Do not Despair in the Mercy of God

“And those who disbelieve in the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh and the Meeting with Him, it is they who have no hope in My Mercy, and it is they who will (have) a painful torment. “

Despair: –noun
1. loss of hope; hopelessness.
2. someone or something that causes hopelessness: He is the despair of his mother.
–verb (used without object)
3. to lose, give up, or be without hope (often fol. by of): to despair of humanity.

Despair is the hopeless feeling that overcomes people, when they face trials and hardships. Why is it a Sin? Why did I place such a great emphasis on “one of the greatest sins”:

[012:087] “Oh my sons! Go look for Yusuf and his brother. Do not give up hope. Have faith in the mercy of Allah. Surely, only the disbelievers lose hope in the mercy of Allah!”

Despair in itself is not good for ones physical health, depression is a form of despair. But it is also a destruction in the case of someone spiritual health.

there is a Story in the Quran of Abraham, when the Angels come to him before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, they bring glad tiding to a aging Abraham:

51. And tell them about the guests (the angels) of Ibrâhim (Abraham).

52. When they entered unto him, and said: Salâman (peace)! [Ibrâhim (Abraham)] said: “Indeed! We are afraid of you.”

53. They (the angels) said: “Do not be afraid! We give you glad tidings of a boy (son) possessing much knowledge and wisdom.”

54. [Ibrâhim (Abraham)] said: “Do you give me glad tidings (of a son) when old age has overtaken me? Of what then is your news?”

55. They (the angels) said: “We give you glad tidings in truth. SO BE NOT OF THE DESPAIRING ONES.”

56. [Ibrâhim (Abraham)] said: “AND WHO DESPAIRS OF THE MERCY OF GOD EXCEPT THOSE WHO ARE ASTRAY?”

Before these verse, God says something that perhaps can open our eyes to a important point:

49. Declare (O Muhammad SAW) unto My servants, that truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful

God is most merciful. GOD IS MOST MERCIFUL. DECLARE TO MY SERVANTS THAT TRULY, I AM MOST FORGIVING MOST MERCIFUL!

Have you ever felt sad? like the world is a bad place, that things are becoming too difficult, as if its a never ending hardship? you are WRONG:

5. So verily, with the hardship, there is relief,
6. Verily, with the hardship, there is relief (i.e. there is one hardship with two reliefs, so one hardship cannot overcome two reliefs).

These verses were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad pbuh when he was experiencing great hardships and difficulty.

Did you ever feel like God has abandoned you? He has not ABANDONED YOU. Rather you have no patience, have you ever blamed God for any problem you faced, you are wrong! God is not to blame.

Have you felt as if you’ve done great evil, and God will NEVER FORGIVE YOU?

God says:

“Say: O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Sûrah al-Zumar: 53]

the Devil tries to overcome you with DESPAIR and SADNESS, knowing that the deeper he afflictes you with Despair and sadness you will not reach out to God.

Rather you will reach out to other things to escape from the Hardship you are in. Among them, Murder, Suicide and Drugs.

Do you know the name of the Devil in Arabic?

IBLIS which comes from the Semetic root, BALASA which in Arabic means,” DESPAIR”. He wants to cause others the same DESPAIR he is in.

the Devil declared in a interesting narration:

I have defeated the Children of Adam when I cause them to Sin, but he then “cried” and said, but they have DEFEATED me whenever they call upon their LORD, because whenever they call upon HIM he forgives them, he is MOST FORGIVING MOST MERCIFUL!”

one way he tries to stop Man from reaching out to his LORD who is always there for him:

186. And when My servants ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the caller when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright

the Devil makes Mankind feel unclean and impure and unable to approach God so they use others to approach him, INTERCESSORS, LESSER GODS and GODDESSES ETC.

but Beware. that Is how the Devil delays or even leads people astray.

so do not be SAD, or DESPAIR.

God is MOST FORGIVING MOST MERCIFUL

‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I will forgive you for all that comes from you, and I do not care. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach even the farthest heights (clouds) in the sky, and you asked for My forgiveness, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and met Me without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon”.

 

Was Islam spread by the Sword?

