- Islamic creed
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- Facts of faith and miraculousness
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest. O Allah! Lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and knowledge, and from the muddy shallows of lusts unto the heavens of Thy Vicinity.
Claiming to have faith :
Dear brother, we continue with the fourth lesson of ‘The facts of faith and scientific miraculousness’.
First of all let me tell you that everyone can claim having faith, because it is easy to do so:
All claim that they are in love with Laila
But Laila never admits that
***
I’ll give you an example about the real faith and the false one. Those who have said:((We are the children of Allah and His loved ones))
[Al-Maida5:18]
They claimed to have faith, but did Allah accept their allegation? He did not accept it. If Allah had accepted that claim, He would never have punished them. The ayah is very clear; those who said we are the children of Allah and His loved ones, were answered as follows,
((Say: "Why then does He punish you for your sins?"))
Allah the Almighty refused their allegations, and the evidence is that He punishes them for their sins. Listen to what Allah says:
((Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created))
The nation who claimed that its people are the children of Allah and His loved ones, was just like other nations, i.e. they had no privileges.. If Muslims say, "We are the nation of the Master of all creations, the Beloved of all creations and the final Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him," they will be answered in the same manner.
((Say: "Why then does He punish you for your sins?" Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created))
When Allah the Almighty says:
((And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad, peace be upon him ) are amongst them,))
Muslims could never be punished since the messenger of Allah is among them, but what is the meaning of "the messenger of Allah is amongst them"? It means that as long as Muslims implement the method of their Prophet PBUH in their daily lives, Allah will never punish them.
Safety comes from Implementing the method of the Prophet PBUH:
Once the method of the Prophet PBUH is implemented in our lives, we will be safe from the punishment of Allah. If we are punished, it means that Allah has not accepted us as being the best nation. Allah says:
((You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden), and you believe in Allah.))
Allah has not accepted us as being the best nation, because we do not enjoin Al-Ma’ruf and we do not forbid Al-Munkar. My purpose in this meeting is to advise whoever praises himself or give himself a rank that is not his. I tell him that the bitter truth is always better than the relieving illusion. Allah the Ever-Wise may show him his real rank. He may show him who he really is by putting him under difficult conditions. This man will not be satisfied with his Lord when he is in trouble, but where is his faith then? Our Prophet Ibrahim PBUH was the exemplary,
((O my son! I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering you (offer you in sacrifice to Allah), ))
Imagine that a father tells his son that he has dreamed about slaughtering him. How will his son react? He will definitely lose his temper Listen to what Ismail said,
((So look what you think!" He said: "O my father! Do that which you are commanded, Insha' Allah (if Allah will), you shall find me of As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.) ))
The owner of the clean heart works according to the law of Allah:
Whenever man claims a rank that he has not reached, will be minimized by Almighty Allah. Allah will test this man by making him have hard times, but he fails in such a test. Actually there are very precise tests in life. In our meeting today, I want to clarify the signs of faith. Thus, I would like to ask you to be courageous enough and try to apply these signs to yourself. If you are one of those who are mentioned in the following ayah, you should thank Allah the Almighty for this.First:
((The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, (88) Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)]. (89) ))
How should the clean heart be? The scholars said, "The clean heart never has a desire that does not please Allah, never believes news that contradicts with the Revelation of Allah, never applies a ruling but that of Allah and never worships anyone but Allah. These are included in one of the measures of having a clean heart"
((The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, (88) Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)]. (89) ))
When man wants a change, he should begin with himself:
Another measure of having faith is in danger:
((Verily! Allah will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves))
If you do not intend to start the change with yourself, with your imaginations and with your trends, it will never happen. The measure of the heart is an internal issue not an external one. , The crucial point is that man has a heart, and the self is its center:
((They have hearts wherewith they understand not, ))
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says:
((Indeed there is a piece of flesh in your body that, if it be sound, then the whole body will be
sound andif it be corrupt then the whole body will be corrupt. Indeed it is the heart.))
