Need your help: Awakening the Soul

[AbuHurairah]

Assalamu Alaikum,

I wanted to ask for your help. I am supposed to give a talk at a youth conference coming up. The topic I was given is the about the Prophet (S) called, The Architect of Character: Transforming Those Around Him.

The theme is about the prophet (S), and from the title, I guess they were looking for when the audience leaves the lecture, they leave with a greater respect and understanding of the Prophet (S) in how he was able to change the live's of his companions. I wanted to touch on that but also wanted the audience to leave with a goal of transforming themselves into better people as well.

So... I took this class and one thing I wanted to take from is the section on Al-Yaqabah, or the first stage of Ihsan when one awakens from his heedlessness into a state of awareness.

Does anyone have any ideas of stories, ahadith, ayahs, sayings of scholars, etc. that can help me with the topic? It can be from your notes or if you have other information that can help as well.

The audience is primarily high school aged Muslim youth.

Jazakum Allahu Khairan!

[Eman]

Wa Alaikumus Salaam Wa Rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh wa maghfiratuhu wa jennatuh,

Allaahy baarik feek, may Allaah reward you for taking on this speech!

It would be nice if you mentioned, in regards to awakening, that some ppl reach this stage when they are 30, some when they are 40, 50, 60, when they are so old they realize that they wasted their lives and yet some reach this stage when they are dead...how long will it take you to reach this stage? after doing all the haram and thinking that you will go to hajj and ask for forgivness or when you are old and unable to do things for the deen?

Another point that you can expand on is that when the prophet (S) gave advice, he actually acted upon it. The example of when he (S) told his companions to shave their heads, none of them did so, and he (S) kept repeating it and he was getting too distressed from them that he entered into his tent with Umm Salamah and she told him to first shave his head and everyone will follow....so he (S) did just that...and they followed...Lesson here is that he practiced what he preached... - Another example is when a scholar (Allaahu Alem, maybe Imaam Maalik) was asked to give a khutbah on freeing the slaves since their were too many, a few weeks passed and he did not give any khutbahs on freeing slaves, finally after several weeks, he gave a khutbah on freeing the slaves and after that most everyone was freeing their slaves...so he was asked why he did not mention it earlier since the result of it was great. He said that he did not want to give advice that he did not follow himself so he worked to gather the money to buy a slave then free it, and that is why ppl were so responsive to his advice....

And another point that would be good to mention is that he (S) was at their level of understanding, and he did not speak at a college level to elementary students....he (S) understood their environment and spoke to them at their own level....like a down-to-earth leader...sorry, cannot think of an example to this

Another example, which somewhat relates to practice what you preach, is that he (S) did not allow sahabah to put him on a pedastal....he (S) was there fighting in the battles with his men, he (S) was there building masajid, he (S) was there taking the advice of a persian to dig a trench as a war strategy and he (S) was there digging the trench and getting tired and dirty, he (S) also went days without barely eating and he (S) slept on straw that left imprints on his back, and he (S) would not even allow any sahabah to rise in honor of him (S) .... that is how he transformed the sahabah, by acting as a true messenger of Allaah and not a tyrant...

Insha'Allaah you do well!

can anybody else add anything?

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakatuh

[Eman]

bump ^^ please help out my husband :)

[BlessedMuslimah]

Wa'alaykum us Salaam Warahmatullah

My train of thought when reflecting over the title went something like this:

How do architects and engineers build a skyscraper? Do they start putting pieces together, and then figure out they don't fit? Do they try putting the bricks or windows on before even building the skeleton? Or do they build the skeleton of the building, only to find out later that the foundation they've built it upon is weak, and that although it looks very beautiful, the building is about to collapse.

Before even beginning to build anything, they find a good foundation to build on. Once they've established a good foundation, they can begin with construction of the base, skeleton, etc - and lastly the details that make it look like a building.

In respect to Islam, the foundation that the Prophet sallAllahu 'alayhi wasallam had to establish was Iman. Before any commandments regarding worship were established, the companions had to have a stronghold of tawheed and firmly establish it in their hearts. When this developed in them, they were able to change 180 degrees into people with outstanding character under the direction of the rasool (sallaAllahu 'alayhi wasallam).

Some turned out to be firmly fixed houses - and others - skyscrapers.

Skeleton - the five pillars of Iman
The details to beautify the building - the sunnah of the Prophet (sallaAllahu 'alayhi wasallam).

________

Anyhow, you've probably already thought along those terms, but khair in shaa Allah. I'll post a couple of things which again, am not sure will be of much help, but maybe it'll give you ideas.

