appear for their examinations in those places which God has set for them for this purpose. Instead, they want to write their examinations elsewhere. God wants to see evidence of a person’s faith in its acceptance

of his heart, while people want to give evidence of it simply by verbal proclamations of the faith. God gauges our worship on the basis of the humility and sincerity of our prayers, while people think punctilious

to be proof of their piety. God wants to see the proof of their faith in terms of their inner being and their dealings, while people express it in the form of mere words. God wants us to follow His teachings

common weakness of human character. In the words of the Quran: “Do they envy others because of what God has granted them out of His bounty.” (4: 54) This shows that jealousy appears when one human being

and utters the words: ‘Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah’. It means: ‘May the peace and blessings of God be upon you.’ In other words, by doing this, a worshipper is in effect addressing all of humanity and

That is why God has ordained a month of fasting each year. During fasting, a believer has to temporarily eschew even lawful things, such as basic necessities of food and drink, without which he cannot

and above unlawful things, he should also be able to abstain from lawful things in order to fulfil God’s commands. Moreover, according to a saying of the Prophet, fasting does not just mean abstaining from

life of thankfulness to God. The very first verse of the Quran reads: ‘Al hamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin’. (The Quran, 1:2) Those who utter these words mean to say: “We are grateful to God who is the Lord of the

not mean simply belief in one God, but in God’s oneness in all respects. No one shares in this oneness of God. Anthropologists would have us believe that the concept of God in religion began with polytheism;

existed since the beginning of human life on this earth. The first man—Adam—was the first messenger of God. It was this

not mean simply belief in one God, but in God’s oneness in all respects. No one shares in this oneness of God. Anthropologists would have us believe that the concept of God in religion began with polytheism;

existed since the beginning of human life on this earth. The first man—Adam—was the first messenger of God. It was this

The Reality of Life There is only one God. He has created all things. All men will return to Him after death, and He will judge them according to their actions on earth. Some will be rewarded with eternal

of anything which will make one deserving of paradise. One comes to love and fear God above all else. When one fears God and is conscious of one’s eternal destiny, one becomes extremely cautious in one’s

is supported by the power of God and His angels. One is never unjust when dealing with one’s fellow, for one knows that eventually one is going to have to answer before God for one’s actions. One does not

I said two units of prayer. When I raised my hands in prayer, these words came to my lips: “O God, turn this incident into a lesson for us. Do not make it a loss for us.” Man ought, of course, to make

to God to save one from its evil consequences. Not making any mistakes is good. But making a mistake can also be good when the consciousness of having made a mistake causes one to turn towards God. Such

begins praying to God. According to a tradition of the Prophet, “Prayer is worship.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2969) Grieving over a loss is like living in the loss. But turning to God after a loss is

as well as in Sultan Abdur Rahman. That is why one great dua by Sultan Abdur Rehman was accepted by God. Prayer at Difficult Moments During the rule of Sultan Abdur Rehman An-Nasir of Andalusia, Spain

Istasqa prayer (the prayer to God to give His blessing of rain). The Salaatul Istasqa is a prayer, consisting of two units, performed during the time of drought to ask God for rain. Qazi Munzir asked the

doing when he sent me the message about prayer?” The messenger said, “I have never seen him more God-fearing than on this occasion. He is very disturbed. He is in solitude. I have seen him lying prostrate