Thursday November 21, 2013
Spiritual Development Notes
All praise is due to Allah.
We praise Him seek His help, and ask for His forgiveness. We send blessings,
and salaam to His Messenger Muhammad sallahu alayhi wa salaam (peace and
blessings be upon him).
“Whomever engage on the path
of seeking knowledge for the sake of Allah, Allah make for him the path to Jannah (Paradise) easy,” summarized from the
hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (radiyAllahu anhu). However, along that path
the Shaytan (Satan) will always attempt to hinder you to what is good.
To pick up from where we
left off with our last session, it is important to have love, and mercy to
those that we educate in order to achieve our goals. Along with those two
elements, patience is just as important because it is impossible to teach children
without it.
The Sheikh reiterates the
importance of knowing, and understanding our responsibilities. He reminds us
that our responsibility is an Amana (Trust) that we have signed up for when we
decided to be a part of this institution, and it will be something that we will
be ask about on the Day of Judgment by Allah.
He also advised that if we
want to achieve our goal as educators, we have to fear Allah. We have to have
Taqwa (the fear of Allah) in all that we do.
Here the Sheikh gave an example from one of the companions of the
prophet Muhammad sallahu alayhi wa salaam (peace and blessing be upon him).
Once Ali Radia-Allahu Anhu (May Allah be pleased with him) was asked by another
companion “What is the meaning of Taqwa?” He replied, “ Taqwa is when you are
walking on a path filled with thorns, and pricks and you walk carefully and
gently avoiding being harmed, this is Taqwa.
So one has to be sincere in
whatever they do, and do it for the sake of Allah. He said if sincerity is
lacking, sooner or later this lack of sincerity will be apparent to oneself,
and others. The individual (i.e. the teacher)
has to evaluate his or herself and his or her intentions when they are in their
classes or wherever they maybe in the school. The Sheikh again emphasizes and
advise that we fear Allah, and that we be sincere with this trust we have been
given, because we are an institution, and teachers, families, parents, and
individuals have given us their children and have put forth their trust and
hope that we can produce future generations that are better than
themselves.
In conclusion, the Sheikh
advise that we become people who are As-Siddiq ( truthful) because in
truthfulness, Allah will be pleased with us, and if Allah is please with us, we
will be successful. He mentioned that we should be careful of not telling the
truth. Speak the truth even when joking, because this was the way of the
Messenger of Allah sallahu alayhi wa salaam. Although this is a very common
thing today where people tell lies to make others laugh or to be funny, do not
make it a habit to lie with jokes to the children even when giving examples.
Here he quoted a hadith where the Messenger of Allah sallahu alayhi wa salaam
said that a person will lie and continue to lie until it is written for him in
the heavens, and he is recognized as a liar by Allah. The Sheikh closed the
speech by giving an example from the prophet Ibrahim, who was a very truthful
person, so much so that Allah the All mighty considered him by himself a whole
nation.
Staff members were then permitted time to ask their questions.
JazakAllahu khayran Mr. Ndiaye for taking notes.
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