Thought for food

[Cara.]

The five letters that are censored out spell the name of a tribe. Go figure.

[Muhammad]

sheherazade, may Allah Ta'ala smile upon you always.

 

Allah, the Exalted, says:

 

"Worship Allah and join none with Him (in worship); and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, Al-Masakin (the poor), the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess; For Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious;''

(4:36)

 

Ibn `Umar and `Aishah (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,

"Jibril kept recommending treating neighbours with kindness until I thought he would assign a share of inheritance".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

[sheherazade]

Thanks all.

 

Yesterday on the full train carriage I spot 2 Muslim men. One stands at the other end, dressed like a Pakistani; the other sitting and closer to me wearing a black cap, perhaps an Arab. Sometimes I see Muslims and get the feeling they are better people than me(though they may not be). Something in their appearance or their face makes me want to do better. I think this again as I look at the two men. The one sitting is looking fixedly at nothing. He looks like Ramadan has given him a hug, his posture relaxed, face calm. I catch myself being fanciful again and try and think of the impending interview. I don't want to lie while I'm fasting. Do they really want to hear the truth?

 

The man in the black cap suddenly jumps up and stirs me out of my thoughts. He looks at me and gestures for me to have his seat. Having not spoken out loud thus far that day, my voice comes out very quietly and over the rumble of the rolling train I doubt that he hears me say: I'm getting off the at the next stop, Shukran. My waving hand and shaking head help though and he looks down at the seat without sitting down. I know that he has offered me the seat because I'm a Muslim(there were others standing too). Perhaps Ramadan has hugged him afterall and here I was rejecting his spontaneous offer. He sits down finally.

 

I must learn how to take if I'm going to encourage giving. My first instinct is to reject any offer; even as a girl I couldn't accept from my mother without a No first. It is more than a social habit. Something deeper lurks. Would anyone like to offer me something? For the practise, u see.

[Muhammad]

Salaams

 

lol a practice eh? how about a Dua, Ilaahay Nicma baraha roobka ka badan ha kusiiyo. amiin

 

it is true, some of us get so caught up into giving that we begin to deny others the same pleasures we gain from it. we have to be moderate, always.

 

fi'amanillah

Salaxuddiin

[Pacifist]

Thanks sis love this thread great reminder. My neighbours are rude and inconsiderate. I am the one who always wants to report them to the office and mashallah my habaryar say no leave the neighbours alone let them do what ever. That just drives me crazy especially after they play music so loud at all hours of the night. Patience Patience is what I need when it comes to my neighbours.

 

Thanks for the reminder sis jazakallah. May Allah except our fasting. Amin

[sheherazade]

Muhammad, I asked for that slyly. Thank you. May all your prayers be accepted.

 

Pacifist, your neighbours are wrong to be inconveniencing you. If talking with them hasn't helped then something more pro-active may be in order. Complaining won't get u any further if they've already heard it before. I suggest u take them some food with a smile and confuse the life out of them. If they see u as real people(that do them good) they'll think twice about annoying u. I watched my father treat a bad neighbour with friendliness and while I thought he was selling us out at the time, I think he may have had something there.

 

I've just returned from delivering food to my neighbour. She wasn't in unfortunately. But while I was standing outside her door I listened to another neighbour beat the living daylights out of his dogs again. I can't fathom what satisfaction there is to be gained from making a creature suffer so. While I can tolerate noise to some degree, next door animal abuse which echoes through the building is another matter. He thumps them, bashes them and they whimper and cry out in agony. It's amazing how human-like they sound in suffering. I have already told on this guy and have no qualms about it. I don't think I can sleep at night when I know I haven't tried to get those dogs away from him. What would all this fasting and prayer be for?

 

I have spoken with him about his noise generally- drilling at night etc!- but this dog abuse I can't deal with face to face. I'm not sure I can disguise my disgust. Or that he can resist unleashing his dog-beating on me.

 

I now find myself in the bizarre situation of praying for dogs regularly.

[Haneefah]

May Allah(swt) increase you in taqwa and reward you immensely for your efforts of reaching out to people.

 

There's nothing like the Ramadan spirit of joy and generosity. Just yesterday this elder lady approached me while I was in my car at a parking lot in front of a grocery shop. It was a nice sunny day so the lady decided to walk to a store she thaught was near by but she took the wrong directions and wound up walking for almost an hr, anyways she asked me for the directions and I gave it to her, she thanked me and turned to continue to walk...I thaught to myself, she'll be walking for another 1/2 hr if not more so why not give her a ride, I quickly called her and told her to hop in--she was so surprised and delighted that I had offered her a ride. I was also very happy with myself, not just b/c I had given her the ride but on our way to her destination, I had the opportunity to briefly explain to her this holy month of ramadan for Muslims and how it's a month of charity for us. She left me smiling and repeating 'God Bless'. It's just small random acts of kindness that can make all the difference!

