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God's Mercy and Forgiveness

Forgiveness is Divine

For a believer, the realization that he has just done something unacceptable is punishment enough. We are disappointed in ourselves, and that’s when we don’t want to face it.

Usually when you dissatisfy someone you happen to care about, you cannot look them in the eye. You hide yourself in a corner and brood about it.

And when a person with a conscience has a misconduct, he is much disappointed in himself. And he thinks he has disappointed the Almighty at the same time...

Forgiveness is Divine - Growing in Faith - Reading Islam - OnIslam.net

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is The Watchful (Al-Raqeeb)

Another beautiful talk by Dr. Mohamed Abou Taleb in the US last Ramadan in the series (In Awe of Allah) on the meanings of Allah's Name Al-Raqeeb:

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In Awe of Allah #3:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Our journey continues with the Name of Allah "al-Raqeeb / ar-Raqib", signaling that He is ever watchful over us and even the secrets we hide within our chests. We discuss how knowing ar-Raqeeb lead one to a higher standard of conduct and character.
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(12 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is The Forgiver (Al-Ghafoor)

Another beautiful talk by Dr. Mohamed Abou Taleb in the US last Ramadan in the series (In Awe of Allah) on the meanings of Allah's Name Al-Ghafoor:

The Name "Al-Ghafoor / Al-Ghafur" is known to all of God's servants, for we all sin and have no one to turn to for forgiveness but He.

But has forgiveness become so routine that we take it for granted?

We discuss how seeking forgiveness is not merely a word, but a process that strengthens our relationship with the Divine.

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In Awe of Allah #4:

(13 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is Al-Tawwab (The Grantor and Acceptor of Repentance)

The Name "at-Tawwab" signals a divine invitation from God, for it charts a return for those who have lost their way and those too shamed to seek God carrying the burden of sin.

Together, we learn that repentance is both granted by God and He is the One who accepts it, yet another manifestation of His endless grace, bounty, and mercy.

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In Awe of Allah #5:

(16 minutes)

 

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Allah is Al-Adl "The Utterly Just"


Through the Name "al-Adl" we learn that Go is utterly, absolutely just, and from this Name comes the justice that we seek to establish on earth.

This Name is a hope for everyone who has ever tasted the bitterness of oppression, small or large.

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In Awe of Allah #6:

(13 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is Al-Shakour (The Appreciative)


The fastest call to action and the best remedy for apathy, hopelessness, and despair is to know God "as-Shakoor/as-Shakur", the One who grants rewards you many times over for even the smallest and simplest of deeds.

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In Awe of Allah #7:

(10 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is Al-Wakeel (The Trustee)

Do you trust God?

Before you say yes out of impulse, be careful because the answer carries consequences ... many of us may claim to trust God but act inconsistently.

We explore the Name of Allah "al-Wakeel/al-Wakil" and see how building a relationship with this Name increases faith, tranquility, and serenity.

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In Awe of Allah #8:

(13 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is Al-Malik (The King)

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Human ownership is temporary and transient ... the ownership of God is permanent and real.

As we reflect on Allah's Names "al-Malik/al-Maalik", we recognize that a relationship with Him enables us to subjugate what we own to please the One who owns us.
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In Awe of Allah #9:

(9 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is Al-Samad

Allah "as-Samad" ... how many times have we recited it, yet how few of us have ever sought to know God through it!

He is the One who needs no one, yet everyone is in desperate need of Him.

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In Awe of Allah #10:

(11 minutes)

 

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God's Most Beautiful Names

Allah is Al-Afuww (The Pardoner)

Burdened by sin?

Wish you could just start a new page?

This is a reflection on an attribute even broader than forgiveness through the Name of Allah "al-Afuww" that provides precisely that for God's servants who would seek it.

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In Awe of Allah #11:

(7 minutes)

 

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My Beloved Friend Al-Wakeel (The Disposer of Affairs)
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Sister Yasmin Mogahed explains the attribute of Allah Al-Wakeel, The Disposer of Affairs and our Ultimate Trustee.

The One whom is our Trustee in the times we feel so let down.

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My Beloved Friend Al-Wakeel (The Disposer of Affairs)
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(13 minutes)

 

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In Awe of Allah

Allah is Al-Haqq "The Supreme Reality"

A deeper look into an often misunderstood name of Allah, "Al-Haqq"

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In Awe of Allah Deep Dive -

(44 minutes)

 

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Believing in the Unseen & Its Impact on Believers

As Muslims, the basic foundation of our faith lies upon our belief in a deity that we cannot see, hear, or feel - Allah, the one and only God, - and the other beings or entities created by Him that we can also not see, hear, or feel, such as His angels, Divine revelation, Paradise and Hell Fire, the Hereafter of which the life in the grave or “barzakh” is also a part, and the Preserved Tablet, to name a few.

There is one additional aspect of believing in the Unseen and that applies only to those Muslims who believed in and loved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) without having seen him or met him, which includes us. For such, there is greater reward for believing in him than those who lived with him and witnessed him receive the Divine revelation right in their midst. This means that for us, Prophet Muhammad too, is part of believing in the Unseen.

How Believing In Al-Ghaib Affects the Muslim

Since the life of this world is a test, it would not hold any meaning had each human being been able to clearly see and hear God, and then promptly believed in Him as the one and only God. If God were to reveal Himself in His full majesty, all of mankind would fall into prostration and believe in Him without even a moment’s hesitation or shadow of a doubt.

