The Repentance of Maalik Ibn Dinaar
Ibn Qudaamah
Source: Kitaab at-Tawwabeen (223-225)

I was a policeman and I was given to drinking. I bought a beautiful slave who gave me a daughter. I doted over my daughter and when she began to crawl on all fours I grew even more fond of her. Whenever I put a strong drink in front of me she would come to me and pull me away from it, or she would spill it from me. When she completed two years she died. I became consumed with grief over her loss.

When the night of mid-Sha`ban came; it was the night before Jummah; I stayed home and drank… I did not pray the `Isha prayer. Then I had a dream that the Day of Judgment had begun, the Trumpet was blown, the graves gave up their dead, mankind was gathered up, and I was among them. I heard something behind me. I turned around and saw a dragon of indescribable size, blue-black, rushing for me with wide open jaws. I fled in terror.

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Why Our Supplications Are Not Answered?
by al-Hâfidh Ibn Rajab
Taken from Khushoo fis-Salaat (p.62) of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali - rahimahullaah

Ibraheem ibn Adham, may Allaah have Mercy upon him, was a third century scholar, a teacher and a companion of Sufyaan ath-Thawree, and he was asked about the saying of Allaah - The Most High:

“And your Lord says: ‘Call on Me, I will answer your prayer…’” [Soorah Ghaafir, 40:60]

“We supplicate and we are not answered.” So he said to them:

“You know Allaah, Yet you do not obey Him,
You recite the Qur’aan, Yet you do not act according to it,
You know Shaitaan, Yet you have agreed with him,
You proclaim that you love the Messenger of Allaah, Yet you abandon his Sunnah,
You proclaim your love for Paradise, Yet you do not act to gain it,
You proclaim your fear for the Fire, Yet you do not prevent yourselves from sins,
You say: “Indeed death is true”, Yet you have not prepared for it,
You busy yourselves with finding faults with others, Yet you do not look at your own faults,
You eat that which Allaah has provided for you, Yet you do not thank Him,
You bury your dead, Yet you do not take a lesson from it.”

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Food and Eating Habits According to the Sunnah
Imaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d.751H)

It is sufficient for the son of Aadam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.
FOOD:

[1]: When he put his hand in the food, he would say, “Bismillaah (with the Name of Allaah),’’ and he told people to say this when eating. He said, “When any one of you eats, let him mention the name of Allaah. If he forgets to mention the name of Allaah at the beginning, let him say ‘Bismillaahi fee awwalihi wa aakhirihi,’ (with the name of Allaah, at its beginning and at its end).” [2] The correct view is that it is obligatory to mention the name of Allaah (say Bismillaah) when eating. The ahaadeeth which state this are saheeh (authentic) and are clear, with no contradictions in them.

[2]: When he raised the food to his mouth, he would say, “Al-hamdu lillaahi hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubaarakan feehi ghayri makfiyyin wa laa muwadda’ wa laa mustaghni ’anhu Rabbanaa ’azza wa jall (Allaah be praised with an abundant, beautiful, blessed praise. He is the One Who is Sufficient, Who feeds and is never fed, The One Who is longed for, along with that which is with Him, and the One Who is needed. He is Our Lord, may He be glorified). [3]

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The first three chapters taken from the book “Purification of the Soul”, one of the great books on the matters of the heart. The book is a compilation of the works of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Ibn Al-Qayyim al-Jawziayy and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

Chapter 1: Sincerity
Sincerity is the freeing of one’s intentions from all impurities in order to come nearer to Allah. It is to ensure that the intentions behind all acts of worship and obedience to Allah are exclusively for His pleasure. It is the perpetual contemplation of the Creator, to the extent that one forgets the creation.

Sincerity is a condition for Allah’s acceptance of good deeds performed in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah has commanded this in the Qur’an:

“And they have been commanded to worship only Allah, being sincere towards Him in their deen and true. “[98:5]

Abu Umama has related that a man once came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said,

“What of a man who joined us in the fighting, his intention being for fame and booty?” The Prophet said, “He recieves nothing.” The man repeated the question three times and each time the Prophet said, “He receives nothing”. Then he said, “Allah only accepts actions that are intended purely for His pleasure.”[1]

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The Easiest Form of Worship
Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah

35. Remembrance is easy for the servant-whether he lies in bed or journeys, in health or in illness, in comfort and luxury, in his daily work, standing, sitting or lying down, on his way or at home. No [other] act can be performed so often and in so many situations. In fact, it is so easy that he could sleep in his bed and still be ahead of the one who stands [in worship] but is heedless. The sleeper rises having traversed a great distance, all the while stretched out on his bed; whereas the one standing heedlessly rises seated on his mount. ‘And that is the grace of God which He gives to whomever He pleases.’ [57:21]

It is recounted that there once was an ascetic [rajul min al-`ibad] who stayed the night with a man as a guest. The ascetic spent the entire night standing in prayer, while the host was stretched out in his bed. When he rose in the morning, the ascetic said to the host, ‘The caravan has gone on before you,’ [sabaqak al-rakb, by which he meant, ‘I have surpassed you in the journey to God’] or words to that effect. To which the [host] replied, ‘It is unimportant that one spend the night travelling and then wake up with the caravan. What is important is that one spend the night in bed but wake up having crossed a great distance.’

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