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Taqwa

Taqwa is the central concept running through the Quran. It is translated normally as piety, heading or God fearing. In fact, Taqwa combines piety, heading, God fearing and God consciousness.

1.God Fearing in Context of ISLAM
Here fear should not be understands as scare, which can be without any love or respect. But in Islamic context fear means.

  • Fear of the punishment of ALLAH on the day of Judgement.
  • Fear of the losing the blessings of ALLAH in our worldly life.
  • To be afraid of displeasing ALLAH –the one who is most worthy of Love.

2. God consciousness as the element of Taqwa
The person who has Taqwa is one who is most conscious about the things that displease the God.
God consciousness is the core of the quality Taqwa. God consciousness is the quality of being conscious of the presence of Allah at all times. The most God conscious person is one who is most pious. Islam therefore encourages Muslims to be pious in every aspect of Life

3. Love of ALLAH in context of Islam

  • Love if ALLAH refers to man’s necessary dependence on ALLAH —the realization that he is not sufficient.
  • True love of God is manifested in pure acts of worship.
  • Muslim is required to manifest this love by Following God’s Path and, if necessary, sacrificing some personal desires, property, time, if require his life for the sake of ALLAH.

According to a hadith of Prophet (PBUH), If a person love God and His Messenger more than he loves anything else he will have the sweet taste of faith in his heart. In addition God will reciprocate his love Sura 3 Verse 31: Say if you do Love ALLAH follow me, Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For ALLAH is oft forgiving and most merciful.

4. Specific acts that nourish ALLAH’S love

  • Have Taqwa
  • Constantly repent to ALLAH
  • Engage in self purification
  • Do good
  • Place Trust in ALLAH
  • Be steadfast
  • Act with justice

5. Actions that keep away Man from Allah’s Love

  • Aggression
  • Corruption and mischief
  • Ungratefulness
  • Rejection of faith
  • Oppression
  • Betrayal
  • Waste
  • Arrogance

Sura 4. Verse 36: ALLAH love not the arrogant, the vainglorious

6. Benefits that derive from having Taqwa
Taqwa assists a man in his journey in the hereafter through this life to successful conclusion.

  • He will be receptive of to Guidance
  • He will have proper vision, Knowledge and wisdom.
  • His affairs will be easier
  • He will receive forgiveness for his sins.
  • He will receive mercy from ALLAH.
  • He will achieve ultimate victory and bliss in this life and in the Hereafter.

Sura Anfal Verse 29 “O you who believe; if you fear ALLAH, He will grant you a criterion, remove (all) evil deeds and forgive you for ALLAH is the lord of grace unbound.”

Lessons And Moralities Of Fasting

RAMADAN is a month of discipline, self-control, patience, and good behavior. In Ramadan, Muslims are expected to gain the fruits of fasting, namely, piety and consciousness of Allah. In this context, Allah, Most High, says in the Glorious Qur’an : “O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious).” (Al-Baqarah 2:183)

Also, He says: “And He it is Who has put the night and the day in succession, for such who desires to remember or desires to show his gratitude.” (Al-Furqan 25:62)

Life and death and the succession of nights and days have a purpose and that is to test us and to give us an opportunity to express our thanks and gratitude to our Creator and Sustainer. The month of Ramadan comes and goes. We must examine ourselves now and see what we have learned and achieved during this month. The test of success of this month lies in the effects it has left upon us as follows:

Discipline
We learn in this month how to discipline ourselves for the sake of Allah. We follow a strict schedule of eating and drinking. We are constantly aware that even in our such mundane activities as eating and drinking, we must follow divine injunctions. We change our habits in our daily routines because we learn that we are not the servants and slaves to our habits, but always the servants of Allah. Then after Ramadan, we have to keep this spirit of discipline in other modes of our life and must continue with our submission to the commands of Allah.

Renewal of devotional life
Ramadan renews our enthusiasm for worship and devotion to Allah. In this month we are more careful of our daily prayers and have special prayers at night. There is no religion without prayer and Muslims learn in this month how to strengthen and deepen their religious life.

Renewal of contact with the Qur’an
Ramadan and the Qur’an are linked together from the beginning. It was in this month that this divine message was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We are told that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was fasting when he received the first revelation. Fasting prepares the believers’ hearts to learn the Word of Allah. It is the most suitable condition for our spiritual and mental communication with the Qur’an. The Muslim Ummah pays more attention to the Qur’an in this month. This renewed contact with the Qur’an must help us in following its message.

Renewal of identity with the Ummah
Ramadan is not an individual experience only, but it is an experience in community. The whole Muslim Ummah fasts together in one and the same month. We identify with one another in our obedience to Allah. This gives us a new sense of togetherness and association. Ramadan teaches us that the Muslim Ummah is the community of piety and devotion to Allah and its members derive their strength from each other in deeds of piety and virtue. The bonds that are based on piety and virtue are the strongest and these bonds prove good for mankind. The strength of the Muslim community lies in its commitment to the values of goodness, morality and piety. Ramadan leaves an imprint of all these values upon the Muslim Ummah.

A fresh sense of care and sympathy
Fasting in the month of Ramadan helps us to understand the suffering and the pains of the poor and needy. By our voluntary hunger and thirst we realize what it means to be deprived of basic necessities of life. Ramadan is called the month of charity and sympathy. We learn how to be more kind and generous in this month. Many Muslims also pay their Zakah in the month of Ramadan.

Jihad or struggle
Fasting in Ramadan and Jihad both of them were prescribed in the same year, that is, the second year of Hijra in Madina. Fasting prepares for hardships and sacrifices. These are two important things without which Jihad is not possible. Muslims learn in Ramadan how to struggle against the forces of evil in their own selves, in the society around them, and in the world at large.

Taqwa
To summarize all the moral and spiritual gifts of Ramadan, we can say that Ramadan gives us the great gift of Taqwa (piety). Taqwa is the sum total of Islamic life. It is the highest of all virtues in the Islamic scheme of things. It means, God-consciousness, piety, fear and awe of Allah and it signifies submission to Allah and total commitment to all that is good and rejection of all that is evil and bad.

Advice On Dealing With Anger

Anger is one of the evil whispers of Shaytan, which leads to so many evils and tragedies, of which only Allah knows their full extent. For this reason Islam has a great deal to say about this bad characteristic, and the Prophet (saws) described cures for this “disease” and ways to limit its effects, among which are the following:

(1) Seeking refuge with Allah from the Shaytaan:
Sulayman ibn Sard said: “I was sitting with the Prophet (saws), and two men were slandering one another. One of them was red in the face, and the veins on his neck were standing out.
The Prophet (saws) said, I know a word which, if he were to say it, what he feels would go away. If he said “I seek refuge with Allah from the Shaytan,” what he feels (i.e., his anger) would go away.’”
(Reported by al-Bukhari, al-Fath, 6/337)

The Prophet (saws) said: “If a man gets angry and says, I seek refuge with Allah, his anger will go away.” (Saheeh al-Jaami‘ al-Sagheer, no. 695)

(2) Keeping silent
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “If any of you becomes angry, let him keep silent.” (Reported by Imam Ahmad, al-Musnad, 1/329; see also Sahih al-Jaami, 693, 4027)

This is because in most cases, the angry person loses self control and could utter words of kufr (from which we seek refuge with Allah), or curses, or the word of divorce (talaaq) which would destroy his home, or words of slander which would bring him the enmity and hatred of others. So, in short, keeping silent is the solution which helps one to avoid all that.

(3) Not moving
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “If any of you becomes angry and he is standing, let him sit down, so his anger will go away; if it does not go away, let him lie down.”

Signs Of Weak Iman

1) Committing sins and not feeling any guilt.

2) Having a hard heart and no desire to read the Quran.

3) Feeling too lazy to do good deeds, e.g. being late for salat

4) Neglecting the Sunnah.

5) Having mood swings, for instance being upset about petty things and bothered and irritated most of the time.

6) Not feeling anything when hearing verses from the Quran, for example when Allah warns us of punishments and His promise of glad tidings.

7) Finding difficulty in remembering Allah and making dhikr.

8) Not feeling bad when things are done against the Shariah.

9) Desiring status and wealth.

10) Being mean and miserly, i.e. not wanting to part with wealth.

11) Ordering others to do good deeds when not practicing them ourselves.

12) Feeling pleased when things are not progressing for others.

13) Being concerned with whether something is haram or halal only; and not avoiding makroo (not recommended) things.

14) Making fun of people who do simple good deeds, like cleaning the mosque.

15) Not feeling concerned about the situation of Muslims.