One of the moral lessons of this Hadith is that the heart can be the one of the body, or the heart of the soul. . Righteousness starts from deep inside the soul. It is a good intention, an internal serenity and love of creations. Righteousness is when the heart is free of hatred, envy, pride and racism. Those who have double standers in treating other people, Allah will disgrace them. When you do not treat your daughter-in-law the way you wish the family of your daughter’s husband treat your daughter, you will be racist. Similarly, when you ask your wife to do her duties, while you do not do yours, you are racist. Thus, having faith is a very high rank
(( Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)]. (89) ))
First of all if you want a change, you should begin with changing yourself from inside.
Staying away from lust and deviation:
In life, there’s something called ‘Reciprocation’, what does this word refer to? There’s right, and there’s false, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, good deeds and bad deeds,, straightness and deviation, courage and cowardice, generosity and stinginess, equity and inequity and faith and lust:(( But if they answer you not (i.e. do not believe in your doctrine of Islamic Monotheism, nor follow you), then know that they only follow their own lusts. ))
If you do not follow the path of the believers, then you definitely follow the path of lustful people. Let me elaborate this point; you stand in the middle of two paths. The more you come closer to one of them the more you go far from the other and vice versa. If we say that the first path represents faith, then the second one stands for deviation. In other words; the first path leads to obeying Allah and the second one leads to obeying the ownself. The first path elevates you high to draw closer to Allah and the second one makes you closer to the worldly life. Thus, any movement toward the first is an adverse movement towards the second.
Whoever prefers the worldly life to the Hereafter will lose the Hereafter, and whoever prefers the Hereafter will neglect the worldly life. Leave the mortal (the worldly life) and work for the immortal (the Hereafter) When you attend a religious session, reauthor Quran daily, perform the five obligatory prayers properly and befriend a believer, you will be closer to faith, whereas when you befriend an unbeliever, wander in the markets, and enjoy gazing at women dressed immodestly in the streets, you will be far from faith. In daily life you may do deeds that draw you closer to Allah and keep you away from Satan, and you may do deeds that get you closer to Satan and keep you away from Allah.
The real believer feels a fear in heart when he draws closer to Allah: Now, I would like to tell you about the signs of faith (Iman) by referring to the evidences in the Noble Quran and Sunnah. Listen carefully to the following ayah,
((The believers are only those who, ))
‘Only’ it is used to introduce an exception.
((The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts))
When you draw closer to Allah, you will have a feeling of profound awe and respect, your heart beats will start racing and your eyes cry from the fear of Allah.
((The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Qur'an) are reauthord unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone); ))
The difference between the real believer, and the false one:
((Who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and spend out of that We have provided them. (3) It is they who are the believers in truth. (4) ))
The expression "in truth" (it will be mentioned later on in this paragraph) distinguishes the real believer from the false one. For example, a doctor usually wears white robe, glasses, a stethoscope is put near his ears and thermometer is put in his pocket. Now, if an illiterate person puts on the white robe, puts on the glasses, the stethoscope, and the thermometer in his pocket, will he become a doctor? Absolutely not, he will be a false doctor. The real doctor is the one who got the diploma after thirty-seven years of studying and after performing five hundred successful surgeries. There is a big difference between being a real doctor and having the appearance of a doctor. Therefore,
((The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Qur'an) are reauthord unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone) (2) Who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and spend out of that We have provided them. (3) It is they who are the believers in truth. (4) ))
Indeed, the expression "in truth" is a decisive one.
((For them are grades of dignity with their Lord, and Forgiveness and a generous provision (Paradise).))
When convictions increase, the scale of faith outweighs:
Dear brother, the worldly life is full of desires, and all of us know that Allah has put them in mankind. Those desires can be intrigued by a beautiful woman walks in the street wearing indecent clothes that expose all of her beauty. These desires can also be awaken by the huge amounts of money. The women, the money, the luxurious house and the new car are all sensible things that your faith may not be able to defeat. Can some simple ideas about faith, such as believing that Allah has created earth and heavens, curb your desires? Imagine that your faith has increased ten grams by attending a religious session, what would ten grams of faith do when they are faced with ten kilos of desires?
