THE DAILY ISLAMIC REMINDERS. Yaumul Ahad. 15th day of Dhul-Qa'adah, 1444AH (Sunday, 4th June, 2023).

ALHAMDULILLAH FOR HIS GUIDANCE. LET'S BOOST OUR EEMAAN. Bismillah.

Good guidance is ALLAH’s greatest gift to mankind. Those who accept this guidance are termed Muslims. The name of the guidance is Islam. That's to submit or surrender to the guidance of the Creator. We can not do without HIS guidance. Our lives will be absolutely be of any meaning unless we acknowledge ALLAH and worship HIM as HE alone deserves to be worshipped. As long as we have the right guidance, we would know where we came from and where we’re going to when we die. As Muslims, we are so very lucky because we don’t even have to hunt and search for the right guidance as non Muslims are struggling with. In the Holy Quran and the life of the Final Messenger Muhammad peace be upon him, we find all the guidance we need to be successful.

Every time we recite Suura Faatihah, we begin by thanking and praising and glorifying ALLAH, not because HE needs praise and glory, but because we are so forgetful, we need to remind ourselves of ALLAH’s greatness and irresistible power:

Alhamdu lil-laahi Rabbil aalameen. Ar-Rahmanir Raheem. Maaliki yawmid-Deen.

All praise is due to ALLAH, the LORD of all the worlds. The Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. King of the Day of Judgement.

The next line defines our relations with ALLAH: iy-yaa kana’abudu wa iy-yaa kanas ta’een. YOU [alone] do we worship and from YOU [alone] do we seek for help. Then we come to the pivot of the matter, the real core of Sura Al Faatiha: “Ihdi nas Siraatal Mustaqeem!” “Guide us to the straight path!” Siraatal latheena an ‘amta ‘alayhim, ghairil maghthoobi alayhim, waladd dhal-leen. Ameen.

“The path of those with whom you are pleased, not the path of those who make you angry, nor of those who go astray. Ameen”

Brothers and Sisters, ALLAH’s guidance is the greatest gift we can ever hope for. Pleading for it is the essence of Suura Al Faatiha, the first Sura of the Holy Quran. In the next Sura, Al Baqara, we read in the opening lines:

Alif, Laam-Meem. Thaalikal kitaabu la rayba fee, Hudanlil mut-taqeem.

A.L.M. This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a Guide to those who have Taqwa, [those who regard ALLAH with an awe-inspired sense of love, fear and hope].

So, the first Suura teaches us how to ask for ALLAH’s guidance, and, moments later, in the very beginning of the next Suura we are promised that Divine Guidance is within the Holy Quran itself. But the Holy Scripture needs to be interpreted to us. It needs to be made visible within the human context of time, place, and circumstance. So, the Holy Quran again tells us that, “Truly in the Messenger of ALLAH, we have the finest of examples,” Uswatul hasanah. ALLAHU AKBAR. May ALLAH (Azza Wa Jal, The Mighty and the Majestic) keep guiding us all and protect us from any satanic influences. Aameen.