My lesson on Prophet Ibrahim AS life part 5

https://youtu.be/WHoiqvEXEmQ

Nutrition in Quran and Hadith

In today's world we can see 95% of diets fail
and most will regain their lost weight in 1-5
years. Has this been due to the fact that we
have been given the wrong premisies to

being healthier? Or maybe perhaps it is due
to our wrong understanding to what works
and what really is just out there for money
scams. But we must also ask ourselves

some questions, as Muslims we all know
that Quran has been sent down to us for
all times, as well as that Quran has many
parts to it which help us in our daily lives.
Quran is a miracle from Allah and it is fitting
that even nutrition is mentioned in Quran
many times. Allah repeatedly tells us

to reflect upon His ayats, and nutrition is
of no exception. Many of us go day by day
eating and drinking all day with no

thought about its benefits or its harms.
We have seen a rise in dietary supplements
and a rise in people wanting to become

healthy. Has Quran given us the knowledge of
nutrition and a way of life that helps answer our
many dietary questions?Has Islam answered the
questions of many diet seekers out there on

how to have a healthier life, or how to lose
weight? Islam many years ago came to give
the answer to those seeking to be healthy
or to lose weight, Islam answered all their
wants for a proper and nutritional diet but
many cease to realize and try frantically to
find it with going from one diet to another.  

In these blog series I am going to discuss
nutrition and their etiquette's which have been
mentioned in Quran and hadith. This is a
very important topic to understand

and implement in our lives because everything
we consume has either certain or probable
benefit to us or can actually cause us some
harm, not just bodily but spiritually. In sha Allah
next blog I will start off by a brief explanation to
maslaha (benefit) as this my readers may help
us understand whats does it mean when we
say phrases like “this benefits us” , then I will go
through ayats and hadiths and explanations
to them with using proof from nutrition
guides and scientific findings this will
include discussion on halal consumption
and the benefits to keeping to halal
regulations and after this I will discuss
haram consumption's and the benefits to

refraining from that which Allah has
declared forbidden for us, I will then
discuss etiquette's towards food and drinks
as you will soon find out why this part is
needed in this project, after this I would like
to write briefly on food diets in today's

world and what it all means to our health
and determine if it is healthy for us or not
and then I will conclude in my last blog series
of 'nutrition in Quran and hadith' an overall
view on my writing on this subject.

Please subscribe to me so you may
keep up to date on my next blog.

Fi Aman Allah

My Childhood Life of Seclusion

Salaam alaykom dear readers!
I thought I'd share my life in seclusion as a child. I grew up until I was 18 in a very rural area 3 hours from a city. Our population was maybe somewhere around 100 and majority of that was elders. I grew up as a Christian but we where not very strict. I lived on a farm in which my parents raised cattle, however I remember milking cows and having chickens roaming around. We ate a lot of what we raised on the farm or grew in the garden, not taking many trips into the city.
It wasn't until reflecting on my child hood I realised I had this fake image that everyone was Christian. I really never thought about any other religion and in fact I never really met anyone that wasn't  a Christian. I think the first person I knew that wasn't a Christian was a Muslim man who I use to work for when I was 18 and had moved to the city. Even then I really just thought he was an immigrant and not focused on a religious difference, however I wonder if this was because he acted just like and men from the west... Anyways I remember I was in grade 8 and was confirmed as a Lutheran but just prior to confirmation  I approached my pastor and privately asked her if I could be confirmed if I didn't really believe in the  crucifixion because I wasn't able to wrap my mind around God putting His only son to die for us... God is almighty and I wasn't able to believe He had to do such a thing to forgive us all!
I wonder if this played a huge role in me thinking I could do or be anything I wanted and I was still a Christian and would be saved. Maybe this fake idea was what took me down a bad path that soon there followed. It wasn't long after this that I went into grade 9 and soon there after my life changed dramatically.
I will save that part of my life for another time.

Allah is One

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

In this blog I will discuss Allah's uniqueness in His Oneness. I hope to clear up any confusion about the praise “Allah is One” and in doing so I also hope to prove intellectually Allah's Divine Unity. InshaAllah with this essay I pray it clears up any misconception that is attached to the word “One” when we speak about God's Oneness.

First I would like to point out that we in Shia Islam believe Allah is not One in numbers but he is One in the meaning there is no other like Him. We are as humans a lower level of being made out of matter and therefore we are not able to perceive Him with our eyes since eyes are matter material and Allah is not made out of matter. It is kind of like saying we can not see reasoning or intellect but we know humans have this ability. Allah is like that intellect we can not see but know its there.  I would like to show Quran and hadith on this subject.

"Some faces on that day (i.e., the Day of

Judgment) will be radiant, looking towards their Lord. (75:22-23)

The word "Nadhira" that is used in the above verse does not necessarily imply seeing with one's eyes. Imams (AS) have have said other verses of Quran to support the definition of the word "Nadhira" in this verse as similar to the meaning of "Muntadhira", which means looking forward to. On the commentary of this verse, Imam Ali (AS) said The verse means looking forward to what Allah, the Mighty and the Majestic, has promised them. And the word 'Nadhira' sometimes means 'expecting/waiting/looking forward' ('al-Muntadhira'). Haven't you heard the saying of Allah: '(But I am going to send him a present) and I am looking forward (Nadhira) to what (answer) the ambassadors will return (27:35).' This means I am waiting (al-Muntadhira) for what the ambassadors will return. As for the verse: 'For indeed he saw him at a second descent. Near the Lote-tree of the uttermost boundary (53:13-14)', it means when Muhammad (S.A.W.) was near the Lote-tree of the uttermost boundary which none of His creations has passed it (saw Gabriel). It is His saying in the followed verses: '(His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! For truly did he see one of the great signs of his Lord! (53:17-18)', he saw Gabriel in his shape twice. Verily Gabriel is a great creature and is from amongst the spiritual entities whose creation and shapes are not fully understood except by the Lord of the Universe

- al-Ihtijaj, v1, p243

- Bihar al-Anwar, v90/93, p101, Hadith #1

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: "Avoid pondering over (the Essence of) Allah, because pondering over (the Essence of) Allah would only increase deviation/error. Verily Allah cannot be reached by the sight (of minds) and cannot be described by      proportion

- Kitab al-Tawhid, p457, Hadith #14

- Wasa'il al-Shia, v16, p197, Hadith #21334

- Bihar al-Anwar, v3, p259, Hadith #4

"Eyes do not comprehend him and he comprehends the eyes and he is the Kind, the Knowing" (An'aam(6) / 103)

One may ask then is there a way we can know Allah truly exist since we can not see Him. The answer is yes. A beautiful hadith from Imam Ali AS tells us so when he AS said “I never worship somebody whom I have not seen visions do not capture him using sights of the eyes, but, hearts capture him by the essence of the belief." (Nahj-ul-balaghah, sermon 179)

I think in summing up the explanation of Allah's oneness the perfect quote from Shaykh Saduq who wrote in ‘A Shi’ite Creed’ the English translation of I’teqadat-Al-Imamiah pages 27-28:
“Know that our belief concerning Tawheed is that Allah, exalted is He, is one (Wahid) and Absolutely unique (ahad). There is naught like unto Him; He is prior (qadim, Ancient). He never was, and never will be, but the Hearing (Sami) and the Seeing One (Basir); the Omniscient (‘alim); the Wise (Hakim); the Living (Hayy); the Everlasting (Qayum); the Mighty (aziz); the Holy (Quddus); the Knowing One (‘Alim); The Powerful (Qadir); the Self Sufficient (Ghani). He cannot be described by his essence (jawhar); His body (jism); His Form (Sura), or by his Accidental Qualities (Arad)…

He is a Thing (Shay) but not like other things. He is unique (Ahad), Eternal Refuge (Samad)”, He begets not, lest He may be inherited; not is He begotten, lest He may be associated (with others). There is no one like unto Him; He has no equal (nidd) or opponent (didd), compeer (shibh) or consort (sahibah). Nothing can be compared with Him (mithl); He has no rival (nazir), no partner (sharik). “Human eyes cannot behold Him”. The thoughts of men cannot compass Him; while He is aware of them. “Slumber overtakes Him not, nor sleep” [2:225]; and He is the Gracious (latif) and the Knowing One (khabir), the Creator (khaliq) of all things. There is no deity (ilah) other than Him; to Him (alone) belongs (the power) of Creation (khalq) and authority (amr). Blessed (tabarraka) is Allah, the Lord if the World's. And he who believes in tasbih (imminence) is a polytheist (mushrik). And he who attributes to the Imams (beliefs) other than those that have been stated concerning the Unity of Allah (tawhid) is a liar”.

