Yâ Hâbib Yâ Sâhib al-Qadam

Those who have sense
And not lost in any craze

Have said-

‘The one who gives you love is the beloved
The one who cause you pain is your enemy
Both are never the same
On their prey both cannot claim!’

Were you the one
Who blessed me with love?
Are you the one
Who such agony give?

O the pain of my heart
O the coolness of my eyes

Your memories of years is blown like a tent
By the storm of separation lasting a life.

So severe was the heat of your want
I am no longer that once-fertile land

Rains of joy shall dry in a moment
The thirst sucks all from beneath

Dream is a window to see in realty one’s wishes
There is nothing dear to me than your presence
But even in dream I am robbed of your face
So pitiful is this wretched lover’s case

Ah! My senses are going weak
Although in youth I am at peak

Forgive if my talk passes beyond reason
Hold me not captive for acts of treason

Reins of my mind are no longer with me
Tears never show any respect towards me

O my beloved who bathed me in love
O my enemy who wounded my heart

Draw closer to your lover and victim
Resolve my pain or I have my revenge

Be kind to this broken-hearted
Be generous to this soul-shattered

Time within walls of my room
Is crawling like a hesitant worm

Every moment I am counting
If towards me are you coming

Yet, my counting extends
I only find your absence

Name my cry as you please-
Love or craze
Possessive or Selfish
Or a helpless man’s weakness!

Times five or more I pray,
Yet night is as painful as day
You too in your duas to Him say
May your love’s victim alive stay

I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We praise Allah, thank Him, seek His help, guidance and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil in our souls and the sinfulness of our deeds. “He whom Allah guides, he is the rightly-guided; but he whom He sends astray, for him you will find no guiding advocate”.

Let us discuss the manner of selflessness: giving preference to others over yourself and considering their happiness and welfare before your own). It is amazing that some Islamic ethics have vanished and become unknown although Islam calls for them and the Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. propagated such ethics, applied them and practiced them himself. This goes to the extent that when I say the word “selflessness” to youth, they ask me, “What does it mean?”

What a loss, O friends! Who are we learning our values from? Not from our rich Islamic values, no! We are clinging to the West instead! I wish we had learnt technology, civilization and knowledge of management from the West, but we are just imitating them blindly. I wish our Ummah (Islamic community) were developed and civilized, and had just imitated the West in other less important matters. However, our Ummah is weak, lagging behind and still faces problems, yet instead of trying to solve the problems we’re facing, youths are unfortunately imitating the West in the way they dress, eat and listen to Western songs. When the matter comes to our Islamic ethics, they do not want to learn anything! Where can you find selflessness then? You can find it only in what the beautiful Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. taught us, and in the milieu of the men who believed in Islam and lived for it.

Let’s now discuss the meaning of selflessness. Al-’etheer means giving preference to others over yourself and considering their happiness and welfare before your own. That is to say, to relinquish some of the pleasures of life to others; they enjoy them and you lose them. When we say that a person has given preference to another one over himself, it means that he preferred this person to himself for the sake of the reward of the hereafter.

Examples of selflessness:

In a severe winter’s night in Al-Madinah, a woman of the Ansar (The Muslims of Madinah who sponsored and defended the Call to Islam) brought a woven velvet cloak to the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.. The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. took it, as he was in need of it to protect himself from the severe cold. Then, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam came out wearing it for the first time, just as you would buy a new suit and wear it for the first time. One of the Companions from the Ansar looked at him and said, “How nice it is! O Messenger of Allah, give it to me”. What would your reaction be if you were in the place of the Prophet? The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, “Yes” and gave it to him on the spot. Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah. Do you realize the meaning of selflessness now? The Companions became angry with the Ansari and told him, “the Prophet is in need of it!” The man replied, “I am in need of it more than he is. I want to make it my shroud when I die”.

