Ways
of
Acting
You know,
when people start to try to live their lives in a way that they call their Deen,
they quickly find that there's an awful lot of things they have to think about.
Everything that they think and say, and do must be part of their Deen,
and they have to decide what is good and what is bad in all of those things.
And it can get very complicated deciding what to think and do,
as one thing can sometimes get in the way of another.
So it's useful for people to know which are the most important things to do
and the most important things to not do,
as that way they can at least try to get those things right first.
And to know which are the most important things
we can look at them in different ways.
One way is to ask how much an action will be good or bad
for ourselves or other people,
to ask how much our action will help or hurt.
Another important way to think about actions is to ask
how hard it is for someone to do good
or how easy to avoid the bad.
We may think that it is good to be generous and give charity to those with less than ourselves,
but a little money can be a lot to give for those who don't have very much themselves,
while much more money can seem very little to someone who is very rich.
So what is harder to give can be worth more to God
than what comes easily to the one who is doing the giving.
But of course, no matter how easy a good action may be, it still rewards the one who does it,
even if it's as easy an action as giving someone a smile.
And, of course, just because we are giving someone charity of another kind
doesn't mean we can't also give a smile.
That way we make our Deen even better.
And as we go through life, every day we must decide what is good and bad for us to do,
and try to agree with others on just what is this Way of Life we call our Deen.
And we look for guidance in the words of God's Message, the Qur'an,
and try to learn from the example of Muhammad the Messenger.
Which way
do you want to go?
Right Actions
Important things to do for ourselves and others.
What about animals?
What is the point of learning stuff?
Wrong Actions
Where do bad actions come from?
Are some things we do worse than others?
the Reading
from Hu
Hu is
All-Wise
All-Knowing
"My Liege
keep me thankful
for Your blessing
with which You have
blessed me
and my father and mother
and make sure
that I do good
pleasing You
and let me enter
through Your mercy
to be amongst
those of Your servants
who do good"
whoever gives thanks
gives thanks only for
their own soul's good
and whoever is
ungrateful
surely
my Liege is
Rich-beyond-Need
Generous"
the heavens and the earth
and sent down for you
out of heaven
water
and with it
We made grow
gardens
full of beauty
and delight
you could never
make their trees grow
is there a god
besides
God?
no
but they are a people
who make others
equal to Hu