Comparative state

[Aapa]

Salaam,

When we are reared in non-Muslim countries we are exposed to the comparative state. In English we have the positive, comparative and superlative degrees in adjectives. Let us have a lesson in the comparative.
In the comparative degree there is always a comparison. Jill is prettier than Betty. Betty is thinner than Jill. Mary has more than Betty.
As we enter the complex social arena we discover we have grades..John is a better student than Jack. etc. etc. etc. There is competition for everything. And we like fools fall into it.
We have to prove ourselves worthy. Here we have the cliques. You can not be my friend because your family does not make the same money as mine. You are assigned classes as a result of your socio-economic status. Honor students are not necessarily the brightest students but have parents who live in the right neighborhood. The atheletic students do not make friends with those who possess little physical agility.
The choices for college are really all about money and status....there is a saying here about keeping up with the Jones. If the Jones purchase a new flat screen tv..we have to buy one, too.

Islam releases us from this false burden. We are not guilt ridden for what we do not have. Islam lets us remember all the favors of Allah subhana talla that we can not deny. As girls we do not have to compare ourselves to cheerleaders. We do not need to buy into the popularity club. We need not feel shame for what we do not have..we have the blessings of Allah..we are not needy.

Non-Muslim worlds make us feel needy. We are always trying to compensate for the lack of trophies.

Therfore, we are satisfied as the slaves of Allah. We do not need to feel that our selfworth is nothing. Success is not what we have to hold in this world but what we are taking with us to the next.

 

[dianek]

Thank you. I hear your words but God KNOWS it just doesn't feel that simple. I am not a materialistic person but I do care about how I am perceived (She's fat, she's ugly, she's plane.....). We are conditioned to feel this in this competitive world. Thank you for the gentle reminder.

 

[IbnAdam77]

:salam2: sister aapa

it is not a problem in non-muslim countries...my country is called a 100% muslim country...but it has the same problem too...

we really need to get rid of the targets of cristian missionaries...

may the mercy of ALLAH be with us and protect us from being wrongdoers...

wassalam

-brother Ibnadam-

 

[dianek]

What does Chrisitian Missionaries have to do with it????? I am perplexed.

 

[IbnAdam77]

What does Chrisitian Missionaries have to do with it????? I am perplexed.

sister its not directly related to that...i didnt say its because of their acts directly...but i wanted just my brothers and sisters to be reminded of them and their acts even in this post of mine...

sorry if this misunderstood u...

wassalam

-brother IbnAdam-

 

[dianek]

sister its not directly related to that...i didnt say its because of their acts directly...but i wanted just my brothers and sisters to be reminded of them and their acts even in this post of mine...

sorry if this misunderstood u...

wassalam

-brother IbnAdam-

No worries...was just thinking that you meant Christians cause materialistic ideals....and I was just going to add there are many TRUE Christians who believe in simple living.....shunning modern conveniences. Like the Amish.

I would be so happy to live amongst them.....such simple pleasures they take from simple things.....LOL...but I will do without the names "Elias, Jonas, etc."
Just a little humor there.

Just wanted to add this....it is from Matthew Chapter 6 but I felt it was appropriate and soothing...

"Do Not Worry
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life [e]?

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. "

 

[palestine]

No worries...was just thinking that you meant Christians cause materialistic ideals....and I was just going to add there are many TRUE Christians who believe in simple living.....shunning modern conveniences. Like the Amish.

I would be so happy to live amongst them.....such simple pleasures they take from simple things.....LOL...but I will do without the names "Elias, Jonas, etc."
Just a little humor there.

Just wanted to add this....it is from Matthew Chapter 6 but I felt it was appropriate and soothing...

"Do Not Worry
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life [e]?

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. "

sorry but i think you've posted this in the wrong forum. it's an islamic forum. and yes you're just sharing but still. anyhow not to offend you but you seem to be slipping away from islam, lately you've been defending christianity. and although there are kind christians, they still do and try to get muslims to leave their deen. especially in poor muslim countries. they hand out the bible to the ones they give food to. anyhow, i really think you need to look back at islam. and you need to stop being so defensive of christianity. cause you keep quoting anyone who says the word "chrisitian". just a thought. peace.

 

[palestine]

dianek, what's soothing and appropriate is the words of allah swt. not the words of matthew. i don't find it anything soothing in a man who has lied about Jesus alayhi salam.

