How can we properly address the issue of illegal and harmful drugs?

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avoid_alcohol_illegal_drugs_and_smoking_image_title_kkxwhQuestion: Narcotics…the beast that kills man and destroys families and society. They have spread everywhere and their target is our youth. Colonialism, Zionism, and their secret gangs in our countries are behind this.

We want you to discuss this dangerous subject. I am twenty years old. My sister has died because of an injection (of narcotics), my father is in prison because of narcotics trade, and my elder brother is a drug addict. My mother suffers from all these distresses, and I am angry about everything. About the future, I do not know what to say.

The answer: O dear brother, may Allah assist your heart and help your mother with patience! I pray to Allah to make your future better than your past, to guide your brother, forgive your sister, and reform your father.

It is clear to all that drug addiction is one of the most dangerous problems in a society. It has great and terrible effects on individuals and society, especially the psychological, physical, and economical harms. And the most important thing is the severe punishment of Allah that begins from the first moment of death and the night of burial. We do not think that the problems of narcotics can be solved only by legislating laws or rules or imposing severe punishments; rather, we must make an effort to ascertain the psychological and social motives that make the youth use narcotics and then try to find a comprehensive cure for this problem.

Good education, keeping the youth away from bad friends, showing them the dangers of narcotics and explaining their destructive effects, spreading religious teachings, and caring deeply for psychological and physical health will have great results in saving the youth from this plague, for protection is better than cure.

Parents have to know the reasons that make the youth liable to fall in the plague of narcotics. Here are the most important reasons:

1. The inclination of the youth to look for pleasures and amusements, especially with the absence of a good Islamic education

2. The wish to imitate others and to break the traditions of the family and the society. Especially when the youth are mistreated at home, they are bound to look for bad friends.

3. Incorrect propagandas and wrong ideas that narcotics traders promote

4. Imitating bad friends and being under their pressure

We say that the best resolution lies in protection. The most important ways of protection are the following:

1. Making people understand the dangers of narcotics via the media and through cultural and educational programs in order to avoid them

2. Showing documental films about the lives of drug addicts to show their distress and wretchedness

3. Keeping children and teenagers away from the bad habits of adults, like smoking for example, and this is the beginning of the way

4. Encouraging programs of amusement for the youth and encouraging the youth to establish local meetings and organizations

5. Improving the cultural, social, economical, and physical levels of the youth

6. Fighting against narcotics trade by all possible means

7. Encouraging scientific researches that help in solving this problem

As for the cure, after being involved in this problem, there are some points:

1. Medical cure: it depends on the kind of narcotics, the person himself, and his age. A person can be saved from the effects of narcotics by undergoing treatment to remove the effects gradually.

2. Psychological cure: it aims at strengthening one’s spirit and morale so that he may be able to stand against the problems he faces, and it helps him to solve them so that he may not look for wrong paths. This cure concentrates on strengthening one’s morals and forcing oneself to participate in the treatment.

3. Social cure: it aims at establishing social organizations or projects to help drug addicts become liberated from narcotics. This cure concentrates on the social environment in which drug addicts live and which has a great effect on making one go towards or away from narcotics. Encouraging one towards social association and mixing causes him to believe in the values of the society he lives in and keeps him away from deviation.

source :For a Better Future

How can I become skilled by continuing higher studies, when my father asks me to work with him?

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Work-Less-and-Achieve-MoreQuestion: How can I become skilled, or develop a high morale and liveliness, when my father, who is an ordinary man, frustrates my wish to continue my higher studies and asks me to work with him in the market.

The answer: Researches and experiments have proven that creative people have a high morale and a high self-confidence that cannot be shaken. It is they who have not wanted their first experiments to succeed and instead have prepared themselves to receive failure first for they have prepared themselves to snatch success from failure without submitting to failure. A creative man is he who offers his productivity and tries his best to develop it continuously until he reaches the top.

It is said that Edison, before testing the bamboo cane to discover the electronic light, had tested 256 things but without success. When he was asked why he had not given up his attempts in those many experiments, he said, ‘I have not failed, but with my experiments, I have come to know 256 things’.

