Food For Thought (EP 10): Golden rules for a Muslim

Omer Arif^*

Embrace these praiseworthy attributes so that you may attain the happiness of this world and the hereafter:

·       Do not befriend any of the disbelievers.

·       Do not take any of the believers as an enemy.

·       Make a provision of taqwāfor the journey to the Hereafter.

·       Count yourself as dead by tomorrow.

·       Witness to the oneness of Allah with and the prophethood of His Messenger.

·       Even a small righteous deed is enough for you.

·       Say, I believe in Allah, His angels, His prophets and the Last Day.

Ø  Stick to forgiveness if you want Allah to save you from all forms of difficulties and crisis and send you sustenance from where you least expect it. Read this prayer if you wish to get over your fears:

“أعوذ بكلمات الله التَّامات من غضبه، وعقابه، وشرِّ عباده، ومن همزات الشَّياطين، وأن يحضرون”

“Aʻūdhu bikalmāti llahi alttāmāti min ghaḍabihi waʻiqābihi washarri ʻibādihi wamin hamazāti alshshayāṭīni waʼan yaḥḍurūn”.

Meaning: I seek refuge in Allah's complete words from His wrath, punishment, the evil of His servants, the delusion of the devils and their presence with me.

Ø  Respond to the Muadhin's call to prayer if you want the heavens to open and for your prayers to be accepted. If you want to get rid of the things that trouble you, read this prayer:

“توكلت على الحي الذي لا يموت ، والحمد لله الذي لم يتخذ ولدا ، ولم يكن له شريك في الملك ، ولم يكن له ولي من الذل وكبره تكبيرا”

"Tawakaltu ʻaláal-Ḥayy alladhī lāyamutu abadan Waquli alḥamdu lillahi alladhī lam yattakhidh waladan walam yakun llahu sharīkun fī almulki walam yakun llahu walīyun mmina aldhdhulli wakabbirhu takbīran"

Meaning: I trust in the living that never dies, and all praises be to Allah who has not begotten a son, and who has no partner in dominion nor he is low to have a supporter, and magnify him with all the magnificience

Ø  If you want to get rid of the grief and the fears that come to you:

ما أصاب أحدًا قطُّ همٌّ ولا حَزَنٌ فقال اللهمَّ إني عبدُك ابنُ عبدِك ابنُ أمَتِك ناصيَتي بيدِك ماضٍ فيَّ حُكمُك عَدْلٌ فيَّ قضاؤُك أسألُك بكلِّ اسمٍ هو لك سميتَ به نفسَك أوْ علَّمْتَه أحدًا مِنْ خلقِك أو أنزلته في كتابِك أو استأثرتَ به في علمِ الغيبِ عندَك أنْ تجعلَ القرآنَ ربيعَ قلبي ونورَ صدري وجلاءَ حُزني وذهابَ هَمِّي إلا أذهب اللهُ همَّه وحُزْنَه وأبدله مكانه فَرَجًا قال : فقيل : يا رسولَ اللهِ ألا نتعلمُها فقال : بلى ينبغي لِمَنْ سمِعها أنْ يتعلمَها

Meaning:"O Allah, I am your servant the son of your servant. My forelock is in your hands. Your judgment is valid for me. You are just in the judgment you have given about me. O Allah, for the sake of the name you have named yourself or revealed in your book or taught to someone from your creations or kept in the knowledge of the unseen in your sight, I ask you to make the Qur'an the joy and the light of my heart, the polish of my sadness and the reason for my grieves and sorrows to go away.

ØIf you want to gain reward due to a misfortune that befalls you,

إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون

Innā lillāh wʼinnā ilayhi rājʻiun

ØIf you want your sadness and grief to go away and your debt to be paid, read this prayer:

للهم إني أعوذ بك من الهمِّ والحزن، والعجز والكسل، والجبن والبخل، وضلع الدَّين، وغلبة الرِّجال

Meaning: O Allah, I seek refuge in You from sadness and grief, weakness and laziness, cowardice and stinginess, debt that cannot be overcome, and the encroachment of enemies.

Ø  Deeds that will ensure the peace of the heart:

·       If you want to achieve awe and peace, abandon the unnecessary gaze.

·       If you want to gain wisdom, abandon idle talk.

·       If you want to enjoy the taste of worship, stop eating too much.

·       I advise you to fast and revive the night when people are asleep.

·       If you want to be majestic, stop joking and laughing. Because these two reduce the majesty of the person.

·       If you want to get heaven, abandon your earthly desires.

·       If you want to correct your own fault, stop investigating other people's faults. Undoubtedly, seeking other people’s faults is one of the signs of hypocrisy. As good intention is one of the signs of faith.

·       If you want to have piety (fear of Allah in the heart), stop thinking about the essence of Allah. Only then will you be freed from doubt and hypocrisy.

·       If you want to have posts in the sight of Allah, stop relying on people and rely on Allah.

·       If you want to get rid of all evils, stop having suspicions about people.

·       If you want Allah to illuminate your face, spend the night in worship.

·       If you want to get rid of the thirst of the Day of Judgment, fast.

·       If you want to get rid of the torment of the grave, avoid the unclean things. Do not eat haram things and turn away from lustful desires.

·       If you want to be rich, be contented.

·       If you want to be the most worshiping of people, hold on to the following blessed advice of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh);  “Abu Hurayra (r.a.) said; The Messenger of Allah took my hand and gave me the following advice: Beware of the haram, so that you can be the most monumental of people.

·       Be content with the division that Allah has given you so that you will be the most contented of people.

·       Treat your neighbor in the best way so that you can be a true believer.

·       Want for other people what you want for yourself, and you will be a true Muslim.

·       Do not laugh too much, of course, laughing too much kills the heart. If you want to be one of those who are sincere and benevolent, worship Allah as if you see him. Even though you don't see Him, He sees you.

·       If you want your faith to mature, improve your morals.

·       If you want Allah to love you, meet the needs of your Muslim brothers.

·       If you want to be in a light that guides you on the Day of Judgment and get rid of darkness, do not oppress anyone of Allah's creations.

·       If you want your sins to be less, embrace forgiveness.

·       If you want to be the strongest of people, rely on God.

·       If you want God to cover your faults, you also cover other people's faults.

·       If you want your mistakes and sins to be erased, ask for forgiveness a lot, have piety, hold on to humility, be patient with trouble and calamity.

·       If you want to get rid of major sins, stay away from bad morals and greed.

·       If you want to seek pleasure of Allah, give alms secretly and visit your relatives.

We can comprehend this valuable guidance as principles that will save our lives from darkness and bring them to the light, and we can see them as an exit door from the darkness that Abu Bakr foretold. Abu Bakr says: The darkness is five, and the illuminators to bring them from darkness to light are also five:

1.      Love of the world is darkness; Taqwa is its light.

2.      Sin is darkness; repentance is its light.

3.      The grave is darkness, and the word of martyrdom is its light.

4.      The Hereafter is darkness, and good deeds are its light.

5.      The Sirat Bridge is darkness, and faith without hesitation is its light.

If we want to convert this darkness into light, we must carefully consider our decisions. In order to shield ourselves from the toxins that infect the heart in this world, let's strive to implant this advice as a shield in our hearts. The world is a deadly poison; Zuhd (Asceticism) is its cure. Zuhd is not leaving the world. It is removing the love of the world from your heart. Our Prophet (SAW) said: “Be like a stranger in the world or like a passer-by!” wealth is a deadly poison; The cure is to give charity properly. The speech is a deadly poison; Its cure is the remembrance of Allah.  A person's life is poison; its cure is obedience to Allah. A life not spent in worship is poison!

İbrahim Hakkı of Erzurum states in his Marifetname that man is obliged to worship Allah: He says: “O Aziz! The scholars said: Allah has given man the two worlds and what is in them completely. Until he looks at the arts in the world and knows the wisdom in things. When he finds examples of all of them in his own body, let him know his soul and know Allah from it. Because Allah says in the Qur'an, in verse 56 of Surat al-Dhariyat, "I have created jinn and humans only so that they can worship Me and know me." he commands.

O Man, be in the know

You are the whole of the world

The son of Adam is such a paste

He carries both angelic and animal morality.

If he inclines towards animals, it is worse than him.

If he inclines towards an angel, it is better than him.

If a person is kneaded with the paste of servitude, he rises to the level of angels, if he is kneaded with the paste of lust, he may fall to a lower order than an animal.

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*This writeup was translated from Turkish to English language by Ali Fahd