Gift to mark the return

[Hassan Al Zahrani]

Congratulate all members of the return of the Forum


The problem we faced during the transfer of the site server to another, but we were able to go beyond them Alhamdu Lillah


I thank all concerned and continue to give special thanks to sister "Muslima"


On this occasion I will give a modest gift for all


The gift will be useful for all Insh a Allah


What is the gift?


We will contest for the best post, and the winner will win the Google Ad for a month


Post must be unpublished in other sites,


I hope to hear your opinion and suggestions

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


as salam alykom Akh Hassan


Jazakum Allah khairan


Good idea, but let us put it in a more organised form. How can we decided on the best post???


Well, we will invite other members to vote Insh a Allah and we will set a time limite. Let us say 10 days from today.


Then we close the door for competition.

[AbuMubarak]

The site was down?

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Yes it was AbuMubarak


Just few more details,


Posts Insh a Allah must address Islamic topics, and here are few thought teasing options:


1. Innovative Dawa approaches.


2. In depth meaning of tests and tribulation.


3. Pondering on certain Ayah of Quran.


4. How to support the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam (innovative way).


5. How to respond to insults against Islam, Muslims or ..etc.


6. Fundamental basics of marriage in Islam.


7. <b>Youth, how to approach them.</b>


Insh a Allah all the best.


AbuMubarak are u goint to contribute???


Pls do, sorry I wish you would.

[Suhail]

r u allowed more than 1 post in the contest?

[Suhail]

My Post:


An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck.


One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.


At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.


For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.


Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.


But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.


After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.


“I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”


The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?


That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.”


“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.”


Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”


Each of us has our own unique flaw…


But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.


You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.


To all of my crackpot friends on the board have a great day and remember to smell the flowers, on your side of the path.

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Good start Suhail, Insh a Allah others will come. After the deadline, I m going to create another thread, move the contesting posts and create a vote.


insh a Allah this will be for the best of benefit.

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.


Here is my post, it was actually a lecture delivered by little me in Hong Kong few days ago.


-------------------------


<b>How can we respond to personal attack?</b>


What would you do if you were abused, accused or insulted by somebody? What will be your feelings like? Maybe you will become revengeful by having a desire to fire back at the person who has offended you! Or maybe you will plan evil on how to harm this person just to satisfy your ego.


This is how human beings normally react to personal attack; they are too eager to win over a situation after being defeated just for the sake of ‘self-image’. However, Muslims are not supposed to be “ordinary human beings” to run after the satisfaction of their own selves, on the contrary we should only seek the pleasure from Allah SWT. So how can we respond to personal attack as Muslims?


I want you first to remember that Allah SWT Himself was insulted by those who are ignorant and those who have denied His existence, they said about Allah SWT things which they have no right to say. Some of them have even prescribed for Him a son, which is the greatest abuse one can give to Allah SWT, He said:


“And they say: the Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son. Assuredly ye utter a disastrous thing. Whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains fall in ruins, that they ascribe a son to the Beneficent Allah.”
Qur’an 19:88-91


This is the most abusive thing that you can attribute to Allah SWT’ that He has begotten a son, and not only that, but this son is being worshipped too! But despite all these acts of blasphemy and wickedness, Allah SWT does not punish them instantly, He still giving them many chances to repent and acknowledge Him. He does not stop the rain for example from falling on those who abused Him nor did He leave them without sustainance. Why? Because He is Most Merciful, So shouldn’t we too be merciful and forgive those who have attacked us personally?


On one occasion, Abraham PBUH invited a man to eat, and the moment Abraham lit fire to cook the food, the man rush towards it and prostrated before it. He was a ‘fire worshipper’. Seeing this, Prophet Abraham refused to offer him food and the man left. And immediately the Angel Gabriel came to Abraham PBUH telling him “O Abraham, Allah SWT is saying to you, ‘couldn’t you tolerate this man for an hour when I have tolerated him for 60 years?’ On hearing those words the Prophet Abraham run to the man and said to him “come eat with me, My Lord has blamed me for your sake.” And the man replied. “An Ever Merciful God like yours must be worshipped.” And the man accepted Islam.


