Quote by Mufti Menk Ismail

When our hearts are hardened, no sign sent to us by the Almighty will make us take heed, mend our ways or incline towards Him.

The Almighty sends regular signs of varying magnitudes to each one of us, as gentle reminders to soften our hearts towards His obedience.

If nothing at all serves as a warning to us, then we need urgent help to remedy our spiritual paralysis before it is too late.

"Has the time not come for the believers to humble their hearts to the reminder of the Almighty and the Divine Revelation..?" 57:16

May the Almighty protect our hearts from becoming hardened, and may He instead soften them to incline towards His obedience at all times. Aameen

Mufti Ismail Menk

Donating what one loves

Giving from one's wealth with a sincere heart in order to earn the good pleasure of Allah is a mark of faith. Believers who spend generously are praised and given good tidings in many verses. Allah mentions a subtle aspect of spending—that by the giving away of what one loves, he will attain righteousness:

You will not attain true goodness until you give of what you love. Whatever you give away, Allah knows it. (Surah Al ‘Imran; 92)

The importance attached to something is linked to how much one sacrifices in order to attain it. Reluctance to give up particular things means that those things are thought to be dearer. Since nothing is more precious than the approval and mercy of Allah, a true believer can give away anything he owns in an instant. A contrary attitude would mean that worldly things are dearer than the good pleasure of Allah, so he would not attain the state of righteousness mentioned in the Qur'an.

It may be that a person donates much, renders important services for the cause of religion, and performs his acts of worship regularly. He may also have religious knowledge. Yet, his failure to let go of something he loves and contribute it for the cause of Allah when necessary shows weakness of faith and failure to grasp the essence of religion. Because this would mean that he prefers that thing to the good pleasure of Allah. In this sense this would put all his good deeds at risk, even if he thinks what he had done is good.

A Muslim should love Allah above all else and love created things only because they are manifestations of Allah's creative artistry or because Allah loves them too. In Allah's sight, this is the only legitimate way of love. This perception will allow a person to part with anything he loves at any time. Because his love is primarily for Allah, he loses nothing. For Allah pervades and embraces everything. He is closer to him than his jugular vein. In fact, he attains greater love and blessing because he has acted in compliance with Allah's will. He does not regret what he gave; on the contrary, he feels pleased. This is the attitude of a true Muslim.

But if a person loves something or someone as autonomous and independent of Allah, he ascribes it as an associate to Allah (Allah is Surely Beyond That) and becomes an idolater. If he must possess something but, at the same time, does so in accordance with Allah's commands, Allah may will to purify him from the "association" he fell into through his ignorant desires. Finally he will attain goodness and enjoy Allah's mercy.

Allah created the earth for us

"He (Allah) is the Creator of the heavens and the earth..." (Surat ash-Shura: 11)


Allah is the One Who created earth, the Sun, stars and Moon. So how did all the living things on earth come into being? Imagine a huge planet with its surface completely empty. There are no humans or animals, no plants or insects.

Earth has been decorated in a lot of detail for living things to survive. Allah is the One Who has given earth all these details. Otherwise none of us would have been able to live, neither you, nor your parents, or indeed any of your friends would have been here.

Let's consider how Allah created the earth so that living things can survive:

1. Think about… how orderly everything in the universe is. The sun has been put in the exact position from which it could warm us and give us light at the same time. If there were no sun, there would not have been one living thing on earth. Neither us, nor the animals nor any other creatures would have been able to live.

2. Allah has also distanced the sun from earth to just the right extent. If earth was a little bit closer to the sun, the heat would have scorched it and we would not have been able to live. If earth was a little more distant from the sun, then glaciers would have covered it and again, few living things would have been able to survive. This is one of the reasons why there is no life on other planets, because they are either too close to the sun or too distant from it.

3. As you know, living things need to breathe in order to live. We need oxygen in the air so that we can breathe. Exactly the right amount of oxygen exists in the air so that human beings can breathe. If there were a little bit more or a little bit less, neither we, nor the animals, nor the plants would have survived, because, as we have already said, we need to breathe in order to live. For this we need oxygen.

4. One of the most important things that make it possible for us to survive is water. No organism can live without water. For this reason, Allah has created some parts of earth as water. Three quarters of earth's surface is covered with water. However, there is no water on any of the other planets nor is there any water on the moon that you see at night. The essentials for living things are only available on earth.

Many events on earth make it possible for us to live. If even only one of these events doesn't take place, no living thing would be left on earth. So, is it possible that these thousands of events have come together spontaneously and formed such a place as earth? Of course not. Not even one of these events could happen by chance. Allah has created earth for human beings. And, because of this, earth is the most suitable place for us.

Harun Yahya

The Size of the Earth

When people stand up and begin walking, they feel no pressure in an upward or downward direction. Sitting, walking, and running are exceedingly mundane activities. Yet each time people engage in such activities, they are completely unaware that they are resisting a very powerful gravitational force.

The most important reason for this is the size of Earth. If it were just slightly smaller, gravity would be far weaker, the planet’s atmosphere would fragment and disappear, and we would be unable to remain stable in the world. If the Earth were larger, gravity would increase considerably and various poisonous gases would make our atmosphere lethal. Even if we managed to protect ourselves from these gasses, we would be unable to move.

Yet such a problem never arises, because Earth’s size has been determined in a manner that makes human life possible. The conditions that combine are so delicate that there is no way even one of them could have come about by chance. Scientists have calculated the odds of such an event as 1 in 10123.1 Clearly, the accidental formation of an environment suited to life is impossible.

Were Allah willed so, He could make each star and planet suitable for life, arrange matters so that human beings had no need to eat or drink, breathe gasses in specific proportions, or gravity or the Sun. But Allah, Who created all that exists, willed to bring together all of the astonishingly detailed conditions necessary for life to remind people that He created and controls everything and to give us the opportunity to appreciate His infinite might and turn to Him:

He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs. He does not have a son, and He has no partner in the Kingdom. He created everything and determined it most exactly. (Surat al-Furqan, 2)

There is a certain purpose and wisdom in the creation of everything

All Mighty Allah creates everything with wisdom and good. Congenital insensitivity is also one of the perfect examples of this creation of Allah. That is because, if Allah did not create such a sickness, no one would be aware of pain’s significance for the protection of body, which would be instrumental in one’s gratitude to Allah. The traits that exemplify the good Allah creates in everything are surely not limited to these. Our Lord also creates an important inspiration for the medical world to correct a disorder that some people suffer. That is because in the process of research of this disorder connections among signals and reactions and the details pertaining to them can be resolved. With this data scientists can produce new drugs that will reduce the pain caused by some certain diseases.

In the Qur’an, our Almighty Allah relates that everything He creates has a reason:


We did not create heaven and earth and everything in between them as a game. If We had desired to have some amusement, We would have derived it from Our Presence, but We did not do that. (Surat al-Anbiya’- 16–17)