13042018 - Herdsmen kill 66 in Benue, Taraba; scores in Zamfara

26—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018
Rajab 26, 1439 A.H.
The life of a Mu’meen
By AbdulWarees Solanke
ALLAH is ever faithful
in His promise. In my
Fajr reflections recently, I
pondered over several aayats
of the Qur’an where Allah haz
wa jal speaks to believers on
certain actions of life, where
He gives certain mandates,
instructions, warnings,
promises and assurances
with a view to ensuring that
the believer remains
steadfast, conscious, ever in
His presence, relying on Him
and ultimately attaining His
pleasure, for the Pleasure of
Allah is the greatest goal a
believer can aspire. When
Allah is pleased with His
servant, his affairs become
easy.
I take my inspiration today
from the Surah of the
Believers, Al, Muminun,
Quran Chapter 23 and I
encourage every Muslim to
reflect on the contents of the
early verses of that part of
the Quran. They are verses
that breathe with certainty,
finality and assurance from
Allah, assurance of success.
But there are also conditions
attached to success. From
these verses, you see the
Almighty linking success to
Salaat, zakat, observance of
trust (integrity), chastity,
piety, and self-discipline.
In the reckoning of Islam,
all these are good deeds,
borne out of personal striving
against the base self, the ego.
For it's the reign of the ego in
man that fires his ambition.
And when the ego and
ambition in man rule, most
often negatively, he is unable
to meet, or he compromises on
these virtuous prescriptions of
success. So, the nexus to
Pilgrims
praying at
the tomb of
P r o p h e t
Muhammad
in Madinah
during the
last hajj
exercise.
man’s success is the conquest
of the ego and human
ambition. The path of success
is shown to man when he
abandons his own selfdefined
path and follows the
pathway of Allah; the path of
total submission and full
compliance with the
mandates of Allah.
Allah in his infinite mercy
declared that whosoever
does good, whether male or
female, and he is a Mumeen,
a believer, such would
assuredly be granted a life
that is pure and good,
HAYYATAN Toyyiban. In
several other parts of the
Quran, Allah promises the
believer victory, authority
(dominion of the earth),
heritage, abundance of
wealth and ultimately His
pleasure, RIDWANULLAH
AKBAR. The pleasure of Allah
is the greatest.
So, what is the life of a
believer, without gender
bias? The life of a Mumeen is
one of submission to Allah,
of peace and tranquility
(saqiinah), of fulfillment and
joy. It's a life of independence
from man but of munificence
in Allah, a life of
contentment. It's a balanced
life, a life of hope and reliance
on Allah, Tawaqqul. It's a life
If a man loves
Allah, he is no
longer afraid of
the path that
leads to the
presence of his
Beloved
of increase and progress
beyond the material life. But
it''s also a life of constant
struggle, jihad-u-nafs,
against the whisperings of
Shaitaan, a life of awareness
of Allah’s might which
restrains from iniquities and
vanities, so always doing
taubah or repentance. It's a
life of productive efforts with
certainty of reward from
Allah even if not in tangible
measures. It's a life of altruism
and sincerity, ikhlaas, solely
for Allah. Indeed, the life of a
Mumeen is a life of strength,
courage, and voluntarism.
Ultimately, the life of a
Mumeen is a life of patience
and gratitude, sabr wa shukr.
The life of a Mumeen is one
of unquestioning obedience
and loyalty to Allah. It's
complete trust in Him. It's a
life of material freedom, yet of
richness of soul and patience
in tribulation. It's a life
devoted to dhikr, Allah’s
remembrance, a life that
thirsts for knowledge of Him
and love of Him. But it's also
a life that conquers the fear
of death. After all, death is
the beginning of transition to
meeting Allah.
If a man loves Allah, he is
no longer afraid of the path
that leads to the presence of
his Beloved. When a man is
granted this life, he enjoys
ease of worship and
protection from dangers. He's
armored against ibliis and his
hosts from among the jinn and
mankind. He becomes a slave
of Allah. He abhors sins, ever
turning to Allah in
repentance. He is assured of
forgiveness and mercy from
above. He attains success in
all dimensions. How sweet
is the life a Mumeen! How
wholesome!! How rich!!!
BARKA JUMAH
Let's begin a new era
Infrastructure, schools, morality, piety and even the
pleasures of love have suffered deterioration in our
land. Why are we fixated in these dark boxes?
We must by force of faith begin a new era in the
personal spiritual life of each of us; and happily, of
our great nation itself.
Let’s shift the paradigm, now! We need to alter the
context and content of our being low, and living
without honor for Allah nor love of humanity, almost
forever!
We must grow a vibrant spiritual society of the
meek, honest and humble as true winners. The
oppressive grandeur of the aggressively fraudulent
rich must be suppressed by our lack of notice; and
utter disdain.
When our spirituality rejects ill-gotten gains, we
perhaps may be able to devise a sensible society that
is guided and measured by the fear of Allah.
May the fear of Allah fill our souls and guide us all
to lofty realms where the love of one another dotes
on humanity. Happy Jumat.
—Dr. Adewale Adeeyo, OON
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Halal and Haram
Concealing a product’s fault at
the point of sale is haram
THE Prophet (s.a.w) once passed by a pile of food that
was for sale. He put his hand in it and felt dampness,
so he asked, “What is this, O seller of the food?” He said, “It
was rained on, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (s.a.w)
said: “Why don’t you put it on top, so that people can see
it? Whoever deceives (the people) is not one of us.”
(Reported by Muslim, 1/99).
There are many traders and businessmen nowadays who
do not fear Allah and try to conceal faults of their products
at the point of sale;sometimes mixing faulty products with
good ones for sale, using chemicals and the like to make a
product look good, or concealing faults in engines so that
the purchasers will be deceived into buying it. Some traders
change expiry dates, or prevent the buyer from examining
or trying out a product. Many of those who sell cars or other
types of equipment do not point out the product’s faults.
This is haram.
The Prophet (s.a.w) said: “The two parties involved in a
sale have the choice (to end it - i.e. the sale is not final)
until they part. If both have been truthful and honest about
the sale, it will be blessed, but if they lied and concealed
any faults, the blessing of the sale will be lost.” (Reported
by al-Bukhaari; see al-Fath, 4/328).