Ignorant Piety

Imam al-Ghazali told a story of a man walking in the jungle. A roaring lion ran towards him, and the man ran as fast as he could to escape from it. He noticed a well in front of him and he jumped inside hoping to escape from the lion.

As he was falling inside the well, he grabbed onto the rope and saved himself. The man was so relieved but when he looked down he saw a big snake at the bottom of the well. It had its jaws wide open ready to swallow him up.

The man then looked up and saw two mice nibbling at the rope. A black mouse and a white were both chewing into the rope. The scary lion was still prowling outside the well.

The man’s heart was pounding as he wondered how he could escape from this. Then he noticed a honeycomb in front of him which had delicious honey dripping from it. He stuck his finger into the honey and put it inside his mouth. It was delicious and for a moment he forgot about the lion, the snake and the two mice chewing at the rope.

Imam al-Ghazali explained that the lion is like the angel of death which is always looming above us. The snake was like his grave which all humans will face. The black mouse and white mouse were like the day and night which are always nibbling at our life (the rope). The honey was like this dunya which with its momentary sweetness makes us forget the death and the eternal life.

What is in the heart
The blessed Imam explains that, Allah has put the soul within our heart and surrounded the soul with four distinct spirits namely the wolf, the pig , the devil and the angelic one. All these are needed for the soul in order to carry on his main duty of ibadah and reflecting Allah SWT attributes within its mirror . The problem is when kingdom of soul is taken over by the wolf (call it anger) or pig (call it lust for dunya, or the devil (call it tricks and plots). Then one has lost his/her humanness and only functions in animal/sheitanic level. Human being has not been created for eating, sleeping, sex and pleasure nor for winning, war, power, . all these characters are forign for human being. He has a lighted and pure essence. He has been created for allah, like angels ) فِى مَقۡعَدِ صِدۡقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ۬ مُّقۡتَدِرِۭ


Why pig and wolf in the heart?
Pig symbolizes ones lust . the purpose of it’s creation to seek nourish for the physical body. without it one would not have drive for food, drink, courting and other worldly necessities the problem starts when it take over ones heart and ones life is basically becomes fulfillment of the need of pig (lust). wolf on the other hand symbolizes, anger, authority and power .It’s purpose is to protect the body from harm and outside attacks. Without it one would not survive (agl) is given to one to do the work of the angels. (search for ilm, piety, and controlling the pig , wolf and
sheitan is also the work of agl.

Roots of Good and bad manners (akhlaq))

Good kholog (good manners)are the seed for salihat good action(or taat). Bad kholog (bad manners)are sin The source of bad kholoog is pig, wolf and sheitan within human heart. If the the person does not bring them under the authority of agl. Then one will develop bad kholog. Akhlag of bahayem And if one brings them under the control of Agl that is clled good kholog

When Pig in control of soul
Pig (lust) has a crooked nature. It is a liar, selfish and nosy . Whatever the brain (minster) say it goes against it. It want to consume every penny in the treasure of the king. When pig in control, One will develop low character, loss of dignity, greed, jealousy, .
.
When Pig is subdued
One will develop good character such as ginaah, self control, modesty, quiet ness, piety, large hand in sadagah

When Wolf in control of heart,
One will develop kholog of , anger bursts, careless ness, ostentation, pride, self praise, putting people down.

When Wolf is subdued
One will develop patience, forbearance, forgiveness, bravery, chivalries,

Sheitan when loose
Sheitan mailnly activates the pig and wolf character within the person. Sheitan Make them stronger and braver. It also teaches them tricks, cheating, betrayal, and bad heart.

Tamed sheitan
The army of agl become stronger, one will increase in marifah, ilm and hikmah, he will achieve greatness and good kholoog

Discussion
Imam Gazali (RA) explains that the essence or reality of every human is their soul (also called ruh,jan, dil, nafs). Our ruh (soul)is not from this world .Soul has an angelic make. It has come from Allah(SWT) and will go back to him. It has come for a business. And It’s business is to gain marifah Of Allah(SWT) while on earth It has been created for akhirah. It’s success is in searching and gaining marifah of Allah aziwajal. To that end Allah SWt has given our physical body , the pig and wolf as an army for the service of the soul. So every limb of our body and our senses are like soldiers for the soul. Blessed Imam uses a beautiful example to clarify their role, he RA say’s Our soul function like a king. Brain is the minister, lust is like a the tax collector , anger is like police and our limbs( hand and feet etc)are like workers. The best scenario for the king (SOUL) to rule his kingdom and create an orderly affair is to humiliate the lust, to limit the power of police and strengthen the authority of the minster (brain i.e. rational mind).