With that I would like to conclude that Allah is One to whom all things turn too. He is unique and His religion is unique including  uniqueness of the message (of all messengers), uniqueness of Qiblah and our divine book the Holy Quran, uniqueness of all Islamic laws (fiqh) for all human beings, uniqueness of the Muslim nation, and finally uniqueness of the Day of Judgment (Resurrection Day).

I pray this blog has cleared up any misconceptions or any misunderstandings about Allah's uniqueness.
May Allah grant us with the knowledge to understand Him and may Allah guide us to Him. Ameen.

Hope and Fear

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem

In Salat we recite “Al Rahman” which mean the merciful to all things Allah has created and “Al Rahim” which means to a specific group a special mercy for them (the believers). When we say this we are remembering that Allah is very merciful and can forgive us of our sins, therefore we have hope that He will forgive us. Though we have this hope we also have a fear which is clear when we recite “Malik yaum-id-din” in our Salat. Even though He may forgive us, we have no guarantee He will. We should always remember the Day of Judgement, if we do this we would be to afraid to commit a sin. Saying this everyday in our Salat “Malik yaum-id-din” reminds us that His Sovereignty and Domination that day over everything and everyone. Allah’s Mastership on this day is not similar to our imaginary ownership of that which belongs to us from the things of this world (the imaginary ones from this world will disappear that day)
Some may bring up the fact that Shias have intercession on this day so why have fear? There is a hadith Umar Ibn Yazid says that, “I asked Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “I have heard you saying that all our Shia’s will enter Heaven however sinful they may be?” Imam replied, “By Allah I had truly said, they shall all belong to Heaven.” Then I asked, “May my life be sacrificed upon you, even if their sins are great and in large number?” Imam said, “All of you (Shias) shall enter Paradise by the intercession of the Holy Prophet (S) or his successors on the Day of Judgement. But, by Allah I fear for you the Barzakh.” I asked,”What is Barzakh?” He replied, “Barzakh is the grave. Its duration commences from the time of death until the Day of Judgement.” (al-Kāfi). With these types of hadith and with intercession we should still not think we are clear and have no worries for the Judgement Day. First we need to realize that intercession is only for those you are not heedless in their prayers. Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said: “Our intercession is not for those who consider the Prayers unimportant.” or another hadith in this regards “Bab-ul-Hawaij Imam Musa al-Kadhim (a.s.) says: “Our shias are only those who follow us (in every respect), walk in our footsteps and imitate our actions.” (Bihār al-Anwār)” Even if there is intercession on us and we commit so many sins that barzakh doesn’t clean us from those sins we still can enter the fire of Hell for a long period of time. Holy Prophet (S) said, “Verily, a person shall be kept imprisoned in Hell for a hundred years for each of the sins (that he commits).” (al-Kāfi)
In conclusion we should always stay hopeful for His Mercy and yet be fearful so that we repent for our disobedience to Him. We must not be hopeless in His forgiveness and on the same hand fear Him so that our fear will drive us away from committing sins. With that I will end with one more hadith Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) told Mufazzal bin Umar, “If you wish to see one of our devotees then look for that person who abstains from sins and fears more His Creator and remains hopeful of His reward. Whenever you find such an individual then take it for granted that he is one of my devotees.”

Are We Ready?

As the days approach to our Imams birthday we start to sit and reflect on the question are we ready yet? I start to wonder this question myself. If the Imam came and I needed to sacrifice my life I have built here in this world could I let it all go... could I give up the kids I've raised or the house I adorned.. at first I wanted to say Yes! Yes I am with the imam and I'd give my life for him. But after some reflection I start to notice my own self state, if I would give my life for him then am I doing it now? Many of us struggle with the right decision and making right choices. We struggle with our own selves on being obedient toward Allah and have awareness of Him. Maybe it is we don't give our spouses their rights, or not having aklaq with others, not kind to our parents, don't wear proper hijab, or maybe we haven't accepted Allah allowing certain things for others to have and us not to have. If we sit and wonder why do we do these things I am sure putting all our pride aside we can come to conclusion that we have not submitted to Allah in all things. If we can't submit to Him how can we dare say we will be with our Imam! We need to start removing these vices from our souls and purifying it, gain one by one the virtue. We should reflect at night before closing our eyes to sleep and really see our own state and see how obident we are to Allah and if we are really ready yet?

