LOVE

From Al-islam.org.


In a famous hadith, the Prophet (s) is reported as questioning his followers concerning the "firmest handhold of faith" (awthaq 'urwat al-iman). When they cannot reply, he declares: 
The firmest handhold of faith is to love for the sake of God and to hate for the sake of God, to befriend God's friends and to renounce His enemies.' [1] 

In another tradition, Fudayl ibn al-Yasar, a disciple, asks al-Imam al-Sadiq, may peace be upon him, whether love and hate derive from faith; he replies: 
Is faith anything but love and hate? [2] 

It is also narrated that al-Imam al-Baqir, may peace be upon him, stated that: 
Religion (din) is love and love is religion. [3] 

It is narrated in a hadith qudsi that when God loves someone He becomes his ears, his eyes, his tongue, and his hands: 
When I love him, then I shall be his ears with which he listens, his eyes with which he sees, his tongue with which he speaks, and his hands with which he holds; if he calls Me, I shall answer him, and if he asks Me, I shall give him. [7] 

It is narrated that al-Imam al-Sadiq, may peace be upon him, said: 
For every kind of worship there is another which surpasses it, and the love for us, the people of the Household, is the best form of worship. [15] 
  

[1] Al-Kulayni, Usul al-Kafi, "kitab al-iman wa al-kufr," bab al-hubb fi Allah wa ai-bughd fi Allah," hadith 6, Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah, ii, p. 126. 

[2] Ibid., hadith 5, p. 125. 

[3] Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-anwar, 'kitab al-iman wa al-kufr," "bab al-hubb fi Allah wa al-bughd fi Allah," Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-'Arabi, lxvi, p. 238. 

[7] Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, iv, p. 54. 

[15] Al-Majlisi, al-Bihar, xxvii, p. 91. 

Interview Questions for Sr. Freda:

1. Did you experience a particular moment that you knew your old faith was not right for you? Did you experience a particular moment when you knew you'd found the right one?

2. What made you feel love for Ahlulbait (as)?

3. What is your favorite kind of Islamic dress/hijab and why?

4. What is your favorite pasttime?

5. What do you think of the phenomenon of many women finding Islam in part due to relationships with Muslim men?


And response to questions from Br. Yousaf:
alright 5 questions for you masomma.

1: Consider for a while Earth is Flat , Now If i place a Ladies High heel shoe on top of North america what you think where would be colorado spring residing under the shoe ?

Well, Colorado Springs would be untouched by the shoe because it would be in the instep between the heel and the ball of th foot. Our mountains would get in the way if the shoe were positioned any other way. :)

2: Reverse you full name and then try to come up with name of any City in the world using those alphebets

yttaeb eniale anaid - let's see, Yonkers, Elmhurst, and Anchorage, is that want you wanted? :)

3: Tell us some thing about your stupidest stupidity

I'm trying to think some of the stupidest things I've ever done; I think a lot of them were in high school. Here is the story of the stupidest that comes to mind: When I was in high school, there was a fellow classmate who loved his car. So one day, as a joke, instead of calling him by his name, I called him by his license plate number "LBJ 805" - I still remember the number. Well, he recognized the number but didn't know what it was. So I seized the opportunity and pretty soon everyone in school was calling him LBJ 805, and he was about to go crazy trying to figure out what was going on and what that number was. We had so much fun, but after about a week I felt bad for him and told him what the number was. Well, one day several months later I was driving home with some friends at night and lo and behold, there in front of me is license plate LBJ 805! There was no one else on the road and so I just couldn't resist to start playing around, so I was turning my lights on and off, and tailgating and driving like an idiot trying to get a reaction from him, but he wasn't reacting. After a little while, I started to realize something wasn't right and started to get worried. So I went to the other lane and passed LBJ 805, and inside the car were his mom and dad - his dad being a police officer. I went to his house and apologized; I guess his mom and dad had been a party and his mom had gotten sick and so they left early and police man dad was taking sick mom home - man I felt terrible and I was sure I was going to get in a lot of trouble. But they accepted my apology and said they realized I was a friend of their son and let me go home without a ticket.....

4: Your profile pic Glasses are very out dated what are your plans to do some thing about them ?

Well the profile pic for blogger doesn't have me in it, the Haloscan doesn't either. The one at the bottom of the blog I am still wearing those, I got them last year sometime. I do have some older pics around somewhere with some outdated glasses, but I think these at least aren't granny glasses or big huge eighties glasses.... But if I ever win Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes I'll send you some money to pick out some frames for me, if you like (insha'allah). :)

5: How do you feel when people stare you wearing head scarf ?

I am pretty blind to it, I think I am so used to it that I am unaware of most of the stares. When I do notice it, I feel a little anxious, but I realize that most people don't mean anything by it - it is just kind of natural to stare at something different. Sometimes it is an opportunity for creating understanding - especially if it is children or certain people who are more open to asking about it. When I feel most uncomfortable is when I get a hate-filled stare from some big man, or get a drive-by of a car filled with young men shouting me down because of the hijab and then usually I just get out of that area as soon as possible. I also feel bad when a woman gives me an angry look and shoos her kids in the other direction - but those are really rather rare events, people are generally pretty tolerant of me looking different. In my experience, most Americans could care less how you dress unless they think you are a threat to them or unless you're in their family. In my average day-to-day experience, I almost forget I look different because what I wear is natural to me and I don't feel that I am treated differently, alhumdooleluh.