayed, it all would have fallen apart.”

The demon considers as they walked. “That’s your ‘ineffable’ explanation?”

A shrug. “It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“Not really.” The demon looks at their surroundings. “And it still seems an awful waste. Sending the humans out here to die.”

“Oh, I don’t think it will come to that. They may yet find something outside the Garden. Look.”

Ahead of them, a shape bursts from the shade of a dune, a small lizard, mottled brown, running for all it's worth to cower in the next shadow. “There’s still life,” says the angel. “Still a chance.”

A thousand years.

Frozen winters.

Drought-filled summers.

A Flood covers the land, and recedes.

Through lands scoured clear of any trace of life walk an angel and a demon, side-by-side.

“Not much of a chance, if our sides keep interfering,” the demon says, watching the brown river rush past between barren banks.

“You shouldn’t say things like that,” the angel chides.

A snort. “You’d say the same if it were my side that did this.” Silence, apart from footfalls in the mud. “Well, go on. Tell me it’s all part of the Plan. I can practically hear you thinking it.”

“Well it is. I might not understand it, but it must be.”

“Some Plan. A thousand years of struggle and toil, for what? Just to be destroyed like that.”

“Nonsense.” The angel points overhead at a flitting dove. The first bird either of them has seen since the rains began. “It isn’t over yet. And we can’t know until it’s over.”

Two thousand more years.

Cities rise.

Cities fall.

Sodom.

Thera.

Troy.

They walk together through the empty streets of what had once been the world’s greatest city, past shattered walls and burned out homes and the remains of a wooden horse.

“They’ve learned from you,” the angel says, an edge of bitterness.

“They’ve learned from us,” the demon corrects, but without rancor.

The angel pauses to study the remains of a temple, altar within shattered, blood spattered across the floor from more than sacrificial animals. “Either way, they surpassed their teachers.”

“They did.” In the distance, past once-impregnable gates that will never close again, high-masted ships depart. Not the attackers, returning victorious to kingdoms that have been destroyed in other ways; these are the survivors, in search of a new home. “Do you suppose they’ll do any better the next time?”

“We must hope,” said the angel, looking where white flowers grow through the cracks in the path. “We must always hope.”

Phoenicia.

Persia.

Carthage.

Rome.

Empires grow.

Empires topple.

They walk, tracing the path of an aqueduct, still valiantly carrying water to an empty city, miles away.

“You know, I really thought they had something this time,” sighs the angel, watching the rodents burrow beneath the monumental stones.

The demon tosses his head, looking at the endless span of arch on arch, crossing a continent. “They did.”

“Next time,” the angel says, with confidence he doesn’t feel. “Next time they’ll get it right.”

“They will. For a time.”

“Oh, there is no need for you to be…pessimistic,” the angel snaps.

“It’s not pessimism, it’s – oh, never mind.” The demon saunters a little faster. “I think I see a village up ahead. Probably have something to drink there.”

Wars rage, brought by raiders or kings or desperate humans.

Famine crawls from town to town, spurred on by locusts, by ice storms, by greed.

Pestilence crosses the world again and again.

Death. Death. Death.

An angel kneels in the street, holding a human’s hand. The human isn’t moving.

A demon materializes from the shadows behind him. “Give it a rest. You can’t do anything for him now.”

“I know.” He stands up. “But I had to try.”

All around them, the city stands silent. Not empty. Humans locked in their homes, afraid to go out, afraid to be too close, afraid the plague may catch them, too.

“He should have fled,” the angel says sadly. “Left the city while he still had a chance.”

“Not everyone can run,” the demon points out.

“I know.” After a time, he walks again, the demon beside him. Past empty fountains, abandoned marketplaces, homes boarded shut. “The city has changed so much. Do you remember that lovely restaurant we used to visit?”

“Burned down. Almost a thousand years ago.” The demon shrugs. “Vandals. Or Goths, maybe.”

“Ah. Pity.”

From a nearby alley, the stench of death. The demon tries to look away, only to find himself meeting the angel’s eyes.

