" من تغافل عن عيوب النَّاس ، وأمسك لسانه عن تتبُّع أحوالهم الَّتي لا يحبُّون إظهارها: سلم دينه وعرضه، وألقى الله محبَّته في قلوب العباد، وستر الله عورته، فإنَّ الجزاء من جنس العمل، وما ربك بظلَّام للعبيد".
▪ﺍﻟﻔﻮﺍﻛﻪ ﺍﻟﺸَّﻬﻴﺔ(١١٢/١)📚
Shaykh Sa’di (may Allah have mercy on him) said : Whoever leaves and neglects the shortcomings of the people, and restrains his tongue from following their situations that which they do not like to be made apparent, he has protected his religion and his honor, Allah will place the love of him in the hearts of the slaves; and Allah will cover his Awrah ; for indeed the reward is given according to the type of deed that is done. And your Lord is not oppressive to the slaves. ﺍﻟﻔﻮﺍﻛﻪ ﺍﻟﺸَّﻬﻴﺔ(١١٢/١)📚
We live in a Brene Brown sort of world - a world where we are instructed to be in touch with our emotions, to open ourselves up to possibilities, and to be vulnerable with the people we love. And those things are all beautiful.
What's not said as much, though, is that this applies to our faith even more than it applies to our relationships.
We need to be in touch with and understand how our levels of faith are continuously fluctuating. We need to be open to changing our beliefs and actions when we learn more about the truth. We need to be vulnerable in front of God, admitting that we need Him so much more than we realize.
Allah (swt) says, "And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face [to the other direction]. He has lost [this] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss" (22:11).
Very few of us (myself included) stop to ask ourselves: how does my heart respond to personal tragedy vs. moments of joy?
Our faith trembles and transforms depending on what we encounter each day. For some of us, it's easier to worship God when everything seems to be going according to plan. For others, we only turn to Him in moments of abject desperation.
So while we're engaging in emotional revolutions by opening up about our needs, our self-care, and expressing ourselves instead of burying our feelings, let's also dedicate time to figuring out what kind of worshipers we are.
I think we naturally tend towards one or the other. It's either easier for our hearts to be closer to Allah's remembrance when we're in difficulty, or when we're in ease. If we can identify which camp we fall in, we can make an active effort to become more balanced believers.
The goal is to embody the hadith of prophet Muhammad (saw) where he says, “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.”
May Allah (swt) bless us with balance in faith and life. Asmaa Hussein
Obedience in virtuous times is considered “honoring the symbols of Allah”. Among that which is not honoring the symbols of Allah is disobedience of Him at a time when He loves His obedience: { وَمَن يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ } “And whoever honors the symbols of Allah - indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.” [Al-Ḥajj 22:32]
الطاعة في الأزمنة الفاضلة من تعظيم شعائر الله، ومن عدم تعظيم شعائره معصيته في زمن يحب فيه طاعته (ومن يُعظّم شعائر الله فإنها من تقوى القلوب
Yaqīn (certainty) in Allah includes that a believer not magnify evil and its people within himself and within others thus making them fall into despair, because the outcome is in Allah’s hands: { وَلِلَّهِ عَاقِبَةُ الْأُمُورِ } “And to Allah belongs the outcome of [all] matters.” [Al-Ḥajj 22:41]
So He said: { وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ } “And the [best] outcome is for the righteous.” [Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:83]
من اليقين بالله أن لا يُعظّم المؤمن الشر وأهله في نفسه ونفوس الناس فييأسوا، لأن العاقبة بيد الله (ولله عاقبة الأمور) فقال (والعاقبة للمتقين)