The Promise of a Believer

The Promise of a Believer

This is a story I picked up when a few Imams from Madina visited our mosque, their simplicity and humbleness was unbelievable. Their faces lit up with kindness when they smiled and it was a great evening.

This particular story is about a young boy and how he sets an example for all of us believers.

A man threw a stone at a camel and it hit the animal in the eye causing it to go blind in one eye, a boy who saw the animal in pain picked up a stone and threw it back at the man...but the man died. 

This was during the time of Umar Bin Al Khattab (RA), the boy explained how he killed him by accident.. so Umar (RA) asked the man's two sons.. "Will you forgive him?"

They both said "No we want retribution.." 

So Umar (RA) asked the boy "Do you have any last requests?" 

The boy said "Yes my father passed away and I have a younger brother..and my father left some money for my brother, I would like 3 days to retrieve this wealth from a hidden place So that I could make sure my brother gets it when I die.." 

Umar( RA) said "I will trust you but find a guarantor, someone that will guarantee that you will be back"..
The boy shouted out in the court.."Will someone not help me today?"

Everyone puts their head down..till Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari (RA) the noble companion who gave Dawah to many tribes raised his hand. 

Now understand to be a guarantor means that if the boy does not come back it will be the head of Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari that will be chopped off.

First day goes by and the boy is not to be seen, same for the second and the third day comes..the two brothers take Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari to the court again but Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari (RA) said "The day does not end till maghrib (sunset)".. And literally minutes before the Adaan of Maghrib the boy rushed in..

Umar (RA) asked the boy.. "Oh boy why did you come back? I did not send anyone after you.. I did not send a spy after you..what made you come back!?!" 

He said "I did not want anyone to say that when a Muslim gave his word he did not fulfil it..so I came back.." 

Umar (RA) turns to Abu Dharr (RA) and says "Oh Abu Dharr what made you to be the guarantor of this boy?" 

Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari (RA) replied.. "I saw a Muslim in need and I did not ever want anyone to say that a Muslim was in need and no one was there to help him.. so I raised my hand to be the guarantor of this boy" 

The two brothers said "When we have people like this how can a Muslim ask for forgiveness and no one be there to forgive him.." SUBHANALLAH. So they forgave the boy. :')

This was the legacy of Islam. This was the code of conduct, this is why during the Caliphate of Umar Bin Al Khattab they were able to achieve big things because they had a strong relationship with Allah.. they did things with Ihsaan. They lived with the code of conduct of Islam.. 

I thank all of you who read this ,and want you to take a lesson from this story, we live in a world of distractions and the only thing that can keep us in the right path is constant reminders. 

May Allah Guide & Protect Us All. 

-Hisham Nazer

Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) - I

I'm writing this post to let some of you know about our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) , it is known to me that a perfect description is never possible of this blessed soul! But I'm inspired to write this nevertheless.

Bear with me for any errors that you might detect and correct me if I'm wrong.

Chapter I

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was born in the tribe of Quraysh (an important tribe in Arabia).

He was born in an era where people had drifted a long way from worshiping ONE true God (Allah*) which the Prophets(Peace Be Upon Them All) before him introduced to their people.

*Allah is the Arabic word for 'God'. Muslims all around the globe refer to God as Allah.

Idol worship was dominant in the area and Makkah had become the centre of this worship. Muhammad (PBUH) grew up under the care of his grandfather, Abd' Al Muttalib who was the chief of the Banu Hashim clan (sub group of Quraysh Tribe).

 As a young boy he never understood why his people were bowing down to things made of stone and asking them for blessings so he never bowed down to them nor prayed to them.

As he grew up his grandfather died and Muhammad (PBUH) was under the care of his uncle Abu Talib.
He was trusted and respected by everyone alike and was given the title 'Al-Ameen' (The trustworthy).

Muhammad (PBUH) often went to the Hira Cave, which was far from the city in order to pray and worship Allah alone. It was one such day that the Angel Gabriel (Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَم) came to him and told him to "Read"  

Muhammad (PBUH) could not read, so he replied the same. The angel once again said "Read" and then Muhammad (PBUH) repeated that he was unable to read. Angel Gabriel then recited the first few verses of the Holy Quran and told Muhammad (PBUH) that he was one of the Messengers of Allah.

This incident totally shocked Muhammad (PBUH) and he went to his house that day shivering as though he had high fever. He told his beloved wife Khadija of the events that had happened and she had no doubt in her husbands words.

She suggested that they go to her cousin, Waraka who was a Christian priest living in Makkah. 

