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And Whatever Of Ill Befalls You, It Is From Yourself

Allah says: “Whatever of good befalls you, it is from Allah; and whatever of ill befalls you, it is from yourself.” [Surahal-Nisa’: 79]

This verse above and others like it outline an attitude that we should adopt, which will make us better at coping with good fortune and adversity in our lives.

Some people misunderstand these verses and refer to all the weal and woe of their lives to Allah being either pleased or displeased with them. Worldly prosperity is seen as a sign of Allah’s pleasure, while misfortune and loss are evidence of Allah’s anger. Those who adopt this view are prone to confusion and susceptible to misguidance.

There are indeed many verses in the Qur’an that establish a cause and effect relationship between virtue and vice on the one hand and prosperity and ruin on the other. The following verses are representative:

“Whosoever does right, whether male or female, and is a believer, verily we shall give them a good life, and We shall pay them a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do.” [Surah al-Nahl:97]

“What! When a misfortune befell you, and you had certainly afflicted(them) with twice as much, you began to say: Whence is this? Say: It is from yourselves. Surely Allah has power over all things.” [Surah Al `Imran:165]

“But those who have earned evil will have a reward of like evil: ignominy shall overtake them.” [Sûrah Yûnus: 27]

These verses show us that those who engage in righteous deeds are recompensed by having their hearts grow stronger, by receiving sustenance by means that they cannot have anticipated, and by receiving great blessings in the little that they have.

By contrast, those who engage in evil deeds are punished by becoming hard-hearted, preoccupied with worries, and by various misfortunes.

However, this must be understood in the most general of terms. It cannot be used to analyze specific circumstances and situations. Health, affluence, and happy family life cannot be used as an indicator that Allah is pleased with a particular person, or that the person is being rewarded for his or her good deeds. These circumstances might be given to the person as a test. They might even be given to give the person trespass in his iniquity.

In some cases, they may even be a form of punishment. Allah says: “Let not their wealth nor their children dazzle you: in reality, Allah’s plan is to punish them with these things in this life, and that their souls may perish in their (very) denial of Allah.” [Surah al-Tawbah: 55]

The same can be said for poverty. It is not necessarily a punishment from Allah. It may actually be a mercy. There is a hadîth where it is related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) quotes Allah as saying: “Indeed, among of my servants are those whose faith cannot endure except in poverty. If I were to enrich them, they would fall into disbelief.” [Tarikh Baghdad (6/15)– However, the hadîth is weak, as discussed by al-Albani in al-Silsilahal-Da’ifah (1774)]

Sickness is no different. We should consider the supplication the Prophet(peace be upon him) taught us to make on behalf of a sick person: “May it be a purification, Allah willing.”

This supplication shows us that we should adopt an optimistic outlook about sickness and other misfortunes. At the same time, the fact that the Prophet(peace be upon him) has us say “Allah willing” shows us that we should not express certainty about the sickness being a purification. It might, alternatively, be a means of raising the sick person’s station in the hereafter. It might possibly be a punishment for some sins.

Allah says: “Every soul must taste of death, and We try you with evil and with good, for ordeal. And unto Us, you will be returned.” [Surahal-Anbiya’: 35]

We should look at having children in the same way. A person may wait years to have children, or might even be sterile. This is not necessarily a punishment. It would be wrong to even assume that it is a misfortune. It could very well be due to Allah’s mercy and His being pleased with the person. Maybe, it is a tribulation by which Allah raises the person’s status in the Hereafter. There may be a great wisdom behind Allah not granting someone children that the person will never come to know.

We should consider the incident when Khidr while traveling with Moses (peace be upon him), killed the young boy. Allah tells us: “So the two of them journey on until, when they met a lad, he slew him. (Moses) said: “What! Have you slain an innocent soul who has slain no man? Verily you have done a horrid thing’.” [Surah al-Kahf: 74]

There can be no doubt that the child’s parents must have thought the death of their son to be a great tragedy and misfortune. However, Khidr explains his action to Moses (peace be upon him) as follows: “And as for the lad, his parents were believers and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebellion and disbelief. And we intended that their Lord should change him for them for one better in purity and nearer to mercy.” [Surah al-Kahf:80-81]

How often do we regard something that befalls us to be a great misfortune, when in fact it is really Allah showing His mercy to us. The opposite is equally true. Allah says: “Perhaps you hate a thing that is best for you, and you love a thing that is bad for you. Allah knows while you know not.”[Surah al-Baqarah: 216]

Allah’s decree in the world is known to Him alone. Therefore, it is wrong for us to take the general texts that show a cause-and-effect relationship between virtue and worldly consequences and try to apply them to specific people and circumstances. We should certainly not make decisive judgments about ourselves or others on such a basis, saying things like “Allah is punishing that person” or “Allah is pleased with him”.

