I am a follower of a religion that is misunderstood by so many people, sometimes they are other people that follow it. I’m not much of an optimist, I don’t think I’m a pessimist either but my religion tells me these things, and they feel too right not to follow:
1. Follow your heart even when other people tell you different.
2. Repent for what you know you have done wrong, even if you have done it over and over, and even if your wrong doings are as many as the foam on the sea, and you will be forgiven.
3. When in doubt, ask for God’s guidance, and God will grant you what is good for you and light your path to what is right.
4. God will help us change but only if we start changing first.
5. Smile! It’s counted as charity and you actually get points for it!
6. Humans weren’t created on earth to suffer, but to be tested, guided by Quran. In this test, we discover humanity.
7. Don’t hate something – like eating your vegetables – for it might be good for you, and don’t love something – like cigarettes – for they might be bad for you. (think grander examples in life J)
8. Do not fall into despair, for despair is losing faith.
9. You are always accountable for all that you do, but the good is always counted in multiples of what it really is, and the bad is just counted as one, can even be erased by the good, or maybe just get scratched out with a word of repentance.
10. There is always doubt that you may be doing the wrong thing, thinking that you’re doing the right thing, so it is always good to revisit your beliefs, maybe they’ll get refined.
I follow Islam, maybe not as well as I hope I do, but I do so proudly. Thank God for faith, and that God for those friends who remind us, in the most unusual ways, not to lose it.
Sources:
1. “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Righteousness is in good character, and wrongdoing is that which wavers in your soul, and which you dislike people finding out about. It was related by Muslim. And on the authority of Wabisah bin Ma’bad (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “You have come to ask about righteousness.” I said, “Yes.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Consult your heart. Righteousness is that about which the soul feels at ease and the heart feels tranquil. And wrongdoing is that which wavers in the soul and causes uneasiness in the breast, even though people have repeatedly given their legal opinion.”
2. “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever says, 'Glory be to Allah and with His praise' (Subhana'llah wa bi-hamdihi) one hundred times in a day will have his wrong actions taken away from him, even if they are as abundant as the foam on the sea."
3. “The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur'an. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.”
4. “For every one (from among you) there are angels replacing one another, in front of him and behind him, who guard him under the command of Allah. [QETafseerComment] Surely, Allah does not change the condition of a people unless they change themselves. When Allah intends evil for a people, there is no way to turn it back, and for them there is no patron other than Him.” [Quran, The Thunder 13:11]
5. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Charity is prescribed for each descendant of Adam every day the sun rises." He was then asked: "From what do we give charity every day?" The Prophet answered: "The doors of goodness are many...enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the deaf, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one's arms--all of these are charity prescribed for you." He also said: "Your smile for your brother is charity." [Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 98]
6. We have not revealed unto thee (Muhammad) this Qur'an that thou shouldst be distressed, (2) But as a reminder unto him who feareth, (3) [Ta-Ha 20:2 – 20:3]
7. but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not. (216) [Quran, Al Baqarah 2:216]
8. and despair not of the Spirit of Allah. Lo! none despaireth of the Spirit of Allah save disbelieving folk. (87) [Quran, Yusuf 12:87]
9. Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds. This is reminder for the mindful. (114) [Quran, Hud 11:114]
10. Say: Shall We inform you who will be the greatest losers by their works? (103) Those whose effort goeth astray in the life of the world, and yet they reckon that they do good work. (104) [Quran, The Cave 18:103 – 18:104]
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