It is out of Allah’s mercy that you ˹O Prophet˺ have been lenient with them. Had you been cruel or hard-hearted, they would have certainly abandoned you. So pardon them, ask Allah’s forgiveness for them, and consult with them in ˹conducting˺ matters. Once you make a decision, put your trust in Allah. Surely Allah loves those who trust in Him.
If Allah helps you, none can defeat you. But if He denies you help, then who else can help you? So in Allah let the believers put their trust.
Al Imran – 3:159-160;
#Soft Heart; #Islam; #Heart; #Avoid Cruelty; #Prophet Muhammad(sal Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam);
Mathew 23:8 – 8“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Pride is my cloak and greatness My robe, and he who competes with Me in respect of either of them I shall cast into Hell-fire. It was related by Abu Dawud (also by Ibn Majah and Ahmad) with sound chains of authority. This Hadith also appears in Muslim in another version.
Hadith on Accountability (Pen here means the Pen of Writing of Deeds by the Angels)
Ali ibn Abi Talib reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The pen is lifted from three people: a sleeping person until he awakens, a child until he becomes an adult, and an insane person until he regains his sanity.”
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1423; Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani
We were with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) picking the fruits of the ‘Arak trees, and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Pick the black fruit, for it is the best.” The companions asked, “Were you a shepherd?” He replied, “There was no prophet who was not a shepherd.”
This famous narration provides profound insights into Islamic theology, the methodology of prophetic training, and the nature of leadership.
1. The Secrets of Prophetic Training (Tarbiyah)
Scholars of hadith, including Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, explain that Allah chose shepherding for His prophets as a deliberate, hands-on leadership academy. Leading an unruly flock of animals builds the exact virtues needed to guide humanity:
Patience and Endurance: Sheep can wander, stubborn beasts resist order, and the weather is unpredictable. A shepherd learns to endure hardship without losing composure.
Gentleness Over Force: If a shepherd treats sheep with harshness, they will scatter or suffer injuries. This teaches the prophet to guide human communities with mercy and gentleness (rifq) rather than coercion.
Vigilance and Accountability: A shepherd must constantly watch for wolves and predators. This fosters a deep sense of responsibility (amanah), making the future prophet intensely protective of their people’s spiritual and physical well-being.
Individualized Care: In any flock, some sheep are weak, some are pregnant, and some are young. The shepherd must adjust their pace to the weakest among them—a vital skill for a leader managing a diverse society.
2. Divine Humility and Cleansing the Soul
Before taking on the immense burden of revelation, prophets were placed in a low-status, lonely profession.
Eradicating Pride: Spending months or years in solitary pastures away from high society purges the heart of arrogance, pride, and material attachment.
Contemplation (Tafakkur): The wilderness provides silence, allowing the future prophets to contemplate creation, look at the stars, and build an unshakeable, intimate reliance on Allah (Tawakkul).
Gov wants to end mandatory re-evaluation of pesticide risks
Ottawa is weakening pesticide oversight. I just signed a petition to express my concern. Will you sign too?In June, the federal government passed a law allowing cabinet ministers to greenlight the use of pesticides that would otherwise be banned due to environmental risks — overriding Health Canada’s science-based risk evaluations.Now, buried in an omnibus budget bill set to be voted on when Parliament resumes sitting later this month, Ottawa is proposing to eliminate mandatory 15-year pesticide re-evaluations. These re-evaluations are the main mechanism for comprehensive review of new data on pesticide risks.These changes represent the most significant overhaul of federal pesticide regulation in a generation – and would be a big step backwards. Will you join me in signing a petition opposing the pesticide law amendments in Bill C-31?Say no to permanent pesticide approvals
The amendments the government is proposing in Bill C-31 would undermine public confidence in how Canada regulates pesticides, harm public health and the environment and limit export opportunities for Canadian agricultural products.An official parliamentary petition opened for signature last week, calling on the House of Commons to reject amendments to the Pest Control Products Act that weaken oversight. Please consider adding your name to Petition e-7742.Thanks for your support.Lisa Gue National policy managerP.S. Sign now! MPs return to Ottawa on September 21. We need your help to gather as many signatures on this petition as possible before then! It’s one way we can demonstrate that people across Canada do not want to see pesticide risks deregulated in the name of expediency.
Support the David Suzuki FoundationYour gift will help push for bold climate action, protect nature so it can sustain all life and create resilient communities that benefit everyone.Donate Today
At least one in four former National Football League (NFL) players had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, at the time of death, according to a new study from one of the U.S. research teams at the forefront of studying the devastating brain disease.
CTE — which can only be confirmed after death — is associated with repeated head trauma, often from contact sports. It can lead to debilitating symptoms ranging from severe memory loss and balance problems to major personality changes, including depression, aggression and thoughts of suicide.
A growing body of research has already shown exceptionally high rates of the disease in the donated brains of former NFL players. But researchers are quick to note that brain banks skew heavily toward people who experienced concerning symptoms during life and wanted their brains studied after death.
6.As for those who persist in disbelief, it is the same whether you warn them or not—they will never believe. 7. Allah has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and their sight is covered. They will suffer a tremendous punishment. – Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
6. As for those who disbelieve—it is the same for them, whether you have warned them, or have not warned them—they do not believe.
