Thoughts

Sometimes we live in a world secluded from the other species, a world of our thoughts, sometimes we wander into them so deeply that we get lost.. "One thought, is worth a thousand years of worship" is what Imam Al-Sadiq [as] says, thinking of our actions before we go to bed, or making lets say a list of ten things which we have doen during the day which we feel we should eliminate from our lives, is a step forward towards the truth of our thoughts.
sometimes our thoughts are so muddled, and so not well thought out,that we do not know what to achieve and how to achieve our goals... but why? ever asked yourself.. why cant i achieve this, why cant i do this? sometimes your heart is with something but your mind is not, but why?
Well to answer why our heart is with some things and our mind is not, is pretty clear to all of us, sometimes are emotions get the better of us, sometimes our mind tells us that something is wrong, even though our heart desires it, and as the heart desires it, so does the soul, however at this point we say.. does the soul really desire such a thing??? or are we fooled into thinking that? if we were able to follow our minds and follow the truth, abandoning our heart and the mischief that dwells from it.. we may be able to think straight and act straight.. life is about discipline, if you discipline yourself, your heart and your mind, then the long term affects are greater than the short term..
sometimes sacrifices have to be made along with life, one must sacrifice along the way sometimes to achieve better things than those momentarily desired... if we follow our worldy desires all the time, without thinking of the better then we are falling into trap, in dua kumayl we famously read: "..My high hopes have held me back from my gain and this world with its delusions, my own self with its offences and my dilly dallying have deceived me.."
Its quite funny how we seem to hold on to this world, without wanting to let go, when we know that there is something much much better waiting for us...paradise!!!... we are told of the blessings and the bounties we are to recieve, however we like to shut our selves from that, we prefer this world to the hereafter, we prefer the momentary happiness to that of the eternal one..
Do you not ask yourself why this is so??? well the answer to that is quite simple too... basically there is something that is called a "veil" as mentioned in the quran: "We have created from between their hands a veil, and from behind them a veil and we have put a veil across their eyes to that the do not see".
Furthermore the Quran says: "There similitude is that of a man who kindled fire, when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light, and left them in utter darkness so they could not see" [2:17]...
There is alot one can say about this topic.... but i feel as if i have prolonged this.. thus i shall get back to this soon..
W'salam W'ra7matallahi W'barakatuh..

Manners

Bismillahi ta3ala...
To understand good manners, one must also understand bad manners. Allah [swt] has given us all the "good things", however the "bad things that" happen are a result of our actions...Pure Good cannot produce evil, like pure light cannot produce darkness. Allah [swt] is pure good, thus pure evil cannot be produced by him, only by us!!
There is a small peice of meat called the tongue which allows us to communicate, we express our feelings and thoughts to live socially. It plays an important role in our everyday lives. We can build and destroy a community, a society or the whole of humanity through this. You can also bring people together, you can speak the truth, you can pass information to people, educate people, Islam touches this point about this organ.
Imam Zain al-abedein [as]:
The tongue of the human supervises the body and parts of the body. Everyday the tongue asks the parts of the body, "how have you become today?". The parts of the body answer, we are good, but if only you leave us. The organs of the body say to the tongue We beg you to leave us alone we are rewarded and punished because of you. You are the reason for our rewards and punishments.
"Ina lisaneh ibna adam yashruf kola yowmin 3ala jawari7ah fa yakool kayfa asba7tom, fa yakooloona bikhayran in taraktana. yakooloon Allahu allahu feena wa yunashidoonah wa yaqoooloona inama nathabu bika wa noo3akabu bik."
The prophet [saw]:
"bala2u al-insanu min al lisan" - The troubles of a human come from the tongue.
Imam Ali [as]:
"sa2ala al imamu ali [as]: ayu shay2in min ma khalaqa allahu a7san? fa qaal: al kalam, fa qeela: ayu shay2in min ma khalaqa allahu akba7? fa qaal: al kalam, bil kelam ibyathat al wujoooh wa bil kelam iswadat il wujooh"
Imam Ali [as] asked:What is the prettiest thing from the creation of allah [swt]? so he said: speech, then he asked and what is the ugliest thing from allah [swt]? so he said, speech. then he said: through speech our faces have been whitened and through speech our faces have been blackened.
Imam Al-Hassan [as]:
The distance between truth and falsehood is only four fingers. whatever you see by your eyes is the truth. But you can hear falsehood with your ears.
"Bayn al 7aqi wa al ba6ili arba3 a9abi3, fa ma ra2aytahu bi 3aynikeh howeh al-7aq wa qad tasma3 bi ithnikeh ba6ilan katheeran"
Lying is an example of the misuse of the tongue, which leads to untruthfulness of ones speech..
There are two things to bear in mind:
1] Hypocrisy [an physical action]
2] Lying [an oral action]
Both hypocrisy and lying show the untruthfulness of one.
Hypocrisy is showing unreal things by action. It is good to show consequences and effects of lying. There are many effects and results of lying..some appear in your life, some appear in your next life.
The religion if islam enters in every aspect of your life, Inshalla we will discuss the affects.
1] Losing dignity, or glory and losing the respect of others.
Imam Al-Sadiq [as] says:
"La takthib, fa yathhab bahaukeh" - Do not lie for it will take away your dignity.
2] Losing the Rizik...losing daily bread
Imam Ali Ridha [as]: Al kathibu yankus al rizik - lying takes away the daily bread
Imam Ali [as]: I3tiyad al kathibu yarith al fakor - To lie often inherits poverty.
3] Forgetfullness
Imam Al-Sadiq:
"Ina mimen a3anahu allahu bih 3ala al kathabeenah howeh al nisyaan."
God punishes liars by making them forget.
4] Al-Nifaaq - Hypocrisy.
examples of hypocrisy:
--->A person in Iran was married to 4 women by lying to each that he had no wives.
--->If i own a car, and i sell the car to 10 people obtaining money from all 10 without giving the product away.
God gave us forgetfullness so we do not go deeper in our lives.
Imam Al-Ridha [as]:
"Al-Kithbu babon min abwab al nifaq" - Lying is a door from the doors of Hypocrisy
5] Losing opportunity of worshipping God.
Sometimes you will be unable to do wajib/compulsory things in a day because of Lying. If you lie you will lose the opportunity of praying salat al layl.

Black Magic

In the name of ALLAH

Al-Salam Alaykum,
Black Magic is something which I would like to discuss in this thread. It is something so common amongst people, yet so sickly grevious that it is not spoken of openly. It pains me greatly to personally know people that are involved in this.. How can anyone want to change their way of life by magic, or change the way others feel towards you??? It is immoral in my opinion!!! People should be free to act and feel the way they want!!

Wa Salaam