The Prophets and the righteous people of the past were all faced with serious hardships. We cannot say that they suffered because Allah was punishing them. We can also see that Allah has granted certain sinners and unbelievers considerable prosperity in this world. We cannot say that this shows Allah is pleased with them.

The attitude that a believer should take is to live between hope and fear. He should at all times be equally self-accusatory and conscious of Allah’s mercy and grace. The believer’s feelings of self-accusation and his awareness of his sins should be more acute when he is in health and prosperity. At times of sickness and hardship, he should grow more conscious of Allah’s mercy and His pleasure with our good deeds.

A Muslim should always be patient in adversity, and thankful in prosperity. To be sure to achieve this state of mind, he should be conscious of Allah’s wisdom in testing us with every blessing and hardship. Such a Muslim will then show fortitude in sorrow and when his means are straitened. He will not regard his misfortune as Allah disgracing him. He will, instead, accuse himself, saying: “This is on account of my sins.” He will do so in order to better himself and inculcate humility in his heart, recalling Allah’s words: “Whatever of good befalls you, it is from Allah; and whatever of ill befalls you, it is from yourself.” [Surah al-Nisa: 79]

This is why we see that ‘Abbas used to say “No misfortune ever befell except on account of sin.”

Others from among the Pious Predecessors used to say: “By Allah! If I committed any sin, I would see its consequences on my family and my steed.”

A Muslim who is conscious of Allah’s wisdom in testing us with every blessing and hardship will likewise show gratitude in prosperity. He will say: “This is from the grace and generosity of my Lord.” He will regard it as a test upon him.

We see Solomon (peace be upon him) saying: “This is from the bounty of my Lord, that He may try me whether I will give thanks or be ungrateful.”[Surah al-Naml: 40]

In this way, the Muslim will be sure to give thanks for Allah’s blessings, and he will avoid attributing those blessings to his own efforts. A believer should never bestow upon himself unmitigated praise or credit.

Allah warns us against such haughtiness in the Qur’an: “As for man, whenever his Lord tries him by honoring him, and is gracious unto him, he says: My Lord has honored me. But whenever He tries him by straitening his means of life, he says: My Lord despises me. Nay! (this is not the case.)” [Surahal-Fajr: 15-17]

This verse shows us that we should not gauge our affairs in this way. Allah does not give us the good that He blesses us with because we are deserving of it. He does so from His grace and bounty. He does not disgrace us when He withholds from us. Rather what He withholds from us is on account of His infinite wisdom.

5 Daily Prayers

Salat [Prayers] Enjoined
[Quran 4:103 – Pickthall] “…………Worship at fixed times hath been enjoined on the believers”

Allah’s Command to Believers (Muslims)
[Quran 2:238 – Al-Muntakhab] “Observe your duty to Allah and maintain the prescribed prayers, especially AL-‘Asr, the afternoon prayer, and humble yourselves to Allah and exercise unqualified obedience to Him”

ENJOINED, Fajr Prayer
[Quran 11:114 – Al-Muntakhab] “Observe your act of worship at both ends of the day -the early morning and the close of the day- and at the early hours of the night -following sunset and before bedtime- and keep in mind that pious and virtuous deeds cancel evil deeds. This is simply a reminder for those who keep Allah in mind and lift to Him their inward sight”

[Quran 24:58 – Amatul Rahman Omar] “O you who believe! it is binding on those whom your right hands possess (domestic servants) and those (of your children) who have not reached the age of puberty to ask your permission (before coming into your private rooms) in three instances, before the morning Prayer, and when you lay aside your clothes due to the heat (in summer) at noon and after the night Prayer. These are three times when your privacy should be respected. At other times no blame shall lie on you or on them (if they come to you without permission), for they have to move about (waiting upon you) some of you (attending) upon others (according to need). That is how Allah explains to you His commandments, for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise”

ENJOINED, Zuhur Prayer
[Quran 17:78 – Muhammad Asad] “BE CONSTANT in [thy] prayer from the time when the sun has passed its zenith till the darkness of night, and [be ever mindful of its] recitation at dawn: for, behold, the recitation [of prayer] at dawn is indeed witnessed [by all that is holy]”