This high spirit, which sees failure as a discovery and a means of learning something new, is worthier of success and worthier of being honored throughout history.

In order to continue on the path to your aim:

First, think deeply of your aim and the ways that will get you to it!

Second, discuss what you think with reasonable people in order to discover the defects of your opinion and then decide correctly, without pride.

Third, do not ignore difficulties, for they are a part of the way to success and a motive that strengthens the will of successful people.

Fourth, seize any opportunity to strengthen your hope in success. And the best of opportunities is connection with Allah the Almighty. An Indonesian proverb reads, ‘Unless you raise your hand to the heaven, it shall not raise from the earth.’

Fifth, when vitality comes to you and your heart become delighted with work, keep to your project firmly and do not let this opportunity go in vain in useless doings.

But as for your father, with respect and calmness, you can understand one another. You can also send him some respectable persons to try to convince him. It would be better that he should not know that they are sent by you.

On the other hand, you can explain to him the future of your ambition and explain to him its advantages according to the way of his thinking in life. For example, if he is interested in the financial matters, you can say to him that when you become a doctorate, you will establish a scientific foundation or a clinic whose income will be more than you can earn by working in the market as an ordinary worker. Tell him that a reasonable person always looks forward to the far future and tolerates the difficulties of the present for that.

source :For a Better Future

How do I practice patience and control my anger?

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Dollarphotoclub_54946051-604x270 Question: I like to be quiet and always smiling because I hate sullen people who burst into anger and frown their eyebrows until their eyes come out and their faces redden. But unfortunately, I am not truly as I would like to be. Frankly, I am one of those whom I do not like, as some poet has said, ‘I like good people but I am not from them.’ Please, guide me to the way of patience and controlling my furious anger so that I may be like those I admire and I may like myself.

The answer: It is necessary for you to be aware of the problem that provokes your nerves in order to avoid it and keep yourself away from its effects. When you face this problem, try at first to recognize its causes and then try your best to avoid it. For example, someone may become angry at something and the cause may be the heat or that he has not taken a bath for a few days. If he takes off some of his clothes or if he takes a bath or pours cool water over his body, he may not become angry or excited with every trivial excitement.

It is said that using sweet perfumes eases one’s nerves, especially the perfumes of rose, jasmine and tea rose. An angry man should associate with the beauty of nature, ponder on the sky, the sea, mountains, and trees, and lie for sometime between the kind laps of nature. He should work only to the extent his body can tolerate and should not overburden himself with what exhausts him. He must be moderate in eating and not overload his stomach.

Dear brother, I advise you to practice sportive exercises in the morning, at least the Swedish exercises. Do not forget the mention of Allah in any case, and especially when being angry. You should remember the anger of Allah towards you. You should know that Islam considers anger as a soldier of the Satan. Therefore, an angry one is the one who carries this soldier on his back and protects him. Do you want to be like that? Certainly not! Then smile even if your smile is not real!

source :For a Better Future

How do I bear the difficulties of life?

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The-value-of-lifeQuestion: Please advise me how to bear the difficulties of life! I feel like I am about to perish

The answer: Imagining oneself as about to perish is in itself the beginning of perishment. First, keep this thought away from your mind and then ask yourself if you will not bear the difficulties, then what would you do! Do you have a better alternative?

Ponder on this question and be certain that life is difficult for all people, but the difficulties differ from one person to another. Now read the following advices:

1. You should know that the worldly life has been full of difficulties since our father Adam (a.s.) and will be until the last one of his children. The Wise Creator has determined life to be difficult for man so that he may think of the afterlife that he has been created for. Without being tried, man will not be given the eternal blessings of the afterlife.

2. Read the biographies of the patient and great people and see how they passed the difficulties of life to live in the bliss of Paradise and their names were not forgotten throughout the ages!

