Don't allow yourself to be cheated

Who would allow themselves to be cheated or taken advantage of?

All of us, or at least many of us actually cheat ourselves.

How?

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:

"There are two bounties (blessings) that many people are cheated with: good health and free time." (Narrated by Imam Bukhari)

What a true and sad statement. Most of us take our good health and free time for granted . We forget that these two blessings are not going to last forever nor even for a long time. Thus we cheat ourselves by undervaluing their importance until we reach the day when even if we wanted to act, we would then lack the time and the strength to so. Throughout our life, we allow ourselves not to use our time and abilities to make a difference and accept to become irrelevant or marginal.

History and major positive change was always made by those who fully made use of their time and good health.

Shouldn’t we show gratefulness to Allah for those two bounties? And what’s better than using these blessings in the service of people and for ending injustice as a way to show this gratefulness?

Thank God for everything

I placed “Thank God for everything” as my tagline on my Instant Message profile. Within an hour or two, a friend sent me an IM message asking me: “what’s up with the tagline?”

I explained to him that I am currently recovering from a severe cold or flu that forced me to stay in bed for several days and to take a dreaded visit to the doctor in urgent care. I guess my explanation was not satisfactory because my not so religious friend replied with a double question mark: “huh??”

I went on to explain what I meant.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:

عجباً لأمر المؤمن إن أمره كله له خير، وليس ذلك لأحد إلا للمؤمن

إن أصابته سراء شكر فكان خيراً له، وإن أصابته ضراء صبر فكان خيراً له

-- رواه مسلم --

"Amazing are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his/hers and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he/she has an occasion to feel delight he/she thanks [Allah], thus there is a good for him/her in it, and if he/she faces hardship and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is good for him in it." (Reported by Imam Muslim)

So how can one not be thankful and grateful when he or she knows that there is reward when one patiently perseveres? And why would one not patiently persevere if he or she knows, without a doubt, that Allah/God is in charge of all things and all affairs. He is The Provider of cure (As-Shafi), He is The All Compassionate (Ar-Rahman), and The All Merciful (Ar-Rahim).

I am reminded by what Prophet Abraham (pbuh) said (as quoted in the Quran): "and when I am ill, it is He who cures me" (Quran 26:80).

May Allah grant mercy, patience, and cure to every suffering person.