Shedding Tears Out of Fear of Allah

Bismillah.

I made this post because one of my friends in my group chat sent a video about tears for Allah.
This is the video (the subtitle is Bahasa Indonesia):

I tried to find the video on the original website but I couldn't find it :(

So I uploaded the video from my phone's storage.

(I hope the video works for you because it's working perfectly fine for me!)

Overall, the video shows the importance of shedding tears out of fear of Allah because it's mentioned by Tirmidhi: Rasulallah SAW said: "Two eyes that will not be touched by hellfire; An eye that cries from the fear of Allah, and an eye that spent the night in a guard post in the path of Allah (Jihad).”

And also, a person who shed tears out of fear of Allah is one of the 7 kind of person that will be under the shade of Allah on the Day - you know what day when there will be no shade except from Allah.
Yes, the day of the Resurrection, at the Mahshar.

It had me thinking: have I ever weeped from such reason?
Even if I have and I want to do it again, it's kind of a hard thing to do.
Have you weeped out of fear of Allah?

So, since (at least) I find it's not easy to shed tears out of fear of Allah,
I found this post on islamqa:

I am a man and I never cry. How can I make my eyes weep for fear of Allah in accordance with the hadeeth: “Two eyes that will never be touched by the Fire” in which it mentions “The eye that weeps for fear of Allah”? 
May Allah reward you with good.

Praise be to Allah

Undoubtedly your feelings of regret for missing out on this blessing is a very good sign. You should note that the Muslim can accustom himself to weep for fear of Allah, by doing the following: 

1 – Making yourself feel fear of Allah. 

This weeping is the fruit of beneficial knowledge, as al-Qurtubi says in his commentary on the verse (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And they fall down on their faces weeping” [17:109] 

This is an eloquent description of them and praise for them. It is the duty of everyone who acquires knowledge to reach this level, so that when he hears the Quran he is filled with fear and humility. In Musnad al-Daarimi it is narrated from Abu Muhammad that al-Taymi said: Whoever is given knowledge and does not weep, he deserves not to have any knowledge, because Allah has described those who have knowledge; then he recited this verse. 

Al-Jaami’ li Ahkaam il-Qur’aan, 10/341-342. 

2 – Reading the Quran and pondering its meanings 

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say (O Muhammad to them): Believe in it (the Quran) or do not believe (in it). Verily, those who were given knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration.

And they say: Glory be to our Lord! Truly, the Promise of our Lord must be fulfilled.

And they fall down on their faces weeping and it increases their humility” [17:107-109] 

“Those were they unto whom Allah bestowed His grace from among the Prophets, of the offspring of Adam, and of those whom We carried (in the ship) with Nooh, and of the offspring of Ibrahim and Israel, and from among those whom We guided and chose. When the Verses of the Most Gracious (Allah) were recited unto them, they fell down prostrate and weeping” [19:58]

 It was narrated that Ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: “Recite the Quran to me.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, shall I recite it to you when it was revealed to you?” He said: “I like to hear it from someone else.” So I recited Soorat al-Nisa’ to him, and when I reached this verse – “How (will it be) then, when We bring from each nation a witness and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these people?” [4:41] – he said: “That is enough for now.” I turned to him and saw his eyes were streaming with tears. Narrated by al-Bukhari andMuslim. 

3 – Knowing the greatness of the reward for weeping, especially when one is alone. 

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah said: “A man who weeps for fear of Allah will not enter Hell until the milk goes back into the udder, and dust produced (when fighting) for the sake of Allah and the smoke of Hell will never coexist.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasaa’i.

“until the milk goes back into the udder” is a metaphor for it being impossible, as in the verse where Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and they will not enter Paradise until the camel goes through the eye of the needle” [7:40]. Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi. 

And it was narrated that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There are seven whom Allah will shade with His shade on the day when there will be no shade but His: a just ruler; a young man who grows up worshipping Allah; a man whose heart is attached to the mosque; two people who love one another for the sake of Allah, meeting and parting on that basis; a man who is called (to commit sin) by a woman of high status and great beauty and he says, ‘I fear Allah’; a man who gives in charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand is doing; and a man who remembers Allah when he is alone and his eyes flow with tears.” Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim. 

