Very Misleading!

Have you ever been to masjid, where after solat you hear the imam chanting bits of zikr, ayat-ul-Quran. Among the famous is the verse..

(Al-Baqarah : 163)

..then, brief pause (to take the next breath, actually i would rather said half of breath)

the imam continues with..

(al-Baqarah : 255)

which makes us think that this verse (ayat Kursi)
comes next to the previous verse (wa ila hukum...)


..which is not.


So what is the correct verse (before and after) for both ayat?

(al- Baqarah : 163 - 164 )

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(al- Baqarah : 254 - 255 )

I don't know maybe the imam just performing his routine zikr.
But to layman, it gives a wrong impression of what verse comes after the next.
At least stop a little bit longer. Or maybe he could put other verse in between.


. . that is because I have seen a person who lead the solat (imam) made this mistake. Clearly he has been mislead by our *sadly to say* Malay culture..

Hmm....

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You are dead. Lets die again.

Imagine you are dead.

.. and you have been granted Jannah by Allah. (aamin)

Now imagine all the bliss of paradise, the food, the everlasting youth, beautiful maiden/girlfriend/wife are all granted.

** details are spared as it is not the focus of the topic,
sorry
=)

Suddenly Allah offers you something – to return to earth and offers you the whole world and whatever is in it. Would you accept it?

Of course if Allah were to offer that to you now - while you are still living here on earth –

why not??

But considering having ‘entering Jannah’, who would ever think of coming back to this world?
Only silly people do accept the offer i guess..

As silly as it sounds, surprisingly there is a group of people who DO WANT to return to this worldly life
.. these people must be joking with themselves..

Anyway..
Who are these 'silly' people?

To my surprise the answer is there in Sahih Bukhari:

Narated By Anas bin Malik :

The Prophet said, "Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah (in the Hereafter) would wish to come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it,

except the martyr (shahid) who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again (in Allah's cause)."

Having dead and entering Jannah, and yet wish to relive the live of the world to get killed (again?) .. for Allah’s cause of course. Now that hadith really hit me hard. Although it is not the first i’ve heard of it. But somehow maybe this time seeing it in another perspective . There must be something really special that Allah has to offer for these matyr -those who died for Allah. (maybe i’ll include the Hadith and elaborate further in my next post, insyaAllah)

So how do things apply to us?
What would we do if we are offered the same offer?
Are we willing to struggle for Islam and die for Allah?

.. if so..

What are we waiting for?

While its true that the best is to die as shahid, but that does not mean you should go for suicide bombing and get yourself killed.

Struggling for Islam does not necessarily means declaring war, adopting a violence approach.

You could strive to be the best in your own field.

If you are a doctor – be the best specialist. Be like Ibnu Sina.
If you are a engineer – create the best car, space station, and other megastructure.
If you are a scientist - prove the truth of al-Quran scientifically. Make research more on halal products.
If you are teacher - teach Islamic values to the young ones.
If you are a . . . .

.. and whatever you do. Always do it for Islam.

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I want to live at the center!

Narrated by Abu Huraira:

"O Allah's Apostle ! Shall we acquaint the people with the is good news?" He said, "Paradise has one-hundred grades which Allah has reserved for the Mujahidin who fight in His Cause, and the distance between each of two grades is like the distance between the Heaven and the Earth. So, when you ask Allah (for something), ask for Al-firdaus which is the middle (best) and highest part of Paradise."

The sub-narrator added,

"I think the Prophet also said, 'Above it (i.e. Al-Firdaus) is the Throne of Beneficent (Arsh Ar- Rahman), and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise."

-Bukhari & Muslim.

From this hadith, we can bring about few things.

First – I m paraphrasing the hadith actually
What i can imagine about Jannah,
there is a very high land/place (compared to other place) in Jannah, the place where only those chosen stay. Rivers of Jannah starts there.

Wow, i surely can imagine something.. maybe there is very high mountain at the center with waterfall pouring from the middle? Who knows..

This picture has nothing to do with the real Jannah.. its just me imagining things..

Isn't jannah >> “ their eyes had never ever beheld before, their ears never ever heard before nor their hearts had ever experienced before”

**can’t remember which hadith

Second.

while we know that Jannah is a place of eternal bliss, almost every ni’mah imaginable in this world within grasp, it appears that there are different levels of Jannah (‘quality’ - i assume).

As what has been stated in the hadith,

“ Al-firdaus which is the middle (best) and highest part of Paradise”

It clearly shows different status, class, prestige, kudos, glory for those who live at the center of the Jannah compared to – lets say - those staying on the periphery (although we know that paradise is as far as the eye can see, even million times that). What more appealing is fact that the Arsh of Ar-Rahman is just above it. And lets not forget its the place where rivers in Jannah starts.

I’ll like to make a simple comparison regarding this hadith with what we see in our live.
Most people, if given choice, I m sure would like to live in city (minus the traffic jam)

Am i right?
Who would like to live in the outskirt?

In big city you’ll find best food of the town.
In big city you’ll find the latest fashion.
Latest movies are only released in big cities.
Celebrities and famous people live in city.
You’ll get the best service in the city.
(i believe) The same principle can be applied to Jannah.

People who live further from the middle of Jannah (al-Firdaus) do feel a bit jealous. (i’ve read a hadith once) That is because they are of a (slight) lower rank than those chosen to live in the middle.

I think by now you should get my point.. (i need to limit my post for a-2 minute-go through)

In short..
If you wish to live at the center, to become the celebrity of Jannah, and be close to your God..
be a Mujahidin..

..or at least, strive your best for Islam.

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