The Corrugated Iron Hut

Imagine living in a corrugated iron hut, through summer; of blazing sun, preying on metal and your skin and  your breath. Through rain; collecting water dripping from the leaking roof, and standing on tiptoe when it floods in from underneath. My child now has pneumonia, coughing and wheezing. The last meal we had was two dinners ago when a neighbor shared a plate with us. Do I worry about our stomachs and the inhuman growling sounds they're making, or my other child's fever whose own growling has been muffled by coughs? And the transport fare; here on the outskirts, we have no clinic. The old bakery nearby, no longer dispose of little scraps it won't use, anymore. The last time we light the stove was a month ago. I've missed the smell of firewood burning, because it brings with it a promise of a taste on our tongues and heaviness in our stomachs that we'd go some more time before we'd feel that again. Their skin is a plaster against their frail frame. Hands long and dry like a garden fork. I'm too tired to my bones, of hunger and illness, of hard labour of years before to try to make it for the family. Of worrying over my children, worrying about who would die first of hunger, or malaria. I hope it won't be me, so I can take care of my children. A lot of times I resort to praying for their deaths, at least if they die, it would be better for them, they won't suffer anymore. Then I would stop myself, because as much as we suffer, through the pain and hunger, we smile and play. Through hollow sockets, their eyes twinkle and it gives me hope of a beautiful day to come; of a day my son would buy me bread and butter. And my daughter would bring me wrapper. It's through the tears, and whimpering of hunger when they could no longer wail, that I find peace. They relieve me of the distress and sadness, with promises of growing up. We go on days without any solid food, we had to sell the goat to buy some bread and cow milk, which in turn we got some cheese from. Yet, I find my children content, they'd always insist I take the first bite or sip. We'd drag this on end, until I finally give in. They'd smile and laugh and my tiny little world would blossom with happiness and love, I'd forget the meaning of hunger and poverty, of tattered clothes and battered mattress, and of our tiny corrugated iron hut.

Spread The Salaams

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Too often, we take greetings for granted and attach minimal importance to them. We don't give salaams to each other anymore. Atleast not as we are required to. Even at Islamic functions, only a few do that. A person will seat next to you and you'd be the one to say the salaam, when we are all familiar with the Hadith:

"The person who is riding should offer salaam to the one who is walking; and the one who is walking should greet the one who is sitting; and the smaller group should greet the larger one." (Bukhari and Muslim)

Though there's nothing wrong in saying the salaam first, which is even encouraged:

"The Prophet was asked: 'O Messenger of Allah! When two persons meet with each other, who should take the lead in greeting the other? He answered: 'The one who is closest to Allah." (Tirmithi)

"The person closest to Allah is the one who precedes others in greeting." (Abu Dawud)

We need to honor this tradition as best as possible. Sa'id bin al-As said:

"I owe my sitting-companion three things: on his approach I greet him, on his arrival I make him welcome, and when he sits I make him comfortable."

Exchanging salaam is a great etiquette and holds a high position in Islam. The Prophet stressed the importance of greetings when he defined the rights of a Muslim:

"The rights of a Muslim upon another are five: returning greetings, visiting the sick, following the funeral procession, responding to invitations and offering 'Tashmeet' for one who sneezes." (Bukhari and Muslim)

In another, he said:

"Feeding the hungry, and saying salaam to those you know and those you don't know." (Bukhari and Muslim)

Because we don't say the salaams, the brotherhood and sisterhood in the Ummah is weak. The Prophet Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him, said:

"You will not enter paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another: 'spread salaam' (the greeting of peace) among you." (Muslim)

"When two Muslims meet (give salaam), and shake hands, they are forgiven their sins before they part (with each other)." (Abu Dawud)

"O people! spread salaam, feed the hungry, be in touch with your kin, and pray while people are asleep (at night) you shall enter paradise peacefully." (Tirmithi)

"And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally."

(Qur'an 4:86)

Initiating salaam is considered sunnah, but returning the salaam after it is offered is obligatory.

Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned:

"....But when you enter houses, greet one another with a greeting from Allah, blessed and good...."

(Qur'an 24:61)

If one enters his home, it is preferable to offer salaam, even if there is no one at home by saying "Assalaamu alayna wa ala ibadillahi assaliheen" (i.e. peace be upon us and the righteous servants of Allah). With respect to salaam between the young and the old, the young is expected to begin the greeting.

It is improper for someone to meet a group of Muslims and offer salaam only to some of them. The greeting must be for all in the group. If a group of people offer salaam to an individual at the same time, he may reply only once to all of them.

In a Hadith where Imran Ibn Hussayn (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that:

"A man came to the Prophet and said, 'assalaamu alaykum!' The Prophet returned his greeting and when the man sat down, the Prophet said: 'Ten' Another man came and said: 'assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.' to which the Prophet also responded, and when the man sat down, He said 'Twenty' Another man came and said: 'assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.' The Prophet returned his greeting, and after the man sat down, he said: 'Thirty'" (Abu Dawud and Tirmithi)

The Hadith has been interpreted to mean that the minimum form of the Islamic greeting which is acceptable is "assalaamu alaykum" and one is rewarded ten good deeds for saying it. The second grade, adding "wa rahmatullah", raises the reward to twenty good deeds. The best grade of salaam is "assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu", and this is worth thirty good deeds.

The response to the greeting is similar in form and rewards. The least one could say is "Wa alaykum-us-salaam" and the best response is: "Wa alaykum-us-salaam wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu".

Unfortunately, now in the Ummah Muslims have adopted other methods of giving salutations. Prophet Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him lived an exemplary life, and thus, it is what we should emulate. He said:

"I have not left anything which Allah (Most Exalted is He) ordered except that I have ordered you with it, nor anything that Allah forbade you, except that I forbade you from it." (Buhaiqi)

Allah (Most Exalted is He) says in the Qur'an:

"You are indeed the Messenger of Allah, a beautiful pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day."

(Qur'an 33:21)

Salaam is not only confined to the time of meeting only but it extends to when separating as well.

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), relates that the Prophet said:

"When one of you joins a gathering, he should greet those present; and when he leaves them he should salute them, because the first salutation is not better than the last one." (Abu Dawud and Tirmithi)

Umar bin Khattab: "There are three ways of showing sincere brotherly love: give him the greeting of Salaam when you first meet him, make him comfortable, and call him by his favourite names."

May we benefit, assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

THEY SAY I AM BEAUTIFUL

They say I am beautiful

But how do they define my beauty?

They say I am beautiful

Is it by my body, or the cloth covering it?

They say I am smart

Is it what is in my head, or what is wrapped around it?

They say I am beautiful

Is it my skin, or the texture of my jilbab?

They say I am oppressed

Is it the heels they want me to wear like a bondage, or is it my lowered gaze?

They say I am caged

Am I supposed to wear bangles like shackles, or hold on to my pen and write?

They say I need freedom

Do they mean I dress half naked and be objectified?

They say I am beautiful

Is it my chest or what is within?

They say I am beautiful

Is it what they see on the surface, or what comes from beneath?

They say I am beautiful

Is it my skinny legs, or the dust from the edges of my jilbab?

They say I am beautiful

I know that

They say I am beautiful

But they do not know where it comes from

They say I am beautiful

My beauty is not from my physical exterior

They say I am beautiful

My beauty comes from within

They say I am beautiful

Love Isn't An Emotion Or An Instinct - it's an ART.

Love of beauty is taste, the creation of beauty is Art; it is the proper task of life, for life imitates art far more than art imitates life & life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television. It is not merely an imitation of the reality of nature, but in truth a metaphysical supplement to the reality of nature, placed alongside thereof for its conquest.

They say bad artists always admire each others work. In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire. It is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known. The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist. The work of art may have a moral effect, but to demand moral purpose from the artist is to make him ruin his work. It is the window to a man's soul, which without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within.

