SilaturRahim(Familial relationship) Part 2

Abul Laits Assamarqandi narrated by sanad of Abu Ayyub r.a. said: "A Bedouin stopped the Prophet Muhammad and has the control of his camel in his hand and said:" O Messenger of Allah, tell me what can get me closer to Paradise and keep me from the fire? "where upon the Messenger of Allah answered:" worship God and do not associate him with anything and perform your daily prayer and give zakat, and nurture or establish familial relationship/ties of kinship."

Rasulullah s.a.w. said: "There is no act that can gain the rewards more quickly than that of improving family ties and no sin worthy of his wrath as well as hasten his doom in the world and in the hereafter as that who broke the family relationships and committed injustices.’

Ibn Umar r.a. said: "One who the fear of God and established contact with one’s families will have one’s age be added to and one’s assets multiplied and will be loved by his family."

Abul Laits said: "If a person is close to his relatives, the familial relationship is in the form of guidance and visitations, should financial assistance be impossible then it suffice to provide physical assistance; Correspondence through mail although sufficient should distance be an issue, personal contact is more encouraged.

Anas said: "Three kinds of people who will lie under the shade of Allah on the Day of Judgement:
· Those who nurtured ties of kinship will have a blessed life, spacious grave and gainful sustenance.
· One who took care of woman with orphans left behind by her dead husband.
· People who prepared food and invited the orphans and the needy.

Al-Hasan said: "Rasulullah said:" The two strides of men loved by Allah : Footsteps towards the obligatory prayers and Footsteps towards silaturrahim with people you cannot marry.

The Five people who multiply their good deed and have gainful sustenance are:
1. People who always charity (a little or a lot)
2. People who nurture/maintain familial relationship.
3. People who are always pursue the Cause of Allah.
4. People who always performs ablution and not wasteful on water
5. People who are obedient to his parents.

When I was in financial distress through activities or events that were totally beyond my control, I normally called my parent to ask them whether I have done anything that was not too pleasant to their feelings. After a few times doing that, they came to notice my enquiries and asked my reason for it. I told them that my sustenance has been without much ‘barakah’ and many untoward events keep on happening to make me loose whatever little saving I have made.
I asked them for their forgiveness inspite of their insistence that I have not done anything wrong to both of them.
Only lately do I realize that someone close to my family has not been too kind to me when discussing my activities to my parents.

Here is a story that I treasured as the main characters are rather closely related to yours truly..

Once there were three siblings led by an eldest sister and two brothers. The two brothers have not been on good term and the elder brother has forbidden the younger brother from coming to his house. The elder brother has been a good man, well respected and well loved by all in the community unlike his younger brother.
When the elder brother was on his deathbed, the younger brother came to visit him daily but did not enter the house much to the indignant of his nieces and nephews. The sister did not come to visit as she was upset about the fact that the two brothers were not on speaking term.

Photo is from Mr Google

The elder brother suffering prolonged for a few days and his children came to see their aunt thrice daily to persuade her to visit their father and forgive whatever mistakes he has committed to her. It was only at the insistence/persuasion of her own daughters that the elder sister changed her mind and visited her sick brother.
She has, however, insisted that the elder brother forgive his brother and that he be allowed to visit him on his deathbed prior to him speaking to her. When her condition was fulfilled, it came to note that she was not happy with the sick brother for he has not visit her for quite a long time even though the distance between their houses was less than 200 meters and she was quite unhappy with him over a lot of other small things and events.

She then told the crowd that she was not keen to forgive her brother even after a few hours of persuasion from the children of her brother.

On seeing that her uncle was having a lot of difficulties, the daughter of the eldest sister persuaded her mother to give her forgiveness to her dying brother. After about an hour of much crying and grieving, the sister relented and forgave her brother. Few minutes later, the brother has breathed his last much to the relief of everyone that were present.

I am of the opinion there are two things of note between the three main characters:
1. Silaturrahim has not been fostered/ nurtured/ established.
2. Eldest sister replaced the mother that has passed away and her pleasure can amount to as much as that of the mother.

Wallahua’lam..

May you have many nice and rewarding days ahead.

