WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE DIES?

Assalamualaikum Waramatullahi Wabarakaatuhu

Many children, women and men are dying everyday. They are not only dying, they are been killed. Our hearts sympathise and ache from the loss of beautiful kids that were killed by the terrorists in the latest attack in Peshawak. All the deaths that were caused this year made me realise how close we all are to the Day of Judgment.
Nonetheless, it hurt me when Pakistani children were brutally killed by terrorists. It also hurt me when Syrian children terribly suffered from the chemical attacks and it also hurt me severely to see Gazan children dying everyday under bombed houses, hospitals and schools. Moreover, it hurts me when anybody is killed unjustly.
Not a single innocent murdered person has died a less painful death. Their deaths are equally sad for me. Allah is ever Watchful of their oppression and mass murdering of innocent lives. He remembers while we forget. Let us not forget what's our mission. Turn to Allah. Be Muslims, not Pakistanis or Indians. We are Muslims, we support one another. We pray for eachother. We help one another. Let us all stand firm in the deen of Allah. Allah will honor us greatly and Allah will give us victory. Just turn back to His religion... Be just with a Muslim and a non-Muslim. We are humans at the end of the day. So be humans...
Moving on to the next discussion is when a person dies or when a group of children die or anybody die as a matter of fact what should be our amal?
1. Be patient
2. Accept the qadar of Allah. Remember that death is only from the permission of Allah and if He wills for anything to happen, it happens. We can't blame Allah and be angry with Him
3. Pray for that dead person's maghfirat
4. Console and sympathise with the deceased's family. Say encouraging words to them. Let them cry and express their pain and ask them to be patient and trust Allah
5. You can perform umrah and hajj with their names or complete their missed fasts. But only the blood relative can do these to actually benefit the deceased.
6. Take heed from these deaths. Remember even you will die one day so now it's time to prepare for the aakhirat and start changing.
7. Revenge with blood to blood with equality is allowed but with no injustice. But forgiving is more close to Allah and the reward is due on Allah in aakhirat.


But What should one not do??

1. To Start a biddah in groups and read Qur'an for the deceased. Reading the Qur'an is for the living and what you read won't reach the dead. It will increase your good deeds but not theirs. What will reach to the dead are three things, “If a human dies, then his good deeds stop except for three: a Sadaqa Jariah (continuous charity like digging a well, building a masjid etc), a beneficial knowledge (like teaching Qur'an to others so when you die and others learn from what you taught you get the reward too) , or a righteous child who prays for him.” – (Sahih Muslim).
2. To Read tasbeeh or durood for forty days. These are all biddah and rituals which our beloved Rasool sallalahu alaihi wa sallam never did even when his own beloved companions passed away or were killed terribly by the kuffar.
3. To not Feast around and bring lots of food in the house like as if it's a party going on.
4. Do not curse the dead or expose their sins rather recollect all their good deeds.
5. Do not try to seize the wealth of the deceased's inheritors in an unjust manner by not giving the inheritance to the respected rightful people.
6. Do not slap yourselves, hit yourselves or cry loudly by hitting your chest or cursing Allah.
7. To wear white or black clothing by imitating the Christians and Hindus.
8. To start a trend in the same of the dead like the black day which began recently, the two minute silence and the candle lightnings in groups. This is not from our religion.
Please protect yourself from all these biddahs in the name of good intentions. If our good intention is not according to the sunnah then that deed is nullified. Our religion is so easy yet we love to put ourselves into hardships by making matters fard on ourselves which were not ordained on us.
JazakumuaAllah hu khairan for reading please share this information ahead.


Ask me anything regarding this topic here 
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

A MISERLY PERSON

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuhu 

Who is a miserly person? 

A person is miser when he withholds back his money, ilm or any kind of help that he can benefit others with, from people. He hates to see his accomplishments in others which is why he doesn't help others with his provisions. He hates spending or helping others because he is in the fear that he may lose what he has and therefore he collects his money niggardly and doesn't spend it till he dies with a fortune that would be used with his family anyways. 

Abu Sa'id radiaAllah anhu reported that the Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alaihi wa sallam said, "Two qualities are not found together in a believer: miserliness and bad morality." (Reported by Al-Bukhari) 

Muslim reported that he, sallalahu alaihi wa sallam used to say, "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from cowardice and miserliness!"

