Notes on: Pride & Humility

EDIT:
As salaamu alaikum
The lecture is up on Sunnipath, click here to listen to it InshaAllah.
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As salaamu alaikum

There was a live event on Sunnipath on Sunday called "Pride & Humility" by Shaykh Abdul-Kareem Yahya.
click here to view the poster...

Alhamdulillah I was able to attend the event...and took some notes of my own. So I just thought I'd post them up. The event was really good MashaAllah and a needed reminder too. Just ignore the grammar/spelling errors in it, and I hope it's beneficial InshaAllah :)

Pride and Humility

An online event with Shaykh Abdul-Kareem Yahya

Al Hasan Al Basri (ra) said:

“The son of Adam is amazing. He washes filth with his hand once or twice a day and then challenges the Compeller of the heavens!”

Abu Bakr (ra) said:

“Do not look down on any of the Muslims! Indeed the small Muslim is great with Allah.”

Al-Ahnaf Bin Qais said:

“It is amazing that the son of Adam is arrogant

- remember that your origin was nothing

- everything was given by Allah, and he brought you to this place so he could show you your place

- humbleness manifests in ones actions to the extent that these people walk like this on the earth.

*Kibr is seeing oneself as better than others

Rasulullah (S) said:

“Arrogance is rejecting the truth and despising people”

Humility and pride are qualities of the heart, but they have outward manifestations:

- Kibr is the inward characteristic

- Takabbur is its outward manifestation: acting haughty towards others ie. Liking people to walk behind you, thinking yourself above and not sitting next to those lower than you in knowledge

Causes of arrogance:

In reality if someone is arrogant in worldly things they are being idiots especially if they think that they are weighing out the wing of a mosquito

**Note: related to the Hadith concerning the blessings of Allah and how even one small blessing from Him does not amount to the weight of the wing of a mosquito**

If one is arrogant b/c of something of this world – then know that it is lowlier than that, and not worth it

If one is proud about some religious work – then know that this decreases one’s station with Allah **if it was not done for the sake of Allah**

If religious works produce contempt for others, then they are flawed – otherwise they would have produced humbleness

The remedy for arrogance:

Comprised of knowledge and action

Imam Ghazali said the remedy to uproot arrogance from heart are 2 things: knowledge and action

Knowledge is of two different types:

- Knowledge of la ilaha illalah: Allah’s manifestation and greatness

- Knowledge of knowing ourselves (surah abasa 80:17-22)

Imam Ghazali’s explanation of these Ayahs (80:17-22):

Beginning:

- He brought us from nothing, then earth, we were inanimate and this was our beginning. ie. ignorance b4 knowledge, deafness b4 hearing, etc…

- look at the beginning then the proportions Allah created us into after that

- His favour over us

Middle:

- Allah makes us live after having been earth and an inanimate object, be strong after weakness, limbs after we didn’t have them w/ signs from Allah, wealth after poverty, guided us after misguidance

- Allah formed us easy **w/ signs and blessings** and yet we are so ignorant and disbelieve

End:

- In the end we will decompose, and become earth again, then be resurrected to stand b4 Allah

- nothing except humbleness will help the slave then

Rasulullah (S) is the Imam of humbleness

As for the active part of the cure, it is to truly humble oneself to Allah and show humility to all of his creatures

- Rasulullah (S) used to eat on the ground and say : “I am only a slave, I eat as a slave eats.”

- He taught his companions humility until they became models of humbleness

- One should emulate the inward and outward appearance of humbleness through the eg. Of Rasulullah (S)

**Ridding oneself of pride is an obligation

Imam al-gazali said in ihya:

“Know that arrogance is from the lethal sins and no person is free from at least some amount of it. Removing it is a personal obligation (fard’ain). It does not vanish by mere false hopes, rather by treatment and by the use of medicines that overcome it.”

Question & Answer Session

Q: what is the excellence of humility?

- follow Rasulullah (S): his character is full of humility

- lower yourself to attain humility, don’t think of yourself to be better than others

Q: What is the difference between dignity and kibr? If a person acts dignified and wishes to have a sense of self-dignity - is that kibr?

- no it isn’t

- one should be careful

- kibr: to see oneself better than any other slave…as in if you see yourself better than what you think is lowly...ie. is it below you or is it humbleness

Q: But who does not have a weight of mustard seed of arrogance or pride? (except for really good Muslims). What about having a certain level of dignity and being proud of who one is (but not in a negative way) is this arrogance?

- what concerns us is ourselves only

- no one is free from it, therefore find and apply remedies for this

- being humble is an order from Allah, and so is walking on the earth humbly

Q: Should we see even sinful Muslims as being better then ourselves?

- we don’t know where everyone will end up in the akhirah and their secret of worshipping Allah at night

Q: If one feels scared of riya or pride, while discussing religious matters, is this just waswasa? How can one fight this?

