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Love Sums It All
By Zabrina Abu Bakar
Freelance Writer - Malaysia
Muslims earn a reward from God just by loving each other.
I was once asked by a friend how it is that I have mothers in different countries and sisters all over the world. The weird part is that they don't know each other and they only have one thing in common: me.
"Explain to me," she told me one day.
So I began explaining by quoting an incident that happened to me when I was visiting another country just a few months back.
"As Salamu alaykum, dear..." greeted the elderly lady sitting next to me.
"Wa alaykum salam, aunty &" I answered with a smile
"You are new here?" she asked
"Yes, I am just visiting some friends and doing a book tour at the same time."
Within an hour, we were already talking and giggling together as if we have known each other for years. She hugged me, patted my head, held my hands, invited me into her home, offered me a place to stay and insisted that I at least have dinner with her family, making me feel accepted and warm all over.
I was overwhelmed by her kindness and she is not alone and unique in that sense.
Throughout my trip, I was "fought over" by my sisters-in-Islam whom I just met. Our initial embraces and hugs would be our ice-breaking gestures. These loving hugs made me feel secure and safe with them.
The kind gestures do not just stop there. I received so many invitations for lunch, dinner, supper and even to sleep over at their homes. All these have made my eyes water too many times and made me realize the wisdom of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad in shaping the Muslim community.
The love and affection I received from my sisters even if they barely knew me could be explained easily,
Prophet Muhammad said,
On the Day of Judgment, God will announce, 'Where are those who love each other for the sake of My pleasure? This day I am going to shelter them in the shade provided by Me. Today there is no shade except My shade." (Muslim)
Isn't that wonderful?
Just by loving each other we are entitled to His shade on the Day of Judgment.
I can't help but think of how merciful God is. He didn't say that we should pray the whole night or fast the whole year. Instead, He wants us to continue loving each other, taking care of one another to earn His shelter on the day when humans are gathered from Prophet Adam to the last man born, when the sun will be just above our heads, and when there is nothing that can be used to cover and protect us from the heat torment except for His shade.
Thinking about it made me realize how beautiful this deal is for Muslims., because Muslims who love each other for the sake of God would earn at least two rewards. The immediate one is His pleasure and the second reward would be their 'booking for a spot' to be under His shade in the Day of Judgment.
This is among the values that Prophet Muhammad has instilled in Muslim hearts. He has removed the barriers of race, ethnicity, and prejudice that would usually become a hindrance when people from different races, ethnicities or countries meet. He put in their hearts love and care for others even before they know them.
I reflected on what Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
Muslims are asked to be kind and compassionate towards one another.
Islam has long taught its followers the concept of love between humans, brotherhood, and sisterhood from the very beginning.
I remembered a verse from the Quran that says,
{The Believers are but a single brotherhood: so make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear God, that ye may receive Mercy}.(Al-Hujarat 49:10)
God has clearly stated that all Muslims are brothers, one single brotherhood. Muslims, regardless where they are from, are considered one. They belong to the same community: the Muslim community.
That was why I was accepted very quickly into the lives of the sisters whom I just met. We all knew that we are one: one family, one unit.
Naturally, as one family, Muslims are asked to be kind and compassionate towards one another. Prophet Muhammad used the parable of a human body to explain what he meant by brotherhood in Islam.
This is how Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims to treat each other,
"The Muslims in their mutual love, kindness and compassion are like the human body; when one of its parts is in agony the entire body feels the pain, both in sleeplessness and fever." (Al-Bukhari)
Let us see why Prophet Muhammad used the human body to explain the concept of brotherhood to us.
When we have a toothache, with it comes a headache too. This is because the nerves from our teeth are connected to the brain, thus causing the headache.
And with headache, we really need to rest. So, would we still be able to be chatting, giggling, or continuing our daily chores when we have a toothache or the whole body feels the discomfort and needs to rest?
When we see another Muslim in difficulty, pain must creep into our hearts too.