Weeping when alone is singled out because being alone is a time when the heart tends to become harder and there is a stronger motive to commit sin, and it is farthest removed from the possibility of showing off. So if a person strives to do this, and makes himself feel the greatness and might of Allah, and his eyes flow with tears, then he deserves to be beneath the shade of the Throne of the Most Merciful on the Day when there will be no shade but His shade. 

4 – Thinking about your situation and your boldness in committing sin, and fearing to meet Allah in such a state. 

One of the righteous people used to weep night and day, and something was said to him about that. He said: “I am afraid that Allah will see me committing sin and will say: ‘Go away from Me for I am angry with you.’” Hence Sufyan used to weep and say: “I am afraid that my faith will be taken away at the moment of death.” 

Isma’il ibn Zakariya described Habeeb ibn Muhammad, who was a neighbour of his. He said: “Every evening I heard him weeping and every morning I heard him weeping, so I went to his wife and said: ‘What is the matter with him? He weeps in the evening and he weeps in the morning!’ She said to me: ‘By Allah, when evening comes he fears that he will not live till morning and when morning comes he fears that he will not live till evening.’” 

The salaf (righteous predecessors) used to weep and grieve a great deal. When Yazeed al-Raqaashi was criticized for weeping a great deal and it was said to him, “If the Fire had been created exclusively for you, you would not weep more than this,” he said: “Has the Fire been created for anyone other than me and my companions and brothers among the jinn and mankind?” 

When ‘Ata’ al-Sulaymi was asked: “What is this grief?” he said: “Woe to you! Death is close at hand, the grave is my house, on the Day of Resurrection I will stand and my path is over a bridge across Hell, and I do not know what will become of me.” 

Faddalah ibn Sayfi used to weep a great deal. A man entered upon him when he was weeping and said to his wife: “What is the matter with him?” She said: “He says that he wants to undertake a long journey and he does not have proper provision for it.” 

One night al-Hasan woke up weeping, and he disturbed the other people in the house with his weeping. They asked him what was the matter and he said: “I remembered a sin that I committed and I wept.” 

It was narrated that Tameem al-Daari (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse (interpretation of the meaning): “Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah- Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds” [45:21] and he started repeating it and weeping until morning came. 

Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to weep intensely, and it was said to him: “Why are you weeping?” He said: “I do not know what is ahead of me – Divine pleasure or divine wrath.”  

Sa’d ibn al-Akhram said: I was walking with Ibn Mas’ood and he passed by the blacksmiths, who had brought a piece of iron out of the fire. He stood and looked at the molten iron and wept. 

5 – Making yourself feel regret and feeling that you have fallen short in your duties towards Allah.  

The tears of the repentant at night quenches thirst and cures sickness, as the Shaykh of the Mufassireen (exegetists), Abu Ja’far al-Tabari, said in his commentary on the verse (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Do you then wonder at this recitation (the Quran)?

And you laugh at it and weep not” [53:59-60] 

Do not weep at the warnings contained therein to those who disobey Allah, when you are people who commit sin, “Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)” [53:61] – you are heedless of the lessons and reminders contained therein, turning away from its verses. 

Jaami’ al-Bayaan ‘an Ta’weel Aayi al-Qur’aan, 27/82. 

6 – Weeping out of fear of a bad end. 

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by al-Hijr (the land of the people of Thamood) he said: “Do not enter the dwellings of those who wronged themselves, lest what befell them befall you, unless you are weeping.” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) covered his head and walked quickly until he had left the valley. Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim. 

Al-Nawawi included this hadeeth in a chapter entitled “Weeping and feeling fear when passing by the graves of the wrongdoers and the places where they were killed, and expressing one's need of Allah, and being careful not to be negligent in that.” Riyadh al-Saliheen. 

7 – Listening to moving speeches and lectures that will soften the heart. 

It was narrated that al-‘Irbad ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of those who used to weep, said: “The Messenger of Allah delivered a deeply moving speech at which our eyes began to overflow and our hearts melted.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood and Ibn Maajah. 

