The Table Spread (Al Maidah) Chapter 5 Al Quran

This Chapter is unique in it's own way because it has laid down for us the clear distinctions and rulings regarding the prohibited matters especially with regard to food and drink. 

Al Maidah or the Table Spread is a beautiful chapter of the Quran which was revealed in Madinah and some of it's parts were revealed in Makkah. It was revealed after Surah Al Fath.

This chapter is also regarded as the chapter of men while Surah an Nisa is the chapter of women. 

This Chapter of the Quran was revealed in the end times of the Revelation and the 3rd verse is the last to be revealed. 

This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed on you My Favor and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. 

The rulings in this chapter are established and a Muslim should abide by them. 

When in any chapter of the Quran the verse starts with the words "O you who believe..." it is addressed to all the believers. In that verse either the believers are asked to do something good or they are stopped from some wrong.

In the beginning verses of this chapter (Al Maidah) we are addressed as "o you who believe..." and are asked to keep the promises. As the verse proceeds the believers are first told about the permissible things for eating and then they are told to respect the signs of Allah. Believers are told not to help in the matters of transgression and sin. 

The believers are also given clear understanding about all the non-permissible things for eating. 

The third verse specifically is of great importance as it tells us that Allah has chosen none but Islam as the only Religion or way of life for us!

The culture of Islam is unique from others. Islam has it's own identity which can not be mistaken for any other religion or culture.

There is no compromise in the prohibited matters as they have been made very clear in the Quran.

This chapter in it's beginning verses is also very important for learning the rulings regarding what food is permissible or prohibited for us. This is a great way to teach our children directly from the Quran and tell them that Islam is complete and perfect and it has no room for any changes or innovations.

Beautiful Chapter...beautiful beginning, beautiful end! 
#LessonsFromTheQuran #TeacherTips

The Women: A Chapter of Mercy!

'The Women' is a chapter in the Quran which is comprehensive and full of wisdom and logic. It mostly deals with the issues of women therefore it is named in honor of the women. This chapter is also called the chapter of mercy and justice because here Allah Himself sets the Laws of Inheritance and guides us in the issues related to women, orphans and the poor. 

• The issues of inheritance are dictated and set by Allah Himself so that we are not confused and doubtful regarding them.
• The knowledge and wisdom of Allah is unlimited hence His Laws are based on them even if we are unable to grasp them in the first instance.
• His decisions and rulings are based on Justice. 
• The rights of inheritance, the rights of women and the rights and duties of men are all explained in this chapter.
• This Surah was revealed after Surah al Mujadilah.
• This Surah or Chapter is also called the Chapter of Justice and Mercy.
• In the Chapter of 'The Cow' Surah Al Baqarah explains the purpose of the existence of The Muslim Ummah.
• The Chapter 'Family of Imran' dealt with stability and focus. 
• Now in this Surah the issues regarding the orphans, slaves, inheritors and the rights of women are dealt with. 
• The home is like a dynasty, justice and care about the rights of those under your supervision is necessary for the smooth running and efficient planning. The Men are the guardians of the family. They are being given the responsibility to take care of their wives and children with justice. Women are responsible for the affairs of the homemaking and raising of good children with the love and support of their husbands.
• When the rules of Justice are not applied the family unit is affected.
• In this chapter 'the women', the 'muharramaat' or those things which are prohibited in case of marriage are also mentioned.
• We are taught, here in this surah, not to cheat on the things which have been given in your custody, 'the amaanahs'. 
• The Justice is emphasized so much so that it should be done with one's own self, 'the nafs'.
• Also, the hypocrites are mentioned in this chapter.

The lessons which can be derived from this chapter devoted to women in the Quran can be summarized as follows: 

1.  Read, understand and apply the Quran in your practical life.
2. Avoid exaggeration in all areas of life. Do not do excess in religious matters. Tread a middle course in all things just keeping in mind the lawful and the unlawful matters. Keep a balance in your religion. 
3. Make the Quran your Criterion for judging things or for gaining knowledge about Islam. Take help from Hadeeth if you want to understand things more deeply.
4. The importance of 'fardh' is far more important than any other voluntary acts. First make your obligatory duties perfect and regular then take care of your 'nawafil' or voluntary duties.
5. Prioritize things in life according to their importance and value in the light of Quran, sunnah and Aakhirah. 
6. It is the duty of men to earn, handle and be responsible for the matters of money for the household expenses and the needs of his family. The woman must not worry unnecessarily for these matters. 