3. Make friends with those possessing a great deal of patience and tolerance.

4. Practice sportive exercises in the morning or at any other time of the day!

5. Rely on Allah and believe that He is the strongest supporter for those who rely on Him!

6. Ponder over the Qur’anic verses and the traditions of the Prophet (S) and Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) that discuss “patience” for they have undoubtedly taught us what makes us happy!

For example, Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) has said, ‘When Ali bin al-Husayn (Imam Zaynul Aabideen, the father of Imam al-Baqir) was about to die, he embraced me and said, ‘O my son, I recommend you to what my father had recommended to me when he was about to die and he said that his father had recommended him to; O my son, be patient with the truth even if it is bitter!4’

We must submit to the truth and its requirements. Abu Abdullah (Imam as-Sadiq) (a.s.) has said, ‘Whoever keeps to the firmest handhold will be safe.’

The narrator asked, ‘What is it (the firmest handhold)?’

He said, ‘Submission.’

Someone asked Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.), ‘With what is a believer known as a believer?’

Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, ‘With submission to Allah and being satisfied with what he gets of pleasure and displeasure.’

source :For a Better Future

How do I cure myself from being mean?

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Question: Frankly, I say that I suffer from the complex of meanness. What is a practical treatment to save me from it and from its bad effects?

The answer: First, you should recognize the cause so that the treatment can be easy. Here are some of the main causes of this complex:

1. Either you are imagining it or others are making you imagine it

2. Repeated failures in life and not achieving an aim that was once in your mind

For the cure, we suggest the following:

1. Try to achieve success in your life to strengthen your morale and then you can aim for another success and a bigger step!

2. Read some books regarding this topic in order to achieve some success!

3. Seize any opportunity to prove your personality in a lawful way; I do not mean that you seize others’ opportunities or show off by doing good.

4. Persuade yourself that you are a successful person by the assistance of Allah!

5. Do not forget to make your intentions sincere and just for the sake of Allah when doing good deeds, because this is the moral secret of everlasting success and progress.

How to Travel as a Muslim?

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Hijabi-touristsTravel is a part of everyday life. If travel is booked in advance, one can attempt to ascertain that Islam does not go out of focus during the time spent away through preparation. So, whether it is a leisure or work related visit, there are a few pointers that may help to keep Islamic ideals in focus:

  1. Try to learn the basic Islamic laws of traveling according to your supreme Islamic authority (marja) such as the rules of prayer, fasting, ritual purity and impurity.
  1. Bring a good and accurate compass. The compass app on mobile phones do not always work precisely, especially when you are traveling or stuck in a place where there is no mobile network. Also, learn to use the compass at your home by confirming the direction of qibla, or direction of prayer. You may also use a watch with compass provided it works accurately.
  1. Pack a pocket prayer-mat, pocket Qu’ran and turbah (stone).
  1. Carry a small water bottle for ablution. For example, if the time of dawn (fajr) prayer is approaching and you are traveling on a bus then perform the obligatory acts of ablution using the minimum amount of water such that the wasted water does not cause discomfort to other passengers. On airplanes and trains, it is much easier to perform ablution.
  1. Carefully plan the schedule of the journey to account for enough time to pray so that prayers are not delayed.
  1. Give charity (sadaqa) before you begin traveling.
  1. Recite the supplications of traveling before and during the journey which can be found at( www.duas.org)
  1. During travel, carry all necessary toiletries for taharat (purity).
  1. Women should take extra precautions for their hijab, especially when they are traveling during the whole night on a bus or airplane.
  1. During travel, try to help those people who are in need such as elderly or disabled by offering to pick up their luggage, give them the better seat, etc.
  1. Be an example of humility and honesty to the fellow travelers, hosts or people at the place of your stay. Be patient and do not create havoc if you did not receive expected services even after spending money
  1. If you are lost or an unexpected event has occurred, then invoke Allah and offer a two unit prayer with the intention of seeking assistance from Imam Mahdi (aj). Allah willing, a speedy relief will reach you through unseen means.
  1. Whether it be through recitation of glorified names of Allah (swt) on a tasbeeh (rosary) or through reflection of the places visited, remember Allah (swt) during travel.
  1. During the time you finish your travel, prolong your last prostration (sujood) in your prayer with the intention that this may be the last time you are praying at that place and the place will be a witness on the Day of Judgment.

