Assalamu Alaikum sister Shannonx,
I am glad you're feeling much better now. I'd like to mention three points:
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1- Doing good deeds for the sake of Allah the Almighty alone
You wrote the following in your first post on this thread:
And that's part of the problem. When you do a good deed, it has to be for the sake of Allah alone. If you do not receive kind treatment in return from the people you were good to, then don't worry. Do you seek a reward from them or from Allah?
And the reward of Allah [especially on the Day of Judgment] is so much better and more lasting than any human reward.
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2- Concerning Doubts
The following is a fatwa [religious opinion] of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen. It was posted on the website supervised by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid. It's an answer to question no. 10160 [A woman is affected by waswaas with regard to purity (tahaarah)]. Please take special note of the part I coloured red, but also read the whole opinion carefully:
Source: http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=10160&ln=eng
Part of the opinion above reads as follows:
Actually, there's a mistranslation here. In the Arabic original of the fatwa [religious opinion], the following is found:
Source: http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=10160&ln=ara
You'll notice that I coloured one phrase in red. This phrase was mistakenly not translated into English. So, if it was translated correctly, it would be as follows:
For your further benefit, I'll post the whole hadith in Arabic and it's translation into English:
Source: http://www.al-eman.com/hadeeth/viewchp.asp?BID=1&CID=6&SW
[found as hadith no. 357 on the above link]
It's translated to English as follows:
Some people of the Companions of the Prophet [peace be upon him] came and asked him "We find in ourselves what we find too grave [serious] to speak of". He said, "You have found it?" They said, "Yes." He said, "That is the clear/sincere faith"
[my translation]
Here, sister Shannonx, is an example of the Companions of the Prophet [peace be upon him] who had serious doubts cross their minds, and look at what the Prophet [peace be upon him] said.
And these Companions are the best of humanity [after the prophets -peace be upon them all].
I hope that makes you put matters in perspective, and I sincerely advise you to listen and implement the words of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen [mentioned above].
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3-The level of Faith
I get the feeling, sister Shannonx, that one of the things that worry you is that your feeling of faith in Islam and of spirituality and happiness isn't high 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You perceive that as a weakness.
And here is where you are wrong.
Do you really believe that Muslims [myself included] feel 100% all 24 hours of the day and 7 days of the week?
The following is a hadith [saying] of the Prophet [peace be upon him] found in Sahih Muslim. I'll first post it in Arabic, then the translation into English by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui [with some changes by myself, which I have shown in between star signs * *]:
Source: http://www.al-eman.com/hadeeth/viewchp.asp?BID=1&CID=149&SW
[[found as hadith no. 7142 on the above link]
Source: http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=37&translator=2&start=10&number=6623
[found as hadith no. 6623 in the above link]
Important note: The link mentioned above to the English translation leads to a website that I'm not really sure about. Just because a good translation into the English language is found on it does not mean that everything in that website truly represents Islam as found in the Qur'an and the authentic sayings of the Prophet [peace be upon him], as these two sources were understood by the Companions [may Allah be pleased with them]. I just don't know whether this website is good or not. So, please be careful.
---------------------------------------------------------
Regards,
Bluegazer
Wassalamu Alaikum
I am glad you're feeling much better now. I'd like to mention three points:
------------------------------------------------------
1- Doing good deeds for the sake of Allah the Almighty alone
You wrote the following in your first post on this thread:
I've tried helping people and tried so much to be a much more nice person, but I get treated like crap in return.
And that's part of the problem. When you do a good deed, it has to be for the sake of Allah alone. If you do not receive kind treatment in return from the people you were good to, then don't worry. Do you seek a reward from them or from Allah?
And the reward of Allah [especially on the Day of Judgment] is so much better and more lasting than any human reward.
--------------------------------------------------
2- Concerning Doubts
The following is a fatwa [religious opinion] of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen. It was posted on the website supervised by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid. It's an answer to question no. 10160 [A woman is affected by waswaas with regard to purity (tahaarah)]. Please take special note of the part I coloured red, but also read the whole opinion carefully:
Question:
A woman is suffering from waswaas (insinuating whispers of the Shaytaan) concerning her tahaarah (purity) and feeling after she has done wudoo’ that she needs to relieve herself. On one occasion she felt that someone was telling her to insult the Qur’aan and insult Allaah, and all she could do was weep. How can she deal with this and get rid of these whispers?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Many people suffer from these whispers – there is no power and no strength except with Allaah. The way to deal with waswaas is to seek refuge with Allaah a great deal from the accursed Shaytaan, and especially to recite al-Mi’wadhatayn (the last two soorahs of the Qur’aan), for there is nothing better with which a person may seek refuge with Allaah. So she should recite (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say: “I seek refuge with (Allaah), the Lord of the daybreak”
[al-Falaq 113:1] – to the end of the soorah, which includes seeking refuge from the evil of the Shaytaan, because he is one of the creations of Allaah. And she should recite Soorat al-Naas (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say: “I seek refuge with (Allaah), the Lord of the daybreak”
[al-Naas 114:1] – to the end.