Ask and You will be answered!

"Allah! Please give me the Hidaayah, the Taufeeq, and the opportunity to serve You, Your Deen and live and die for Your sake only.

My only goal being the achievement of Your Pleasure and Mercy.

I do all good deeds just to please You. I do good to Your servants just to please You.

 Please do not let even a small dot of arrogance, self-praise or boastfulness, pride or showing off in my heart.

Whatever I do, make me do that just for Your sake; not to please others.

Make me content in whatever I get or have already.

 Make me realize the real happiness. Give me a soul that is satisfied. Purify my soul. Cleanse my heart of all the filth arising from bad feelings. Turn my heart toward You. Establish my heart on Your Deen.

Give me a life and death that is successful in Your eyes. Have Mercy on me, my family, relatives, friends, neighbors and all Muslims. Guide those who are in darkness toward the Light of Truth. 

Accept my prayers O My Lord!"

An Open Letter

Bismillahir Rehmanir Raheem
In the Name of Allah The Most Merciful The Most Kind

O My Lord, I am Your slave. You created me. I have sinned and erred. I have made so many mistakes. I have wronged myself. I acknowledge all my sins which I did out of ignorance, silliness, carelessness or with intention. I acknowledge that You have all the power over all things. I consider You my one and only Lord. I do not take any partners with You. You alone I worship, seek help from and ask for my needs. I am a weak slave of Yours who has not shown herself up to the mark that You have liked from Your servants.
Please Allah! make me such that I repent sincerely of all my sins, big or small, as if I did none...
Wash away all the dirt of sins from my heart...
ACCEPT MY REPENTANCE O ALLAH! As You alone Accept Repentance and Forgive Your slaves.
Make me such that I recognize Your Blessings and thank You always, remember You always, give up all the sins, worship You sincerely, pray and fulfill all my obligations and duties toward You beautifully so that accept all my good deeds.
O Allah! Make me amongst those whom You have chosen for Guidance, Forgiveness and Your Mercy till Your servants meet You, aameen.
Your Slave. 

Seek and Be Sought!

As human beings we all have needs, wants and desires. When we feel hungry we eat food (some of us eat even when not hungry!), we go to sleep when we feel tired and sleepy, we drink water when thirsty. This is something no one can deny. We all fulfill our needs and desires whenever we feel the urge and the necessity to do so. 

Let us turn to those needs that are not in our direct control. We give our exams and then wait for the result because result is not in our control. We hope and pray that we get a good result. Although we all know that result is not in our hands still we strive to do the exam well, we prepare well and do hard work for best result. Why do we do that? We want to achieve something and we know that until and unless we study we won't get the desired result. It will be too silly for us to just sit back relax and still expect to pass with flying colors! We do not want to take chances. We want to have that desired thing and so we strive toward it.

Now to drive my point home, when we expect happiness, comfort, success, health, wealth and much more we strive in that way. Somethings in this journey are under our control so we do it. Somethings that we know we have no control over we leave to God. But the main point here is that when we do not strive in the way of pleasing God and doing what He asks us to do then how can we expect to get all that we desire in life. We know that God has all the power and He only can work out the things for us then how can we expect His blessings by doing exactly the opposite or the things that we know would displease Him! First we must know what displeases Allah and then we should try avoiding that. If we are engaged in things that have been mentioned in the Quran explicitly as displeasing to Allah or mentioned in the Hadeeth that they incur the curse of Allah we should be cautious regarding them. We do all that conveniently and knowingly and still expect Allah to answer all our prayers! Allah is indeed most Merciful that is why He is providing us all that we do not even deserve because of our disobedience and persistence in ignorance. If He is to punish us for each of our sins we would be dead by now! Allah is oft forgiving and Most appreciative. The servants just need to realize that what He has asked us to do is for our own good. Allah wants guidance for us. He wants ease for us. He wants to bestow His mercy on us. Are there any takers? Are we the seekers? He is bestowing even when we are not obeying Him like we should be. How would it be if we seek His Pleasure, His Mercy and His Bounties and He will seek us, hold us and keep us under His Shade!! Allah gives guidance, wisdom and Truth to those who seek them. Seek the Truth and the Truth shall seek you! Hold fast to Allah, His Messenger and His Book and He will make you His friend! He will seek to solve all your problems, worries and take away all your pain. You will witness this in this world before your eyes! Trust Allah and strive to seek His Pleasure. Abstain from all those things that have been mentioned as displeasing to Allah: shirk, disobedience to parents, magic, false testimony, theft, lying, cheating, breaking promises, breaking relationships, abusing others, changing the creation of Allah (plucking eyebrows etc), abandoning prayers, and many other acts which we indulge in unknowingly while they are grave sins and cursed by Allah and His Messenger and the Angels as well. How will a person doing any of these acts of disobedience and he does not realize and repent can expect Allah to grant Him all that he asks for and all that he desires in Life?