Salman Al Farsi radiallah anhu said, "Whenever a generous person dies the Earth says,"O Allah, please forgive Your servant because of his generosity,' and whenever a miserly person dies it says,"O Allah,  please deprive this servant of Paradise, just as he deprived Your servants of the provisions You gave him in the worldly life.' "

Question is, are we one of those who are stingy and miserly?? And at which department are we usually stingy? When sharing food? When sharing clothes? When lending money? When giving other compliments? When replying to the Salam to the Prophet Sallalahu alaihi wasallam after his name is mentioned? 

When the matter of decision comes to you and the other person, whom do you chose to feed or clothe, yourself or others? 

What is the reason why we don't spend our money? In fear of losing it? Remember money is all from Allah. We were once poor before we became rich. We were nothing before we became something.  So learn to share. Learn to help others with whatever good that you may have in yourself. 
If we are still stingy and miserly in the slightest way, then we need to remove this quality by doing more sadaqah and by remembering that our wealth can be snatched any second as it doesn't belong to us. It belongs to Allah. But if we don't change this quality then remember consequences are very bad. 

May Allah protect us from being miserly and grant us the tawfeeq to he more generous and helping.  Ameen :) 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading 

Please rate, share and comment below if you have similar views.

Take care

-Manal Mirza

INVITING TO SALVATION AND FORGIVENESS

Many of us are leading our lives without wondering what's going to happen. What's going to happen when we die, what's going to happen when we lie in our graves, what's going to happen when our families, children, loved ones, money, possessions leave us behind, what's going to happen when we are resurrected, what's going to happen when we'll be handed the book of our records and deeds whether in our right or left hands.. What's going to happen?

If you have ever thought of this before, then I invite you to seek forgiveness. Seek Forgiveness from Allah no matter how big that sin is and no matter how small that sin is because Allah is The Most Forgiving and The Most Merciful. Do not despair in the mercy of Allah. Do not think of Allah as He won't forgive. Because He will... If your intentions are sincere and if your forgiveness is real and if you try not to repeat that sin again. Then sure HE will. And even if you do it again, seek forgiveness from Allah again and again. 

Astagfirallah, Astagfirallah, Astagfirallah!

Read, read the Qur'an and hadiths to know who your Rabb is and to lead a better life.

Save, save yourselves from the sins and prohibited acts because those are the best of deeds. 

Seek, seek forgiveness more than 70 times a day because we need it more than our Rasool Sallalauhu Alaihi wasallam; who was pure without sins and still he sought repentance.

Try, try to do something with your time in those good acts that will benefit you in your Hereafter.

Remember, remember that this world is not even worth a drop of an ocean.

Realize, realize that this time and this day won't return and that this day is already recorded, so what have you done?

Pray, pray five times a day not because Allah needs it but because it's you who needs.

Glorify, glorify Allah because every single creation on this Earth is glorifying Him endlessly and without any rest. 

Follow, follow our Prophet alone and do what he said and don't do what he forbade,

Don't, don't follow your desires or the innovators or non-believers or even compromise your deen because these are the dangerous paths. 

Give, give whatever little you have to people you know and to people you don't.

Be, be grateful for every single blessing you have because many don't have what you have and would kill to be where you are.

Mend, mend your broken relations with kith and kin so that all the good deeds you have done, be accepted by Allah.

Control, control your tongues from futile talks and from words that'd hurt others or  dishonor them behind their backs or even say a word of shirk which could become a source of Hell for you.

Consider, consider Shaitaan as your enemy and, consider all the traps that he plots as a plot you’d remember to stay away from.

Find, find a reason to live and love your family and find a way to be a source of help for them.

Invite, invite people to salvation and to forgiveness and invite them to Allah and to Our Prophet.

AND

Fear, fear Allah wherever you are and whatever you do, publicly or privately, because 

He, HE is in knowledge of every little single thing that you do. 

Think, think, Repent, repent...

Ask me anything regarding this topic here 

BarakAllahu feekum for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

- Manal Mirza

HOW WILL YOUR TAUBA BE REALLY ACCEPTED?