How to Memorize Holy Quran?

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Memorizing Holy Quran is a spiritual and physical project. It’s a miracle and blessing from Allah that you’re able to absorb the Qur’an. If you want to take advantage of this blessing, you should be in a position to receive it and therefore strive physically to achieve it and strive spiritually to get the maximum benefit.LearningReadingQuran

  1. Sincerity. The first matter you have to pay attention to is your intention (if you intend good, you will get good). Make sure that the intention you are making is only for the sake of Allah, to seek His Pleasure so that insha’Allah, with His Mercy, we will be rewarded in the Aakhirah. It is not to show off in front of others that you have memorized a lot. Sincerity is not a one-time factor rather it’s a continual battle that you always have to renew.
  2. Consistency. The more frequently you memorize, the easier it becomes. It is very essential to be consistent, and not to skip even one day. There is no weekend in worship. The bare minimum that one should memorize is at least 3 lines, 5 is more ideal. If you are consistent, insha’Allah, you will be able to be huffadh in 5-6 years.
  3.  Timing. The first thing you should do in the day is memorize – even do so before your breakfast, because this is your spiritual breakfast. The best time to memorize is right after Fajr.
  4. Atmosphere. Have a secluded place to go to and memorize in a place that is quiet. You just can’t memorize properly with distractions, so turn off all your devices like cell phones.
  5. Familiarity: start at the same time, at the same place and use the same mushaf every day. You need to have your own copy of the Mushaf (the Madani Mushaf is highly recommended), it will later become so dear to you.
  6. No Magic trick: repeat, repeat and repeat over and over again. It is just repetitive recitation and/or listening that will help to memorize.
  7. Memorize with the meaning: read the translation before you start and try to match the Arabic words with their meanings.
  8. Surround yourself with recitation: listen to the Qur’an. Before you start memorize, listen to what you are about to memorize.
  9.  Find a recitation buddy: get a friend, a family member or someone you know who will listen to your recitation every day. Ideally, get someone who is also memorizing to create a peer pressure system.
  1.  Recite daily in your salah what you have memorized. If you forget one portion, you will immediately rush towards the Qur’an and correct your mistake and you will never do this mistake again.
  2. Triple daily dose:
  3. a)     New memorization at your assigned time of the day
  4. b)    Revision of the previous 7 days, just before you start the new memorization: This is because the fastest thing you forget is the new memorization. And doing so, will also build the connector between the old ones and the new portion you are going to memorize. Plus, it will be a good warm up for the brain when you recall from your memory and recite, before you go into the real exercise of doing the new memorization.
  5. c)     At a later/another time of the day, revise those before the recent 7 days. The bare minimum should be 4-5 pages.
  6. Do not jump around. Be consistent. Don’t try to go to another surah if you find it difficult and stick to the order. That way, you will have the satisfaction of having completed a juz rather than leaving some portions here and there.
  7. The three chunks. Start from the back. Shorter surahs will bring you a big boost. You should divide the memorization of the Qur’an in three parts:
  8. a)     Juz 28, 29, 30 or just Juz 29, 30
  9. b)    Surah Al-Kahf till Juz 28
  10. c)     Surah Al-Baqara to Surah Al-Kahf

 

How to Cure Riya (Pretending Virtuousness)?

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ريا-و-سمعه… when they stand up to prayer they stand up sluggishly; they do it only to be seen of men and do not remember Allah except a little.(Qur’an, 4: 142)

Riya’ means to falsely make oneself appear to be virtuous, good natured or a true believer before people for the sake of earning their respect and admiration, or for the purpose of gaining a good reputation among them.

The Prophet (s) said: “One who performs an act that is liked by God in order to show off to people, and in secret manifests qualities that are not liked by God, he shall encounter the anger and wrath of God.”