Know Allah and His Deen and try your best to follow it in a balanced way and you will attain all the happiness of this world and the Hereafter, In sha Allah. 

How to be thankful?

There are many ways to achieve the state of being thankful and grateful to God as well as to His Creatures.

The first among them is that you realize the reason to be thankful for. Whether you realize your blessings that come in various forms from God or you acknowledge the favors that others might do for you now and then.

Once you realize that there is something to be thankful for in your life you have crossed the first level.

The second level is to actually say 'thanks' to the one whom you think is responsible for the good that happened to you or the bad that didn't happen! Obviously, it is all from the Creator and sometimes He makes His Creatures a way to bring good to others. So, here, first we need to thank the One Who gave you all that you asked for and more, kept you safe, helped you out, was a force behind you to stay strong although apparently you could see no change in your problems etc, but despite of all the odds Who kept you there, firm and unwavering. 

Thank the One Who is the source of all blessings and strength. 

Secondly, you need to thank the persons that always stayed by your side, loved you unconditionally or did any favor for you by any means. You actually need to thank them with nice words and gestures.

The third level in achieving the state of being thankful is actually spending out of whatever you are capable of in helping out those in need. You might think that you are at present in most need but still you might find someone whose problem is worse than yours; who is homeless, hungry and ill. Whatever way you can spend whatever little you have in the way of The Creator for helping the needy you must spend. This will not decrease you in wealth rather it will open new doors of blessings upon you from the Lord of the Worlds.

The last but the most important thing to do yet the most difficult for most among us is 'not to complain'.

Most of us keep our focus fixed on 'what we don't have', 'what is missing', 'what bad happened with us', and 'what we badly need'. It is quite natural to feel the discrepancies in life but it is not impossible to try and engage ourselves in something so that we can disengage ourselves from constantly getting reminded of only the 'deprivations' in our life. Keeping busy in doing those things that bring joy, contentment and feeling of worth in us is extremely important to get out of the gloom.

Not complaining about the things we don't have and remembering the things that we do have make a big difference in our mindset. We might be really creative, useful, beneficial to others, constructive, helpful and positive by nature but the odds in life just fog those sparks in our personality. We need to clear this fog. The sparks are still there. Let them shine, and ignite your talents, your creativity and worth by working on them. Keep busy in doing things that you like to do. Do something which can benefit others. Use your talents. When we begin to shine the life of others the rays keep reflecting on us too. We bring about a brightness that engulfs our dull and gloomy life and enlightens it too!!

 Be thankful to the Almighty, be thankful to others and keep busy. 

These are the ways we can achieve thankfulness and get rid of a sad state of mind, by the Will of Almighty Allah. 

PS: These thoughts are actually learnt and understood from a lecture of my teacher. 

Normal?

Usually people go according to the norms of the society, the trending and the in-things. They are so governed by all that is happening around them that they sometimes do not take even a minute to decide whether what they are doing is actually good for them or not. What all the others are doing is 'normal' in their eyes and going against it is like going against the 'norm'. 
The question is, who decides what is normal and what is not?
Sometimes things that are completely acceptable and normal in one culture are totally abhorred and disliked in the other. But whether we belong to one culture or the other some things always are right and wrong. There are some grey shades where you need to use your intellect and insight to decide what is good and bad for you.
Following some age-old traditions, or newest fashions without thinking is by no means intelligent.
If something is being done by all or most of the people it is not a guarantee for it to be correct. The crowd might be going in the wrong direction! By following such a crowd we too might end up in the ditch of hurt, loss or failure. Before imitating or following something a sound minded person will always think about the pros and cons of it.
"Normal" is actually not normal for everyone. Those who do things with ease, even the bad things, might find no problem in doing it. But those who just follow others and imitate their ways thinking them to be 'normal' just because such things are being done with ease might not be able to have their cake and eat it too..they will suffer the consequences of blind following.

Impress the Creator!

I am not here to impress you. You are not here to impress me or anyone else. We all are here to impress the One Who has created all. 

Even if we impress each other we are not going to get any benefit in the long run. It can be of use to us only till we are alive. The real help and support that we need is when we will be all alone. No one will be there to help us. Even we won't be able to do anything to our own self. This is the time when we will desire the help most. That help will be given to us only by Him who has created us and not by His creatures whom we had left behind. 

We had come to life all alone and left the world alone. We were not alone if we always had our Originator in our mind and heart. His Presence and His Mercy will again be with us after we leave the world. We will not be helpless there. 

If we constantly care about impressing Him He will make us happy when we will be in need of help and support the most.

Let us try to please Him, impress Him and get His Support till we are alive and even after we die. 

Repair the Machine

   


We made the machine and when it does not work properly we repair it or if it is not working we change it or throw it away. 
Think about the Creator who has made us. We were made to worship Him. When He sees that we are not doing our job He has all the power to correct us and if He wishes He can destroy us. Why does not He do this to us? We do so many sins. We disobey Him day and night. Why does He not punish us immediately or wipe us away from this Earth?

 He has Created everything that exists. He Created us with the understanding of right and wrong. He has given us free-will to see what we want to choose for ourselves. If we choose to stay careless and negligent He is not harmed in the least. He gives us respite. He gives us chances upon chances. His signs are not hidden. We can see them all around us and within us. But we live in delusion, dreams and fantasy. We know that life is uncertain and death is certain. 

We have seen so many of our relatives and friends leave this world. They have gone. Where is their being now? Was this something without any basis? 

No, it can not be. Being alive on this earth, having all the senses, living and then dying is certainly something with a bigger plan in the background. All this is NOT created in vain. The Creator of all this has a plan. He wants us to recognize His Power, His Presence and His Oneness for our good only. He grants success to those who realize His Mastery and Lordship. He does not need anything. He is far from all wants and needs. 

It is we whom He wants to reward. He calls us toward the Truth and Real Success and Happiness. 

We have got ourselves busy in this world which the scientists have proved is going to end one day soon. We are lost here when we are supposed to aim for our real home from where we came. 

The Creator has given us ample time, all the time, until we die. We can turn to Him any time and He is ready to hold us. He accepts. He forgives. He cures. He puts things right. He is all Powerful. 

It is we who are wandering. 

The Beauty.

No mirror can reflect the beauty that you hold in your heart. No features can depict the criteria of a beautiful heart, mind and soul. This beauty is not subject to your skin color, your stature, your looks or your age. You are the most beautiful human being if you have the longing for Truth in your heart. If you hold Truth as your most valued possession. Even if you might not be the best in all respect yet you have something that can never keep you from achieving the best in the end. Truth is the only thing that wins. It might not be a merry go round with the Truth by your side, but one thing is certain, your hanging with it will not disappoint you ever. The ride with the Truth might be really tough but it is Truth itself that will keep giving you the strength to keep going, never to give up. Once you are in love with Truth you are never going to look back. The thing that keeps you going is Faith. You have unshakable faith in the Truth, hence you can fight your way up to the source of Truth. 

Truth rules while falsehood is ever fading. Falsehood has no stance. It is there to be refuted to perish here and Hereafter. The beauty of Truth is something that you always feel young about. It never gets old. You always feel energetic and ready to stand by your Faith, your Truth and your Belief. 

