^{"And indeed we sent Noah to his people, and he said I have come as a plain warner that you worship none but Allah."}

^{"Oh my Lord, verily I have called my people night and day. Then verily, I called them openly. Then I called to them in public and in private. But all my calling added nothing, but to their flight from the truth.}

^{"And verily, every time I call unto them that you might forgive them. They press their ears and cover themselves in garments. And persistent in their refusal, magnify themselves in pride."}

^{"So I said to them, 'ask forgiveness from your Lord, verily, he's all forgiving.'"}

^{"And he would send rain to you in abundance. And give you increase in your wealth and children. And bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers."}

^{"Oh Noah,you have disputed with us and you prolonged this dispute with us. Now bring upon us what you threaten us with, if you are truthful."}

^{"If you seize not, you will surely be among those stoned to death."}

<sup>"My Lord, they have disobeyed me, and followed the ones whose wealth and children gave them no increase or loss."

"And it was inspired to Nuh, 'none of your people will believe except those who have already believed"</sup>

^{"O Allah, leave none of the non believers on the face of the earth. If you leave them, they will mislead your servants and they will beget none but wicked disbelievers."}

^{"And construct a ship, under our eyes, and with our inspiration. And address me not on behalf of those who did wrong, they are surely to be drowned."}

^{"If you mock at us, so do we mock at you likewise, for your mocking. And you will know who it is on whom will come a torment that will cover him with disgrace and on whom will come a lasting torment."}

^{"And it was till then came our command. The springs of earth started gushing water. And rain started falling from the sky."}

^{"The ship sailed with him, amidst waves like mountains."}

<sup>"Oh my son, embark with us and don't be with the non believers."
"I will seek refuge in a mountain that will save me from this water."
"There's nothing that can save you on this day except the mercy of Allah."

"...And waves separated them and he drowned."</sup>

^{"Rain stopped from the sky and Allah commanded the earth to swallow the water."}

^{"Oh my Lord, verily my son is of my family, and certainly your promise is true and you are the most just."}

^{"Oh my Lord, I seek refuge in your from asking you that of which I have no knowledge. And unless you forgive me and have mercy on me, I will indeed be of the losers."}

^{"This is the news of the unseen which we reveal to you. Niether you not your people knew it before. Be patient! Verily, those who fear Allah will be successful."}

^{"And remember in the book Idris. He was truthful and he was a prophet. And we (Allah) elevated him to a high level."}

I would like to share with you the stories of the great Prophets, may they be in peace.

Allah relates the best of stories in the Quran through Mohammad, may he be in peace, to us. Why? Not for our entertainment. Allah wants us to know these stories so that we may reflect and ponder; so we learn from them, from the mistakes of their people, so we don't fall in the same ditch as their people did. By analyzing their lives, we can get guidance from them, since they were the most guided people. If we do not know about someone, how can we love him/her? And if we do not love the prophets, how can we be good Muslims? We cannot appreciate someone if we do not know what they did, and what kind of calamities they faced.

In short, the reason I decided to share the stories with you is so we can love and respect them more and learn from their lives.

-------------
Lives of The Prophets: Adam (as)

...prelude


How did all of this happen? How did it start?

"In the beginning, there was Allah. Nothing before him. His throne was on water. He wrote down in the tablet everything. And then he created the heavens and the earth."

"The first thing Allah created was the pen, and he ordered it to write, and it wrote everything that will happen until the day of resurrection."

These are a couple of ahadith (sayings) of Prophet Mohammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Both signifying the events that took place before the creation of heavens and the earth. Before the heavens and the earth was created, Allah had already planned and written down in the preserved tablet what will happen in the heavens and the earth.

Our fate is sealed. Often times we worry about our wealth; we worry about tomorrow; paranoid; how will we make it in the future, we think.

"Allah wrote down the sustenance of the creation 50,000 years before he created the heavens and the earth."

Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is telling us to not worry about our wealth, our income, our sustenance, because it has already been prescribed for us long before we came into this world. And we will get our share one way or another. Why must we worry ourselves to death about that which is not in our control? It makes very little sense.

...two other beings

Before Adam was created, there was already 2 creations living in heavens and the earth. Namely (1)angels, and (2)jinns.

1. Angels are created from light. They are very different from humans, unlike the jinns. Angels do not have the ability to choose from right and wrong. They can only do good, and are unaware of evil. They are the all-righteous beings, with very little intellectual abilities.