So God hid Himself and all His mighty powers behind a curtain of the Unseen, but left His signs everywhere for mankind to ponder, reflect upon and seek Him through. He then intermittently sent His Messengers and revealed His Scriptures to guide mankind on how to dwell on earth according to His commands to gain His ultimate pleasure.

Those who believe in God, His angels, Books, past Prophets, and the hereafter without having seen Him, are very different from those who do not believe; who deny the omnipresence of one God and the components of the unseen.Below are a few of the effects that their faith in the Unseen has upon their lives and persons...

Believing in the Unseen & Its Impact on Believers - Fate & Destiny - Reading Islam - OnIslam.net

 

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In Awe of Allah

Allah is Al-Ghafoor (The Forgiver)


A deeper look into one of God's most heart-warming Names, "al-Ghafoor/al-Ghafur"

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In Awe of Allah Deep Dive -

(46 minutes)

 

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In Awe of Allah

Allah is Al-Tawwab (The Grantor and Acceptor of Repentance)

A deeper look at God's Name "at-Tawwab/at-Tawab" and God's generosity in facilitating and accepting repentance.

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In Awe of Allah Deep Dive -

(47 minutes)

 

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Divine Love: Muslim-Christian Differences

The climate of the Muslim devotion to God differs from the Christian one because for Muslims God has not been incarnated as Baby Jesus in the manger — cuddly and lovely — but rather remains an awesome Divinity, so close to us that we cannot see Him.

{Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision.} (Al-An’am 6: 103)

In short, God is the one beyond time and space whose Being totally escapes our categorization. Indeed, we cannot catch His Reality with the perceptional network provided by our man-made (and therefore “loaded” languages).

In fact, talking about God is a linguistic trap. Ludwig Wittgenstein (d. 1951) was therefore right in terminating his Tractatus logico-philosophicus (first printed in 1921) with the stunning phrase: “Of what one cannot speak, about that one must remain silent” (7)

True, for Muslims, too, Allah is not only transcendent but also immanent since Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein (50: 16). And He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts (or bosoms) of people (11: 5; 42: 24; 57: 6; 64: 4; 67: 13)

Muslims are therefore expected to love God more than anything else. (2: 165)

Nevertheless God remains unfathomable, unimaginable, unseizable, incomprehensible, indescribable. We are told that His are the most beautiful names/attributes (7: 180; 17: 110; 20: 8). But this is of little help because we must not coin any similitude for God (6: 74). It is of course true as well that in the Quran, for instance in the Light Verse (24: 35) and in the Throne Verse (59: 22-4)

God has given us a self-description. Yet, do we really come closer to the secret when God identifies with the Light of the heavens and the earth? Can we understand any of the divine attributes other than nominalistically, like Ibn Hazm before? Indeed, for he to whom God gives no light, no light whatever has he. (24:40). Therefore, we can legitimately go about defining God in negative terms only, listing what cannot be said of Him: That He cannot not exist; cannot die; cannot multiply Himself since God is a single God. (2: 163; 16: 22, 51)

All this is true and full of complexity. Nevertheless, loving God naively is possible not only for Christians but for Muslims as well since they are aware that God in His goodness is limitless (57: 21) and that His grace overspreads everything. (7: 156)...

Divine Love: Muslim-Christian Differences - Comparative Religion - Reading Islam - OnIslam.net

 

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Towards a Sustainable World: [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] An Ethical Perspective Concerning the Environment [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Muslim faith, through the Quran and the Sunnah, provides us with the ethics inherent in the place of man on Earth.

The human being has obligations and responsibilities concerning the preservation of the natural ecological order.

As philosophers interested in nature, religious authorities noticed the special aspect of Islam concerning its environmental ethics. The concept of “stewardship” which is the closest in this specific field to the idea of “Caliphate” is a concept which implies dependence between humanity and nature.

This concept emphasizes the sense of responsibilities and good governance. The importance of this concept resides in the objective of actions.[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why should Muslims consider the gifts of Nature as resources to be used with ethical practice?[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Islam is characterized by an all-encompassing spirituality which is found in all Muslim acts and his way of consuming the gifts of Nature is part of worship....

[/FONT]An Ethical Perspective Concerning the Environment - Environment - Reading Islam - OnIslam.net

 

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Accept Allah Into Your Life

This is the message of peace, the message of salvation.

This is the message of liberation from being enslaved to mundane things that keep shackling souls with worries and sorrows.

This is a call from the One Who controls everything, calling you, humankind, to submit!Submit your life to Him and be calm. Make your motto of life La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah).

By this motto, you testify to your incapacity as a creature provided with limited faculties.

You testify that everything in the universe belongs to Him and whatever He wants will come to pass in the way and the time He wants...

Accept Allah Into Your Life - Advice - Shari`ah - OnIslam.net

 

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Quran in Focus
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The Noble Quran … the last message from God to mankind.[/FONT]
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What do you know about it?[/FONT]
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Here is a selection of articles and questions addressing different issues of this Divine Book.[/FONT]
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Welcome to the world of the Quran.[/FONT]

The Quran in Focus - In Focus - Reading Islam - OnIslam.net

 

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Brief Introduction to the Quran
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]An interview with Dr. Jamal Badawi, Canada, starting with an introduction and a question on the message of the Quran to Muslims
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Brief Intro to the Quran - Dr. Jamal Badawi - YouTube

(8 minutes)