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuhu!!

 

Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [Surah Az-Zumur-53]

Every single Muslim must know how to do sincere Tauba. Tauba is much more than seeking repentance physically through prayers or istighfaar. It's about how you seek repentance through your body parts especially your heart. Although repentance should also be sought from constant istigfaar through tongue and lots of nafeel prayers to wipe of your evil sins by your limbs.

Narrated by Anas bin Malik RadiAllahu Anhu that the Prophet Muhammad Sallalaahu alaihi wasallam said,"Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than anyone of you who loses his riding beast in a barren land, and it was carrying his food and drink; he despairs of ever finding it, so it comes to a tree and lies down under its shade, having given up all hope of finding his riding beast;then whilst he is there like that, suddenly he sees it standing near him, so he takes hold of its reins and because of his great joy he says, "O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Lord!"-i.e,. he makes a mistake because of his great joy." (Sahih Muslim 4:2104)

Tauba consists of much more than a verbal exercise. In fact the condition of the heart of the repenter is the foundation of Tauba which is motivated by humility. Humility inspires the following conditions; This is the quote or saying of Sheikh Uthaymeen (Rahimullahu Alaihim):

1. Tauba should only be made because of the fear of Allah, bashfulness for Him and in honor of His Majesty i.e., no personal motive be pursued when making Tauba. (Fear of people or loss of some worldly gain shouldn't be reason why you repent)

2. Absolute shamefulness and sincere regret over past sins. (One shouldn't be proud of their sins rather he should hate his past acts and do not ever wish them to happen again)

3. The repenter should stop inward and outward sins immediately. 

4. He should make a firm resolution to not repeat that same mistake again in the future. 

5. He should do Tauba before he dies or before the sun rises from west because then it'll be too late for repentance and he will not be given any chance to repent. 

[But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now," or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment. 4:18]

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to repent to Him sincerely and forgive all our sins. Ameen 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading! Make sure you rate, share and follow my blog for more posts! 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

- Manal Mirza

REASONS FOR LACK OF GOOD DEEDS

Assalamualaikum Waramatullahi Wabarakaatuhu!

I would like to share one really important ayat with you all that could solve possibly the root cause of why we lack in doing good deeds or why we are lazy and do not seize the opportunity in doing good deeds, or do something that is beneficial for our deen.
Most commonly, we are living our daily lives in heedlessness without any purpose. We are doing what we are doing without worrying the least about aakhirat. We cook, eat, sleep, work, pray and back to sleep. So let me state what this ayat states. 

Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter - We increase for him in his harvest. And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share. [Surah Al-Shoora- 20]

Whatever little good deeds we do, we must have an intention to get its reward in the Hereafter. Some of us complain about how we always pray, we always read Qur'an but Allah only afflicts us with troubles and adversity, never did we see anything good in our lives. This mentality arises when we don't do all the worship and good deeds sincerely for the sake of Allah or to attain its ajar in the Aakhirat. 
We must learn to accept the decree of Allah and remember that this world is a jail for a mo'min and paradise for a kafir. What else would you derive from this ayat? This is why you see celebrities and disbelievers getting everything in this world because that's why they are sowing their seeds for, to harvest its product in the dunya, to get all the riches and fame. But what they don't have is the peace and contentment in their hearts. Tis blessing only a true believer is blessed with which Allah gave him as a result of his sincere good deeds, he understands the wisdom of Allah behind every calamity and adversity. 

If a mo'min comes to know the reward of his good deeds in the Aakhirat, he would regret for any of his duwas of good to be accepted in the Dunya. Such is the reward of Allah!

Whoever desires the harvest of the seeds (good deeds) which he sowed in his field (lifetime) to achieve the reward in the Hereafter, it is for him whom Allah will increase. He will increase his reward by 700 times and more, just because of his strong intention. Not only that, He will increase him with more opportunities to do good deeds and therefore more rewards. A mo'min receives reward from Allah in this dunya with 'more ability to do good deeds'. This is a mo'mins reward. 
If you are not doing enough good deeds right now, it can only mean that you are sowing your field with the intention to harvest the fruits in the dunya and overtime, Allah snatches the tawfeeq of doing good deeds away from you which makes you sin immensely and then the shaitaan makes your sins beautiful to you.

