Am I a hypocrite? - STORIES OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SAW) / STORY WITH A HADITH QUOTE / STORY WITH A QURAN QUOTE /

One day, Hanzala al Usaidi* (r.a.*) said to his friend Abu Bakr (r.a.), “Abu Bakr, I have become a hypocrite!” 

“A’udhubillaahi minash shaytaanir rajeem*! Why are you saying this?” Abu Bakar was shocked.

“Wallaahi*,” Hamzala continued, “When I am in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ * or when we are listening to the Quran from his mouth, or when he reminds us of Jannah*, I feel motivated and energised and inspired! 

When he reminds us of Naar*, I feel fear and aim to be extra careful in my actions. But the moment I reach home after the gathering, when I meet my wife and children, or when I go back to work after the gathering, I feel different! I often get busy and forget about the matters of Akhirah*. I can’t recognise my own heart anymore!”

Abu Bakr said, “You’re right. This is a problem. I feel the same way too! That makes the two of us. We’re both hypocrites! Oh no. Let’s go ask the Prophet!”

So, off they both went to see the Prophet ﷺ straight away. They knew that the Prophet was the best teacher they ever had and nobody else could answer them in the best way possible.

After listening to their query, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied, “By Allah*, Hamzala, if you had the same feelings when you are here with me and when you are with your family or when you are at work, the angels in the streets would want to shake hands with you! Why? Because your level of Imaan* is so great. And it is consistent too. (Masha Allah. TabarakAllah. Wow. That would be amazing, wouldn’t it? SubhnanAllah*.) The angels would turn up in broad daylight to come shake hands with you.” 

“But (let’s try being realistic here)… An hour and an hour.”**

Hmmm…

“An hour and an hour”?

What does the Prophet ﷺ mean by “an hour and an hour”?

This means that we can put aside an ‘hour’ for our heart’s matters and its purification or cleaning process. And we can put aside another ‘hour’ for our dunya* matters or even entertainment. 

It does not mean that we can do one hour of good deeds and one hour of bad deeds. For example, we spend one hour listening to an Islamic lecture and we spend one hour at the club or pub, dancing, drinking, singing karaoke or gambling. No! That’s not what the Prophet ﷺ meant.

What the Prophet ﷺ meant by the dunya matters was that we have to attend to the necessary and important things that we do for our body, mind and life like eat, drink, go to the bathroom, go to work or school, clean the house, cook, ride the train or car or other vehicle, etc. 

As for entertainment, we could perhaps read a book, watch a Halal* movie, play a video game, go for a walk, go shopping, spend quality time with your parents or grandparents, enjoy moments with your siblings or cousins or aunties or uncles, sew, paint, fish, solving puzzles, visit friends, etc… There are numerous other Halal dunya activities and Halal entertainment activities that we can do. Can you name one more?

Don’t you just love Islam? Islam is perfect. It teaches us to be balanced. Alhamdulillah*.

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Moral & Afterthought

Islam does not prohibit us to do many normal activities. There are many, many things that we can do without getting into trouble with Allah or with the authorities. These activities are actually Halal.

We should not think that going to school or work is actually un-Islamic or a waste of valuable time. Or vacuuming or cooking or sewing is not good as we are not reading the Quran or Hadeeth* books or cleaning the mosque or doing something that is related to Islam.

The Very Hot Day - STORIES OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SAW) / STORY WITH A HADITH QUOTE / STORY WITH A QURAN QUOTE

On the Day of Judgement, everyone will be gathered, but without clothes. We will also be gathered barefooted. When she heard this fact, Aisha (r.a.*), the wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ *was shocked. 

She asked her husband, “O Messenger of Allah*, both the men and women are there together? Wouldn’t the men and women look at each other?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “The situation will be more over-whelming than you can ever imagine, O Siddiq’s daughter. The matter will be too serious for them to notice. The setting will be too solemn for them to look at one another. (People will not have the intention to check each other out.)”