Here is another example of selflessness:

Twenty three years after the mission of the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam had started, Makkah and Khaibar were opened (to Islam) and booty was gained. During this period of the mission, the Prophet and the Companions were suffering hardships and poverty to the extent that the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam used to fasten two stones against his stomach out of hunger. After Allah had granted Muslims victory, the Prophet’s share of booty was a number of sheep enough to cover the space between two mountains. Imagine! Such a huge number of sheep became the possession of a poor man who had experienced poverty for such a long time. However, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam sought the reward of the hereafter. An Arabian came to the Prophet and looked at the booty. The Prophet asked him, “Do you like it?” The Arabian answered, “Yes.” The Prophet said, “It is yours.” The Arabian wondered, “O Syedina Muhammad! Are you serious? The Prophet said, “Yes, take it if you wish”. Do you imagine to what extent one can prefer others to himself? The Arabian ran to the sheep and looking all around him took them all. Then he returned to his people, saying, “Embrace Islam. I have just been with the best man that ever has been. Syedina Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam gives with the generosity of a person who has no fear of poverty”. The narrator said that the Prophet never retained anything he owned from anyone who asked for it.

Another Example?

A man came to the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and told him that he had nothing to eat. The Prophet sent a messenger to ask his wives if they had food. However, when they were asked, each replied, “No, by Allah I have nothing except water.” The Prophet stood and called his Companions, “Who will entertain this man as a guest?” An Ansari said, “I will, O Messenger of Allah.” Afterwards, the man took the guest and went quickly to his wife and asked her, “Do you have food?” She replied, “We have nothing except the food of my children” - that is to say, the remaining food that could only suffice their children. Then, he told her, “Make your children forget the food, put them to sleep if they ask for supper, and turn the lamp off when the guest comes so that he would think that we are eating and would eat like us.”

Do you see selflessness? Nowadays, we see two or three young persons traveling together, each hiding his food in his pocket. They do not eat together as the companions used to, and as the Prophet told us to.

When the guest came, she made her children sleep and turned the lamp off. Then, both of them pretended to be eating while the guest ate until he became full. When they went to pray the dawn prayer, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said to them, “Tonight Allah wondered at your action”- that is to say, Allah has been pleased with what you have done to your guest this night. Then, Allah revealed what can be translated as “and give them (emigrants) preference over themselves even though they were in need of that” (59:9).

It means that they prefer others even though they were in toiling, hunger, poverty or need.

They gave preference to their guest although they had nothing. We miss this ethic; we do not hear of it anymore nowadays. Have you ever considered giving preference to anyone over yourself by giving him your new suit for example? Our motto should be the following hadith; the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. said, “None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself.” This is the motto of selflessness. That is to say your faith will be complete only when you wish for your brother what you wish for yourself.

There are other examples of the Companions’ ‘selflessness towards the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam in which they were ready to give away their souls not just their money:

On the day of the battle of Uhud, while arrows were shot towards the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam from every direction, Abu-Dogana gave preference to the Prophet over himself and hugged him in order to protect him from arrows. Abu-Bakr said, “When I looked at the back of Abu-Dogana, it was pierced by so many arrows that he looked like a hedgehog.” He gave preference to the Prophet over himself and went on doing that although he was wounded. Where is our ‘selflessness towards the Prophet? Do we foster his Sunnah? O reader has your eye not filled yet?

Another example of the Companions’ ‘selflessness:

On the day of Uhud, Talha Ibn-Ubaidullah came to the Prophet and told him, “Do not raise your head, O Messenger of Allah. (Let) my neck (be struck) rather than your neck, O Messenger of Allah.” When the Prophet was shot with an arrow, Talha intercepted it with his honorable hand, causing it to be paralyzed.

Another example is:

On the day of Uhud, the Prophet asked, “Who would prevent disbelievers from reaching me, and enter Jannah (paradise) as a reward?” At that point, disbelievers were flocking towards the Prophet in order to kill him. Ten of the Ansar youth (ranging between 18 and 19 years old) proceeded. The first one died, followed by the second, then the third. The last one was Yazeed Ibnul-Sakan who died at the foot of the Prophet while he was defending him. The Prophet raised his hand and supplicated, “O Allah, bear witness that Yazeed Ibnul-Sakan has fulfilled his duty.”

