Man Gives Birth To His Twin Brother

oddly enough, the case WASN'T in arkansas.

article and video at : http://www.abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1

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Visual Dhikr (Website)

http://www.visualdhikr.com/

very cool site. some amazing artwork and photography and an awesome soundtrack to boot. if i wasn't so poor, i'd buy some posters.
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Hate and Forgiveness in Islam

an article on hate and forgiveness in islam. i've posted it before on the old blog, but it's definitely worth reading again.

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Do you hate someone? Do you really hate someone? You haven't spoken to him for a while? You've been blaming him?

You're not the only one; the Muslim Ummah today is diseased with this to the extent that almost every Muslim knows another Muslim who he hates.

The Ummah is like a building with the Muslims as it's bricks, brotherhood is the cement. Without forgiveness you cannot have brotherhood.

OK then, he wronged you. He deceived you. He backbited you. He lied to you. But even in these extreme situations the Qur'an and the Hadith teach us that we have to forgive others (especially those who hurt us the most) if we wish to earn the forgiveness of Allah on the day of judgement. We have all committed many sins, made many mistakes and no doubt we have wronged others, we have deceived others, we have backbited others and no doubt we have lied to others.

So what makes us focus onto brothers' and sisters' errors while we remain unconscious of our own. Not to forgive is like to live in arrogance, and ignorance of our own shortcomings.

Forgiveness is linked with piety and God-consciousness, is there anybody who is not without sin? Is there anybody who can be arrogant enough to say that he does not need to forgive? Do we not know that Allah forgives those who forgive others? Therefore, we should realise the difficulties of others and forgive them. Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Be quick in the forgiveness from your Lord, and pardon (all) men - for Allah loves those who do good."
[Surah ali Imran; 3:133-134]

And we know that Allah Himself is Ar-Rahmaan (the Most Compassionate) and Ar-Raheem (the Most Merciful) and that His Mercy is infinite, and that no matter the sin (except shirk) Allah is always willing to answer the person's call for forgiveness. In fact Allah loves the tear drop that falls from the eye of one who sincerely seeks the forgiveness of his Lord.

And Allah loves us to have hearts that are ready to forgive.

The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) once asked his companions;
"Do you know what will cause you to have high walled palaces in Paradise (as a symbol of great reward) and will cause you to be raised by God?" When they replied in the negative, he said,
"To be forgiving and to control yourself in the face of provocation, to give justice to the person who was unfair and unjust to you, to give to someone even though he did not give to you when you were in need and to keep connection with someone who may not have reciprocated your concern."

Similarly the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said that the best of people are those who are slow to get angry and quick to forgive. On the other hand the worst of people are those, he said who get angry quickly but are slow to forgive.

The characteristic that makes a person most likely to forgive is the purity of his or her heart. Apologies must be accepted, the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said that:

"Whoever apologises to his brother and that apology is not accepted, then the person who refuses to accept the apology bears the sin of one who takes the property of another unjustly."

And the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) also said that:

"The doors of the Garden are open on Monday and Thursday. Every Muslim slave who does not associate anything with Allah is forgiven except for the man who has enmity between him and his brother. It is said, 'Leave those two until they have made a reconciliation. Leave those two until they have made a reconciliation.'"

If we look at the example and the character of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) we can see that he was always forgiving and never showed enmity to anyone except those who waged war against him. There was an old lady who used to throw rubbish in his way every day, on one occasion she did not throw rubbish in the street, so he decided to go and see what was the matter. She was ill in bed, to her amazement, the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) came to see her and find out about her.

She accepted Islam.

This is the example of the man whom we claim to follow. Thumamah, as the chief of his tribe had killed many Muslims. On his travels, he was caught by the Muslim soldiers and was taken to the Prophet's masjid and tied to one of the pillars. The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) commanded his companions to untie him and give him the best food. The Messenger of God (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) was indeed a mercy for the worlds.

We should similarly be merciful with each other. First of all, we ourselves should not do anything to upset our brothers and sisters (because this is in itself a part of mercy) and then we should forgive those who have upset us or made us angry. We will never be a strong ummah if we are not able to forgive.

Some might say that to forgive is a sign of weakness and humiliation, and for them it is better to be strong and preserve their honor. But honor in the eyes of Allah lies in forgiveness.

