Allah SWT looks into the hearts
"Goodness keeps coming to you if you keep seeking it."
If you keep seeking Allah's mercy, gaze, forgiveness, it will keep coming to you and it will never wrong you.
Advice
"My dear son... lives as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whoever you wish, for one day you shall taste its separation. And do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
This council of Imam Ghazali should be a basis for all of our actions, such that we start seeing life with these lenses. If Allah was to give us something that we like, then we shouldn’t be so overly happy with it because it will leave, similarly if we lose something, we shouldn’t be so sad by its loss. So do not attach your heart to other things such as cars, houses etc because this attachment will not help you in anyway, unless this attachment is for the sake of Allah.
"Do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
Whether you do any good or bad action, you will be given the reward or the punishment for it in front of Allah. An intelligent person would not want to stand in front of Allah and be in a state of humility and full of sins. Ultimately it's in the hands of the believer as to what state he wants to be in when he stands in front of Allah. Allah swt will not do injustice upon a person; it is they themselves that caused this upon themselves. You should ask yourself, are there any actions that you do that leaves the sunnah or leaves the shariah? You should know that these actions will lead to distress and regret. Ask yourself 'If I do this action, will I be standing in front of Allah in a good state or a bad state?' You should be prepared, and act accordingly."Goodness keeps coming to you if you keep seeking it."
If you keep seeking Allah's mercy, gaze, forgiveness, it will keep coming to you and it will never wrong you.
Advice
"My dear son... lives as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whoever you wish, for one day you shall taste its separation. And do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
This council of Imam Ghazali should be a basis for all of our actions, such that we start seeing life with these lenses. If Allah was to give us something that we like, then we shouldn’t be so overly happy with it because it will leave, similarly if we lose something, we shouldn’t be so sad by its loss. So do not attach your heart to other things such as cars, houses etc because this attachment will not help you in anyway, unless this attachment is for the sake of Allah.
"Do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
Whether you do any good or bad action, you will be given the reward or the punishment for it in front of Allah. An intelligent person would not want to stand in front of Allah and be in a state of humility and full of sins. Ultimately it's in the hands of the believer as to what state he wants to be in when he stands in front of Allah. Allah swt will not do injustice upon a person; it is they themselves that caused this upon themselves. You should ask yourself, are there any actions that you do that leaves the sunnah or leaves the shariah? You should know that these actions will lead to distress and regret. Ask yourself 'If I do this action, will I be standing in front of Allah in a good state or a bad state?' You should be prepared, and act accordingly.
Actions and words are recorded immediately. The Quran says the angel's records every word that comes out of the mouth of a believer. So a believer should speak well, else he will regret it in this world and the hereafter. The angels who record the bad deeds, they wait for the angels who record the good deeds in hope that the believer who sinned will make repentance before sunrise. But who knows if that sinner will live to sunrise? If Allah wants bad for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of sin, and similarly, if Allah wants good for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of good.
Advice
"My dear son... What have you gained from learning scholastic theology, medicine, administration, poetry, prosody, astronomy, syntax and morphology except to waste your time against the will of the Lord of Majesty?"
There are many types of knowledge. The scholars have categorised what types are obligatory, sunnah, preferred, unimportant, and forbidden. Someone who is intelligent would first seek the knowledge that is most important, such as fiqh, purity, fasting, praying, hajj etc. Then they can move on to other, less important knowledge. If you are learning knowledge just to show off to people, for example grammar- so that people will think highly of how you speak and that you express yourself beautifully, then know that you will not gain anything in this world. So you should ask yourself, what do you really need to learn first? Then you should not delay in attaining this knowledge.
Advice
"I saw in the gospel of Isa (peace be on him) that he said "From the moment a corpse is placed on the funeral bed until it is placed on the edge of a grave, Allah by His greatness will ask him forty questions. The first of which is: 'Oh my servant, you have purified yourself in the sight of mankind for years, and not for one hour have you purified yourself for me.'