We always hear of individuals who practice selflessness, but we have never heard about a whole country that practices it. Al- Madinah was such a country and the Ansar were its people. Their ‘selflessness was truly incredible. When the Muhajireen (emigrants) emigrated from Makkah to Al- Madinah, they had nothing except the clothes they were wearing although they were rich merchants in their own country. Some of them came to Al-Madinah on foot. Whereas the people of Al-Madinah (the Ansar) were farmers, the Muhajireen knew nothing about agriculture. However, what happened was incredible. The Companions said that the Muhajireen entered Madinah by ballot because the Ansar were crowding and competing to host whoever arrived from the Muhajireen.

Look at us now; a mother might find no one to host her when she grows old and needs someone to take care of her, although she has a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and she has her own daughters. However, they keep sending her to each other. The Ansar, on the other hand did the opposite, although they were weak and poor. Nowadays, everything is available in our homes, yet a daughter-in-law wouldn’t bear to host her mother-in-law.

Examples of the Ansar’s ‘selflessness to the Muhajireen:

Sa’d Ibn-Al-Rabi (an Ansari) hosted Abdur-Rahman Ibn-Ouf, a Muhajir (an emigrant). The former said to the latter, “Here is my money. I will divide it between you and me. This is your share and this is mine. Here is my property. I will divide it equally between you and me. I have two wives. See which of the two you like so that I may divorce her and you can marry her after she completes her Iddah (prescribed retreat)”. Can you see to what extent they were practicing selflessness? However, Abdur-Rahman Ibn-Ouf was decent and did not make use of this opportunity. He replied, “May Allah grant you good reward. Where is the market?” Allah!

In all immigrations throughout history, there was blood-shed. Take for example the immigration of Europeans to America at the cost of the native Americans, as we have all seen in movies. Have you seen how much blood was shed and how many native Americans were killed so that America would belong to the Europeans? However, the greatest immigration that ever was throughout history was full of love and ‘selflessness; it was the immigration of the Muhajireen to Al-Madinah. Consider how the Ansar received them. Imagine! Each Ansari shared his home, money, clothes, his wives’ clothes and his children’s clothes with a Muhajir and his family. Who can imagine that someone would share his house with another person? Were the Ansars’ homes big? 200 or 300 square meters for instance, or were they small? How did the Ansar behave in such a way without being afraid that their wives might be angry! How come their wives accepted their attitude? The reason is that selflessness spreads blessing and pleases Allah, and that increases your sustenance. On the other hand, the more selfish you are, which is the opposite of selflessness, the less blessing you will feel.

Open your cupboard and have a look at it, you will find out that there are clothes that you have not worn for years, or even have not worn at all. Why do not you give them to the needy? I am not asking you to give them the new clothes you have, although the Prophet gave others the new clothes he had! What do you think of that? What do you think of the one who shares his house with others! It is a very hard example to follow, is it not?

When the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and his Companions immigrated to Al-Madinah, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam went to the Ansar and told them, “Your brothers (Al-Muhajireen) have come to you and they know nothing about agriculture. What do you think of sharing your property with them?” They replied, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah. We will divide our money equally between us and them”. The Messenger wanted the Ansar only to help the Muhajireen when he asked, “Can you help them more?” the Ansar replied, “How, O Messenger of Allah?” He said to them, “Share your fruits with them" - because they can neither make use of money nor get out of Al-Madinah as it is besieged. They replied, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah, but for what (in return), O Messenger of Allah?” He said to them, “For Al-Jannah”.

Do you see the reward of selflessness? After a whole year of farming, an Ansari would take the ripe dates to a Muhajir before going to his own home. He would not choose the best and give the rest to the Muhajir. You, on the contrary, might give the worst money in your pocket as Sadaqa (charity). However, an Ansari would take all the dates he collected to the Muhajir and tell him, “I will come back to you after an hour so that you can choose whatever you like”, so that he wouldn’t embarrass him. Then, at the Ansari’s return, he would discover that the Muhajir chose the worst of the dates for himself, and they would keep quarreling; each insisting that the other should take the best fruits.