“You won’t find anyone in there.”

“I know. But I have to try.”

The demon sighs, but follows him in. “I hate this century.”

“You always say that, dear.”

New continents.

New art styles.

New wars.

New technologies.

Until one afternoon the world ends – and is made anew.

And only one small group of humans will ever know – and an angel and a demon, stepping off a bus together at three in the morning. The city isn’t empty, merely asleep.

Not ready to go inside just yet, they walk around the block, listening to foxes rummage through rubbish bins, watching lights flick on, here and there, where another insomniac has risen from bed.

“What do you suppose comes next?” the angel wonders, when the silence becomes too much. “For the humans.”

“Dunno.” The demon tosses his head, hands stuck in his pockets. “More of the same, I would guess. Life, death, love, hate, good, bad. Human stuff.”

“But something has to change,” the angel insists. “The world nearly ended for…for Heaven’s sake,” he finishes, voice full of irony. “But if it was the Plan, it must mean something. What’s it all leading to?”

“We might find out. Depends what comes next. For us.”

“Ah.” The angel slows. Stops. “Do you…do you suppose they’re very angry?”

The demon turns to face him with a snort. “What do you think?”

“I think…I think…” His hands straighten his waistcoat, smooth his tie. “I think that whatever comes next, however much time we have…I should like to carry on as we always have.” His tone is light, his eyes searching.

A slow nod. “Yeah.” The demon reaches out, gently squeezes the angel’s shoulder. “Yeah. Me too.”

When they start walking again it is, as always, side-by-side.

“And, you know, I would like to see how it all turns out.”

“You and me both, Angel.”

More time passes.

The world grows old. Ancient.

Another war. The Really Big One. Bigger than any seen on Earth or in Heaven.

Everybody fights.

Everybody loses.

When it is over – when all things are over – there is nothing left.

No world, no Paradise, no eternal torment. No Hosts of Heaven, no Legions of Hell.

No humans, no Satan, no God.

Just an endless, eternal expanse of nothing and, somewhere in the featureless plane, an angel in white, kneeling, alone.

Slowly, the darkness around him resolves into another shape. The demon steps forward, fighting back a smile. “There you are. You survived.” As if he hasn’t been frantically searching. “Thought as much. You’re very hard to kill.”

The angel doesn’t respond.

“It sure was a mess, though, wasn’t it?” The demon shakes his head ruefully. “Should have expected it, really, but right at the end when –”

“I was wrong.” The angel hasn’t moved, eyes still locked on the endless Nothing. “Thousands of years, millions of sunrises, and for what? There was never any point.”

“No, Angel.” The demon kneels beside him, rests a hand on his shoulder. “I mean, yeah, you were wrong. Because the ending was never the point. It was the journey – all those millions of days, filled with love and hate and smiling children and fighting with friends and favorite foods and annoying songs and struggles and choices and…and life. Everything they never would have had if they’d stayed in the Garden. That was the point. That was always the point.”

“Perhaps,” the angel tries to smile. “It was lovely, wasn’t it? While it lasted?”

“Yeah. It really was.” The demon helps him to his feet. “And, you know, it’s not completely gone.”

He waves a hand, long fingers trailing through the void as they had at the beginning of time, helping to shape the stars. He gathers together every atom, every wisp of matter, closer, closer, into a ball. The angel presses his hands into it, and together they compress it, tighter, denser, until –

A spark. From neither. From both.

BANG.

The void fills once more.

With chaos.

With potential.

With light.

The demon looks around, nodding with approval. “What do you think, Angel? Time for another walk?”

He gazes out at the disks of galaxies forming in the expanding cloud of debris. “Do you…do you think things will be different this time?”

A shrug. “Only one way to find out.”

Through the glowing crucible of a newborn universe walk an angel and a demon, side-by-side.

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risalei-nur · 4 years

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TAFSIR: Risale-i Nur: The Twenty-Ninth Letter - Part 51

FOURTH SIGN

The destructive innovators are of two kinds:

The First Kind say as though on account of religion and out of loyality to Islam, as though to strengthen religion with nationalism: “We want to plant the luminous tree of religion, which has grown weak, in the earth of nationalism, in order to strengthen it.” They appear to be supporting religion.

