The story of the great Ashiq-e-Rasool

Once the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), while speaking to
Sahaba-Ikram (companions), said: "There is a person in my Ummah
(followers) whose prayers would bring forgiveness to as many sinners as
the number of hair of the sheep in the tribes of Rabia and Mazar." The
two tribes were well known for raising sheep during the time of the Holy
Prophet. The disclosure made the Sahaba-Ikram very curious. They asked
the Holy Prophet about the name of that person and the place he lived
in. The Holy Prophet first hesitated, but on their insistence told them
the name of a person who lived in Qarn, Awais Qarni.

The Holy Prophet continued: "On the Day of Judgment, Awais would be
accompanied to paradise by 70,000 angels who'd resemble him." The reason
the Holy Prophet gave for this was: "Since Awais prayed all his life in
seclusion so as not to be noticed, Allah would also keep his purdah
(cover)."

When people asked the Holy Prophet whether Awais Qarni had even come to
see him, he said: "No, he never saw me, but he has the privilege of
seeing me through Kashf (spiritual revelation), and he has reasons for
not being able to see me. He is the only one to take care of his blind
mother."

Again Sahaba-Ikram asked if they could see him, to which the Holy
Prophet replied: "No, only Umer bin Khattab and Ali would meet him, and
his identification is - he has thick hair all over his body, and a white
patch on his left hand." He directed Hazrat Umer and Hazrat Ali: "When
you see him, convey to him my salaam (greetings) and ask him to pray for
my Ummah."

"And who'd be the right person to receive your Abaya (the cloak the Holy
Prophet used over his clothes) after you leave the world?" the Sahaba
asked.

"Awais Qarni," said the Holy Prophet.

When the Holy Prophet left the world and Hazrat Umer became the caliph,
he, along with Hazrat Ali, went to Qarn to look for Awais Qarni. No one
knew about him. However, the people of Qarn told them that outside the
town there lived an insane person who laughed at the crying people and
cried for those who laughed. When Hazrat Umer and Hazrat Ali reached
there they saw a person praying amidst the grazing sheep. When he
finished his prayers, he saw the visitors and said: "It is the first
time anyone has ever seen me praying."

"What's your name?" Hazrat Umer and Hazrat Ali asked. "Abdullah (the servant of Allah)."

"Tell us your real name?"

"Awais."

"Show us your hand," Hazrat Umer and Hazrat Ali immediately kissed the
white patch the Holy Prophet had talked about. Then they presented to
him the holy dress and asked him to pray for the Ummah as directed by
the Holy Prophet.

Hazrat Awais Qarni took the dress and stepped away to offer prayers: "O
Allah, unless you forgive the sins of the followers of the Holy Prophet I
won't wear his dress." Then they heard a voice: "I've forgiven some of
them." All of a sudden came in front of him Hazrat Umer and Hazrat Ali.
"Why did you come in front of me? Unless I had sought Allah's
forgiveness for the entire Ummah I would not stop my prayers." Then he
donned the Abaya of the Holy Prophet and disclosed that Allah had
forgiven the number of people equivalent to the hair of the sheep of the
Rabia and Mazar tribes.

Afterwards, Hazrat Umer asked him why he didn't receive the honour of
seeing the Holy Prophet. In response to this Hazrat Awais asked them to
tell whether the brows of the Holy Prophet were wide or dense? Both
Sahabas could not answer the question. Then he asked another question:
"Which tooth of the Prophet was martyred in the battle of Uhad? Why
didn't you break all your teeth for the love of your Prophet?" Saying
this, he showed his toothless mouth. "When I broke my first tooth I
thought it might be the other one. Then I broke the other one. Still I
was not satisfied. When I had broken all my teeth only then I received
some relief."

Seeing so much devotion to the Holy Prophet and his extraordinary
Tasawwaf, Hazrat Umer wished to give up his Khilafat and adopt the ways
of Hazrat Awais Qarni. Sensing his thought, Hazrat Awais said, "You
should have given up Khilafat for anyone else, and dedicated yourself
entirely to Allah."

Hazrat Umer asked him for some advice. "O Umer, you recognize Allah and
there is nothing better than the sense that no one recongizes you but
Allah." Then he thanked them for taking all the trouble to come and see
him. Very much impressed, Hazrat Umer and Hazrat Ali returned home
filled with great regard for Hazrat Awais Qarni.

Soon after that, the people of Qarn came to know about his spiritual
excellence and they started regarding him as a great saint of Allah.
Since he didn't like to be known as a saint, he left for Kufa where,
while fighting for Hazrat Ali in the battle of Safain, he was martyred.

Hazrat Awais Qarni always considered worldly life a temporary sojourn
and often said, "Sleep with the remembrance of death, and rise with the
thought that you will not live long." He received spiritual training
directly from the Holy Prophet.

Often the Holy Prophet said: "Awais is the best amongst Ta'beens (the successors of the companions of the Holy Prophet)."

Hadith Qudsi:on forgiveness

In a Hadith Qudsi Allah says:

"O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hope in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind.

O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you.

O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and then you would meet Me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it."

Keep on repenting

This hadith is just pure awesome,i just love it.

more @http://islamic-quotes.tumblr.com/

5 Must-Read Life Lessons from Gandhi

5 Must-Read Life Lessons from Gandhi:


1. Be the Change


“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”


Be the example, be the leader. If you lead properly people will follow, and together you will change the world. Anyone can complain, anyone can blame, and most do, but if you desire to change, then “you” be the change.


2. Ask the Right Questions


“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”


The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of the questions that you dare to ask. Are you asking the right questions? Are you asking the right people? You can’t get answers, without questions; you can’t make progress, without an inquiring mind.


3. Always Act


“Have a bias towards action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”


If you’re going to be biased, be biased towards making something happen today. Tomorrow never comes, any progress to be made, must be made today. It must be made right now!

If you don’t act now, you don’t have a future, just a longer today. Gandhi said, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”

4. Forgive


“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”


It’s not “weaklings” who are quick-to-forgive; it’s those who are strongest. The ability to forgive quickly is a sign of strength. How strong are you?

If you’ve been weak in the past, you can begin today to be strong.


5. Monitor Your Beliefs

“Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”

In short, your beliefs will create your destiny. What do you believe? What do you believe about yourself, your future, and your potential? What you believe, you will surely become.

source:PickTheBrain @ FB

May God steal from you all that steals you away from Him.

-Rabia Al-Adawiyah

THIS IS LOVE

This is love:

to fly toward a secret sky,

to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment.

First to let go of life.

Finally, to take a step without feet.

-Rumi

Dialogue between a traveller and the prophet Muhammad [s]

A traveler once came to the Masjid to see the Prophet [PBUH]. After greeting the Prophet [PBUH] he was asked where he was from. The traveler replied that he came from very
far just to get a few questions answered. Following is the dialogue
between the traveler and the Prophet [PBUH]
Traveler: I do not want adhaab (AZAAB/GUNNAH) to be written in my account.
Prophet [PBUH] : Behave well with your parents
Traveler: I want to be known amongst people as an intelligent person.
Prophet [PBUH] : Fear Allah always
Traveler: I want to be counted amongst Allah's favorites.
Prophet [PBUH]: Recite Qur'an every morning and evening
Traveler: I want my heart to always be enlightened. (Roshan and Munawer)
Prophet [PBUH] : Never forget death
Traveler: I never want to be away from Allah's blessing.
Prophet [PBUH]: Always treat fellow creatures well
Traveler: I never want to be harmed by my enemies.
Prophet [PBUH]: Always have faith in only Allah
Traveler: I never want to be humiliated.
Prophet [PBUH] : Be careful of your actions
Traveler: I wish to live long.
Prophet [PBUH]: Always do sile rahm. (Goodness towards blood relations)
Traveler: I want my sustenance to increase.
Prophet [PBUH]: Always be in Wudhoo
Traveler: I wish to stay free of Adhaab (AZAAB-E-QABR) in the grave.
Prophet [PBUH] : Always wear pure (Paak) clothes
Traveler: I never want to burn in hell.
Prophet [PBUH]: Control your eyes and tongue
Traveler: How do I get my sins forgiven?
Prophet [PBUH]: Always ask forgiveness from Allah with a lot of humility
Traveler: I want people to respect me always.
Prophet [PBUH]: Never extend your hands of need at people
Traveler: I want to always be honored.
Prophet [PBUH]: Never humiliate or put down anyone
Traveler: I don't want to be squeezed by fishare qabr. (Squeezing in the grave)
Prophet [PBUH] : Recite Sura-e-Mulk often
Traveler: I want my wealth to increase.
Prophet [PBUH] : Recite Sura-e-Waqia every night
Traveler: I want to be safe and at peace on Day of Judgement.
Prophet [PBUH] : Do Zikr of Allah from dusk to night
Traveler: I want to be in full attention and concentration during prayers.
Prophet [PBUH] : Always do Wudhoo with concentration and attention

Break Free

Aslmskm wr wb.

There's an Islamic saying which basically goes by 'live with the remembrance of death' or 'live for the after life like you're dying and live for the world like you're living forever'

These inspiring words basically trying to encourage us to increase our 'amal for the akhirah and decrease our sins and also not to mention so that we will not get too attach to this world and it's pleasures.

But if we understand it the other way round it will goes like 'live with the remembrance that you're living'.From this you can really learn a lot from it when you reflect upon it.

I just realise that most of us are feeling stress because we are forgetting that we're living.

Eg. When we're obsessed or hoping etc. on something besides Allah,we tend to forget that we're living

like:when a person are too obsessed to buy an expensive shoe,he would try his best to save up his money and sacrifice his daily food(for a student) just to get that shoe which in reality it isn't worth much as to what he had sacrifices.(if you've seen the movie called "Confession of a Shopaholic" you get what i mean..)

And what i meant by 'we forget that we're living' is that we forget to appreciate what we already have and be thankful for it.

When one is obsessed etc. on something besides Allah, it is like he is attaching himself with a big boulder on his back which makes him harder and burdensome to walk, which is the reason why he is stress.

Sometimes he might even sacrifice his kinship with his family and friends due to his obsession.

But in Al-Quran Allah s.w.t refer us as "ummatan wasatan - ummah of the middle path" from just this two words we can understand that Allah s.w.t command us to live in the middle path,not to be too obsessed or hoping too much of something.And if only we put our hope etc. only to Allah alone,it is like we're freeing and releasing ourselves from the boulder that we're attach to.Thus it is easier for us to walk and we would feel refresh.Because when we're living in the present we will fully concentrate ourselves on what we're supposed to do and forget about the other unnecessary stuff and that will get our job done faster and easier and we wouldn't feel stress.

Eg. like sholah-prayer;sometimes during sholah we tend to think about other unnecessary stuff..like we tend to be either thinking about the past or the future etc. and sometimes our heart would not feel the ni'mah and peacefulness of the sholah and it would feel unsatisfied since we're not fully concentrating ourselves in sholah.

But if we remember to live in the present and fully concentrate ourselves on what we're doing,inshaAllah we will feel khusyu' and our hearts will feel satisfied after it.

Or like a homework/project that have been given to us by a teacher,if we're living in the present,we would finish up the task first before doing any other unnecessary things which by the time the teacher ask to hand up the task, we might be the first one to hand in smiling while maybe some of our other friends are still doing it or maybe copying a friend( like you don't know like that..).

easy to say,when we're living we will get our priorities right(fully concentrate what is most important and obligatory for us to do first than the latter) and so we would not feel that much of stress/burdensome etc.

We just need to remember that we're living (in the present) and appreciate what we already have and be thankful for it and inshaAllah we wouldn't feel stress.

Overall what i'm trying to say is that we need to appreciate everything that we still have and always be gratefull for it,inshAllah Allah will increased His blessings and ni'mah on us.When we're thankfull we will feel qana'ah.

There is a saying goes by Imam Syafi'ee:'A true king is the one who feel qana'ah with what he have and not the one who have the whole world in his hands'.

Also we should not get too obsessed or hoping on something that might take us away from forgetting what is most important for us.

If you're the person who likes to read books,i recommend you to try and read this book called 'The Present' by Spencer Johnson.

It's a great and inspiring book which you can really learn a lot from it.

wassalam.

Power and Worth of Bismillah

Syed Murtadha was a great aalim (scholar) who lived many years ago. He had many students who attended his classes.

At one of his classes he noticed that one of the students always came late. One day Syed Murtadha asked the student "Why are you always late?"

The student replied that he lived across the river and always took the first ferry across but the ferry service did not start any earlier.

Syed Murtadha wrote something on a piece of paper, folded it and gave it to the student. "Keep this with you" he said "and you will be able to walk across the river from tomorrow - but do not open the paper."

The next day the student got to the river and put his foot tentatively on the water. He could not believe that he could actually walk on the water.

For the next few days, he got to the classes on time.

One day, he could not hold back his curiosity. He looked inside the folded piece of paper. On it was written Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful).

For a moment he thought - "Is this all that helps me walk on water!" He put the paper in his pocket as usual and went to the river to go to his classes. This time he could not walk on the water and had to wait for the ferry. This meant that he was late for his class.

When the class was over, Syed Murtadha called him over and said "You looked into the paper when I had told you not to!"

With Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful) you can move mountains provided you have trust and faith in Allah.

Hope

Allah Almighty says, "Say: 'My slaves, you who have transgressed against yourselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Truly Allah forgives all wrong actions. He is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful," (W39:50; H39:53) and the Almighty says, "Are any but the ungrateful repaid like this?" (34:17)

and the Almighty says, "My Mercy extends to all things." (7:156)

Abu Dharr reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah the Mighty and Exalted, says, 'Anyone who comes with a good action will have ten like it or more. If anyone comes with a wrong action, the repayment of a wrong action is a wrong action like it or I will forgive him. If anyone approaches Me by a hand-span, I come to him an arm-span. If anyone approaches Me by an arm-span, I come to him two arm spans. If anyone approaches Me walking, I come to him running. If anyone meets Me with mistakes equivalent in weight to the whole earth, having not associated anything with Me, I will meet him with the same amount of forgiveness."

Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'If you had not sinned, Allah would have created other creatures who did sin and ask forgiveness so He could forgive them.'" [Muslim]

Ibn 'Umar said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'On the Day of Rising, a believer will be brought near his Lord until His mercy descends on him and He will ask him to acknowledge his sins and say, 'Do you confess to such-and-such a sin? Do you confess to such-and-such a sin?' He will say, 'Lord, I confess.' He will say, ' I veiled it for you in the world and I forgive you for it today,' and he will be given the page of his good actions."

note to self:
Even if our sins were to be as big as a mountain,we must not lose hope.For losing hope is the work of the devil.

‘We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope’
(Martin Luther King)

‘Do not despair. Be happy in yourself,and call for help from Him who will respond.
Saying, ‘You who love forgiveness, forgive us,O healer of the pain of this old gangrene’
(Rumi)