When Khaibar was opened (to Islam) and there was a lot of money, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said to the Ansar, “May Allah grant you good reward, you have fulfilled the conditions.” They said to the Prophet, “O Messenger of Allah, you have stipulated a condition and we have done the same. We have fulfilled your condition for the sake of Jannah.” He replied, “You will have it”. Do you see the reward of selflessness? Give others what you have. The more you give others, the more generous you will become, and the further away you will be from malice and envy.

There is an amazing relationship between selflessness and the comfort of the heart, peoples’ mercifulness, and abandoning arrogance and envy. If you want to clean away your heart’s diseases, learn selflessness.

When the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam received a larger sum of money from Bahrain, he declared that all of it would be for the Ansar (his companions from Al-Madinah) in return for their sacrifices and efforts. The Ansar objected, “No! Messenger of Allah, we will not take it unless our brothers from the Muhajireen share it with us!”.

The Muhajireen did not accept, “No, Messenger of Allah! That would mean that our brothers have taken all the reward” leaving the final decision to the Prophet (PBUH), who said, “No; as long as you pray for them you shall receive the same reward.” What an amazing society! One that can be easily established if the faith and morals of Islam return, and if Paradise is the target sought.

Selflessness is not only seen in financial matters as described earlier but

spiritual ones as well. Ikrima Ibn-Abu-Jahl fought the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam for twenty two years, then converted to Islam and became a very good Muslim who died as a martyr because of selflessness. Ikrima was among those injured in the battle of Yarmuk. All the wounded were gathered in a certain area until the battle was over. Ikrima’s cousin was one of the water carriers i.e. those who were giving the wounded water to drink. He narrates, “I was searching for Ikrima and found him among the injured, wounded, in pain and about to die. He was surrounded by ten other wounded Muslims. I ran to give him water, but when he took the waterskin and was just about to drink he heard a Muslim brother saying, “I am thirsty!” He said “No, I swear by Allah I shall not drink unless my brother drinks first.” I moved to the second. When he was about to drink he heard another brother saying “Ah!” Then he said, “No, I swear by Allah I shall not drink.” Then I went to the next, and the next, and so on, until I reached the tenth soldier, who said “No, I swear I shall not drink unless Ikrima drinks.” I went back to Ikrima to find that he has already passed away as a martyr. He practiced ‘eethar even when he was wounded and dying.”

Today we are reluctant to give away money, clothes, or even knowledge fearing that our colleagues might surpass us using such information.

‘Selflessness of Abdullah Ibn-Omar

This is an astonishing story of selflessness. Abdullah Ibn Omar used to like the ayah, which can be translated as, “By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness - here it means Allâh’s Reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allâh’s Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allâh knows it well.”(3:92). Therefore he used to give alms from the things he liked. One day, while riding on his she-camel he realized that he liked it. So he dismounted it and stood next to it in the middle of the road waiting until he found an old poor man and said, “Ride it old man, it is yours!”

On another occasion, he was given a fish as a gift, and he used to love fish. His wife grilled it for him and he was very pleased. Then, a poor man knocked on his door asking for something to eat, so he told his wife, “Give him the fish.” His wife said, “We have bread and barley and meat in the house.” However, he said, “and what about Allah’s words, (which can be translated as), “By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness - here it means Allâh’s Reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allâh’s Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allâh knows it well. Give him the fish.” The woman gave the beggar the fish then said, “Would you sell it to me for one dirham?” The man agreed. The wife brought back the fish and put it in front of Ibn-Omar who was pleased and just as he was about to eat, the poor man knocked on their door again asking for alms. Ibn-Omar told his wife, “Give him the fish”, the wife replied, “I did it once.” He said, “Allah said it many times not just once!” The wife handed the man the fish and said, “I would like to buy it from you again.” The man agreed, so she said, “I beg you not to come back a third time.”