The way to deal with that is to seek refuge a great deal in Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan, to turn to Allaah, and to have sincere resolve, so that one will not pay any attention to whispers that may enter one’s mind.
For example, whether you have done wudoo’ once or twice or three times, you should not pay any attention to the whispers of the Shaytaan. Even if you feel that you have not done wudoo’, for example, or that you neglected some part of wudoo’ or that you did not have the right intention, you should not pay attention to that. Similarly if you are praying and you feel or it occurs to you that you did not say “Allaahu akbar” at the beginning of the prayer, you should not pay attention to that, and you should carry on and complete your prayer. Similarly, if it crosses your mind – as mentioned in the question – to insult Allaah or the Mus-haf or any other kind of kufr, you should not pay attention to that and it will not harm you. Even if it goes so far as a person uttering them words under compulsion of the waswaas, there is no sin on him because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “There is no talaaq (divorce) under compulsion.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 2193; Ahmad, al-Musnad, 6/276; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in al-Irwa’, no. 2047. If the divorce that is the result of waswaas does not count, then this is more likely to be forgiven, but one should turn away from that and not pay attention to it.
So my advice to this lady and others who are tested with waswaas is to seek refuge a great deal with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan, to recite al-Mi’wadhatayn – Qul a’oodhu bi Rabb il-Falaq and Qul a’oodhu bi Rabb il-naas (the last two soorahs of the Qur’aan) – to have sincere resolve and not to pay attention to these insinuating whispers from the Shaytaan.
If the Shaytaan manages to instill some doubts in a person’s heart concerning Allaah and so on, he should not worry about that, because he is only suffering these doubts because of the faith in his heart. The person who is not a believer does not care whether he doubts or not; the one who suffers because of these doubts and whispers is a believer. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “That is clear faith,” (narrated by Muslim, no. 132) , meaning that what the Shaytaan casts into your hearts of such matters is a reflection of clear faith, i.e., sincere faith… He described it as sincere faith, because the one who experiences these doubts is not happy about them and should not pay any attention to them; they grieve him and he does not want them. The Shaytaan only comes to hearts which are filled with faith in order to destroy it; he does not come to hearts that are devoid of faith, because they are already ruined. It was said to Ibn ‘Abbaas or Ibn Mas’ood that the Jews said, “We do not experience waswaas during our prayers.” He said, “Of course, what would the Shaytaan do with a heart that is already ruined?!”
My advice to her is to ignore all of these whispers. She will find it hard at first, and she will think that she is praying without wudoo’ or without saying “Allaahu akbar” at the beginning, and so on, but it will become easier for her after that, and this doubt and waswaas will leave her, in sha Allaah.
Praise be to Allaah, there are people who suffered with this problem, but they were told how to deal with it and how to resist it, and Allaah granted them relief. We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.
Kitaab Liqaa’aat al-Baab al-Maftooh by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, p. 14.
Source: http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=10160&ln=eng
Part of the opinion above reads as follows:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “That is clear faith,” (narrated by Muslim, no. 132)
Actually, there's a mistranslation here. In the Arabic original of the fatwa [religious opinion], the following is found:
وقد قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم للصحابة : ( ذلك صريح الإيمان ) أخرجه مسلم رقم 132
Source: http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=10160&ln=ara
You'll notice that I coloured one phrase in red. This phrase was mistakenly not translated into English. So, if it was translated correctly, it would be as follows:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to the Companions, “That is clear faith,” (narrated by Muslim, no. 132)
For your further benefit, I'll post the whole hadith in Arabic and it's translation into English:
جَاءَ نَاسٌ مِنْ اَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَسَاَلُوهُ اِنَّا نَجِدُ فِي اَنْفُسِنَا مَا يَتَعَاظَمُ اَحَدُنَا اَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ بِهِ . قَالَ " وَقَدْ وَجَدْتُمُوهُ " . قَالُوا نَعَمْ . قَالَ " ذَاكَ صَرِيحُ الإِيمَانِ "
Source: http://www.al-eman.com/hadeeth/viewchp.asp?BID=1&CID=6&SW
[found as hadith no. 357 on the above link]
It's translated to English as follows:
Some people of the Companions of the Prophet [peace be upon him] came and asked him "We find in ourselves what we find too grave [serious] to speak of". He said, "You have found it?" They said, "Yes." He said, "That is the clear/sincere faith"
[my translation]
Here, sister Shannonx, is an example of the Companions of the Prophet [peace be upon him] who had serious doubts cross their minds, and look at what the Prophet [peace be upon him] said.