Borhani Nezam: Reflection of Gender Role

It has been awhile since my last post. Life and a sense that what I wanted to write about would not be ready to be heard and properly understood by my readers so I have refrained for now on writing upon it.

Today however I want to share with all upon a reflection that I think all of us including myself should think about more. After reading a unit on my theology by my professor I started to wonder about how all animals in this world are moving in a perfect manner. Have you ever wondered about the male and the female role in their specific groups? This was my reflection, my reflection was mainly focused on the gender roles in different groups of animals. It was of course not confinded to this but was my focus however I allowed any thoughts in and reflected on it.

Notice the female lion never takes over and dominates the pack or even tries to lead the pack with the male... or what about the babies within the groups of different animals, take for example the birds. The birds as little as can be rely on their mothers to nourish them and help them survive until they take flight and then they stay by her side learning from her. How amazing is it that Allah swt has given all animals a specific role in each of their animal communities. What about us then, has Allah swt given us a role in our communities and in our lives? The answer can be truly reflected upon. If Allah swt created us then we must say He has most certainly created each and everyone of us with a role in our societies and within our homes!

Questions start to bloom.... Have we maintained the role that is specified for us? How do we know where we stand in society especially us women? Is there anything in our religion that gives us the proper direction in order to fufil this role? Has these roles been upheld? What happens if we don't maintain these roles?

Imam Ali (a.s.) quotes the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) as saying:
"Allah curses those men who make themselves resemble women or those women who make themselves resemble men."
What does this mean does it only mean the way we dress or is it more than that is it in our roles in society and in the homes! Have we been lied to by the world around us? I've grown up all my life in Canada and have been taught that I am not any different than a man and I can do anything just as a man can. Maybe this type of thought became very big with the feminist movement where woman where made to believe we need to be exactly like the man in ever way and that we needed to show an opposition to how woman where treated but going from one extreme which was woman being treated unjustly even Quran speaks about this ignorant times. "And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked" "For what sin she was killed" (Holy Quran 81:8-9)
But maybe the society has taken the one extreme and went to another extreme but saying and embedding western equality. What is equality? Have they understood it's truth...
Here let's look and reflection on Quran...

"And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, and he/she is a believer - they will enter the Garden, and not the least injustice will be done to them." (Holy Qur’an, 4:124).

"Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall certainly make him live a good life, and We shall certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did."(Holy Qur’an, 16:97).

"...I will not suffer the work of any worker among you to be lost whether male or female, the one of you being from the other..."(Holy Qur’an, 3:195) 

These ayats so beautiful shows us the equality that was meant and this was based on a spiritual level. But how do we gain this spiritual level, well aqil says listening and obeying Allah swt in all commands! Even if that command goes against what we think, maybe what we think is not right and Allah swt surely is the Knower of all things! We should love Allah swt so much that we listen to Him and that not even our soul would ever go against His commands!

Woman's roles and rights that should be upheld...
Holy Qur'an on hijab:
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers that they should cast their outer garments over them (when abroad); this is more proper, that they should be known (recognized as such) and not molested. And Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful." (Holy Qur’an, 33:59).

How many of us have been washed away in the backwards thought that removing hijab means a sense of freedom as portrayed to us! I say backwards because truly removing our hijab has given the freedom for men to look at us as an object and what type of freedom is disobeying Allah swt? Our hijab is not just a symbol of freedom from oppression but a sign to the world we won't listen to the extreme view and will obey our Lord!
What about woman's role in the home...

“And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them. And he has put love and mercy between your (hearts): Verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Rum 3:21]

“It is He Who created you from a single person, and made his mate in order that he might dwell with her (in love).” [The Holy Qur’an, al-A'raf 7:189]

What beautiful words that in each the male and female they will find love with each other and they both fulfill their roles will bring upon a harmony in the home and outside! Just like the animals, in the beginning of this blog I said no animal tried to take a different role they where not meant to take. This created them to have a harmony in their groups and in the world as a whole! Allah swt has created us for a specific role and fulfilling that role brings upon the most beautiful thing. We should never feel we are less than a man due to the roles we have been designed for! If we do these duties and obey Allah swt we will be given a great reward for all the hardships or struggles we face.
"Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease." (Holy Quran surah 94:6)