When he was young and wanted to learn and gain knowledge, his mother would gave him an advice and say "Go to Rabiatul Raid (a scholar during his time) and learn from his adab (manners) first before learning from his knowledge"
He listened to his mother's advice. He would finish learning from the Imam for one year, but he remain with him for the next 19 years. When people asked him why?
He said, "I took one year to learn from his knowledge, but 19 years to learn from his manners. He was an ocean in manners. They way he dealt with his fellow scholars, they way he dealt with the ignorance, the way he dealt with children and the way he dealt with the ruler; Everyday and every experience of his was a lesson of adhab. And I wish for the past 20 years, I would just learn from his manners alone"
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace be upon him), who said:
I have heard the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be up on him) say: Allah (mighty and sublime be He), had said: I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves, and My servant shall have what he has asked for.
When the servant says: Al-hamdu lillahi rabbi l-alamin, Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says: My servant has praised Me.
And when he says: Ar-rahmani r-rahim, Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says: My servant has extolled Me, and when he says:
Maliki yawmi d-din, Allah says: My servant has glorified Me - and on one occasion He said: My servant has submitted to My power.
And when he says: Iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta in, He says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for.
And when he says: Ihdina s-sirata l- mustaqim, siratal ladhina an amta alayhim ghayril-maghdubi alayhim wa la d-dallin, He says: This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for.
Hence when you reciting al Fatihah, Allah is talking directly to you, Allah Akbar.
"You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah . If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient (Al - Imran 3:110)"
"And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me (Adh-Dhariyat 51:56)"
If you were created to worship Allah and you are the best of all the nations, then You should be the best in worshipping Allah! - Sheikh Sajid Ahmed Umar
" Al hakumu takassur - Competition in (worldly) increase diverts you ( at - Takathur 102:1) "
Hakumu comes from the work lawhu (distractions) which means
Entertainment
Something that preoccupied you, gets all your attention and keep you from doing something more important.
So what it is that is distracting, preoccupying and take over your hear and mind. Allah swt called it takassur. Takassur means
The want, desire of wanting more and plenty. Continuous worry about not what we have but what we don't have. Human always wants more and never satisfied. When the person is graduate, he will think about finding a good job. When he get a good job, now he's thinking about promotion. When he achieve something in his life, there's always the thinking of "what's next?"
Human does not just desire more, but he or she will struggle and exhaust himself or herself to get more.
Human also have the urge to show off and this preoccupies them. "How can I show you that I have more?' "How could I prove to people?" This thought overwhelm human being, the desire of wanting to show their superiority over others.
It means it distract you from every good thing that you could have done but you were aren't able to do it because you were distracted
"Hatta zur tumul makobir - Until you visit the graveyards (At - Takassur 102:2)"
Makobir (graveyards) - illustrate location. Human beings are preoccupied with one home (world) but one day they will have to transfer to another home; a transfer that you can't escape.
Zurtumu - visit; comes from the word ziarah which means to go somewhere for a while and come back. It's beautiful why Allah use 'to visit the grave' instead of 'going to the grave'. The point is we are not going to be in the grave for a long time, one day we will be waken up to be resurrect on the Day of Judgement.
Some people have been in the grave for thousand of years. Yet, Allah only used the term 'ziarah' (visit the grave - remain there only for a short while). Try to compare the people who have been under the earth for thousand of years and the life that we live on the earth! Subhanallah!, majority of us only live up to 60 or 70 years. The time for us here is even more limited!
Saidina Ali r.a said
"People are asleep and when they die, they wake up"