May Allah subhanaHu wata'ala make you successful in what you seek to do for His sake.

[BlessedMuslimah]

http://searchquran.net/images/14_24.gif
24: See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high).
http://searchquran.net/images/14_25.gif

25: Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember.
http://searchquran.net/images/14_26.gif

26: And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of earth having no stability.
http://searchquran.net/images/14_27.gif

27: Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allah Alone and none else), and in the Hereafter.And Allah will cause to go astray those who are Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.), and Allah does what He wills.

(From surat Ibrahim)

[BlessedMuslimah]

Sufyaan Ath-Thauree said:

Improve your secret and private life, and Allah will improve your public and social life.

Make matters well between you and Allah, and Allah will make matters well between you and people.

Work for the hereafter, and Allah will be enough for you in your worldly concerns.

Purchase the hereafter, and use this worldly life as a method of payment for your purchase, and as a result, you will gain profit both in this world and in the hereafter. But do not purchase this world at the cost of the hereafter, for if you do so, you will lose out on both worlds.

_________________

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy

[BlessedMuslimah]

Your Heart is the Pillar of Your Worship

by 'Abdullah 'Azzam (may Allah have Mercy upon him)



"...the heart is the machine that drives all acts of worship. It is what moves the entire body! As long as the heart is alive, then the limbs will be alive, and the soul will open itself up to worship. However, if the heart becomes diseased, then worship will become too heavy on the soul, leading to it eventually disliking and hating - and we seek refuge with Allah from this - worship. Because of this, Allah - the Glorified and Exalted - said, regarding the prayer:

{"...and truly, it is extremely heavy and hard except on those who are submissive..."} [al-Baqarah; 45]


The prayer is heavy, because one's legs and hands are not what get up for the prayer. What gets up for the prayer are the heart and the soul.

{"Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for the prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little."} [an-Nisa'; 142]

Because of this, it is the heart that stands up for worship. The limbs are simply slaves of this heart, carrying out what it commands them. If the heart is alive, then the soul will be alive, and worship will become beloved and sweetened to the hearts and the souls, and they will open up for it.

However, if the heart becomes diseased, then worship becomes too heavy on it. The heart is like the digestive system: right now, the most beloved thing to you is meat. However, if you develop an ulcer somewhere in your digestive system, then the meat - along with its fat and oil - becomes the most hated thing to it, since it is diseased. Sweets are also something that are beloved to the soul. For example, if you were fasting right now and were to break your fast on some desserts, then your soul would become satisfied with that, right? However, if one were to be stricken with diabetes, then he would not be able to handle these sugary foods, even if they were beloved to him.

The heart is like this: it must be strong so that it can handle worship that is strong. The stronger your heart becomes, then throw as much worship upon it as you wish. You would get up to pray at night, and you would cherish this prayer and consider sleep to be your enemy:

{"Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope..."} [as-Sajdah; 16]

He begins to forsake it because an enmity develops between him and his bed. He prays behind the imam, and he says to himself: "If only he would make the prayer longer," so that he would increase in his opening up to this worship, and his tasting of its sweetness.

At times, I would pray a normal prayer with the people behind me, so I would elongate the prayer. The youth would then come to me and say (the hadith): "Whoever leads the people in prayer should go easy on them," - the youth! And there was an old man behind me who was between 90 and 100 years of age - his face filled with light - and he would say to me: "Keep making the prayer long and do not answer them." A man of 90 years getting pleasure out of a long prayer, and a youth of 20, who probably practices karate and judo, cannot handle the same prayer.

Why?

If he went to the soccer field and spent two hours playing there without becoming bored, then why would he become bored from hearing the Qur'an for five minutes? The difference between a short prayer and a long prayer is simply five minutes, so why does he become bored from these five minutes of Qur'an, yet he does not become bored from two hours of soccer? Why does he not get bored from standing for two hours staring at an inflated piece of leather, his heart attached to it?

Because, what stands up to pray is the heart, and what stands up for sports are simply the body and muscles."


[From a lecture given by 'Abdullah 'Azzam on June 15, 1988 entitled 'The True Preparation,' found in the collection 'at-Tarbiyah al-Jihadiyyah wal-Bina''; 1/220]

[BlessedMuslimah]

SubhanAllah, I know you didn't have much time up there (qadar Allahu wa maa shaa'a fa'al), and I didn't get to hear the first part of it because of the "counselor meeting" but I really enjoyed and benefited from the five minutes that I did hear - JazakAllahu Khairan.

Btw, they put the audio up on mmyc.net

For those who'd like to hear (and see) how it went:

youtube.com/watch?v=62oWBa9huFo