What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.

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What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Daud
03/08/01 at 10:13:58
Asalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

I've read a bunch of posts about what y'all wanna be, like great founts of Da'wah, or soldiers of Jihad, things like this. I found them very interesting and in some cases quite motivating; may Allah reward you all for your efforts! So, I thought I would post what I wanna be when I grow up (OK, I'm 41, but I mean when I REALLY grow up.

I want to be among the Learned.

I want to share with you some excerpts from Imam Abu-Hamid al-Ghazzali's invaluable work, Ihya ulum-id-din (tr.: The Revivication of the Sciences of Religion).

* Allah says: Those who are believers among you AND THE LEARNED, Allah will increase their rank. (58:11)

* Hazrat Ibn Abbas said (about the learned): The rank of the learned is 700 times more than that of the believers, and the distance between the two ranks is the distance of the path of 500 years.

* The Holy Prophet (saws) said: The learned are the heirs of the prophets.

* He (saws) said: Whatever is in the heavens and the earth seeks forgiveness for the learned. So the angels of heaven and earth remain busy in seeking forgiveness for the learned and they remain busy with themselves.

* He (saws) said: The learned and the warriors are nearest to the rank of prophethood.

* He (saws) said: I will intercede on Yawma Qiyama and be a witness for one who commits to memory 40 traditions out of my followers and transmits these to them.

* He (saws) said: The superiority of a learned man over a worshipper is like my superiority over the ordinary men.

* He (saws) said: THERE WILL INTERCEDE ON THE LAST DAY THE PROPHETS, THEN THE LEARNED MEN, THEN THE MARTYRS.

OK, one more, then I'll stop...

* Hasan Barsari said: The ink of the learned will be weighed against the blood of the martyrs and then it will be found that the ink of the learned is heavier than the blood of the martyrs.

There are about 30 pages dedicated in the Ihya just to the virtues, excellence and rewards of the Learned.  So, those of us who are unable to pick up the sword or the gun and travel to far-off lands in hopes of martyrdom, still can make our lives perfectly valuable by becoming one of the Learned. And in this day when our Deen is weakening and is SO misunderstood, I dare say, and astaghfirullah if I am wrong, we are in more need of the learned at this point in our history than of soldiers.

I love you all for the Pleasure of Allah.

Br. Daud.
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Arsalan
03/08/01 at 10:20:16
[slm]
[quote]And in this day when our Deen is weakening and is SO misunderstood, I dare say, and astaghfirullah if I am wrong, we are in more need of the learned at this point in our history than of soldiers.[/quote]Hmm ... I always thought it was the other way around.  What do the others think?
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Al-Basha
03/08/01 at 11:50:48
[slm]

By learned, does that mean deen knowledge? not that im saying other knowledge is bad but you can't do much with zero deen knowledge and 100% dunya knowledge. As with everything, there has to be a balance.

Wa Allahu A3laam
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Daud
03/08/01 at 12:01:48
No no no, al-Hamdullilah, DEEN KNOWLEDGE!!! Astaghfirullah if I was not clear on that.
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
se7en
03/08/01 at 15:30:59

Man, we need everything.  If you use whatever skill and passion you've been endowed with in the way of Allah and this deen, it would be a benefit to all of us bi-ithnillah.  So if you want to be a mujahid of combative jihad, we need that.  And if you want to be of the learned, a scholar, we need that too.  We need everything.  With the 1.5 billion of us on the earth, how many different skills and capabilities do you think we have?  We all have different strengths, and if even half of us used our strengths fisabilillah, imagine where we could be right now...

So Daud, go for it bro :)

wasalaam.
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Daud
03/08/01 at 16:18:32
Se7en, ma sha Allah, well said. To each his own talent and calling as Allah has provided, we certainly do need it all, don't we? Thanks for that insight, brother.

Wassalam.
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
BrKhalid
03/08/01 at 17:16:28
Asalaamu Alaikum ;-)

Wasn't it the case that not all of the Sahaba went out for Jihad and some stayed back and learnt knowledge and taught their brothers their deen when they returned.

There has to be a place for everyone to do their part ;-)
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Zahra
03/08/01 at 17:46:47
[quote]Se7en, ma sha Allah, well said. To each his own talent and calling as Allah has provided, we certainly do need it all, don't we? Thanks for that insight, brother.

Wassalam.[/quote]

I always thought se7en was a sister???  Well, what se7en did say, I think is true.  ALlah tells us to spend out of what HE has bestowed upon us.  This means not only our money but our talents and abilities.  And of course, we are all different, we all learn differently and we all learn certain things better than other things.  Also, the enthusiasm and passion of being something(like Daud wants to be a learned person and proudtobeMuslim wants to be a Daie) is a huge factor in driving someone towards success.  

