Preparation

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

We cannot fathom the Holy Qur’an and Allah bears testament to this in Surah Al Israa;

‘Say: "If the mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of This Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another.’ (17:88)

One of the beauties of the Qur’an is that it came to take mankind out of darkness into light. One way of achieving this is that Allah has shown man the workings of nature. For example He says in Surah Yaseen;

‘And a sign for them is the night, We withdraw therefrom the day, and behold, they are in darkness. And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). That is the decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. And the moon, we have measured for it mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit.’ (36:37-40)

There are many messages that can be derived from these ayats. One of these messages is that everything that has been created is going about their respective missions. We have to benefit from the creations of Allah and use the blessings and favours He has bestowed upon us for our own welfare.

If you happen to die now what will happen? People may miss for some period of time but at the end of the day life goes on. All creatures are fulfilling their purpose; what about you. What are you doing to earn the garden?

Even Muslims will be thrown into the pits of hell and when they have been punished for their wrongs Allah will remove them and place them in paradise; and even then their title will be ‘the dwellers of hell’. Assess your own situation. Which direction are you heading in? Do you feel that you can cross the bridge of pul sirat with ease or will you have problems? Beg your Lord now not then. Beg for forgiveness and for guidance.

When Prophet Sulaiman (ra) was at the peak of his knowledge and understanding he made a beautiful dua to Allah , and we should all make an effort to learn this prayer and recite it regularly;

‘My Lord inspire and bestow upon me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favours which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, and admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves.’ (27:19)

Brothers and sisters the year is coming to an end. Take stock of your own selves. Make amends for the shortfalls that you would have made. No one knows when they will be leaving this world so let each and every day be a day of preparation so that if perchance Allah decides to take us back we will be prepared.

We have to leave this world one day, the only issue is that we are not sure when. Be serious and prepare properly so we’ll have hopes of a beautiful meeting with our Lord.

We are all slaves of Allah. A slave is someone who has no say of his own. Satan was not a true slave, Pharaoh was not a true slave and we see how their end was. Be like the companions of Prophet Muhammad (saw). Whenever they were asked a question, even if they knew the answer, their response was always ‘Allah and His Rasool knows best’.

May Allah forgive us all and bless us and enable us to rise with the righteous on that promised Day and may He allow us to get close to Him, insha Allah.

Greater Israel

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Prophet Abraham (as) is considered to be the ‘father’ of all revealed religions, i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. From Isaac came Judaism and Christianity and from Ishmael came Islam. It is the belief of the Jews that God gave them a large portion of land as a ‘gift’ and it is their ‘divine right’ to inherit this land. The Bible confirms this belief of theirs in the following verse:

‘and the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said: unto thy seed will I give this land’ (Gen 12:7)

In the Bible you will find that Sarah had a son, i.e. Isaac, and did not want her ‘step son’, i.e. Ishmael, to be the inheritor along with her son Isaac, of the land promised to the Jews, so she ordered Abraham to take Ishmael and his mother Hajar somewhere else; out of her place and sight. She said:

‘Cast out this bondswoman and her son; for the son of the bondswoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac’. (Gen 21:10)

The extent of the land that the Jews believe is theirs is wherever Abraham traversed. And even today they are working silently to acquire this land that is ‘promised to them’ that they are calling Greater Israel.

Even at the time of Prophet Muhammad (saw) the Jews were the ones that gave him the most trying time, in both Makkah and Madinah. And they retaliated under the reign of Hazrat Uthman (ra) because he couldn’t properly manger the Islamic empire.

Greater Israel was actually predicted by Prophet (saw) and the fitnah they will carry with them will reach the Holy city of Makkah;

Hadhrat Anas (ra) says that Rasulullah said: ‘Dajjal will come and finally reach the outskirts of Madinah’

Ibn Abbas (ra) narrated that the Prophet (saw) said; it is as if I can see him now: he is black and his legs are widely spaced. He will destroy the Ka'ba stone by stone.’ (Ahmad)

Why talk about this? One method that the Jews will adopt to stay in control is to make life difficult for others. All the divisions and diversions that exist in the world today are caused by the hands of the Jews.

Be careful of how you retaliate because one little thing you do can open up the avenue for your destruction. The enemies of Islam will look to find ways of how they can create disharmony. Someone just has to irritate you a bit and it can lead to the end of years of effort and hard work. It will become so overbearing that a ‘good person will take his sheep and flee to the mountains’ in search of peace and tranquillity.

Spirituality demands that you show patience. The Jews demonstrated no patience, humility nor submission. Remember while we are sleeping they are working so we need to remain steadfast and seek protection with our Lord and try not to get caught up in their web of destruction and manipulation.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) taught us to pray as follows;

Duah for the protection from four trials:

“Allahumma inee a‘oodhu bika min ‘adhaabi-l-Qabr,wa min ‘adhaabi-jahannam,wa min fitnatil-mahyaa wal-mamaat,wa min sharri fitnatil-maseeh as-dajjaal”

O Allah! I seek refuge with you from the punishment in the grave and from the punishment in the Hell fire, and from the trials of life and death, and the evil of the trial of Al-Masih Ad-dajjal”