Muhammad (PBUH) told Waraka of the events that had happened in the cave and he replied that this was none other than Angel Gabriel, who was sent to all the previous messengers with the revelation from Allah.

He also warned Muhammad that his people will now turn against him as this was the case with all the Prophets and he swore if he was alive at the time, he would surely be there to support him...

Travelling - Simple Do's and Dont's

We travel almost everyday, from your locality to another or from a country to another. It has become an integral part of the developed society.

Most of us including me keep the planning till the end. This is for the people who never have a good experience travelling.

Without planning for a trip you'll end up in all sorts of trouble. In the end spend twice the time you actually require and end up with no time at all.

So what can we do? You might feel that this article is pretty long,  take a chance and keep reading.

1) Know the name of the place you're travelling at least two weeks before your trip.

-This will give you enough time to do your little research on the Internet and plot out a rough plan.

2) Search for a place to stay, look through the hotels and resorts that best suits your requirement and book it ASAP. P.s (Internet required.)

-You don't want to reach there and end up without a place to keep all your baggage.

3) Depending on the number of days you'll stay there start planning for each day. Take one day at a time and start writing down what you might do.

-This will save a lot of your time as you can reschedule and manage your time if you might miss a spot.

4) What to take along? Depends from person to person. Essentials would include all your chargers, one or two backpacks, cell phones,camera, a map of the place etc..

-Again all this changes from person to person, look at your rough 'Day plan' and decide what to take that day.

5) Food.

-Locate places where you get good food beforehand and also try to communicate with the people around the area.

6)Shopping - People are always on the lookout for tourists to sell their items for a 'dream price'. 

-Develop the skill of bargaining, you'll need that. A lot.

7) Aren't you getting bored reading all this? As of now that's all I can think of.

8) Dont read any more articles after this and confuse yourself. Thank you for your patient time.

Have a safe trip and a pleasant stay wherever you go! :)

-Hisham Nazer

Yet another birthday...

I knew that at the strike of 12:00 am my friends would come charging into my room with the birthday cake and singing the birthday song. This was the practice in the hostel everyone would wait for that exact moment and then break into your room to wish you. 

I liked this gesture and I really appreciate what they did for me. Wishes pouring int on Facebook and twitter also has not stopped and I'm really grateful for all this. Now this is about my friends but sadly there's another set of people who on their birthday's despite wishes and a cake have to suffer a lot of pain. Not mental pain but physical pain. 

Now this is what happens, people lift the birthday boy and just start hitting him with anything they find and this does not stop there. They bring eggs and buckets of water just to throw on him. How in the world is that fun? I know of people who were severely injured just because it was their birthday.

This practice needs to stop and for good. Luckily my birthday did not have any rough moments like that and it was all smiles. I wish it was the same way for everyone too.

With all that said I've turned 19 years old and life will hopefully give me many more surprises and moments of happiness with all the years that I have left to live..

Wishing each one of  you a great day!

                                                                                                   -Hisham Nazer

A little walk through our life..

Ever wondered how you'll be in a span of 10 years? What might come into your life and what might go away? In this era of social media and gadgets we're so busy working with these technological outbursts that we often forget what is happening to us and the people around us each day.

From the first day of your life, when you first cried out in front of your parents and they smiled with happiness of your arrival into this world.... How often do we sit with them and spend time talking to them about their troubles and joking around only to make them smile?

There is an unending list of questions to be answered and I myself need to answer some of those... I'm writing this article only to make some of you aware that we're growing old... and its hard to imagine this but our parents who brought us into this world, are also slowly growing old with us.

This article may be a mix of emotions but I hope you understand what I'm trying to convey here. In this race called life where everyone runs in all directions to make a good living, some of us forget to do it in the right way. Not mentioning what these wrong ways are but leaving it to you to decide.

Children born in this era no longer play with those old building blocks and are not at all interested in playing with the items in the kitchen (my favorite), rather they need the cellphone in their dad's hand. I've seen kids as young as two knowing how to unlock a phone! Simple coordination of two buttons but that's the change I'm talking about. This does not stop here and grown up children spend hours in front of their computers and video game consoles that they lose track of time and to an extent damage their character.. Sad but true.

No matter what we do we cannot stop death. It may come to us in any form, anytime and anywhere. Its our own need to live our life rightfully and happily. To give happiness & absorb sadness itself would make a huge difference if everyone applied it.

I dont think I can end this article in an apt way but I'll tell you this :

      "Love and appreciate your parents. We are often so busy growing up,

                                                  we forget that they are also growing old."


I hope this article made some sense to you and I shall try to improve with each and every post from here on. 

- Cheers to you and have a nice day!
                                                           - Hisham Nazer