Preparing Our Souls I

Read! In the name of your Lord who created. [Qu’ran 96:1]

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem.

As I reflected on certain matters related to religion, I found myself thinking of ways to advise the youth so that we can prepare for the return of our savior, Imam al-Mahdi (aj). I’m sure many look forward to the moment when Jibrail will announce the name of the Qa’im in the heavens and I’m also sure many want to be ready for that moment, and what is this preparation? It is the preparation of our souls, it is to follow a correct path to become exemplary believers, with firmness in our beliefs, respect, good manners and values. But of course, each person has their own time, a time of learning, of evolution, of change and this is completely normal, our goal is not to point fingers and judge others, and if someone is going to do such a thing, then let them present the solution! With that in mind, I decided to write a series of articles, focusing on different topics of faith to counsel youth, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that this content will be of benefit to the readers, God willing.
If we seek to improve as Muslims so that we are prepared and if we seek to evolve spiritually, then we must start with the holy book, the Qu’ran, the revelation that came down to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The world today contributes more and more to people moving away from the Most High and from prophetic traditions, with more and more temptations, materialism and lies, thus causing the human mind to be attracted by worldly desires and in this way, we get away from what really matters, salvation.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said:
All goodness has been placed in one house, and it's key is asceticism and restraint from worldly pleasures.
[Bihar al-Anwar, Mizan ul Hikmah]

“What is meant by 'worldly pleasures’?
It's everything that might take us away from Allah, such as showing off, the lack of respect for the pain of others, the lack of gratitude, the dangerous ambitions, lying, bad intentions, ignorance and the list goes on and on. A common thing nowadays is that the youth is desperately running towards the wealth of this world, while compromising their next life, which is a worrying thing because the world has become such a harsh place to live in and it has negative effects on the mind of the believers, all around the world." [Quoting from my ahadith compilation in Portuguese].
The world really is a dangerous place for those who seek to improve their spirituality, but we need to have trust in Him and patience in His promises, because the purpose of being here in this is just one, being tested and going through adversity, all the suffering faced in this life, will be rewarded in the next if we follow the right path.
In this way, the holy book becomes the first tool for us believers.
The recitation of the holy Qu’ran contains many virtues, there is divine, scientific knowledge and of course guidance for those who are lost.
Let’s take a look at the hadith below:

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Learn the Holy Quran; on the Day of Judgment it will come to his friends in the form of a most beautiful young person of pale complexion and will speak to his friend saying, “I am the Quran for which you kept awake so often and endured thirst during the heat of midday, dried up your mouth and let your tears flow. I will be with you whenever you will go. Every trader is after his trade. Today I look after the trade of everyone who had a deal with me. Honor will come to you from Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, as good news for you. The man will receive a crown and peace will be placed on his right hand and eternal life in paradise in his left hand and he will be dressed with two dresses of paradise, then he will be told, ‘Read and climb.’ For each verse that he will read he will climb up one degree and his parents, if they are of the believers, will each receive two dresses of paradise and they will be told that this is for your teaching the Holy Quran to your child.
[al-Kafi]

Now imagine the moment that was mentioned in the hadith, you receiving the news of peace and eternal life in paradise, for the great virtue and merit that exists within the Qu’ran, we must never let it go and establish habits, a routine of recitation, try to establish a time of day to recite a few verses. Life in this world is very deceiving, we are born good and gradually we are affected, eventually even corrupted, values ​​are inverted, we should seek life in paradise the same way we seek mundane life, if we did that, I’m sure we could deal better with different situations and problems, because with a good spirituality, we will know how to keep calm, we have patience and trust in Him.
But again I bring the fact that, each person has their time of evolution, each person deals with things in a different way, each person thinks differently and all this is what makes us unique in essence, but as a community, we are one big family with a duty to help each other.
As we can see in the hadith below:

Hafs ibn al-Bakhtari said the following: “Once I was in the presence of Abu ‘Abd Allah as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) when a man came in and the Imam asked me, ‘Do you love him?’ I said, ‘Yes, I love him.’ The Imam asked me, ‘How would you not love him when he is your brother (in belief), your partner in religion, your supporter against your enemies and someone other than you provides his sustenance?
[al-Kafi]

We must advise, protect and help each other, as a community this is mandatory for us, our prophet was sent as a mercy for humanity and if we want to follow his path we must be advising and feeling the pain of our brothers in faith as if were our own pain.

Before concluding this first part, I would like to point out one more of the great merits of the holy book.
We can see in the hadith below:

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: One who has memorized the Holy Quran and follows its laws will be with the honorable angels who carry Allah’s messages.
[al-Kafi]

If we have this in mind, then we must act on these words, the path is complicated, but the reward is greater, the journey is long, but the reward is greater, we have many ways to see the incredible mercy of our Lord and one of those ways is the holy book, our first step towards spiritual evolution.

Indeed, it [i.e, the Qu’ran] is a decisive statement. [Qu’ran 86:13]

All praise is to Allah, the unique and incomparable, may He facilitate our journey and evolution. May God bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and hasten al-Qa’im’s return.

Popular posts from this blog

A Second Chance

Image
And whoever is patient and forgives – indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of resolve. [Quran 42:43] Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem. Acceptance, respect, understanding and solidarity, characteristics that are part of faith, values ​​and morals, an open and understanding mind is necessary, just as a heart full of love for Allah is also necessary. When we think of those who have wronged us, we are usually taken by the bitter taste of rancor, it is difficult for us human beings, willing to make mistakes, to accept the idea of ​​forgiveness, the bitterness of rancor and the pain of bad memories, corrupt our hearts, gradually; and a corrupt heart, destroyed, becomes a mind in the service of error, makes good character and good morals enemies, since bitterness has taken over our hearts and then, we think that being cold and without empathy, it’s the best solution. Consider the following hadith: Imam Jaffar al Sadiq (peace be upon him): “There are three things that are really ha...
Read more

The Imamate I

Image
“Oh Ali, rejoice that you, your companions and followers will be in heaven.” Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family ) What is the belief in Imamate? Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem. Belief in the Imamate is to believe that at all times (ages), God establishes an Imam for humanity as a leader, guide, model, point of reference and consultation for various matters of religion and life in general. The guide of mankind is part of the “sunna” of God, the conduct of God towards His creation. The Qur’an says: “Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High, who created and established the balance which He determined and directed.” — 87:1–3 “So He made the way easy.” — 80:20 “Without a doubt, we guide you along the way, whether you are grateful or ungrateful.” — 76:3 The guide of humanity, being a primordial need of people, is something that God cannot omit. God does not create an incomplete or imperfect system, nor does He create it in vain or for fun. Glorified be He who i...
Read more

Preparing Our Souls III

Image
Identifying the 'True Dawn'. Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem We live in an era where we have everything at our disposal, we know the time, we know whether or not it may rain the next day, we even know the traffic situation simply by searching on our cell phones or computers, but the world was not always like this, in more remote times there were no watches, cell phones or research tools as accessible as they are today. Many generations of Muslims in the past did not have the convenience we have: a watch in hand to know when to pray.  However, it is obvious that there has always been a way of estimating the time of each prayer, when it starts, when it ends and the best period within the 'time' of each one. We always have the convenience at hand but at some point we may be without access to it, the possibilities that one day we will end up with no signal, no battery or somewhere further away can never be ruled out, so it is important to learn ways of orientation...
Read more