SilaturRahim (Familial relationship) Part 1

Allah the Exalted had said to the womb: +-"I Am ArRahman and thou womb (rahim), I will curtail my blessing against people who break up family relations and I'll continue my blessing to people who keep family relations”.

Mr Yahoo's picture from http://syafiqahmohmad.blogspot.com

Abul Laits (narrated by sanad of'Abdullah bin Abi Aufa ra) said: +-"At one time we were together the evening of Arafat suddenly Messenger of Allah said:" Do not sit with us those who terminate familial relationships, so get out of our midst.

But no one except the one who sit behind the Messenger of Allah, stand up and moved out, but soon he was back and was then asked by the Messenger of Allah: "Why do you, because no one stood up except you?"

He said, "O Messenger of Allah, when I heard what you have said, I immediately went to the home of my auntie that broke relationship with me.

She asked me: "Why did you come and your arrival is very strange?".

"So I tell her what I heard from you, then she read istighfar for Allah to forgive me and I read istighfar for Allah to forgive her."

Rasul s.a.w. said: "Well done! you can sit down now because mercy is not coming down for a tribe if any of them decide on terminating a family relationship."

Abul Laits said: "This hadith is a proof that terminating the familial relationship is a grave sin that can hinder mercy from him and his friends who are with him. So it's the duty of every Muslim to repent of the termination of the family ties and to istighfar to Allah for forgiveness and immediately work to improve the family ties to seek blessings of Allah and keep oneself away from the hell fire."

Abul-laits (narrated by sanad of Yahya bin Salim) said: "Long ago, in Mecca, there is a good man from Khurasan that ordinary people entrust all their property to. Then there was a businessman who entrusted him a sum of ten thousand dinars and he went away on his business.

Shortly after, the businessman came back to Mecca and found out that the man he have entrusted his money is dead.

So the businessman asked his family and his children on the money.

They replied: "We are not aware of anything as he does not tell us anything”.

Then the man asked the scholars of Muslim jurists." I gave a person ten thousand dinars, and now the person is dead and I asked his families and their children, they did not know anything about it, then how do you think? "

The scholar answered:" We expect that he maybe the occupant of the Garden, so late night this evening, you go and call his name at the inside of Zamzam well it and say: "Hello so and so, I am the one who entrusted you the money... "

So the advice is implemented and the businessman called the name of the person three times, but did not get any answers. Then he went back to the scholars who told him.

They said: 'Inna wa inna lillahi ilaihi raji'un, we are afraid lest your friend is occupant of the Fire, and now you go to Birhut in Yaman, there is a well, if you call late at night: " Hello so and so, I am the one who entrusted you the money.... " and when he implemented the advice and called only once have he received answer from the man.

The businessman asked:" Poor you, why are you here, but you're a good person then? "

The man said," I have a family in Khurasan, but I sever the familial relationship with them until death overcome me, then God punish me for that and put me here, as for your money it is still there and I did not entrust the money to anyone, even to my children, your money is buried beneath my home. You can asked permission to enter my house, then you go and dig the site I have shown you, then you will get your money in full . "

So he went and asked permission from the children to dig up a designated place and found that all his property was still intact.

There was another story similar to the above. The entrusted man that went to Mecca and studied there for umpteen years and did not bother to keep his relationship to his older sister in Patani, Thailand.

The storyline for this Patani man was almost the same as the man from Khurasan but have a better ending.. because the businessman went back to the well and asked him whether he can do anything to help. The man told the businessman that he has some money buried beside businessman’s money.

Can the businessman go to visit his sister in Patani, give her his money, relate his current difficulty, ask her forgiveness on not going back to her for many years? the man asked.

The businessman granted and performed all that was requested, got the sister’s forgiveness and came back to find that the entrusted man did not answer to the call inside the Birkut well. He visited the Zamzam well and gladly found out that his entrusted friend answered his call indicating that he was forgiven and now a dweller of the garden.

Have a nice Friday and exhilarating weekend.