Those who have the passion to do good will only get the tawfeeq to do good deeds. 

We usually don't do good deeds when we face trials because that's where shaitaan has an upper hand over a sad believing soul and for shaitaan, the sad believer is an open target to be tricked by him into making the believer believe that all his good deeds are nothing but a waste; all that comes to him from doing good deeds is nothing but trials and tribulations. 

Hasn't this thought ever cross our minds when someone we truly love hurt us after all the good we did to them, and in retaliation we get upset and start refraining to do any form of Ehsan for them? We start asking ourselves; why should I be the one to mend ways first? Why me? What good did it bring me except of sadness? Didn't this thought ever cross our minds? Yes, it did, because all we expected while doing those good deeds was expect its reward and goodness from this world

Which is why Allah says in the above ayat, "And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share" 

That person will not receive any share from the Hereafter and if Allah wills He will give them what they want in the dunya only a little or even nothing. 

Allah has given us opportunities but it is we who need to avail those opportunities. 

Lessons learned from this ayat:
1. Purify your intentions before committing any good deed sincerely for the sake of pleasing Allah and to expect its reward in the aakhirah. With this sincerity, Allah will increase us in rewards and give us the ability to do more good deeds. 
2. A mo'min's 'ibaadah' will only be rewarded in the aakhirah, but what about the worldly acts like earning money, marrying, upbringing children, seeking education? If we try to purify our intentions to please Allah and expect whatever good that comes from these worldly acts in the Hereafter, then Allah will definitely increase you in every goodness, regardless of whether in this dunya or the aakhirat!

Question for my readers:
What draws you closer?
a) a great job offer or an opportunity that benefits you immediately with some worldly gain or experience OR
b) a good deed or a profession in Islamic education that may not benefit you that much in the dunya at all but brings you much peace at heart? 

Those who have passion to do good for the religion of Allah will not sleep or consider their aamal as enough for them. No good deed is enough for a mo'min. He keeps striving till his very last breath to earn good deeds for the sake of Allah and to expect its harvest in the Hereafter. 

Jazakamullahu khairaa for reading. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

PRODUCTIVITY GUIDE: BACK TO SCHOOL, WORK AND ROUTINE!

Assalamualaikum Readers!

I am so sorry for not blogging for a while now. I was lost.. So lost that I didn't have any inspiration nor motivation to write anything or do anything as a matter of fact. My sister Saadia asked me why haven't you blogged since so long until it hit me, that I should get myself together and think about how I can benefit others. So here I am.. LET'S GO! Bismillah!

Schools are re-opening soon and for me, work and school BOTH are re-opening at the same time and yes, I am a total mess at the moment. I haven't done any home works, (maybe I've done some; can't deny how nerd I am) nor am I close to being prepared or excited to go back to the same routine. I feel as if I haven't done anything this vacation that I wanted to do and I am still lacking behind. But hey, it's not the end nor is it too late. There is still a week. As I am writing for you guys, I am very much writing for myself on how to achieve my last minute goals in this one week which I have procrastinated for so long.

Step 1: MAKE A STRONG MIND SET:

Start with the pure intention in your heart that you only have these 7 days and after that you're not going to spend this time the way you want it to be. Make the most of it and remind yourself of how important it is for you to start doing your leftover junk of home works or chores NOW because it is only going to burden you later when you are already busy piled up with so many other things. (which let's face it, you are going to procrastinate even those)

Step 2: TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME:

Write down everything that you wanted to do and you didn't do. Keep some in the high priority list and the others in low priority list this way you'll know what comes first. You don't want to learn everything in one day or finish all your tasks, duties or plans in one day. If you're schools are re-opening, first step is to find where that bag is, then open it and just look at them and just appreciate how boring they are. Once you're over that phase of frustration of appreciating your books (:P), the next step is to open and read what's inside and start feeling fresh of your memory and believe me you will feel educated! lol
If you are looking to organize your room's mess, start with the worsened disaster that you've made these holidays and then jump into the slightly lesser mess you've made. Don't torture these days by only and only working or recollecting your mess because this still IS your holiday so enjoy at the same time. Go out for lunch or breakfast with your friends or families. Enjoy your time. Buy your classmates gifts, buy breakfast groceries for yourself or stationery from now itself. Do not leave anything remaining one day before your school or work begins. That is the day for you to sleep at 10 p.m sharp without worrying about a thing! in sha Allah!!


Step 3: START GETTING HEALTHY AND CHANGE YOUR SLEEPING HABITS:

For what I have noticed I became really unhealthy this summers. I don't know what happened but that happened which is why I feel that I have been easily demotivated or uninspired is because of how my fitness was not included much this summers. What you eat and how you sleep is what produces out of you. Either it is sickness, frustration or negativity. 

Try to pamper yourself, do facials, mani-pedi, get yourself a haircut and take care of your skin, get a massage because I am sure many of you haven't pampered yourselves as most of us are jet lagged, tired and are still working. So maybe why not? Give a try maybe? You'll feel great. So eat healthy, exercise daily and sleep at 10 and wake up at 4. Period.

Step 3: LEAVE EVERYTHING TO ALLAH:

If you aren't able to find time or aren't able to do everything in these ten days, do not worry. Leave the matter onto the hands of Allah. Trust in Him and make duwa for your difficulty to be eased. 
And what's there to even worry about, you still have weekends right? You can still do your procrastinated work in the weekend or if not, you can still do it daily during the weekdays because obviously your teachers or work is going to force you anyways! In the end, my advice is to not lose hope. These WERE your holidays and there shouldn't have been any home WORK in the first place. :P 
I hope this benefits some of you. It benefited me at least. I can now sleep peacefully thinking that I have done something productive today by writing for my lovely readers. 

Jazakumulllah hu khairan for reading. Don't forget to rate, share and follow my blog for more posts. 


Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

YOU AREN'T MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR RAMADAN IF...

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't reading Qur'an daily.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't helping anybody.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't praying the Qiyam Al Layl.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't seeking forgiveness for your sins and mistakes.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you are sleeping half of the day.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't giving charity.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't forgiving others.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't getting rid of your bad habits or you do not stop complaining.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you can't stop fighting, criticising others and behaving badly with others.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you can't stop the obscenity and stop wasting your time.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't planning to know more about Allah.

You AREN'T going to make the most of your Ramadan if you don't make a sincere intention that you really want to make a change and

you AREN'T going to make the most of your Ramadan if you didn't seek help from Allah to make your goals of this Ramadan possible.

We aren't going to achieve what we want this Ramadan if we don't stop worrying about other people, their success and the materials they have. What needs cleansing and nourishment is our hearts which have been rusted with constant suppositions about people and their lives; the constant niggling about someone and somebody you don't even know!

What needs more is the constant remembrance of our deaths to remove the desire of the worldly materials.

What needs more is the constant remembrance of you aakhirah, your hisaab kitaab (accountability) and your deeds.

What needs more, is that pain in our hearts for other people who haven't been blessed with Islam yet or the pain for people who don't have enough knowledge as you yet.

What needs more is the steadfast of our good deeds and regularity in them.

What needs more is the changing of our lazy lifestyles into something productive.

What needs more is the removal of selfish motives we have built for ourselves and our own families.

May Allah help us all to achieve what we really intended to do and make us successful. Ameen

Start little by little with constant duwas and excel in them and be constant in them. We aren't perfect but we can aim to be close to perfection in sha Allah! 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading. Make sure you rate, share, comment and follow me. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here.Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

PROPER WAY TO READ QUR'AN IN RAMADAN

Assalamualaikum Warahmatuallahi Wabarakaatuhu

Disclaimer: This post is not going to teach you on how you should read Qur'an with proper Tajweed. It is only going to show you the proper way to read Qur'an this Ramadan without rushing or feeling the need to finish it without understanding. 

Ramadan is a month of blessings and Qur'an is that biggest blessing that we muslims have received. What a mercy it is to us! SubhanAllah!
Before Ramadan begins we all make the intention of reading more Qur'an and try to finish it. But little to we care about pondering upon the ayats of Qur'an let alone finding out what it means.
Qur'an is a speech of Allah. It is something which we need to understand its value and try to recite it properly with etiquette and manners.

But If I asked you what Qur'an is, would you be able to answer it?
Qur'an literally means something that is read and collected whereas linguistically it means the revelation of Allah's ayats to Jibreel upon our Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu alaihiwasallam which begins from Surah Al Fatiha and ends with Surah An Naas which was revealed for the entire mankind.

Here are some simple and few steps on how to read the Qur'an in Ramadan. Just follow the pictures below.

Some of the best ways is to first take five to ten verses of the Qur'an and understand its meaning. Divide the Qur'an to understand but do not divide your time. (you have lots of time) The best translation according to me is the Sahih International. It's simple and clear and doesn't have difficult vocabulary. If there is any ayat that you fail to understand, then you may open the books of Tafseer to understand it even better. The best one out there is Ibn Katheer. Both the translation as well as the tafseer is available online for free. 
Then there are couple of things that you need to follow up through your recitation of Qur'an .  
1. understand the ma'rifat (recognition) of Allah through His names
2. absorb the rulings and commands by Allah
3. ponder upon the qualities of a mo'min and of a disbeliever
4. take lessons from the prophetic stories
5. understand the difference between Tawheed and Shirk,
6. understand the vision of heaven and hell 
7. get a clear idea about the aakhirat and fear of it severity
8. memorize any duwa that comes along the surahs and make them for yourself

If you've read the Qur'an this way, then in sha Allah you will taste the sweetness of Iman. :D

Ramadan is not about rushing over to finish the Qur'an and get rid of it quickly and not taking the benefit and blessings from it. Rather we must read it slowly and understand the meaning of what your Lord wants to speak to you and gain all the reward and the blessings from it.

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "He who recites the Qur'an in less than three (days), he does not understand it." (Jami At Tirmidhi: Vol 1, Book 43, 2949)

But if you read slow, struggling and are demotivated then this hadith is for you. :) 

It was narrated from Aisha that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: "The one who is proficient with the Quran will be with the noble and righteous scribes (the angels), and the one who reads it and stumbles over it, fining it difficult, will have a double reward." Graded Sahih: Sunan Ibn Majah 3779

Qur'an was sent to us as an admonition, cure, guidance and mercy but little do we take heed from this beautiful book. 

"O mankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers." Surah Al Yunus- 57

Let us all take heed from this beautiful Kalaam Ullah and seek forgiveness from Allah for reciting any verse wrong by mistake and pray that Allah gives us the tawfeeq to act upon what we learned from the Qur'an.   

Jazakumuallahu khairan for reading. Make sure you rate, share and follow my blog for more updates. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views.

- Manal Mirza

MAKE YOUR RAMADAN PRODUCTIVE

Assalamualaikum WarahmatuAllahi Wabaraakaatuhu!!

"The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer although there is good in each."  [Muslim]

Do you feel you lack energy and spirit to do your daily work?

Do you wish to become energetic and increase in Productivity?
Do you wish to have a healthy Ramadan while maintaining your energy throughout?

If yes, then sign up here for the energetic session with Dr. Kanwal Kaisser, who is a Medical Doctor by profession and a preacher by heart, in this VisionProductiveHealth webinar, where you learn to LIVE A HEALTHY AND PRODUCTIVE LIFE, BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER RAMADAN!!

TIME: 8:30 PM KSA
Convert it to your local time here

~LIMITED SEATS~ HURRY UP & SIGN UP HERE NOW: CLICK ME !!~ 

What is a Webinar? It is just like a Seminar only that this is conducted live on the internet and best thing is, it is for FREE!

Many of you, ONLY GIRLS, can attend this lecture directly from your tablets, iPads or laptops. All you have to do is download the application of GoToMeeting on playstore. I am not sure if its available at the AppleStore but you can still find it on the your PCs at www.gotomeeting.com

First you must register at the above registration link, so that the registered attendees will receive the meeting ID code for the Webinar.
Please keep yourself updated by this facebook event page here and RSVP it. Anything you need to ask, you can ask over there. Also like our PMV page here and please keep updated there for wonderful reminders from our PMV team.
Manal Mirza: TheProductiveMuslimahVisionaries, Presenters Bureau Head

JazakumuAllahu khairan for reading!

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

- Manal Mirza

ARE YOU AN ARTIST WHO LOVES TO DRAW?

Assalamualaikum!

We all have certain hobbies or talents that we love to do. But there is one hobby which many like, which is drawing. Now, drawing is a great talent, not many people are great artists. Like for myself, I am horrible at drawing, I just dont have the patience to do so. lol 
But this post is especially for those who love drawing. When the talent of drawing comes a person is also inclined into drawing human faces or any being that can possess soul into them intellectually.
The reason why I am addressing this is because I care about my dear brothers and sisters as this could cause you your entire aakhirat if you are an artist and you draw faces of humans or soul possessing beings. 
Here are some authentic hadiths which I am about to post, just read them carefully.
Bismillah!

Is Drawing images of soul possessing beings allowed?

Narrated Said bin Abu Al-Hasan,"While I was with Ibn 'Abbas a man came and said, "O father of 'Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn 'Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle . I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn 'Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects." (Hadith - Bukhari 3:428) 
Answer: No you can't. If you really want to draw you can draw pictures of non living things like scenery, flowers etc. It might be boring for some but this is what it is. AtiUllaaha WaAtiUr Rasool Obey Allah and Obey the Messenger.

Why Can't we draw images of soul possessing beings?

 Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, "Those who draw pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection; and it will be said to them: `Breathe soul into what you have created.' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Narrated Abu Talha, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying; "Angels (of Mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a picture of a living creature (a human being or an animal)."(Hadith - Bukhari 4:448) 

Narrated Ibn Abbas, "Abu Talha, a companion of Allah's Apostle and one of those who fought at Badr together with Allah's Apostle told me that Allah's Apostle said. "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture." He meant the images of creatures that have souls. (Hadith -Bukhari 5:338)

Ibn Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) saying, "Those who will receive the most severe punishment from Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be painters (of living objects).'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, "The Almighty Allah said: `Who is more an oppressor than him who goes to create like My creation? Let him make an ant or a grain of corn or a grain of barley.' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

 `Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) visited me after returning from a journey, and I had a shelf with a thin cloth curtain hanging over it and on which there were portraits. When he saw it, the colour of his face changed (because of anger) and he said, "O `Aishah! the most grievous torment from Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be for those who imitate (Allah) in the act of His creation.'' `Aishah said: We tore it into pieces and made a cushion or two cushions out of that. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

"On the Day of Resurrection a neck will stretch forth from Hell; it will have two eyes to see, two ears to hear, and a tongue to speak. It will say, "I have been appointed to take care of three types of people: every arrogant tyrant, every person who called on some deity other than Allaah (swt) and those who made pictures" Hadith - At-Tirmidhi [at-Tirmidhi stated that this hadith was saheeh - at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.179, See also Jaami' al-Usool, 10/518, the editor said its isnaad is hasan]

Narrated Aisha, r.a.,"When the Prophet became ill, some of his wives talked about a church which they had seen in Ethiopia and it was called Mariya. Um Salma and Um Habiba had been to Ethiopia, and both of them narrated its (the Church's) beauty and the pictures it contained. The Prophet raised his head and said, "Those are the people who, whenever a pious man dies amongst them, make a place of worship at his grave and then they make those pictures in it. Those are the worst creatures in the Sight of Allah." (Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 2.425)

Answer: 1. Angels do not enter into houses that have pictures in them and if angels do not enter, then shaitaan takes over. 2. On the day of Resurrection they will be asked to breathe soul into them which they won't be able to do so and they will dragged to hell. 3. It could lead to shirk. (yes no one has the intention to do shirk when one draws the images but the admirer praises the artist so much as though they have done the greatest job and the admirer forgets to praise Allah for what He actually deserves. 4. Even hanging these pictures whether drawn, printed or framed aren't allowed as with this as well the angels of mercy do not enter the house. 

Note: There is no such thing as drawing the soul possessing beings and then striking off their necks. That is even worse because you are claiming to have created that thing and then killing it. It's like you've created and then killed and then you've sinned and then repented and then on and on. Doesn't make sense. (plus there is no hadith on the basis of this.) Nauzubillah!

