Relationship between friends

A relationship reflects one’s inner self of positive and negative characteristic. Towards building a good and stable relationship between friends we should be able to love our friends and accept them as the way they are.

Allah SWT tells us in the Qur’an: “He created mankind in a perfect and pure state [And by Nafs (Adam or a person or a soul etc.), and Him Who perfected him in proportion]” (AshShams, 91:7)

Humans are created perfect and basically pure and He gave us will to decide between doing good or evil. We live in this world to worship and serve Him. The status that was given to us human is higher than His other creations. If this is the case, how do we regard each other?

Most of the time we are slave to our emotions. Sometimes we love our friends and there are times when we despised them. There are also times when we feel we are more knowledgeable than them. We may have the knowledge in certain areas but we may be ignorant in some. Nonetheless, as human we can hardly control our emotions, feelings or desires. There is a remedy to all this, if we fill our hearts with love and forgiveness, we will achieve two things: Allah’s forgiveness and a stable emotional state of mind.

Can you imagine being constantly worried and angry all the time? It must be thoroughly exhausting to harbour such negativity all the time. Not only it will make you exhausted unnecessarily, it would also affect the health. This may lead to new problems: phobias, fears, or physical disturbance.

Islam always enjoins us to take care of our health, both spiritually and emotionally. The Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) used to forgive all those who hurt him, but when it came to the rights of others, he would respond appropriately.

If one loves each other for Allah’s sake, it is much easier to forgive. Because when you do something for someone for Allah’s sake, you don’t mind if the person shows gratitude to you or not, because you did that thing for Allah.

We must always practise self-reflection in our lives and ask ourselves questions and ask how true we are to ourselves. Always think about our lives and our actions because Allah SWT bestows us with mind to enable us to think and to keep in touch with our real selves and choose between right and wrong.

If Muslims move from a traditional Muslim society to a place that is based on non-Muslim values and behaviour, they will find a completely different atmosphere. They will find many different kinds of people from many different places. If you used to feel uncomfortable with people from outside your own kind, you will feel like a fish out of water in such a situation. If you haven’t found ways to make yourself strong (in terms of your inner strength), you will probably find yourself imitating some of these new people. In this setting, you will be very glad that you had an Islamic upbringing because it will help you keep your identity. It is your relationship with Allah that is the key to your relationship with the people in your life. If you are close to Allah you will:

• Not judge others, but advise according to the guidance of the Qur’an and Sunnah

• Be positive with those around you

• Forgive others as you hope to be forgiven

• Be warm and friendly and loving to others

• Be generous and kind

Friendship is very sacred and it can be either Paradise or Hell. Choosing the right kinds of friends are very crucial. If we choose the wrong kinds of company, we can be dragged into doing things that are against Allah’s will. This will definitely lead us to road to self-destruction. However, if you choose to be with real friends, those who say and do good things, then you will have more chances to develop yourself and to be a better person.

Friendships should be based on both parties trying to serve Allah and gain His pleasure.
True brothers and sisters in Islam are like one body. “When one part (of the body) feels pain, the other part shares in the pain and fever.” (Al-Bukhari).

Do make your objective in life to serve Allah and thus seek His pleasure and may He guide you to good friends and useful, healthy friendships.

How to be a good mother

But it is sad to admit that role of mothers are not being sufficiently appreciated especially in this day and age. The influence of a father however, is often secondary and this is fact indicated by the Prophet Muhammad himself when he said that a person should be three times more indebted to the mother than to the father.

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Being a good wife is crucial in a family institution, so does being a mother. Parents are custodians to their children and this role is more ingrain in mothers. While a father may have similar importance in raising their child but since a father is expected to bring food on the table, a child spends most of their growing up lives with their mothers.

Small children, for instance, are more attached to their mothers than fathers. Mothers have greater roles in teaching their children for the most basic things in life like eating habits, proper ways of dressing, respecting elders and having good manners. Mothers should tell her children about stories of prophets in Islam and their companion in order to develop them to be good practising Muslims.

But it is sad to admit that role of mothers are not being sufficiently appreciated especially in this day and age. The influence of a father however, is often secondary and this is fact indicated by the Prophet Muhammad himself when he said that a person should be three times more indebted to the mother than to the father.

In the Qur’an, Allah SWT said,” We have enjoined man to respect his parents; his mothers bears him with fainting after fainting while his weaning takes two years. Thank Me as well as your parents, towards Me lies the goal” (31:14).

