651.    The problem with some people who do not “feel” the prescribed prayer (Salat) is that they may be rationalizing it too much, treating it like a checklist of formalities they must accomplish and nothing else, after which some big spiritual opening must necessarily follow. This is obviously not how the prayer should be approached.

652.    When Allah unties the knot (on one’s heart) so that one often asks of Him for his needs, this is an indication that Allah wishes to give him this thing. Continue reading →

626.    There is mention of the story of Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas’ and Salman al-Farsi’s (RAA) armies during their campaign crossing the river with their horses (i.e. akin to walking on water) – this is one of the miracles (Karamaat) of the Companions (RAA).

627.    One of the potential positive matters related to Husn ad-Dhann [thinking good of a fellow Muslim] is that even if the person doing some outward good deed is doing it for ulteriorly bad motives, our good thoughts about him might transform his bad motives into good ones. Thus, we should avoid Suu’ adh-Dhann [thinking bad of a fellow Muslim] so as to not receive a bad verdict from Allah. Continue reading →

601.    (A reply to an objection by Twelver Shias) There is the oft-quoted Hadeeth about the Sahabi (the Ummati, to be precise) being taken by the angels as the Prophet (ﷺ) is standing by the Hawdh (Pool) and calling people to come to it. But note that this is something occurring only once in a while- and not as often as Twelver Shias would want one to believe, if the Ummah or a majority of it has apostatized. And another issue is that this group of people will not be eternally in the Hellfire anyway, again going against the Twelver Shia portrayal of the matter. Continue reading →

576.    As was said by certain people, if one has nothing (a principle) to die for, one has nothing to live for. It is not sufficient that one simply dies for one’s country -patriotism pure and simple- without a deeply-held basis. (Because at the end, it is tautological to die solely for the piece of land under your feet, it does not have any abstract ideals associated with it.)

577.    For a number of believers, death is difficult, since Allah wishes to fully cleanse them and raise their status. And the opposite is the case with the disbeliever at times, Allah may wish to give him all the comforts and ease in this world, to make him suffer fully in the Hereafter. Continue reading →

551.    Courage is to expose one’s self to danger but at the proper time, when one must do something in order to avert harm to Islam, to his family, to his Muslim brethren, etc. It is not simply a wild entering into the fray for the purpose of saying one is brave.

552.    One courageous deed is to say that we have to work on our Nafs (inner, lower self), that we have to carry out the internal Jihad. Many will say there is need for the external, physical Jihad against the enemy, but will never say they need to work on their inner selves. Continue reading →

526.    The details are different from what we find in other religions, yet it should be noted that in Islam it is indeed Allah, through His Mercy, who liberates and redeems us. Note this is also not in the Christian sense, where logical impossibilities are called upon in order to say this redemption has occurred or can occur for the individual, and where strange notions of personal liberty have been formulated, giving rise then to many conceptual problems in the assessment of religion in the modern world. Continue reading →

Random Thoughts and Notes: Serial Arrangement # 1-500

Thoughts/Notes # 1-25                      Thoughts/Notes # 26-50 Continue reading →

501.    An interesting interpretation of current events: It seems the purposeful and over-the-top insulting of the Prophet (ﷺ) often done as publicly as possible by some of our enemies in our faces, is a secular adaptation of some Christians’ attempts at intentionally obtaining “martyrdom through persecution” for their beliefs and practices, as seen from the time of Early Christianity onwards. Continue reading →

476.    An admonishment: We should take a lesson from all people who have strong beliefs- they are relentless in trying to voice their opinions about such beliefs, to let others know about these beliefs, and to change the geopolitical landscape towards the principles they believe in. They do not simply keep it to themselves; in their understanding, they are doing ‘Amr bil Ma’ruf and Nahy ‘anil Munkar’ – enjoining the ‘good’ and forbidding the ‘evil’ (so what is our problem in doing this based on the truth and correct principles which Islam has provided us with?) Continue reading →