Ibn Rajab رحمه الله Said:

“We are upon the truth, you are the khawarij.”

We are upon the haqq. Living in our well-furnished homes, eating the food cooked by our beloved mother/wife, not having to worry about b0mbs falling any moment, not having to be under the constant threat of death, living in the comfort and safety of our houses. We have never gone out to battle, never got our feet dusty in the path of Allah, we’ve never known the sound of grenades or gunfire, our eyes never witnessed buildings being crushed and bodies being torn to pieces after a barrel bomb attack, we’ve hardly studied the fiqh of jhad.

 We’re on the haqq, -no doubt about that-

But you?

You are the khawarij. 

You’ve left everything you had ever loved to defend a people whom you’ve never seen, who are not related to you in any way except through the bonds of Islam and humanity. You’ve left the comfort of your beds to come sleep on rocks, on the hard, blood-stained ground; you gave up the warm meal cooked by your mothers/wives to come eat whatever you come across, even going days without food. 

You’ve left your career, job, loved ones behind to come live a life with no guarantees except death and injuries. You’ve studied deen under scholars who practice what they preach - who’ve marched forth with their guns and their pens.

But you are khawarij. 

You desire death as much as we desire life, 

But you are khawarij. 

You’re giving your blood to purify this deen and to raise the word of Allah the highest, you’re sacrificing your lives without a second thought so that the oppressed can get a new life, while we - we are sleeping in our homes and some of us don’t even have the guts to watch what our brothers and sisters are suffering from.

But we are on the haqq and you are the khawarij. 

You are treading the path of Khalid ibn Waleed, Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, Al Baraa ibn Al Malik رضي الله عنهم while we have hard time getting up for fajr and standing for tahajjud.

But we are on the haqq and you are the khawarij.

SubhanAllah, strange times we live in.

“The strangeness of this ummah; no one wants to conduct jhad except the khawarij. No one wants to strive to establish the Shari’ah except the khawarij. None are feared by their enemies except the khawarij. And their khurooj is proven when death has come and they die smiling…” 

-Sayyid Qutb

A simple smile of a shaheed is enough to destroy years of propaganda. 

The small index finger of a slain Ghareeb pointing towards the sky, where the throne of His Lord and protector lies, is enough to prove that, perhaps, the “khawarij” were on the right all time long… 

That perhaps our claim of being fair and just was not true when it came to dealing with them, but we couldn’t realise because our eyes were blinded by the lies of those we thought were scholars. 

And while we were busy running our tongues in slander and heedless sin, they were:

“Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and they receive good tidings about those (to be granted shahada) after them who have not yet joined them—that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.”

“Those to be granted martyrdom after them” that could not be us, because we were busy mindlessly shouting that one’s striving to meet His lord was extremism and heedlessness. 

“The example of the disbelievers  is like a flock not comprehending the calls and cries of their shepherd. ˹They are wilfully˺ deaf, dumb and blind so they have no understanding.”

So oh one who was granted sight after years of blindness, Oh one who was saved from accompanying the oppressors in the hellfire, Oh one who was saved from the previous generations of oppressors cursing him and his likes, rejoice, and remember Allah’s blessing upon you and How He blessed you with guidance, a guidance which you would not have attained except with His assistance. 

And as Allah says, and His speech is the greatest: 

“And you considered it bad for you, but it was good for you.”

So do not perceive their deaths to be a loss, nor perceive their losses to be due to Allah’s displeasure with them or His curse, rather in everything Allah has a wisdom, that we may or may not get to know. Alhamdulillah. 

And if their perishing causes nothing but the guidance of a single servant, then that is better for them than red camels, as stated by our dear and beloved Muhammad ﷺ, whom, if we truly known and taken as an example, we wouldn’t call his followers “khawarij”.

The path of Tawhīd is not always an easy path:

People distance them self from you, because they hear something new, they see that not a lot of people agree with you, they think 'how can this be the truth when most people don't follow it?'... So al-Ghurbah (strangeness) is the result: From brothers being refused in marriage because of their ʿAqīdah to brothers being physically attacked, to brothers losing all their friends and maybe even family, to sisters being isolated in families who have fallen into disbelief, to sisters not finding a Muwahhid husband to protect them... again, it is not an easy path, but wallāh, all of this is nothing, for it is the best Path. It is a sweet path, a clear path and a straight path: the Path of the Prophets. So, hold onto the Path of Ibrāhīm and the Āthār, and smile, for wallāh, you have the best you can get in this world!

Never think highly of yourself when people praise you. The only reason they are praising you is because Allah has veiled your sins. Without that veil I swear by Allah many people would look at one another with pure disgust

❝ When Allah blesses you with a chance to help and support your brother, recognise it as a true blessing! Consider yourself the one being helped. Allah has bestowed upon you the blessings to help others and cleanse yourself. You are a mere vessel of opportunity—either you help or you don’t. Remember, Allah will always find a way to support and aid His faithful slaves. Allah selected you and preferred you for the opportunity to be presented to. But if you don’t help yourself by giving charity and reject this blessing of Allah, you have no one to help you and you are accountable for every penny. The angels will make Duah against you and your fortune sooner or later will diminish as it’s void of the blessings of Allah. Exactly what happened to those before you. ❞

— Shaykh Musa Jibril حفظه الله

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said:

“(By fasting) one narrows the passageways of Shayṭān within the servant (of Allāh), by narrowing the passageways of food and drink. As well, it restrains the force of the limbs from giving way to its dominating nature of that which is harmful to it in this world and the hereafter.

And, (fasting) subdues every limb and might of the soul from (following its) whims, and harnesses it by its bridle.

For, surely (the fast) is the bridle of the muttaqūn [the righteous, those having taqwá] and the shield of the warriors [a shield between them and the Hell-fire].”

[Zaad al-Maʿad | 2/28-29]

“Do not ask me about my life, for it is the secrets of life. It is both a gift and a hardship, a world of wishes I have entrusted to Allah, then I moved forward in the company of the righteous.

As for my path, it is the Quran, the sword, and trials.

Allah has blessed it, and before me, the Prophets walked it, as did the caravans of martyrs. It was nourished by rivers of blood, and thus it became a fragrant garden, framed in light.

As for my fate, it is what pleases Allah and what He wills, whether it is victory with clear triumph or martyrdom and eternal life. And if I find myself on this earth with limited time, then let me be the symbol of heroism and guidance, or woe to my existence.”

وغادرنا سفول الليل قاصرا

فلا نمنا ولا ذقنا الأمان

وأعوام مضت والعين تبكي

جميعا كلنا في الأسري عاناه

مطاعهم لعل القلب يحنو

ونسرخ تحت وطئتهم كفانا

ولكن القلوب غدت حديدا

وفيها الحقد قد بلغ العلامه

حياة كلها قهر وظلٌ

الا يا موت زرنا في ضحانا

اما والله لا ارهاب فينا

وعار ان تصدق ايا اخانا

Life is a constant struggle, and a feeling of weariness never departs your side, sometimes that of your body and at times of things that reside in your heart and refuse to go away. You have to strive either way, whether it’s for dunya or Akhirah, so why not direct all of your endeavours for the sake of Allaah?

A believer never enjoys his sin, never finds his delight completed. Rather, even while committing the sin his heart is faced with grief, though the intoxication of desire covers up his feeling of it.

If the heart ever becomes void of this remorseful ache and the joy of sinning overpowers any feeling of remorse, then one should doubt one's faith, and cry over the death of his heart.

Were the heart alive, the committing of sin would make it sad, upbraid and constrict it, and it would sense it.

A wound, after all, does not cause pain to a corpse.

[ Madarij al-Salikin ] Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzi

Q: How can one be patient upon trial?

A: “In the same way we fast, we’re absolutely and completely sure that the adhān of Maghrib will eventually come…”

دوامُ الحالِ من المُحال

“The permanence of one condition is impossible”