Together

If I accompany you

will we go to where love opens us

like flowers in the sun

where veils lift and we can see

the beauty of living, of breathing

of listening always to our hearts

Will we move as one towards who we are

without tripping over yesterdays

or the fears or feelings we were taught

that complicate the simple wonder of being here?

Can we ignore the voices

telling us we are not as good as

or that deserving is something you earn

Can we forever drop the belief

that keeping busy is the answer and rather

in the manner of all small beautiful things

just be

I hear your ‘yes’ so I will accompany you

just one thing more . . .

can we dance instead of walk?

- Paddy Noble, copyright 2010

Noble Character of the Prophet (pbuh)

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

The noble character of the Prophet (pbuh) has been best explained by his cousin, Jaffar Ibn Abu Talib, when he was asked by the King of Abbysinia to explain his religion. Jaffar replied:

“ We were a people lost in ignorance. We worshipped idols, we back-stabbed one another in gossip, we committed sins without shame, we severed the bonds of mercy among us, and we were unkind neighbors. The strong among us devoured the weak. Thus we were until Allah sent to us a messenger from among ourselves, well-known to us in his nobility, honesty, trustworthiness, and tenderness. He called us to unity and to devoting our worship to Allah alone and to removing the idols from our hearts. He commanded us to be truthful when we spoke, and to fulfill our trust, and to preserve the bonds of mercy among us, and to be kind neighbors, and to desist from violating what is sacred. He called us to turn back from our sins, and from falsehood, and from devouring the wealth of orphans, and from defaming honorable women. So we believed in him and in his message and we followed what he received from his Lord. ”

- from Love in Islam, a khutbah, or sermon, by Mahmoud Mostafa.

Ya Haqq!

Acquire Knowledge!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

To acquire knowledge is binding upon all Muslims, whether male or female.

He who travels in the search of knowledge, to him God shows the way of Paradise.

Acquire knowledge, because he who acquires it in the way of the Lord performs an act of piety; who speaks of it praises the Lord; who seeks it, adores God, who dispenses instruction in it, bestows alms; and who imparts it to its fitting objects performs an act of devotion to God.

Knowledge enables its possessor to distinguish what is forbidden from what is not; lights the way to Heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our companion in solitude, our companion when bereft of friends; it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is our ornament in the company of friends; it serves as an armor against our enemies. With knowledge the creatures of Allah rises to the heights of goodness and to noble position, associates with the sovereigns in this world and attains the perfection of happiness in the next.

- Sayings (hadiths) of the Prophet (pbuh)

Note:  See also this older post, Benefits of Acquiring Knowledge.

Ya Haqq!