The Second Sort say in the name of the nation and on account of nationalism, in order to strengthen racialism, say: “We want to graft Islam onto the nation,” thus creating innovations.

To the First Sort, we say: O unhappy, corrupt scholars of religion who confirm the saying “loyal fools,” or ecstatic, unthinking, ignorant Sufis! The Tuba-tree of Islam, whose roots are founded in the reality of the universe and whose branches spread through the truths of the universe, cannot be planted in the earth of imaginary, temporary, partial, particular, negative, indeed, baseless, rancorous, tyrannical, and dark racialism! To try to do so is to attempt something foolish, destructive, and innovative.

To the Second Sort of nationalists, we say this: O you drunken pseudo-patriots! Perhaps the previous century could have been the age of nationalism. This century is not the age of racialism! Communism and socialism pervade everything, destroying the idea of racialism. The age of racialism is passing. Eternal, permanent Islamic nationalism cannot be bound onto temporary unstable racialism and grafted onto it. And even if it were to be, it would corrupt the Islamic nation, but it would not reform racialist nationalism. Yes, there appears to be a pleasure and temporary strength in a temporary graft, but it is very temporary and the consequences are dangerous.

Furthermore, it would open up a split in the Turkish people that could not be healed in all eternity. Then the nation’s strength would be reduced to nothing, since one section would have broken the power of the other. If two mountains are placed in the two pans of some scales, a few pounds weight can move the two, raising one, and lowering the other.

The Second Question consists of two signs:

The First is the FIFTH SIGN, and is a very brief answer to an important question:

Question: There are numerous authentic narrations about the appearance of the Mahdi at the end of time and his putting the world to rights, which will have been corrupted. However, the present time is the time of the group or social collectivity, not of the individual. However great a genius an individual person is, even a hundredfold genius, if he is not the representative of a group and if he does not represent a group’s collective personality, he will be defeated in the face of the collective personality of an opposing group. At this time, however exalted the power of his sainthood, how can he reform the world amid the widespread corruption of a human group such as that? If all the Mahdi’s works are wondrous, it would be contrary to the divine wisdom and laws in the world. We want to understand the reality of this matter of the Mahdi. How can we?

The Answer: Out of His perfect mercy, every time the Muslim community has been corrupted, Almighty God has sent a reformer, or a regenerator, or a vicegerent of high standing, or a supreme spiritual pole, or a perfect guide, or blessed persons resembling a Mahdi, as a mark of His protecting the Shari‘a of Islam until eternity; they have removed the corruption, reformed the nation, and preserved Muhammad’s (UWBP) religion.

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tawakkull · 11 months

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ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 155

Rida (Resignation)

The following verses of Nasimi are also beautiful:

O God! Guide us to what You will love and be pleased with, and bestow peace and blessings upon our Master and the Master of the Messengers.

[4] Al-Tirmidhi, “Qadar,” 15; Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:168. [5] Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:391, 452.

#allah #god #islam #muslim #quran #revert #convert #convert islam #revert islam #reverhelp #revert help #revert help team #help #islamhelp #convert help #how to convert to islam #convert to islam #welcome to islam

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wisdomrays · 2 years

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REFLECTIONS ON THE DAY OF HUNAYN

Question: What are the messages that can be drawn from the verse (translated as): “God has already helped you on many fields, and on the day of Hunayn, when your multitude was pleasing to you, but it availed you nothing, and the earth, for all its vastness, was too narrow for you, and you turned back, retreating” (at-Tawbah 9:25).

