Part 2

31 * Ever since she started working, she gives her mother and father a part of her salary. One of her friends said to her, "This is a big amount, you are giving and it is better if you save some of it for the time when you would need it." She replied to her ignorant friend, "What I am giving is an act of charity and in keeping good ties of kinship. I do not want my parents to need something and not find the money to buy it. My dear sister, this is something that I keep for a Day when I will be in need!" * Occasionally, she gives away charity on behalf of her parents, sincerely seeking Allah's pleasure for appreciating and being dutiful towards them. Only the AllKnower, Most Acquainted of everything in existence knows what she does. * She frequently inquires about the condition of her parents, trying to find out if they need anything or have a taste for anything. She indirectly asks about what they want and rushes to buy it for them, so that their hearts are pleased and delighted by acquiring what they wanted. * They are sisters and good mothers who try their best to act righteously, especially in being dutiful to their parents for which Allah has promised the greatest rewards. When their mother fell ill, they divided the days between them, so that one of them would stay with their mother during the day. Even though they are married and have homes to take care of, they are delighted to share in taking care of their mother and obeying Allah's Commandments. * Everyday she asks herself how she could be dutiful to her deceased parents and frequently invokes Allah for them in her prayer and gives charity on their behalf. She

32 rewards of her good actions and preserves her sincerity to Allah Alone. * She prefers her mother to whatever she would like to do and whomever she would like to talk her. She often sits with her mother and talks to her, as to keep her company. * Even though she is very young, she is very dutiful to her mother, obeys her and helps her in the house, delighted in serving her mother who has tremendous rights on her. She tries to implement the advice that the Messenger of Allah :1 gave to the man who wanted to join the Jihad, but whose parents were still alive: .:u.t>J ,. I~ • ~~ ~

"Then exert yourself in their service."

The Seed of Islamic Books * She rushed to the door with her young children to meet their father who was carrying some grocery bags. She met him with a smile and greeted him back with the Salam. She said to him, "May Allah compensate you for what you spent." She helped him bring whatever he bought inside the house and the children also carried some bags to the kitchen. The mother called her children to bring their markers to deface the pictures on the containers and bags that her husband brought back with him. A few minutes later, they defaced all the pictures while laughing and enjoying their time. She rears them on the good qualities of forbidding evil and changing it, as much as they can. * She often makes errors and mistakes and feels misery at home, frequently disputing with her husband, children, and in-laws and even with herself. It is because of her

33 When she returned back to Allah, strived to correct herself and sought Allah's forgiveness, she found peace and tranquility at home. This is the good benefit of going back to Allah in repentance, for He is the Most Generous, Most Compassionate. * She is not very wealthy and cannot always give substantial amounts of money in charity. So, she asked her driver and his wife to spend time in helping the needy and the poor and distributing charity to them. The driver became happy that his mission involves acts of charity and kindness to others. * She seeks the ways and means of righteousness and piety, and whenever she hears about an act of charity she could perform, she rushes to perform it. She hopes that she earns a good share in all aspects of good conduct and compassion encouraged in Islam. She knows that whenever she hears about a righteous act and performs it even once, she was among those, who are known by it, as Amr bin Qais stated. * Since the best good deeds are those that are continuous, even if they are small, she designated the end of every month to giving away Islamic books and tapes. It became her habit to await the end of every month, so that she could distribute to her Muslims brothers and sisters whatever books and tapes she collected or bought. * Most Islamic books do not cost much to print and buy. There is a good collection of books in her house, which she buys on a regular basis and distributes to her relatives and neighbors, little by little over a period of months at a time.

34 * An old Muslim woman fell ill and suffered from acute pain in her ear. When she finally agreed to have the doctor examine her, she only uncovered her ear and left the rest of her face covered. The doctor was amazed at her dedication and said to her, "You are like my mother, so uncover your face that I may examine you." She said to him, with a voice full of faith and obedience to her Lord, "You only need to examine my ear, and I uncovered it for you." She is very obedient to Allah and accepts His Decisions with a good heart full of contentment and faith. * On Friday afternoons, she does not do work so that she can invoke Allah during those blessed hours. Another sister does not attend any meetings or activities during Friday afternoons, so that she earns the good blessings of invoking Allah during that time. * She said, "My daughters-in-law are teachers who fulfill the duty of calling to Allah. I feit that I should have a share in the reward for their good efforts, so when they are busy conducting Da 'wah, I take care of the cooking for them and attending to their children. I often encourage them to give more Islamic lectures and lessons and blame them if they sometimes become lazy with regards to spreading Islamic knowledge among women." * She often remembers Allah, praises Him and invokes Him for forgiveness. When she is sitting in an audience, she is usually quiet. If she speaks, she says beneficial words, and if she is idle, she remembers Allah with her tongue and heart. * She frequently stands in voluntary prayer at night, even though she is married and has four children to take care of. She sometimes sleeps in the early morning hours, so her