Similarly, when Hazrat Umar Ibn-Al-Khattab was dying after being struck by Lo’lo’a Al-Majoosi, he asked his son Abdulla Ibn-Omar to go to Um al-Mo’mineen, Aisha and tell her, “Umar Ibn-Al-Khattab, and don’t tell her Amir Al-Mo’mineen for I am not so any more, tell her Umar Ibn-Al-Khattab is requesting your permission to be buried beside his friends (the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and Hazrat Abu-Bakr in her room. She replied, “I wanted that place for myself, but I shall offer it to Umar”. Imagine that she was going to be buried beside her husband and father, i.e. the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and Hazrat Abu-Bakr. What an honorable burial place! Despite this, the great lady agreed to be buried in the Baqee (a graveyard in Al-Madinah) and offered that place to Hazrat Umar.

Hazrat Abu-Hurairah narrated, “Sometimes I used to be so hungry that I could have gone crazy. People would say that I was crazy and I would swear I was not insane; I was starving! I used to sit beside the Prophet’s SallAllahu alaihi wasallam minbar (the pulpit in the mosque where the Imam stands to deliver sermons), and recite verses of expenditure from the Qur’an whenever I saw a Muslim passing by, hoping that he would give me something. Hazrat Abu-Bakr passed by me but did not realize what I wanted, and so did Hazrat Umar. Then the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam passed by. He looked at me and knew what I was going through. He said, ‘Abu-Hurairah, follow me!’ We entered his house after taking permission from his wife. He asked her, ‘Do we have anything?’ She said, ‘A bowl of milk; enough for a man or two only.’ I was looking eagerly at the milk but to my surprise the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam asked me to call all the needy.” The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam wanted to teach him selflessness. Those people were as poor and as hungry as Abu-Hurairah. They were about a hundred Muslims. Abu-Hurairah then said, “I got depressed and told the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam ‘Will this be enough for all of them?’ I was very depressed but I could not but obey the Prophet’s orders and so I went and got them all. Looking at me with a smile, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, ‘O! Abu-Huraira let them drink from it.’ The Prophet meant this to be a lesson for him and us as well. Then Abu-Huraira said, "I took the bowl and started passing by them until they all drank, while the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam was looking at me and smiling. Then he told me, ‘O! Abu-Huraira no one else is left except you and me.’ I told him, ‘Right you are, O Messenger of Allah.’ He then told me to drink." He preferred them all over himself, and then did the same with Abu-Huraira and the milk was sufficient for all that large number of people. This was to teach us something about selflessness and the blessing it brings. Abu-Huraira said, “I drank then gave the bowl to the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam but he insisted, ‘Drink Abu-Huraira!’ I drank over and over again as he told me, then I said, “I can’t drink anymore I swear by Allah (SWT).” Finally, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam took the bowl and drank the remaining milk.” He actually drank what remained after all this! Drive away stinginess out of your houses and pockets and you will be blessed with the generosity of the soul and you will taste the sweetness of selflessness. Whenever you give, it is as if you have been given.

Let’s see the Prophet’s ’selflessness, in the battle of al-khandaq (the trench). He taught the whole army that great moral. Jabir Ibn-Abdullah approached the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and said, “We have at home a chicken and some wheat, so would you come over and eat with me?” The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam looked at him and asked, “Me alone?” The companions and the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam were extremely tired after digging for fifteen days. They used to tie stones against their stomach out of hunger. Jabir Ibn-Abdullah continued, “You and one or two more men.” However, the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam stood on a hill and said, “O! Community of Al-Muhajireen, O! Community of al- ansar, our lunch today will be offered by Jabir Ibn-Abdullah.” Jabir said, "I sneaked back home to my wife and told her, ‘The Messenger of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam is coming with the rest of the army!” She asked, “Did you inform him about the food we have?” He said, “Yes!”

“Allah and his Messenger know more!” she commented. The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam stood and told Jabir, “You shall be our gate keeper today.” While he split the bread, Jabir allowed ten men in at a time to eat and then to come out, to allow the next ten in.

Do you realize when the miracle of the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam appeared and the blessing took over? It appeared when this incident in which he taught selflessness took place. Although they were hungry for quite some time they were all fed. Jabir Ibn-Abdullah said, “When ever I allowed a group in, I thought it would be the last group to eat and that there would not be any food left for the next, but they used to come out with their stomach full, cleaning between their teeth. Finally Jabir entered and the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam told him, “May Allah bless your food, yours and your family’s.” Jabir was shocked to find the food as it was, except for a small eaten piece of the chicken. Peace be upon our Prophet the teacher of selflessness. What a pity that our nation no longer has the moral of selflessness, shame on us.