Man is tempted by the best food, by desires that do not please Allah and by the pleasures of the worldly life. Thus, when your convictions increase, your faith will be deeper until it enables your convictions to defeat all desires. Pharaoh, who was one of the strongest tyrannical men, and who was able to kill his magicians in one moment without trials, was defied by those magicians:
((They said: "We prefer you not over the clear signs that have come to us, and to Him (Allah) Who created us. So decree whatever you desire to decree, for you can only decree (regarding) this life of the world. (72) "Verily! We have believed in our Lord, that He may forgive us our faults, and the magic to which you did compel us. And Allah is better as regards reward in comparison to your [Fir'aun's (Pharaoh)] reward, and more lasting (73) ))
They challenged Pharaoh, the most tyrannical man, because their deep faith gave them power that no one could imagine.
Strong faith is the cure of wild desires:
I repeat again; when your faith convictions increase, you will be able to defeat your desires. On the other hand, when your faith convictions decrease, they will be defeated by your desires. The wild desires can be defeated only by your strong faith; that is why you should attend religious sessions regularly,
((But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts (40) Verily, Paradise will be his abode (41) ))
Your convictions should increase to make you fear standing before Almighty Allah,
((But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts (40) Verily, Paradise will be his abode (41) ))
The prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
(("If the light enters the heart, it will make man feel at ease." They asked, "O Messenger of Allah, are there any signs of that?" He replied, "Yes, there are; when you shun the falsehood of this life, turn towards the eternal abode (the Hereafter) and get ready to death before it comes to you."))
Also it was reported in the tradition:
((Oh people! The smartest among you is the one who remembers death the most, and the wisest among you is the one who is best ready for it. Indeed, among the signs of wisdom are shunning the falsehood of this life, turning towards the eternal abode (the Hereafter), being fully equipped to live in the grave, and being ready for the resurrection.))
The signs of having faith:
1. Man should be bold in facing himself:
The topic of our lesson today is the signs of having faith. One of these sings is to be bold enough to face your ownself and never praise it. Try to accept the bitter reality because it is much better than the comfortable illusion. Let me tell you something; reciting Quran is one thing, comprehending it is another and pondering on it is something totally different. To ponder on it means that you should always ask yourself whether you are included in each ayah you read or not. For example:
((The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts))
This ayah gives a description of the believers. Are you among them? Do you feel a fear in your heart when Allah is mentioned?
The hypocrites on the other hand:
((And when they stand up for As-Salat (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men,))
Concerning this ayah, your question should be: "Am I included in this ayah? If I stand up for As-Salat with laziness, I will be a hypocrite.
((And when they stand up for As-Salat (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men,)).
The wise man is the one who ponders on each ayah in Quran:
I wish that you reauthor Quran from a different perspective, i.e. whenever you read ayat that describe the believers, the hypocrites, and the infidels, you should stop there to consider which of those you belong to.
Almighty Allah says in describing the Quran,
(( (the Qur'an) in which there is Dhikrukum, (your Reminder or an honor for you i.e. honor for the one who follows the teaching of the Qur'an and acts on its orders).))
Let us say that you go with your friend to visit a patient friend of yours. Your friend brings a precious gift with him, and the patient’s son has takes the gift from your friend and puts it somewhere. His father does not know who has brought the gift. What will you do? Will you keep silent to make the patient think that you have brought the gift? Or will you tell him that your friend is the one who has brought it?! Do you love to be praised for something you have not done? You should say: "My friend, may Allah reward him well, has brought you the gift, and I don’t like to be praised for something I have not done."
In the Quranic description:
((And love to be praised for what they have not done,))
Let’s have the contrary example of the above mentioned one. Two men visited a friend of theirs during "Eid". Their friend seemed to be very busy, so he put a platter of desserts in front of them and went. The first guest ate only one piece, while the other one ate more than ten pieces. The first guest was embarrassed for that, so when their friend came back he told him, "I swear that your guest loves you a hundred times more than I do because he ate a lot of sweets."
When you reauthor Quran, try to see your position in order to know the group you belong to (the believers, the hypocrites, the infidels…etc,) or your status in a certain situation. This is exactly the meaning of "pondering on the Quran"
2. When person’s faith becomes stronger, he loves the poor believers:
What attracts you most to faith is you love people or hate them for the sake of Allah only. You may love a poor believer, and you may hate a very rich man because of his illegal income. . People 
usually glorify rich man, and despises the poor one. However, the believer glorifies the poor believer, and he does not care about the deviated rich man. When you befriend a powerful rich man, respect him and humiliate yourself before him although you know that he has committed innumerous sins, let alone that he never prays, then you will lose two thirds of your religion.