 

[dianek]

dianek, what's soothing and appropriate is the words of allah swt. not the words of matthew. i don't find it anything soothing in a man who has lied about Jesus alayhi salam.

It is the Sermon on the Mount that Isa gave, not Matthew. And if you believe Isa is a prophet why the offence to his words. There is nothing inappropriate about it. And it was intended to speak to the idea of materialism that it seemed was being attributed to christians. Which is not fair. I defend where I see defense is necessary. If someone sees an injustice or lie should he not correct it. I can be muslim and still honor and respect the christian faith and the people of it can I not? Is that not tolerance.

Any how beside the point of the post.......the point is to let go of materialistic ideals even though the environment you live in may seem as though THINGS are important....they are not. And that sermon on the mount lent truth to her words as well.......

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

The words of the passage consider the lillies of the field are reassuring to everyone. They are words of comfort. If a member feels they are worthy to be shared let us be humble and accept the words.

Sister Diane please accept my apologies for my young sister. We can not tell you what your iman is. Only Allah subhana talla knows.

This was a reminder for myself too. It is part of shedding the word we have left behind. We now have to use a new vocabulary. Words define us..so let us use a Muslim vocabulary with words such as Alhumdullia for our state.

 

[dianek]

Salaam,

The words of the passage consider the lillies of the field are reassuring to everyone. They are words of comfort. If a member feels they are worthy to be shared let us be humble and accept the words.

Sister Diane please accept my apologies for my young sister. We can not tell you what your iman is. Only Allah subhana talla knows.

This was a reminder for myself too. It is part of shedding the word we have left behind. We now have to use a new vocabulary. Words define us..so let us use a Muslim vocabulary with words such as Alhumdullia for our state.

With grace mirajmom! But I must say those comments are how frustration starts and rudeness kicks in.....I wasn't going to let it get the best of me this time. But just to say, why are some so quick to throw things at the Christians?? So what if they hand out a bible to needy with some food....if the needy are firm in their faith they will be gracious of the food and discard the other gift once the giver is gone....no one twists their hands to read it.

 

[cmelbouzaidi]

:salam2:

Well said mirajmom, as a senior member in years and not experience or knowledge, lol, I feel we muslims must follow the humble example of Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, and not criticize others so much but clean up our own backyard. We do believe in the original gospels and the psalms of David and the message of Prophet Isa is a beautiful one. Do not worry, Palestine, the Christianity gone astray version is not contageous to those strong in their faith! Let us be the best example, as Muslims as we can be to all humanity for Allah's (swt) sake.

 

[um muhammad al-mahdi]

:salam2:

please brothers & sisters stick to the topic.

 

[Zaynab123]

:salam2:

:ma::ma::ma: thats very true,may Allah reward u for it. jazak Allahu khayra for sharing.

 

[dianek]

:salam2:

Well said mirajmom, as a senior member in years and not experience or knowledge, lol, I feel we muslims must follow the humble example of Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, and not criticize others so much but clean up our own backyard. We do believe in the original gospels and the psalms of David and the message of Prophet Isa is a beautiful one. Do not worry, Palestine, the Christianity gone astray version is not contageous to those strong in their faith! Let us be the best example, as Muslims as we can be to all humanity for Allah's (swt) sake.

Merci Beaucoup!!!! Right on target.

 

[ditta]

Assalaamu'Alaykum,

Your words are very true, but being on your own with no just company can be difficult, but without doubt with Allah's help He will make it easy.

I see this a lot and your post allows me to reflect upon my self - Am I trying to "mimic" others or be someone I am not or feel that i must possess certain items that i am not need of.

This is common with electrical goods, clothes (what's "in") etc. Oh, i feel for those younger than me that may fall into this trap. May Allah guide them to that which is good. Ameen.

This specific sentence beautifully covers everything in your post:

Non-Muslim worlds make us feel needy. We are always trying to compensate for the lack of trophies.

The word "trophies" magnificently covers all aspects of this - how we try to compensate in the goods we own, how we try to compensate in the way we act and behave etc.

Subhan'Allah, as you stated, the real believer will be aware of the fact that the real success or that which can be deemed as successful will be in the hereafter, where we end up - Paradise or Hell - eating from the fruits from Jannah or the tree of Zaqqoom. The success in this life is worthless compared to that which is waiting for the successful in the hereafter.

I understood your post, but its difficult for me to reply to it (to a certain extent), i guess what i am trying to say is, we need to return to the Qur'an & Sunnah of the Prophet in order to rid ourselves of ugly and simply despicable principle.