Jaffar Ibn-Abu-Taleb died in the battle of Mo’tah leaving behind three children. The companions were weak and poor. The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam stood up and asked, “Who will adopt Jaffar’s children?” The narrator of the story said, “Three of the companions stood arguing, “Me, O Messenger of Allah!" "No me, O Messenger of Allah!” Each one of them was poorer than the other and yet they were willing to adopt three orphans. Today if a person’s brother passes away he would instead try to get rid of his late brother’s orphan son and send him to his other brother and in the end the boy is lost. Jaffar Ibn-Abu-Taleb when alive had the morals of selflessness, and therefore Allah (SWT) blessed his sons and allowed them to be brought up well. The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam used to name Jaffar the father of the needy. The community will not feel comfort, safety, or stability except if selflessness is practiced. Imagine with me the community today, the husband works day and night collecting money, and maybe the wife too, but why? They want to make sure that their children would have a good future and leave behind a fortune that is enough for them! Why? They know if they die the children will be on the streets; no one will take care of them and they will be at a loss. On the other hand, if there is selflessness in the community, the mother or father will die knowing that there will be someone who will look after their children and may be even argue about that matter as the Ansar did with the children of Jaffar Ibn-Abu-Talib. That is why selflessness is important.

Imam al-Ghazali says in his book Al-Ehyaa (The Revival), that there are three levels/grades of selflessness:

- First- to give your brother what you would give to a servant, i.e. you eat and give him your leftovers.

- Second- to treat him just like yourself i.e., you give him what you would take for yourself.

- Third- to prefer him over yourself, i.e. provide his needs before yours. His children, for example, will enter school and have no clothes, so before buying clothes for your own children you buy for his.

These are three levels of selflessness for you to choose from. The greatest ’selflessness in this life is to seek Allah’s pleasure over that of mankind, yourself, or any other thing.

On the Authority of Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Amr Ibn-al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) who reported that the messenger of Allah said, "None of you is a true believer until his inclination becomes in accordance with what I have brought"

Allah’s pleasure should be given the priority.

When we live only for ourselves, we live a short life where we are born small and die small! However when we live for each other we live as great people whose lives would last as long as humanity exists. If you live for others not only yourself, you will find your happiness in other peoples’ smiles, your opportunities will be in other peoples’ opportunities. You will be extremely happy when you find someone asking Allah (SWT), “May Allah be pleased with him, as he pleased me.” It is a strange yet a great feeling! Try it, and you will feel much more satisfied than you would have been if you had reaped all the benefits for yourself.

To conclude, a good man once said at the moments of his death, “My daughter I don’t fear death any more, even if it came now. I took a lot from life I mean I gave a lot! Sometimes my daughter it is very hard to differentiate between taking and giving, because for a believer they carry the same meaning. Every time I gave, I took. Actually I took more than I gave. Let us try to apply this moral. May Allah make us benefit from it.

Thank you brother Naeem

Fall in love to lose weight. This ‘not-so-scientific’ hypothesis was developed after listening to the story of a school-time buddy. This huge guy, who is otherwise not so romantic and poetic, just admitted that he lost 15 kilos in just a month of passive admiration and thoughtful meditation for his dear one.

Although he attributed such a physiological miracle to workouts and exercises, I was not prepared to digest such a cake piece of information wholeheartedly. And it is such an ‘indigestion’ that prompted me to write this hypothesis.

First of all, Love is Love. And nothing but love. It is not a kind of emotion that can accommodate any other persons or objects beside it, left or right. It envies everything, suspects everything that comes closer to the beloved. There are no second thoughts when it comes to love.

Whether earthly or heavenly,
Love can at times seem very silly.
Love resides at the heart,
And not at the belly.

And thus when love’s around, the appetite of the lover is challenged. However, the lover cannot be blamed for this ‘voluntary fasting’. Rather he feels content as long as his heart is full.