This is wisdom that from the moment a person is put in his grave he will be asked these 40 rhetorical questions, which do not require an answer. These are just to disgrace the person who has purified himself for years in front of people, which he did not do in front of Allah, even for just one hour. When he saw people he wore the best and cleanest of clothes so other people would respect him when they saw him. But his heart, the place where Allah looks, he hasn’t taken care of it at all. Allah will ask him 'Am I the least important thing to you? I am the one who feeds you, gives you life, clothes you, gives you death, and I have been given the least importance in your heart."
The Prophet says- "Allah does not look at your clothes or at what is apparent, He only looks at your heart."
It is difficult for a person to have your heart always in the presence of Allah, except for those whom Allah has preferred. So you should at least try to keep your heart focused in prayer. There are 4 types of thoughts that come to your mind when you're praying.
1 - that he thinks of sinful things, things that are prohibited and disliked by Allah.
2 - that he thinks about worldly things.
3 - that he thinks about the affairs of the hereafter.
4 - that he listens to the speech of Allah in his prayer.
As for the first one who thinks of sins, he is in a state of sin himself, and Allah will not look at him while he's praying and his prayer had no benefit for him. For the second type of thoughts about the dunya, then these thoughts are disliked and Allah will not turn to you. The third thoughts, even though thinking about the hereafter is a good thing, we should not think about it while we are praying, we are supposed to think about the words of Allah that are being recited.
Advice
"Everyday He looks into your hearts and says: 'What are you doing for other creatures though you are surrounded by my kindness? Are you so deaf that you cannot hear?'''.
Allah is addressing our hearts because He knows it is our hearts that listen and not our ears, and our hearts are the vessel to which Allah addresses us. Allah is asking us 'All those people that you are concerned about, did they create you? Give you rizq? Heal you? Love you?' No-one loves a person more than Allah loves him. No-one gives you rizq more than Allah gives you. So why do you concern yourself for other creatures, while you are surrounded and covered by the kindness and blessings of Allah. Are you deaf to this inner voice inside your heart?' May Allah make us all hear the speech of light! Ameen!
The purpose of Imam Ghazali saying this is not so we lose concern about people and stop caring, but the imams saying just as we are concerned about other people and wear nice clothing; rather we should be more concerned about Allah than other people. We know Allah is providing all of these blessings, so hence we know Allah deserves more concern in our hearts.
How can we perfect this interaction with people and at the same time having a connection of the heart with Allah? This comes with intention. For example, when we dress and meet people in our daily lives, we make our intention in our hearts that we are doing this in accordance to Allah's obligation and the Prophets Sunnah, to display on ourselves the blessings of Allah. Hence we can praise Him and thank Him for the blessings he has given us. So everyone wears clothes, but we should add the intention that we are following the commands of Allah in covering our naked bodies, and following the Sunnah of the Prophet- are daily actions are now being converted! We will receive the contentment of Allah. Also we will receive the respect of people. This respect will not just be for this world, but also it will be in the hereafter and in all stations we visit when we pass away. If a person is connected to Allah in this life, this connection will never be severed; it'll stay with you as you pass through all stations, such as in the grave etc.
If you were to glorify Allah in your heart, Allah will glorify your position in the hearts of other people. At the same time if you were not concerned with the state of your heart, similarly, Allah will make other people not concerned with you in their hearts. To practise this means we should leave this gathering with the concern of Allah in our hearts and be concerned with the state of our hearts, then we will always have taqwa (piety) in our hearts.
Actions and words are recorded immediately. The Quran says the angel's records every word that comes out of the mouth of a believer. So a believer should speak well, else he will regret it in this world and the hereafter. The angels who record the bad deeds, they wait for the angels who record the good deeds in hope that the believer who sinned will make repentance before sunrise. But who knows if that sinner will live to sunrise? If Allah wants bad for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of sin, and similarly, if Allah wants good for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of good.
Advice
"My dear son... What have you gained from learning scholastic theology, medicine, administration, poetry, prosody, astronomy, syntax and morphology except to waste your time against the will of the Lord of Majesty?"
