Sometimes it’s a little cloudy,
her mind filled with thoughts.
Not pleasant.
It goes on until she realizes,
why does she worry so much?
Had she forgotten that difficulties do not last?
Temporary they are,
rest assured because the Creator has confirmed it.
She remembers that those negative thoughts are driven by the accursed,
for the purpose of lost motivation,
lost hope,
with the drive to see her give up on the trials of life.
She gets herself together,
as she remembers the purpose she has found in Allah.
Her priority,
which no hardships can replace.
Those thoughts persist,
but she shoves them to the back.
Her heart set on Allah,
She emerges herself in his remembrance,
knowing that her affairs will settle,
when her full focus is set on Allah.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

Every disbeliever who has heard about Islam through Prophet Muhammad ( ﷺ) and DID NOT enter Islam will enter Hell. If they worshipped someone other than Allah or didn’t even believe in a Creator in general (aethists), no matter how many “good manners” they had, they will not go to Paradise and will be in Hell eternally. The main purpose of this life is to worship Allah and that is the test, their “good manners” aren’t even good if they don’t even have any manners with Allah and choose to disobey Him.

“Verily, those who disbelieve (in the religion of Islam, the Qur’aan and Prophet Muhammad) from among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) and Al-Mushrikoon will abide in the fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures” [al-Bayyinah 98:6]

Every time a group is cast therein [into Hell], its keeper will ask, Did no warner come to you? They will say, Yes indeed; a warner did come to us, but we belied him and said: Allaah never sent down anything (of revelation), you are only in great error. 

[al-Mulk 67:8]

And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups, till, when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened (suddenly like a prison at the arrival of its prisoners). And its keepers will say, Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves, – reciting to you the Verses of your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of this Day of yours? They will say: Yes, but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers! [al-Zumar 39:71]

However,

If the disbeliever hasn’t heard about Islam at all, Allah is the most just. Thea disbelievers that have died without knowing about Islam at all, will be tested by Allah on the day of judgement. If he obeys, he will go to jannah, if he doesn’t, he will go to Hell. 

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning). [al-Israa 17:15].

In his tafseer (commentary) on this aayah, Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: These words, And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning) tell us of the justice of Allaah, may He be exalted, and that He does not punish anyone until after He has established evidence against him by sending a Messenger to him.

Anyone who hears the message of Islam in a sound and correct form (and rejects it), will have evidence against him. Whoever dies without having heard the message, or having heard it in a distorted form, then his case is in the hands of Allaah. Allaah knows best about His creation, and He will never treat anyone unfairly. 

And Allah knows best

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/13350

 https://islamqa.info/en/answers/45804

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/1244

The early generation of scholars dedicated their lives, and had the capacity, background knowledge, and ability to extract laws from the Quran and sunnah yet there arise laymen among the muslims who think they can “just do it” (as nike says). It was a long process to come up with a science of fiqh, its not something individual muslims can do on their own. Among what they did, scholars travelled to learn hadith, they made sure it was authentic, they compiled them, then they deduced laws and set up a fiqh system after much revision and consultation. When it came to Abu-Hanifa over 50% of his rulings were rejected by his own students after they learnt new hadiths/knowledge. The science of fiqh was a longterm educated group effort. So would you trust the work of many dedicated and outstanding scholars (in which the early ones had links to the prophet & sahaba) or yourself or a random muslim who thinks their opinions are true based on their very limited scope of islamic knowledge. A big alhamdullilah for the scholars of islam who took on this massive task, as the prophet SAW said, its scholars who inherit knowledge from the prophet. This is NOT something individual muslims can do and this is why we are told to respect and learn from scholars. Otherwise islam would become like any other religion, where every person has different opinions on rulings and interpretation of the quran and sunnah. Where even one person would contradict his own self because he doesnt have a system of fiqh. The ummah would become completely divided.

1. They were honest with themselves that something was missing

2. They stepped out of their comfort to learn more about islam

3. They were humble in realizing that theres always more to learn

A lot of us born-muslims tend to be in a state of comfort, practicing the basics of islam. We become desensitized to the need of self-improvement and assume we know enough because we’ve known islam since birth. We lack essential principles that lead to success.

(Assalamualaykum, I am testing on how to blog)

Hadith

حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ سَلاَمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سُهَيْلٍ، نَافِعِ بْنِ مَالِكِ بْنِ أَبِي عَامِرٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏

‏ آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلاَثٌ إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا اؤْتُمِنَ خَانَ ‏”

‏Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “The signs of a hypocrite are three: Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie; and whenever he promises, he breaks his promise; and whenever he is entrusted, he betrays (proves to be dishonest)”.