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. It is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it & the moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you.

There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge.

One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. 

All art requires courage, without it, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors; Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.

I shut my eyes in order to see, for art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.

Art is not a thing; it is a way; Works of art are all that survive of incredibly gifted people.

I put my heart and my soul into my work (art), and have lost my mind in the process.

To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the truth within the soul.

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

It is through art and through art only that we can realize our perfection; through art and art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence.

Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing, and the deification of existence. It is never finished, only abandoned.

Art is what's left over after you've defined everything else.

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love others.

The Boy & the Cookie

The Boy & the Cookie

“...I knew him myself. I knew him, and I don’t say he was from the Children of Isra’il. No! He was from the sons of this land. I knew him personally.

He would weep intensely. He would weep intensely, and he would never have the Qur’an recited in his presence except that he would cry, and become humble and soft. He was an amazing, strange person.

He memorized the Qur’an when he was only twelve! However, he was older due to the Words of Allah and his knowledge of Allah, and I don’t place him higher in status than Allah would.

I tell you about him while I have placed a condition on myself that I don’t tell you other than what I saw with my own eyes. The second condition I placed on myself is that I don’t exaggerate in anything I say about him.

He memorized ‘Sahih Muslim’ with me in two weeks. He memorized ‘Sahih al-Bukhari’ with my third friend – we were three – in two weeks. Do you realize? I didn’t know that he had memorized al-Bukhari, and my friend didn’t know that he had memorized Muslim. He loved sincerity. He always loved as-Sirri as-Saqti. Do you know why as-Sirri as-Saqti in particular? Because as-Sirri as-Saqti used to pay a lot of attention to sincerity.

He was very good in school, and in fact excelled in it. He would only sleep between the time he got home from school until Dhuhr time. After ‘Asr, he would attend halaqahs. After Maghrib, he would attend the lessons of the scholars. After ‘Isha’ until eleven, he would study for school. From eleven – every single day – he would pray all night until Fajr.

I am not exaggerating! He is from our own sons, from our country!

Whenever he would read the Qur’an, he would cry. I would read that when some of the Salaf would read the Qur’an, they would pass out. I know the dispute among the scholars on this, but I have never seen this with my own eyes except from this youth. We would pray the Friday prayer, and the imam would recite: {“And the inhabitants of Hell called out to the inhabitants of Paradise ‘Give us a drop of water!’”} [al-A’raf; 50] And he fell down on his head, and we thought he had died.

We prayed one night at my house. I pretended that I was asleep in order to see what he would do. He came over and motioned with his hand over my eyes (to see if I was awake). He woke up at eleven, and I would sleep and wake up, sleep and wake up – and he would be standing in a rak’ah and I wouldn’t see him go down. He would then bow and I wouldn’t see him come up.

On a different night, he would read the Qur’an. When he got to this verse, in front of me: {“Indeed, it is Hell, taking away the skin of the head!”} [al-Ma’arij; 15-16] he cried and passed out. I woke him up, and he got up and made ablution and prayed. When he got to the verse: {“Indeed, it is Hell, taking away the skin of the head!”} he again cried and passed out. I woke him up, and when he got to it a third time, he recited it and passed out again and didn’t wake up until the call for Fajr prayer.

He would recite the entire Qur’an every three nights in secret while praying at night, and would do so every seven days openly during the day. I am not exaggerating, as he would do this in front of me. And by Allah, he would remember Allah in a single day more than 12,000 times! I counted them myself while sitting with him – 12,000 times! I would ask him: “Why?” He replied: “I don’t want Abu Hurayrah to have done more than me.” He had jealousy, jealousy when it came to worship!

He was only seventeen at the time, when he was at this level!

 I didn’t know what to say about him! Whenever he would come across a text to memorize, I would say: “I challenge you to memorize this.” He would say: “Don’t challenge me!” I would try to fire him up, and say: “I challenge you!” The next day, he would come and recite the text to me as if it were just his name. If he made just three mistakes, he would not consider himself to have memorized it. Three mistakes!

This was a person who would repent! If only you knew his sin! I will tell you later what his sin was.

If we lost hope in a youth – we would give da’wah to someone and lose hope in him, we didn’t know, and I am speaking about myself and Allah Knows best about others – he was someone whose supplication was answered in front of seventeen people who bear witness to this, in more than one incident. If we lost hope in a youth, we would tell him to go and give him da’wah. By Allah, after just two days, this person would be guided. He would walk with him for just two days. The first day, the second day, and he would then be praying in the first row! Whether he was a smoker, a drug user, etc., he would become upright right away by the Permission of Allah. This is blessing! Blessing!

One day, he would pray behind a scholar in the southern region who you know of who would elongate the prayer. So, he would elongate it, following the Sunnah. He would lead the people in prayer, and a man came and hit him on the back with a stick while he was bowing, in front of me. After the prayer, he looked at him and asked: “Why did you hit me?”

He replied: “You have whisperings! You make us pray too long!” The imam replied: “You are healthy! You are healthy!”
The man replied: “How do you know I’m healthy?”

This youth then raised his hands to Allah – as soon as he raised his hands, my heart stopped – and said: “O Allah, take away his health until he knows its value and prays properly in front of You!” It was the ‘Asr prayer, and I swear by Allah that this man didn’t pray Maghrib with us. He was at home, laying in bed. After a few weeks, I saw him and said: “Fear Allah! The man is at home in bed! I ask you by Allah...” He said: “My brother, I didn’t mean to do this!” I said: “Ask Allah to cure him.” By Allah, the man prayed with us the next prayer!

In the Haram, he would wear thick glasses. I am telling you that this is a repenter from our times! I know him! He is my friend! I am greater than him in age, but he is greater than me. I don’t place him in status higher than where Allah has placed him.

They were in the Haram, and he was wearing glasses, and they bothered him. He said: “I can’t go to Palestine one day with glasses.” So, he went to the well of Zam Zam in front of the people – they were seventeen people – and he took off his glasses, took the Zam Zam water, said: “O Allah, make it a cure for my vision,” and drank it. He then said: “Allah is the Greatest!” and threw the glasses away in front of everyone! They wanted to test him, and they pointed to a clock that nobody could see, they asked him: “Can you tell us what time it is?” He said: “The time is such and such.” Exact! He would read the Qur’an...his vision was returned 100%!

Indeed, it is supplication! “...and if he asks Me, I will Give him.”

The incidents are many, but the time doesn’t permit me to tell them all.

You know, one day I asked him about his sin. When did I ask him? One day, he recited the verse: {“On the day when some faces will be brightened and some faces will be darkened...”} [Al ‘Imran; 106] By Allah, he cried to the point that my heart was as if it was being torn. I said to him: “The Messenger of Allah said: “The worst of people is he who is asked by Allah and is not responded to,” and I ask you by Allah: what makes you cry like this?” I want to cry like him, people! I want to feel the happiness he felt!

He said: “I committed a sin in my life.”

 I asked him: “What is this sin?”

Do you know what his sin was? You will laugh at yourself. I will explain it to you. He said: “When I was in second grade [before reaching puberty], I went into a store and took a cookie and ate it, and the Fire is more deserving of a body that is nurtured on what is forbidden (i.e. because the cookie didn’t belong to him).”

He died. He died, may Allah have Mercy on him, when he was only twenty. He died because of a stray bullet that someone fired accidentally while playing with a weapon. A bullet was accidentally fired and entered the body of this youth, killing him. He died as a righteous person, and I assume him to be such.

He died, and that was it. It was all over.

However, his life didn’t die. And by Allah, were it not the fact that he asked me by Allah to not reveal his name, I would have revealed it...”

[May Allah reward my good friend Muhammad who showed me this clip, and make me, him, and all who read this story like this incredible youth.] 

A piece from salafstories.blogspot.com