short texts for reflection
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Adab: Being People of Beauty
‘Pious character, refined behaviour and moderation constitute one of seventy parts of prophethood,’ said the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. [Al-Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrad, no.468] Another hadith records the Prophet, peace be upon him, as saying: ‘Nothing is heavier in a believer’s scales on Judgement Day than beautiful character.’ [Al-Tirmidhi, no.2003] Yet another links beautiful character and… Continue reading
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Climbing Mount Taqwa
The Qur’an speaks of God as dhu’l-ma‘arij: Lord of the ascending ways. [Q.70:3] Believers are expected to be climbers, so to speak, in their upward journey to God. The ascent, however, is not that simple and the old saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way” must be the watchword. The iradah (“will”, “aspiration”, “spiritual ambition”) to find God is, unarguably,… Continue reading
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Are We Letting Time Whizz Right Past Us?
Imam al-Shafi‘i remarked: ‘Time is like a sword, if you do not cut it, it will cut you.’ He also said: ‘Your soul, if it is not kept busy with the truth, it will busy you in untruths and falsehood.’1 Islam’s “masters of the heart” tell us that filling our lives with works of faith and… Continue reading
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Have You Parted Company With the Qur’an?
The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it to others.’1 And then there is this hadith: ‘Verily God elevates a people by this Book and debases others by it.’2 These hadiths probably go some way in explaining why Muslims – and what some still call the Muslim world… Continue reading
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How Can Hearts be Softened?
This following piece by Ibn al-Jawzi (d.597H/1200CE) – Hanbali scholar, famous preacher, prolific author – is from his book Sayd al-Khatir. Part meditative, part autobiographical, part exhortational, the book is a rather frank account of his life, works, experiences, achievements, disappointments, hopes, burdens and aspirations. Since it was written over a period of twenty years,… Continue reading