Islam Is Great

Beautiful Message written in arabic language
      لكن
تذكر  ان  ما تصنعه  الْيوم  لنفسك  ستكسبه في  الغد  سالبا  او  موجبا
لكن  تذكر  أيضا  ان  الحياة  عبر 
قال تعالى
فَاعْتَبِرُوا يَا أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ
وايضاً قال
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَا أُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

A rich man looked through his window and saw a poor man picking something from his dustbin ... He said, Thank GOD I'm not poor;

نظر أحد الأغنياء من خلال نافِذتِه فرأى فقيراً يلتقط شيئاً ما من سلَّة القُمامَة فَحَمَد الله وشَكَرَهُ أنه ليس فقيراً؛

The poor man looked around and saw a naked man misbehaving on the street ... He said, Thank GOD I'm not mad;

نظر الرجل المسكين حوله وشاهد رجُلاً عارياً يُسِيء السلوك في الشارع وقال الحَمْدُ لله أني لسْتُ بِمَجْنُون؛

The mad man looked ahead and saw an ambulance carrying a patient ... He said, Thank GOD am not sick;

نظر الرجل المجنون إلى الأمام ورأى سيارة إسعاف تَقِلُ مَرِيضًا وقال الحمد لله أَنِي لسْتُ مَرِيضًا؛

Then a sick person in hospital saw a trolley taking a dead body to the mortuary ... He said, Thank GOD I'm not dead;

ومِن ثُم رأى مَرِيضٌ في المُستشْفَى عربةً تَنْقِل جثةً إلى المشرحة فَحَمَد الله وشَكَرَهُ أنه لا يزال حيٌ يُرْزَق؛

Only a dead person cannot thank God;

المَوتَى هُمْ وَحْدَهُم الذين لا يَستطِيعوُن الكلام وشُكْر الله؛

Why don't you thank GOD today for all your blessings and for the gift of life ... for another beautiful day;

فبما أنك لازلت حياً تُرْزَق فلماذا لا تبادر بِشُكْر المَوْلَى عَزَّ وجَلْ على مَنِّهِ وكَرَمهِ وفَضْلِهِ وعلى هبة الحياة ومَنْحِك يوم آخَر جَمِيل؛

What is LIFE?
To understand life better, you have to go to 3 locations:

ماهي الحياة؟
لكي تفهم معنى الحياة،   بصورةٍ أفضل، عليك بالتوجه إلى ٣ أماكن:

1. Hospital
2. Prison
3. Cemetery

١. المستشفى
٢. السجن
*٣. المقبرة

At the Hospital, you will understand that nothing is more beautiful than HEALTH.

في المستشفى سَتُدْرِك أن  لا شيئ يضاهي نِعْمَة الصِحَة والعافِيَة

 In the Prison, you'll see that FREEDOM is the most precious thing

وفي السجن سَتَعْلَم  أن الحرية لا تُقَدَر بِثَمَن

 At the Cemetery, you will realize that life is worth nothing. The ground that we walk today will be our roof tomorrow.

في المَقبَرَة، سَتُدْرِك أن الحياة لا تُساوِي شيئاً وأن الأرض التي نمْشِى عليها اليوم وستكون السقف الذِي نلتَحِف به غدا؛

Sad Truth* :  We all come with Nothing and we will go with Nothing ... Let us, therefore, remain humble and be thankful & grateful to God at all times for everything.

Could you please share this with someone else, and let them know that God loves them
______
96% of people won't share it, but if you are 1 of 4% share this truth to your friends.

Beautifully written by a Chinese revert sister. (It is written to the killer). 

(I) Appreciate that you made the effort to find out the timing of our noon prayer.

Appreciate that you learnt more about our religion to know that Fridays are the days the men go to the Mosques for their congregational prayers.

But I guess there were some things you, rather unfortunately, didn’t get to learn. 

Perhaps you didn’t know that what you did made them Martyrs. 

And how you have single-handedly raised the statuses of our brothers and sisters in the eyes of their beloved Creator with your actions. And how, through your actions, they will be raised as the most righteous and pious of Muslims. 