- observe your heart

- seek refuge in Allah

- try to be sincere in actions

Q: Is it considered arrogance to let others know he/she is knowledgeable about something more so than others. As Ibn Masud's saying "I am more knowledgeable than you in Quran, but I am not better than you"

- not necessarily arrogance

- to see that Allah gave you a merit, but you think this merit is yours and is only for you, it’s self glory/pride

- same thing if you forget that Allah gave it to you, and if this causes you to think your better, it’s arrogance

- scholors say “what is ugly truth?” ans. “praising yourself”

- we have to remember that this was said by Ibn Masud…we are not to compare ourselves with Sahabah and scholors of Ilm of the past b/c of the levels of Imaan and understanding and knowledge

Q: Can you comment on how one should react to receiving praise, so as to prevent pride?

- see them as praising Allah’s beautiful veil

- look at it as if they praised them for the beauty He gave them

- Allah concealed what we know from them from what he’s given us

- He veiled people from viewing our faults

- we know we have feelings of arrogance or pride or other evils, and that’s a self-check or reminder…we cannot be ignorant of that fact and not leave these feelings over what other people may say **ie. If they praise us, we cannot forget we’re still sinners and we cannot let this build pride up in us**

- what matters is what Allah wants from us and that’s what we’ll have to face or deal with on the DOJ

Imagine

As salaamu alaikum

SubhanAllah...a very thought-provoking poem. Have a read...

Imagine
Author unknown

Imagine yourself after you pass away
Imagine your grave through night and through day
Wishing that you did not do as they say
Wishing that you had got up and had prayed.

Imagine, my friends, the day that you died
Imagine all of the tears that they cried
Remember how it felt when your body was tied
Remember how it felt in the grave which you lied.

Imagine the day you'll be called to account
Imagine the sum to which your life will amount
Think for a moment of the deeds which you mount
Think for a moment how much they will count.

What will they say of you when you are dead?
What will they say, what will be said?
Will they speak of all the poor who you fed?
Will they remember all the Qu'ran that you read?

Think not of them, but of Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn
Think of Allah when tempted to sin
Think of the paradise which you will dwell in
Don't wait till later to think what might have been.

"Crazy Coffins"

As salaamu alaikum

We are made of earth and that's where we'll return. The only thing entering our graves with us are our deeds; not money, fame, family, or friends. And some people want to have a "memorable sendoff" by creating "exotic caskets to be buried in to reflect their passions in life".......

Eh?

We're going to be dead and decaying...and our souls are either going to be punished or rewarded. We'll have so much to worry about no matter where or what we are buried in...why add to that? Yes that includes the ballet shoe, boat, aircraft, guitar and all the other kinds of "coffins".


"Crazy Coffins" A New Booming Business In England
Taken from: http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_8061.aspx

There's one thing they always say about money - you can't take it with you.

So before you go, you can at least arrange for a memorable send off.

One company in England has taken that directive quite literally to heart, creating a bizarre new business that sits on the tentative border between creativity and extreme bad taste.

Vic Fearn and Company is a 160-year-old entity that makes coffins. That doesn't sound terribly exciting, but recent customers may make you think twice about that impression.

They've been coming in asking for exotic caskets to be buried in to reflect their passions in life.

It started with an odd request from a woman who was a big fan of the Royal Air Force's acrobatic team the Red Arrows. She wanted to be interred forever in a model of one of their fighters.

"So we constructed this plane with folding wings like they have on aircraft carriers," recalls company director David Crampton. "The cockpit of a plane is more or less coffin-shaped so that made life easier."

Once word spread about the custom casket, more people decided to plan for their own demise and do it Frank Sinatra-style - my way.

What other requests have they been asked to fill?

One man wanted to be laid to rest in a canal long boat. "That caused friction with his wife so we had to build one for her as well," Crampton reveals.

Then there's the hospice nurse who's having a pink ballet shoe made for her final exit.

A town crier will be buried in a coffin shaped like a bell. "He wants to go out with a bong," Crampton jokes, a punchline in an industry not known for its humour.

Another client is having a scaled down model of a 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost built. It comes with wheels so pall bearers can simply push it along.

Then there's the one in the shape of a giant electric guitar - with strings attached.

Another resembles a large sports bag (top left), a demand from a cricket fan. (It includes its own wickets.)

There's a box-kite shaped coffin that puts the dearly departed in the middle.

A skateboard container, complete with a skeleton-like rider on its surface, appeals to the crowd who may be too young to die.

The "egg" is self explanatory, although it might be hard to carry.

One that Canadians will no doubt appreciate is a giant beer can with a corkscrew on one end.

A sledge coffin comes with fake feet sticking out of the end of it.

And in the height of questionable appropriateness, there's even a coffin shaped like an industrial garbage container.

You'll pay a lot extra for these final resting places, of course, but they've become something of a sensation in Europe. So much so that many have been put on display in touring shows at art galleries.

And they've brought light to an industry normally filled with solemn gloom.

"Making an unusual crazy coffin is great for the staff," agrees Crampton. "It gives them a chance to test their skills and joinery expertise. It can create some fun in the shop."

Which just proves nothing is sacred any more - even in the coffin making business.

