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Three Laughs And Three Tears

ABU Al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Three (people) make me laugh, and three make me cry.

Those that make me laugh are

1. A person who puts his hopes in this worldly life while death pursues him,

2. A person who is heedless (of his Lord) while (his Lord) is not heedless of him, and

3. A person who always laughs while he does not know whether he has pleased Allah or angered Him.

What makes me cry is being separated from my beloved:

1. Muhammad and his party (the Companions),

2. The horrors of the time of death, and

3. Standing in front of Allah on the Day when the secrets will be revealed and I do not know if I will then go to Paradise or Hell?”

– Ibn Al-Mubarak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqa’iq.

The Greatest Delight: Ridwaan Allah And Looking At His Face

“Some faces that Day will be Nadhirah [shining, radiant], Looking at their Rabb.” [75:22-23]

Ibn al-Itheer said, “Seeing Allah is the ultimate joy in the Hereafter, the most precious gift of Allah. May Allah (swt) help us reach that goal.” [Jaami’ al-Usool, 10/557]

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri reported that the Prophet (saw) said that “Allah will say to the people of Paradise, “O People of Paradise! They will say, “We are at Your Worship, our Rabb, and all goodness is in Your hand.” He will say, “Are you content?” They will say, “Why should we not be content, O Rabb, when you have given us what you have not given to anyone else of Your Creation?” He will say, “Shall I not give you better than that?” They will say, “O Rabb, what could be better than that?” He will say, “I grant you My pleasure and I will never be displeased with you after that.” [al-Bukhaari and Muslim, Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh]

Muslim and at-Tirmidhi reported from Suhayb ar-Rumi that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise, Allah will say: “Do you want anything more?” They will say, “Have You not made our faces white [i.e. honored us]? Have You not admitted us to Paradise and saved us from the Fire?” Then the veil will be lifted, and they will never have been given anything more dear to them than looking at their Rabb, may He be Blessed and Exalted.”

One report adds, “Then the Prophet (saw) recited the aayah, “For those who have done good is the best [reward i.e. Paradise] and even more [i.e. the honor of glancing at the Countenance of Allah]…” [10:26]

Thus seeing the Face of Allah (swt) was interpreted as part of the “more” [mazeed] which Allah has promised to al-Muhsinoon [those who have done good]:

“There they will have all that they desire – and We have more [for them, i.e. a glance at the All-Mighty, All-Majestic.” [50:35]

This is a joy and honor that will be denied to the Kuffaar and Mushrikeen:

“Nay, surely they [evildoers] will be veiled from seeing their Rabb that day.” [83:15]

Imaam Maalik ibn Anas, the Imaam of al-Madinah, used this aayah as proof that “Looking at their Rabb” [75:23] literally meant they would see the face of Allah, as some had interpreted it as meaning the people would be waiting for their reward. Maalik said, “They have lied…. The people will look at Allah on the Day of Resurrection with their own eyes. If the believers are not going to see their Rabb on the Day of Resurrection, why did Allah (swt) say that the kuffaar would be veiled from Seeing Him?” [See Sharh as-Sunnah, Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/100 no. 5662]

at-Tahhaawi, the great Hanafi Imaam, said in his “al-‘Aqeedah at-Tahhaawiyyah”, “This seeing [Allah] is true, something that will happen to the people of Paradise; it is not necessary to attempt to define it or describe how it will happen. It is mentioned in the Book of Our Rabb [75:23]. The way it will happen is according to the will and knowledge of Allah and we have to believe in it as it was narrated from the Messenger of Allah in the saheeh hadith. We should not interpret it according to our own inclinations and opinions, for no one is sound in his deen except the one who submits fully to Allah and His Messenger. What is ambiguous should be referred to one who has knowledge (i.e. a scholar)” [Sharh at-Tahhaawiyyah, 203]

The Ten Who Were Given Glad Tidings of Paradise

The Messenger (saw) clearly stated that ten of his Companions would be in Paradise:

“Abu Bakr will be in Paradise, ‘Umar will be in Paradise, ‘Uthmaan will be in Paradise, ‘Ali will be in Paradise, Talhah will be in Paradise, az-Zubayr will be in Paradise, ‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf will be in Paradise, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas will be in Paradise, Sa’eed ibn Zayd will be in Paradise and Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarraah will be in Paradise.” [sahih, Ahmad from Sa’eed ibn Zayd, at-Tirmidhi from ‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer, 1/70, no. 50]

“Ten will be in Paradise: the Prophet will be in Paradise. Abu Bakr will be in Paradise, ‘Umar will be in Paradise, ‘Uthmaan will be in Paradise, ‘Ali will be in Paradise, Talhah will be in Paradise, az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwaam will be in Paradise, ‘Sa’d ibn Maalik will be in Paradise, Abdur-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf will be in Paradise, and Sa’eed ibn Zayd will be in Paradise.” [sahih, Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah, ad-Diyaa, from Sa’eed ibn Zayd Saheeh al-Jaami as-Sagheer, 4/34, no. 3905]

The Books of the Sunnah tell us that one day the Prophet (saw) was sitting at the well of ‘Arees, with Abu Musa al-Ash’ari acting as his gatekeeper. Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq came and asked permission to see him, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Let him in, and give him the glad tidings of Paradise”. Then ‘Umar came and he said, “Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise”. Then ‘Uthmaan came and he said, “Let him in, and give him the glad tidings of Paradise because of an affliction that will befall him” [al-Bukhaari, Muslim and at-Tirmidhi. Jaami’ al-Usool, 8/562, no. 6372]

Ibn ‘Asaakir reported with a saheeh isnaad from Ibn Mas’oud that the Prophet (saw) said, “My successor will be in Paradise, his successor will be in Paradise, and the third and fourth will be in Paradise.” [namely, the Khulafaa Rashida] [Saheeh al-Jaami as-Sagheer, 4/149, no. 4311]

at-Tirmidhi and al-Haakim reported with a saheeh isnaad from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (saw) said to Abu Bakr, “You are free from the Fire.” [Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer, 2/24, no. 1494]

The People Of Paradise Will Inherit The Portion Of Paradise That Would Have Gone To The People Of Hell

Allah has given two positions to every descendent of Aadam: a position in Jannah and a position in Jahanam. Then whoever is destined to damnation of the kuffaar and mushrikeen will inherit the positions in Hell that had been allocated to the people of Paradise, and those of the people of Paradise for whom eternal bliss is decreed will inherit the portions of Paradise that had been allocated to the people of Hell. After describing the good deeds that would earn Paradise for the successful believers, Allah said, “These are indeed the inheritors, who shall inherit the Fridays”

Ibn Katheer said in his commentary on this aayah: “Ibn Abi Haatim said – and he quoted to the isnaad going back to Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“There is no one among you who does not have two positions, one in Paradise and one in Hell. The believer will have a house built for him in Paradise, and his house in Hell will be demolished”. A similar report was narrated from Sa’eed ibn Jubayr.

The believers will inherit the positions of the kuffaar, because those positions were created for those who worship Allah (swt) alone and do not associate anything in worship with Him, because they did what they were commanded to do as far as worship is concerned, whilst the kuffaar neglected the duty for which they had been created. So the believers gained the share that the kuffaar would have gained if they had obeyed Allah (swt) and they will gain even more than that. Muslim reported from Abu Burdah from Abu Musaa that the Prophet (saw) said: “Some people amongst the Muslims will come on the Day of Resurrection with sins as great as a mountain. Allah will forgive them, and will pass [the burden of sin] to the Jews and Christians”. According to another version of this hadith, the Prophet (saw) said, “When the Day of Judgement comes, Allah (swt) will allocate a Jew or Christian for every Muslim and will say, “This is your ransom from the Fire”. This hadith reflects the words of Allah (swt):

“Such is the Paradise which We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our slaves who have been al-Muttaqoon” [19:63] and

“This is the Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do [in the life of this world]” [43:72] [Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 5/10]

Skills Of Communication: Examples From Prophet’s Sunnah

The skills of communication have recently become one of the skills that people seek to learn. Big institutions, especially those that have a direct contact with people, organize training courses on communication skills. However, it is very important to point out that all the rules and principles of this field of knowledge are not ‘new’: they can easily be found in the Prophetic Sunnah. That is to say Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the perfect example of how to communicate with people. In this article, I shall seek to shed light on some of the aspects of the exceptional communication skills of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him):

Eye contact: One of the rules of good communication is that you have to divide your eye contact, that is, do not look at one person or in his eyes all the time. One of the Prophet’s companions said that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was talking to us as if he was talking to each one of us individually. This feeling was due to the fact that he (peace be upon him) was distributing his eye contact to give everyday a feeling of importance and intimacy.