There are many types of knowledge. The scholars have categorised what types are obligatory, sunnah, preferred, unimportant, and forbidden. Someone who is intelligent would first seek the knowledge that is most important, such as fiqh, purity, fasting, praying, hajj etc. Then they can move on to other, less important knowledge. If you are learning knowledge just to show off to people, for example grammar- so that people will think highly of how you speak and that you express yourself beautifully, then know that you will not gain anything in this world. So you should ask yourself, what do you really need to learn first? Then you should not delay in attaining this knowledge.
Advice
"I saw in the gospel of Isa (peace be on him) that he said "From the moment a corpse is placed on the funeral bed until it is placed on the edge of a grave, Allah by His greatness will ask him forty questions. The first of which is: 'Oh my servant, you have purified yourself in the sight of mankind for years, and not for one hour have you purified yourself for me.'
This is wisdom that from the moment a person is put in his grave he will be asked these 40 rhetorical questions, which do not require an answer. These are just to disgrace the person who has purified himself for years in front of people, which he did not do in front of Allah, even for just one hour. When he saw people he wore the best and cleanest of clothes so other people would respect him when they saw him. But his heart, the place where Allah looks, he hasn’t taken care of it at all. Allah will ask him 'Am I the least important thing to you? I am the one who feeds you, gives you life, clothes you, gives you death, and I have been given the least importance in your heart."
The Prophet says- "Allah does not look at your clothes or at what is apparent, He only looks at your heart."
It is difficult for a person to have your heart always in the presence of Allah, except for those whom Allah has preferred. So you should at least try to keep your heart focused in prayer. There are 4 types of thoughts that come to your mind when you're praying.
1 - that he thinks of sinful things, things that are prohibited and disliked by Allah.
2 - that he thinks about worldly things.
3 - that he thinks about the affairs of the hereafter.
4 - that he listens to the speech of Allah in his prayer.
As for the first one who thinks of sins, he is in a state of sin himself, and Allah will not look at him while he's praying and his prayer had no benefit for him. For the second type of thoughts about the dunya, then these thoughts are disliked and Allah will not turn to you. The third thoughts, even though thinking about the hereafter is a good thing, we should not think about it while we are praying, we are supposed to think about the words of Allah that are being recited.
Advice
"Everyday He looks into your hearts and says: 'What are you doing for other creatures though you are surrounded by my kindness? Are you so deaf that you cannot hear?'''.
Allah is addressing our hearts because He knows it is our hearts that listen and not our ears, and our hearts are the vessel to which Allah addresses us. Allah is asking us 'All those people that you are concerned about, did they create you? Give you rizq? Heal you? Love you?' No-one loves a person more than Allah loves him. No-one gives you rizq more than Allah gives you. So why do you concern yourself for other creatures, while you are surrounded and covered by the kindness and blessings of Allah. Are you deaf to this inner voice inside your heart?' May Allah make us all hear the speech of light! Ameen!
The purpose of Imam Ghazali saying this is not so we lose concern about people and stop caring, but the imams saying just as we are concerned about other people and wear nice clothing; rather we should be more concerned about Allah than other people. We know Allah is providing all of these blessings, so hence we know Allah deserves more concern in our hearts.
How can we perfect this interaction with people and at the same time having a connection of the heart with Allah? This comes with intention. For example, when we dress and meet people in our daily lives, we make our intention in our hearts that we are doing this in accordance to Allah's obligation and the Prophets Sunnah, to display on ourselves the blessings of Allah. Hence we can praise Him and thank Him for the blessings he has given us. So everyone wears clothes, but we should add the intention that we are following the commands of Allah in covering our naked bodies, and following the Sunnah of the Prophet- are daily actions are now being converted! We will receive the contentment of Allah. Also we will receive the respect of people. This respect will not just be for this world, but also it will be in the hereafter and in all stations we visit when we pass away. If a person is connected to Allah in this life, this connection will never be severed; it'll stay with you as you pass through all stations, such as in the grave etc.
If you were to glorify Allah in your heart, Allah will glorify your position in the hearts of other people. At the same time if you were not concerned with the state of your heart, similarly, Allah will make other people not concerned with you in their hearts. To practise this means we should leave this gathering with the concern of Allah in our hearts and be concerned with the state of our hearts, then we will always have taqwa (piety) in our hearts.