[Quran 30:18 – Yusuf Ali] “Yea, to Him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late afternoon and when the day begins to decline”

ENJOINED, Asr Prayer
[Quran 2:238 – Al-Muntakhab] “Observe your duty to Allah and maintain the prescribed prayers, especially AL-‘Asr, the afternoon prayer, and humble yourselves to Allah and exercise unqualified obedience to Him”

ENJOINED, Maghrib Prayer
[Quran 11:114 – Amatul Rahman Omar] “And observe Prayer at the two ends of the day and in some early hours of the night. Surely, the good deeds wipe out the evil ones. That is a reminder for those who would remember”

ENJOINED, Isha Prayer
[Quran 24:58 – Aisha Bewley] “You who have iman! those you own as slaves and those of you who have not yet reached puberty should ask your permission to enter at three times: before the Dawn Prayer, when you have undressed at noon, and after the Salat al-‘Isha’ – three times of nakedness for you. There is nothing wrong for you or them at other times in moving around among yourselves from one to another. In this way Allah makes the Signs clear to you. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

ENJOINED Salat[Prayers], According to the Prophet of Islam’s Ahadith
[Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 0430] “Narrated Abu Qatadah ibn Rab’i: Allah, the Exalted said: I made five times’ prayers obligatory on your people, and I took a guarantee that if anyone observes them regularly at their times, I shall admit him to Paradise; if anyone does not offer them regularly, there is no such guarantee of Mine for him.”

[Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 8, Hadith 1415] “There are five prayers which Allah has prescribed on His servants. If anyone offers them, not losing any of them, and not treating them lightly, Allah guarantees that He will admit him to Paradise. If anyone does not offer them, Allah does not take any responsibility for such a person. He may either punish him or admit him to Paradise”

[Bukhari, Book 23, Hadith 478] “Narrated Ibn Abbas: Thy Prophet sent Muadh to Yemen and said, “Invite the people to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and I am Allah’s Apostle, and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in every day and night (in twenty-four hours), and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has made it obligatory for them to pay the Zakat from their property and it is to be taken from the wealthy among them and given to the poor.”

[Bukhari, Book 23, Hadith 480] “Narrated Abu Huraira: A Bedouin came to the Prophet and said, “Tell me of such a deed as will make me enter Paradise, if I do it.” The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, “Worship Allah, and worship none along with Him, offer the (five) prescribed compulsory prayers perfectly, pay the compulsory Zakat, and fast the month of Ramadan.” The Bedouin said, “By Him, in Whose Hands my life is, I will not do more than this.” When he (the Bedouin) left, the Prophet said, “Whoever likes to see a man of Paradise, then he may look at this man.”

[Muslim, Book 002, Hadith 0450] “Abu Huraira reported: Verily the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: five (daily) prayers and from one Friday prayer to the (next) Friday prayer, and from Ramadhan to Ramadhan are expiations for the (sins) committed in between (their intervals) provided one shuns the major sins”

[Malik’s Muwatta Book 9, Hadith 9.25.97] “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, ‘There are five prayers during the day and the night.”

The Blessings of Friday: Al- Jumu’ah

Ibn Kathir reported that Friday is called Al-Jumu’ah because it is derived from Al-Jam literally, ‘gathering’. The people of Islam gather weekly.. every Friday in the major places of worship.

During Friday, ALLAH [SWT] finished the creation, the sixth day, during which Allah created the heavens and earth.
On Friday, Allah created Adam, and he was placed in Paradise, and ironically, it was a Friday when he was taken out of Paradise.

It will be on a Friday when the Last Hour will commence.

There is an hour during Friday, wherein no faithful servant asks Allah for something good, but Allah will give him what he asked for.
[All of this is based upon Hadiths in the authentic collections.]

In the ancient language, Friday was called, `Arubah. It is a fact that previous nations were informed about Friday, but they were led astray from it. The Jews chose Saturday for their day of worship and the Christians chose Sunday, which is the day the creation was initiated. Allah chose Friday for this ‘Ummah because it is the day the creation was finished.

It has been authentically reported from the Prophet(Peace be upon him) that he said: “Allah diverted those who were before us from Friday; for the Jews (the day set aside for prayer) was Saturday, and for the Christians it was Sunday. And Allah turned towards us and guided us to Friday (as the day of prayer) for us. In fact, He (Allah) made Friday Saturday, and Sunday (as days of prayer). In this order would they (Jews and Christians) come after us on the Day of Resurrection. We are the last among the people in this world and we will be the first among the created beings to be judged on the Day of Resurrection.” (Source: Narrated by Muslim, An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah.)

