The Call

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Welcome my friend, I missed you much, so glad you could come

You are special for your master sent with you bounties and then some

I confess that I have so neglected myself since last you were here

All those promises I made, in most I failed, only to few did I adhere

How serene the atmosphere, the desire to do good, now that you did arrive

The worldly desires have somewhat faded and hearts have become alive

Oh how sweet the sound of the recitation of Quran, a most beautiful gift

Absorbing it all and abiding by it will most certainly cause with bad deeds a rift

 

So now you are here it is required of me from pre-dawn to dusk that I abstain

From food and water while with greater sincerity my prayers and conduct I maintain

While those who understand not, consider this noble task perhaps burdensome

Not in the least can the immense bounties you bring  be found loathsome

Yes I do realise that you have come to remind me ,yet again , of a better me

This training ground is much better than any other coaching session which is free

So I pray a little extra, give some charity and I remember my Lord and His blessings more

He, Allah, your master and mine, has promised that for this much blessing is in store

 

So I pray that your stay, however short, will be for me most beneficial

That on that Day, your witness in my favour will be made official

So I embrace you even more than I ever have, knowing that I truly love you

For this love is for no other reason but that my Love for Allah is true

  

Most certainly I acknowledge what you mean to me now, and always will

How then can I not invite others such that we may all forsake the evil

From my sisters who have not covered up to others who have not prayed at all

Always a good time to tell my non-Muslim friends to answer this call

 

The call is to obey Allah who created me, you and the entire universe

Such indeed was the call of Abraham, Moses, David and not forgetting Jesus

And on all of them be peace for they were without doubt great messengers

And to be complete,  so too peace upon Muhammad the seal of all messengers

A Blessed Friend

A dear friend has come to visit me

Since departed he has despite my plea

Perhaps I will get to see him in another year

Ah with him present there is such an atmosphere

Oh!  I hope that I have treated him well

That the fragrance from the promised Garden I can smell

How noble is my friend that with him blessings abound

From His Master who is not by any limit bound

I tried to grab much of it and bank it for my salvation

The profits from it is all free of taxation

My friend showed me a book I’ve heard before

Only this time it was just so much sweeter that afore

Even sometimes teary-eyed,  I read it cover to cover

In the masjid, in the home, in the car I heard it all over

There was a reminder here and a reminder there

And a new lesson here and everywhere

My friend told me than indeed he was blessed

For no other reason but because of this Book

In it is so much to learn about the author

From His Mercy is that He gave us a Law

He teaches us what we knew not

And that were created from a mere clot

Reminders and lessons of people past

And this life will not forever last

A guide for those who have understanding

Whose journey through life with have a happy landing

It is for us to hold onto it tight

For this book is most definitely full of might

From this book lessons and guidance we do take

We have fasted only for God’s sake

So farewell, O month of fasting

May your rewards you brought be for us everlasting

We are forever grateful to our Lord to whom is All Glory

Read Al-Quran and you will not be sorry

For He teaches also about some amazing men

Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus – peace be upon them

To their own people was their preaching

Worship the ONE true God was their teaching

They were submitters, They were Muslim

The One true religion is Islam

#Islam #Abraham #Moses #Jesus #David #Allah #Quran #Qur'an #Koran

Ettiquette

Really why don’t I blog more often … one gets busy and does one blog for the sake of blogging.

Something happened and I was not sure of the ideal forum to respond – so I blog again :)

So yesterday I watch a video on youtube – it was of a religious nature – and is my nature that I often can’t resist commenting. But I try to add meaningful comments. Yet what is disturbing is that the response to my comment is vulgar, from a person supposedly defending his religiously viewpoint. Now I take no personal affront to this as insults since I am merely a creation of Almighty Allaah. However, it is not uncommon to find this type of responses on religious (and political) forums. Perhaps it is such that some people go onto these forums not to engage in discussion/debate but only to hurl insults and abuse. This has sadly lead to the closure of some forums where good discussion did take place, but sadly hijacked by those who have no meaningful way to express themselves except being crude and vulgar.

As stated earlier, that personal insults one can take, but then these people go beyond that and start abusing aspects of the religion itself. We may have opinions and we may thus differ on important aspects of religion, but certainly that can be done in civil manner. Yes, I do admit that sometimes one can type something and the reader may infer something from the tone – but that may be a perception and it may be the reader itself having a particular frame of mind at that time.