But how can we get rid of this ugly characteristic? There are some advice to diognoze this fatal desease from its devestative signs, and some recommendations to cure it in the following:

  1. If you are suffering from riya’ you will probably fail to realise that even if you earn worldly fame among people, scholars or the elite, you will be disgraced in the eyes of the King of kings, and his actions will lead you to Sijjin (the lowest level of hell).
  1. Riya’ is often accompanied with other serious moral vices. One of these vices is sum`ah, which means to orally transmit your good qualities to the ears of people for the purpose of attracting them and publicizing yourself. If you are suffering from riya’ you usually like to humiliate others, and injures the feelings of brothers and sisters-in-faith. You are often rude to a pious person and behave proudly with him in order to project yourself to be more virtuous.
  1. If the tree of riya’ grows for a long time in a your heart, it leads you to become a hypocrite. Each one of the vices mentioned above is enough to land you in hell.
  1. You should know that it is stated in the traditions that the person used to riya’ i.e. the person who displays his devotion, high religious status, knowledge, preaching, leading of prayers, fasts and other pious deeds for the sake of gaining respect in the hearts of people instead of truly seeking reward from God is a polytheist (mushrik). His idolatry (shirk) is confirmed by the Qur’an and the traditions narrated through the Holy Household of the Prophet (s) and therefore his sin is unpardonable.
  1. You should know that once Imam al-Sadiq (a) was asked about the words of the Almighty that `whosoever is desirous of meeting his Creator, he should perform virtuous deeds and should not ascribe any partner to God in his worship,’ (18:110) seeking an explanation. Imam al‑Sadiq (a) replied, `The acts of a person who performs good deeds not for the sake of being blessed with the vision of his God, but rather aiming to be considered as pious by the people, and so that people should know about his deeds [will cause that person to be] counted among polytheists who have ascribed partners to God.’

The Imam (a) continued: `There is no one in the world who has concealed his good deeds and after a passage of time God has not revealed them. And there is no one in the world who could conceal his wicked deeds for ever, for they will be exposed by God before he passes away from the world.

  1. If you are suffering from this grave disease you shoud know that it has penetrated your personality and thus made your deeds worthless. The lures of the devil and the self are so subtle and the path of humanity is so delicate that unless you are very self-vigilant, you cannot understand this inherent evil. you imagine that your actions are for pleasing God, but in reality they are serving your own interests.
  1. Be your own physician and regularly scrutinize yourself for the real aims behind your good actions, words, and acts of worships. Do you feel the same fervour in doing good acts, offering prayers or fasts when you are alone or when these deeds are not known to anyone? Are you really performing good only for the sake of earning the pleasure of God? Do you feel a desire for your friends to praise you for your good deeds, intellectual endeavours, long prayers and piety? How do you feel when you are not praised for a certain good action? Compare your feelings when performing an action in public and then doing the same act when the chance of it being seen by others is least. If, God forbid, your eagerness to do an act of goodness or worship is more when you are in the company of your friends or in public or when there is a greater chance of it getting seen or praised, then consider yourself to be a victim of riya’.
  1. If you are acquiring knowledge, falling prey to riya’ will make you desire to gain an important position in the eyes of scholars or men of honour by solving an important problem or presenting a topic in a unique way and to make you the focus of their attention in order to receive applause from them and the praise of the public at a gathering. Ask yourself: If a friend of mine or some one else had done the same feat in front of others or done it in a better way, would I have felt the same way? Was this action of mine only for God?
  1. Take a firm step to get rid of riya’ for it is leading you to hell. Eradicate the desire of getting praised by creatures for the actions that are done for the sake of God. Do all your acts as a duty to God. Fight your inclination of performing virtuousness and worship in public or where there is a chance of getting praised, until this inclination is totally eliminated from your heart. Pray frequently to God Almighty to purify your heart of the stains of polytheism and hypocrisy and to clean it of the rust of the love of the world, which is the source of all vices.

 

How to Cure Hypocrisy (Nifaq)?