Why you consider something as the Truth? Why you cling to it? Why you have this unwavering Faith in it? All these questions are not emotional or philosophical. Truth has basis, it has a stance, it has history, it has the facts, it has a beginning and an end with everlasting joys! 

Finding the Truth within is something every soul needs to do. Those who find it can feel the beauty within and out. Those who are sincerely the seekers of Truth ultimately find it. The beauty here is that you start knowing the black, white and grey shades of life. You come to differentiate between the wrongs and rights of things. You come to love all and wish all the best for everyone. You sincerely wish to pass on this beauty to the whole world! 

Truth is beauty and beauty is within you. Nothing is uglier that not knowing the Truth about your own being, about your own existence, about your own purpose of life. 

Knowing the Truth makes you beautiful and you aspire to reach the heights of beauty; to reach the One True Maker, your Creator. 

Test of Life.

We are taking a test. Concentrate and write the correct answers to pass the test. Do not cheat, erase the wrong answers by writing the correct ones. Attempt the questions you know well. Speak only when necessary. Do not disturb others. Do not see what others are writing because they might be writing the wrong answers! 

Recall your lessons well. Take your time. Listen to what the teacher has to say. Pay attention. Do not disregard the rules of the examination hall. You have to obey the teacher. Ask only him when you need any help. Write clear, to the point answers. There should be no ambiguity in your answers otherwise you will lose marks. Focus only on what is asked of you and do not engage in that which is not required. 

Try to answer all the questions in the time limit provided. It is better if you do not sit idle and keep writing otherwise the time will be up. Within the time limit you can review your answers and rewrite if you like. But once the time is over you will lose that chance.

Once you go out of the examination hall you will not be allowed in. 

Your test paper will be submitted. Recovery will be impossible. You will just wait for the result! 

THIS LIFE IS A TEST. PERFORM WELL. PASS WITH FLYING COLORS!! 

We are Created Beings!

We are created beings. Controlled, guided, rewarded and punished, watched and protected by Our Creator. 

This world is a place He has put us all into for a limited period of time. He wants His Creatures to do the best of deeds and for them He has prepared a Perfect World, with no pain and suffering.

If we submit to His Will, be conscious of Him and worship and repent, He will reward us and shade us in His Mercy,

We are His vicegerents on Earth. We are supposed to carry out His orders, make peace, spread wisdom, help others and be a manifestation of His Message on Earth.  

Are you plugged in rightly?

Our work and actions are all results of the energies, motivation and willingness that we have inside of us and these are influenced by what is outside of us or around us.

Where do we get our energies, motivation and willingness from? What inspires us to do what we do? 

The surroundings have a great role to play in how our life is shaped up.

The things around us have influence of us. But they are not influencing us as much as we are letting them influence us.

We still have our own urges, inner likes and dislikes of things that are around us. So it all rounds up to the fact that we are to a large extent responsible for making things influence us without monitoring them. 

There are so many people on this planet. They live in different circumstances, with different facilities and surroundings. But in every part of the world you can find some really good people who are sincere, honest, god fearing and really beneficial for the society. Even if they are not contributing much still they are beneficial by not being anti social or problematic for others. 

Someone rightly said that one should be a no-problem personality! 

The point that I want to make here is that whether you are in any corner of the earth you are always in control of at least yourself. You are the one who decides what is good for you or bad for you. You are the one who charges his or her morals with the right things. You only plug in yourself to things that influence you to the extent that they become a part of your daily life routine.

For example, if you are a music lover, you will be plugged in (in this case literally) to a music system and then eventually music becomes your life, your soul, and your end also. 

If your have plugged yourself into a love of movies, you start seeing things in that light and they are always on your head.

In the same way, if you plug yourself into different things that are good for your life and that of others, into things that are constructive, creative and beneficial for your own personality and that of others, you get an extra reward for that. You charge yourself with energies that build a beautiful life for you and hence a beautiful end. 

When you are plugged in just for your own happiness then you might feel happy in a superfluous sense but it will never fill the emptiness in you. You will go away as someone who lived for ecstasy and joy, enjoyment and amusement, fun and frolic but nothing gained as when you leave you leave alone. What will be left for others or for even you to take it with you as good deeds that might benefit in your life ahead of life! 