Perhaps you didn’t know that doing what you did, at the time and place you chose, it actually meant that the last words that escaped their lips were probably words of remembrance and praise of Allah. Which is a noble end many Muslims could only dream of. 

And perhaps you didn’t know, but what you did would almost guarantee them paradise. 

Appreciate that you showed the world how Muslims welcome, with open arms, even people like yourself into our Mosques, which is our second home. 

Appreciate you for showing that our mosques have no locks or gates, and are unguarded because everyone and anyone is welcome to be with us.

Appreciate you for allowing the world to see the powerful image of a man you injured, lying on back on the stretcher with his index finger raised high, as a declaration of his faith and complete trust in Allah. 

Appreciate how you brought the Churches and communities together to stand with us Muslims. 

Appreciate that you made countless New Zealanders come out of their homes to visit the mosques nearest to them with flowers with beautiful messages of peace and love.

You have broken many many hearts and you have made the world weep. You have left a huge void. 

But what you also have done have brought us closer together. And it has strengthened our faith and resolve.

In the coming weeks, more people will turn up in the Mosques, a place you hate so much, fortified by the strength in their faith, and inspired by their fallen brothers and sisters.

In the coming weeks, more non Muslims will turn up at the gates of mosques with fresh flowers and beautifully handwritten notes. They may not have known where the mosques in their area was. But now, they do. All because of you.

You may have achieved your aim of intended destruction, but I guess you failed to incite hatred, fear and despair in all of us. 

And while I understand that it may have been your objective, I hate to say that after all of that elaborate planning, and the perverse and wretched efforts on your part, you still failed to drive a divide among the the Muslims and non-Muslims in the world.

For that, I can’t say that I’m sorry.
(A Radiant Muslim)

-Story of Ewliyah Nalıncı Mimi Dede from Istanbul

Sultan Murad, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire would often anonymously go into the midst of the people and see their state. One evening, he felt an uneasiness in himself and the urge to go out. He called for his head of security and and out they went. They came to a busy vicinity,and found a man lying on the ground. The Sultan prodded him but he was dead and the people were going about their own business. Nobody seemed to care about the dead man lying on the ground.

The Sultan called upon the people. they didn't recognize him and asked him what he wanted. He said, "Why is this man lying dead on the ground and why does no one seem to care?
Where is his family? "They replied, "He is so and so, the drunkard and fornicator!"

The Sultan said, "Is he not from the Ummah of Muhammad SAW? Now help me carry him to his house" The people carried the dead man with the Sultan to his house and once they reached, they all left. The Sultan and his assistant remained.
When the man's wife saw his dead body, she began weeping. She said to his dead body, "Allah have mercy on you! O friend of Allah! I bear witness that you are from the pious ones.

"The Sultan was bewildered. He said, "How is he from the pious ones when the people say such and such things about him. So much so that no one even cared he was dead?"

She replied, "I was expecting that. My husband would go to the tavern every night and buy as much wine as he could. He would then bring it home and pour it all down the drain. He would then say, "I saved the Muslims a little today." He would then go to a prostitute, give her some money to bring her to our house and recite Quran to the woman till the morning. And he would say, "Today I saved a young woman and the youth of the believers from vice."

The people would see him buy wine and they would see him go to the prostitutes and they would consequently talk about him. One day I said to him, "When you die, there will be no one to bathe you, there will be no one to pray over you and there will be no one to bury you!"

He laughed and replied, "Don't fear, the Sultan of the believers, along with the pious ones shall pray over my body. "The Sultan began crying. He said, "By Allah! He has said the truth, for I am Sultan Murad. Tomorrow we shall bathe him, pray over him and bury him." And it so happened that the Sultan, the scholars, the pious people and the masses prayed over him.

We judge people by what we see and what we hear from others. Only if we were to see what was concealed in their hearts, a secret between them and their Allah.