This is another measure of having faith. There could be a believer whose financial status is not that good and his house is very small, but he is straight, have a great faith and a strong connection with Allah. Can you love this person, appreciate him and care for him? Can you keep away from whoever gains money illegally, whoever does not apply Islam to his house, whoever whose daughters are dressed immodestly? Glorifying the deviated person indicates that your faith is weak. When your faith becomes stronger, your love to people who have faith will increase even if those people are poor and weak. Also when your faith becomes stronger, you will hate infidel and disobedient people even if they are wealthy and powerful. In fact this is one of the signs of having faith.
3. Man should prefer obeying Allah the Almighty to his own interests:
Another sign is indicated in the following ayah:
((Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brother, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight ... are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause , then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).))
For example, you have a house, but you live in a one that is included in the old rent system. You pay about a hundred pounds a month, while in fact you should pay about twenty thousand pounds a month. Nowadays this problem has been solved praise be to Allah. When you prefer to stay in the big, wonderful and low-rent house to your obedience to Allah,
(( Then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment).))
The way to Allah will be closed if man prefers the worldly life to the Hereafter:
((Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brother, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained,))
For instance, an exclusive agent of a well-known company is obliged to import prohibited materials such as wine, what should he do? He may say, "It is my job and I have to do it. May Allah forgive me."
((The commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight ... are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, ))
When he prefers to do such a job, the way to Allah will be closed:
((Then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).))
Man should watch himself:
I would like to give you a piece of advice; whenever you come across an ayah that describes the believers, please write it down in a note book. Collect all the ayat that refer to the characteristics of the believers, because they are your method in life. Watch yourself closely in order not to prefer the worldly life to the Hereafter.I know some dear brother who refuse deals with million pounds, because they have something against Islam. They say: "Allah forbid. Verily, I fear Allah, the Lord of all creations."
A man, who performs his prayers in the Masjid regularly, told me that he shares a restaurant with his partner. He said that he is not satisfied with the fact that his partner offers wine in the restaurant, but this not his fault. Thus, the partner is the one who will be punished for that, and the man who is not satisfied with this, will not. This is not true; both partners will be responsible before Allah because the profits are for both of them. This man takes half of the profits which sometimes gained by offering wine. He should terminate the partnership at once if he does not want to be punished. Listen again to the following ayah,
(( The wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight ... are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause , then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).))
The wise man is the one who reauthors the noble Quran with deep understanding
Dear brother, what I mentioned above is very serious. I would like you to reauthor the Quran in a new way. Use a copy of the noble Quran with green and red lines, or you can make these lines yourself. You may put green lines under the ayaht that include the attributes of the believers, and red lines under the ones which include the attributes of the infidels and the dissolute people. Watch yourself and determine which group you belong to; to the group of the believers or the one of the polytheists. Do not reauthor the Quran without understanding what you are reading. Someone may read the ayah, "And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups," and says, "O Allah make me one of them!"
I am just giving examples of the shallow reading. Stopping at one page of the Quran and pondering on the ayat mentioned on it is better than reading a whole chapter without understanding what is mentioned in it. I repeat, you should reauthor the Quran with deep understanding; read the attributes of the believers and do not hesitate to ask yourself whether you have these attributes or not. You should be able to reject a huge amount of money if its source is unacceptable in your religion.
There was a man who loved his young and beautiful wife. One day she asked him to do something that did not please Allah, so he told her, "You should know that in Paradise there are fair females that the lights of their faces surpass the lights of both the sun and the moon if they come to earth. Therefore, it is easier to sacrifice you in order to have one of them than to sacrifice the fair female in order to keep you."
Some husbands do something forbidden, because their wives asked them to do that. They listen to their wives and prefer to disobey Allah. Those who disobey Allah do not understand the meaning of the expression, "Allah is The Greatest" even if they have repeated it thousands of times. Some people deceive Muslims by adding carcinogens substances to their goods and selling them at the higher prices. They prefer the money they get from deceiving Muslims to the satisfaction of Allah. Our Deen (Islam) has many specific points; it’s not enough to perform As-Salat in the Masjid regularly. Your affiliation to Islam appears when you stick to what is Halal (lawful) and keep away from what is Haram (unlawful).