16) Not feeling the responsibility to do something to promote Islam.

17) Being unable to deal with calamities, for instance crying and yelling in funerals.

18) Liking to argue just for the sake of arguing without any proof.

19) Becoming engrossed and very involved with dunya, worldly things, i.e. feeling bad only when losing something in terms of material wealth.

20) Becoming engrossed and obsessive about ourselves.

Listed Below Are Ways To Increase Our Iman

1) Recite and ponder on the meanings of the Quran. Tranquility then descends and our hearts become soft. To get optimum benefit, remind yourself that Allah is speaking to you. People are described in different categories in the Quran; think of which one you find yourself in.

2) Realize the greatness of Allah. Everything is under His control. There are signs in everything we see that points us to His greatness. Everything happens according to His permission. Allah keeps track and looks after everything, even a black ant on a black rock on a black moonless night.

3) Make an effort to gain knowledge, for at least the basic things in daily life e.g. how to make wudu properly. Know the meanings behind Allah’s names and attributes. People who have taqwa are those who have knowledge.

4) Attend gatherings where Allah is remembered. In such gatherings we are surrounded by angels.

5) We have to increase our good deeds. One good deed leads to another good deed. Allah will make the way easy for someone who gives charity and also make it easy for him or her to do good deeds. Good deeds must be done continuously, not in spurts.

6) We must fear the miserable end to our lives; the remembrance of death is the destroyer of pleasures.

7) Remember the different levels of akhirah, for instance when we are put in our graves, when we are judged, whether we will be in paradise or hell.

8) Make dua, realize that we need Allah. Be humble. Don’t covet material things in this life.

9) Our love for Subhana Wa Ta’Ala must be shown in actions. We must hope Allah will accept our prayers, and be in constant fear that we do wrong. At night before going to sleep, we must think about what good we did during that day.

10) Realize the effects of sins and disobedience- one’s iman is increased with good deeds and our iman is decreased by bad deeds. Everything that happens is because Allah wanted it. When calamity befalls us- it is also from Allah. It is a direct result of our disobedience to Allah.

The Search For Unity

Today, whenever we Muslims discuss our problems, we touch on many topics: the situation in Palestine , Kosovo, Iraq, Algeria, Kashmir; the weakness of Muslims; the arrogance of the West; and the scheming of the Zionists. Whatever the topic of the day, the one issue we never miss, implicitly or explicitly, is the lack of Muslim unity. In the past year, I have had the good fortune of visiting India, Morocco, Canada, and South Africa. I found that Muslims everywhere still share this same common concern: If only we had!

The Ummah today comprises more than one billion Muslims. Islam is considered to be the world’s fastest growing religion. Muslims are the majority in a swath of countries from Morocco to Indonesia and from Turkey to Sudan. Muslim lands cover a strategic area of the world’s oil and mineral resources, as well as its major trade routes. There are significant Muslim minorities in most countries in the world, and there is hardly a place on this planet where Islam does not have a presence. We have no shortage of numbers. Often, our number far exceeds that of other religious minorities. But when you consider our influence on world affairs today, it is very small. At every level, Muslims are aware of this, and we are calling for unity.

Allah says in the Qur’an: “And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an) and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s favor on you for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes his Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided. (3:103)

We Muslims are reasonably well aware of our history. But how much have we learned from it? The above verses remind us how our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) united the tribes of Arabia, whom the Byzantines and Persians considered to be so savage, warlike, and backward that they were unworthy of conquest. The Prophet (peace be upon him) molded the Arab tribes into a nation of supermen. When we Muslims served Allah and subdued our vanity, we became masters of the world. We swept over North Africa, across Spain and southern France, and eastwards to China. Then we argued among ourselves over who got what. As soon as we started indulging in our vanities and forgot Allah, we lost everything. This happened over many centuries. Although our numbers increased, our influence on world affairs declined.

Salah Mentioned In Quran

1) Establishing Salah Develops Taqwa (Fear and Awareness of Allah)
“This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for those who have Taqwa; who believe in the unseen, and who establish Salah, and spend out of what we have provided for them”
(Surah Baqarah 2: 2-3)

2) Salah Is the Sign of a Believer
“The believers, men and women, are protecting friends of one another; they enjoin good and forbid evil, and they establish Salah, and give Zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah will have His Mercy on them, and surely, Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.”
(Surah Tawba 9: 71)

3) Establishing Salah Leads to Allah’s Eternal Blessings
“So whatever you have been given is but (a passing) enjoyment for this worldly life, but that which is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. And those who avoid the great sins and lewdness, and when they are angry, they forgive. And those who answer the Call of their Lord, and perform the Salah, and who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation, and who spend of what We have bestowed on them.” (Surah Ash-Shura 42:36-38)

4) Those Who Pray Shall Have Nothing to Fear on the Day of Judgment

“Truly, those who believe and do righteous deeds, and perform Salah, and give Zakah, they will have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
(Surah Baqarah 2:277)

5) Remain in Allah’s remembrance after prayer
“When have finished performing the Salah, remember Allah standing, sitting, and reclining, but when you are free from danger, perform the Salah. Surely, Salah is enjoined on the believers at fixed times.”
(Surah Nisaa 4:103)

6) Command to Pray with Congregation
“And establish Salah and give Zakah, and bow down (in worship) along with those who bow down (in worship)”
(Surah Baqarah 2:43)

7. Special Command Regarding Punctuality of Prayer
“Guard strictly the Salah, especially the middle Salah. And stand before Allah with obedience.”
(Surah Baqarah 2:238)

The Philosophy Of Salaah

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The importance of Salaah (obligatory 5 times prayers) in a Muslim’s life is undeniable, unquestionable, and undisputable. Every Muslim would agree that acts such as recitation of the Qur’an (qirat), giving charity to the poor (zakaat), pilgrimage (Hajj), fasting during Ramadan (fasting), respecting elders, loving the younger ones, abstaining from watching hearing and doing the haraam, and practices such as taqwa, kindness, prostrations (sajda), and supplications (dua) hold extreme importance in a Muslim’s life.

Our Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallum commanded the Muslims to practice and teach all of the above mentioned devotions to themselves, others, and especially the children. But never has the Prophet stressed so much on any other element, as He has stressed on Salaat. The Prophet has emphasized Salaat so much that a child is to be disciplined from an early tender age and be put into the practice of offering his prayers. If the child does not recite the Qur’an, that’s ok. If he does not fast, that’s ok. But it is not ok for the child to not offer his prayers. The Prophet commanded the believers to condition their children in such a way that Salaat becomes part of his daily activity from as early of an age as 7 and 10 years.

Salaat is to be offered 5 times a day irrespective of any excuses, whether in a standing position, in a sitting posture, or even while lying down (if a person is sick), but it can not be ignored. The question arises to mind that what is it about Salaat that makes it so different from other pious activities? Why has the Salaat been emphasized so much that it

is one of the only few things that are actually commanded for even a child.Why???
Allah says in the Qur”an, “Seek help from Salaat.” Whenever the Prophet happened to face any difficulty, he would immediately resort to Salaat. When a Muslim offers his Salaat to please Allah, his sins are shed away from him just as leaves drop from trees in Autumn. Just as dirt can not remain on a person’s body who bathes five times, exactly similar is the effect of Salaat offered five times a day with the Grace of Allah it washes away all the dirt of the mind and spirit. Accountability of Salaat will be one of the only three questions asked in the grave, and will be the first and the foremost thing to be accounted for on the Day of Judgement. Salaat is the key to Paradise, the pillar of Islam, the light and mai’raaj of a Momin, and disgraces the Devil. The Mercy of Allah descends upon a person so long as he is engaged in Salaat. Of all the practices, Salaat made at fixed hours is most loved by Allah.

The place of Salaat in Islam is like the head in a body. Fire of Hell is forbidden and Paradise becomes due to a person who performs his ‘Wudhu’ properly and says his Salaat keenly and according to its regulations. Salaat encourages promptness in a person’s life and allows him to appreciate the value of time when he promptly offers his prayers 5 times everyday at their respective times.

Salaat strengthens faith and Eemaan because it makes a believer feel close to his Creator and makes him realize that even if he can not see Allah, Allah can surely see him. Salaat promotes unity and discipline for, in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and king kneel side by side, and it is this subconscious indivisible unity of Islam that makes a man instinctively into a brother.

With these points in mind, one begins to understand the importance of Salaat on an individual’s life, and only now can we begin to understand why Allah and His Messenger emphasized so much on Salaat and wished to embed Salaat as part of every believer?s life, children and adults alike.