If you keep seeking Allah's mercy, gaze, forgiveness, it will keep coming to you and it will never wrong you.
Advice
"My dear son... lives as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whoever you wish, for one day you shall taste its separation. And do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
This council of Imam Ghazali should be a basis for all of our actions, such that we start seeing life with these lenses. If Allah was to give us something that we like, then we shouldn’t be so overly happy with it because it will leave, similarly if we lose something, we shouldn’t be so sad by its loss. So do not attach your heart to other things such as cars, houses etc because this attachment will not help you in anyway, unless this attachment is for the sake of Allah.
"Do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
Whether you do any good or bad action, you will be given the reward or the punishment for it in front of Allah. An intelligent person would not want to stand in front of Allah and be in a state of humility and full of sins. Ultimately it's in the hands of the believer as to what state he wants to be in when he stands in front of Allah. Allah swt will not do injustice upon a person; it is they themselves that caused this upon themselves. You should ask yourself, are there any actions that you do that leaves the sunnah or leaves the shariah? You should know that these actions will lead to distress and regret. Ask yourself 'If I do this action, will I be standing in front of Allah in a good state or a bad state?' You should be prepared, and act accordingly."Goodness keeps coming to you if you keep seeking it."
If you keep seeking Allah's mercy, gaze, forgiveness, it will keep coming to you and it will never wrong you.
Advice
"My dear son... lives as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whoever you wish, for one day you shall taste its separation. And do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
This council of Imam Ghazali should be a basis for all of our actions, such that we start seeing life with these lenses. If Allah was to give us something that we like, then we shouldn’t be so overly happy with it because it will leave, similarly if we lose something, we shouldn’t be so sad by its loss. So do not attach your heart to other things such as cars, houses etc because this attachment will not help you in anyway, unless this attachment is for the sake of Allah.
"Do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly."
Whether you do any good or bad action, you will be given the reward or the punishment for it in front of Allah. An intelligent person would not want to stand in front of Allah and be in a state of humility and full of sins. Ultimately it's in the hands of the believer as to what state he wants to be in when he stands in front of Allah. Allah swt will not do injustice upon a person; it is they themselves that caused this upon themselves. You should ask yourself, are there any actions that you do that leaves the sunnah or leaves the shariah? You should know that these actions will lead to distress and regret. Ask yourself 'If I do this action, will I be standing in front of Allah in a good state or a bad state?' You should be prepared, and act accordingly.
Actions and words are recorded immediately. The Quran says the angel's records every word that comes out of the mouth of a believer. So a believer should speak well, else he will regret it in this world and the hereafter. The angels who record the bad deeds, they wait for the angels who record the good deeds in hope that the believer who sinned will make repentance before sunrise. But who knows if that sinner will live to sunrise? If Allah wants bad for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of sin, and similarly, if Allah wants good for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of good.
Advice
"My dear son... What have you gained from learning scholastic theology, medicine, administration, poetry, prosody, astronomy, syntax and morphology except to waste your time against the will of the Lord of Majesty?"
There are many types of knowledge. The scholars have categorised what types are obligatory, sunnah, preferred, unimportant, and forbidden. Someone who is intelligent would first seek the knowledge that is most important, such as fiqh, purity, fasting, praying, hajj etc. Then they can move on to other, less important knowledge. If you are learning knowledge just to show off to people, for example grammar- so that people will think highly of how you speak and that you express yourself beautifully, then know that you will not gain anything in this world. So you should ask yourself, what do you really need to learn first? Then you should not delay in attaining this knowledge.
Advice
"I saw in the gospel of Isa (peace be on him) that he said "From the moment a corpse is placed on the funeral bed until it is placed on the edge of a grave, Allah by His greatness will ask him forty questions. The first of which is: 'Oh my servant, you have purified yourself in the sight of mankind for years, and not for one hour have you purified yourself for me.'