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How to Cure Hypocrisy (Nifaq)When the hypocrites come unto thee (O Muhammad), they say: We bear witness that thou art indeed Allah’s messenger. And Allah knows that you are indeed His messenger, and Allah bears witness that the Hypocrites are speaking falsely. (Qur’an, 63: 1)

 Prophet Muhammad (s): “Three signs when found in anyone, is a hypocrite even though he fasts and offers prayers and thinks that he is a Muslim: When he is trusted, he is dishonest, when he talks, he lies, and when he makes a promise, he breaks it.”

Hypocrisy or double‑facedness is the evil characteristic of the person who assumes an outward appearance and simulates a behaviour that is contrary to his inner state. For instance, one may give an impression of friendship and affection and pretend to be sincere and sympathetic, or show to apparently follow a faith or creed, while in his heart he harbours an opposite feeling. Such a person displays sympathy and friendship in front of people, but is different or opposite in their absence. According to Islamic teachings, hypocrisy is regarded as a grave moral vice. This factsheet throws light on various types and degrees of Hypocrisy, their evil effects and treatment.

Basic Types of Nifaq

  • Behavioral Nifaq: When outward appearance of person is friendly, giving impression of being sympathetic, supportive and sincere while in reality, it is opposite inside his heart.
  • Verbal Nifaq: The state of double-tonguedness when a person praises and flatters another person or people in front but denounces him or them and speaks slanderously in absence. 

Few Signs and Devastating Effects of Nifaq

  1. Giving oneself right to harass and hurt subordinates, and never hesitate to cause them inconvenience or to create problems for them harming them not only in actions but also hurt them with the dagger of tongue, by using derogatory language in their presence, or, in their absence, by disclosing their secrets, by slandering them and making false accusations against them. Thus as a Muslim from whose hands and tongues other Muslims should be safe, claim of adherence of such a person to Islam contradicts his reality, and the state of his heart and his actions are opposite to his claim of being a Muslim.
  1. Being subdued and humble in front of the people. Idolizing people and considering them more powerful, influential and wealthier than God. This is against one’s claim that God is almighty and of only worshipping God. If one’s outward state truly mirrored his inward reality, he wouldn’t be afraid of people or influenced by their wealth or power and fear no deity except God.
  1. Being humble, fearful and subdued in front of all the external phenomena, yet neglectful towards the really Powerful God, the First Cause. Yet, with this state of mind, asserting faith in the Unity of God. In this state, such a person is a foreigner to the community of believers, and belongs to the group of hypocrites and the double-tongued and will be resurrected with them.
  1. Love to hear one’s praise that so and so is such a pious man or a talented person and express jubilance when someone says such a thing and feeling unhappy when opposite happens. If a person really believes and utters that all praise is for God, the almighty, and all his qualities are gifts of God bestowed upon him, then such an attitude contradicts his claim that all praise is for God and he lacks sincerity towards God both as Creator and as Bestower.
  1. Eagerness to be in the company of the rich, affluent, kings, rulers and nobles, and having averse to be in the company of poor and needy. In this state, a person’s monotheism and piety are not genuine. His piety and abstinence are for the sake of the world, and he is not sincerely devoted to God.

Treatment of Nifaq

  1. If a person is afflicted with this ugly disease, first of all he should think about the harms caused by it, both in this world as well as in the Hereafter. He should think that it is totally against Godly created human nature to be a hypocrite. One should deliberate upon the matter that if he becomes known in this world for having this bad trait of hypocrisy, he will be degraded in the eyes of his fellows and become infamous among his fellow human beings. They will avoid his company and he will be deprived of their friendliness.
  1. A person with nifaq will ultimately fail to achieve any merit and to reach his higher goals. Thus, it is necessary for a man of honor and dignity endowed with the conscience to purge himself of this ignominy that consumes honor and respect, and not to allow himself to be entrapped in its disgraces.
  1. In the hereafter, where secrets that remained concealed from the eyes of people shall not be hidden, there, he will be raised as a deformed, ugly creature possessing two tongues of fire and punished along with the hypocrites and devils. Therefore, it is incumbent upon a man of wisdom, who sees no good in it but harm, ugliness and abomination, to get rid of this vice.
  1. The afflicted person should be extremely vigilant regarding his acts and utterances, and that he should act deliberately against his base wishes, wage an outright struggle against his inner self and try to improve himself inwardly as well as outwardly, both in actions as well as words. He should judge well his friendliness and enmity. He should abstain from affectation, coquetry and dissemblance in practice, and beseech the Almighty’s help and assistance during this period to give him supremacy over his devilish self and its desires and to guide and accompany him in this undertaking. His mercy and grace towards His creatures are boundless, and whosoever advances towards Him wishing to reform himself, He extends His support and help to him.
  1. If one perseveres in this exercise for several days, his soul would become purified and the rust of hypocrisy and double-facedness will be removed from it. The mirror of his heart and his inner being will be cleansed of this vice, and it will be ready again to receive the favors and blessings of the Bestower.