What will happen if, say, we have diarrhea? The affected body organ is only the colon, but, as we all know, if we have diarrhea, all that we would want to do is just rest as the whole body is in discomfort.
For the ladies, despite the monthly menstrual pain that comes from one organ, this pain causes backache, sore muscles and cramps all over the body.
So, yes, when one part of the human body is in pain, the whole body feels pain too.
That is the love that all Muslims must have for each other. When we see another Muslim in difficulty, pain must creep into our hearts too. If we see the tears of another Muslim, our hearts should be crying too. The joy felt by our brothers should be our personal joy too.
We are all one part of one body.
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Zabrina Abu Bakar is a life storyteller and author of a motivational book entitled Life is An Open Secret. She has a degree in accountancy and an MBA, and is completing her doctorate in business administration. She maintains an active blog at http://wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com.
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Note: Updated Wednesday 17th June 2009 8.00pm Sydney Time. Love For Life does not support harm doing in any shape or form. However, we are supporters of free speech and post articles, documentaries, etc, that represent a wide cross section of ideas. See the Love For Life extensive research library where over 6000 documents, articles and videos are posted: http://loveforlife.com.au/issues. We clearly see the evidence of the destruction to MAN and the earth that has been caused by ALL religions over the centuries and are therefore not supporters of religions, cults, sects or any group that demands conformity of thought, speech or action, or has rules, regulations or rituals that must be followed. Religions, nationalities and cultural "identities" are formed as a result of the brainwashing we receive from childhood. They are part of the tactics the Establishment uses to keep us all divided from one another and fighting one another.
All religions promote discrimination and division, leading to hatred and even violence and murder. None of them have yet to produce a remedy to all the suffering, poverty, unhappiness and discrimination in the world. If any religion truly had the remedy to all the suffering on earth, there would no longer be any suffering. What have Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, atheism and the New Age done to end the suffering in the world?
The Love For Life website has information from all sides on many subjects, whether about Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Law, health, psychology, mind control, vaccination, aspartame, MSG, Chemtrails etc. There are over 6000 articles, documentaries etc on the website and they are so diverse that we are sure that everyone would be able to find something they loved and something they hated, if they took the time to search. If we removed all the articles hated by everyone, there would probably be nothing left! We are not anti anyone but freedom of speech is freedom of speech and no one should condemn the work of another without taking the time to research the subject themselves. Yes, there are articles by those who have a less-than-rosy-viewpoint of Judaism, but there are also articles on the dark side of Tibetan Buddhism (and it is very dark) for those who are interested in the truth: Tibet - Buddhism - Dalai Lama: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/6271 Should the authors of these articles be abused and imprisoned for daring to challenge the widely conceived reputation of Buddhism as being the religion of peace and love and that of the Dalai Lama as a saint, or should those interested be allowed to study the work and come to their own conclusions? The same applies to all the articles, documentaries, etc, about Christianity, Islam, Freemasonry, New World Order, etc.
The Love for Life website also shows how the Rule of Law, the Bar, the Government, the Monarchy, the system of commerce, the local, national and multi/trans-national private corporations, all the courses and careers on offer from our universities, all the educators, scientists, academics and experts, the aristocrats and the Establishment bloodlines have also done NOTHING to end the suffering in the world. The website maps the insanity of a world where there is no help for those in need, just as there was no help available for us when we were victims of terrible bank fraud: http://loveforlife.com.au/court_case (orchestrated, condoned and protected by an international crime syndicate/terrorist organisation of judges, barristers, registrars, lawyers, politicians, banksters, big business representatives, media moguls and other lackeys who, all together, put up a wall of silence despite our trying many, many avenues. After the family home was stolen and business destroyed we were left close to poverty and destitution caring for 4 young daughters. Three years later not much has changed regardless of all our efforts. Where were all the followers of all the religions to help us? Or do we have to be members of those religions to receive help from others involved in them?
We have been accused of being anti - Jewish because we had posted an excerpt from James von Brun's book: Kill the Best Gentiles! http://loveforlife.com.au/node/6054 in which he blames Jews for the problems of the world. Obviously this is not our view because of what we have stated above. We do not hate anyone, whatever religion they follow. We are always open to talk to any religious leader or politician and meet with any judge, member of the Bar, experts, academics, educators etc to share the remedy we offer that heals all the divisions between MAN and MAN, and MAN and the EARTH.
Today, a representative of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies is threatening to close the website down, because they have decided it is anti - Jewish and that we promote racism. What has the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies done to end the suffering in the world? Can they show that they are concerned with the suffering of ALL men, women and children AND ARE SEEN TO BE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT or are they only concerned with Jewish affairs? If so, they, along with all the other religions that only care for their own, are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The man who rang Arthur today was only concerned with Jewish affairs; he was not interested in our intentions or in anybody else, just as most Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Catholics, etc, are only interested in their own. While we separate ourselves into groups, dividing ourselves from others with rules, regulations, rituals, procedures and conditions, we will never solve our problems.
No matter what we in the Western World Civilisation of Commerce have been promised by our politicians, religious leaders, scientists, educators, philosophers, etc, for the past two hundred years, all we have seen is ever-increasing destruction of men, women and children and the earth. None of the so-called experts and leaders we have been taught to rely on are coming up with a solution and none of them are taking full-responsibility for the fact that they can't handle the problem. All religious books talk about end times full of destruction and suffering but why do we have to follow this program when there is an alternative to hatred, mayhem and death? Why are our leaders following the program of destruction and death rather than exploring the alternatives? It seems that any mainstream politician, priest or academic are only interested in supporting the RULES OF THE DIVIDE, that maintain the haves and the have nots. For 200+ years, 99% of the world population have been so trained to pass on their responsibility for themselves, others and the earth, that the 1% of the population that make up the leaders of the rest of us are making all the decisions leading to the destruction of all of us and the earth. Let's not forget the education system that brainwashes the 99% of the population that we are free and have equal rights while, in fact, we are feathering the nests of those at the top.
At the root of all our problems is self-centredness, an unwillingness nurtured by the Establishment that keeps us concerned only with our own needs rather than the needs of others around us and the Earth. Instead of creating and releasing acts of love for those around us as gifts to benefit them and the earth, we take, take and take, until there is nothing left. The whole point of the Love for Life website is to show people the root of all our problems and to share the remedy. The extensive research library is there to attract browsers and to provide access to information not available through mainstream channels. If the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies can, after careful examination of our work, prove that anything we are saying is wrong, we will be happy to accept their proof. If they cannot, and they are still insistent on closing the website down, they will be showing themselves to be traitors to MAN because they are not interested in pursuing any avenue that can end the suffering in the world.
All religions, corporations and organisations that support and maintain the Western World Civilisation of Commerce are part of the problem because our civilisation is a world of haves and have nots, racism, violence, hatred, poverty, sickness, discrimination, abuse, starvation, homelessness, corruption, collusion, vindictiveness, social unrest, arrogance, ignorance, fear, war and chaos. While we support civilisation, we support death and destruction because ALL civilisations that have ever existed are apocalyptic by design.
If we truly want peace on earth and freedom for all, we have to let go of all that which keeps us divided, and come together as MAN, conscious living co-creators of creation. The Love For Life website offers a remedy to the problems we all face in the form of DO NO HARM COMMUNITIES: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/3641 For more details see here: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/6511 and here: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/3385 - We also highly recommend that everyone read the brilliant Russian books called The Ringing Cedars: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/1125 - The Love For Life homepage/front-page also provides lots of inspiring remedy based information: http://loveforlife.com.au - If you want to be kept up to date with our work please register to the Love For Life mailing list here: http://loveforlife.com.au/campaign_list We usually send two postings per month. Presently there are over 5000 registrations reaching over 200,000 readers globally. The website now receives over 2 million strikes per month with June 2009 heading close to (or over) 3 million strikes.
Conscious Love Always
Arthur and Fiona Cristian
Love For Life
17th June 2009