This is wisdom that from the moment a person is put in his grave he will be asked these 40 rhetorical questions, which do not require an answer. These are just to disgrace the person who has purified himself for years in front of people, which he did not do in front of Allah, even for just one hour. When he saw people he wore the best and cleanest of clothes so other people would respect him when they saw him. But his heart, the place where Allah looks, he hasn’t taken care of it at all. Allah will ask him 'Am I the least important thing to you? I am the one who feeds you, gives you life, clothes you, gives you death, and I have been given the least importance in your heart."
The Prophet says- "Allah does not look at your clothes or at what is apparent, He only looks at your heart."
It is difficult for a person to have your heart always in the presence of Allah, except for those whom Allah has preferred. So you should at least try to keep your heart focused in prayer. There are 4 types of thoughts that come to your mind when you're praying.
1 - that he thinks of sinful things, things that are prohibited and disliked by Allah.
2 - that he thinks about worldly things.
3 - that he thinks about the affairs of the hereafter.
4 - that he listens to the speech of Allah in his prayer.
As for the first one who thinks of sins, he is in a state of sin himself, and Allah will not look at him while he's praying and his prayer had no benefit for him. For the second type of thoughts about the dunya, then these thoughts are disliked and Allah will not turn to you. The third thoughts, even though thinking about the hereafter is a good thing, we should not think about it while we are praying, we are supposed to think about the words of Allah that are being recited.
Advice
"Everyday He looks into your hearts and says: 'What are you doing for other creatures though you are surrounded by my kindness? Are you so deaf that you cannot hear?'''.
Allah is addressing our hearts because He knows it is our hearts that listen and not our ears, and our hearts are the vessel to which Allah addresses us. Allah is asking us 'All those people that you are concerned about, did they create you? Give you rizq? Heal you? Love you?' No-one loves a person more than Allah loves him. No-one gives you rizq more than Allah gives you. So why do you concern yourself for other creatures, while you are surrounded and covered by the kindness and blessings of Allah. Are you deaf to this inner voice inside your heart?' May Allah make us all hear the speech of light! Ameen!
The purpose of Imam Ghazali saying this is not so we lose concern about people and stop caring, but the imams saying just as we are concerned about other people and wear nice clothing; rather we should be more concerned about Allah than other people. We know Allah is providing all of these blessings, so hence we know Allah deserves more concern in our hearts.
How can we perfect this interaction with people and at the same time having a connection of the heart with Allah? This comes with intention. For example, when we dress and meet people in our daily lives, we make our intention in our hearts that we are doing this in accordance to Allah's obligation and the Prophets Sunnah, to display on ourselves the blessings of Allah. Hence we can praise Him and thank Him for the blessings he has given us. So everyone wears clothes, but we should add the intention that we are following the commands of Allah in covering our naked bodies, and following the Sunnah of the Prophet- are daily actions are now being converted! We will receive the contentment of Allah. Also we will receive the respect of people. This respect will not just be for this world, but also it will be in the hereafter and in all stations we visit when we pass away. If a person is connected to Allah in this life, this connection will never be severed; it'll stay with you as you pass through all stations, such as in the grave etc.
If you were to glorify Allah in your heart, Allah will glorify your position in the hearts of other people. At the same time if you were not concerned with the state of your heart, similarly, Allah will make other people not concerned with you in their hearts. To practise this means we should leave this gathering with the concern of Allah in our hearts and be concerned with the state of our hearts, then we will always have taqwa (piety) in our hearts.
Actions and words are recorded immediately. The Quran says the angel's records every word that comes out of the mouth of a believer. So a believer should speak well, else he will regret it in this world and the hereafter. The angels who record the bad deeds, they wait for the angels who record the good deeds in hope that the believer who sinned will make repentance before sunrise. But who knows if that sinner will live to sunrise? If Allah wants bad for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of sin, and similarly, if Allah wants good for a person, then he will take his soul in the state of good.
Advice
"My dear son... What have you gained from learning scholastic theology, medicine, administration, poetry, prosody, astronomy, syntax and morphology except to waste your time against the will of the Lord of Majesty?"