"But indeed if any shows patience and forgives that would truly be an exercise of courageous will and resolution in the conduct of affairs."
[surah 42:43]

If we are to be really strong then we have to be strong against Shaytaan and forgive our brothers and sisters, and in this way maybe Allah will decide insha-Allah to forgive ourselves for our many mistakes.

" ...honour in the eyes of Allah lies in forgiveness....."

Source

Featured Artist: Lupe Fiasco

i tried to write a blog about him, but i couldn't.

despite having a myspace account, he's cool. chill hip hop that i can leave playing in the background and yet lyrics that still impress me when i sit down and listen to his flow. intricate lyrics and hot beats have half the industry singing his praises. "Food & Liquor" CD in stores 9.19.2006

http://myspace.com/lupefiasco

fav songs (in no particular order):
- conflict diamonds
- jedi mind tricks
- gotcha
- Muhammad walks
- kick push
- failure
- heat under the babyseat
- spray paint
- WCGI Freestyle

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Which NBA Player Are You?

i had no intention of posting this... until i got categorized as gilbert arenas, whom i love and adore. and now you all can get in on it too

so take the quiz and holla.
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MSNBC - "Is George Bush An Idiot?" (Video)

i dont care what your political beliefs are, this is just funny. the collage of video "bushisms," assorted clips which depict bush as being more-than-slightly mentally challenged and various MSNBC news analysts trying to discuss "whether or not george w. bush is an idiot" in the most intellectual way possible all left me extremely amused.




highlights:
- bushism video clips
- the collage of bush's "looking like a monkey" pictures that stream on the side as the analysts talk about him (okay okay, without the monkey comparison, but still)
- scarborough: "we're not the only one who notice george bush's blunders. recently the daily show picked up on his obsession with food."
recently the daily show made fun of george bush? recently? seriously? how about since like 1998?
- scarborough: "well, this is a fascinating discussion, i'd like to continue it later."
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Colbert Report Baby

when i let television babysit my children, it's very possible this is how they'll turn out.



also, the colbert report intro featuring the colbert baby.
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"Islam: Religion or Ideology?" by Imam Zaid Shakir

don't worry all, i haven't run low on links, but instead on motivation to post them. not to mention the (lack of) motivation to type up sections from things i'm reading offline. i actually have a backlog of online links that should be thoroughly played out by the time i actually get them up. khair.

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yet another article that i'm hesitant to post. when i first read "Islam: Religion or Ideology?" by Imam Zaid Shakir, i didnt really think much of it. i was actually rather unimpressed since my superficiality often causes me to appreciate works due to their amazing writing styles rather than their content. so i read it, thought, "meh," and continued on my merry way. but the more i thought about it, the more i began to realize its implications. basically, imam shakir intends to challenge the notion of islam as a political idealogy, and instead argues that we should continue to view it soley as a religion.

Highlights [bolded regions are my own edits]:

Like all other religions in their respective milieus, Islam also has profound and far-reaching political implications. It has shaped law, government, commerce, social relations, and virtually every other sphere of life in the Muslim world. However, its political implications are subordinate to its religious teachings. Hence, for example, a Muslim individual or polity may succeed politically, while being damned religiously, because basic injunctions of the religion have been sacrificed to unsanctioned political imperatives, or unacceptable motives. A vivid illustration of this result is given to us in the well-known prophetic tradition that mentions a great Mujahid (warrior) who achieved the epitome of worldly success, but lost his soul because of the corrupt intention motivating his efforts.

i guess that's the part that's interesting for me. i've always viewed islam as perfect in the sense that "it's a way of life" -- just as imam zaid said, it's influenced every sphere of our life. islam can be viewed politically, philosophically, culturally, sociologically and, to me, from every angle, it just makes sense*. but i guess the important thing to note is that without Allah, Islam is lost. i know, it seems obvious when we say it, but i swear when advocating Islam, giving dawah and discussing all it's good qualities, spirituality tends to be a trait that many people don't understand and, more importantly, don't seek.