"O you who believe, abstain from many of the suspicions. Some suspicions are sins. And do not be curious (to find out faults of others), and do not backbite one another. Does one of you like that he eats the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it. And fear Allah. Surely Allah is Most-Relenting, Very-Merciful." (Quran 49:12)

Special thanks to Sami A. Aziz

A study conducted by Prof. Hussain Askari of George Washington University entitled *“How Islamic are the Islamic Countries"* showed that most of the countries that apply *Islamic Principles* in their daily lives are not ones that are traditionally Muslim.

New Zealand ranked 1st,
Luxembourg 2nd,
Ireland 3rd,
Iceland 4th,
Finland 5th,
Denmark 6th
Canada 7th.
Malaysia 38th,
Kuwait 48th,
Bahrain 64th

and the surprise??
*Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked 131st*.

The study, published in the *Global Economy Journal* might be shocking to most of us but when we look around us and see the reality of the situation, we find that the results of the study are accurate and true.

As Muslims we seem to care only about performing religious Obligations/Rituals/Sunnah (prayer, fasting, niqab, beards, etc), reading the Qur’an and the Hadiths, but we don't practice what we espouse. We listen to religious lessons and sermons more than the other people on the face of the earth, but we are still not the best of Nations. In the last 60 years, we have listened to 3,000 Friday sermons.

A Chinese merchant once said: “Muslim merchants come to me and ask me to put fake international labels and brands on their goods. When I invite them to eat, they refuse because the food is not Halal. So it is Halal for them to sell fake goods?”

A Japanese Muslim said: “I traveled to the West and saw Islam in practice applied in the daily life of non-Muslims. I traveled to the East, I saw Islam but did not see any Muslims. I thank Allah I knew Islam before I knew how Muslims act.”

Religion should not be reduced to Prayer and Fasting. It is a way of life and it is about how we treat others.

Performing a religious obligation is up to you and it is something between you and Allah. However, good ethics is something between you and other people. In other words, if we do not put Islamic ethics into action and practice, corruption will become rampant and disgrace will be our future.

We should not judge a person based on how he performs religious obligations for he might be a hypocrite.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, the bankrupt of my nation are those who come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers, fasting and charity, but also with insults, slander, consuming wealth, shedding and beating others.”

I believe *Islam* (external aspect of faith) is incomplete without *Imaan* (internal aspect of faith) and *Ihsaan* (social aspect of faith). Ponder, understand and realize this.

Lord Bernard Shaw is said to have said:

*Islam is the best religion and Muslims are the worst followers.

A brother moved to Makkah many years ago. He was a high flying manager of major departmental stores in U.K., Malaysia and China.
He had been brought in by Bin Dawood stores as a regional manager for the Makkah region. He was from England.

After living and working in Saudi for some time, he later narrated how he found it so strange, unique and uplifting in how business was done in Saudi.

Here were the examples he gave:

1. In Makkah, next to a major *Bin Dawood superstore* a rival new company were entering the kingdom and decided to open a mega store right next to Bin Dawood, within metres.
The brother was perturbed/disturbed, "Why can't they open just somewhere else."
The owners of Bin Dawood frowned on his outlook. They ordered him to send his workers to the other store being setup and offer them tea and food and any help they needed to setup!
The brother was left astounded/shock. The Bin Dawood management simply replied, "Our rizq is fixed, they cannot take even one Riyal from what has been decreed upon us. So why not gain ‘ajr’ and help them."

2. The owner of *AlFakieh poultry* in Saudi, he has a famous mosque in MAKKAH (Masjid Faqih). He is very rich ماشاء الله تبارك الله and religious. He found out that his major rival AlWatania was floundering/struggling with huge debts of a million plus riyals. So he one day sent a cheque to the owner of AlWatania and said, "Pay off your debt, and pay me back, whenever you can." He had the opportunity to become the sole major distributor of chicken but instead he decided to help his main rival.
ماشاء الله تبارك الله

I personally feel we have been affected growing up in the west with the capitalistic and consumer mindset, that is in every part of our lives.
It removes *Tawakkul* and the *muhabbah/love of brotherhood from our hearts.*
Just some advice. Don't worry about others, if we do our work with *Ihsan* and *If Allah gives us tawfeeq* then we will never have our success limited by others.