A man becomes sad when his heart, and not the belly, is empty. And love is that which fills his heart to the brim. And in such a state, he cannot afford to ‘know’ the feeling of hunger. Nor will anything besides bother.

Most of the diseases today are due to bad eating habits. And when I say bad, I mean in excess quantity and minimum quality. There are lovers who think love is all about filling one’s stomach with burgers and fries- seated together in any of the prestigious food chains.

If one truly sees, then it is only from the hunger-spread countries that great works of art have emerged. From countries of suffering comes the best of all time classics. How can one expect any thought-inspiring literature from cultures whose men are absorbed in luxurious cars or whose women are engrossed in perfumes and clothing?

When our belly is full, we stop to think. When our belly is full, in laziness we are sunk. When our belly is full, we stop where we are. We find no need to make any further improvement in our spiritual life. When our stomach is full, we are robbed of the sweetness of love.

A lover loses weight because his love indirectly burns all his calories. History has recorded lovers who have passed days and nights without any food. Is itbecause having food interferes in their thought of the beloved? Only a lover can answer that.

But it is only human to feel hungry. It is among those ingredients that Almighty included as a characteristic of a living human being. Nay, even in paradise, He has provided food for its inhabitants.

So are you asking- what is the solution?

There is one.

The Doctor at Madina has prescribed it thus:

‘Eat only when you feel hungry. Fill your stomach, but leave a little hunger behind.’

Therefore let a bit of hunger remain next time you fill your belly. And god-willing, love will fill your heart and everything will seem sweet.

Alison Weir, a California journalist and activist who chronicles the bias in U.S. media coverage of Middle East events, bestirred many Americans—perhaps many thousands—in early October with a powerful, chilling Internet account of the largely unreported murder of a Palestinian mother of 11 children by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

Itemad Ismail Abu Mo’ammar was fatally shot while trying to rescue her deaf husband from a severe beating by Israeli soldiers, who were furious because he did not answer their questions.

Weir wrote:

“Foolishly or valiantly, how is one to say, the 35-year-old woman interfered. She tried to explain that her husband was deaf and couldn’t hear their questions. Then she attempted to stop them from hitting him. So they shot her. Several times. She didn’t die, though. That took longer, because the soldiers refused to allow an ambulance to transport her to a physician. Finally, after approximately five hours, one was permitted to take her to a hospital where physicians were able to render one service: pronounce her dead. Why did this all happen? The family lived behind the residence of a resistance fighter wanted by Israel. The death of Itemad was simply ‘collateral damage’ in a failed Israeli assassination-kidnapping operation.”

Weir searched major U.S. media—broadcast and print—from coast to coast, and found Itemad’s death reported in only three newspapers, a single-sentence notice in each. One of the three, The Washington Post, reported inaccurately that the woman was killed by an Israeli tank round. After exchanging messages with Weir, the Post cleared for publication her letter that explained that multiple bullets, fired close up—not a tank round—were the cause of death. But the Post reneged. The letter was not published. Why? Weir’s explanation: “After all, these were only Palestinians, and it was just another mother dead.”

Ponder the “why” of the shooting. Although the distraught woman struggled to get the armed soldiers to stop beating her deaf husband, she surely posed no physical threat to them. Even if they did not understand what she said, she was, at worst, an inconvenience, hardly deserving to be shot.

Now consider the “why” of the aftermath. Were the hearts of the Israeli squad so hardened that they could not act with compassion as the husband and children watched helplessly through unavailing tears as the woman bled to death? Why did they want her dead?

This Gaza atrocity is not an isolated aberration. Israeli brutality is commonplace, and so is American silence in response. What transformed the soldiers, their military superiors, as well as the civilian leaders of the Israeli government into callous brutes? Is the whole Israeli governmental system so corrupted with anti-Arab passion that mercy for a dying mother is nowhere to be found?

Other questions beg answers. Will the killers be punished or even rebuked? Will messages of regret, consolation, and—yes—compensation be sent to the survivors? Sadly, I know from the wells of memory the answer to these two questions is no.

