Struggling to Surrender

Male, Muslim & Malaysian For questions or comments, feel free to email me directly at [email protected] “Be to Allah as He wishes, and He will be to you more than you can wish for.” — Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

[sazlishah]

“Allah didn’t order us to fast just to feel hunger and thirst. Rather it is to leave off sin!”

— Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (rahimahullah)

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“Among the signs of success at the end is the turning to Allah at the beginning.”

~ Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari [al-Hikam, Chapter 2, pg. 26] 

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Ibn Abi al-Dunya mentioned that Prophet Dawud (عليه السلام) asked Allah, “What is the least of Your blessings?” Allah revealed to him, “O Dawud, take a breath.” Dawud did so, and Allah told him, “This is the least of My blessings on you.”

— [excerpt from Patience and Gratitude by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, pg. 70]

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“O feet of patience, keep going, for what remains is only a little. Remember the sweetness of worship, then the bitterness of striving will become easier for you.”

— Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

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Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said:

“Whatever Allah has decreed for His believing slave is a blessing even if that is in the form of withholding; it is a favor even if that is in the form of a trial, and the calamity decreed by Him is fair even if it is painful.”

— [Madarij al-Salikeen, 4/215]

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Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said:

“The sea of pleasures may drown its owner and the swimmer fears to open his eyes under the water.”

— [al-Fawa'id (English Translation), pg. 66]

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Luqman al-Hakim said:

“O my son! The dunya (world) is a deep ocean in which many have drowned! Let your ship be taqwallah (fear of Allah), and load your ship with Iman-billah (believe in Allah), and let her sail be tawakkal (trust) on Allah! Insha'Allah you will survive then.”

— [Kitab Dham ad-Dunya, 1/91]

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“Good deeds make the face light, give light to the heart, and bring about ample provision, physical strength and love in people’s hearts. Bad deeds make the face dark, give darkness to the heart, and bring about physical weakness, a lack of provision and hatred in people’s hearts.”

~ Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه)

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Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said:

“One of the most beneficial of remedies is persisting in du'a.”

— [Al-Daa’ wa’l-Dawa’ (pg. 25)]

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“Audit yourself in prosperity before the auditing of adversity. Whoever does this will be pleased and envied. Whoever is distracted from this by his life and fantasies, will face remorse and loss.”

— Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه)

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“If you are given a blessing then do not [just] take it as a blessing, becoming merry and happy. It is a blessing, there is no doubt about that, but know that you are being tested by it, [tested] to see whether you will give due thanks for it or not.”

— Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (rahimahullah)

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“There is no Islam without unity, no unity without leadership, and no leadership without obedience.”

— Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه)

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Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said,  “Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your heart and deeds.”

— Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Number 6221

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Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه) said: 

“I never benefited from the words of anyone after the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as I benefited from a letter written to me by Ali ibn Abi Thalib (رضي الله عنه), in which he said:  ‘A man would feel upset to miss out on what he could never have gotten, and he could be pleased to get what he never could have missed, so let your pleasure be in that which you get of matters pertaining to the hereafter, and let your regret be with regard to what you miss of that. Whatever you get of worldly gains, do not be too happy about it, and whatever you miss out on of worldly matters, do not be too upset about it; let your concern be what happens after death.’”

[fr. The Life and Times of ‘Ali, by ‘Ali Muhammad as-Sallaabee, pg. 580]

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“Even the sleeping awake when shaken. If you are still unaffected by rightful guidance and not moved to repentance when entering the gatherings of the righteous, then your hearts are not asleep but dead.”

— Hasan al-Basri

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“O Friend, the cloth from which your burial shroud will be cut may have already reached the market and yet you remain unaware!”

— Imam al-Ghazali

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“The Muslim (one who submits to Allah) is a stranger amongst the non-Muslims. The Mu'min (believer) is a stranger amongst the Muslims. The Muhsin (one always in worship) is a stranger amongst the Mu'mineen.”

— Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah