Tree Of Iman

Angel Oak

If someone gives you a plant to take care of..how do you think you will do it? Wouldn't you try your best to not to let that plant die? And of course, to do that you are going to make sure that all the things that plant need, you provide it and keep it away form all the harmful things.

At the same time you will try to find out about the basic elements that plant is consisted of and the basic things those elements need to grow properly.

Believe me or not but all of us have one, very delicate and at the same time very strong tree to take care of given to us by our Lord.

Allah (SWT) has given us this tree that is planted in our hearts, called "shajarat-ul-Iman" (Tree of Iman).

Allah (swt) describes that tree in Quran:

"Have you not seen how Allah coined a similitude (of parable) a good word like a good tree, the root of that tree is firmly established in the ground and the branches reach the heavens."

At another place in Quran Allah (swt) said:

"(this particular tree by the permission of its Lord), gives fruits (all kinds of fruits) anytime Allah (swt) wants it to give fruits.

Allah (swt) also said:

"Allah coin similitude for the human beings (for you and I), so that perhaps we may reflect (we may think)."

Science say there are trees in other plants than earth
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Allah (swt) created seven heavens and earth other than this planet. Some people say that there are trees and some say there are not. There is proof in Quran and Sunnah that there are trees in Jannah (heaven). One of them is called "Toobaa", the tree for the "ghurab'a" (strangers). The shade of that tree is one month journey and this is where the believers will take their clothes from.

Most Important Tree in this World:
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The most important tree in this dunya (world) is the Tree of Iman (shajarat-ul-Iman). The tree that Allah (swt) has planted in our hearts. The tree that we all should be worrying about day and night. We all must know what that tree of Iman is made of so that we can take good care of it.

What Does the Tree of Iman Have:
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Almost all the trees that Allah (swt) has created/originated, almost all of them have three very basic things:

1. Root (O'rooq)

The roots of the most important tree on this earth are:

a) Knowledge (I'lm)

b) Certainty (Yaqeen)

The tree of Iman is the basic belief of Islam

"La ilaha illal lah"
"There is no God worthy of worship except Allah (swt)"

So the root for us of the Tree of Iman, is the KNOWLEDGE of the meaning of "la ilaha illallah". It covers every single aspect of our life. When we know that there is no God other then Allah (swt), we totally surrender to Him alone and we take everything that He gave us through the Quran and the Sunnah of Rasul of Allah (saw).

The other half of the root of this tree is the certainty, meaning the certainty of everything what "la ilaha illallah" brings.

When implementing Islam in our lives, or when accepting a matter which we were not aware of before, we should do it with firm belief and certainty, as long as it is from the Quran and the authentic Sunnah of Rasul and his Companions.

2) Trunk: (Saaq)

The tree of Iman, like the other trees, also has a trunk, which is Purity of Intention: (al-Ikhlas)

We must have the purity of intention for our tree to be firm and unshakable and immovable.

Abdullah Ibn Sahl at-tuzkuri (ra) (scholar from the taba'een) was asked:

"What is al-Iman?", he said:
"Iman is statement, is action, is nyyah (intention) and is Sunnah. If it is a statement without actions then it is Kufr (disbelief), if it is a statement and action with out intention then it is Nifaq (hypocrisy), if it is a statement, action and intention without the Sunnah, then it is Bid'ah (innovation)."

To keep a healthy trunk of our tree, we must have a pure intention of our actions. Our every righteous deed is divided into two parts. The first half of a righteous deed is the purity of intention. The nyyah has to be pure for the pleasure of Allah ONLY!

3) Branches & Fruits:

This tree should also has branches and fruits. And these are:

a) Righteous deeds

b) Honorable/Noble Character

At several places in Quran, Allah (SWT) has distinguished the people of Jannah from the people of Hell as Indeed those who believed and did righteous deeds....

Those people who believed and did righteous deeds have also been given the glad tidings of Jannah at several places in Quran:

Every righteous deed consists of two parts. First part is the purity of intention (for the sake of Allah only!). Second half of the righteous deed is that the action has to be in conformed with Shariah (Quran and Sunnah of Rasul (SAW) and the Companions(May Allah be pleased with them)). If the action is not conformed with Shariah, it is not considered a righteous deed!

