📷 One of Satan’s Tricks

Satan constantly pushes us to hurry. Because, if a person is calm, he/she will be able to choose correctly and act precisely for the most part. Haste is the fixed element in most of our mistakes.

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📷 The Divine Tests, the Setting Where We Can Know Ourselves

We can know ourselves through God’s tests and the hardships and blessings, which come to us. We can find our weak and strong points and understand what God expects from us.

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🎦 What is your understanding about a family?

🔻 Differences bring both sweetness and bitterness

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📷 A Dangerous Situation

This is not advice on morals to say that we should reduce our attachments to things in this world. Rather, this is informing us about a dangerous situation. Because, each attachment crushes us under the most severe sorrows.

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📷 Learn to fly

God wants to teach us how to fly. If He leaves us to be free, it is because He wants us to practice flapping our wings. This does not mean that it is unimportant for Him if we drop.

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🔻How can one see God?
🔻God is living with us through tests in each moment of our lives.

👉🏼 Destiny (9)

🔸We can see God in #tests. God is living with us through tests in each moment of our lives. If we live with God with this outlook, we will gradually know God. And based on the tests that He takes from us, we can understand what topics He is sensitive about, because we cannot know a person well unless we live with him.

🔸God does not give us #blessings for us to relax some, then again give us some #tragedies! Rather, He gives blessings to test us and see how we behave with blessings. In the same way, He gives us hardships in order to test us.

🔸Sometimes God commands a person – due to his vices – to come and #bother us. We should not hold a grudge against him, because we were supposed to pass this test and this person is a tool with which God is testing us. In this world, all social and family #relationships are tools for being tested. Even our children are tools for testing us. [Qur’an 8:28]

🔸In designing our lives, God could have refrained from putting #sleeping. One of the tests in sleeping is when God tests us if we get up at dawn to pray or not! The sweetness of sleeping is to see if we are willing to pass up the sweetness of sleeping because of God.

🔸At the time of the Call to Prayer, God is looking at each one of us to see how we behave in this test. Are we willing to immediately put aside what we are thinking about in order to pray? Are we willing to put aside what we are very busy doing? Are we willing to pass on the sweetness of sleeping in the early morning? Are we willing to leave the mood we are in and pray?

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#Destiny

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📷 Our Most Important Fault

Our most important fault is that our faults are hidden. Worse than that is that our faults hide themselves behind our good deeds and we justify them.

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📷 An Opportunity to Grow

God is infinitely more patient than to punish His servants because of them doing the smallest sins. The tragedies in this world are to help a servant to grow more than being a punishment. In giving hardships to His servants, God suffices with the least. He postpones bringing a tribulation to His servant, and He removes that suffering from His servant as soon as possible.

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🔻We cannot ask God to not test us!
🔻In the same way that the philosophy behind our lives is to be tested, the philosophy behind our religion is to be tested too.

👉🏼 Destiny (10)

🔸We consider #tests to be like a machine, which is affected by different factors, such as: thoughts, likings, wishes, beliefs, actions, intentions, prayers, God & His Guardian’s affection for us, & the good & bad behaviors of those around us. These are the input of this machine & the output is our destiny, which determines the confines of our authority.

🔸God has created us in this world to test us. [Qur’an 67:2] We also know we can’t leave the domain of God’s rule. [Kumayl Supplication] Therefore, it is wiser if we don’t try to #escape from tests. Instead, we can ask God, “O God, take the best & easiest tests from us…” or “O God, my test has become hard. Take easier tests from me.” But we can’t say, “God, don’t test us.”

🔸It is impossible for the philosophy behind our lives to be testing, but the philosophy behind our religion not to be testing.

🔸For example, we have been told that if we see someone is #sinning in #hiding, we shouldn’t expose him. One reason is that by exposing him, the possibility of testing him in that area will be eliminated. The reason we have been commanded not to #backbite is so that a sinner will have the opportunity to sin without being disgraced.

🔸Why have they said that women should listen to their husbands in several specific cases (of course this does not mean men have absolute control over women)? Although it is for harmony between men & women, it is also for people to be tested. Some people ask, “What if a man makes mistakes?” The answer is that these mistakes are a part of the tests too. If no complexities were involved, this would not have been a test!

🔸Another example is parents. Even if your parents are unbelievers, you must respect & listen to them except when they say something against God’s commands. You should not say, “Parents are from one generation & children are from a different generation so they usually disagree.” The Almighty God knew this too, but He gave this command to test us.

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#Most_Determining_Factor
#Destiny

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🎦 What is God’s purpose in each test?

🔻 Think about your weak points.

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🎦 See God’s kindness in tribulations

🔻 Think about your weak points.