Answer: After the conquest of Mecca, the tribes of Thaqif and Hawazin were allied with other tribes and prepared to attack the Muslims. In addition to being an excellent head of state, the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, was a unique commander. Upon receiving the news, he immediately took action to launch a preemptive strike. Thus, he aimed to win without much bloodshed and not to give way to much rancor. As a matter of fact, so many people from those tribes became Muslim later on. As a matter of fact, the noble Prophet utilized the same practice and strategy during the process that started with the Treaty of Hudaybiya and resulted in the conquest of Mecca. Imagine that the Messenger of God, a person who is held in high esteem beyond the heavens, accepted the articles of the treaty although they asserted demands seemingly disadvantageous to the Muslims for the sake of gaining the hearts of those people. Later on, the Meccans themselves breached the treaty. Upon this, the Pride of Humanity gathered an army and camped outside Mecca. During that time, he could easily have said “Might is right,” and charged at them. However, that noble soul never did and would not do such a thing, because, had he entered Mecca through bloodshed, it would have hurt the people’s pride and possibly given way to long-standing bitter feelings.

Hunayn: A hard test

Getting back to our main subject, 2,000 new Muslims from Mecca were added to the 10,000 Companions who conquered Mecca and an army of 12,000 marched toward Hunayn. Therefore, those the army was compiled of mostly young soldiers who were dizzy from the conquest of Mecca and people who had newly embraced Islam. In this state, such a thought may have occurred: “Nobody can stand before this army. Just as we have conquered Mecca by God’s grace, we are going to defeat Thaqif and Hawazin as well.”

At this point, let me note that I always have a spirit of showing respect toward the Companions, seeing them as pure souls, and choosing carefully selected words when talking about them so much so that I take heed not to use the slightest expression of questioning where the Companions are concerned. However, in this incident, some of the blessed Companions may not have adhered to the refined state God Almighty expected of them that was becoming of their distinguished position. Consequently, they may have received a Divine warning, so that they gave the due of their elevated status. However, this is a matter between God Almighty and them. Our making off-handed remarks regarding this issue will be impertinence and a transgression.

Now, keeping this point of view and criterion in consideration, let us look closer at the mood of the Companions on their way to Hunayn. First of all, they had formed the greatest army until that day. In addition, they had won so many battles against greater forces than theirs, by God’s grace and permission. Despite the adverse conditions they faced, they had always emerged victorious. Now they were marching upon the enemy with the Pride of Humanity riding his camel in front of them and they were very hopeful; may our souls be sacrificed for them and may God make us steadfast upon their righteous path. Describing their state, the Qur’an first reminds us how they received Divine help, “God has already helped you on many fields…” alluding to the instances such as the battles of Badr and Uhud and the conquest of Mecca. God Almighty makes the first reference to Hunayn by stating that they received Divine support on that day as well. Later, He describes their mood at the time, but it needs to be reminded once more that the mistakes of theirs must be approached with the consideration “The good, righteous deeds of the virtuous would be regarded as vices for those who are nearest to God Almighty.” For example, just as you can be held responsible for something negative you thought about, they might even be responsible for such a thing merely passing their imagination. God Almighty states, “and the earth, for all its vastness, was too narrow for you.” The same expression is used in another verse for Ka’b ibn Malik and his friends. In fact, there is an idiom meaning, “to feel suffocated” that happens when some place is not as roomy as you expected. So, the temporary troubled state experienced by the Companions at Hunayn is described as the earth’s being too narrow for them, and this is underlined by the fact that they came to the point of retreating. Despite all of this, God Almighty sent down His gift of sakina (inner peace and reassurance) upon them, as is expressed in the next verse: “Then God sent down His gift of inner peace and reassurance on His Messenger and the believers…” (at-Tawbah 9:26). Hearing this, they experienced heartfelt repentance, pulled themselves together, and became victorious by God’s permission and grace.

Dizziness that comes along with glory

Let us consider the lesson to be drawn from this historical event, as expressed in the initial question. Just as the blessed Companions of the noble Prophet had Divine providence and support behind them, today’s Muslims can be granted different Divine favors and blessings as well. What really matters is to keep one’s inner purity at such times by acknowledging Him as the only one who really makes things happen. Even in the face of the greatest achievements that seemingly depend on our free will and efforts, we need to shatter the veil of causality and see the Causer of causes beyond and say, “Everything is from You.”