There are many types of knowledge. The scholars have categorised what types are obligatory, sunnah, preferred, unimportant, and forbidden. Someone who is intelligent would first seek the knowledge that is most important, such as fiqh, purity, fasting, praying, hajj etc. Then they can move on to other, less important knowledge. If you are learning knowledge just to show off to people, for example grammar- so that people will think highly of how you speak and that you express yourself beautifully, then know that you will not gain anything in this world. So you should ask yourself, what do you really need to learn first? Then you should not delay in attaining this knowledge.
Advice
"I saw in the gospel of Isa (peace be on him) that he said "From the moment a corpse is placed on the funeral bed until it is placed on the edge of a grave, Allah by His greatness will ask him forty questions. The first of which is: 'Oh my servant, you have purified yourself in the sight of mankind for years, and not for one hour have you purified yourself for me.'
This is wisdom that from the moment a person is put in his grave he will be asked these 40 rhetorical questions, which do not require an answer. These are just to disgrace the person who has purified himself for years in front of people, which he did not do in front of Allah, even for just one hour. When he saw people he wore the best and cleanest of clothes so other people would respect him when they saw him. But his heart, the place where Allah looks, he hasn’t taken care of it at all. Allah will ask him 'Am I the least important thing to you? I am the one who feeds you, gives you life, clothes you, gives you death, and I have been given the least importance in your heart."
The Prophet says- "Allah does not look at your clothes or at what is apparent, He only looks at your heart."
It is difficult for a person to have your heart always in the presence of Allah, except for those whom Allah has preferred. So you should at least try to keep your heart focused in prayer. There are 4 types of thoughts that come to your mind when you're praying.
1 - that he thinks of sinful things, things that are prohibited and disliked by Allah.
2 - that he thinks about worldly things.
3 - that he thinks about the affairs of the hereafter.
4 - that he listens to the speech of Allah in his prayer.
As for the first one who thinks of sins, he is in a state of sin himself, and Allah will not look at him while he's praying and his prayer had no benefit for him. For the second type of thoughts about the dunya, then these thoughts are disliked and Allah will not turn to you. The third thoughts, even though thinking about the hereafter is a good thing, we should not think about it while we are praying, we are supposed to think about the words of Allah that are being recited.
Advice
"Everyday He looks into your hearts and says: 'What are you doing for other creatures though you are surrounded by my kindness? Are you so deaf that you cannot hear?'''.
Allah is addressing our hearts because He knows it is our hearts that listen and not our ears, and our hearts are the vessel to which Allah addresses us. Allah is asking us 'All those people that you are concerned about, did they create you? Give you rizq? Heal you? Love you?' No-one loves a person more than Allah loves him. No-one gives you rizq more than Allah gives you. So why do you concern yourself for other creatures, while you are surrounded and covered by the kindness and blessings of Allah. Are you deaf to this inner voice inside your heart?' May Allah make us all hear the speech of light! Ameen!
The purpose of Imam Ghazali saying this is not so we lose concern about people and stop caring, but the imams saying just as we are concerned about other people and wear nice clothing; rather we should be more concerned about Allah than other people. We know Allah is providing all of these blessings, so hence we know Allah deserves more concern in our hearts.
How can we perfect this interaction with people and at the same time having a connection of the heart with Allah? This comes with intention. For example, when we dress and meet people in our daily lives, we make our intention in our hearts that we are doing this in accordance to Allah's obligation and the Prophets Sunnah, to display on ourselves the blessings of Allah. Hence we can praise Him and thank Him for the blessings he has given us. So everyone wears clothes, but we should add the intention that we are following the commands of Allah in covering our naked bodies, and following the Sunnah of the Prophet- are daily actions are now being converted! We will receive the contentment of Allah. Also we will receive the respect of people. This respect will not just be for this world, but also it will be in the hereafter and in all stations we visit when we pass away. If a person is connected to Allah in this life, this connection will never be severed; it'll stay with you as you pass through all stations, such as in the grave etc.
If you were to glorify Allah in your heart, Allah will glorify your position in the hearts of other people. At the same time if you were not concerned with the state of your heart, similarly, Allah will make other people not concerned with you in their hearts. To practise this means we should leave this gathering with the concern of Allah in our hearts and be concerned with the state of our hearts, then we will always have taqwa (piety) in our hearts.