 

How to love Allah?

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Love for Insects and FlowersLove or ishq is the extreme form of inclination or hubb which consists of the soul’s liking for pleasant and beneficial things. Hub can be either good or bad; if one likes good and beneficial things, it is a desirable trait; but not so if one likes evil things.

The point worthy of notice is that hubb must essentially be directed only towards God and whatever is associated with the Divine. This is the highest form of hubb. It should be kept in mind that the Real Beloved is God, and it is only when man loses his Real Beloved that he mistakenly adopts other objects for his love, such as wife, children, wealth, status, or any other worldly thing.

If man were to find his True Beloved again, he would also achieve deliverance from his endless, aimless wanderings. In order to find the True Beloved, first we must know all the various forms of hubb. Basically hubb may be directed towards nine different things:

  1. The human being’s hubb for itself; which is one of the strongest forms of hubb.
  2. The human being’s hubb for things outside itself for the purpose of deriving physical pleasure from them, such as various kinds of foods, clothes, and other things which serve to satisfy physical needs and desires.
  3. Man’s hubb for another human being on account of the kindness or service that the other has rendered him.
  4. Man’s hubb for something on account of that thing’s inherent goodness, such as beauty and righteousness.
  5. Man’s hubb for another individual without his being able to find any particular reason for it; not because that individual has beauty, wealth or power or something of the kind, but simply because of the existence of some invisible spiritual link between them.
  6. Man’s hubb for an individual who has come from a far-off place, or whom he has succeeded in meeting during a long journey.
  7. Man’s hubb for his colleagues and fellow professionals, such as the liking of a scholar for another scholar, or a merchant’s for another merchant, and so on.
  8. The hubb (affinity) of the effect for its cause, and vice versa.
  9. The hubb of common effects of a single cause for one another; such as the love between members of a single family.

If we give some thought to this matter, we shall reach the conclusion that since God is Absolute Existence and all other things depend on Him, whatever other things man may love lack any independent existence of their own.

In other words, since God is the Ultimate Reality, He is in fact the ultimate object of true love, and all other kinds of love directed towards things are figurative and imaginary. Thus it is that you must sublimate your love and discover its real object; and this is not possible unless the following conditions appear in you:

 

  1. You should have a fervent desire of meeting God (liqa’ Allah); in other words, you should have no fear of death. Your actions must be such as to reflect your assurance that you will meet God after your death.
  1. You should give priority to God’s wish over and above your own wishes and desires; since this is one of the requirements of love.
  1. You should not forget God for even a moment; just as the lover is not forgetful of his beloved for even a second.
  1. You should not be happy when you gain something, or be sad when you lose something; since if all your attention is centered on God all other things would be unimportant for you.
  1. You should be kind and loving towards God’s creatures; since whoever loves God will certainly love His creatures also.
  1. You should have fear of God at the same time that you love Him; since these two states are not contradictory.
  1. You should keep your love of God a secret.

Under such conditions God would also love you as His servant and fulfill His promise:

Say ( O’ Muhammad), `If you love God, follow me; God will love you and forgive your sins.’… (3:31)Love for Insects and Flowers