Politicized readings of our texts can be seen as part of the growing tendency to reduce Islam to a political ideology. The implications of this reduction are grave. Perhaps the gravest of those implications is turning the primary focus of Islam away from the spirit or soul and orienting it towards the world, thereby reducing the sacred understanding to the level of the mundane.

there's some amazing philosophies in the religion that, i believe, correspond perfectly to human nature. there's prophecies mentioned in the quran that have been fulfilled centuries later. i see so much beauty in every forest, in every sunset, in ever ocean that, despite being the hardcore science geek that i am, i can't help but to know there was a divine influence that created it all. but the former two statements conflict with the latter in that they are observing tangible traits in the religion while the latter hints at a purely spiritual connection. i guess that's why i'm so interested in this article; it's been a reminder to me that despite everything that islam is good for (its social structure, its culture, its rationale, its advocacy to seek knowledge, etc etc etc), the bottom line is Allah and forming a spiritual connection with Him.

pretty sure i just read a lot into the text that wasn't there to begin with.

when Islam is reduced to an ideology, it is inevitably relegated to the realm of political expediency. Whatever appears to advance the political cause is seen as Islamic, such as suicide bombings, massacring civilians, murdering other Muslims, destroying public order, or other tactics that have become associated with the ideology and practice of “Islamic Jihad.”

despite my nonsensical ramblings, this is really the brunt of Imam Shakir's arguments. i think i just ended up extrapolating my argument because... while i can rave on and on about the worldly benefits of Islam, how this and that practice can calm your heart, about balancing your desires and your deen, etc etc... it's all worthless if it's for the wrong reasons. it's all worthless if it's not for Allah. if you dont believe in Allah.

so how is it that you help someone to believe?
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Thomas Abercrombie (Photographer for National Geographic)

i've had these links for a while, but always forget to post them. Thomas Abercrombie was a photographer for National Geographic Magazine who passed away April 3rd, 2006. Reading these articles, you can see he's been basically all over the globe. however, he's most well known for his articles and photographs from the middle east.

Over the years, he became the magazine's expert on the Arab world, and he was so impressed by Islam that he read the Koran in Arabic and became a Muslim. He made four pilgrimages to Mecca, where he took the first photographs of the city made for the Western world.

Obituary in Washington Post

During his 38 years on the staff, Abercrombie reported as a writer and photographer from Japan and Cambodia, Tibet and Venezuela, Spain and Australia, Alaska and Brazil, and as the first photojournalist ever from the South Pole. But his most significant and enduring contribution surely lies in the 16 articles he produced on the Muslim world between 1956 and 1994

National Geographic Article on Abercrombie (includes photogallery of his work)

Some amazing photography, to say the least... and reading about his life makes you feel like yours has pretty much been uneventful, thus far.

"let me tell you about the day i almost died while hiking in the south pole..."
"no no.. let ME tell YOU about the time i tried to eat 4 cake balls at once!"

EDIT: further research has revealed that he even has a documentary dedicated to him titled "White Tiger: The Adventures of Thomas J. Abercrombie"
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Bridge Over Danube in Budapest Could Be Named After Chuck Norris

"And to your left, the Chuck Norris Bridge..."
August 1, 2006 8:10 AM PDT

Hungary's Economy Ministry probably didn't know what it was getting into when it launched an Internet voting campaign to allow Web users to choose a famous person as the namesake for a new bridge to be built over the Danube in Budapest.

Reuters is reporting that the current front-runner is former "Walker: Texas Ranger" star Chuck Norris, with 11 percent of the vote. He could be overcome by the second-place contender, Hungarian humorist Geza Hofi, but after news of the bridge-naming poll was posted on Fark.com, Mr. Norris may receive quite a few more votes.

It appears that anyone can vote to name the bridge (voting ends September 8th), but it helps to be able to read Hungarian.

In this reporter's opinion, having a "Chuck Norris Bridge" in Budapest could do wonders for tourism.

helpful hints from fark:

"For voting, click 'Szavazok'. You'll get a list of all of the candidates in no particular order. Chuck's about a fifth of the way down."

amusing commentary from islamicans:

azher: awesome. a bridge that can roundhouse kick you in the face.

fortune: They'll have to change the name after people start dieing... nobody crosses Chuck Norris... and lives.

meraj: shortly after the bridge is named, jack bauer will blow it up to stop terrorists from crossing it...

Penguin Faux Pas

while searching for one news story, i stumbled across another, old one. regardless, i think you'll find both amusing (especially if you're james :P )

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Chlamydia outbreak kills a dozen penguins
Seagull most likely transmitted bacteria to the birds

highlights:

"One quick exposure and you're off and running," Jenkins said, adding that at its height, nearly 80 percent of the zoo's penguin colony was infected.