Stories from the past – Sheikh Ibrahim

There was this young boy, Ibrahim who studied fiqh from an Imam of a Musolla in his village. The Imam told him about “air mutlak” (the water that is clean and can be used to cleanse) has to be running water or a body of water that is more than “2 kolah” (approximately 216 liters ). The imam also pointed out the cement rectangular container in front of the stair of the Musolla can hold more than “5 kolah” of water.
Some 15 minutes before next afternoon (zuhr) prayer, the imam noticed that Ibrahim was in that cement container in front of the stair of the Musolla. When asked what he was doing there, Ibrahim said he was in the act cleansing himself. The imam got a lil bit furious as he could not figure out how to take ablution now that Ibrahim has already used the whole container of water for that rather specific cleansing purpose. Ibrahim argued that the water was clean and can still be used to cleanse (air mutlak).. The Imam agreed to that but insisted that they have better clean the container and have it refill with water from the nearby well before the village folks come for zuhr prayer. Ibrahim duly complied.
The same Ibrahim was later thought to be responsible for another exploit. He grew up to study religious matter from many ulamas and has in turn be a respectable person who is knowledgeable in Islamic matters. He was often consulted by the King of Terengganu. There was an occasion when the British was not so happy with the King and they told the King that they are going to use their warships to shoot from the numerous cannons onto the beach of Hujong Tanjong to Batu Burok on one particular evening.
Ibrahim, on being consulted by the Sultan on the matter, advised that all the houses on that stretch of beach be evacuated. On that particular evening, Ibrahim performed his “solat hajat” on the beach after which he started his lone brisk walk to and pro (Hujong Tanjong to Batu Burok).
It was later reported that the British did not fire a single cannon that day. When the King asked them on the issue, the British were adamant that the King has lined up his citizens on the beach from Hujong Tanjong to Batu Burok to frustrate the British’s effort to frighten the people of Trengganu.
Ibrahim became a much respected figure in the Palace and amongst the people of Trengganu and the place where he was buried is called Tanah Perkuburan Sheikh Ibrahim.

Picture of Tanah Perkuburan Sheikh Ibrahim from Mr Googles.

The picture above is from artmelayu.blogspot.com

This story is what has been passed to me by my beloved mother and the authenticity of it can be questionned as it has been passed from generation to generation.
Should any reader has anything (stories / anecdotes) on this Sheikh Ibrahim, do kindly share it/them with us here.

Have many nice and productive days ahead.

Feeling Unappreciated?

Thank to Luke Teoh, a good friend from one of group-email, who sent the mail below. Pictures are from Mr. Google. Shared here to lift up your spirit should you be affected by those uninspiring Monday Blues..

Things Got You Down? Well Then, Consider These:

In a hospital's Intensive Care Unit, patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 am, regardless of their medical condition. This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the super natural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 AM Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents.

The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 AM all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.

Just when the clock struck 11:00, Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.

Still Having a Bad Day?
The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both.

Still think you are having a Bad Day?
A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places. Up to that moment, he had been happily listening to his Walkman.

Are You OK Now? - No?
Two animal rights defenders were protesting the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn, Germany. Suddenly, all two thousand pigs broke loose and escaped through a broken fence, stampeding madly. The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.

What? STILL having a Bad Day?
A Dumb terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with 'Return to Sender' stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb; he opened it and was blown to bits.

There now, Feeling Better?

Have a fabulous productive days ahead..

A Mother's Little Shadow

Ah a shadowy update.. a tribute to all mothers

I read few phrases on subject of shadow from the AlQuran the other day.

Hast thou not turned thy vision to thy Lord?
How He doth prolong the shadow!
If He willed,
He could make it stationary!
then do We make the sun its guide ; 025.045!

Then We draw it in towards Ourselves,
a contraction by easy stages ;025.046

The subject of shadow reminds me of a beautiful post sent by Kiran (entitled :A Mother's Little Shadow) in one of my email-groups.

I saw a young mother
With eyes full of laughter
And two little shadows
Came following after.

Wherever she moved,
They were always right
Holding onto her skirts,
Hanging onto her chair.
Before her, behind her
-An adhesive pair.

"Don't you ever get weary
As day after day,
Your two little tagalongs
Get in your way?

She smiled as she shook
Her pretty young head,
And I'll always remember
The words that she said

"It's good to have shadows
That run when you run,
That laugh when you're happy
And hum when you hum -

For you only have shadows
When your life's filled with sun."

~Author Unknown~

Have a good day