I love it! Regardless of what you think of Hugo Chavez, you have to admit that the man says what he means and means what he says.
“The US President (George W. Bush) made an atomic bomb threat,” Chevez said on Thursday, referring to Bush’s war rhetoric against Iran.“In other words, he’s threatening a third world war but now with atomic weapons.
It’s like he should be taken to the psychiatric hospital. I think he’s on the edge of the psychiatric hospital,” he added.
Israel is going ahead with plans to shut off electricity to Gaza.
Collective punishment. Sounds a bit like Nazi Germany doesn’t it? Their oppressors became their teachers.
The concept is foreign to Islam.
It is reported that Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said:
Truthfulness is a light which radiates its reality in its own world: it is like the sun, from whose reality everything seeks light without any decrease occurring in this reality. A truthful person, in fact, is a man who believes every liar, due to the reality of his own truthfulness. It means that nothing which is opposed to truthfulness, nothing, even, which is not truthfulness, is permitted to coexist with it; just as happened with Adam, who believed Iblis when he lied because Iblis had sworn a false oath to him and there was no lying in Adam. Allah said,
We did not find in him any determination. (20:115)
because Iblis originated something previously unknown, both outwardly and inwardly. Iblis will be gathered with his lie, and he will never benefit from the truthfulness of Adam.
Yet it benefited Adam that he believed the lie of Iblis, as Allah testified for him when He said that he was not constant in what was contrary to his custom. This really means that his being chosen was not at all diminished by Satan’s lies.
– Lantern of the Path
I’ve started on the third book of The Golden Scrolls series. I know you’re probably thinking, “What happened to the second?” Well, it’s done, but I’ve vowed not to publish it until I get a big publisher for the series, insha`Allah. So, in the meantime, I’ll keep writing until the series is finished. The second book is called Sword of Kelterya, and I’m not going to reveal the title of the third. Taubah knows, but no one else does.
Oh yeah, and Eid Mubarak to you all.
There are those who wear pants but no shirts and those who wear shirts but not pants. Those who wear only pants, take Islam but reject sufism. And those who wear only shirts, take sufism but reject Islam. In reality, there is no separation between the two. Sufism is the heart of Islam.
No, don’t get excited. I’m not announcing it. I’m just thinking about the preparations. I never really thought of preparing for it when I was younger. Eid was just the prayer after Ramadan…and maybe a brunch. Other than that, I didn’t actually do much. Now, with a family of four, Eid is an event. The kids are getting presents, decorations will go up, and parties will be attended. Having a Muslim family really does mean something special. I thank Allah repeatedly for being blessed with a practicing wife and two amazing daughters.
My advice to any young brothers out there: when it comes time to choose a wife, think deeply about it. Certain physical and even personality traits will come and go, but a sister who is serious about the Deen, someone who has a connection with Allah that cannot be broken, that is priceless and timeless.
I just finished an article for OneUmmah.net on morality. It’s the first one I’ve finished in several months. Anyway, I am missing one reference, so I started searching my hadith books for it. In the process, I stumbled upon this hadith:
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated that once a man came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him and his family peace) and asked him to give him a piece of advice. The Prophet asked him three times: “Will you make a point of following the advice if I advise you?”, to which the man responded each time, “Yes, O Prophet of Allah.”
So, the Prophet continued, “Then I advise you that when you intend to carry out an action, consider its consequences first. If they are sound, then go ahead with it, and if they are corrupt, then abandon it.”
– From Wasa’il-al-Shi’a by Shaykh al-Hurr al-Amili in the book “Jihad al-Nafs” #20516.
I’ve purchased a new book from the Academy for Learning Islam.
It’s called, Sunan An-Nabi: A Collection of Narrations on the Conduct and Customs of the Noble Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him and his family peace).
The original work was written by the venerable ‘Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Taba’taba’i (may Allah make his grave fragrant) and was translated by Tahir Ridha Jaffer.
Here is an excerpt from the back cover:
Outsiders have understood his political genius, his power of oratory, and his great statesmanship, but few have understood how he could be the religious and spiritual guide of humanity and how his life could be emulated by those who aspire proximity to the Almighty Creator. From the Muslim point of view, the Prophet is the symbol of perfection of both the human person and human society. He is the prototype of the human individual and the human collectivity and as such, he bears certain characteristics in the eyes of the Muslims which can only be discovered by studying the accounts of conduct and behavior – as seen in this monumental work, Sunan an-Nabi.
The 21st night of Ramadan is the night that Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) returned to his Lord. A year ago, I wrote some words regarding it. Rather than trying to outdo myself, I’ll just link to it here. Insha`Allah, it will be of benefit.
On the night of the 19th of Ramadan, the accursed Abdur-Rahman ibn Muljim struck Imam ‘Ali with a poison-tipped sword. The Imam, who had already endured severe hardship at the hands of his enemies, cried out, “By the Lord of the Ka’ba, I have been successful.”
In modern secular societies, success often means wealth, so the judgment of someone’s success is based on the amount of money they’ve earned, the investments they’ve made, and even the fame that they’ve achieved as a result of their wealth. It is only then, that we say of someone, “He is a successful man” or “She is a successful woman.”
For Imam Ali and all of those who walk the path of righteousness, success is something more profound. To be successful is to know God, and once a person truly knows God, he serves Him in his life. Therefore, success comes from service to God. The successful ones, the victorious ones, are those who strive in the way of God with their minds, their words, their wealth, and their lives.