Next time we’ll continue our discussion of this topic insha’ Allah. We will tackle "The signs of faith in the Noble Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH."
The scientific topic:
Fasting:
Listen to this example; someone suffers from a pain in his left hand whenever he exhausts it with a physical job. He thinks that this pain is not s serious one. Once he reads a medical article about that pain and the causes of it and finds that such pain could be the early symptoms of ‘angina
pectoris’, or ‘heart attack’. The later is very serious, because it means that there is a blocked artery. The man knows that in this case he may need an open-heart surgery. He will start worry about his pain and stay awake for nights. Why when it comes to your health problems, you feel worried? Why do not you have the same concerns if you commit a deadly mistake concerning your conception of Almighty Allah? Why do not you worry when the heart of your faith or the one of your soul suffers from a certain disease? Our master Umar’ said: "Keep your heart clean."”
Dear Brother! Since Ramadan is coming soon the scientific topic for today is ‘ ‘Fasting.’ Fasting is an annual preventive cycle, and it is one of the sublime acts of worship. Today I will tackle the scientific side of fasting, not the religious one. We will discuss its innumerous benefits for our health. .
Benefits of fasting:
Fasting has health benefits; it is an annual preventive cycle against many diseases including the aging ones, and it keeps our bodies healthy. Besides, fasting is a curing cycle for some diseases. Dear brother, the aging diseases appear when man becomes old, but their causes start when he is a young man. In one way or another, the main cause of these diseases is the excessive exhaustion of the body by food, drink, enjoying one’s life, work, tiredness and making effort. Thus, the month of fasting (Ramadan) comes every year to rest the body and cure its health problems.
The percentages of fat and uric acid in the blood fall to the lowest level during the month of fasting. Also the stored leftovers on the edges of intestine are swept, because hunger sweeps them. We conclude that fasting is an annual cycle during which the digestive system is purified, the heart has a break, the blood circulation rests and the percentages of fat and uric acid in the blood are reduced. Actually, fasting is closer to the preventive medicine than it is to the therapeutic medicine.
Once, I asked a doctor that if we have many patients; one of them suffers from malignant disease, the other suffers from brain clot, another one suffers from heart infarction, another patient suffers from renal failure and the last one suffers from liver cirrhosis, which one of those his condition is serious? There are incurable diseases which cause death but if the patient survives all these diseases, which one will cause him death? He replied, "Atherosclerosis!" Human’s life is related to the life cycle of his arteries. Fasting is a preventive course, because it retards atherosclerosis. Arteries rest during Ramadan if fasting is performed the way our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, wanted. . In other words, you should not keep eating greasy meals as you used to before Ramadan with only changing their times from daytime to evening. .
Fasting is a treatment for some diseases:
Dear Brother, Fasting reduces the exhaustion of the circulatory system, and relieves the blood vessels and the heart by lowering the percentages of fat and uric acid in blood. Moreover, fasting relieves kidneys by reducing the metabolism wastes. Metabolism is a very complicated process, by which food is transformed into tissues or energy. During the month of fasting the metabolism goes down to the lowest possible level.
Furthermore, fasting changes the percentage of sugar in the liver, which is mostly firm. The liver is the warehouse of sugar in human body. Human being cannot stay alive without liver more than three hours, while he can live twenty years with an infected heart. When you break your fast at the end of the daytime in Ramadan, the liver receives sugar continuously by drinking tea, coffee, juice …etc. The changing of sugar percentages in the liver renews its activity. As the percentage of sugar in liver changes, the subcutaneous fat moves. Consequently, the proteins and the cells of liver move too.
Some scholars said that fasting alters and cleans tissues. As if it is a yearly maintenance of the body. In addition to that, fasting is a cure for some diseases, such as acute gastritis, stubborn vomiting during pregnancy, high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic kidney failure and some skin diseases. These are some of the health benefits of fasting. It was mentioned in some As7adeth:
((Fast and you will be healthy.))
