O my Lord, when that which there is repelling alights upon me,
And I find myself leaving this adobe
And become Your guest in a dark and lonely place,
Then make the host’s meal for his guest the removal of my wrongs.
A guest is always honored at the hands of a generous host,
And You are the Generous, the Creator, the Originator.
Surely kings, as a way of displaying their magnanimity
Free their servants who have grown old in their service.
And I have grown old in Your service,
So free my soul from the Fire
part of Imam Shafie's 'Diwan'
The perennial struggle between good and evil is complex and difficult to comprehend fully. Whenever an individual or a community undertake to promote the good and uphold it, they are bound to provoke hostility and opposition. Gradually the difference turn to fierce confrontation, draining the energies and resources of both sides. It is possible, for reasons known only to God Almighty Himself, that evil prevails causing mosques to be turned into museums, stables or warehouses. We have seen this happen in Spain, Turkey, the former Soviet Union, India, Bosnia Herzegovina, and many other parts of the world. Many Muslims have been slaughtered defending their mosques and other religious monuments.
No one knows what the future holds , but Muslims will have to continue to struggle on behalf of their religion and way of life, because divine justice will be done. The Quran reassures Prophet Muhammad, saying:
If they deny thee (Muhammad), even so the folk of Noah, and (the tribes of) A'ad and Thamud, before thee, denied (Our messengers); (42) And the folk of Abraham and the folk of Lot; (43) (And) the dwellers in Midian. And Moses was denied; but I indulged the disbelievers a long while, then I seized them, and how (terrible) was My abhorrence! (44)
The surah cintinues in the same tone to establish that to God time is measured on a different scale. While some human generations suffer defeat, others triumph and enjoy supremacy. " And they will bid thee hasten on the Doom, and Allah faileth not His promise, but lo! a Day with Allah is as a thousand years of what ye reckon "(47).
A messenger's task is to deliver God's message clearly and fully, so that no one shall have an excuse for not being made aware of it.
Say: O mankind! I am only a plain warner unto you. (49) Those who believe and do good works, for them is pardon and a rich provision; (50) While those who strive to thwart Our revelations, such are rightful owners of the Fire. (51)
We learn fron the Qur'an that while God's messengers devote all their energies to establish the truth and defending it, there are other Satanic forces that work against them. Some people are unfortunate in that although they bprofess belief initially, they are later prevailed upon by inisdious forces to say: " ' He [ Muhammad ]would have led us far away from our gods if we had not been staunch to them.' They will know, when they behold the doom, who is more astray as to the road " (al-Furqan :42).
Elsewhere in the Qur'an, we read: "Thus have We appointed unto every prophet an adversary - devils of humankind and jinn who inspire in one another plausible discourse through guile. If thy Lord willed, they would not do so; so leave them alone with their devising "(al-An'am :112). In al-Hajj, we are told that these 'varnished falsehoods' are insinuations of Satan for:
Never sent We a messenger or a prophet before thee but when He recited (the message) Satan proposed (opposition) in respect of that which he recited thereof. But Allah abolisheth that which Satan proposeth. Then Allah establisheth His revelations. Allah is Knower, Wise; (52)
Satan's insinuations are effort made to obliterate and pervert the truth, keeping people ignorant of it. In every community there are hordes of people who will say and do the most outrageous and disgraceful things in order to distort the truth and confuse the masses about it. But the surah reassures us that God watches over His revelation and will protect it against such harmful and destructive activities. Satan's effort will only appear in the form of distortions, misinterpretations and fabrications which are introduced over time into God's messages, causing people to reject, mistrust and ridicule them. Be that as it may, the truth as advocated by God's prophets and messengers will be protected and its followers will ultimately prevail.
" A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
'Be Great People' : Hamza Yusuf Hanson
08:30 Nothing benefits us except for some 'rakaats' that we used do in the middle of the night
for Allah...al-Junaid
09:30 There is no such thing as action without knowledge....al-Ghazali
26:13 If he is in the sun he does not want to be in the shade, if he is the shade,
he does not want to be in the sun....'definition' of a true wali-Allah
Reflection and commentary by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda:
ayat 33 to ayat 37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekmvM50soGk
ayat 38 to ayat 41
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7_rSUODqvs
ayat 42 to ayat 45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxFyxbTiOg
ayat 46 to ayat 51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6YyOciERiw
ayat 52 to ayat 54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW2AjCeO0fc
ayat 55 to ayat 59
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhDL0TraT_o
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