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🎦 Look from above

🔻 “Your best youth are those who are similar to your elders,” the Prophet (s)

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🔻Why does God test us?
🔻Human beings have two kinds of interests: an interest in becoming good and an interest in becoming bad.

👉🏼 Destiny (11)

🔸Why does Almighty God test us? Because we have been created #human beings, who are creatures who can produce added value. Some imagine God wanted to create good, #obedient creatures! The angels had this same idea. When God wanted to create human beings they said, “Will you set in it someone who will cause corruption in it and shed blood while we celebrate Your praise and proclaim Your sanctity?” [Qur’an 2:30] But God wanted to create a being who produces added value and becomes good.

🔸Someone asked #ImamSadiq (as), “Why didn’t God create His servants in such a way that they would all be obedient and monotheists?” He replied, “If God created people obedient, reward and punishment would have been meaningless. God created His servants in a way that they do something themselves to deserve reward or punishment.” [Al-Ihtijaj, Tabarsi, vol. 2, p. 340]

🔸To produce added value, people must have two kinds of #interests: an interest in becoming good and an interest in becoming bad. If you only had one kind of interest, #testing and having a free will was meaningless. You would definitely choose that one interest. If you had two interests, one stronger and one weaker, you would always choose the stronger interest. If you had two equal interests, you couldn’t choose and would be in a dilemma.

🔸God designed our interests very beautifully and wisely. He made one interest stronger and more valuable, but concealed. And the weaker, less valuable interest is manifested. God has created this surprising balance so that people can choose.

🔸When you satisfy your divine, stronger, more valuable interests you truly enjoy more. But these interests are more concealed. If their true value were easily seen, you would go toward them from the beginning like angels. On the other hand, the weaker, less worthy worldly interests, are more easily seen, experienced and appear stronger.

🔸With this design, God has given people the opportunity to make a valuable choice.

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#Most_Determining_Factor
#Destiny

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🎦 Do I obey anyone?

🔻I can choose…

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🔻 In the beginning, we must sacrifice our bad likings for good ones.
🔻 In the next stage, we must sacrifice our good likings for higher ones.

👉🏼 Destiny (12)

🔸In each #test, and in each good choice we make, we must crush some of our #likings. Of course, this is difficult and painful to do. Overcoming superficial interests and reaching deep, hidden #interests is the only way for human beings to produce added value. Thus, God has said, “O man! Surely you must strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him.” [Qur’an 84:6]

🔸#ImamAli (as) said, “Each worship act involves some difficulties and dislikes, and each sin involves some desires.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, sermon 176] But don’t try to be religious by adapting religion to your own desires.

🔸The #Prophet (s) said about those who work for their life in the Hereafter, “People die once, but they die 70 times a day due to fighting their own wills, opposing their desires and fighting the evil that runs through their veins.” [Mizan al-Hikmah, p. 2916]

🔸God says, “Certainly We have created man to be in distress.” [Qur’an 90:4] But we keep pursuing excitements and entertainments. We expect to be constantly immersed in pleasures and comforts even though we see that we fail to achieve many of our dreams. Today, some hold classes on how to be #successful and how to reach our dreams. But Imam Ali (as) in a letter to the youth said, “I am writing to a youth whose dreams won’t come true.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, letter 31]

🔸Not only must we crush our bad and worthless likings for good, valuable likings, but in higher stages, we must also crush our good likings for better ones. And this opposing our will continues until the last moments of our lives. [Tuhaf al-Uqul, p. 370]

🔸Fighting his will for a person like Ibrahim (as) was not crushing his bad likings. It meant crushing a good liking, loving his son Ismael (as), for the love of God. Imam Ali (as) loved to protect the trust that had been entrusted to him and defend Fatimah (as). But the situation was such that for the sake of God and a higher interest, he didn’t use his sword to defend Fatimah (as), and this was very hard for him.

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#Most_Determining_Factor
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🔻 The testing system requires that a person have the opportunity to sin and to do good deeds.
🔻 Why does Islam give sinners time and opportunities?

👉🏼 Destiny (13)

🔸In order for people to be able to produce increased value, in addition to the internal conflict between good and bad likings, the external environment must also be such a way that people can be #tested. This means it should be possible to sin and to do good deeds.

🔸But it doesn’t mean there must be both bars and mosques! This means if someone drinks alcohol in hiding in his house, he shouldn’t be accosted. You shouldn’t even expose, disgrace, or gossip about him. According to traditions, if he sinned yesterday and you see him the next day, you should assume he has repented and not think that he is a #sinner.

🔸Of course, it is natural that this way of dealing with sinners will give them the #opportunity to sin again, and this method makes sinners bolder. It is because of this method that it appears that the 124,000 divine prophets did not succeed. But if God wanted human beings to be good by force, he wouldn’t have created them at all.