Sahih al-Bukhari 6095
In-book : Book 78, Hadith 122
USC-MSA web (English) : Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 117  (deprecated)
Sahih Bukhari

Get Hadith Collection (All in one) App:https://goo.gl/8j06i9
#GreentechApps #Hadith

Comment:
Brothers and Sisters, let us all try to avoid these signs; repent and always ask for forgiveness, don’t break your promises, and always speak the truth. I know it may be difficult (even for me), but we can all do it by the will of Allah. Let us all pray for a stronger iman, heart, and mind. May Allah keep us on the right path and strengthen our hearts and minds. 🙏💕

A person ignorant of Allah’s wisdom may think that its unfair that some people were born upon the truth or assume that Allah randomly chose people to guide and admit to paradise.

The truth however is that guidance is not random and those born upon islam do not always stay upon it (whether by committing shirk/following false sects or entirely disbelieving) because some did not prove to be deserving of it.

There are two types of guidance:

• General guidance in which Allah makes the truth known to everyone including disbelievers.

“Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful” [76:3].

An example from the Quran: “And as for Thamud, We guided them, but they preferred blindness over guidance…” [41:17].

• And specific guidance in which Allah enables and helps believers follow the truth.

When it comes to Allah sending people astray, what is meant by that is that He leaves these people to their own devices. Allah does not force anyone to go astray. The reason someone is sent astray stems from that individual themself. Guidance is a favor from Allah and He makes it settle in people who are suitable to recognize and be grateful for it, who’s hearts are righteous and are open to the truth. The fault of the one not suitable for guidance is that they chose to not be suitable, and they feel repulsed by the truth.

Guidance is subject to Allah’s will, and Allah’s will is in accordance to His wisdom (therefor its not random). Although guidance is in His hands, each individual is required to take measures that lead to guidance such as by taking initiative in adhering to path of righteousness. Allah gave us sound reason and free will so that we may choose guidance over misguidance. Allah dictates that an ungrateful person cannot be among those who are guided, unless He caused them to change their intentions. Allah can do anything, however, His wisdom dictates that causes are connected with effects.

Whoever Allah guides is from Allah’s grace, and whoever Allah allows to go astray is from His justice. It is unfair for Allah to love, forgive, and admit to paradise people who rejected Him along with believers who were sincere and strove for His pleasure. “Is the one who is a believer equal to the one who is rebellious?” [Quran 32:18].

Those who choose disbelief, have chosen their horrible fate. When we find someone who has an arrogant and rude personality, naturally we will deem them undeserving of favors from others. Then what about those who chose to think arrogantly of and neglect their Lord, who distract themselves with desires instead of seeking the truth? If they were to take even one sincere step towards the truth, Allah would race to aide them further. Even if they happened to have a good attitude towards other people and animals, they’ve treated their lord badly and were ungrateful to His favors and guidance. Allah talks about their ingratitude in the Quran:

And even if We opened for them a gate to heaven, through which they continued to ascend, still they would say, “Our eyes have truly been dazzled! In fact, we must have been bewitched.” [15:14-15]

If only you could (be there to) see when they will be made to stand by the Fire, and they will say, “Would that we were sent back, then we would not reject the signs of our Lord, and would join the believers”. In fact, what they were concealing earlier will become clear to them. If they were sent back, they would again go for what they were forbidden from, as they are sheer liars. [6:27-28]

And Allah is forgiving and gives many chances, someone may live all their life in corruption but end up accepting guidance and being forgiven before their death. Allah has made the religion reasonable and universal, whatever one’s race, gender, disability, they’re able to practice islam. But if someone earns hell because of their carelessness, as per hadith, Allah will still remove them from the fire if they had even an atom weight of faith. Therefor, it takes so little to make it to paradise, only a true neglectful person would refuse the opportunity.

What is waswas?