So as a Muslim I would find it difficult if a fellow Muslim becomes abusive regarding another religion or even adherents to that religion. We may though find that certain questions or comments may have connotations of ridicule but may such comments or questions may be better understood through further engagement. This is rather different from someone making blatant comments in a threatening way.

Islam, through the Quran and the practices and teaches of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), teaches us that clearly. As Muslims we accept all the Prophets before him, Muhammad (peace be upon him), and we send our greeting upon them all. It is blasphemous to speak ill of any of them and among them are Abraham, Moses, David, John the Baptist and Jesus – peace be upon them all. Some of these Prophets (peace be upon them) were given scriptures which we as Muslim acknowledge. We further acknowledge that they – peace be upon them – all taught the same message of the worship of One God.

There are meaningful ways of finding out about Islam and engaging Muslims. The snippets in news broadcasts and the print media and the portrayal of Muslims in movies do not do justice to the religion in any way.

 Let's talk and respect each other - lets have some ettiquette

Friday off - Oh Good

“….Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."”
Quran 2:111)

I love chocolate, I like spicy food and buns and i like to be home on a Friday. Really Good ...
Certainly, a sense of decadence and perhaps luxury. Thinking about it, commercially it makes good sense. This time of the year brings to mind recent books like that of Dan Brown and movies like the Passion of the Christ and of course the Bible, not forgetting the Torah. I am also familiar with another book that has shed further light on some matters discussed in all of the aforementioned.

This book confirms the revelation of the Torah and Gospel and the high status of such people as Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them both).  This book tells us much of these two people as well as their predecessors, foremost of whom was Abraham, peace be upon him.

Some of the most important points in this book are:
1. The worship of One God
2. To not associate partners with God, Almighty
3. That there is life after this life on earth
4. That God Almighty sent many prophets and messengers (peace be upon them all)
5. That He has the power over all things
The further interesting aspect is that He, God Almighty, has created “man” in four different ways:

1. Without parents – i.e. Adam (peace be upon him)
2. Without a mother (but from a man) – Eve
3. Without a father (but only a mother) – Jesus (peace be upon him)
4. With a mother and father – generally all of us.
So His power exceed our understanding, but the creation in any of the above is easy for him, for if you could create man from nothing, it is easy for Him, God Almighty, to create a man from a mother only, without a father.
And so, there were a group of people who persecuted the Prophets sent by God Almighty and killed them. Then these people went on to claim the killing of Jesus (peace be upon him). But He, who has the power over all things, most definitely did not allow that to happen, as Christians too testify that Jesus (peace be upon him) ascended to Heaven alive. So they disputed on who was on the right path- but the book i mentioned, gives a good expose and confirms a few things concerning Jesus (peace be upon him)

1. Jesus (peace be upon ) was born of a virgin mother
2. Jesus (peace be upon performed miracles
3. Jesus (peace be upon ) did not claim to be God or the son of God or used the word Trinity (as the deity of worship) in any way
4. Jesus (peace be upon ) did NOT die on the cross
5. Jesus (peace be upon ) ascended to heaven alive
6. Jesus was neither a Jew nor a Christian
In Jesus’s time and even the time immediately after him, there was no bunnies or spicy buns related to any form of worship or remembrance of Jesus (peace be upon him) – Thus it clearly is not part of his teachings.

We follow the final revelation, which came to confirm which came before it. As Muslims, having the highest respect for Jesus (peace be upon him) – being the topic of discussion, and as followers of the final messenger of Allah, Muhammad – peace be upon him – we have a responsibility to speak the truth on Jesus – peace be upon him. We have a responsibility to convey the message of the Prophets which also Jesus (peace be upon him) conveyed – to worship the God of Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).

So my love for chocolate remains, but I will be a hypocrite to indulge in symbols associated with this period which has nothing to do with the good name of Jesus (peace be upon him).

So my like for spicy food remains, but I will be a hypocrite to indulge in symbols associated with this period which has nothing to do with the good name of Jesus (peace be upon him).

Muslims are awaiting the return of Jesus –peace be upon him. We love him and acknowledge his contribution to delivering the message of his Creator – his Lord and Our Lord.

In conclusion: This is all to be found in a book wherein there no doubt, a book of guidance.