It is reported that a man came to the Prophet and asked:
"Messenger of Allah, who is the most deserving of good care from me?" The Prophet replied: "Your mother (which he repeated three times) then your father, then your nearest relatives in order".

In another hadith the Prophet has said: "Paradise lies at the feet of mothers". In other words Paradise awaits those who cherish and respect their mothers.

The Muslim mother has consequently a great feeling of security about the type of care and consideration she can expect from her children when she reaches old age. As the verse of the Qur'an quoted above indicates, thankfulness to parents is linked with thankfulness to Allah, and a failure in either of these respects is indeed a major failure in one's religious duties.

The Prophet Muhammad said reported by Mu`awiya ibn Jahima. He said that his father approached Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "I intend going on jihad. I seek your advice." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) inquired, "Is your mother alive?" He answered, "Yes." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Go and serve her, for Paradise lies beneath the feet of mothers" (Ahmad, An-Nasa’i, Al-Bayhaqi).

Mothers should muse over these words by the Prophet Muhammad and think over how significant they are to these sayings of the Prophet thus live up to the traditions of wives of the prophet. Granted, it is not an easy task but they should also try their best amidst the odds. The wives of the Prophets are given the names “Mothers of the Believers” to honour them of the roles in raising the family.

How to be a good father?

Role of a father is important to raise a stable family. Although the role of raising their children are more inclined to the wife but the father needs to be there too for the children. If one can be a good father, not only the children will grow up happy but it also enriches their lives.

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Role of a father is important to raise a stable family. Although the role of raising their children are more inclined to the wife but the father needs to be there too for the children. If one can be a good father, not only the children will grow up happy but it also makes lives richer.

A father is an integral part of the family. Family values have always maintained this and there are no doubts that a father figure is a positive thing for children.

In modern society, to be a father is really an important duty. It is really not easy to be able to "play hard", "earn a lot", as well as to form a parent-child relationship and raise the children together with the wife. A good parent-child relationship cannot be built in a day, and parents have to take really a lot of time and energy. If you can be a good father, not only can you make your children grow up healthy and happy, you will also make your life more abundant.

Children growing up without the stability of both parents are more socially at risk compared to their peers. Of course there are exceptions, but life without a father figure stacks the odds against the children. Sometimes these kids can resort to drugs, emotional and health problems, academic failure and tantrums. Without their father, children are susceptible to all of these problems.

A father can provide peace and happiness to the marriage. Fathers are usually a source of development, stability and consultations for their children. Good fathers do not act indifferent to their children’s needs. In the event they do not know how to answer and solve problems for the children, they will be polite and promise to return with a better answer some other time.

A well-taught child will know how to differentiate between good and evil and to evaluate between what is healthy or otherwise.

As a father, they also provide kindness, material expenses, education, recreation and stability to the whole family.

A duty of a father among others is to take care of his children and pray for Allah SWT’s blessings.

But it is rather sad to see, in modern times, a father can simply relegate the task of parenting only to the wife. They are not usually seen to be much interested in the onerous job of overseeing the moral training and education of his children. This can lead to the educational backwardness of Muslims societies.

This should not be the case in a Muslim family especially when Islam regards family values as one of the most important aspects to shape a stable family thus creates a strong nation. There is a great need to start changing such kinds of attitude especially among the man of the house. A father should realize such burden of raising their children does not falls only on the wife’s shoulder but also on theirs. Therefore, start re-evaluating the roles as a father and make a change in order to build a strong and stable society.

How to be a good child

A child is pure and born in the state of fitra (purity). Parents are the one that shape their future. It is parents’ obligation and duty to teach their children and raise them to be responsible and good adults.
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A child is pure and born in the state of fitra (purity). Parents are the one that shape their future. It is parents’ obligation and duty to teach their children and raise them to be responsible and good adults.

According to the Musnad Ibn Hanbal, "The children of the unbelievers are better than you grown-ups. Every living creature is born with a righteous nature." It is our obligation and duty as parents to teach our children so that they grow up to believe, practicing Muslims.

The major institution of learning for a Muslim child is his family, which constitute his parents and siblings. Sending the child to an Islamic weekend school or to a full-time Islamic school is an important but minor part of their Islamic education.

Allah SWT sends prophets to mankind to be role model and act as example to all the people this earth.

