The Complete Mo'min

Once, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) asked the companions, “Who amongst you keeps fast throughout the year without even missing a single day?” Salman Al-Farasi (AS) replied, “Ya Rasool Allah (SAW), I do”. Then the Prophet (SAW) asked, “Who amongst you keeps up and prays throughout the night?” Nobody answered but Salman Al-Farasi (AS) replied, “Ya Rasool Allah (SAW), I do”. The Prophet (SAW) once again addressed all the companions present and asked a third question, “Who amongst you reads the whole Quran every day?” Once again there was silence except Salman Al-Farasi (AS) replied, “Ya Rasool Allah (SAW), I do”. Hearing this one of the companions became enraged and said to the other companions that “this Persian wants to stand out in us Quraish and is lying, for I have myself seen him (Salman Al-Farasi) without fasting many times, and observed on several occasions that he sleeps through the night, and many days pass by that he does not recite the Quran”. The Prophet (SAW), upon hearing this replied, “Salman Al-Farasi is the like of Luqman (The prophet), any body who doubts this can ask Salman himself and he shall respond.

Straight away, the companion inquired about this with Salman Al-Farasi, upon which he replied, “I fast 3 days each month. Allah (SWT) says that every good dead will be rewarded by 10 equal deeds, therefore my 3 fasts equal 30 fasts. As a result my fasting 3 days each month throughout the year equals fasting for an entire year. In fact I fast a lot more than this if you take into account my daily fasting during the months of Sha’ban and Ramadan, in which I join the fasts of Sha’ban with those of Ramadan”.

With regards to the question of keeping awake and praying throughout the night, Salman Al-Farasi (AS) replied, “I make ablution before going to sleep for I have heard from the Prophet (SAW) that the person who makes ablution and then sleeps will get rewards equal to the rewards for a person who has kept awake and has spent the whole night praying to Allah (SWT)”.

Answering the question about reading the whole Quran every day, Salman Al-Farasi (AS) replied, “I read Surah Akhlas (aka. Surah Tauheed) 3 times every day, for I have heard the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) say to Ali (AS): ‘Ya Ali (AS), your example for my Ummah is like that of Surah Akhlas to the Glorious Quran, in that the person who recites Surah Akhlas once will receive reward for reading one-third of the Quran, and the one reciting it twice will receive reward for reading two-third of the Quran, similarly, the one who recites it three times will receive reward for reading the whole Quran. Likewise, Ya Ali (AS), the one who expresses friendship towards you only by his tongue, one-third of his religion is complete (Kamil), whereas the one who is your friend by tongue and by heart, his two-third religion is complete, and for the one who is your friend by tongue, by heart, and also supports you by hand is the one whose religion is entirely complete (Kamil). Ya Ali (AS), by the One who sent me with trust for guidance, I swear by His truthfulness, that if the dwellers of land were as good friends of you as the dwellers of heaven, Allah (SWT) would not punish anyone’”.

When Salman Al-Farasi finished, none of the companions could speak nor question anything that was said.

Allahumma Sallay Ala Muhammad Wa Alay Muhammad

[Reference: Tehzeeb-ul-Islam, by Allama Mohammad Baqir Majlisi]

The Calamity in Pakistan

Bismillah ArRehman ArRaheem

Asslamu Alaikum Wr Wb,

I hope and pray for yours and your family's well being, InshaAllah. As you know the catastrophe that had hit Pakistan in the recent months and still continues, has destroyed many lives and infrastructure across the country. The scale of the destruction is so vast that no Government can single-handedly control the immediate crisis and rebuild the lost lives and livelihoods. I think the international news channels around the world can only give you a slice of the real picture of the dire crisis that haunts the dwellers of this country from north to south and from east to west.

The greatest affected are the children who are well over 3 million in number and they face the greatest task in their lives, survival. The continual presence of these affected people in water has given rise to diseases (esp. water-borne diseases) and every day hundreds of children are dying out of disease, hunger, thirst and simply the absence of any medical aid.

Therefore, in these hours, days, months and years of need, the flood-ravaged people of Pakistan can use all the help from local as well as international aid, which must be delivered to them before it is too late.

In this regard, a few ordinary citizens of Karachi felt the pressing responsibility to take an initiative, come out of the comfort of our couch and extend a helping hand. As an initial crisis response effort we have started a Flood Relief Cell to provide sustenance and support to the affected and displaced people who have been given temporary refuge in suburbs of Karachi and other places in the province of Sindh.

We are collecting aid in the form of money, food, clean water, water purifier systems, clothes, medicine, daily use items and any thing that can help save and support as many families as possible, for as long as it takes.

In the first phase, we have concentrated on the affected areas of the province of Sindh. We are hand delivering the aid to the affected people and will soon be extending the helping hand to other provinces of Pakistan depending on the received aid. We also have a large number of the affected who are eligible for Zakat so you can also send your Zakat and other charity/alms money to help alleviate their sufferings.

Brothers and sisters, having said all that, I ask for your help as your brother, to please help my fellow countrymen, your fellow countrymen, the people of Pakistan who are already destroyed by the menace of war and politics. We might not have the will to bear this calamity.

Please do not hold back your hand just because you don't trust me. If this is the case, I will personally make sure and provide you with whatever evidence you suggest that your aid has been fully delivered to the most in need. If you dont want to send money, please help with any life supporting item that you can think of. Just imagine that these people are stranded under the scorching sun above, hot soil beneath, surrounded by water. The best place they can make is under make-shift tents arranged by NGOs and Government but without even the basic life support. So these people need anything that they can hold to for survival. Please help them survive and see this disaster through.

InshaAllah I am sure that you will not only send help yourself but also ask and convince other concerned people and the well-off and affluent around you, in your community centres, mosques, churches, neighborhood, office, Islamic/religious centres to help us through these testing times!!

Besides everything else, please remember us in all your prayers. Many thanks for your time to read this message.

You can remit your aid to my personal bank account:

Syed Muhammad Kamran Naqvi
Swift code: HSBCPKKX
Account No.: 006003487001
Bank Tel: +92 21 34373263

Or you can send your help using private cash remitting services such as Moneygram and Western Union. Send your aid to:

S M Kamran Naqvi
Karachi, Pakistan
Post Code: 75950
Cell: +92 300 392 7293, +92 301 228 6618

If you want to send a shipment with your aid items, please let me know so I can provide you with my address and any other information that you may require to send your aid. Again all my best regards, duas and thanks go out to you for taking the time to read this through and may Allah (SWT) keep His blessings on us in the form of the Taufeeq (ability) to be compassionate toward others. Amen.

Allah (SWT) says in Al-Quran Al-Hakeem:

أَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَبۡسُطُ ٱلرِّزۡقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقۡدِرُ‌ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يُؤۡمِنُونَ (٣٧) فَـَٔاتِ ذَا ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ حَقَّهُ ۥ وَٱلۡمِسۡكِينَ وَٱبۡنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ لِّلَّذِينَ يُرِيدُونَ وَجۡهَ ٱللَّهِ‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ

(٣٨) Surah Ruum-30

Translation:

See they not that Allah enlargeth the provision for whom He will, and straiteneth (it for whom He will). Lo! herein indeed are signs for those who believe. (37) So give to the kinsman his due, and to the needy, and to the wayfarer. That is best for those who seek Allah's Countenance. And such are they who are successful. (38)

Wasalamu Alaikum Wr Wb


Kamran Naqvi
Karachi, Pakistan.