And these Companions are the best of humanity [after the prophets -peace be upon them all].
I hope that makes you put matters in perspective, and I sincerely advise you to listen and implement the words of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen [mentioned above].
-------------------------------------------------------
3-The level of Faith
I get the feeling, sister Shannonx, that one of the things that worry you is that your feeling of faith in Islam and of spirituality and happiness isn't high 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You perceive that as a weakness.
And here is where you are wrong.
Do you really believe that Muslims [myself included] feel 100% all 24 hours of the day and 7 days of the week?
The following is a hadith [saying] of the Prophet [peace be upon him] found in Sahih Muslim. I'll first post it in Arabic, then the translation into English by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui [with some changes by myself, which I have shown in between star signs * *]:
عَنْ حَنْظَلَةَ الأُسَيِّدِيِّ، قَالَ - وَكَانَ مِنْ كُتَّابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ - لَقِيَنِي أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَقَالَ كَيْفَ أَنْتَ يَا حَنْظَلَةُ قَالَ قُلْتُ نَافَقَ حَنْظَلَةُ قَالَ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ مَا تَقُولُ قَالَ قُلْتُ نَكُونُ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُذَكِّرُنَا بِالنَّارِ وَالْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى كَأَنَّا رَأْىَ عَيْنٍ فَإِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَافَسْنَا الأَزْوَاجَ وَالأَوْلاَدَ وَالضَّيْعَاتِ فَنَسِينَا كَثِيرًا قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَوَاللَّهِ إِنَّا لَنَلْقَى مِثْلَ هَذَا . فَانْطَلَقْتُ أَنَا وَأَبُو بَكْرٍ حَتَّى دَخَلْنَا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قُلْتُ نَافَقَ حَنْظَلَةُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " وَمَا ذَاكَ " . قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ نَكُونُ عِنْدَكَ تُذَكِّرُنَا بِالنَّارِ وَالْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى كَأَنَّا رَأْىَ عَيْنٍ فَإِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ عَافَسْنَا الأَزْوَاجَ وَالأَوْلاَدَ وَالضَّيْعَاتِ نَسِينَا كَثِيرًا . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنْ لَوْ تَدُومُونَ عَلَى مَا تَكُونُونَ عِنْدِي وَفِي الذِّكْرِ لَصَافَحَتْكُمُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ عَلَى فُرُشِكُمْ وَفِي طُرُقِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَا حَنْظَلَةُ سَاعَةً وَسَاعَةً " . ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ .
Source: http://www.al-eman.com/hadeeth/viewchp.asp?BID=1&CID=149&SW
[[found as hadith no. 7142 on the above link]
Hanzala Usayyidi, who was amongst the scribes of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). reported: I met Abu Bakr. He said: Who are you *O Hanzala*? He (Hanzala) said: Hanzala has turned to be a hypocrite. He (Abu Bakr) said: Hallowed be Allah, what are you saying? Thereupon he said: I say that when we are in the company of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) we ponder over Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our very eyes and when we are away from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) we attend to our wives, our children, our business; most of these things (pertaining to After-life) slip out of our minds. Abu Bakr said: By Allah, I also experience the same. So I and Abu Bakr went to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and *entered upon him [perhaps meaning eneterd his house] and* said to him: Allah's Messenger, Hanzala has turned to be a hypocrite. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: *What are you saying [or "what's the matter]*? I said: Allah's Messenger, when we are in your company, *you remind us* of Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but whenever we go away from you and attend to our wives, children and business, much of these things go out of our minds. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: By Him in Whose Hand is my *soul*, if you are persistent with the what you're doing in my presence* and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the Angels will shake hands with you in your beds and in your paths but, Hanzala, time *[should be devoted (to the worldly affairs)] -I added the sqaure brackets [], since this part was not actually uttered by the Propeht -peace be upon him-* and time (should be devoted to prayer and meditation). [He *-I dropped a phrase at the end-* said this] * three times*.
Source: http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=37&translator=2&start=10&number=6623
[found as hadith no. 6623 in the above link]
Important note: The link mentioned above to the English translation leads to a website that I'm not really sure about. Just because a good translation into the English language is found on it does not mean that everything in that website truly represents Islam as found in the Qur'an and the authentic sayings of the Prophet [peace be upon him], as these two sources were understood by the Companions [may Allah be pleased with them]. I just don't know whether this website is good or not. So, please be careful.
---------------------------------------------------------
Regards,
Bluegazer
Wassalamu Alaikum