"Precautions were taken to ensure no other animals or human visitors were infected."

"uhh honey? we have to talk... i have chlamydia."
"you cheating bastard!"
"no no, it's not like that... see, i got it from this penguin...."

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4 penguins perish in freak Texas truck accident
Octopus unhurt, exotic fish not as lucky en route to temporary home

okay, first of all, penguin deaths are not a laughing matter. however, i'm just amused/happy to hear that the octopus is.

"Four penguins and some exotic fish were killed in the accident, including three penguins that were hit by passing motorists, said Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Richard Buchanan. “The rest of the penguins kind of stayed together in the ditch.”

He said he was glad the accident was not worse.

“There was another truck full of snakes and alligators that was an hour ahead of them, so luckily we didn’t have to deal with the alligators,” Buchanan said.

man, i would've LOVED to be the reporter covering that news story.

and you must, MUST click that link. they have video! (okay, they actually lie; by video, they mean a bunch of pictures streamed together to make a video, but hilarious nonetheless.). if you're on firefox, you gotta switch over to the evil IE to view the vid.

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Jon Stewart Clip on Net Neutrality (Video)

*rickety old mand voice* let me tell you about the internet...

Jon Stewart from the Daily Show discusses Ted Stevens' views of the internet.

Sh. Hamza Yusuf - What Are We Doing With Our Lives (Lecture)

apparently, Zaytuna Institute has a bunch of audio lectures online. Check out Sh. Hamza Yusuf - What Are We Doing With Our Lives, which, i believe, was given on the 27th of Ramadan (the night most thought to be Laylatul Qadr - The Night of Power, or the Night the Quran was believed to be first revealed to the earth). an excerpt below. apologies in advance for the typos and etc -- 1. i was typing waaay too fast (or trying to, at least) and 2. i dont know arabic so couldnt transcribe the arabic sections (which, i'm assuming, are either hadith or quranic ayahs).

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Because Allah says, "Amongst people, there are those who have taken idols besides God. Things that they worship besides God, but those-who-believe love God more than those people love their idols." so i want to ask myself and all of you, when you look out there and see how much these people have invested in their dunya, you ask yourselves, have you invested one tenth of what they've invested in their dunya, in your akhirah? Because there's people who wake up at 5 am every morning to jog so they can stay healthy and enjoy their lives. and there's people who don't get up for fajr. there's people who get up for work every morning so that they can get their returns, so that they can buy their houses, so that they can buy their fancy cars, and there's people that don't even pay their zakat for Allah SWT.

[arabic]"And those-who-believe love Allah more than they love their idols" more than the people out there love whatever gods they've placed beside God. because [arabic] "the one addicted to ilicit sex is like the worshipper of an idol." "the one who is addicted to intoxicants [drugs, alcohol], is like the worshipper of an idol." is like the worshipper of an idol!

so what is your god? this is what you have to ask yourself. whom are you worshipping?

David Hasselhoff - Jump In My Car (Video)

new vid? it's hofficial!

if the video for David Hasselhoff's "Hooked on a Feeling" wasn't enough reason to make me laugh by itself (and i assure you, i heartily lol'ed throughout that video), i was even more amused when i discovered a certain NBA star hums tunes by The Hoff while he's taking his free throws. so really, it's practically mandatory for me to post Hasselhoff's latest video:



and now i'll have to imagine dirk nowitzki humming along to this all game.
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Purification of the Heart - Envy

*Excerpts from "Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Curses of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart," a translation of Imam al-Mawlud's Matharat al-Qulub, by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf*

Envy

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"Whatever rank envy occupies in the hierarchy of diseases, most scholars will agree that it is the first manifestation of wrongdoing and the first cause of disobedience against God, when Satan (Iblis) refused to obey God when commanded to bow down before the new creation, Adam, the first human being. Nothing prevented Iblis from bowing down except his envy of Adam, for God chose Adam to be his vicegerent on earth instead of Iblis. Iblis grew arrogant and objected to the command that he show Adam any honor, for Iblis saw himself, a creation from fire, superior to this clay creature. When confronted with his disobedience, Satan did not seek forgiveness from God. Enviers develop a mindset that makes it impossible for them to admit they are wrong. To manifest envy is to manifest one of the characteristics of the most wretched creature, Satan."