Peace be upon those who seek righteous guidance…

Not to long ago, Did the Persian commanders meet with the Muslim envoys, the Persians who were at one time one of the Greatest Empires of all time, had seen the strength and preserverence of the Muslim Forces, as did the Byzantine Roman Empire. They sat down with the Muslim envoy and asked: What brought you out of your dwellings in the Desert? (not to mention the causes of the conflict between the Persians and the Muslims and the Byzantines.)

The Muslim envoy Raba’i (R.A) responded: “God has sent us to bring anyone who wishes from servitude to men into the service of God alone, from the narrowness of this world into the vastness of this world and the Hereafter, from the tyranny of religions into the justice of Islam.”

When one says “Islam was spread by the tip of the Sword” He gives the assumption to people, that the Religion of Islam, was spread by the tip of the Sword. A person who knows even a little bit of History will give the examples of the Largest Muslim nation , Indonesia, which never had Muslim armies set into its shores, one may even mention Malaysia, a beautiful Muslim country, both Countries encountered Islam through decent and honest and sincere Muslim Merchants and Religious men who traded and lived amongst them.

Now, I do not deny, some Transgressions done by Muslim Empires, in the Past, and it is not just for anyone who cherry picks out these transgressions to deny the many many good done by the Muslim Empires as well. Among the Great feats were the Pluralistic societies built by the Muslims, in Spain, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Cairo. Dhimmi status also being given as some kind of proof to the terrible state by which minority or even other non-Muslim groups were in. Dhimmah only means “Protected”. It gives rights to the people of other religions living in a Islamic state, within the Islamic state, it allows some autonomy to Jews, and Christians as well as Zoroastrians and Hindus living within their state, among them establishing their own religious courts, and deciding the fate of their respected peoples, their religious liberty and and so on. the Dhimmah tax is less then the Zakat tax taken from Muslim citizens of the Islamic state, the Muslim are obligated to serve in the Army, whilst the Dhimmi peoples are not obliged to serve in the very Army that provides their safety and security.

If you look all across the lands Muslim armies conquered and where Muslim Empires flourished, you will see how Religious communities of Copts, Hindus, and so on flourish until today, if you look at South America and North America you will see how the Indigenous religious practices were completely wiped out.

Maybe to some degree Muslims can admit Empires spread by the Sword, but not the religion of Islam and the Muslims throughout history have been commanded by the LORD of all the exists:

“Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth has been made clear from error. Whoever rejects false worship and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 256]

 

Signs of Faith/ Iman

One of my dearest friends and I were chatting it out at our workplace and he asked me a very intriguing question, he asked, “what are the signs that one has Iman, or in other words faith.” To my astonishment the only thing that came out of my mouth was a laugh of uncertainty, i was caught off guard and for the first time i had no idea the answer to that question.

I smiled and i said, “well you should reflect on it, and insha’Allah if you find a certain hadith which is reported about this certain subject please report back to me, because i’m also interested in finding out.

After he left, i was moved and motivated just to go online and find a hadith conerning signs of iman, now we all have certain (Was wasat or whispers from the shaitan) making us doubt the level of our iman, a beautiful reminder was that one of our local imams said on a Friday sermon, “A sign that one still has iman, is that whenever he hears the Quran being recited, his heart is humbled and moved, and in some occasions they cry in taqwa or awe.

Again, still not sure if that is enough to sum up my dear friend question and also what has become mine, i had set out on a search, not going to college this quarter, i had alot of time on my hands, i had been very excited to finally have something to research on. Having been very exhausted on the last quarters class projects and assigned researches, i thought i would never be as excited towards doing any type of study, but as i feel deeper into my quarter off, i began to yearn for some type of assignment and study. Its not only me, i found to my enlightenment that most students just want to get done with their semesters and get done with the college quarter or year, but when they are in the final days of their break, some, i cant really say all are eager and ready to begin their quarter, with a shot of motivation, only Allah knows where that comes from.

anyways, i’m still looking into the signs of Iman, if any of my dear readers and brethren and sisters find out signs of faith, insha’Allah post a comment, i would really appreciate it.

peace be unto you all