July 2008: Page 1, 2, 3, 4

Submitters Perspective

Page 2

The Greatest Triumph

Cont’d from page 1

“He used to mock: ‘Do you believe all this?
“’After we die and turn into dust and bones, do we get called to account?’ “
 He will say, “Just take a look!”
When he looks, he will see his friend in the heart of Hell.
He (will go to him and) say, “By GOD, you almost ruined me.
“If it were not for my Lord’s blessing, I would have been with you now.
“(Do you still believe) that we die,
“only the first death, and we never receive any requital?”
Such is the greatest triumph.
This is what every worker should work for. [37:50-61] 

It might be a narrow escape indeed. ….Whoever misses Hell, barely, and makes it to Paradise, has attained a great triumph. The life of this world is no more than an illusion. [3:185]  But God promises that those who steadfastly persevere, even in the face of persecution and hardship, will receive a reward without price, the “greatest triumph.”

Surely, those who believed and led a righteous life, have deserved gardens with flowing streams. This is the greatest triumph. [85:11] 

Lydia

God’s Promise

[24:55]  GOD promises those among you who believe and lead a righteous life, that He will make them sovereigns on earth, as He did for those before them, and will establish for them the religion He has chosen for them, and will substitute peace and security for them in place of fear. All this because they worship Me alone; they never set up any idols beside Me. Those who disbelieve after this are the truly wicked.

You know better than I

(From the movie, “Joseph, the King of Dreams”)

I thought I did what’s right
I thought I had the answers
I thought I choose the surest way
but that road brought me here.

So I put up a fight
and told You how to help me
but just as I have given up
the truth is coming clear

You know better than I
You know the way
I’ve let go the need to know why
for You know better than I

If this has been a test
I cannot see the reason
But maybe knowing I don’t know
is part of getting through

I’ve tried to do what’s best
and faith has made it easy
to see the best thing I can do
is put my trust in You

You know better than I
You know the way
I’ve let go the need to know why
for You know better than I

I saw a cloud and thought it was the sky
I saw a bird and thought that I could follow
but it was You who taught that bird to fly
If I let You reach me
will You teach me

You know better than I
You know the way
I’ve let go the need to know why
I take what answers you supply
You know better than I

Illustrations of Prophet on Internet

Wikipedia.org published an article on the Prophet Muhammad. This article includes the following illustrations of the Prophet Muhammad: (1) the earliest surviving image of the Prophet Muhammad from Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-Tawarikh, approximately 1315, depicting the episode of the Black Stone, (2) the 15th century illustration in a copy of a manuscript by Al-Biruni, depicting the Prophet preaching the Quran in Mecca, and (3) the 16th century Ottoman illustration depicting the Prophet at the Kaaba. These art works were performed by some early Muslims who were creative and rich in culture.

A petition was initiated by some Muslim organizations to remove the pictures from Wikipedia. The question to ask to them is why they are bothered by these art works being shown?

The Quran does not prohibit any good provision as we understand from the following:

[7:32] Say, “Who prohibited the nice things GOD has created for His creatures, and the good provisions?” Say, “Such provisions are to be enjoyed in this life by those who believe. Moreover, the good provisions will be exclusively theirs on the Day of Resurrection.” We thus explain the revelations for people who know.

Displaying an image or a statue for the purpose of education or entertainment should be considered a good provision. King Solomon, a messenger of God, enjoyed statues as good provisions:

[34:13] They made for him anything he wanted—niches, statues, deep pools, and heavy cooking pots.

Cont’d on page 3