From a worldly perspective, success and achievements can be seen as good things to sing praises about, but such things must never make a believer feel dizzy or forget their position of servitude for God. No matter how great the accomplishments we make, we always need to see ourselves as loyal slaves at His door. In fact, if we can achieve to see ourselves as His slaves, we will be freed from being slaves to everything else. This, at the same time, means freedom from different systems of manipulation and abuse. Those who do not become slaves to God Almighty become slaves to different things—some to lust, bohemianism, worldly benefits, and fame, while others become slaves to power and commit different forms of oppression thinking that might set everything right. You can view all of these people as captives. I can even say that if you swear they are being captives, you will not have made a false statement, because, some of those people bear two, five, or even ten shackles of captivity around their necks. Ones devoid of wisdom might ascribe good things being achieved to certain individuals and groups on stage and extol them. Those with character flaws and a weakness for fame and praise might grow arrogant and insolent in the face of such applause. They might have claims on what does not belong to them. In truth, it is a downfall to make such claims by forgetting that their achievements are blessings granted by God Almighty. For example, if a preacher sees that the audience is deeply moved and are listening to him in tears, he will corrupt what he did if he takes any personal pride and sees it as a consequence of his powerful oratory; in reality, people’s hearts are in God’s hand of power. Being granted oratory skills is both a blessing and a test. Making a claim of such things is a form of usurpation. Let us not forget that a love and desire for fame is such a trouble that one with such a character flaw can make claims on what belongs to God, the noble Prophet, and the Qur’an when they keep being extolled. May God protect us from such a disaster!

In conclusion, if you wish to build up the statue of your soul one more time, you need to know that this can neither be achieved through worldly opportunities nor through different means of power. As the poet Mehmed Akif put it, “One must always rely upon God, work diligently, and comply with what wisdom requires.” With this understanding, if you try to always speak up for the truth by taking Qur’anic reasoning as the basis and without engaging in polemics, God lets you see and speak correctly; eventually, He makes the impossible become real for you and grants you success on the path you walk.

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aziraphallist · 5 years

Text

In the beginning there was a garden.

There had been other things and other beginnings before that. Two of them were in the garden now.

The demon Crawly had been cast out of Heaven. The wound was still bleeding, his wings withered and weak. The raw skin of his belly scraped over the stones as he slithered up the wall; soon he would have to leave this place too.

The Angel of the Eastern Gate glanced over at him as he shifted into another form, hardly more natural, but better, maybe, to avoid that association. The snake had done the tempting, after all. “Well, that went down like a lead balloon.”

He thought the angel might be angry at his flippancy. Certainly he ought to be angry at what Crawly had caused to happen. But instead Crawly received a polite chuckle, and then: “Sorry, what was that?”

If Crawly had ever experienced politeness, he could not remember it. Certainly no one had apologized. Slightly wrong-footed, he repeated, “I said, that went down like a lead balloon.”

“Oh! Yes. It did rather.” Still no trace of divine wrath. The angel didn’t move away from him, or make any other attempt to disengage.

Fascinated, Crawly continued. How long would the angel’s patience last? How long would he pretend that Crawly’s existence didn’t bother him? “Bit of an overreaction if you ask me. I can’t see what’s so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil anyway.”

“Well it must be bad,” the angel reasoned—reasonably, Crawly had to admit—and then he paused, politely, as though waiting for Crawly to—

“Crawly,” he supplied, captivated. No one had asked his name before. He ignored the seed of fondness this caused to exist inside him, and hurriedly buried it.

“Crawly. Otherwise you wouldn’t have tempted them into it.”

Despite the implicit judgment, the angel’s words held no trace of rancor Crawly could discern, and he was starting to feel professionally slighted. “Oh, well... they just said, ‘Get up there and make some trouble.’“

Truth told Crawly intended his remarks to make some more of it, but the angel took this in stride. “Obviously. You’re a demon. It’s what you do.”