Waswas are compulsive thoughts in which if a person gives in “…and responds to the waswas, the Shaytan will gain power over him, and that waswas will become a chronic problem. This is what is called al-waswas al-qahri (overwhelming waswas or OCD). This kind of waswas – as one of those who are specialized in this field said – “is a sickness which befalls some people like any other kind of sickness. It refers to repeated thoughts, movements, ideas or notions which are of a loathsome nature that a person would ordinarily reject and strive to resist. He also realizes that they are wrong and have no meaning, but there is something that is pushing him towards them and he usually fails to resist them. The strength of these waswas may vary, so much so that they appear – to non-specialists – to be very strong and it seems that the sick person is doing that willingly. This kind of waswas may also affect a person in his worship and in his worldly affairs.” [Islamqa]

• waswas is a spiritual sickness that can effect your religious matters as well as your personal/worldly matters

• waswas can be a passing issue or a constant problem in which it is labelled as an affliction

• those who have overwhelming waswas regarding religious matters tend to act upon them despite realizing those thoughts are unreasonable/incorrect

• hating corrupt waswas is a sign of faith

• waswas can be regarding faith, actions, relationships, and/or decision-making

• the focus of this blog is regarding faith and halal/haram matters

Know satan’s strategy behind waswas

Why would satan want you to make more wudoo or pray more by repeating them? Isnt that a good thing, doesnt satan hate when we do them? Yes satan hates that you worship Allah, but consider the fate of someone who constantly worries about his wudoo, his prayer, his purity, his intentions, to the point he ends up repeating wudoo countless times or wont stop thinking about his intentions all day long, etc, etc. Waswas starts off as a small thought, the more you think about it, the more you act upon it, the more you stress, the more you mentally/physically drain yourself, the more likely you are to break down and quit worship altogether. That’s why we are taught to shut down waswas right from the start. But satan tricks us to thinking that we are good by taking waswas into consideration, that we are showing fear of displeasing Allah. When in reality Allah doesnt want this for us, Allah does not like that we go to extremes in religion nor does He like that we make religion difficult on ourselves. When faced with waswas it helps to imagine satan whispering those issues in your ear. Then, make the intention of fighting this enemy of Allah so that you will be rewarded for engaging in jihad.

Know how to differentiate between right & wrong

Seeking knowledge helps us differentiate between valid thoughts or destructive waswas. Allah sent our prophet SAW to demonstrate how to follow islam. If we do more than what our prophet had done, then we are going into extremes/innovation. Thats because the prophet was the best example of a muslim, we cannot surpass him in deeds. Therefor do not rely on your “logic” (tho really it is just waswas from satan), rely on what is proven from revelation. In other words, stop doing what you think you should do(regarding religion), do what the prophet taught you to do. Remember that islamic rulings are not derived from logic, rather from revelation, if they were then as imam Hanafi said, we would wipe under our socks (the part we step on) for wudoo instead of over.

Here’s a lil scenario: a man feels waswas regarding his wudoo and cant tell whether he broke it. He tells himself “i ate a lot of garlic today so its likely that i broke wudoo and should re-do it”. But the prophet taught us how to determine whether we should re-do our wudoo, that is if we notice a sound or smell. Therefor this man should ignore his “logic” and unless he’s 100% certain that he smelled or heard anything, should continue about his day. And if he actually had broken his wudoo without knowing, then Allah is forgiving. And if he’s still stressed he should tell himself that Allah knows He’s sick with waswas and cannot make proper judgement.

Know that Allah understands youre sick, cannot make the best judgements, and that you arent accountable for ignorance

If Allah were to hold us accountable for every mistake we would all be a goners. Allah is forgiving as well as very considerate. He knows our intentions. Those who struggle with waswas tend to fear displeasing Allah and think they are taking precautions by following waswas, by repeating their prayer, etc. If this applies to you, Allah knows youre sick & stuck in a cycle. What you need to do is engage in jihad by ignoring your waswas. And if you end up truly making a mistake (that a certain thought turned out to be valid), then Allah forgives those who do so out of ignorance. Allah does not burden you beyond what you are capable of. Consistently remind yourself that if you follow waswas then you arent pleasing Allah. If you make a mistake then inshAllah you will be forgiven. If you keep worrying about potentially making mistakes then you wont leave room for yourself to start healing.

Consider how Allah allows those who are sick to pray fardh while sitting down when its haram to do so normally, or how those who havent reached maturity are excused from sins, do you think Allah will not be considerate with those who have the right intentions but cannot make proper judgements because they are sick with overwhelming waswas?

Know that you should ignore waswas but you shouldnt ignore the reality that youre having recurring waswas and should take measures to heal yourself

Some may give into their waswas (ex: they may think its easier to just redo wudoo every time instead of dealing with uncertainty) and some may just quit acts of worship (or even beneficial worldly acts) but these are not the solution to your waswas. You are only masking the waswas and may feel temporary relief, tho you might find that you start getting waswas in new matters. Satan wins by getting you to give in so he moves on to something else. And each time he’ll move on to something more dangerous, you might start out having doubts about wudoo and end up with doubts regarding Allah. You cant keep hiding from your problems.