Keeping a smile: One of the skills of communication is to have a smiling face to win other people’s approval. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was never seen frowning except when someone committed a sin or violated the rules of religion.

Having self-control: To be a good communicator, you have to have self-control, that helps you to bear with the silly acts done by others. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) showed that on a lot of occasions, even with those who did not show enough decorum or courtesy in dealing with him. The result was always that those who were rude to him felt ashamed because of his noble manners and refined conduct.

Linguistic competence: According to the rules of communication, a good communicator should have linguistic abilities that enable him to answer questions, talk to people and convince them to use the least number of words, but the most effective ones at the same time. This is so apparent when a man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) asking for advice, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) only said, “Do not get angry.” The man repeated his question thrice and the Prophet (peace be upon him) repeated his answer thrice emphasizing the importance of what he said in spite of the small number of words. In other words, if the man does not get angry, he will avoid a lot of mistakes and blunders caused by wrath and anger. At the end, I would like to stress that all the skills of communication taught to people nowadays are found in the Prophetic Sunnah as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the ideal example of how to deal with people in a very unruffled and respectable manner regardless of their religious, cultural or racial background. Allah describes the noble manners of the Prophet in the Holy Qur’an in different places such as, “And you (stand) on an exalted standard of character.” (Qur’an, 68:4)

By: Dr. Khaled Tawfik

Status of Woman in Islam

ISLAM confirms and enhances the natural disposition, which Allah has instilled in His creation. Allah has created men and women, with different attributes, for each to fulfill part of the essential needs for both to live happily in this life and to work more efficiently for the life Hereafter.

He made them indispensable and complementary to each other. They can be compared to a day, which has two parts: night and daytime; also to electricity, which is composed of two elements that blows life into many ‘lifeless’ materials.
Amongst the things in which Allah has distinguished the female is that He made her highly affectionate and emotional in her behavior.

Besides, He made her elegant and fragile to increase her attractiveness, but limits her freedom of movement in the society wherein she lives.

She was made tender and affectionate to be capable of absorbing man’s stiff nature and to attract him, to provide him with psychological refuge and soothe his pains and relieve his worries. Also she was made to be more ready to sacrifice herself for the others in order to be suitable to take care of the children.

In fact, all these qualities are indispensable for the happiness of any family or community. It was proved through psychological experiments that women are stronger than men in surviving unusual psychological stresses and recovering from psychological shocks.

On the other side, Allah has created the male to be distinguished with toughness to protect his family, and to make him more capable to move freely in the environment where he lives.

He can wander freely in a wider area i.e., go to school or deserted areas, and can move more freely during the late hours, at night or in darkness. The male is also less prone to aggression and more capable to defend himself.

No wonder, Islam confined the supreme power in a state to a man, without neglecting women’s intelligent consultation. For Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who received revelation, took the advice of a woman seriously and organized his plan of action.

After concluding a deal with the tribe of the Quraish — before they embraced Islam — he commanded his companions to forsake their intention to perform Umrah. They were so upset that they hesitated in carrying out his orders.

For the deal with the Quraish included provisions which made Muslims submit to the will of the non-Muslims. When the companions hesitated in complying with his orders he felt sad, then Umm Salamah, one of his wives, advised him to perform the rituals of the release from Umrah — Ihram — himself without saying a word. The Prophet (pbuh) took her advice and did what she said (Ibn Al-Qayyim, Zaad Vol. 3:195).

However, when we speak about the distinguished characteristics of men and women, we should bear in mind that there are exceptional cases where a man or woman might excel in other’s area.