Some Reflections for us, we have to become more aware of our own invisible wounds. We sometimes cause and we have to become more aware of the invisible wounds that we so often ignore Okay, in other people around us.
To cause oppression as far worse than to be oppressed, because to be oppressed is to suffer in this world, to oppress someone else is to suffer in the Hereafter, to face the punishment for that in the Hereafter.
Don’t be the one that causes the harm, to think very deeply in the midst of our stress, in the midst of our anger, in the midst of our own uncertainty, in the midst of our own wounds, whether we are saying things to the people that are close to us that are harming them in ways that could really damage them.
The prophet (saw) said that whoever sticks to Istighfar/ whoever sticks to seeking forgiveness, Allah will take care of all their Affairs anyway.
Worry about the sincerity of your supplication, Not the wisdom of the One that you’re supplicating to, worry about the sincerity of your request, not the capacity of the One that you are requesting from. Allah will do His part, you do yours. – Shaykh Omar Suleiman
Is God one who likes to see us go through hardship and suffering without purpose? The answer to that is absolutely no. God gives His greatest test to His greatest servants and that yields the greatest reward for them.
Allah is going to give us our share of blessings and our share of Trials and we’re not really going to be able to understand in this life why we got that customized selection of blessings and trials. – Shaykh Omar Suleiman
Allah in His Mercy is not one that requires of you pain, requires of you to put yourself to the test in some effort to prove your loyalty to the worship of him and to prove your servitude to him (swt) but at the same time if Allah decides to test you then Allah has given you the equipment, the tools the spiritual Reservoir, the mechanism to be able to overcome that test and know that there will be a great reward in that test.
you don’t go thrust yourself into test as a means of trying to prove yourself to Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala, because Actions are judged by intentions.
so don’t wish to meet your enemy whether it’s in the form of a person or in the form of a disease or in the form of a trial. Don’t test Allah, Allah will test you and when Allah tests, you know that Allah is testing you to bring about a greater reward from you and know that when Allah spares you, Allah is sparing you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s excluding you from The reward. and this is all part of the mercy of who he (swt) is.
You don’t have to thrust yourself into hardship. But react when hardship comes connected to Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala and Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, we have a Lord that does not test us beyond our scope.
Many a times, we judge people by certain societal criteria and external factors, but is this really the most accurate way of judging people? Let’s see by recalling this hadith.
Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d As-Sa`id:
A man passed by Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and the Prophet (ﷺ) asked a man sitting beside him, “What is your opinion about this (passer-by)?” He replied, “This (passer-by) is from the noble class of people. By Allah, if he should ask for a lady’s hand in marriage, he ought to be given her in marriage, and if he intercedes for somebody, his intercession will be accepted. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) kept quiet, and then another man passed by and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) asked the same man (his companion) again, “What is your opinion about this (second) one?” He said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! This person is one of the poor Muslims. If he should ask a lady’s hand in marriage, no-one will accept him, and if he intercedes for somebody, no one will accept his intercession, and if he talks, no-one will listen to his talk.” Then Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “This (poor man) is better than such a large number of the first type (i.e. rich men) as to fill the earth.” [ Sahih A Bukhari]
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, Allah loves a servant who is righteous, independent, and obscure.”
Don’t ask Allah to answer the prayer the way that you want it to be answered but ask Allah to answer the prayer and the way that He knows is best.
Perfect supplication is when you ask Allah for the best, for the highest in your perception. and then you are satisfied with His response as the best no matter how He gives it to you.
Don’t just ask Allah to stop the bleeding, ask Allah to increase the reward and ask Allah to give you a better replacement and that’s part of expecting well of your Creator, when you ask of Him.
Don’t concern yourself with how the answer comes but know that the One you are asking is fully capable and knows what He’s doing.
The prophet (saw) said to be moderate and sincere and strive for Perfection, but be gradual in our pursuit of Allah and he said (saw) to focus on remembering Allah. Haste being in a hurry in a way that Allah does not like being Hasty in salah. Be worried about 5G, Fajr Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib & Ishā, that’s you are supposed to be worried about right?
Patience in Times of hardship is the ability to still stay focused keep things in perspective and remain grateful, but it’s not, you know a person knows or doesn’t approach Allah subhana Tada in the interest of that reward and think that the only way to attain that reward is to suffer.
Don’t think that Allah can’t give you the reward of suffering without you actually suffering, Allah does not need the suffering in order to give you the reward right?
Don’t ask Allah for the punishment or don’t ask Allah for the trial, ask Allah for the reward without the trial. if the trial comes then Allah will give you a reward upon reward in sha Allah
The beautiful incident there, the nature of that incident and how these people went above and beyond; To show good character and to demonstrate excellence and compassion and sometimes that means being sensitive to the person you’re speaking to and the person that’s in front of you and making sure that you don’t embarrass them. You don’t humiliate them and you even try to play off a situation where they’re embarrassed or humiliated
Hatim al asam (rah) that he was so concerned with hurting the feelings of that woman or letting that woman be embarrassed that he immediately went above and beyond to make sure that she did she wasn’t even heard in that embarrassing moment of hers.
He showed excellence and so he wasn’t just an excellent worshiper, but he was excellent in his character.
if you think about the beauty of the simple words Allah is greater than your worries, Allah is greater than your grief, Allah is greater than your obstacles, Allah is is greater than your ease, Allah is greater than all of those things and the way that we say that every single time not just when we start our prayers, but every motion that we make in prayer. We remind ourselves Allah Akbar God is great.
And we constantly say that throughout the day what that does is instead of the shadow of the concern and the challenge that lies ahead, it minimizes the Shadow and it causes you to focus on the enormity of Allah is all-encompassing greatness.
The obstacle that’s ahead of you while it may be an obstacle doesn’t need to be given a shadow focus on the size of that obstacle. as big as you think the obstacle, is remember Allah llahu Akbar, God is greater than that obstacle. – Shaykh Omar Suleiman