[B]Warnning[/B]
Imam (RA) warns that most people day and night struggle to meet the need of their pig(lust) and dog (power authority). tomorrow in qyamah these meaning will be evident. Every one will be seen with his/her true nature. If the lust was the dominant character in qyamah you will see him as pig and not a human and if the anger or power was dominant he will be resurected in a wolf shape. every one will be seen based on their true nature while they were on the earth. (naudu billah)

Read this beautiful story carefully. Asalaam u Alaikum, He was driving a luxury car every day n it was my duty to greet him n to open the gates for him,coz I was working as a watchman in his villa. But as usual he never answered back my greetings. One day he saw me opening garbage bags outside the villa and searching if there's any food left inside. As usual he didn't look at me, it's as if he didn't see anything. The next day I saw a paper bag in the same place, but it was clean and the food inside was covered nicely, it was clean food. It's as if someone has just brought them from the super market. I didn't bother where it came from, I just took the paper bag and I was happy about it. Every day I found this paper bag at the same place with fresh vegetables and all that we needed at home. This became my daily routine. I was eating this food with my wife and kids. I was wondering who's this fool who's forgetting his paper bag here everyday n it's full of every kind of food. One day there was grief in d villa n I was told my boss has died. There were too much guests coming 2d villa. The worse of it all I discovered d fool didn't forget his paper bag, he was always forgetting. Therefore that day I didn't get any food. Also I thought may be one of d guests who came 4d funeral took it with him. Bt d same thing happened d 2nd day, 3rd day n 4th day. Like this it passed many days n I didn't see d paper bag I used 2see. When d situation became tight 4me, I decided 2ask d wife of my boss 2raise my salary or I'll quit working as a watchman. After I v told her, she was shocked, n asked me, why now n this salary was enough 4u 4 more than 2 yrs now n u never complained, what happened?. I tried 2 tell her different excuses but she was never convinced. In d end I decided 2tell her d truth, d story of d paper bag which inside it I was getting all that I needed 4 a day. Then she asked me n when did u stop seeing this paper bag? I told her after d death of ur husband. Now I came 2 realise that, I stopped seeing d paper bag immediately after d death of my boss. Why it never came in my thoughts, that it was him who was keeping this paper bag. It was because I thought, how can this man b this generous while he doesn't even answer my salaams. The lady started 2cry n I told her don't cry, I never knew it was ur husband who was keeping that paper bag. I'm sorry I'll stay in my job n I'll never ask 4d raise again. The lady told me, I'm crying coz finally I found d 7th person my husband was giving this paper bag full of food. I know my husband was giving 7 people everyday, I had already found six people, n all these days I was searching 4d 7th person. And 2day I found u. May Allah have mercy on him, he never told me who was d 7th person. From that day I started 2receive d paper bag again, bt this time his son was bringing it 2my hse n giving it 2me on my hand. I was thanking him bt again he was not replying. After a while I came 2 discover his problem, n I told him thank u with a loud voice. He told me don't get offended if I don't reply u I v a problem, my hearing is very weak like my father. 🌹🌹🌹 Ya Allah how many times we have thought bad of people without knowing the reason

[1 – 25] Part One
[26] By Committing Sin the Desire for It Increases
It is a philosophical fact that strength is added to that faculty which is regularly used. Thus, by using the gaze in the wrong place one does not become satisfied, but the urge to again use the gaze wrongfully becomes entrenched and gains strength. One should not be fooled by the temporary satisfaction gained after looking, for, it is short-lived.

By way of example, a person in the habit of chewing tobacco gains temporary relief after chewing it. Later on, the desire to chew again is increased and becomes stronger.