When a tree has firm roots and healthy trunk and branches, it automatically produces good fruits. Similarly, when we establish firm roots of Iman in our heart and keep healthy trunk and branches of the tree the fruits will prosper. If we have the knowledge of our deen and certainty of whatever knowledge we have, and we do righteous deeds with pure intentions, we will automatically develop an honorable and noble character.

Things that will Make Our Tree Die:
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1)Kufr:
If we allow kufr to come into our tree, it will destroy the tree.

2) Shirk:
If we allow shirk to come into our tree, it will also destroy the tree.

3) Bid'ah:
If we allow Bid'ah (innovations) of all types to come into our tree, it will demolish our tree. Our tree will become yellow, our tree will become dry and our tree will eventually die!

Note: Muslims nowadays are involved in so many "religious practices" thinking that they are pleasing Allah (swt), though in reality they are getting themselves involved either in bid'ahs or sometimes even to the extant of shirks. Muslims, intentionally or unintentionally, either add or remove stuff from how a certain act was originally practiced by our pious predecessors and hence making it a bid'ah. And since the act was not practiced according to the "Shari'ah", it will not be considered a righteous deed.

To avoid from getting ourselves involved in these dangerous things, it is extremely important to have the "knowledge" of the deen and to refer back to our pious predecessors in every single thing we do or say.

What is AL-Iman:
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Al-Iman is:

1) Belief:
Iman is a belief in our hearts. It is to have a firm belief of "la illah illallah" in our hearts and all the thing that it brings. Every thing that we find from Quran and Sunnah, we must have a sincere and firm belief on that without having any doubts.

2)Statement:
Iman is a statement by our tongue. We must state "la illaha illallah" by our tongues. Meaning what ever believes we have, we cannot just keep them in our hearts, but we must say them out.

3) Actions:
Iman is to carry out our believes and our statements by our bodily limbs. After believing in "la illaha illallah" and stating it, we must imply it in our actions. And the way we imply "la illaha illallah" in our actions is by modifying our every action and deed according to the Quran and

Sunnah of Rasul and our pious predecessors.
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A general example of the above could be wearing hijab. If one has a firm belief in Allah (swt) and whatever He revealed, will definitely believe that wearing hijab is a command of Allah and it is mandatory. Then only believing is not enough, we must have to admit by stating by our tongues the fact that hijab is necessary and inform other people about it in a nice pleasing way (not in a displeasing or complaining manner). But still our Iman is not completed until we start wearing it ourselves.

To think that Iman is in our hearts only, is one of the tricks of Iblis (satan). We shouldn't be fooled by the shaytans (satan) of the Ins wal Jin (Humans and Jinns) by thinking that Iman is in our chests only and as long as we have a firm belief, our Iman is completed Rather we HAVE to show our believes by our statements and by our actions

Highest and Lowest of Iman:
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Rasul of Allah (saw) said:
"Iman has 70 branches. And the highest of al-Iman is the statement "la illaha illallah" (It is the most sublime, the most magnificent and the most superior of all Iman). The lowest of the Iman is to remove some harmful thing from the street. And modesty is a part of al-Iman."

Iman Wears Out:
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We all go through high and low levels of Iman. As Rasul of Allah told us:"al-Iman wears out in each and everyone of you and me like a "thaub" (garment) wears out (like our clothes wears out...and they become shabby eventually. Iman wears out like that "thaub").

So Rasul of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) advised us (since our Iman wears out) "So all of you Muslims, should ask Allah (swt) to RENEW the Iman in our hearts."

-by Umm Abdullah 
from a lecture by Dawud Adib 

Not Losing Hope For Allah's Mercy

In many verses of the Qur’an, Allah mentions that Muslims—even those with the most fear of Allah—– may make mistakes. In one verse, Allah reveals;

Say [from Me]: ‘My servants, you who have transgressed against yourselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Truly Allah forgives all wrong actions. He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’ ”(Surat az-Zumar; 53)

It surely brings relief to their hearts, for a believer who errs could feel great regret, sorrow and guilt.

Allah has made the scope for error so wide in human beings that He has promised to forgive a person’s errors without exception, if that person is sorry and repents of what he has done.

But despite of the many consolations in the Qur’an that refresh the spirit and give hope, many human beings do not admit that they make mistakes. In spite of the glad tidings announced in the Qur’an, after making a mistake they become wrapped in despair and become anxious and downhearted.

An individual who refuses to acknowledge errors he has committed out of pride and arrogance is greatly saddened by what he has done. He has trouble accepting that he is a creature prone to making mistakes and faulty decisions, and whose actions and words may be wrong.

He does not consider that perfection and freedom from error belong only to Allah. He wants to be perfect himself. But he cannot, and the fact that some of his attitudes are wrong (despite his desire that they not be), draws him into despair.

A believer experiences deep peace by accepting his imperfections and helplessness in relation to Allah and never claims to be free from error.

It should be remembered that the tendency to err and sin—even though one may be a firm believer—makes him more aware of Allah’s perfection. One can conceive of perfection only when he had experienced imperfection.

Consciousness of his own failures and weaknesses lets him better appreciate the absolute perfection of Allah.
~By Harun Yahya
source: http://www.harunyahya.com

Loving For Allah's Sake

A believer devotes his entire life to Allah. He lives for Allah, works for Allah and loves for Allah’s sake. “Loving for Allah’s sake” might be an incomprehensible concept for someone who is not well acquainted with true Islam. One who has remained distant from Allah throughout his life, and who has therefore not known Him, will be unaware of how to love Allah intuitively.

However, a believer who knows Allah and witnesses His mercy to him, who recognises that everything he loves is His blessing and that he owes his existence and life to His mercy, loves Allah and attains the noble spirit of loving for the sake of Allah. In the Qur’an, the great difference between believers and other people in this sense is stated as follows:

Some people set up equals to Allah, loving them as they should love Allah. But those who believe have greater love for Allah… (Surat al-Baqara: 165)

As is stated in the verse above, those who associate partners with Allah and who, in their minds, ascribe all attributes of Allah to other beings, love these beings as they should love Allah. This is the kind of love that is based on idolatry.

Aware that everything belongs to Allah and every being’s existence is consequential upon Allah’s creation, believers love Allah most. The believer grasps the following fact:

- Nothing (be it a human being, a thing or an event, etc.) has a beauty of its own. Allah creates all things and endows them with beauty. Since a person, for example, has not designed and formed his or her face himself, that beauty is a beauty that belongs to Allah.

- Allah gives this beauty to man, whom he created from nothing, for a brief time only (since that person will soon grow old and die). Only Allah possesses the power to recreate that beauty in the hereafter, in an even more perfect form.

This being the case, a believer loves all the things he encounters in this world, aware that they all belong to Allah and that he will encounter the “original” form of their beauty in the hereafter. Consequently, his actual love is for Allah, the One Who provides him with everything he loves: He is the real Owner of every kind of beauty.

Contrary to the concept of love based upon faith in Allah that is enjoyed by believers, disbelievers’ love is based on idolatry. In the Qur’an, this form of love is described in the words of Prophet Ibrahim (as):

He said, “You have adopted idols apart from Allah as tokens of mutual affection in this world. But then on the Day of Rising you will reject one another and curse one another. The Fire will be your shelter. You will have no helpers.” (Surat al-‘Ankabut: 25)

Said Nursi, also known as Bediuzzaman (the Wonder of the Age), one of the greatest Islamic scholars of the twentieth century, likens this form of love to that of a man who looks at the sun through a mirror held in his hand. Once the mirror is broken into pieces and light is no longer reflected from it, the man feels profound distress at having lost a source of light. However, he is not intelligent enough to conceive that the light in the mirror does not actually originate from it. The light comes from the sun; mirrors only reflect it. Believers love only Allah and those who place faith in Him. This being the case, they have no love for anybody who rebels against Allah. This subject is emphasised in the following verses of the Qur’an:

You who believe! Do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends, showing love for them when they have rejected the truth that has come to you, driving the Messenger and yourselves out of your city simply because you believe in Allah your Lord. If you go out to fight in My Way and seeking My pleasure, keeping secret the love you have for them, I know best what you conceal and what you make known. Any of you who do that have strayed from the right way. (Surat al-Mumtahana: 1)

You will not find people who believe in Allah and the Last Day on friendly terms with anyone who opposes Allah and His Messenger, even though they be their fathers, their sons, their brothers or their nearest kindred... (Surat al-Mujadala: 22)

As the verses above make it clear, the love of a believer rests on no criterion other than the “love felt for Allah.” Setting aside all factors such as kinship or material wealth, this love is deeply rooted in faith and noble values. A believer has love for those whose faith is assured rather than for those possessing fame, money or social status, which are only seemingly important.
~By Harun Yahya
source: http://www.harunyahya.com