7. God has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. They will have a severe torment. – Surah Baqarah
Hypocrites Hearts –
8. Among the people are those who say, “We believe in God and in the Last Day,” but they are not believers.
9. They seek to deceive God and those who believe, but they deceive none but themselves, though they are not aware.
10. In their hearts is sickness, and God has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment because of their denial.
11. And when it is said to them, “Do not make trouble on earth,” they say, “We are only reformers.”
12. In fact, they are the troublemakers, but they are not aware.
When Nabi Musa/ Prophet Moses Reveals a Murderer
73. We said, “Strike him with part of it.” Thus God brings the dead to life; and He shows you His signs, that you may understand.
74. Then after that your hearts hardened. They were as rocks, or even harder. For there are some rocks from which rivers gush out, and others that splinter and water comes out from them, and others that sink in awe of God. God is not unaware of what you do.
75. Do you hope that they will believe in you, when some of them used to hear the Word of God, and then deliberately distort it, even after understanding it?
76. And when they come across those who believe, they say, “We believe,” but when they come together privately, they say, “Will you inform them of what God has disclosed to you, so that they might dispute with you concerning it before your Lord?” Do you not understand?
77. Do they not know that God knows what they conceal and what they reveal?
Sahih International: So whoever Allah wants to guide – He expands his breast to [contain] Islam; and whoever He wants to misguide – He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe.
Surah Az Zumar – Groups
Can ˹the misguided be like˺ those whose hearts Allah has opened to Islam, so they are enlightened by their Lord? So woe to those whose hearts are hardened at the remembrance of Allah! It is they who are clearly astray. 23
˹It is˺ Allah ˹Who˺ has sent down the best message—a Book of perfect consistency and repeated lessons—which causes the skin ˹and hearts˺ of those who fear their Lord to tremble, then their skin and hearts soften at the mention of ˹the mercy of˺ Allah. That is the guidance of Allah, through which He guides whoever He wills. But whoever Allah leaves to stray will be left with no guide.
Are those who will only have their ˹bare˺ faces to shield themselves from the awful torment on Judgment Day ˹better than those in Paradise˺? It will ˹then˺ be said to the wrongdoers: “Reap what you sowed!”
Those before them ˹also˺ rejected ˹the truth˺, then the torment came upon them from where they least expected.
So Allah made them taste humiliation in this worldly life, but far worse is the punishment of the Hereafter, if only they knew.
#Islam, #Hearts, #Believers, #Disbelievers, Quran Kareem; #Guidance, #Misguidance, #Faith,
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Garrett Carr’s debut adult novel is big-hearted and welcoming, opening with a collective voice that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the novel.
We were a hardy people, raised facing the Atlantic. A few thousand men, women and children, clinging to the coast and trying to stay dry. Our town wasn’t just a town, it was a logic and a fate.
The story is told through the “we” of the fishing town of Killybegs in Donegal, and it works brilliantly, filled with lovely, unforced colloquialisms that feel completely true to the place and the people.
Sahih International: It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion. And sufficient is Allah as Witness. – Surah Al Fath – 48:28
Sahih International: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks, delighting the sowers – so that Allah may enrage by them the disbelievers. Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward. – Surah Al Fath 48:29;
We’re building Ellipsus as a platform that prioritizes transparency, trust, independence, and creative freedom. Writers shouldn’t have to trade their privacy or their ownership for good tools. The rise of AI scraping and big tech overreach only made that more urgent for us. —Rex at Ellipsus
Whatever your attitude toward emerging technologies, we can probably agree it’s tough to be online these days. The tools available seem to be multiplying for some and dwindling for others—particularly for those who don’t want to use generative AI. A growing distrust of big tech is leading people to search for less exploitative options than Google or Microsoft.
Fortunately for them (and also me), new developers are creating tools that don’t push AI without the opportunity to opt-in. One of those new tools is Ellipsus, a writing tool created by a small group of writers who wanted better collaborative document options, and who are solidly for transparency, privacy, and writers’ rights to their own work.
As a text editor, Ellipsus is a lot like Google Docs, but more focused on better performance for large docs. It’s got a git-style feature for better version control, richer permissions, flexibility, and creative customizations. It’s got a unique knack for supporting real-time collaboration, and is simple enough to start using right away.
How Ellipsus Addresses Concerns about AI, Privacy, and Access
Ellipsus has been very clear on their stance: no generative AI in the program, ever. They believe writers’ work shouldn’t be harvested to train models without consent. Generative AI, when built on creative labor, undermines originality, and they believe putting it inside a writing tool would be fundamentally counterproductive to fostering genuine voices. Ellipsus’s creators want it to be a safe space for writers, and are working on offering better encryption and privacy protections, too.
Things that Make Ellipsus Fun
Ellipsus has a vibrant Discord community of writers providing mutual support, betas, collaborators, and the opportunity to commune. Collaboration options in the documents themselves are pretty fun too—I love being able to create different drafts for different beta readers so no one has to feel put on the spot.
And another small but mighty feature is the variety of different skins you can apply to your program.