🔸Without a doubt it should be possible to sin, but this doesn’t mean that we should ruin the environment in such a way that it is no longer possible to do good deeds or that people should be encouraged to sin.

🔸Westerners frequently make claims about #freedom, but interestingly this concept isn’t in the Holy Qur’an. Rather, there is the concept “the opportunity to choose.” But these two concepts are different. The freedom they have designed is such that the society is so corrupted that people don’t dare to do good deeds.

🔸In the west there is freedom to be bad and it is even pushed on people, but freedom for becoming good is limited. An example is the way good people, the sanctities, and the prophets are ridiculed in the name of “freedom of expression.” This ridiculing disrupts the testing system.

🔸We are in favor of preserving the testing system. In order to do this, there must be the opportunity for sin to the extent determined by the divine laws of #Islam.

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#Most_Determining_Factor
#Destiny

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🔻 It is impossible to say the testing system only determines a part of a person’s life and not the other parts.
🔻 Islam is a complete religion without any defects that need to be compensated for.

👉🏼 Destiny (14)

🔸It is impossible to say the testing system only determines a part of a person’s life. It is impossible the system of religious orders be under the influence of testing, but the issue of #government not be under its influence.

🔸In a religious government, testing is an important principle. A religious government is not a government that wishes to achieve results at any cost, because #testing is very important in religion. Thus, it gives #opportunities to people and doesn’t use the power of government to control people. Of course, giving opportunities often results in people misusing them.

🔸Once the Prophet (s) was told that some people were #hoarding certain goods. The Prophet (s) ordered them to return the hoarded goods to the market. A man said, “O Prophet of God (s), set a price for these goods.” The Prophet (s) said, “I won’t do so. Let it be determined naturally.” [Tahdhib al-Ahkam, vol. 7, p. 161] The Prophet (s) could have set the price, but he didn’t use his authority in just any way.

🔸Sometimes #legislators want to eliminate the possibility of any kind of sin, oppression or irregularity. So they put extra laws. But Islam has not done such a thing. We should always pay attention to the fact that Islam is a complete religion without any defects. So there is no need for us to compensate for it. Know that the laws you see in the west have not been designed due the growth of the science of jurisprudence or based on discussions about natural or human sciences. No, they are the result of security issues and political discussions.

🔸I am talking about the prevention of oppression and crimes. You are not able to stop all kinds of oppression with laws. You should leave some kinds of oppression to be taken care of by ethics. If ethics didn’t correct them, then the courts are used. Sometimes by setting extra laws, we want to bring certain preventions, but in this way we ruin all opportunities for being tested.

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#Destiny

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🔻 Religion isn’t bitter.
🔻 Life’s nature is such that there is some bitterness in it.

👉🏼 Destiny (15)

🔸There are bitter realities in this world from which religion rescues a person to some extent. #Religion isn’t bitter. It’s life’s nature that there is some bitterness in it. God has mentioned this bitterness, “Certainly We have created man to be in distress.” [Qur’an 90:4]

🔸In Letter no. 31 in Nahj al-Balaghah, #ImamAli (as), addressed his young son and described 14 features of youthhood, mostly referring to the bitterness of life. “[This letter is] from a mortal father… to a son who yearns for that which will not be achieved, is treading the path of those who have gone, is subject to ailments, is caught up in the days, is a target of hardships…”

🔸Religion tells a person, “Give me your hand so that I may release you from these #hardships a little and cause your bitterness to be #fruitful. Now that you pray, when you tolerate your problems and hardships, you will gain light. Even if you weren’t praying, you would have had to tolerate hardships but without gaining any light.

🔸Paying attention to this fact that God is #testing us is very useful for a person’s spirit. It doesn’t let a person become weighed down by useless and superfluous happiness, sorrows, fears, and anxieties. It removes grudges from a person’s heart and brings comfort. It also corrects a person’s relationship with God and eliminates arrogance. Of course, it also causes a person to become fearful and anxious with respect to God a little. But afterwards, affection is created in a person’s heart and he becomes dependent on God. This is because he now understands he isn’t so independent. Thus, he will supplicate and rely on God even more.

🔸Whoever fears being tested should follow this advice of Imam Ali (as), “If you fear something, throw yourself into it, because your fear is greater than the action itself.” [Nahj al-Balaghah, wisdom no. 175] After starting that action, you will see it wasn’t as frightening as you had thought. Once you have entered into the middle of a test, you will feel relieved.

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🎦 The Effect of a Mother’s Intention on Her Child’s Destiny|A.R .Panahian

🔻Sometimes an intention for a moment can change one’s destiny.

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📹 Online Kindness

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