May Allah help us and you to do that which our Lord loves and is pleased with him.

I wish the best for our brother who asked this - he's so brave for admitting this.
And I also thankful for the one who answered - the advice are really helpful!
For me, I think the reading one is the easiest thing that we all can try.
Al-Qur'an is so full of wonders, good news and bad news, and also warnings for us to think about.

I also found this video on YouTube (among TONS of videos about shedding tears out of fear of Allah, but this one is the shortest one so yeah maybe you want to check this first before watching another videos):

Furthermore, there's a dua you can find in the Qur'an, Ali Imran verse 8 to guard your heart:

رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ

"Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.''

That's all for now! :)
I hope our hearts will be softer each day and hopefully we can be closer to Allah and be under His shade.

Brace 'Tis Season

Bismillaah.

It's two days to go...
to...
FRIDAY!
Who loves Fiday?
Yeah, me too :)
Best day of the week.

Anyways, this Friday the Christians (and everyone else who celebrates it) are celebrating Christmas.
It's THAT day of the year again - a day that I nominate as one of the source of every Moslem's problem, because, well...
We live side by side - Christians and Moslems (and other religion believers as well) - and this day has always been one of the most awkward day each year (at least for me). I have Christian friends too in my group chat, that's why.

The most debatable stuff around Christmas is can a Moslem make a Christmas greeting.
Well, the answer is no.

Because, simply, 
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever imitates a people is one of them." 
This is narrated by At-Tabarani and Abu Dawud, reported by Ibn Umar and Hudhayfah.

Are you one of them? Of course not - you're a Moslem, right?

And same thing goes with attending the Christmas feast and so on. You really shouldn't do that.

I don't want any of you sisters and brothers follow the rites of other religion because it may lead to Allah's wrath, as stated below:

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said in Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah: "Congratulating the kuffaar on the rituals that belong only to them is haraam by consensus, as is congratulating them on their festivals and fasts by saying ‘A happy festival to you’ or ‘May you enjoy your festival,’ and so on. If the one who says this has been saved from kufr, it is still forbidden. It is like congratulating someone for prostrating to the cross, or even worse than that. It is as great a sin as congratulating someone for drinking wine, or murdering someone, or having illicit sexual relations, and so on. Many of those who have no respect for their religion fall into this error; they do not realize the offensiveness of their actions. Whoever congratulates a person for his disobedience or bid’ah or kufr exposes himself to the wrath and anger of Allaah."

Then how to respond to their celebration? Maybe they greet you with Christmas greeting or maybe they invite you to Christmas dinner or lunch?

Say that you don't celebrate it. Don't be too shy to decline :)

How about gifts? What if they giving you gifts? From what I read here (it's in Bahasa Indonesia) it's considered safe to decline politely - something like "This gift should be given to those who celebrate it, I'm sorry I can't accept this because I don't celebrate the day (and it's prohibited for us to accept your gift)."

Remember what's written in Al-Maaidah verse 2:

وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ

"Help one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa; but do not help one another in sin and transgression."

Al-Birr is doing righteous and good deeds, and At-Taqwa means to avoid sins.

Transgression means overstepping the limits that Allah sets in our religion.

And also in Al-Kafirun verse 6:

لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ

"For you is your religion, and for me is mine."

I think this verse is very clear. We live peacefully and tolerant with another religion believers but there are limits and we shouldn't participate in their religion's celebration.

I hope this somewhat short post will help you clearing some things on your mind.

I suggest further reading on this matter because what I wrote here is just a tiny itsy bits from a whole rule of interaction with another religion believers - there are lots of articles regarding this!

My last tip is be proud of yourself, your identity, and your belief!

Remember, Allah is always watching us :)

I wish you sisters and brothers out there have a pleasant day and good luck!

Tazkiyatun Nafs - Becoming a Thorn-less Rose in The Garden of Jannah

Bismillaah.

