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Date: March 17, 2015
Did you ever think of what is the meaning of blindness? The meaning varies for people, for their thoughts and approach. To some, it will be merely a sickness or defect by birth. To some others, it sounds something unsound or a state of ignorance or passiveness. Often it is a frightening thought or state. Here the thing is something different. Author states that blindness has become a way of life, to be open, a disguising to lead the life. Author recollects his experience from Manipal hospital, near Bangalore, that he was bedridden due to a massive stroke which lead him to a total blindness. His illness transformed him to a blind man physically, but not mentally. Gradually he started to recover his blindness using auditory senses and the mind to be able to overcome the deficiency. And this challenging situation taught him to keep his blindness as an asset. Instead of crying about the vision loss, he found himself taking up the challenges of gaining ground and bridging the gap between being sighted and facing blindness. He read newspaper e copy by software called JAWS (Job Access With Speech). Watched movies by listening the conversation and amazingly he got extra power for his other senses. Author is giving a positive message to the blind people that to keep the defect as a challenge and live life with full of joy and activities.
"The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him."
Sunan Ibn Mājah
"Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"
Sahih Bukhari
This is a wonderful article on suicide and its haram in Islam. The author of this article Saba Malik shares some knowledge he got from a depression mastery seminar by a prominent Muslim Shaykh, eight years back. Suicide is a sin in Islam. But the author still wonders that by knowing the fact that suicide is a bad activity, why Muslims still tries to kill themselves. Once the seminar finished, the author went up and asked the Shaykh that if a Muslim attempts or commits suicide, what happens to him. The Shaykh answered that definitely, he will go to hell. Mental illness, hallucinations, diseases, financial conditions, family problems etc. can cause one to commit suicide. Depression can be treated with some of the tools practiced in our day to day life and concentration. Following steps are helpful to avoid depression. 1. Regular salah 2. Medication 3. Psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy 4. Regular exercise 5. Healthy eating 6. Good sleep hygiene 7. Keeping up with physical hygiene 8. Active and meaningful social relationships 9. Support groups or blog 10.Giving back to your community Dr. Al-Khater says that apart from the above tools, situational depression can be alleviated by practicing the following tools: 1. Using the Islamic creed 2. Doing righteous deeds 3. Offering salah and reciting prayers 4. Contemplating the worst cases 5. Having good opinions 6. Living with a realistic – not idealistic – point of view 7. Behaving well towards other and yourself 8. Having hope Above all, prayer and preach Allah is the best solution to forget the thoughts about committing suicide.
Read MorePraise be to Allah, the Creator and Cherisher of the worlds and peace be upon his prophet Muhammad SAW. The blessed month of Ramadan is near completion. A month which brings mercy, forgiveness, and freedom from fire if completed virtuously. The month of Shawwal, which follows Ramadan, also has unique opportunities to continue to earn Allah’s blessings. Muhammad SAW said, “The one who fasts the month of Ramadan, followed by six days in Shawwal, is purified of sins as if he was just born.” (Hadith: Sahih Muslim and Abu Da’ud). The six days of fasting in Shawwal can begin any day after Eid al-Fitr and can be completed continuously or spread throughout the month. There are differences of opinion regarding the requirement to make up missed Ramadan (fard) fasts before keeping Shawwal (nafl) fasts. See the link below from Yasir Qadhi: However we choose to do it, certainly, rewards come from Allah and anything we do sincerely to please him will not be wasted. _As for those who believe and do good deeds, rest assured that We do not waste the reward of him who does a good work._ (Quran 18:30) The Alim Foundation Inc., NMS/NH, May 21, 2020
Read MoreRamadan Journal- Day 2 is a great piece of writing from Umm Salihah’s blog Happy Muslim Mama. The author talks about a beautiful Hadith about Ramadan which is the Prophet&8217;s (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) sermon on Ramadan delivered on the last Friday of the preceding month (Shaban). The Hadith reveals many good advices to devotees and a number of promises too. An abridged meaning of this great Hadith is as follows: This is exactly the blessed month of Allah. Ramadan is the month of forgiveness and blessings to the humanity. Its days, nights and hours are the best things in a year. Each of your breath can glorify Allah and his deeds. You have to fast and recite Quran and other holy books of Islam so that Allah would mercy up on you and he will give you a healthy body and heart. You must be compassionate to orphans. If you have committed any sins, you should repent to Allah and raise your hands in dua during Ramadan times. If you give Iftar to a fasting person, your sins would be forgiven. No matter the quantity of the Iftar. It can be a cup of water. That can free you from your past sins. If you honour an orphan, Allah will honour you. If you spread mercy and kindness to others, Allah will spread his mercy up on you. If you cuts a beautiful relation, Allah will cut the mercy from you. If you performs a recommended prayer in this month, Allah will keep the fire of hell away from you. If you performs an obligatory prayer, Allah will reward with seventy prayers in this month. If you prays a lot of time during this month, Allah will reward for you.If you recite one verse of the holy Quran, you will get the rewards of reciting the whole Qur’an during other months. Obeying this wonderful things in the holy month of Ramadan can keep the door of heaven for you, not the hell.
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