Such messages should come from Washington, not just from Israel, as the guns and bullets used in the killing were almost certainly gifts of the U.S. government. Will the U.S. ambassador deliver messages to the aggrieved, as well as a threatening protest to Israeli officials, demanding an end to the brutal treatment of innocent people? Here again, the answer is no.

Why the cover-up in major U.S. media? The awful circumstances of Itemad’s death were not reported, because major media are afraid—yes, afraid—to feature Israeli criminal behavior. Israel’s influence is suffocating. Imagine the intense, sustained coverage that would have dominated major media if the roles in Gaza had been reversed, with a dying Israeli woman denied medical service for hours by Palestinians who had shot her at close range for no good reason.

U.S. media are generally brave, except where Israel is concerned. So are members of Congress. So is the presidency. And the rest of us? Almost everyone is afraid to criticize Israel, no matter how barbaric its behavior.

U.S. silence in the face of an Israeli atrocity is a green light to more crime. If we look at our own hands, we may find a trace of Itemad’s blood right there in plain sight.

Ramallah Online 

London Mayor Ken Livingstone attacked the Daily Mail newspaper on Sunday after a columnist appeared to endorse letter bombing offices connected with the congestion charge.

Populist ranter Richard Littlejohn wrote in Friday’s edition of the newspaper: "Be honest, until you heard that a woman had been injured, how many of you suppressed a cheer at the news that someone had sent a letter bomb to the company which runs London’s congestion charge?

"Even after we learnt that two men were treated for blast injuries, I’ll bet that there were still plenty of motorists who thought: ‘Serves the bastards right’."

Police are probing seven mail bomb attacks on businesses since January 18 – three of which took place last week.

Although Mr Littlejohn insisted that protests that harm others can never be justified, Mr Livingstone branded the Daily Mail "foolish and irresponsible" for printing the column.

"He has sought to legitimise the idea that it was normal to cheer the bombing of the offices of a company managing the congestion charge. His whole column is dangerous and stupid," said the mayor. "The Daily Mail give Richard Littlejohn a big cheque for writing his column, but they shouldn’t give him a blank one."

Green London Assembly member Jenny Jones added: "If a Muslim publication had printed similar inflammatory remarks about an international issue, there would be a huge outcry. Littlejohn’s hypocrisy is stunning."

O Soul
Don’t you remember?
Recall those days?

When in Harem you roamed
The House and the Stone
Safa and Marwa and all His signs
While I strived among the crowd
You elsewhere roamed

O Soul
Don’t you remember?
You wanted to reach Beloved
You wanted to untie all your pain
When at the Beloved you arrived
You became most happy since you lived
And then you made me cry
Tears became like rivers

O Soul
Don’t you remember?
You made me sob and weep
No control could I keep
Your joy made me weak
No more could I take

O Soul
Don’t you remember?
I walked on the streets
Like a madman let loose
Unconscious of my own being
Like a crown fell from a king

O Soul
Don’t you remember?
Love’s fragrance spread in the air,
Save the Beloved nothing seemed fair

You became so benevolent
Hands with charity was bent
Had paradise arrived so early?
Would I swim in Tasneem dearly?

But now…
What has happened
Your love for Beloved hasn’t deepened
Your tears have dried
Deserts more moist than your eyes
Although with Him
Have you likened none-

The gravest sin
Have you committed
The love of His Beloved
Has from you dissolved
The farther from him you move
The darker your faith would prove
Muhammad connects-

Humanity with Divinity
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
Muhammad separates

Morality from Bestiality
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam

O Soul!
Madina is the only reason why
Your Lord has kept you alive
Ah! As the slave of God
Is humiliated so rude

Everywhere is his torture
Everyone love to butcher

His pride slaughtered
Conspiracy so doctored
If Lord feel for him any love
Since Mustafa’s ways he follow
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam

O Soul!
You a bird
Drift not from his skies
Your only pride

That Mustafa in you reside
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
Weep in his love
Better than laughing for this world
O Soul!

Madina is the only reason why
Your Lord has kept you alive

——————————————————
Notes

House : Ka’ba

Stone : Hajr Al Aswad

Safa and Marwa : The two hills

Tasneem : The river in paradise