Allah SWT was watching this man worshipping FIRE everyday for 60 whole years and yet Allah SWT did not respond to this personal insult. So how much more will you bear?


Listen to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH when he said: “Everyday the ocean says to its Lord, ‘O Allah, give me permission to drown the son of Adam, for he eats Your provision and worships other than You, likewise, everyday the earth says to its Lord, ‘O Allah, give me permission to swallow the son of Adam for he eats Your provision and worships other than You, and the Skies also say ‘O Allah give me permission to crush the son of Adam, for he eats Your provision and worships other than you. Then Allah replies to all of them everyday: “Let them be! For if you have created them, you would have mercy on them”


On the other hand, we human beings can’t stand personal insult, if somebody swears us, we will be boiling and will never be at peace until we swear them back, then they too will respond again with another insult, and so we will be insulting one another all times forgetting our purpose and goal in this life.


The Prophet Moses PBUH once asked Allah SWT to prevent people from abusing him with their tongue, Allah said: “O Moses, I have not done so for Myself, I have created them, and provided for them, and they blaspheme and curse Me.”


How about us? Can’t we learn patience from our Lord who does not attack back those who abused and cursed Him! Please remember that you can never prevent people from abusing you, simply you can’t control their tongues and actions, so learn to let go and don’t disturb your mission by responding to the ignorant. A poet says:


<b>“When the fool speaks…then do not respond to him</b>


for better than to answer him…is silence.”


That is how we should respond to personal attack, by silence which is going to defeat your enemies.


Please note, that I am not referring to physical attack like in times of war for example, or someone is trying to rape your loved ones, or attacking your places of worship etc… all these types of attack, require self defense. However, I am referring to insults that do not cause any serious damage, it might cause slight hurt to your feelings (i.e. ego) but as we said earlier, this is not really an important issue for Muslims.


We talk about abuse, “so and so attacked me and insult me”, but did you think how much the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was exposed to abuse? I can never forget the story of Ta’ef, when the Prophet PBUH walked about 100 km on foot just to present Islam to the people of this City, his feet were bled and injured due to the heat of an open desert. (How I wish that we walk towards our Non Muslim friends, just to invite them to attend an Islamic talk or provide them with some Islamic materials as a gift.). On that Day the Prophet PBUH was stoned by children and he was not permitted to enter the City, it was one of his bitterest days. He cried to Allah SWT and one part of his Du’a/supplication was:


“…If You are not angry at me, then I do not care…”


This is what matters, I don’t care about any insult befall me as a person, but I care if You are angry at me due to any fault on my part, this is what makes me worry, have I delivered the message or not? All his worries were related to his faith and not to his person.


The Angels of the mountains, seeing the Prophet PBUH in this condition they came to him saying that if you ordered to destroy them all, then we will do so, but the prophet PBUH refused saying: “there maybe will arise among them someone who will be guided.”


So don’t ever respond to personal attack, if the matter related to your religion, then it’s a different issue, however if the insult is directed to you, then the best way to respond is to “KEEP SILENT” and “BE HAPPY” because people won’t insult you unless you are successful, Dr. A’ed Al Qarni in his book “Don’t be sad” he said: <b>“a person who is sitting on the ground does not fall, and people do not kick a dead dog</b>”. Meaning, who will care about you if you are not doing any good job? No one, and so normally they turn on successful people, and if we cared too much about what they say, and became busy defending ourselves against their accusations, then we will not have the time to move forward and do Allah’s job.


And so always keep in mind that “MY MESSAGE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MYSELF” so do not ever respond to personal attack because it will never cease unless you give up and don’t do your job.


Ali Ibn Abi Talib was fighting in the battle of Khaibar with a man and he threw him on the floor and was about to kill him, and right before killing him, the man spit on Ali’s face, then what Ali did? He left the man and did not kill him. The man was shocked and went to Ali and told him “You were about to kill me, and when I spit on your face you left me?” so Ali replied: “I was about to kill you for the sake of Allah, but when you spit on my face, I was then going to kill you for myself, and I could not do that.”