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) also said: “The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday; on it, Adam was created and on it, he was sent down (to earth), on it, his repentance was accepted (by Allah), on it, he died and on it, the Hour will be established. And every moving creature is listening on Friday, from the time it awakes in the morning, until the sun rises, due to fear of the Hour, except the jinn and mankind, and on this day, there is a time when, if a Muslim slave prays to Allah and asks Him, He will give him what he asked for.”
(Source: Narrated (by Malik) in ‘Al-Muwatta” and also authenticated by At-Tirmidhi as stated in Zaad Al-Maad.)

Allah tells us in the Qur’an about Friday: ‘O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salat (prayer) on Friday (Jumu’ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allah [Jumu’ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salat (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did but know!” [Source: Qur`an (Surah Jumuah:9)]

Muslims: To Thine Own Selves Be True

An African proverb says: When people start throwing stones at a tree, it means that the tree is bearing fruit. This is exactly what’s happening now to Muslims. A major Islamic reform movement is underway in the West. People here have looked at Muslims and said, “We thought they were going to put aside their religion and become assimilated.” But young Canadian and European Muslims are replying, “We are not ready to forget who we are to become who you want us to be.” Instead, they assert: “We are not the other, we are not against the other, we are ourselves and we want to be equal citizens.”

Third-generation Muslims — torn between Canadian society’s liberties and discriminations and their own parents’ traditionalist and spiritual stances — have sensed that to become genuine Canadian citizens, they seem to be expected to renounce their faith. The reality is that in the eyes of many of our fellow citizens, we are still the “other” — faithful to a foreign religion.

In this situation, one has two options: to victimize and isolate oneself or assert one’s otherness. What prevents us from becoming involved in our societies today is not legal frameworks. It is, far more, a matter of perception. Western society’s grim perception of Muslims today determines the way that people read the law and react to the presence of Muslims in their midst.

Muslim youth bear a great responsibility to change this reality. They can change such negative perceptions by knowing who they are, understanding where they are, and interacting with their fellow students, friends, and citizens.

In fact, perceptions are already changing. It’s going to be a long, slow process, but there’s no other way. Human history shows us that it takes time to change mentalities. Past immigrants have undergone the same experience: Each individual must take action at his or her local level, behaving with confidence, patience, and perseverance.

But evolution will also take education, a deep faith, and critical, creative thinking. These are the conditions for people to remain true to themselves and be truly free. There is no freedom without education; there is no dignity without freedom. This is what the Creator asks us to be: educated, dignified, and free.

Pearls Of Wisdom From Quran

1) Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. [Az-Zumar 39-53]

2) Wealth and children are [but] adornment (attraction) of the worldly life. But the enduring (everlasting) good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one’s] hope. [Al-Kahf 18:46]

3) Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon, the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. [Fussilat 41:34]

4) And peace will be upon he who follows the guidance. [Ta-Ha 20:47]

5) The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely.[Al-Anfal 8:2-4]

6) That you not transgress (deceit) within the balance. And establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance. [Ar-Rahman 55:8-9] (While selling man should weigh things honestly)

7) Whom Allah leaves astray, you will never find for them protectors besides Him, and We will gather them on the Day of Resurrection [fallen] on their faces – blind, dumb, and deaf. Their refuge is Hell; every time it subsides We increase them in blazing fire. [Al-Isra 17:97]

8) And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a depressed [i.e., difficult] life, and We will gather [i.e., raise] him on the Day of Resurrection blind.” He will say, “My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?” [Allah] will say, “Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot [i.e., disregarded] them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten” [Ta-Ha 20:124-126]

9) And when it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they say, “Rather, we will follow that upon which we found our fathers.” Even if Satan was inviting them to the punishment of the Blaze? [Luqman 31:21]

10) And Allah invites to the Home of Peace [i.e., Paradise] and guides whom He wills to a straight path. [Yunus 10:25]

11) They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive [it] not. [Al-Baqarah 2:9]

12) O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is true, So let not the worldly life delude (deceive) you, and let not the chief deceiver [i.e., Satan] deceive you about Allah. [Fatir 35:5]

13) Indeed, As-Salat (prayer) has been enjoined upon the believers at specified times. [Quran Chapter An-Nisa 4:103]

14) Indeed, the Day of Judgement is an appointed time (fixed time). [Quran An-Naba 78:17]