(p 39-40)

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"A blessing (ni'ma) is something that God bestows. One of God's names is al-Mun'im, the Giver of Blessing. Envy, then, is desiring that a person lose what God has given him or her. It is tantamount to saying that God should not have given this person a blessing or, worse yet, that He was wrong to do so "because I deserve it more."

"There is a well known story about al-Asma'i, the famous Arab philologist and anthologer of poetry, when he once came upon a Bedouin and was invited to enter his tent. In Bedouin culture, the women serve guests in the presence of their husbands. This Beouin happened to have a very beautiful wife, though he himself was quite unattractive. And when the men went out to prepare a lamb for a meal, the guest couldn't resist saying to this woman, "How did such a beautiful woman like you marry such an ugly man like that?" The woman said, "Fear God! Perhaps he had done good works accepted by his Lord and I am his reward."

"God is all-wise in what He gives to people. If one questions the blessing a person has received, then he or she is actually questioning the Giver. Thsi makes envy reprehensible and forbidden.

(p. 41) [ bold is my own edit ]

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Treatment.

As a rememedy to the type of envy that prods one to bring about harm to another person, Imam mawlud suggests that one contradict his temptation, that is, do something that will benefit the person who is envied. For example, give that person a gift or do a favor. This defies the commands of one's whims, gains the pleasure of God, and protects against envy. The Imam suggests also that one may praise the person toward whom one feels the urge to slander. There is no hypocrisy in this recommendation. The purpose is to starve envy of the negative thoughts it requires to thrive. Being beneficient to a person against whom one feels envy often makes that person incline towards the envier. In general, good people are inclined to love those who show them good.

Another treatment is to know with certainty that holding envy against another person brings harm to oneself. Human nature's most primordial instinct is to avoid harm. It is easier for a person to repel negative feelings when he or she realizes these feelings hurt the soul."

(p 43)

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George Galloway interviews with Sky News

if you watch no other video on my blog, watch this one. even if you don't agree with what he says, it's amusing (to say the least) how he handles the reporter.

George Galloway has spoken out in support of Lebanon, saying he believes Hizbollah is justified in defending Lebanon against Israeli attacks . The Respect MP also lambasted media coverage of the war and said the UN resolution means nothing.

gotta love how the reporter sidesteps half the "rhetorical" questions he brings up. sizzigh.
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Zaytuna VideoCast 2

Zaytuna Institute is apparently releasing monthly videocasts featuring reflections from Sh. Hamza yusuf. the first one can be viewed here; the second is below.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf discusses the current situation on the Israeli led war on Lebanon.

re: israel.

having seen far too many people fall victim to blind hatred in the name of islam, i've always tried to be extremely cautious lest i be guilty of the same thing. it's one of the reasons i've been so hesitant about involving myself in any type of politics that is (even, at least, superficially) interlaced with islam. i've seen soo many people with vast amounts of knowledge wither to stuttering, incoherent hatred of another group who's in opposition to their own, regardless of which side's actions are more just or moral.

regardless of the stories and of the propaganda spewed by BOTH sides, i've tried, i've TRIED so damn hard, to try to view any situation involving israel impartially. though i try to give muslims the benefit of doubt in most situations, i have to choose to support the islamic principles of justice, equality, morality and peace rather than blindly root for the muslims in all scenarios.

so i've tried and i've tried and i've tried to understand israel's actions... not just in the last 4 weeks, but in the past few decades... and i can't. i gave up trying to view it impartially; i chose, instead, to just look at things from the israeli perspective. and while i can understand the fear and pain and the paranoia of the people, i simply can't justify the actions of the government. the atrocities its commited against people, against humanity, againt goodness, against kindness... it brings tears to my eyes. and while i will never say all acts of retaliation against that state are justified, i urge everyone to take a step back from our inevitable biases to search for the truth. take the time to actively search (and yes, it takes time and energy and doesnt come easy) and filter through the propoganda spewed from either side and to truly define terrorism and to honestly see who and what is wrong.

it's very easy for two parties in a situation to be wrong... don't maintain the typical "if you're not with us, you're against us" attitude. we all have a duty and an obligation to seek out truth... not just as muslims, but as people.

i'm done ranting. back to links. laters/salaam,
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Purification of the Heart - Hatred

reading "Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Curse of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart" by Sh. Hamza Yusuf. He's basically translating and commenting on a poem written by Imam al-Mawluds, "Matharat al-Qulub"

amazing book to read for anyone in search of spiritual fulfilment. though it's written from an islamic standpoint, a lot of the advice (ie, the treatments for each spiritual ailment) would be useful to anyone who's searching for peace in his/her heart. but i guess that's the beauty and purpose behind many religions -- finding peace (by striving to please God).

