The outstanding quality of Ebrahim عليه السلام was to submit to the order of Allah. He did not question why & how. Allah told to Ebrahim عليه السلام, Submit! He responded: I submit to Allah, the lord of the Universe.
A bounty that keeps you away from Allah is a punishment.
An adversity that draws you closer to Allah is a bounty.
We came from Allah. We will return to Allah. Our focus should only be Allah and His Pleasure.
The act of pondering is a light in the heart of a believer. How fortunate is the one who when he speaks, he speaks of Allah & when he is quiet, it is because he is pondering & reflecting on the bounties of Allah. When he looks at something, he is looking to recognize Allah Ta'ala
A pious person once said: When i leave my home & go out, i see the different creations & bounties of Allah Ta'ala & know that there is something in each of those bounties that i can ponder on & recognize Allah Ta'ala through it
Hasan Basri (RA) said that it is better to ponder over the bounties of Allah than to do ibadat ie. worship all night. Pondering & reflection is a mirror through which we could recognize in ourselves our faults but only if we are sincere & honest with ourselves
When we use our intelligence, we are able to recognize Allah Ta'ala & through this we are able to get closer to Allah & love him. Allah created intelligence & put it in human beings. We should ponder on the questions posed to us in the Qur'aan in order to be able to recognize him
In the Qur'aan, Allah Ta'ala speaks about his power in his creation. Allah then tells us to ponder, reflect & recognize him through his creation. The gift of intelligence is given to us humans & we should use it to recognize the beauty, power, grandeur & majesty of our Allah
Make your temperament subservient to Shari'ah. In this, you will go against your Nafs. Do not make Shari'ah subservient to your temperament. If you do so, you will be following your Nafs - Mufti Ebrahim Desai Rahimahullah
It is a great sunnah of Nabi (saw) to focus on the positive attributes of people & overlook their shortcomings. When you hear something negative of someone, turn that around by referring to his positive attributes. This attitude will change a toxic environment into a positive one
Practically, life in the sight of people is not measured by your wealth and knowledge. Life is measured by touching the hearts of people, inspiring them and making them feel peaceful and comfortable. Make that the goal of your life - Mufti Ebrahim Desai Rahimahullah
When Sahabah came to know that Rasulullah ﷺ was visiting their area, they all came to meet him. From this we learn that whenever there is a pious person or some activity related to Deen in our locality, we should make an effort to attend & participate for our own benefit
From this we learn not to make assumptions about people from their outward appearance & state. Dont come to conclusions about people very quickly. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Nabi ﷺ has said: Think good of your fellow Muslim. Nabi ﷺ also said: Stay away from suspicion