"We are less lugubrious nowadays,' the director admits. "It is a changing profession and I like to believe we are fashion-driven."

And it's one business that will never die.

To see some of the 'crazy coffins' for yourself, click here and here.

Melon Festival

As salaamu alaikum

check this out:
Melon man in headbutt record

"An Australian watermelon picker has set a new world record for headbutting and smashing the most melons in one minute."

*shocked* Headbutting and smashing...melons??? One part of the video shows people, er, melon skiing and others stomping on and squishing them. What a waste of melons! Send 'em here if you don't know what else to do with them...

Abandoning something for the sake and pleasure of Allah

As salaamu alaikum

First, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates.....oh alright fine, and *maybe* so sumaiya doesn't murder me when she finds out I killed her blog lol. But in all truth I've been really busy with exams and school so haven't been able to come on as much, but InshaAllah will try to keep things rolling...I hope...

So, I was reading this story I came across on qisas.com (yes, I really like reading stories and poems...and...not to mention, they're easy to post :P...) after reading it I thought to myself that this was one lesson we all tend to forget. I mean, sometimes we become so selfish that we never want to give or sacrifice any of our belongings. We think that if we give it away, we're losing something. Physically we are, but spiritually we're gaining so much reward and happiness within ourselves that's difficult to come across at times. Not only that, but this way we can feel the gratitude we need to show Allah every day of our lives for everything He's blessed us with.

We forget that Allah is Most Fair and Just and when we sacrifice something for His sake, He's not going to let that go unnoticed. Rather, He'll give us something better in return. And if your thinking, "well, I sacrificed so much and I didn't get anything so far" just know that it may or may not be in this life. Allah might be saving that reward of yours for the Akhirah where it would be way more enjoyable for you...c'mon, a temporary reward, or a reward lasting for eternity? Take your pick.

Let me just take a wild guess here, you picked a reward lasting for eternity...? That's great. But you have to remember that it doesn't work like that. You can't just pick and choose and not do anything to earn it. Therefore, strive in the path of Allah and atleast sacrifice those extra things you've got, and sooner or later that too will increase. Just remember the Sahabah (ra) and how much they sacrificed for this Deen of Allah. They knew that this Dunya is only temporary and so is everything contained in it (ie. wealth). And they'd rather have and enjoy the everlasting reward in the Akhirah instead of perishable materialistic gains in this life.

May Allah (swt) take away all the selfishness and greed from our hearts and give us the ability to spend in His way and help others. Ameen.

Before I forget...here's the story. Enjoy :)

Abandoning Something for the Sake and Pleasure of Allah

Ibn Rajab relates an account of a worshipper who ran out of resources while he was in Makkah. He became extremely hungry and was about to die from lack of nourishment. One day, as he was wandering in the precincts of Makkah, he found an expensive necklace. He put it into his sleeves and headed for the Masjid. On his way he came across a man announcing that he had lost a necklace. The poor man later said, ” I asked him to describe it to me, and he did so, perfectly, leaving no room for doubt. I gave him the necklace without taking reward from him. I said “O Allah, I have given it for You, so compensate me with what is better.”

He went to the ocean and began a journey in a small boat. Only a brief period of time passed before a storm came with heavy winds crashing into the boat. The boat smashed into pieces and the man was forced to cling to a piece of wood. The winds were violent, propelling him to the left and to the right.

Finally, he was washed ashore onto an island. He found there a Masjid filled with people who were praying, so he joined them. He found papers with parts of the Qur’an written on them and he began to recite from them.

The people of the island asked him, “Do you read the Qur’an?” He answered in the affirmative. They said, “Teach our children Qur’an.”

So he began to teach them and he took a salary for his services. One day, they saw him writing and they asked, “Will you teach our children to write?” Again he answered in the affirmative and began teaching them for a salary.

A short time later, they said to him, “There is an orphaned girl with us whose father was a good man. Will you marry her?”

He agreed to the marriage and later related, “I married her and found that she was wearing the exact same necklace. She said that her father lost it in Makkah and a man found it and returned to him. She said that her father would always supplicate while prostrating, for her daughter to become blessed with a husband similar to the honest man. I then informed her that I was that man.”

“…O Allah, I have given it for You, so compensate me with what is better…”

LESSON: Abandoning something for the sake and Pleasure of Allah (SWT) - and Allah will definitely compensate with something that is better, either sooner or later, in this world or Hereafter. [Jaami’ul-uloom wal Hikam]

Seeking Knowledge

Imam Burhan al-Din (r.a), author of the Hidaya, recited this poem by an unnamed author:

An immoral man of learning is a great evil;
yet a greater evil is an ignoramus leading a godly life.
Both are a great trial everywhere
to whomever clings to his religion.

Imam Qiwam al-Din Hamad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isma'il al-Saffar al-Ansari (r.a) recited a poem by Imam Abu Hanifa (r.a):

Whoever strives for knowledge for the Hereafter
obtains great gain in righteousness.
But he who is in utter loss who seeks [knowledge]
to obtain advantage over people!