Check your heart and mind and examine your relationship with Allah, because a person may be denied provision because of sins that he commits. Persist in beseeching forgiveness and in worshipping & it will relieve your worries and stress. It was narrated in some reports that whoever persists in praying for forgiveness, Allah will grant him a way out from every worry and hardship and will grant him provision from sources he never considered

What every Muslim is obliged to do is to love for his brother what he loves for himself of good things, and to hate for his brother what he hates for himself of bad things. This does not mean that he cannot like for himself what he likes for others. If he sees that his brother has something that he does not have, and he wishes that he had it too, this is ghibtah (envy that is free from malice). If he wishes that the blessing would be taken away from his brother, it is called hasad (destructive jealousy).

Some people dislike this transient world and long for that which is with Allah of reward, and who love to meet Allah. Hence some of the righteous forefathers said: (The gift of the believer is death) For his heart is attached to the Hereafter. Yet despite his dislike for this world, he carries out his duties towards Allah and His slaves and he strives to do good as much as he can. Allah says (interp of meaning): (And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty [i.e. death]" [al-Hijr 15:99]

Al-Nawawi said: The scholars said that persisting in a minor sin makes it a major sin. It was narrated from 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbaas, and others that there is no major sin with prayers for forgiveness and no minor sin if one persists in it. What this means is that a major sin may be erased by praying for forgiveness, but a minor sin may become a major sin if one persists in it.

The Prophet alaihi issalaam commanded us to control our tongues in more than one hadeeth. Al-Tirmidhi narrated from 'Uqbah ibn 'Aamir: (I said, "O Messenger of Allah, what is salvation?" He said, "Control your tongue, keep to your house, and weep over your sin.") (Sahih)

Remembrance of Allah and mentioning His praises likewise has its many pleasures, not the least of which are many rewards in Heaven, such as rich palaces and rivers of pure water, distinct wine, and clear honey, and bountiful food, drinks and exotic fruits, and extravagant gowns and priceless adornments, and everlasting servants and Hoor Al-Ein (Beautiful woman of heaven), and songs. So if one's faith in these rewards and blessings is strong, one will be prepared and even eager to abandon forbidden pleasures.

One cannot deny that there are pleasures in disobedience - in drinking alcohol one experiences a certain enjoyment; likewise in wealth gained from bribery or stealing, there are perceived benefits; many are drawn to beautiful men or women, taking boyfriends or girlfriends, observing pornography, or even worse, fornication, etc. naturally, people would not avoid a given pleasure unless they can exchange it for a better one.

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Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.


14-02-2007


By Brad A. Greenberg


NORTHRIDGE - On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X walked onto a stage in New York's Audubon Ballroom to preach his message of African-American freedom by any means necessary.


It was a message he had delivered hundreds of times. But within moments, three members of the Nation of Islam rushed the stage. He was shot 15 times.


"This was not somebody on a grassy knoll," his eldest daughter, Attallah Shabazz, told an audience Monday in Cal State Northridge. "This was in a room like this."


Shabazz spoke to about 250 students and faculty - black and white, Muslim and non-Muslim - about her father's legacy as an African-American and Muslim leader.


"He didn't leave this Earth knowing he would matter 42 years later," she said. "That is a conversation I have with God: That if you live right, you will be remembered."


Shabazz was invited by the Muslim Student Association to highlight Cal State Northridge's events for Black History Month. The event, co-sponsored by the Black Student Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, included a screening of the Malcolm X PBS documentary "Make It Plain," followed by a half-hour Q&A with Shabazz.


"A lot of us wonder why a Muslim organization doing an event for Black History Month," association President Zabie Mansoory said in a brief introduction. "An interesting piece of information: 40 percent of Muslims in America are African American."


The film spanned Malcolm's life - from teenage hustler to Nation of Islam spokesman to the movement's antagonist and finally its victim - showing how radical his message was at a time when Martin Luther King Jr. was preaching nonviolence.


Malcolm, whom the film said evaded service in World War II by telling the draft board he wanted to organize black soldiers to kill whites, told African Americans that if they weren't willing to fight for themselves, no one would be.


"Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet? ... Who taught you to hate yourself as God created you?" he asks in the beginning of the film.


After a falling out with Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm underwent another transformation in 1964. He had attended hajj, the journey to Mecca that every able Muslim is instructed to do once. And he returned a Sunni Muslim, suddenly able to embrace nonblack Muslims, one of his many legacies.


"Malcolm X is one of my heroes," said Sarah Chaudhry, a 19-year-old Muslim of Pakistani descent. "He was one of us."


http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_5216167

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK00xTkMGO0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oLzsNHZu2o