Okay, the title might be confusing but it's the actual title of our lecture today. I think the ustadzah/lecturer interpreted it as something like 'how to be a real beautiful muslimah'.
I'm going to attach screenshots of my scrap notes of the lecture -they're in Bahasa Indonesia.
I'll write the English translation below the screenshots.
I hope this will be beneficial for you all :)

 Becoming a Thorn-less Rose in The Garden of Jannah : Tazkiyatun Nafs

The measure of a muslimah's beauty is her akhlaq.

Bina ul-Islam/the Building of Islam: the wall is from ibadah/good deeds, the decorations are from a person's character, the roof is from dakwah and jihad.

A muslimah's role: a servant of Allah, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a part of society.

Every role must be done according to rules from Allah and His Rasul, so we need knowledge about them.

Hijab is a form of Allah's caring for muslimah.

A muslimah must have an ahlul jannah's characters: shalihah, qanitat, hafidzat.
These can be found in An-Nisa verse 34.

Shalihah: good. The wazan/measurement is according to Allah. Don't have doubts (on Allah's rules) because doubt is an illness to aqidah.
Qanitat: obedient.
Hafidzat: guarding/taking care. A muslimah must be able to take care of herself and keeping amanah/everything that has been given from Allah.

Apart from those, there are other characters: muslimaat, qanitat, mu'minaat, taaibat, 'abidaat, saaihat (able to self-restrain).
These can be found in At-Tahrim verse 5.

Muslimat: submissive to Allah
Qanitat: obedient to Allah
Mu'minat: devoted to Allah
Taaibat: does taubat/repent. Asks for forgiveness when doing wrong.
'Abidaat: likes to do ibadah/good deeds. Use every special moments that Allah gives to us to do good deeds. Do your activities for Allah.
Saaihat: able to self restrain.

Tazkiyatun nafs: cleansing self/soul.
'Tazkiyat' is derived from word 'zakat' which means 'to cleanse'.

The use of tazkiyatun nafs:
1. As one of wadzifah/task for the Rasuls to their ummat/people (Surah 62 verse 2)
2. A devotee's characteristic (Surah 9 verse 108)
3. Measurement between happiness and doom (Surah 91 verse 9-10)
4. A cure to the illness of the soul
5. A way to stay away from syaithan/satan's trickery (Surah 7 verse 201-202)

6. As a guard from doing maksiat/wrong doings.

Ta'awudz: to ask for Allah's guard and cleanse soul.

How to tazkiyatun nafs:
1. Attend majlis of ilm/learning circle that makes us closer to Al-Qur'an.
2. Do plenty of ibadah/good deeds. "Rasul said: do good deeds as many as you can... (to be continued)

...because Allah won't get bored until you're bored, and Allah's most loved good deed is the good deed that continuously done even though just a little. (Bukhari)"

3. Do muhasabah/introspection at the beginning of doing good deed, at the middle and at the end. You have to be ikhlas/sincere at all times.

Never think bad of Allah for our mistake or bad condition because Allah wants the best for us and wants us to be good. 

4. Do taubat/repent regularly (At-Tahrim verse 8).

5. Befriend the shalih/good people.

6. Dzikrul maut/remember of death: "Rasul said: I was once forbid you to do pilgrimage at grave but now do it because it can soften hearts, runs tears, and reminds us of akhirat/the day after. (Hakim)"

7. Pray to Allah

"Ya muqallibal quluub, tsabbit qalby 'alaa diinika."

Good people according to Allah is the one that when he/she does mistake he/she remembers Allah.

Do ibadah/good deeds based on knowledge so we have better understanding on what we're doing.

Do ikhtiar/endeavour on things and pray well and then let Allah do the rest whether we're given good or bad fate. Be sure that Allah will give us the good at the end.

That's all for now!
I hope I can attend more lectures from now on, Insyaa Allah, so I can share with all of you!
Sorry if I made mistakes, I did my best to make sure you (pretty much) understand some things about tazkiyatun nafs and to be a better person - especially as a muslimah!
And p.s. if you have something you don't understand, I'm not confident enough to answer your question, so better ask someone with greater knowledge! Sorry! :')

Thank you for reading and I hope you gain something from this post!