Another example is when a tree is watered, the water disappears from sight after a short while. The water has not really disappeared, the branches and leaves will draw from it hmaking them stronger and the roots will also gain strength from it. Thus, a person who acts on his [impermissible] impulses is not decreasing his desires but is actually watering them (giving them strength).
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

What a wonderful saying of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam!!

"Everything has a door, and the door to worship is fasting"

Reality is that worship is the whole purpose of our creation, so if we want to fulfil this purpose, we have to fast for the full month and properly. Then Inshallah, the gates of other worships, like salah, sadaqah, dua, tilawat of Quran, and zikrullah will open up for us.


This is why we see that in Ramadhan we feel some special closeness to Allah and we feel the urge to do good and to stop sinning.
We should try our best to fast properly and read as much Quran as possible. We should increase our sadaqah. We should pray some extra nawaafil. And we should stop sinning, as sins form a barrier between a person and worship.

By sinning, we invite the wrath of Allah, we lose our hayaa (modesty), we are dragged towards more sins. One sin begets another sin. Love and respect is taken away from people's hearts. Nobody likes a habitual sinner.

One Hadith says when Ramadhan starts, an announcer announces:
يا باغي الخير اقبل و يا باغي الشر اقصر و لله عتقاء من النار و ذلك كل ليلة
"O seeker of virtues! Move forward! And O seeker of vice! Put the brakes on! Allah emancipates people from the fire. And this takes place every night"
We have to be prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually for the arrival of Ramadhan.


O Allah! Give us the blessings of Ramadhan and give us the ability to worship throughout the whole month.

O Allah help us against our nafs and protect us from it's evil whisperings. Ameen

Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, in his beneficial work, Lataa’if al-Ma’aarif, wrote the following beautiful words:-

الدنيا كلّها شهرُ صيامِ المتقين ، وعيدُ فِطرِهم يوم لقاءِ ربِّهم ، ومعظمُ نهار الصيام قد ذَهَبَ ، وعيدُ اللِّقاء قد اقترَبَ

"The entire dunya is a month of fasting for the muttaqeen, and their ‘eid al-fitr is the day of meeting their Lord. And most of the days of fasting have already passed, and the ‘eid of meeting is swiftly approaching."

- Lataa’if al-Ma’aarif pg 85

And in another part of the same work, he expanded on this theme by writing:-


قال بعض السلف : صم الدنيا واجعل فطرك الموت . الدنيا كلها شهر صيام المتقين ، ويصومون فيه الشهوات المحرمات ، فإذا جاءهم الموت فقد انقضى شهر صيامهم واستهلوا عيد فطرهم.

And some of the Salaf said: Fast this dunya and make your breaking of the fast death. The entire dunya is a month of fasting for the muttaqeen, and they fast from their unlawful desires. So when death comes, it has completed their month of fasting and ushered in their ‘eid al-Fitr.

وقد صمت عن لذات دهري كلها ***** ويوم لقاكم ذاك فطر صيامي

I have fasted from my appetites the entire time
And the day of their meeting, that is the breaking of my fast

من صام اليوم من شهواته أفطر عليها بعد مماته ، ومن تعجّل ما حرّم عليه قبل وفاته عُوقب وحرمانه في الآخرة وفواته ، وشاهد ذلك قوله تعالى : (أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَاسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِهَا ) الآية . وقوله النبي ﷺ : (مَنْ شَرِبَ الْخَمْرَ فِي الدُّنْيَا لَمْ يَشْرَبْهَا فِي الآخِرَةِ ) ، و (مَنْ لَبِسَ الْحَرِيرَ فِي الدُّنْيَا فَلَنْ يَلْبَسَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ ) .

Whoever fasts today his desires breaks that fast after his death. And whoever hastens to what has been forbidden for him before his death incurs the punishment of being deprived of it in the aakhirah and for eternity. And the statement of Allah affirms this [which says], “You received your good things in the life of the world, and you took your pleasure therein. Now this Day you shall be recompensed with a torment of humiliation, because you were arrogant in the land without a right, and because you used to rebel and disobey (Allah)” [46:20]. And also the statement of the Prophet (ﷺ), “Whoever drinks intoxicants in this world, he will not drink it in the Hereafter.” and “Whoever wears silk in this world shall not wear it in the Hereafter.”

- Lataa’if al-Ma’aarif pg. 278