*BECOME A WELL WISHER.*

[Source: Forwarded from Shaykh Abdul Raheem Makkah Al Mukarramah.]

Islam shares the same Abrahamic heritage as Judaism and Christianity and, therefore, espouses many similar beliefs and practices. Among them are belief in angels, prophets and scriptures and practices such as prayer, fasting and charity. Adherents are called “Muslims” and number over 1.5 billion. They pray to Allah, the same God Jesus worshipped. Jesus called God “Eloi” (Mark 15:34). But the difference is in language only. Hispanics call God “Dios”. French call God “Dieu”. Arab Jews and Christians call God “Allah”. But they're all the same God. Muslims believe God revealed the same general message to all true prophets but that message was changed over time. To correct these changes God revealed His will a final time in the Qur'an and promised to preserve it. Although preserved, the Qur'an is greatly misunderstood by those without knowledge, including some Muslims. “Holy war” appears no where in the Arabic text and verses about violence do not condone terrorism. Rather they permit self-defense, capital punishment and protecting the weak from oppression. The Qur'an also protects the rights of women and Islam forbids their mistreatment. True Islam teaches spirituality, morality, pure monotheism, modesty, education and serving family and society. It views all humans as equal in the eyes of God, being distinguished only by their deeds. Such deeds will be judged after death by the All-Knowing Creator who will reward or punish with perfect justice.

30 Facts:

1) "Islam" means "surrender" or "submission". "Salam" (which means "peace") is the root word of "Islam". In a religious context the word "Islam" means "the surrendering of one's will (without compulsion) to the true will of God in an effort to achieve peace".

2) "Muslim" means "anyone or anything that surrenders itself to the true will of God". By this definition, everything in nature (trees, animals, planets, etc.) are "muslims" because they are in a state of surrender to God's will. In other words, they are fulfilling the purpose for which God created them.

3) Islam is not a new religion or cult. It is a universal way of life and civilization. Studies show that between 1.5 and 1.8 billion people in the world identify their religion as Islam. Along with Judaism and Christianity it traces its roots through Prophet Abraham and back to the first humans Adam and Eve.

4) There are five pillars of practice in Islam. These practices must be undertaken with the best of effort in order to be considered a true Muslim: A) Declaration of faith in One God and that Muhammad is a prophet of God. B) Formal prayer five times a day. C) Poor-due "tax" - 2.5% of one's excess wealth given to the needy once a year. D) Fasting during the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. E) Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, if physically and financially able.

5) There are six articles of faith in Islam. These are the basic beliefs that one must have in order to be considered a true Muslim. They are belief in: A) the One God. B) all of the true prophets of God. C) the original scriptures revealed to Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad. D) the angels. E) the Day of Judgment and the Hereafter. F) destiny.

6) Islam is a complete way of life that governs all facets of life: moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, social, economical, etc.

7) Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. To become Muslim, a person of any race or culture must say a simple statement, the shahadah, that bears witness to the belief in the One God and that Muhammad is a prophet of God.

8) "Allah" is an Arabic word that means "God". Muslims also believe that "Allah" is the personal name of God.

9) Allah is not the God of Muslims only. He is the God of all people and all creation. Just because people refer to God using different terms does not mean there are different gods. Many Hispanics refer to God as "Dios" and many French refer to God as "Dieu" yet they mean the same God. Many Arab Jews and Arab Christians call God "Allah" and the word "Allah" (in Arabic script) appears on the walls of many Arab churches and on the pages of Arabic Bibles. Although the understanding of God may differ between the various faith groups, it does not change the fact that the One Lord and Creator of the Universe is the God of all people.

10) The Islamic concept of God is that He is loving, merciful and compassionate. Islam also teaches that He is all-knowing and the perfect judge of affairs, and will punish (or forgive) accordingly. However, Allah once said to Muhammad, “My mercy prevails over my wrath”. So Islam teaches a balance between fear and hope, protecting one from both complacency and despair.