2. Jinns are created from fire. They are very much like humans. They can choose between right and wrong. Because jinns are created from fire, they are often referred to as "energy beings". Which means that they are not bound by this 3-dimensional world. They exist among us within our world, but we cannot see them because they do not have a physical appearance. However, they can take form of 3-dimensional objects, both animate and inanimate (among various other extraordinary things they can do).

2a. Iblis is a special character in the story of Adam. I decided to mention him separate from angels and jinns, because he was a jinn, who was so pious that Allah had elevated him to the level of the angels and he used to live in the heavens with the angels.

These 2 creations had been living in the heavens and earth for eons. Then Allah created Adam.

...Adam moulded out of clay

Adam, unlike the other 2 energy-beings, was created from earth. He was created from dirt that ALlah picked up from different parts of the world, Allah mixed it with water and it became mud, then it was left to dry to become clay. Adam was honoured such that Allah moulded his form with his own hands. He was moulded in his adult form as he was, and he didn't go through the process that all other human beings have to go through. The process of a single cell, creating tissues and organs, forming an embryo, then a fetus and then finally a baby.

[Just as a side note, I would like to take a moment to elaborate on this point and the significance of Adam being created in his adult form. The fact that Adam was created in his adult form clearly opposes the theory of evolution. Theory of evolution states that all things, objects and living beings were created from a single cell which evolved into the form that it is in today. That is, man was an ape-like creature before it was finally evolved into a human. Whereas Allah crealy says in the Quran that he created Adam with his own hands in his adult form.

I would also like to mention that although Islam opposes the theory of evolution, it doesn't discard all aspects of it; it approves of some, and disproves of some. For example, the theory of evolution states that species have the ability to adapt to the environment, and can change drastically over time, and Islam hsa no argument against that. Species can adapt to the environment because Allah has given them the ability to do so.

There are many other examples of how Islam proves and disproves the theory of evolution, but we will get into that at another time in another journal.]

...superiority over angels

Allah, the most glorious, told the angels that he will place on the world humans. The angels replied, "will you place therein those who will cause mischief and shed blood therein, while we glorify you with praises and thanks?" Allah told them, "I know what you know not."

Allah blew the soul into Adam's hollow clay body, and brought him to life. Adam sneezed, and said "All praises be to Allah". Allah said, "The mercy of Allah be upon you". The first thing he received as soon as he was brought to life was the mercy of Allah, the all-merciful.

Allah told Adam to go to the angels and say "peace be with you all", so he did. And the angels replied, "peace be with you too, and the mercy and blessings of Allah". Allah said to Adam, "this is your greeting and the greeting of your descendants". Allah has taught us the greeting, "peace be with you" from the beginning through our forefather Adam, and this is the greeting that we must use when we meet each other. We must spread peace among one another before we say anything else.

...Iblis' rebellion

When Adam was created, Allah told everyone in the heavens to bow down to Adam. So they all did, except for Iblis. He was driven by pride to rebel against the will of Allah. He said that he will not bow down to Adam because he is superior to Adam. He said, "You created me from fire, and you created him from clay". Thus Iblis was cast down from heaven and was labeled a disbeliever.

It was then Iblis made a promise to Allah that he will lead astray as many humans as possible just to prove to Allah that man is a weak creation. He prayed to Allah to let him live till the last day, and Allah granted his wish, fulfilled his prayer.

[Another side note... prayer is very important and holds a great deal of value in the eyes of Allah. Allah tells us to ask from him, and it is guaranteed that he will give it to us. All we have to do is ask. If we do not ask for whatever reason, whether we are lazy to pray, or we feel that we are not in need of anything, how can Allah give us. Sometimes we feel that Allah does not answer our prayers, that is wrong. Because Allah has guaranteed us that he will answer our prayers. If not in this life, then in the next life (which is better for us). Allah even answered the prayers of Iblis even after his rebellion. So what makes us think our prayers are not being heard?]

...the covenant

"And remember when your Lord brought forth the children of Adam, and made them testify themselves saying, 'am I not your Lord?' and they said, 'yes, we testify'. Thus you should not say on the day of resurrection, 'verily, we have been unaware'"

When our souls were created, before we were sent down on Earth in our bodily form, we had made an agreement with Allah. We witnessed for ourselves that we believe in Allah alone. Thus every child is born a Muslim, but it's his surroundings that change him into who he grows up to be.

...along comes Eve

Allah created Eve, out of Adam. When they both were created, Allah sent them off to live in the heavens, where they had everything to themselves, except for one tree.
"O Adam, live you and your mate in heaven. And eat from it where ever you want. But do not touch this tree."