Ahh, its just hit me, your reply is the essence of the Islamic Brotherhood/Sisterhood in Islam, as it shuns the examples you have given. While the non-muslim’s “hood”, i don’t include brother or sister in there because for those two words to be included it must be united shunning nationalistic or one’s group in the socio-economic group. How befitting the khutbah to be about Brotherhood today.

There is a hadeeth which epitomises the Brotherhood of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) which was mentioned in the khutbah, but i can’t narrate it because i don’t remember the exact names of the Companions. Subhan’Allah, my weak memory.

It just shows that your post was indeed fantastic because we need to stop trying to enter the “hood” of the disbelivers, simply because we have an amazing and united Islamic Brotherhood/Sisterhood in Islam, we must return to it, because if correct it will contain Tawheed with the correct Aqeedah.

How you managed to make something quite vast in my opinion into a few lines is amazing. I may have strayed on to other points in my post, but do forgive me, indeed i have benefitted from your post a lot.

May Allah return us to the correct Islamic Brotherhood and Sisterhood that contains the elements of the correct belief and raises the flag towards the Oneness of Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala).

Forgive me if i have erred in this post, but that i was my understanding of sister mirajmom’s post.

Walaykum Salaam.

 

[justoneofmillion]

Merci Beaucoup!!!! Right on target.

:salam2:Ou t a appris a parler français toi?décidément tu en cache pas mal dans ton sac!
Nice thread Appa jazakhallah khair for those wise words,the closer we get to the beautiful attributes of the superlative the lesser we dwell on self consciousness by living in the eyes of others!

wassalaam
jameel

 

[palestine]

It is the Sermon on the Mount that Isa gave, not Matthew. And if you believe Isa is a prophet why the offence to his words. There is nothing inappropriate about it. And it was intended to speak to the idea of materialism that it seemed was being attributed to christians. Which is not fair. I defend where I see defense is necessary. If someone sees an injustice or lie should he not correct it. I can be muslim and still honor and respect the christian faith and the people of it can I not? Is that not tolerance.

Any how beside the point of the post.......the point is to let go of materialistic ideals even though the environment you live in may seem as though THINGS are important....they are not. And that sermon on the mount lent truth to her words as well.......

Subhanallah, i understand they are an aim to let go of materialism. and yes Isa alayhi salam is a prophet and i love him...but this speech is from a bible and no where in the quran or hadith does it say this was his speech. like it was said before the bible has been altered numerous times. so you cannot know if these were the actual words of isa alayhi salam.

 

[dianek]

:salam2:Ou t a appris a parler français toi?décidément tu en cache pas mal dans ton sac!
Nice thread Appa jazakhallah khair for those wise words,the closer we get to the beautiful attributes of the superlative the lesser we dwell on self consciousness by living in the eyes of others!

wassalaam
jameel

Qu'est que tu dit? je ne comprend pas......pardon! J'etude francais pour 5 ans mais je ne comprend pas bien....

 

[palestine]

Salaam,

The words of the passage consider the lillies of the field are reassuring to everyone. They are words of comfort. If a member feels they are worthy to be shared let us be humble and accept the words.

Sister Diane please accept my apologies for my young sister. We can not tell you what your iman is. Only Allah subhana talla knows.

This was a reminder for myself too. It is part of shedding the word we have left behind. We now have to use a new vocabulary. Words define us..so let us use a Muslim vocabulary with words such as Alhumdullia for our state.

Sister mirajmom, i didn't tell her what her IMAN IS, i simply reminded her to turn back to islam and to not slip away. as for the speech being lillies of filed and reassuring to everyone, aren't the words of ALLAH swt and HIS MESSENGER more reassuring then the words from some bible from a guy who knows nothing of Allah. Although i'm young, i'm not stupid. if i wanted to her in someway i could've done it but no i won't and i didn't because she is still my sister. but why must you apologize on my behalf sister for having said something to remind her and NOT OFFEND HER. if she took it offensively then that's that. but in no way have i inuslted her, i only simply stated that the words of Allah are more soothing then this. and that she should not slip away from Islam. i'm not trying to attack the sister nor do i want any harm for her. and yes i do evalute myself and i do relflect back on my life and i do try to become A BETTER MUSLIM. but is it not right of me to advice my muslim brothers and sisters as well. she said in her post that she wishes to live among the amish. ISN'T islam enough for a person to gain tranquility and peace and to move away from materialism? subhanallah.