May Allah allow all of us to benefit the Ummah with what He has given us out of His infinite Mercy and Bounty!!!  
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
se7en
03/08/01 at 17:51:48
[quote]I always thought se7en was a sister[/quote]
I am a sister :-)

wasalaam.
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
meraj
03/08/01 at 18:10:31
slm,

good insight br daud... but why wait till you 'grow up'? start now! :) cause ya never know when your time is up in this world :) inshallah may Allah increase us all in our knowledge :)
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
Daud
03/09/01 at 09:13:58
Se7en, PLEASE ACCEPT MY SINCERE APOLOGIES, I did not know you were a sister!!! I have a hard enough time with the Arabic names, but Se7en, I guess that really threw me.


Wassalam.
Re: What I wanna be when I (finally) grow up.
proudtobemuslim
03/09/01 at 11:25:03
Assalam-u-Alaikum,

May Allah (AWJ) reward you brother... too right we need the learned.  But first I think it would be a good idea to repeat what sis se7en said regarding Niyyah.  It is so so so important that we make sure our Niyyah is to obtain the pleasure of Allah (AWJ) and to call others to the way of Allah (AWJ) only for His sake and DEFINITELY not for obtaining the people's respect and for simply showing off.  

For becoming truly among the learned there is also another prerequisite... you have to ACT upon your knowledge.  Simliarly for the dai', he has to practice what he preaches (as so aptly stated by the sis again).  The following haadeeth has something in regards to knowledge... please take the time to read:

Narrated Samura bin Jundab:

    Whenever the Prophet finished the (morning) prayer, he would face us and ask, "Who amongst you had a dream
    last night?" So if anyone had seen a dream he would narrate it. The Prophet would say: "Ma sha'a-llah" (An
    Arabic maxim meaning literally, 'What Allah wished,' and it indicates a good omen.) One day, he asked us
    whether anyone of us had seen a dream. We replied in the negative. The Prophet said, "But I had seen (a dream)
    last night that two men came to me, caught hold of my hands, and took me to the Sacred Land (Jerusalem).
    There, I saw a person sitting and another standing with an iron hook in his hand pushing it inside the mouth of the
    former till it reached the jaw-bone, and then tore off one side of his cheek, and then did the same with the other
    side; in the mean-time the first side of his cheek became normal again and then he repeated the same operation
    again. I said, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we went on till we came to a man Lying flat on his
    back, and another man standing at his head carrying a stone or a piece of rock, and crushing the head of the Lying
    man, with that stone. Whenever he struck him, the stone rolled away.

    The man went to pick it up and by the time he returned to him, the crushed head had returned to its normal state
    and the man came back and struck him again (and so on). I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on; so
    we proceeded on and passed by a hole like an oven; with a narrow top and wide bottom, and the fire was
    kindling underneath that hole. Whenever the fire-flame went up, the people were lifted up to such an extent that
    they about to get out of it, and whenever the fire got quieter, the people went down into it, and there were naked
    men and women in it. I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on. So we proceeded on till we reached a
    river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him, facing the
    man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out, the other one threw a stone in his
    mouth and caused him to retreat to his original position; and so whenever he wanted to come out the other would
    throw a stone in his mouth, and he would retreat to his original position. I asked, 'What is this?' They told me to
    proceed on and we did so till we reached a well-flourished green garden having a huge tree and near its root was
    sitting an old man with some children. (I saw) Another man near the tree with fire in front of him and he was
    kindling it up. Then they (i.e. my two companions) made me climb up the tree and made me enter a house, better
    than which I have ever seen. In it were some old men and young men, women and children.

    Then they took me out of this house and made me climb up the tree and made me enter another house that was
    better and superior (to the first) containing old and young people. I said to them (i.e. my two companions), 'You
    have made me ramble all the night. Tell me all about that I have seen.' They said, 'Yes. As for the one whose
    cheek you saw being torn away, he was a liar and he used to tell lies, and the people would report those lies on
    his authority till they spread all over the world. So, he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection.

    The one whose head you saw being crushed is the one whom Allah had given the knowledge of Quran (i.e.
    knowing it by heart) but he used to sleep at night (i.e. he did not recite it then) and did not use to act upon it (i.e.
    upon its orders etc.) by day; and so this punishment will go on till the Day of Resurrection. And those you saw in
    the hole (like oven) were adulterers (those men and women who commit illegal sexual intercourse). And those you
    saw in the river of blood were those dealing in Riba (usury). And the old man who was sitting at the base of the
    tree was Abraham and the little children around him were the offspring of the people. And the one who was
    kindling the fire was Malik, the gate-keeper of the Hell-fire. And the first house in which you have gone was the
    house of the common believers, and the second house was of the martyrs. I am Gabriel and this is Michael. Raise
    your head.' I raised my head and saw a thing like a cloud over me. They said, 'That is your place.' I said, 'Let me
    enter my place.' They said, 'You still have some life which you have not yet completed, and when you complete
    (that remaining portion of your life) you will then enter your place.' "

Wassalam-u-Alaikum
Uzer


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