Convert a lemon into a sweet drink
Assembled by Abba Abana,
Kubwa, Abuja, Nigeria
Convert a lemon into a sweet drink
An intelligent and skillful person transforms losses into profits; whereas,
the unskilled person aggravates his own predicament, often making two disasters
out of one.
The Prophet (BPUH) was compelled to leave Makkah, but rather than quit
his mission, he continued it in Madeenah — the city that took its place in history
with lightning speed.
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was severely tortured and flogged, and yet he emerged
triumphant from that ordeal, becoming the Imam of the Sunnah. Imam Ibn Taymiyah
was put into prison; he later came
out an even more accomplished scholar than he was before. Imam As-Sarakhsi
was held as a prisoner, kept at the bottom of an unused well; he managed therein
to produce twenty volumes on Islamic
jurisprudence. Ibn Atheer became crippled, after which he wrote Jam (ey
al-Usool and An-Nihayah, two of the most famous books in the Science of Hadith.
Imam Ibn al-Jawzi was banished from
Baghdad. Then, through his travels, he became proficient in the seven recitations
of the Qur'an. Maalik ibn ar-Rayb was on his deathbed when he recited his most
famous and beautiful poem, which
is appreciated until this day. When Abi Dhu'aib al-Hadhali's children died
before him, he eulogized them with a poem that the world listened to and admired.
Therefore, if you are afflicted with a misfortune, look on the bright side.
If someone were to hand you a glass full of squeezed lemons, add to it a handful
of sugar. And if someone gives you a snake as a gift, keep its precious skin and
leave the rest.
{And it may be that you dislike a thing that is good for you...(Quran 2:
216)}
Before its violent revolution, France imprisoned two brilliant poets: one
an optimist, the other a pessimist. They both squeezed their heads through the bars
of their cell windows. The optimist then stared at the stars and laughed, while the pessimist looked
at the dirt of a neighboring road and wept. Look at the other side of a tragedy—
a circumstance of pure evil does not exist, and in all situations one can find goodness
and profit and reward from Allah.
Is not He
[better than your gods]...
Is not He [better than your gods] Who responds to the distressed ils not
He [better than your gods] Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him...f
(Quran 27: 62)
From Whom do the weak and the oppressed seek victory? Who does
everyone beseech? He is Allah. None has the right to be worshipped except Him.
Therefore it is most advisable for you and I to invoke Him during
times of both hardship and ease, to seek shelter with Him in difficult times, and
to plead at His doorstep with tears of repentance;
then will His help and relief quickly arrive.
ils not He [better than your gods] Who responds to the distressed one,
when he calls Him...} (Quran 27: 62)
He saves the one who is drowning, gives victory to the oppressed,
guides the misguided, cures the sick, and provides relief to the afflicted.
AAnd when they embark on a ship, they invoke Allah, making their Faith
pure for Him only..$ (Quran 29: 65)
As for the various supplications one makes to remove hardship, I refer
you to the books of the Sunnah. In them, you will learn prophetic supplications
with which you can call to Allah, supplicate to Him, and seek His aid. If you have
found Him, then you have found everything. And if you lose your faith in Him, then
you have lost everything. By supplicating to Him you are performing one of the highest forms of worship. If you are persistent
and sincere in your supplication, you will achieve freedom from worry and anxiety.
All ropes are cut loose save His, and all doors are shut save His. He is near; He
hears all and answers those who supplicate to Him.
C- .invoke Me [and ask Me for anything], I will respond to your [invocation].)%
(Qur'an 40: 60)
If you are living through affliction and pain, remember Allah, call out
His name, and ask Him for help. Place your forehead on the ground and mention His
praises, so that you can obtain true freedom.
Raise your hands in supplication, and ask of Him constantly. Cling to His
door, have good thoughts about Him, and wait for His help — you will then find
true happiness and success.
Enough for you is your home The words 'isolation' and 'seclusion' have
a special meaning in our religion: to stay away from evil and its perpetrators,
and to keep those who are foolish at a distance. When you seclude yourself from
evil in this manner, you will have an opportunity to reflect, to think, to graze
in the meadows of enlightenment.
When you isolate yourself from things that divert you from Allah's obedience,
you are giving yourself a dose of medicine, one that doctors of the heart have
found to be a most potent cure. When you seclude yourself from evil and idleness,
your brain is stimulated into action. The results are increases in faith, repentance,
and remembrance of Allah, the Most Merciful.
However, some gatherings are not only recommended, but necessary: the congregational
prayer, circles of learning, and all gatherings of righteousness. As for gatherings
wherein frivolity and shallowness prevail, be wary of them. Take flight from such
gatherings, weep over your wrongdoing, hold your tongue, and be content within the
boundaries of your home. By mixing with others based on foolish motives, you endanger
the stability and soundness of your mind, for the people you indiscriminately mix
with are likely to be experts at wasting time, masters at spreading lies, and skilled
in spreading both trouble and mischief.
{Had they marched oat with you, they would have added to you nothing except
disorder, and they would have hurried about in your midst [spreading
corruption] and sowing sedition among you...}
(Quran 9: 47)
I advise you to fortify yourself to your purpose and isolate yourself in
your room, except when you leave it to speak well or to do well. When you apply
this advice, you will find that your heart has returned to you. So use your time
well and save your life from being wasted. Hold your tongue from backbiting, free
your heart from anxiety, and preserve your ears from profanity.
Your recompense is with Allah - When Allah, the Exalted, takes something
away from you, He compensates you with something better, but only if you are
patient and seek your reward from Him. The Prophet (BPUH) said:
"Whoever has his eyesight taken away from him and is (then) patient,
he will be compensated for it with
Paradise."
The Prophet (BPUH) said in another hadith: "Whoever loses a loved
one from the people of this world and then seeks his recompense with his Lord, will
be compensated with Paradise."
So do not feel excessive sorrow over some misfortune, because the One Who
decreed it has with Him Paradise: recompense and a great reward.
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