Comments on: Between Hope and Fear http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/ Official Organ of an American Muslim in Malaysia Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:44:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: Ahmad Termizi http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-362 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-362 Assalamu alaikum 'Hasanat' or 'thawab' is not the same as candy or pavlovian rewards. This a horrible analogy. Rewards mentioned in ahadith are just indication of the hierarchy of the 'amal - it is the basis of Fiqh awlawiyah - Fiqh of priorities. Sort of like saying: congregational praying in the mosque is better than praying alone, Tending,feeding,and suckling the baby is better than optional prayers, giving alms to the needy is better than going for umrah etc.. another name for 'Hasanat/thawab' is 'rahmah' = God's Mercy It is not the same as money, gold or candy A person who understands the priorities of 'amal, he understand the religion - it is 'tafaqquh fiddin' Now, equating this with 'candy mentality' - this is pure absurd! This is why the muslims in the sad state they are today... Rich people spend exorbitant sums of money to build huge Colossal Mosque, when it is better to spend on giving scholarships to students for acquiring knowledge, wether secular or religious - which will eventually uplift the state of the ummah. Some will spend a lot of money going for umrah every year - when it is better to give this money to poor destitutes living around them! If the know about 'hasanat', about mercy of ALLAH, they would surely spent their money in alms for the needy. When you have knowledge about 'fadha'il', about hasanat and thawab - then you will see the workings of ALLAH's Mercy/Rahmah around you and your life - you will see Mercy of ALLAH, when somebody feeding a starving cat.. when a mother suckling his baby, when a father has to stay awake all night because his baby has abdominal problem, When an expectant mother laboriously move around carrying the baby in his womb for 9 months, you will see the 'hasanat' the thawab the mercy of ALLAH continously - showering on her And then when you, being human, commitied sins, then you will see the Mercy of ALLAH, when you bury the 'sayyi'at' with 'hasanat' until such times when hasanat overwhelms the sayyi'at.... when you continue in this path - then one day you will see ALLAH change your sins into mercy, your 'sayyi'at' into 'hasanat'.. Then you will learned to love ALLAH after you love ALLAH with full love you will forget about heaven and hell you will be with ALLAH Assalamu alaikum
‘Hasanat’ or ‘thawab’ is not the same as candy or
pavlovian rewards. This a horrible analogy.
Rewards mentioned in ahadith are just indication of the hierarchy of the ‘amal -
it is the basis of Fiqh awlawiyah - Fiqh of priorities.
Sort of like saying: congregational praying in the mosque is better than praying alone,
Tending,feeding,and suckling the baby is better than optional prayers, giving alms to the needy is better than going for umrah etc..
another name for ‘Hasanat/thawab’ is ‘rahmah’ = God’s Mercy
It is not the same as money, gold or candy
A person who understands the priorities of ‘amal, he understand the religion - it is ‘tafaqquh fiddin’
Now, equating this with ‘candy mentality’ - this is pure absurd!
This is why the muslims in the sad state they are today…
Rich people spend exorbitant sums of money to build huge Colossal Mosque, when it is better to spend on giving scholarships to students for acquiring knowledge, wether secular or religious -
which will eventually uplift the state of the ummah.
Some will spend a lot of money going for umrah every year - when it is better to give this money to poor destitutes living around them!
If the know about ‘hasanat’, about mercy of ALLAH,
they would surely spent their money in alms for the needy.
When you have knowledge about ‘fadha’il’, about hasanat and thawab - then you will see the workings of ALLAH’s Mercy/Rahmah around you and your life -
you will see Mercy of ALLAH, when somebody feeding a starving cat..
when a mother suckling his baby,
when a father has to stay awake all night because
his baby has abdominal problem,
When an expectant mother laboriously move around
carrying the baby in his womb for 9 months,
you will see the ‘hasanat’ the thawab the mercy of ALLAH continously - showering on her

And then when you, being human, commitied sins,
then you will see the Mercy of ALLAH,
when you bury the ’sayyi’at’ with ‘hasanat’
until such times when hasanat overwhelms the sayyi’at….

when you continue in this path - then one day
you will see ALLAH change your sins into mercy,
your ’sayyi’at’ into ‘hasanat’..

Then you will learned to love ALLAH
after you love ALLAH
with full love
you will forget about heaven and hell
you will be with ALLAH

]]> by: Bin Gregory http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-363 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-363 Thanks for your comments, brother. I don't disagree with anything you wrote. Just so I am not being misunderstood, I do not equate Allah's promise of reward in Paradise to be like bribing with candy. As you state, it helps us to understand priorities in our actions. What is like bribery with candy is the extraction of these by some muslims into lists or scoresheets of actions and their rewards, deprived of any other context. It is not a reflection on God's promises but on our response and approach to them. I recall seeing such a scoresheet that was even more crass than the one MWU references. It had 20 or so items, and ran something like, "If you want to get "x" in heaven, than do "y". If you want to get "a" in heave, than do "b". I'm sorry, but that falls way short of the admirable approach that you have given us in your post above. Thanks for your comments, brother. I don’t disagree with anything you wrote. Just so I am not being misunderstood, I do not equate Allah’s promise of reward in Paradise to be like bribing with candy. As you state, it helps us to understand priorities in our actions. What is like bribery with candy is the extraction of these by some muslims into lists or scoresheets of actions and their rewards, deprived of any other context. It is not a reflection on God’s promises but on our response and approach to them. I recall seeing such a scoresheet that was even more crass than the one MWU references. It had 20 or so items, and ran something like, “If you want to get “x” in heaven, than do “y”. If you want to get “a” in heave, than do “b”. I’m sorry, but that falls way short of the admirable approach that you have given us in your post above.

]]> by: ubaid http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-364 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-364 assalam-o-alaikum, thank you for putting in words something i have had a personal problem with for a long long time. this kind of reward based faith system is what prevails to an uncomfortable depth in the indian sub continent at least. associating numbers with good deeds rankles me, for in the final picture, on the day of judgement, what good is your recital of a surah if it was done merely to get an x number of good deeds. isn't faith and prayer only valid in the context of considering our ultimate destiny and not merely an exercise in keeping your score of good deeds one above your total of bad deeds? also, jazakallah for adding ublog to your blogroll. assalam-o-alaikum, ubaid. assalam-o-alaikum,
thank you for putting in words something i have had a personal problem with for a long long time. this kind of reward based faith system is what prevails to an uncomfortable depth in the indian sub continent at least. associating numbers with good deeds rankles me, for in the final picture, on the day of judgement, what good is your recital of a surah if it was done merely to get an x number of good deeds. isn’t faith and prayer only valid in the context of considering our ultimate destiny and not merely an exercise in keeping your score of good deeds one above your total of bad deeds?

also, jazakallah for adding ublog to your blogroll.

assalam-o-alaikum,
ubaid.

]]> by: BinKaafir http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-365 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-365 Islam is an abomination. A pox on humanity, if you will. And it must go the way of the Dodo. Islam is an abomination. A pox on humanity, if you will. And it must go the way of the Dodo.

]]> by: plok http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-366 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/08/01-between-hope-and-fear/#comment-366 The Salafi way is exceptionally evil. The Salafi way is exceptionally evil.

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