 

About food sharing...My mother has always been very keen on qurban or food giving ever since I can remember, especially during the month of ramadan, we cook a lot and take it to the local masjid usually on fridays...many bachelors come there for iftar I hear. And there hasn't been one family cazumad where we haven't sent some portion to our neighbours and to the Imam's family--they happen to love my mom's biryani and spicy food.

 

Even when people come over to visit, my mom was always very quick to fix some food for them and as a teen I used get upset at her for troubling herself for I used to think some sweets and tea would be enough...and she would always say, honey, you never know how their day was or whether they've had something to eat or not so why not offer; it's something that doesn't require much effort on your part but it will put a smile on people's faces (so true). I used to pray to Allah to make me as generous as my mother. Alhamdulilah, as I grew up I believe my prayers have been answered...now all I wanna do is to give, give and give some more. It's a gift from Allah really!

 

Thanks for reminding me about the neighbours--I shall make more sambuuus for iftar today

[Saabir]

Maashallah

[sheherazade]

Abrar, that's beautiful.

 

Saabir, the telephone woke me up yesterday from an intense dream. I was lectruing my parents on the virtue of patience. I was saying, 'We must have sabr, we must have sabr' while my father was telling me not to be so- some word I did't know the meaning of but which I took to mean, 'Chill, girl'. The night before that I saved a life in my dreams.

 

getting waaaaay ahead of myself

[Miriam1]

Great thread.

[Muhammad]

The night before that I saved a life in my dreams.

I wonder, will that be recorded as an Ajr? lol

 

Alas Sheherazade, but have you gotten to the point where the alarm clock becomes part of the dream.

 

 

____________________________________

 

 

here is an article I read that reminded me of this thread.

 

By: Sheikh Ragip Robert Frager al Jerrahi

10/10/2005 - Education Religious Social

IslamiCity* -

 

 

If everything flows from God and everything returns to God, do you truly own anything? Are you not but a steward, taking care of that the portion of this world under your care, which is to be preserved and protected and possibly shared?

 

There are different forms of generosity. Most of us feel generous when we give something-money, time, advice. We know that our generosity is successful when we are seen, acknowledged, thanked, and praised for what we have done. This is the most obvious level of generosity. The truth of the matter is, in these cases, we give and we are repaid. These transactions are actually exchanges and contain the actual generosity.

 

A higher level of generosity is to give anonymously. The giver still benefits, but not as directly. Payment comes from knowing that we have been not only generous but also virtuous in not expecting gain recognition for our giving. However, the recipient will still feel gratitude, and inside ourselves, we assure ourselves, intuitively, that we gain merit.

 

There is still another level - "secret charity." This occurs when you give so that someone benefits from your actions, but unlike at the other two levels, that person does not feel given to, nor is there any burden of gratitude. How do you feel, for example, if you find a dollar bill on the sidewalk? You look around and pick it up with a smile on your face. You may feel blessed or at least lucky. You don't feel that someone "gave it to you" but that you found it. If, however, someone made a practice of laying bills on the ground now and then-then walking away and telling no one-he or she would be practicing a simple form of secret charity.

 

If you try something like this, you will soon feel the effects in your life. If you look for small, daily opportunities, they abound. My local library, for example, has a place where I can donate books so I can get a tax deduction. They also have a box so that books can be given anonymously. The choice is mine.

 

You can practice generosity with other than things. It is possible to give your time, your knowledge, your labor, and your skills. Having little money is no excuse for a lack of generosity.

 

At yet another level, if you give what is in your heart patience, insight, compassion you will find not only that your generosity arises from God, but that each act of giving also becomes an act of remembrance.

_______________________________________________________

One take away one is equal to one

(A traditional teaching story)

 

Two brothers, one married and one single, farmed together and divided the grain from the harvest equally between them. The single brother often thought that his brother had extra worries and expenses because of his family so he would, from time to time, move some of the filled sacks from his storeroom into his brother's. His brother, on the other hand, often thought of how lonely his single brother must be. He thought, if my brother had a little more money he might buy himself some nicer things. So he would, without the other's knowledge, move some of his grain sacks into his brother's storeroom.

 

For many years the number of sacks remained equal between them, and neither brother could ever understand why this was so.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Amazing thread.

 

Thanks Sheh.

 

Ramadaan Kariim.