The fast car
Sunday, July 23, 2006
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If the life of this world is an illusion, the period of greatest illusion occurs during youth. It is a period of high energy and great enthusiasm, coupled with an air of invincibility and perpetuity. Like the driver of a fast car, one may also develop a disdain for the slower cars on the highway of life. It is difficult to imagine that the car will run out of fuel and that one day the engine will wear out.
For the moment though the car is fast and it can go places!
For this reason there are special warnings for the youth and glad tidings for the person who uses this energy wisely. A famous hadith tells us that on the Day of Judgment no man will be able to move from his place until he answers five questions. "How did he spend his life? How did he utilize his youth? How did he earn his wealth? How did he spend it? And, how did he practice what he learnt?" [Sunan al-Tirmidhi]. While the first question asks generally about one's life pattern, the second especially focuses on the period of youth.
On the other hand, the person who devoted his youth to the worship of Allah will be among the selected seven kinds of people: "There are seven people for whom Allah will provide His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His shade:
1. A just ruler.
2. A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah.
3. A man whose heart is attached to the mosque.
4. Two men who love each other for Allah's sake; they meet for the sake of Allah and part company for His sake.
5. A man who is invited by a woman of beauty and position [to sin], but he refuses saying: 'I fear Allah.'
6. A man who gives in charity secretly such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives.
7. A man whose eyes shed tears as he remembers Allah in private."
[Bukhari, Muslim].
Hence the profound advice in another famous hadith to value five things: "Youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before preoccupation, and life before death."
A fast car is dangerous if it does not have strong controls. And that is where Shaitan targets the vulnerable --- by loosening the controls. It has been his time-tested trick to work through temptations and make desires look irresistible. The path of deviation looks good. It is cool. It is fun. It is endlessly entertaining. The only problem is, it leads to assured disaster.
by : Khalid Baig
For the moment though the car is fast and it can go places!
For this reason there are special warnings for the youth and glad tidings for the person who uses this energy wisely. A famous hadith tells us that on the Day of Judgment no man will be able to move from his place until he answers five questions. "How did he spend his life? How did he utilize his youth? How did he earn his wealth? How did he spend it? And, how did he practice what he learnt?" [Sunan al-Tirmidhi]. While the first question asks generally about one's life pattern, the second especially focuses on the period of youth.
On the other hand, the person who devoted his youth to the worship of Allah will be among the selected seven kinds of people: "There are seven people for whom Allah will provide His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His shade:
1. A just ruler.
2. A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah.
3. A man whose heart is attached to the mosque.
4. Two men who love each other for Allah's sake; they meet for the sake of Allah and part company for His sake.
5. A man who is invited by a woman of beauty and position [to sin], but he refuses saying: 'I fear Allah.'
6. A man who gives in charity secretly such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives.
7. A man whose eyes shed tears as he remembers Allah in private."
[Bukhari, Muslim].
Hence the profound advice in another famous hadith to value five things: "Youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before preoccupation, and life before death."
A fast car is dangerous if it does not have strong controls. And that is where Shaitan targets the vulnerable --- by loosening the controls. It has been his time-tested trick to work through temptations and make desires look irresistible. The path of deviation looks good. It is cool. It is fun. It is endlessly entertaining. The only problem is, it leads to assured disaster.
by : Khalid Baig
posted by Mohksin Rashid @
3:36 pm
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