There are many hadiths on this topic. And if anyone rejects these authentic hadiths, then they have done kufr (disbelief) because a muslim believes in Qur'an and Sunnah equally. A muslim doesn't choose what pleases him from the sunnah and leaves what doesn't please him. 

This was just a reminder to those who love drawing. 

Please brothers and sisters, nobody is asking you to stop drawing, all Islam asks from you is to stop drawing soul possessing beings. No muslim is ready to risk their Aakhirat. 

As for now, Jazakumuallahu khairan for reading. Please leave comments, rate and follow my blog for more posts. 

Just to encourage my artist readers, Can you draw one of these?

Ask me anything regarding this topic here 
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views.
- Manal Mirza

WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF?

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu!
I want to start this post by posing a question to my readers. What do you like or prefer for yourself the most?
Something that is good for you or of your best interest or something that is not best for you or your best interest?

We all would obviously answer, given the choice between something that is good or bad, we'd choose something best for us! We want every good possible thing for us starting from best education, the best clothes to the best shoes. We want to have the best people around us, the best family, the best parents, the best husband, the best wife, the best children and the best of friends; something that suits us and something that is best for us and not necessarily best in the eyes of others.

But what  happens when it comes to choosing best things for others? Why can't we open our hearts wide enough to give those exact best things for others?? 
Why do we always have to compete to have the best education, the best career, the best spouses, the best house, the best children and the best friends? We compete, especially, in order to be the best among others. Don't get me wrong, Yes, we are allowed to have best things as Allah made certain halal ways for us to acquire and seek advantage from and yes we are eligible to have all the best things. But the place where we start reducing is the HAQQ of others by not giving them the exact same thing that you would want for yourself. This is where jealousy and envy begins and the evolution of hatred and Indian drama serial begins. 
If majority of us started giving others what we would expect others to give us, so many relationship problems would be diminished. 

Let me give you an example. If you wish to buy yourself a good and decent dress then give that exact thing to the poor. Don't give torn off and bad clothes. If you wish others to speak good behind your backs then you should refrain from speaking bad behind their backs. If you wish your own brother to help you at times of need, then even you should help your brother at times of need. If you wish your daughter to have a good husband and good in-laws, then even you should treat your daughter in-law like how you would want your daughter to be treated by her in-laws. And if you wish your husband to treat your parents right then even you should treat his parents right and vice versa. And if you wish your parents to provide you with every goodness in this world then provide the same thing for them and for your own children. Do you get the point? Love for your brother what you love for yourself? 

On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) - the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) - that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said : "None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself." Related by Bukhari & Muslim

Living in this world, we always want others to be the best to us but we don't want to be the best with others. We want others to treat us well while we don't want to put least efforts into treating others right. We always want others to help us but we don't want to help them. We always want to be dealt with respect but we don't give the exact respect in return to others. We are deeply and insanely selfish if we really think about it. And then we ask Allah why are we mistreated by people!! AstagfirAllah!! Allah has also forbidden us to demand of something what we do not deserve. So if we don't give others respect how could we ask others to respect us? It sounds a little arrogant don't you think? 

Narrated Al-Mughira: The Prophet said, "Allah has forbidden you ( 1 ) to be undutiful to your mothers (2) to withhold (what you should give) or (3) demand (what you do not deserve), and (4) to bury your daughters alive. And Allah has disliked that (A) you talk too much about others ( B), ask too many questions (in religion), or (C) waste your property." Volume 8, Book 73, Number 6

We all need to be the first ones to GIVE people their right, give them more than they deserve, even if you hate it. Others aren't going to understand you or your situation. You will only keep increasing aversion in your heart and it will kill you inside. Let it go. They will keep treating you horribly even if you do them good because in the end it is Allah who is seeing you and your actions and it is Allah whom you have to please and not the people. And most of all HE is watching over our Hearts. Innallaha A'leemum bizaatis sudoor! Indeed Allah is Always All Knowing of what is in your chests. So let us all clean our hearts from the hatred, jealousy, suppositions, arrogance that we have against others and have Haya from Allah before thinking negatively about others. 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading. Do share, rate, comment and follow my blog for more posts. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. 
Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza