Death bed (updated 23.6.07)
It cannot be done in one day and that’s for sure! Islam did not become known in a day. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad had to face a series of challenges before he "completed" Islam. If we let these things go easy, nothing will be achieved. These negativities will be one of the contributing factors of our sad demise because besides social illnesses of youth in a nation, there are also politics, personal achievement, conflicting objectives, vanity fair and popularity.
We often hear problematic occurrences hailed from home and that fact is more apparent more so than ever. The importance of the world’s paradise (home sweet home) is often overlooked as secondary education centers are heavily relied upon. Seriously! Majority of parents especially in this decade take care of things with money while they look for more venues to quadruple their earnings. What they do not realize is that they are not teaching their offspring in the rightly way. Most parents think that sending their kids to "international school" (I care not to mention names) will give their kids more "education" and it would be more "trendy". Well, do they? really? are they "smarter"? You can imagine how "smart" parents are when it comes to parenting. Allah knows Best!
When two people, male and female are legally wedded, they are bonded with a responsibility which is to take care of the well-being of the family as a whole. Supplying halal food, giving a cozy shelter and some money for the household are just some of the obligatory needs that a man has to do. Not only that, a father would have to play a role in which he has to portray a good example so that the child will look up to him and be proud of him.
Ironically and sadly, most of the adolescents in our society have the tendency to look up to celebrities (actors & actresses); what they wear, what they like; what they eat; how they talk and what they do. The saddest story is that these idols can be seen as corrupted in variety of ways. Partying, drinking, staying up all night blabbering, jousting, gambling, having different sex partners..you get the picture. The worse thing is these idols they worship so much are not muslims. Its like the tale about the blind leading the blind. If a person follows an already-lost-person, how can you not expect your child will be more lost?
Key to successful happiness is knowledge and with the knowledge that one has can overcome whatever obstacle that is along the way. Unfortunately, many of us have knowledge but when it comes to practicing it, its hard to come by. We just like to talk and fullstop. This culprit is called ignorance. Don't you just like the way that sounds? A sight for sore eyes how things have become ever since kristal merged with astro. Things were a little traditional and conservative. and that is good because everyone would dress nicely, covered and unexposed. Afterwards, the exposure of the videos and profanity aired in the tube left everyone with a breath of life. It was like discovering there is life on Mars after all. It took everyone by storm and that made a huge impact on how things are now.
Most of us just never ask for help anymore. You do? To humans? What do they know? To the same person who created the problem in the first place. How about Allah for a change? Its the lack of confidence and discipline that makes our prayers (doa) not granted. Say what? If we look around us, when a doa is being read, some would just rest their hands on their lap while some looked as if they can't wait for the doa to be over. There are also those who likes to yawn, to crack their knuckles, read books? and so on. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad cries every time he reads a prayer. It all comes down to sincerity. Have you ever?
As mentioned earlier, a father should set a good example for his children and not just some wacky guy with a bad hairdo. A father needs know the rights of each an everyone in the family. For example, a child has many rights but the 3 most important principles a father needs to give to his descent are:
1) To give the child a mother how has taqwa (before getting married);
2) Teach his children Qur'an;
3) Give the child a good name which has good meanings.
The husband also needs to know what rights a wife has. This is by far the to most vital factor if one intent to have a till-death-do-us-apart marriage. Giving permissible (halal) livelihood; food and clothing, fulfilling her physical and mental needs and an adequate place to release the bitter sweet taste of life. In Islam, the responsibility and rights work both ways and everyone is a winner. The guidelines are meant to be obliged is not open for questioning. Who dares to defy the rules given by Allah!!? He is The Guide, Infallible Teacher, and Knower (Ar-Rasyiid) and The Most Wise (Al Hakiim).
Some of the responsibilities of a wife to a husband are as follows:
1) ask permission to leave the house;
2) wife must be faithful, trustworthy and honest;
3) not letting just anyone into the house without the husband's consent especially male;
4) to take care of her pride and self-respect;
5) to keep her husband's secrets and so on
We hear so many people talking, discussing social issues and bad behaviours in a country BUT we see no action. Talking is cheap but action is as far as the eye can see. What makes a man a man or what makes a woman a woman? Well, in order for a child to grow up and become 'strong', the bread winner needs to supply the child with food which is not only nutritious/healthy but also halal.
A father or a mother giving halal food to their children would mean, a secure life on earth and hereafter. God's willing. This is because, a child growing up with halal food would have a more obedient attitude towards Islam. You are what you eat. Halal food would effectively mean, satan (devil) would not be able to travel into their blood stream as all we consumed are halal food BUT bear in mind that satan will not give up just like that as he will try to find other ways to get into adam's seeds.
There are a number of ways satan will get into our system. There are as follow:
1) Through yawning (that is why it is a good habit to cover your mouth with your right hand when you yawn as this was done by our beloved Prophet Muhammad or try to cover your mouth as hard as you can). If you don't cover your mouth, satan will slowly make you lazy. If due to some reason that you are unable to cover your mouth when yawning, you could say "aa u'dzubillah himinasy shaiton nirrajiim"
2) Read basmalah (bismillahirrahmanirrahim) evertime you do something. Perhaps, this is especially important for those who are married because if you just 'jump' your wife without saying any prayers, if you "struck a goldmine", then, your child will have a habit of satan such as stubbornness, lazy, bad-tempered and so on. This is because satan will be part of the action as well. Input and output?
When I say every time, I DO mean all the time. Such as:
a)before wearing your daily attire. For example undergarments, trousers, shirts, socks and so on
b)Before eating; if not you will for sure make satan fat;
c)before entering the toilet;
d)before you sleep (the very least you can do)
One day 2 satans met; one was skinny+naked and the other was really healthy fat+properly dressed. So the skinny satan asked the fat one how did he become so big, healthy and sharp (good looking?). So he started to tell the skinny guy what happened. I have found the best buddy EVER!
Everytime he eats or drinks, he doesn't recite any doa' or read basmalah and he does the same when putting on his pants and trousers. Then, the fat satan was looking at this skinny satan and asked why did he become so skinny. He then said that the human I followed always recite basmalah before he eats or drinks and always recite basmalah before he wears his attire. I wonder how many of us have made satan looked sleek?
Satan is weak really and unfortunately most humans tend to give up easily. We would normally give in to our desires and lusts. Most of us let satan do the talking/action/thinking for us and this would primarily mean you are worshiping satan when the only God that everyone must worship is Allah. During the day when hell breaks loose, those who followed the footsteps of satan will point fingers at him and blame him for all the sins we have committed but REMEMBER, on that day, he will act as if he had nothing to do with your actions. This was mentioned in the Qur'an. Satan promises to you is nothing more than just fabricated lies.
We often hear cases where engagements being slumped and weddings being canceled. Some of you might not have heard this but on the day a man and a female get married, satan will cry because there will be less people who will have sexual intercourse illegally. So, satan and his evil squad will try to tempt either the bride or the groom to call off their engagement or their wedding. Are we going to let satan rule us?
Other ways to pervent satan from ruining our mind is by remembering Allah. That He is always present, that He is Watching, that our life IS in His Commands. This is quite difficult for amateurs, let alone beginners. It was mentioned earlier that patience is always the key. You might think that repetitions are annoying but you might need to consider this. Al Qur'an itself is repetitive. This is because Allah wants to be reminded over and over again of a particular message/warning/news until its glued in our stubborn head. Repetition does not seemed to sound so bad after all.
It is strongly recommended that if one wants to have a more direct impact on the Qur'an, don't just read the Qur'an but understand its meanings. The best way to this is by finding a Qur'an which has translations in your language. Just imagine reading a book in a spanish language, you pronounced it correctly but it just doesn't make to sense to you. The same goes for the Qur'an. If one reads the Qur'an but does not understand a single word he or she is uttering, how can one "feel" the verses of the Qur'an? Satan hates and get away from those who 1) reads the Qur'an, 2) understand its meanings, and 3) exercise what is in the Qur'an.
To be cont'd..
Allah's willing
Allah save us all..