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Hatred or strong dislike of a person for no legitimate reason is the disease of bughd [ hatred]. The Prophet (saw) * once said to his Compansions, "Do you want to see a man of Paradise?" A man then passed by and the Prophet (saw) said, "That man is one of the people of Paradise." So a Companion of the Prophet (saw) decided to learn what it was about this man that earned him such commendation from the Messenger of God (saw). He spent time with this man and observed him closely. he noticed that he did not perform the Night Prayer vigil (Tahajjud) or anything extraordinary. He appeared to be an average man of Madinah. The companion finally told the man what the Prophet (saw) had said about him and asked him if he did anything special. And the man replied, "The only thing that i can think of, other than what everybody else does, is that i make sure that i never sleep with any rancor in my heart towards another." That was his secret.

"The cure for hatred is straightforward. One should pray for the person toward whom he feels hatred; make specific supplications mentioning this person by name, asking God to give this person good things in this life and the next. When one does this with sincerity, hearts mend." ~ p 30-31

"In a profound and beautiful hadith, the Prophet (saw) said, "None of you has achieved faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." ~ p 31.

*(saw) is shorthand for the arabic term "salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam," which roughly translates to "May Allah bless him and grant him peace," or, alternately "peace be upon him (pbuh)." Muslims are required to to utter this phrase after mentioning Prophet Muhammad (saw)

:)
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The Retail Alphabet (v4)

this'll drive you nuts. match the letter with the company logo it's stolen from. versions 1-3 have answers; 4 requires you to purchase the answers.

http://www.joeykatzen.com/alpha/ver4/

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Lebron James - Full Court Shots (commercial)

looks pretty fake, but still cool. the look on the reporter's face at the end is classic.



EDIT: Powerade commercial.

"OK Go - Here It Goes Again" Video

pretty cool, though it requires "exercise" and "moving"



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The Lives of Man by Imam Al Haddad

amazing book. pick it up, if you have the chance.

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"And the Messenger of God, may blessings and peace be upon him, included among the seven that God will shade with His shade 'on the day when no shade shall exist save His,' a 'young man who grew up in the service of God." It has been related that God the Exalted said: "O young man, who has abandoned his passions for My sake: you are to Me as are some of My angels."

later, Imam al Haddad continues: "Ibn al-Jawazi divides the human lifespan into five periods. The first, childhood, ends at the age of fifteen; the second, youth, extends to the age of thirty five..." and "Other scholars provide more or less similar divisions."

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"The lifespans of the [Muslim] Nation are among the shortest they have been. Some people in bygone nations lived near to or in excess of a thousand years. Some scholars have said that in some long-vanished communities, puberty was reached at the age of eighty. It is also said that one of Adam's sons died aged two hundred, and other people felt sorry for him having had such a brief life; and that Abraham the Friend, upon whom be peace, was circumcised at the age of eighty at God's command. And it is related that when the Messenger of God, upon whom be blessings and peace, considered the lifespans of his nation short in comparison to other nations, he implored and beseeched God on their behalf, for if their days were short, then their time spent in obedience and in preparation for their Hereafter would be short likewise, and they would thus miss many of the rewards and high degrees granted by God. So He gave him the Night of Destiny [ laylat al-qadr], which is better than a thousand months, [97:3] thus [in effect] extending their lives and multiplying their rewards so that any one of them who spends it in religioius observance during this night will be as if he had done so for a thousand months: namely, for eighty-three years and four months. If he does this every Night of Destiny for twelve years, for instance it would be as if he had lived one thousand years or more in God's obedience. Reflect on these calculations, for they are evident! This is what God has given this Nation through the baraka of His Messenger and the greatness and honour in His sight, and because of the tremendous concern which the Prophet has, upon him be blessings and peace, for his Nation, and his zeal to see them obtain what is good."
~ The Lives of Man, p. 25-26