But these things are only understood if a person believes in the fact that we are not created just for fun; we will die but will be accountable because it does not make sense that our Creator makes things just for jest; with no Purpose whatsoever?! 

So let us plug-in ourselves rightly so that we are charged in the correct way! 

Those Who Want to Please Allah

All of us are weak and sinning. Even if we do not realize this, yet none of us is perfect and sinless. All we need to do is to keep our focus on the One who can forgive our sins for us and make us worthy of His limitless Mercy and Pleasure. To achieve this we need to be firmly grounded in all our deeds in the day to day life so that we keep getting reminders about our reality that we should be submissive to Him and conscious of Him always. 

• As we wake up in the morning we must make it a point to remember Allah by reciting the dua (Alhamdu lillahil ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amaatana wa ilayhin nushoor)  and also do what the Messenger (Pbuh) did when he started his day. We should try and start the morning with a smile, a dua and use miswak. After this we can do the other things like taking a bath, wearing proper clothes and most importantly Praying the Fajr prayer. 
• When we are ready to go out of the house we should know that we again have to remember Allah and recite a dua (bismillahi tawakkaltu alallaahi wala hawla wa la quwwata illa billah).
• When meeting someone again we greet him or her with salam which reminds us of Allah and gives us reward too. 
• When doing our work we should be sincere only because we know that Allah does not like cheaters and dishonest people. 
• When we return back home we greet the family and spend time with them. We look after their needs and help them out. All this is done because we believe in Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) has shown us that being kind and loving to one's family is the best of character.
• Family is our responsibility, so, we need to inculcate islamic values in them. We should teach them prayers and make them read and understand the Quran.
• Keeping track of what goes on around us is also a part of our beautiful religion. Islam teaches us to be an active member of the community and to take care of the relatives, neighbors and the society at large. Visiting the sick is a very noble thing to do. Being helpful and productive to the community is what a Muslim should strive for. 
• The housewives have a great and important responsibility to carry out. They are not meant to sit idle. They have to raise practicing, god fearing and productive Muslim children. They need to be in touch regularly with the authentic sources of knowledge; the Quran and Sunnah which will guide them to be excellent mothers and wives and also contribute to the welfare of the community. 
• There are small but very important things that remind us of Allah constantly and we can earn immense rewards too. When we hear the adhan we should reply to it and recite the dua after it and teach this to our children as well.
• After finishing our prayers we should sit for a while on the place of prayer and recite the after salah duas to gain extra reward and to please Allah so that we may enter Jannah by His Mercy.
• Sleeping early and not wasting time on useless and idle things is also a way to keep ourselves away from harmful things.
• Reciting duas before sleeping and reading surah al Mulk has great rewards for us.

A muslim is always on the lookout and hunt for different things that he can take over and stick to so as to earn Allah's Pleasure. He knows that he is a weak creature, the world has many distractions for him. He slips from the track and sometimes falls into sins, wastes his time, disobeys his Creator knowingly or unknowingly. All this awareness about his weakness should not suppress his desire to start anew. He can always turn to Allah at any point of time, except the time of death. He should keep in mind always that at this moment he is capable of realizing his mistake, what if he is unable to do so later in life! It is better to come back on track, the sooner the better, if we do really want to Please Our Creator! 

Always Remember...

SOME POINTS FOR US TO REMEMBER AS MUSLIMS

• TO PRAY THE MORNING PRAYER
• TO READ THE QURAN DAILY, EVEN IF A FEW LINES
• TO FAST IN RAMADAN 
• TO PAY YOUR ZAKAH
• TO GIVE IN CHARITY EVEN IF A SMALL SUM
• TO REMEMBER THE NEAR AND DEAR ONES WITH GOODNESS IN YOUR PRAYERS
• TO PERFORM HAJJ WITHOUT DELAY
• TO DO THE GOOD DEED IMMEDIATELY WHEN THERE IS A CHANCE
• TO READ SURAH AL MULK BEFORE SLEEPING
• TO DO SELF ANALYSIS FROM TIME TO TIME TO MAKE YOURSELF A BETTER PERSON
• TO ACCEPT YOUR FAULTS AND TRY TO GET RID OF THEM
• TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS FROM ALLAH