Those who have waswas tend to come up with many many questions/doubts and eagerly try to find answers. Its more important that you actively strive to block waswas than answering those doubts (typically for those who have waswas, seeking answers about every small detail actually increases their problem and so they should take a step back and focus on the source). Basically, attack the source before attacking the symptoms. So from now on, stop searching up all your specific questions/doubts. Those thoughts arent yours, theyre satan’s so dont entertain them. He’s never going to admit defeat, you may answer one question then he moves to another. Instead, you’d benefit by searching up videos or articles regarding waswas and how to deal with it (tim humble is known to be very knowledge in these matters, i recommend him). Once you’ve healed, you’ll be able to differentiate the valid questions and seek answers normally. Even if you believe your waswas essentially comes from yourself, undoubtedly, satan takes advantage of your weaknesses. Waswas is an affliction and like any affliction, you will find healing in the quran, athkar/dua, in removing sins, and increasing good. A lot of people do not realize just how powerful the Quran is at healing its sincere reader/listener. It not only heals you by blocking out the source of most problems (satan) but also heals your spiritual, mental, and physical (yes physical) self. Instead of explaining, I’ve attached an amazing video bellow(the first one). I will also attach videos of advise on how to deal with waswas.

Tips:

Your waswas isnt going to disappear right after reading an article about it. Take notes, write everything that you felt moved by. You will need to continually remind yourself of them because satan will try to get you to forget them while in the moment.

When people advise you (based on knowledge) regarding waswas, take the advise! Satan will come up with a million reasons as to why the advise doesn’t correspond to your situation, dont listen.

Whenever you get waswas, it helps to plug in headphones and listen to Quran until it goes away. It re-directs your focus, while blocking satan and healing your soul and mind.

Space out both reading and listening to quran throughout the day, its better to prevent than resist waswas once it occurs.

If your waswas is extremely overwhelming you may want to find a support system (they should understand the nature of waswas). Whenever you have a question/doubt, instead of scrambling to find the answer, ask your friend (or even on IA) whether they think it is waswas or a valid question. If they say waswas, leave it.

Acts that help block satan’s whispers/influence:

 Reading morning, evening, and night athkar creates a barrier against satan throughout the day

 Cutting out music from your life

 Saying dua before entering bathroom and not taking long

 Reading and listening to Quran not just once but throughout the day

 Seeking islamic knowledge especially of aqeedah. The more understanding of Allah you have and iman, the stronger the ruqya will be

 Closing bathroom doors while saying bismillah

 Having a habit of staying in wudoo throughout the day

 Improve the quality of your prayer and dua. Do a lot of reflecting when making dua

 Avoid being by yourself

 Dont surround yourself with people who openly sin whether on social media or in person

Dont sleep or eat too much, eat healthy and limit processed sugars as well as exercise regularly

I’m sure everyone has had an experience where they were with a group of friends and some of them step away, whisper, or make secretive signals to each-other. You might have felt excluded, unimportant, or assumed they were talking bad about you. Allah sent down Islam which takes into account even small matters like this.

The proper etiquette regarding companionship:

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If there are three of you, do not let two privately converse to the exclusion of the other.”

In another narration, the Prophet said, “Do not let two privately converse to the exclusion of one, for that will hurt a believer and Allah Almighty hates for a believer to be hurt.”

[Sahih Tirmidhi 2825]

A large portion of Islamic teachings focus on bringing society together, because unity is strength. Hadiths like these train us to be aware of how our actions, no matter the intentions, effect others. Many times when we exclude others we dont actually intend to hurt them, but we very well could be. We dont know what they’re going through, we might unintentionally cause them to feel less-trusting of others. As muslims we should do our parts to strengthen the trust, courage, motivation of the ummah starting with those around us so its good to have this awareness.

When it comes to this specific situation, a good way to avoid it is by telling your friend the secretive matter another time when you are actually alone. Maybe its inconvenient but do it for the sake of Allah and you will be rewarded. Until then, enjoy the time you have with all your friends.

Extra thought:

Allah is protective of His servants and blocks fitnah from all angles such as by teaching us to assume good in others while also teaching us to be careful not to appear like we’re talking bad about others. Or by having men lower their gaze while women observe the hijab. And many more.