*updates might be a bit infrequent, as I've returned to school again*
Over summer I started reading some Quran, and I realized that there are 3 things we need to be doing on a regular basis
1) Being grateful to Allah (SWT)
2) Praising Allah (SWT)
3) Seeking forgiveness from Allah (SWT)
Being grateful
In the Mohsin Khan translation of the Quran, the word "grateful" appears 22 times. Yeah I know some of those times are in explanations (Mohsin likes his parenthetical explanations) but still, it started to stand out:
O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship. (2:172)
....Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allah [i.e. to say Takbir (Allahu Akbar; Allah is the Most Great] for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him. (2:185)
Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is no more than a Messenger, and indeed (many) Messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah; and Allah will give reward to those who are grateful. (3:144)
And on and on. So one ought to pepper their days with "Alhumdlillah's", over little things like the light turning green, or not so little things like not tripping over your socks and plunging headfirst down the stairs and into Azrael's open arms.
2) Praising Allah (SWT)
Now a quick search of "praise" in the Quran doesn't turn up many ayat telling us to praise Allah, but we do get a bunch of Ayat reminding us how Allah (SWT) is "worthy of all praise". This also falls under the "keep a remembering tongue" category of stuff we ought to be doing. Personally, I find this one a little tricky. I can't toss out a "subhanAllah" at a magnificent sunset or upon reading about how bees can boil a hornet when defending their hive. It's not that I'm proud, it's just that when I say it, I feel like I'm saying it just to show off...it feels very unnatural. So, I do it the good old fashioned robotic way, with TECHNOLOGY! :D I whip out my iPhone and iSubha app and go to town after my prayers.
3) Seeking forgivness
Of all the 3, this is probably the one we should be doing the most. Getting rewards is fine and dandy, but we're just hindering ourselves by not asking forgiveness. We could think of asking forgiveness like earning reward in that we're no longer using our good deeds to nullify bad ones since the bad ones are being taken out entirely. The key element in seeking forgiveness however, is regret. We need to truly regret what we did and not want to do it again. We might do it again, but that's okay sinccne and it gets hard to ask for forgiveness when sometimes we can pretty much bet the farm we'll do it again, still, we live in hope.
I found this on a forum (http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?258973-When-does-Allah-stop-forgiving-a-person-who-keeps-repeating-the-same-sin)
Al-Bukhaari (7507) and Muslim (2758) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that his Lord said: “My slave commits sin, then he says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ …”
Which is reassuring (but not an excuse to keep sinning, mind you)
In summary though, these 3 practices are just ways of making sure we have all our bases covered.
Over summer I started reading some Quran, and I realized that there are 3 things we need to be doing on a regular basis
1) Being grateful to Allah (SWT)
2) Praising Allah (SWT)
3) Seeking forgiveness from Allah (SWT)
Being grateful
In the Mohsin Khan translation of the Quran, the word "grateful" appears 22 times. Yeah I know some of those times are in explanations (Mohsin likes his parenthetical explanations) but still, it started to stand out:
O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship. (2:172)
....Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allah [i.e. to say Takbir (Allahu Akbar; Allah is the Most Great] for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him. (2:185)
Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is no more than a Messenger, and indeed (many) Messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah; and Allah will give reward to those who are grateful. (3:144)
And on and on. So one ought to pepper their days with "Alhumdlillah's", over little things like the light turning green, or not so little things like not tripping over your socks and plunging headfirst down the stairs and into Azrael's open arms.
2) Praising Allah (SWT)
Now a quick search of "praise" in the Quran doesn't turn up many ayat telling us to praise Allah, but we do get a bunch of Ayat reminding us how Allah (SWT) is "worthy of all praise". This also falls under the "keep a remembering tongue" category of stuff we ought to be doing. Personally, I find this one a little tricky. I can't toss out a "subhanAllah" at a magnificent sunset or upon reading about how bees can boil a hornet when defending their hive. It's not that I'm proud, it's just that when I say it, I feel like I'm saying it just to show off...it feels very unnatural. So, I do it the good old fashioned robotic way, with TECHNOLOGY! :D I whip out my iPhone and iSubha app and go to town after my prayers.
3) Seeking forgivness
Of all the 3, this is probably the one we should be doing the most. Getting rewards is fine and dandy, but we're just hindering ourselves by not asking forgiveness. We could think of asking forgiveness like earning reward in that we're no longer using our good deeds to nullify bad ones since the bad ones are being taken out entirely. The key element in seeking forgiveness however, is regret. We need to truly regret what we did and not want to do it again. We might do it again, but that's okay sinccne and it gets hard to ask for forgiveness when sometimes we can pretty much bet the farm we'll do it again, still, we live in hope.
I found this on a forum (http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?258973-When-does-Allah-stop-forgiving-a-person-who-keeps-repeating-the-same-sin)
Al-Bukhaari (7507) and Muslim (2758) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that his Lord said: “My slave commits sin, then he says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ …”
Which is reassuring (but not an excuse to keep sinning, mind you)
In summary though, these 3 practices are just ways of making sure we have all our bases covered.
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