Growing Old in Islam is a Blessing

Allah Says in a Hadith Qudsi:

When My servant reaches the age of 40, I relieve him of 3 calamities: madness, elephantiasis and leprosy. When he reaches the age of 50, I subject him to an easy reckoning. When he reaches the age of 60, I endear to him his return (to Me). When he is 70, I make him dear to the Angels. When he is 80, I write his good deeds and cast away his evil deeds. When he is 90, the Angels say: he is Allah's prisoner on earth; his earlier and later sins are forgiven and his intercession is accepted. When he reaches the age of senility, Allah records for him (his good deeds) equal (in value) to what he did when he was in sound health. If he does anything bad, it is not written. (Tirmidhi)

The Soul is a Grinding Stone

"So let my Enemies say what they will for my Sins are many, and perhaps because of their backbiting and slander My sins will be lightened and instead fall upon their shoulders " Shaykh Muqbil Ibn Hadi Al-Wadi'ee (rahimullah)

Ibn al Qayyim رحمه الله said:

It is well known that man has not been given to power to kill his thoughts nor the strength to severe them. They invade him just as his breathing invades his body.

However the strength of Imân and intellect helps him to accept his best thoughts , to be pleased with them, to experience peace and tranquility from them. It also helps him to repulse his most evil thoughts and dislike and recoil from them.

Allâh created the soul similar to a grinding stone that goes round and round – one that does not stop; and always in need of something to grind. If seeds are placed therein it will grind them. If stones are placed therein it will still grind them.

So the thoughts that revolve in the soul are like a seed that is placed in a grinding stone. That grinding stone is never left idle. Something or the other has to be placed inside it. So from amongst the people are those whose grinding stone grinds seeds which comes out as flour – which he and others derive benefit from.

But most of them grind soil, stones, straw and so forth – so when the time of making the dough and baking comes; he sees the reality of what he ground.

[al-Fawaa’id - Page 31 and 173-174]

Hasan bin Abdullah Al Awadh recitation

Ya Ummi..

I would like to share the lyrics of Ahmed Bukhathirs Ya Ummi Nasheed as it made me to do so. It was very nice. (The same nasheed you can hear it in background).

I will return oh mother
And kiss your chaste head
And supress (blame?) my desires
And taste the scent of your blessings
Besmirch in the richness of your feet
my cheek when I meet you
Water the soil with my tears
Happy that you are alive
How many nights did you stay up late
So that I could sleep to my content?
And how many times did you thirst
So you could quench my thirst with your tenderness?
And one day I was Ill, I do not forget
The tears from you that were like the rain
And your eyes which stayed awake
fearing that I may be in danger
And the day we parted at dawn
and Oh what a harsh dawn that was
Words cannot explain what
I felt when I abandoned you
And you told me things which I still
remember throughout my life
"You will never find a heart
more tender towards you than mine"
"You will never find a heart
more tender towards you than mine"
obedience to you, oh want of my life..
[is what] the God of existence has instructed me to do.
Your content is the secret of my success
And my love of you is the secret of my belief
And the sincerity of your prayer [for me]..
has resolved my misfortunes and my sadness
My love towards you..
no human being loves anything like it
You are the beating of my heart
And you are what lights my vision
And you are the tune on my lips
My problems cease when I see your face
To you I do return oh mother
Tomorrow I rest from my journey
And a second age will begin for me
and the branches will blossom with flowers

Abdullah ibn Masud at his death bed

Abdullah ibn Masud lived to the time of Khalifah Uthman, may God be pleased with him. When he was sick and on his death-bed, Uthman came to visit him and said:

"What is your ailment?"

"My sins."

"And what do you desire?"

"The mercy of my Lord."

"Shall I not give you your stipend which you have refused to take for years now?"

"I have no need of it."

"Let it be for your daughters after you."

"Do you fear poverty for my children? I have commanded them to read Surah al-Waqiah every night for I have heard the Prophet saying, "Whoever reads Al-Waqiah every night shall not be afflicted by poverty ever."

That night, Abdullah passed away to the company of his Lord, his tongue moist with the remembrance of God and with the recitation of the verses of His Book.

Story of a pious woman at the time of Ferawoon

On the Prophet Muhammad's (sul Allahu alayhi wassalaam) Night Journey to Jerusalem:

The Prophet (sul Allahu alayhi wassalaam) smelled a very nice odor. He asked Jibril about this pleasant scent and Jibril informed him this good smell was coming from the grave of the woman whose duty used to be to comb Pharaoh's daughter's hair.

This woman was a good, pious believer. One day, as she was combing Pharaoh's daughter's hair, the comb fell from her hand. At this she said, "Bismillah." Pharaoh's daughter asked her, "Do you have a god other than my father?" The woman said, "Yes. My Lord and the Lord of your father is Allah." Pharaoh's daughter told her father what had happened. Pharaoh demanded this woman blaspheme and leave Islam, but she refused. At that, Pharaoh threatened to kill her children.

He brought a great pot of water and built a great fire under it. When the water boiled, Pharaoh brought her children and started to drop them into that pot one after the other. Throughout all this, the woman remained steadfast to Islam, even when Pharaoh reached her youngest child--a little boy still breast feeding--but she felt pity for him. At that, Allah enabled this child to speak. He said to his mother, "O Mother, be patient. The torture of the Hereafter is far more severe than the torture of this life, and do not be reluctant, because you are right."

At this the woman requested Pharaoh collect her bones and the bones of her children and bury them in the same grave. Pharaoh promised her that--then dropped her into that boiling water. She died as a martyr.

The good odor the Prophet (sul Allahu alayhi wassalaam) smelled coming from her grave is an indication of her high status.

[May Allah make us like these people.]

http://www.islamcan.com/

Standing by his mother's bedside

A long time ago there lived a great saint. His name was Sharafud-Din and he loved his mother very much. Once, when Sharafud-Din was still small, his mother fell very ill and had to stay in bed. One night she awoke with a burning thirst and called out to her son to bring her a bowl of water.

The young boy hurried to do her bidding, but when he returned to her bedside with the water, he discovered that she had fallen asleep again. Sharafud-Din was not sure what to do. Should he wake her up or wait until she awoke, or leave the water by her bedside and go back to bed himself? He decided to wait until she awoke.

Minutes passed...hours passed...the night passed...and still the small boy waited patiently with the water at his mother's side. Finally his mother awoke a little after the first light of dawn had paled the sky, and to her surprise there was her beloved son at her side.

"How long have you been standing here?" she asked. "You haven't been there all night have you?"

'Yes, mother," he replied, "I have been here since you asked me to bring you some water."

His mother was deeply touched by his devotion, and asked Allah to pour His blessings on her son. One day he grew up to be a great saint!

Source: "True Stories for Children" by Matina Wali Muhammad

The wasiyyat of Hadhrat Aadam

Hadhrat Aadam (alayhis salaam) bequeathed to his son, Hadhrat Sheeth (alayhis salaam) five advices. He stressed that Hadhrat Sheeth (alayhis salaam) should deliver this wasiyyat to his sons as well. The following are the five advices:

(1) Never have confidence in the world and its life. Allah did not approve of my confidence in Jannat, hence I had to leave.

(2) Never fulfil the desires of women. I succumbed to the desire of my wife, ate of the forbidden fruit of Jannat, hence I was put to shame and remorse.

(3) Before doing anything, reflect well o­n its consequences. If I had done this, I would not have been put to shame in Jannat.

(4) If your heart is agitated by something, do not do it. When I was about to eat of the forbidden fruit, my heart agitated, but I did not heed it.

(5) Before doing anything consult with people of wisdom. If I had consulted the Angels, I would not have suffered shame.

Naked in Qiyaamah

"There will be many women who were clothed in this world but who will be naked in the Aakhirah." (Hadith)

These will be the women who wear transparent garb, tight-fitting provocative dress, dress with revealing slits, etc.

http://www.themajlis.net/