11) Muslims believe that God has revealed 99 of His names, or attributes, in the Qur'an. It is through these names that one can come to know the Creator. A few of these names are the All-Merciful, the All-Knower, the Protector, the Provider, the Near, the First, the Last, the Hidden and the Source of All Peace.

12) The Christian concept of "vicarious atonement" (the idea that Jesus died for the sins of humanity) is alien to the Islamic concept of personal responsibility. Islam teaches that on the Day of Judgment every person will be resurrected and will be accountable to God for their every word and deed. Consequently, a practicing Muslim is always striving to be righteous while hoping and praying for God's acceptance and grace.

13) Muslims believe in all of the true prophets that preceded Muhammad, from Adam to Jesus. Muslims believe they brought the same message of voluntarily surrendering to God's will (islam, in a generic sense) to different peoples at different times. Muslims also believe they were "muslims" (again, in a generic sense) since they followed God's true guidance and surrendered their will to Him.

14) Muslims neither worship Muhammad nor pray through him. Muslims solely worship the Unseen and Omniscient Creator, Allah.

15) Muslims accept the original unaltered Torah (as revealed to Moses) and the original unaltered Bible (as revealed to Jesus) since they were revealed by God. But none of these scriptures exist today in their original form or in their entirety. Therefore, Muslims follow the subsequent, final and preserved revelation of God, the Qur'an.

16) The Qur'an was not authored by Muhammad. It was authored by God, revealed to Muhammad (through angel Gabriel) and written into physical form by his companions.

17) The original Arabic text of the Qur'an contains no flaws or contradictions, and has not been altered since its revelation.

18) Actual 7th century Qur'ans, complete and intact, are on display in museums in Turkey and other places around the world.

19) If all Qur'ans in the world today were destroyed, the original Arabic would still remain. This is because millions of Muslims, called "hafiz" (or "guardians") have memorized the text letter for letter from beginning to end, every word and every syllable. Also, chapters from the Qur'an are precisely recited from memory in each of the five formal prayers performed daily by hundreds of millions of Muslims throughout the world.

20) Some attribute the early and rapid spread of Islam to forced conversions by the sword. While it is accurate that the Muslim empire initially spread, for the most part, through battles and conquests (a common phenomenon for that time) the religion of Islam itself was never forced on anyone who found themselves living under Muslim rule. In fact, non-Muslims were afforded the right to worship as they pleased as long as a tax, called "jizyah", was paid. During the Dark Ages, Jews, Christians and others were given protection by the Muslims from religious persecutions happening in Europe. Islam teaches no compulsion in religion (Qur'an 2:256 and 10:99). For more, read "The Spread of Islam in the World" by Thomas Arnold.

21) Terrorism, unjustified violence and the killing of non-combatant civilians (and even intimidating, threatening or injuring them) are all absolutely forbidden in Islam. Islam is a way of life that is meant to bring peace to a society whether its people are Muslim or not. The extreme actions of those who claim to be Muslim may be a result of their ignorance, frustration, uncontrolled anger or political (not religious) ambitions. Anyone who condones or commits an act of terrorism in the name of Islam is simply not following Islam and is, in fact, violating its very tenets. These people are individuals with their own personal views and agendas. Fanatical Muslims are no more representative of the true teachings of Islam than fanatical Christians are of the true teachings of Christianity, or fanatical Jews are of the true teachings of Judaism. The most prominent examples of such “religious” fanatics are Anders Behring Breivik, the 2011 Norwegian terrorist who claimed in his manifesto to be “100 percent Christian” and Baruch Goldstein, perpetrator of the 1994 Hebron massacre who is considered by some Jews to be a “hero” and a “saint”. Extremism and fanaticism are problems not exclusive to Muslims. Anyone who thinks that all Muslims are terrorists should note that terror groups like ISIS (or ISIL), Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram kill Muslims as well. Also, the former boxer Muhammad Ali, perhaps the most celebrated person of our era, was a practicing Muslim.