Well—yes. And Crawly could do better. At some point the angel would break, and goading an angel to wrath had to earn him some kind of commendation. Besides, no one could be this—this genuinely gentle. It had to be a façade, and Crawly would enjoy tearing it down. “Not very subtle of the Almighty, though. Fruit tree in the middle of a garden with a Don’t Touch sign. Why not put it on top of a high mountain? Or on the moon?” He dropped his voice conspiratorially. “Makes you wonder what God’s really planning.”

Still the angel only shook his head, the foundations of his belief unshaken, and ignored Crawly’s attempt to instil doubt. “Best not to speculate. It’s all part of the Great Plan. It’s not for us to understand.” He paused as though for effect and added, “It’s ineffable.”

At this Crawly quite forgot his directive. “The Great Plan’s ineffable?”

“Exactly,” the angel said primly, without acknowledging Crawly’s incredulity. The stubborn seed had started to root. “It is beyond understanding and incapable of being put into words.”

Crawly gave up this tactic as a bad job and desperately tried a new one. “Didn’t you have a flaming sword?”

“Uh.” The angel looked away.

Oh—oh, was that embarrassment? Shame? Perhaps the angel could be corrupted after all. Crawly ignored the tiny voice inside of him that felt something distantly related to disappointment and pressed his advantage. “You did! It was flaming like anything. What happened to it?”

“I—I, uh—”

“Lost it already, have you?” Crawly goaded knowingly.

The angel looked at his feet and muttered something that sounded like, “Gave it away.”

“You what?”

“I gave it away!” the angel exclaimed, seemingly quite helpless in the face of sudden emotion—in the face of worried compassion, though Crawly had had no luck evoking fear or anger or doubt or even disdain. The angel was nearly wringing his hands. The affection in Crawly’s chest sprouted and grew furiously toward the surface. “There are vicious animals! It’s going to be cold out there and she’s expecting already! And I said, ‘Here you go, flaming sword. Don’t thank me. And don’t let the sun go down on you here.’” He paused for more hand-wringing. “I do hope I didn’t do the wrong thing.”

All of Crawly’s machinations deserted him, and he found himself saying, in mild horror at the reassurance in his own voice, which he couldn’t seem to control, “Oh, you’re an angel. I don’t think you can dot he wrong thing.”

“Oh—thank you, oh, thank you,” the angel stammered, his posture relaxing as he admitted, as though to someone who’d earned his confidence, “It’s been bothering me.”

Determined, Crawly turned his tongue back to its task. “I’ve been worrying too. What if I did the right thing with the whole ‘eat the apple’ business? A demon can get into a lot of trouble for doing the right thing.” He glanced over slyly, but the angel didn’t seem to suspect anything. “Be funny if we both got it wrong, eh? If I did the good thing and you did the bad one?”

“Ha ha,” the angel chuckled, the same polite, nervous laugh from earlier. Despite himself, Crawly found himself quite disarmed, even when the angel realized what he’d laughed at and said, panicky, “No! it wouldn’t be funny at all!”

Bless him, Crawly thought, and then shivered and wondered if he ought to take it back; the angel might like it. But before he could decide, a heavy boom split the air and water, cool and damp and altogether unpleasantly humid, began to fall from the sky. Startled, he took an automatic step closer to the angel—and was more startled when the angel extended a wing over Crawly’s head to shield him.

A terrible warmth bloomed in Crawly’s chest and he realized, too late, that the affection had eaten into the cracks Heaven and Hell had left in the very fiber of him, and there would be no weeding it out now. He might have tried, but he was a demon after all, and a lazy one, and it felt… nice. It had been a long time since Crawly felt anything nice.

He glanced at the angel again. “Don’t think I got your name,” he said leadingly, nudging closer under his wing.

“Oh!” said the angel. “Oh, how rude of me—I’m Aziraphale.”

“Aziraphale,” Crawly repeated, committing the name to memory. He extended his hand and didn’t bother to be surprised when Aziraphale took it without hesitation. “Nice to meet you, angel.”

#good omens ficlet #good omens #ineffable husbands #my writing #crowley is aziraphale's dog

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