35 did not want to tell them that she stands in prayer at night to avoid feeling pride in what she does. So she hinted to them, one at a time, saying, "Dear Sister, why not stand even for a half hour before dawn to worship your Lord?" * She holds herself accountable every night. She reminds herself of what she does every day so that she invokes Allah to forgive her for her errors and mistakes. It is not substantial work to do, but it helps her seek Allah's·pardon soon after she commits an error or a mistake. * Every evening, she goes to one of the Qur' furic schools to teach and give lectures on Islam to Muslim sisters. She seeks Allah's pleasure and rewards for conducting Da 'wah to His religion and explaining the correct creed to Muslims. * Ramadan is the month of worship and obedience to Allah. It is the month of activity and vitality, so she divided her days from dawn to the Zuhar prayer for reciting the Quran. After Zuhar, she stands in the kitchen to cook a large meal to distribute to the needy and the poor. Her husband chose a Mosque in their area where there are many workers who attend prayer, but not many people giving free food in Ramadan. A few days after the month started, her husband said to her, "There are over a hundred people in that Mosque who benefit from the food you make, congratulations. The Prophet ~ said:

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. (( \!:..!. "Whoever gave breakfast to a fasting person, will earn a similar reward to his reward, without decreasing the reward of the fasting person." (Al-Tirmidhi) * She treats her maid with kindness, according to Islamic

36 that she earns her love and trust. She then dedicated her attention to teaching her Islamic knowledge, even when they both are doing housework. She said to herself, "This maid might one day become a caller to Islam in her country, forbidding the types of Shirk and innovations in the religion that exist in her area and warning against deviant, un-Islamic behavior."

The Seed of Good Conduct * We helped our brother to choose a girl for him to marry, because she belonged to an honorable family. Before that, we were not able to help him decide on whom to marry, since we did not meet someone whom we thought was suitable for him. When we visited this girl's family, her mother met us with a smile and treated us in the best manner. She invited us to sit in another room, explaining that her mother-in-law was in there alone and that she would be very happy if we kept her company. We saw how kind and compassionate the mother was to her mother-in-law and heard other good things about the family. My mother said to us when we returned home, "We will not leave a house that is honorable and kind like this. The daughter of such a mother will surely be impressed by her mother's good conduct and imitate her. If your brother agrees with this girl, we should encourage him to marry her; I will be the one conveying the news of this good, compassionate family to him." Our brother married that girl and positively affected in our own family by the kindness, respect and compassion she learned from her family.

37 * She is dedicated to the obedience of Allah and His Messenger ;i and only looks for a husband who fulfills the Prophet's criteria for a good husband: J. ,.. ,.,, J ""' ,.,.. ... , ... . «o~J),.w;:_j_.~: 0_;.;,jj ~ ~~ 1~1)) "If someone who is acceptable to you regarding his religion and mannerism came asking for marriage, let him marry." (Ibn Majah) Therefore, whenever someone came to her family asking for her in marriage, she would weigh him according to the Hadith of the Prophet ;i. When someone who befits this Hadith came forward, her family refused to marry her to him because he was not wealthy. She tried her best to change their mind, mentioning to them the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ;i, and they agreed. Here she is, living in a house built on Islam and filled with happiness and kindness. She said to herself, "Alhlh's Prophet :i prescribed the most significant aspects of married life for us, religion and good conduct. To the Muslim family, religion and good conduct are just like the two wings with which the family flies high to clear, tranquil skies. Why should we look for other standards then, when we already have the best and most important basis for happy marriage?" * It was an Islamic marriage, during which young girls sang without music and older girls felt delight. They added a touch of advice to the women's party they helped organize, by reminding the invitees that their presence at the wedding should not be a way to the Fire. They placed several notices on the food tables, on which they wrote: [H: ..:...1~1] ~~ ~.. E :,;p. :-~~_) ~ 38 She insisted that her marriage party will be conducted according to Islamic principals, a few songs (without music) for youngsters and simple competitions for which they won prizes. The party ended with an invocation to Allah to bless this marriage and to help those who did not marry yet, get married to good Muslims. Everyone said, 'A min' after reciting the Du 'a to Allah. * I got married and given many valuable gifts, for my family is wealthy and socially elevated in society. They gave me gifts of gold, watches, jewels, etc. I only see these items occasionally, for they are being kept in a safe and only used when needed. The only gift that touched my heart and remains easily available is the simplest gift: Islamic books given to me by my friend. These books awakened me and resurrected my heart from its sleep.