A child should listens to their parents and be attentive to them. He or she should not raise their voices in notes of contempt to them. There is a famous poem by an anonymous author that said:

• If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
• If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
• If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
• If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
• If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
• If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.





A child should always be polite with their parents. One of the ways how parents can assist in this is by introducing the idea that Allah is also happy with their good actions. If you say that what they did or are doing is making you and Allah happy, then the child begins to associate good behaviour with acting for the pleasure of Allah, which in a nutshell, is exactly what being a good Muslim involves.

Allah forgives the child who errs, and if he dies in childhood, he automatically goes to heaven. This mercy of Allah should guide us as we guide our children. It is not necessary to make the child fearful of Allah or fearful of going to hell. In fact, this approach is counter productive - it often achieves the very result we are trying to avoid. Stressing the negative and the punishment makes the child want to avoid anything to do with the religion. He or she grows up thinking that it is religion that keeps him from enjoying life.

Islam is a way of life and it encompasses all there is in our lives. We should not restrict ourselves to the ritual of the five pillars. A child can learn more by giving simple greetings like salam to the parents early in the morning or late at night before going to sleep.

A child needs to understand which actions Allah will be pleased with, rather than worry over punishment for mistakes he knows he will make.

True Love In Islamic Perspective

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Muslims believe that the present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence. All the prophets of God called their people to worship God and to believe in life after death. They laid so much emphasis on the belief in life after death that even a slight doubt in it meant denying God and made all other beliefs meaningless.

The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that when the corpse is put in the bier and the people carry the dead body to the graveyard, if the deceased is a pious person, he/she requests them to carry him/her as fast as they can and if the deceased is a wrongdoer, he/she curses the wretchedness in store for him/her and asks where he/she is being led to.

The Holy Prophet is also reported to have said that except human beings everything else hears the cries of the dead body. If a person were to hear the cries of the dead body, they would faint. The interval between death and the Day of Resurrection is called Barzakh (the life in the grave). This is the beginning of life after death.
There are very convincing reasons to believe in life after death. Firstly, all the prophets of God have called their people to believe in it. Secondly, whenever a human society is built on the basis of this belief, it has been the most ideal and peaceful society, free of social and moral evils. Thirdly, history bears witness that whenever this belief is rejected collectively by a group of people in spite of the repeated warning of the prophet, God even in this world has punished the group as a whole. Fourthly, moral, aesthetic and rational faculties of man endorse the possibility of life after death. Fifthly, God's attributes of Justice and Mercy have no meaning if there is no life after death.
When the idolaters of Makkah denied even the possibility of life after death, the Qur'an exposed the weakness of their stand by advancing very logical and rational arguments in support of it:
“And he has coined for us a similitude, and has forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: who will revive these bones when they have rotten away?” Say: “He will revive them who produced them at the first, for He is the knower of every creation. Who has appointed for you fire from the green tree, and behold! You kindle from it. Is not He who created the heavens and the earth, able to create the like of them? Yes, and He is indeed the Supreme Creator, the All-knowing. [36: 78-81]
Surely God will raise all the dead. But God has His own plan of things. A day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and then again the dead will be resurrected to stand before God. That day will be the beginning of the life that will never end, and that Day every person will be rewarded by God according to his or her good or evil deed.
On the Day of Qiyamah (Doomsday) the feet of the human being will not be able to move till he/she is questioned about five matters (and give a reasonable account): 1) On what they spent their life, 2) In what pursuits they passed their youth, 3) From where did they earn wealth, 4) On what they spent their wealth and 5) How much they acted upon the knowledge they required.
It will be a hard day for the disbelievers - a heavy day. They bear a heavy burden, and are not permitted to put forth any excuse. The wrongdoer will bite his hands. All wrongdoers will be assembled with their companions and idols. It will be destruction with deep regrets, sorrows and despair. There will be no fear for believers, and all believers will be in the shade, and amongst springs and fruits. Angels will be sent down with a grand descending.
The judgment of Allah is just and fair enough. One will be rewarded according to what they had done on the worldly life and the final destination will be Paradise or the Hellfire, based on the judgment of The Almighty, Allah. God will shower His mercy on those who suffered for His sake in the worldly life, believing that an eternal bliss was awaiting them. But those who abused the bounties of God, caring nothing for the life to come, will be in the most miserable state. Drawing a comparison between them, the Qur'an says:
“Is he, then, to whom we have promised a goodly promise the fulfillment of which he will meet, like the one whom We have provided with the good things of this life, and then on the Day of Resurrection he will be of those who will be brought arraigned before God?” [28: 61]
The belief in life after death not only guarantees success in the Hereafter but also makes this world full of peace and happiness by making individuals most responsible and dutiful in their activities. Think of the people of Arabia. Gambling, wine, tribal feuds, plundering and murdering were their main traits when they had no belief in life after death. But as soon as they accepted the belief in the One God and life after death they became the most disciplined nation of the world. They gave up their vices, helped each other in hours of need, and settled all their disputes on the basis of justice and equality.

BUSINESS IN ISLAM CONCEPT

Since the development of man’s earthly life, business in the form of exchanging or bartering essential commodities has been an integral aspect of the daily lives of human beings. The basic essential needs of man are food, drink, clothing and shelter. These primary needs, which are crucial to man’s survival on earth as well as to the improvement of his living conditions, are only obtainable through the institution of business and trade.
It is virtually impossible for one person to satisfy all these needs alone by producing them or manufacturing them himself. Man is, therefore, forced to purchase these items of need from the various individuals or companies who produce them, and this results in the practice of buying and selling on a very expansive scale. Islam has, therefore, attached great importance to trade and commerce, as the relevant citations appearing further on shall conclusively indicate.

Islam is an entire way of life, and Allah’s guidance extends into the every scope in our life including in the business activity. These regulations of economic in Islam are balance and fair. As we are only the trustee of God, these principles are aiming to establish a just society wherein everyone will behave responsibly and honestly, to counter man’s greed and consequent abuse of the rights of others; to ensure that the earnings of man are halal and pure; to create a harmonious atmosphere among people, something which can be utterly destroyed by man’s desire for wealth and position.

The fundamental principles of the Islamic economic system are as what we will discusses further in this article. Islam has permitted and in fact encouraged Muslims to do business. The Quran states:

“Allah has made business lawful for you” [2:275]

Islam has given detail laws of business. Islam has not permitted selling and purchasing of goods, which are prohibited in Islamic law. Prophet has said:

“When Allah prohibits a thing, He prohibits (giving and receiving) the price of its as well” [Ahmad and Abu Daud]

Islam has also prohibited any kind of transaction that falls under the category of uncertainty (garar) as this could lead to quarrel or litigation. This includes the uncertainty involving the unspecified quantity like acceptance of money for fish in the ocean or bird in the air. However if the element of uncertainty is very small, then it is permissible.

Freedom of trade and operation of market forces are allowed in subject to the limit set by the Shari’ah. However, it is unlawful to hoard food and other basic necessities for the sake to make high profit at the cost of public interest. Allah said in His Holy Book:

“And let those who covetously withhold of the gift which Allah has given them of His Grace, think it is good for them. No, it will be the worse for them. Soon it will tied to their necks like a twisted collar, on the Day of Judgment. To Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do” [3:180]

Islamic law has prescribed measures to prevent manipulation of market, exploitation of seller or buyer and fraud. Prophet prohibited people from going out of town to buy merchandise, which was on its way to city market. The reason for this is that the market place is where the forces of demand and supply determine prices, which is the best place for trading transactions. So, if the situation of buying occurred on the way to market, the seller may not know the exact price and he may be deprived of legitimate price.

It is forbidden to gain property or wealth by fraud, deceit others, theft or other falsehood. The sin of fraud is greater if the seller supports it by swearing falsely. Prophet said:

“Swearing produces ready sales but blots out blessing” [Bukhari]

“Sell the good and bad separately. He who deceives is not of us” [Muslim Ahmad]

In the same manner deceiving others by withholding full measure is also prohibited. Allah placed great emphasized on this by saying:

“And give full measure and (full) weight in justice” [6:152]

Islam has prohibited business transactions on interest. Muslims are not to deal in interest. This prohibition is for all interest-based transactions, whether giving or receiving, whether dealing with Muslims or non-Muslims. It is reported that Prophet Muhammad cursed those who pay interest, those who receive it, those who write a contract based on it, and those who witness such a contract. Allah said in His Holy Book:

“Allah has permitted for you trade and prohibited interest” [2:275]

In conclusion, Islam has permitted and encouraged business subject to aforementioned principles and restrictions. If all of these principles are followed, the economy of Muslims world will be greatly purified from harmful practices and it may expand.