The command was simple: do whatever you please, but stay away from 'this tree'. So how can such a great person commit a mistake of eating from that tree then? It was an innocent mistake on Adam's part, if we look at it. He didn't know any better. It was his first experience with the "devil" and he didn't know what would happen. And he didn't just bluntly ate from that tree just to disobey Allah. Iblis tricked him into eating from this tree. Shall I tell you about a tree that will give you infinite life, eternity. And will give you greatest kingdom that will never end?"
Iblis lured him into committing this sin by telling him lies about eternal life and power and wealth. He knows our weak points, and that's where he attacks us from. We must remember to never give into our desires when it comes to religion because it is the devil trying to lure us into committing sins. This experience was a lesson for all of us to learn from.

...home sweet home

Allah told Adam and Eve to get down to Earth. And told them that this dwelling place will be for you for a short period of time. Our forefather, Adam, was from heaven, and that's where we belong. We need to realize that. We must not get too attached to this world. We belong in heaven, and we must not give it up for this temporary world.

And Adam was told by Allah words (prayers to say) and he forgave him. Verily he is the one who forgives.
"Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not and bestow not upon us your mercy. We shall certainly be of the losers."

A great prayer that we all need to learn and memorize and use. We have all committed sins, and we all seek forgiveness! May Allah guide us all to the straight path. May he accept us and our good deeds, and forgive us of our sins.

Last but not least, I would like to apologize if I have offended anyone in anyway.

Sincerity is the freeing of one's intentions from all
impurities in order to come nearer to Allah. It is to
ensure that the intentions behind all acts of worship and
obedience to Allah are exclusively for His pleasure. It is the
perpetual contemplation of the Creator, to the extent that one
forgets the creation.

Sincerity is a condition for Allah's acceptance of good
deeds performed in accordance with the sunnah of the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah has
commanded this in the Qur'an:

"And they have been commanded to worship only
Allah, being sincere towards Him in their deen
and true. (98:5)"

Abu Umama has related that a man once came to the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and
said, "What of a man who joined us in the fighting, his
intention being for fame and booty?" The Prophet said, "He
recieves nothing." The man repeated the question three times and
each time the Prophet said, "He receives nothing". Then he said,
"Allah only accepts actions that are intended purely for His
pleasure."(1)

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri related that the Prophet (saw) said
in his khutba during the farewell pilgrimage, "Allah
will bless whoever hears these words and whoever understands
them, for it may be that those who pass on this knowledge are
not those who will understand it the best. There are three
things concerning which the heart of a believer should feel no
enmity or malice: devoting one's actions to Allah, giving
counsel to the Imams of the Muslims, and being loyal to the
majority."(2)

What is meant here is that these three things strengthen
the heart, and whoever distinguishes himself in them
will have a heart purified from all manner of deceit, corruption
and evil.

A servant can only free himself from shaytan through
sincere devotion, for Allah tells us in the Quran that
Iblis said to Him:

"Except those of Your servants who are sincere.
(38:83)"

It has been related that a rigtheous man used to say, "O
self, be devout and you will be pure." When any wordly
fortune, in which the self finds comfort and towards which the
heart inclines, intrudes upon our worship, then it impairs the
purity of our efforts and ruins our sincerity. Man is
preoccupied with his good fortune and immersed in his desires
and appetites; rarely are his actions or acts of worship free of
temporary objectives and desires of this kind. For this reason
it has been said that whoever secures a single moment of pure
devotion to Allah in his life will survive, for devotion is rare
and precious, and cleansing the heart of its impurities is an
exacting undertaking.

In fact, devotion is the purifying of the heart from all
impurities, whether few or many, so that the intention of
drawing nearer to Allah is freed from all other motives, except
that of seeking His pleasure. This can only come from a lover
of Allah, who is so absorbed in contemplation of the next world
that there remains in his heart no place for the love of this
world. Such a person must be devote and pure in all his actions,
even in eating, drinking and answering the calls of nature.
With rare exceptions, anyone who is not like this will find the
door of devotion closed in his face.

The everyday actions of a person who is overwhelmed by
his or her love for Allah and the akhira are
characterised by his love and they are, in fact, pure devotion.
In the same way, anyone whose soul is overwhelmed by love for
and preoccupation with this world, or status and authority, will
be so overwhelmed by these things that no act of worship, be it
prayer or fasting, will be acceptable, except in very rare
cases.

The remedy for love of this world is to break the
worldly desires of the self, ending its greed for this
world and purifying it in preparation for the next world. This
will then become the state of the heart and sincere devotion
will become easier to attain. There are a great many actions
where a man acts, thinking they are purely intended for Allah's
pleasure, but he is deluded, for he fails to see the defects in
them.