22) The word "jihad" does not mean "holy war". It actually means "to struggle" or "to strive". In a religious context it means the struggle to successfully surrender one's will to the will of God. Some Muslims may say they are going for "jihad" when fighting in a war to defend themselves or others, but they say this because they are conceding that it will be a tremendous struggle. But there are many other forms of jihad which are much more relevant to the everyday life of a Muslim such as the struggles against laziness, arrogance, stinginess, one's own ego, or the struggle against a tyrant ruler or against the temptations of Satan, etc. Regarding the so-called verses of "holy war" in the Qur'an, two points: A) The term "holy war" neither appears in the Arabic text of the Qur'an nor in any classical teachings of Islam. B) The vast majority of verses in the Qur'an pertaining to violence refer to wartime situations in which Muslims were permitted to defend themselves against violent aggression. Any rational, intellectual analysis of the context and historical circumstances surrounding such verses, often ignored by pundits or violent extremists, proves this to be true. Other verses of violence deal with stopping oppression, capital punishment and the like.

23) Women are not oppressed in Islam. Any Muslim man that oppresses a woman is not following Islam. Among the many teachings of Muhammad that protected the rights and dignity of women is his saying, "...the best among you are those who treat their wives well."

24) Islam grants women many rights in the home and in society. Among them are the right to earn money, to financial support, to own property, to an education, to an inheritance, to being treated kindly, to vote, to a bridal gift, to keep their maiden name, to worship in a mosque, to a divorce, and so on.

25) Muslim women wear the head-covering (hijab) in fulfillment of God's decree to dress modestly. This type of modest dress has been worn by religious women throughout time such as traditional Catholic nuns, Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary.

26) Forced marriages, honor killings, female genital mutilation and the confinement of women to their homes are all forbidden in Islam. These practices stem from deeply entrenched cultural traditions and/or ignorance of the true Islamic teachings or how to apply them in society. Arranged marriages are allowed in Islam but are not required. In fact, one of the conditions for a valid Islamic marriage contract is the mutual consent of both parties to the marriage. And divorce is permissible provided the Islamic guidelines are followed which protect the rights of all affected parties, especially women and unborn children.

27) Islam and the Nation "of Islam" are two different religions. Islam is a religion for all races and enjoins the worship of the One Unseen God who never took human form. On the other hand "the Nation" is a movement geared towards non-whites that teaches God appeared as a man named Fard Muhammad and that Elijah Muhammad was a prophet. According to orthodox Islam these are blasphemous beliefs that contradict the basic theology defined throughout the Qur'an and other authentic texts. The followers of "the Nation" adhere to some Islamic principles that are mixed with other practices and beliefs completely alien to authentic Islamic teachings. To better understand the differences read about Malcolm X, his pilgrimage to Mecca and his subsequent comments to the media. Islam teaches equality amongst the races (Qur'an 49:13).

28) All Muslims are not Arab, Middle-Eastern or of African descent. Islam is a universal religion and way of life that includes followers from all races. There are Muslims in and from virtually every country in the world. Arabs only constitute about 20% of Muslims worldwide. The countries with the largest Muslim populations are not located in the Middle East. They are Indonesia (over 200 million Muslims) and Pakistan and India (over 350 million Muslims combined).

29) In the five daily prayers Muslims face the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is a cube-shaped stone structure that was built by Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael on the same foundations where Prophet Adam is believed to have built a sanctuary for the worship of the One God. Muslims do not worship the Kaaba. It serves as a focal point for Muslims around the world, unifying them in worship and symbolizing their common belief, spiritual focus and direction. Interestingly the inside of the Kaaba is empty.

30) The hajj is an annual pilgrimage to the Kaaba made by about 3 million Muslims from all corners of the Earth. It is performed to fulfill one of the pillars of Islam. The rituals of hajj commemorate the struggles of Abraham, his wife Hagar and their son Ishmael in surrendering their wills to God.

Written by Ayden Zayn. Visit his Facebook page.