Imagine, he is at war and if he killed the man, no one was going to blame him, and yet he just felt that if he killed him now it would be not for Allah’s sake, and so the deed will not be accepted by Allah, so the fighting was not a personal issue, he fought only for a noble cause.


The Prophet Muhammad PBUH had the power to respond to personal attack and to revenge severely from the people of Mecca who have persecuted him and his followers for years, and yet when he gain the power and came back to his beloved City, he forgave everyone. Couldn’t he kill all disbelievers who fought against him? Indeed he could, but he refrains from doing so for the sake of Allah, and on this occasion alone, thousands of people accepted Islam.


A Hindu Professor by the name K.S Ramakrishna Rao, he wrote a book titled “Muhammad the Prophet of Islam”, he was saying that Muhammad PBUH has permitted war in self defense in order to unite human beings, he said:


<b></b>


“This was one of the chief objects why he permitted war in self-defense- to unite human beings. And when this object was achieved, even his worst enemies were pardoned. Even those who had killed his beloved uncle, Hamza, mutilated his dead body, had ripped it open and chewed a piece of his liver.”


He PBUH could have easily killed those offenders. But no, he instead of responding to their evil acts, he shows them an excellent behavior based on kindness and forgiveness which makes them eventually accepts his faith.


The prophet Muhammad Pbuh said: “You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness.” (Al Bukhari & Muslim).


We might know the story of this woman who used to regularly throw trash on the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, and he PBUH never responded to her and one day she did not attack him as usual, so the Prophet PBUH went to her home to ask about her condition. What an excellent and healthy behavior.


The servant of the Prophet Muhammad PBHU said about him: “I served the prophet for ten years, and he never said 'uf' (a word indicating impatience and irritation) to me and never blamed me by saying, 'Why did you do so or why didn't you do so?'" (Sahih Al-Bukhari)


In other words, when something hurts you personally, let it go. Allah SWT says: “Hold to forgiveness, command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant.” Qur’an 7:199


The question now is, why shouldn’t we respond to personal attack? There are people who might say, “He pressed on my nerve badly” or “I can’t take his insult anymore” and all these kinds of complaining and readiness of attacking back. To those people I would like to remind them of one verse from the Qur’an where Allah SWT says:


“It may be that Allah will grant love (and friendship) between you and those whom you (now) hold as enemies.” Que’an 60:7


Allah SWT here is telling us that you never know what is going to happen tomorrow, these who consider you as their enemy, they might be guided soon, and so you have to forgive and let go. Who knows maybe those people who accuse you now seeing your excellent behavior, they might be guided too and you will be rewarded for it as well.


Conclusion:


You can never control people’s criticism and abusive words as long as you are productive in the society and this kind of ‘war of words’ seems to be endless, and it is due to jealousy, envy, Satan temptation and loving one’s self more than anything else. And so the more you give, produce and have an effect on people, the more you will be criticized and insulted. The only time where people will stop even thinking about you, is when you abandon what you do. ““a person who is sitting on the ground does not fall, and people do not kick a dead dog”


So don’t let their words stop you from doing your job, and so the best way to respond to personal attack is to ignore what you heard and move on.


When you get hurt from someone, instead of leaving what you do just remember Allah SWT who was Himself insulted by His creation and yet He does not punish them, He still giving them chances to repent. Remember also the Prophet Muhammad PBUH who never abandoned the message even though he was hurt, insulted and abused plenty of times but yet he forgave all the time. He said:


“Verily, Allah ordered me to keep relations with those who cut me off, to forgive the one who done an injustice with me, and give to those who withhold from me.”


May Allah grant us patience and protect us from Satan who is our only enemy, and may He assist us all in delivering His message and bring peace into our hearts when we are abused, accused or insulted. May He keep us honest; purify our hearts from envy, hypocrisy, showing off and bad manners. Ameen.


<b>SORRY FOR LONG POST.</b>


Salam

[Hassan Al Zahrani]

I thank everyone for their reply


You can see the result of Google ads on this subject


http://islamsms.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=5090


Received more than 240 visitors since yesterday :D

[Hassan Al Zahrani]

Thank you Suhail


Excellent post, but I read an article that had been the same sense