It has been related that a man was used to praying in
the first row in the mosque. One day he was late for the
prayer, so he prayed in the second row. Feeling embarrassment
when people saw him in the second row, he realised that the
pleasure and satisfaction of the heart that he used to gain from
praying in the first row were due to his seeing people seeing
him there and admiring him for it. This is a subtle and
intangible condition and actions are rarely safe from it. Apart
from those whom Allah has assisted, few are aware of such
delicate matters. Those who do not realise it only come to see
their good deeds appearing as bad ones on the Day of
Resurrection; they are the ones referred to in Allah's words:

"And something will come to them from Allah
which they
had never anticipated, for the evil of their
deeds will become apparent to them. (39:47-48)"

And also:

"Say: Shall We tell you who will lose most in
respect of their
deeds? Those whose efforts were astray in the
life of this world, while they thought that
they were doing good works. (18:103-104)"

Yaqub said: "A devout person is someone who conceals
things that are good, in the same way that he conceals
things that are bad."

As-Sousi said: "True devotion is to lose the faculty of
being conscious of your devotion; for someone who
identifies devotion in his devotion is a person whose devotion
is in need of devotion." To contemplate devotion is to admire
it, and admiration is an afflication; and that which is pure is
whatever is free of all afflictions. This means that one's deeds
should be purified from any self-admiration concerning the
actions they entail.

Ayyub said: "It is much harder for the people of action
to purify their intentions than it is to execute any of
their actions."

Some people have said: "To be devout for a short while
is to survive for ever, but devotion is rare."

Suhail was asked: "What is the most difficult thing for
the self? He said: "Devotion, when the self does not
have the good fortune of being endowed with it."

Al-Fudayl said: "Forsaking action for the sake of other
people is to seek their admiration. To act for the sake
of their admiration is to associate others with Allah. Devotion
is when Allah frees you from both of these states.

Insha'Allah, keep our Palestinian brothers and sisters in your du'as.

Ma'asalaama (:

Notes: 1. Sahih, an-Nisa'i, Kitab al-Jihad, 6/25; al Hafidh ibn
Hajar, Fath al-Qadir, 6/28. 2. Sahih, Ibn Ma'jah; also Ibn
Hibban, Marwarid adh-Dham'an, p.47, on the authority of Zaid ibn
Thabit.

People believe the radiation from mobile phones, blue tooth headsets and phone masts can cause cancer, know that the radiation of wealth can kill off the spirituality of the heart! [Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq]

When we are leaving this world for the next one, it shall be like a trip to another country. Where details of that country won't be found in glamorous travel brochures, but in the Holy Qur'aan and the hadith. Where our plane won't be British Airways, Gulf Air,PIA, or American Airlines, but Air Janazah. Where our luggage won't be the allowed 23 kgs, but our deeds no matter how heavy they weigh.

You don't pay for excess luggage. They are carried free of charge. With your Creator's compliment. Where our dress won't be a Pierre Cardin suit or the like but the white cotton shroud Where our perfume won't be Chanel,Paco Rabanne, but the camphor and attar. Where our passports won't be British, French, Pakistani or American but Al Islam.
Where our visa won't be the 6 months leave but the "La Illaha Illallah.." Where the air hostess won't be gorgeous females but Isra'iil and its like Where the in-flight services won't be 1st class or economy but a piece of beautifully scented or foul smelling cloth. Where our place of destination won't be Heathrow Terminal 1, Islamabaad or Riyadh International Terminal but the Qabarastaan. Where our waiting lounge won't be nice carpeted and air-conditioned rooms but the 6 feet deep gloomy Qabar. Where the Immigration Officer won't be Her Majesty's officers but Munkar and Nakir.They only check out whether you deserve the place you yearn to go.

Where there is no need for Customs Officers or detectors. Where the transit airport will be Al Barzaakh. Where our final place of destination will be either the Garden under which rivers flow or the hell Fire.

This trip does not come with a price tag. It is free of charge. So your savings would not come handy This flight can never be hijacked so do not worry about terrorists. Food won't be served on this flight so do not worry about your allergies or whether the food is Halal.
Do not worry about leg room; you won't need it, as your legs will become things of the past. Do not worry about delays. This flight is always punctual. It arrives and leaves on time. Do not worry about the in-flight entertainment programme because you would have lost all your sense of joy. Do not worry about booking this trip, it has already been booked the day you became a fetus in your mother's womb.

Ah! At last good news! Do not worry about who will be sitting next to you. You will have the luxury of being the only passenger. So enjoy it while you can. If only you can!
One small snag though, this trip comes with no warning.

ARE YOU PREPARED?