The people will also look confused and drunk. Allah mentions it in the Quran, “…And you will see the people (appearing) intoxicated*, while they are not intoxicated…” (Quran; Surah Al-Hajj, 22:2)

The sun will come so close to us above our heads. Some scholars say that the Prophet ﷺ  said that the sun will be about one mile away. Other scholars say that the Prophet ﷺ  meant the sun will be just one eyeliner’s distance away from everyone. Allah knows best. But one thing is for sure, it will be so hot indeed!

We will then be soaked with sweat according to the extent of our actions that we have done on earth. How is this so?

Well, due to the heat, we will start to perspire. Firstly, our sweat will sink 70 cubits deep into the soil. Then, there will be people whose sweat will rise to their ankles. 

Some others, their sweat will be up to their knees. Some will be drenched in sweat up to their waist. And others their sweat will go up to the level of their mouths. Some will even appear to be drowning in their own sweat! The good Muslims will  have minimal levels of sweat. The badder a person is, the higher the level of perspiration he will have.

Will there be any shade on that day?

Well, many people will be standing directly under the sun. But some of us will be standing in a special shade. There will only be one shade on The Day. 

It is the shade underneath Allah’s throne. And this shade will be for those people who are faithful to Allah. They are the very good Muslims. They are the pious people. They are the people of righteousness. 

In fact, in a famous Hadith*, the Prophet ﷺ said, “There are seven (types of people) whom Allah will shade in His Shade on the Day when there is no shade except His Shade: a fair ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques;

two people who love each other for Allah’s sake, meeting for that and parting upon that; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position, but he says: ‘I fear Allah’; a man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; 

and a person who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears.'”

May Allah s.w.t.* make us among these shaded ones. Ameen.

For how many days will we be standing on the Day of Judgement?

For 50,000 years. SubhanAllah!*

Yes, we’ll be standing for 50,000 years on this huge land.

But why is it called THE day of Judgement if it’s 50,000 years long, then?

The Day of Judgement is actually just one day, but it is a day whose length is equal to fifty thousand ‘Earth’ years, as Allah says in the Quran:

“A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall

Upon the disbelievers, which none can avoid,

From Allah, the Lord of the ways of ascent.

The angels and the Rooh [Angel Gabriel] move up to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years”

[Quran, Surah Al-Ma’aarij, 70:1-4]

For some people, the wait will seem very, very long indeed. But for the very good Muslims, the wait will be like the time between Dhuhr* and ‘Asr*. Alhamdulillah*.

O Allah, make us among these excellent Muslims. Ameen.

This long day will, for sure, be hard for the bad Muslims but it will be especially difficult for the disbelievers as Allah says:

“…. And it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers”

[Quran, Surat al-Furqaan 25:26]

“Truly, that Day will be a Hard Day —

Far from easy for the disbelievers”

[Quran, Surat al-Muddaththir 74:9-10]

So now we know that Allah will protect those very good Muslims under His Throne from the extreme heat and from fear.  For the others, they will feel the heat. They will be scared and impatient. They will be confused.

Which group do we want to be in?

Let’s attempt to be among those in His Shade by always trying to make Him be pleased with us in whatever we do, by following His rules and by stopping ourselves from doing things that He prohibits. It’s still not too late. Let’s start today, shall we?

The King’s Idea - STORY WITH A QURAN QUOTE / UNDER 250 WORDS

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant parts of his country.

When he was back at his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip. And the road that he went through was very rough and stony.

The king thought he had a brilliant idea. He ordered his servants to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need hundreds and thousands of metres of cows’ skin. This would of course cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servants dared himself to ask the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money ? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet ?”

The king was surprised, but after giving it some thought, the king agreed to follow his servant’s suggestion, to make a pair of ‘shoes’ for himself.

There is a valuable lesson of life in this story : In order to improve the quality of our lives sensibly, perhaps it is better to change ourselves – our attitudes, our hearts. And, not necessarily, the world.

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Quran Quote:

“…Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. … “

(Quran, 13:11)