How to prepare for death
Rasulullah SAW has said, "An intelligent person is one who is constantly thinking about and preparing for death."

Think about it. How does one prepare for death?

1) By seeking knowledge of Islam. So study about Allah, his Prophet, good deeds and evil deeds. But knowledge itself is useless without...

2) Practising it. Perform good deeds, small or big, and avoid all evil deeds. But all performance is useless unless you are...

3)  Sincere (Ikhlas). To do lillahi ta'ala. But you will never achieve sincerity, as long as you do not have…

4) True Faith (Iman). You must truly believe in Allah, truly be in awe of Allah, truly depend and ask only from Allah, truly hope from Allah, truly fear Allah, truly put your trust in Allah. But such faith does not come from reading books or talking about Islam or listening to fiery speeches about Islam; it comes from...

5) Striving hard in Allah's path (Jihad). This does not mean going around trying to convert the world to Islam; it does not mean waving a sword at the disbelievers showing them the 'terror' that Islam can inflict. It means fighting hard to cleanse the evil in yourselves – the jealousy, greed, stinginess, arrogance, pride, laziness, hatred, lack of faith, stupidity, blindness of the heart, backbiting and all the terrible sins that we do day after day, year after year, until death comes a calling. That is jihad. As you can see, this is a full time job that will take all your life to complete. But you will never start to strive for all of this, until you begin to...

6) Realise... Realise that you will die soon. Realise that you will be shown all your deeds (good and bad) on Judgement Day. Realise that Allah watches you all your life, and that no deed escapes His repayment. Realise that money, and fame and property cannot buy your way out of Hell. Realise that only iman and good deeds can. Realise that you live only once. Realise that you are responsible for yourself. Realise that in the end, you are the one who will gain or lose. So many people have realised, and have studied Islam, and yet have gone astray - becoming terrorists, extremists, and fundamentalists. Why?

They have forgotten the most important thing in Islam. Which is that...?

7) Islam is about YOURSELF. Correcting YOURSELF. Cleansing YOURSELF. Not about fighting with people or proving other people wrong. In the grave, you will be asked about YOURSELF. What YOU did. What YOU said. What was YOUR intention? Then Allah will tell YOU, what YOUR final destination is. "And do not be as those who forget Allah, then Allah lets them forget about themselves..."Al-Quran.

Have you thought of yourself lately? For every man who forgets about himself lands in Hell. Ponder... and practice.

When seeing another wearing new clothes
TUBLEE WA YUKHLIFULLAH. “Wear and tear and may Allah give you even more”. ABLI WA AKHLIQ THUMMA ABLI WA AKHLIQ THUMMA ABLI WA AKHLIQ. “Wear and tear, then wear and tear…”

BENEFIT: One wishes well for another by saying this Dua.

SAVOURY RICE
Ingredients
30ml Sunflower oil. 30ml Butter. 1 Large onion thinly sliced. 1 green pepper seeded and chopped. 1 tomato chopped. 5ml chilli powder or crushed drerid red chillies. 10ml methi masala. 5ml salt. 500ml frozen mixed vegetables 500ml long grain rice. 60ml butter

Method
Heat oil and 30ml butter in a large saucepan and braise onions until golden. Reserve a third of the onions for garnishing. Add green peppers and tomato to the saucepan with chilli powder methi masala and salt and simmer for 15 mins. Add frozen veggies and simmer for 10 mins. Meanwhile parboil rice for 15 mins in lightly salted water. Rinse drain and add to saucepan with veggies. Dot with 60ml butter and add reserved braised onion. Steam covered over medium heat for 15 mins.

Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best. He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighbouring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another. He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.

The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her!

One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, "I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone." Thus, he asked the 4 th wife, "I have loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!” replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!” replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!" His heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!", replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave." Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"
  
In truth, we all have the 4 wives in our lives: Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die. Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others. Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave. And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us wherever we go. Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us to the throne of Allah and continue with us throughout Eternity.

The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.

Three tortoises, Mick, Andy and Roy, decide to go on a picnic. Mick packs the picnic basket with a drink and sandwiches. The trouble is that the picnic site is ten miles away. So, it takes them ten days to get there. When they get there Mick unpacks the food and beer.

"Ok Roy give me the bottle opener" "I didn't bring it" says Roy "I thought you packed it" Mick gets worried, He turns to Andy, Did you bring the bottle opener?" Naturally Andy didn't bring it. So they're stuck ten miles from home without a bottle opener. Mick and Andy beg Roy to go back for it. But he refuses as he says they will eat all the sandwiches. After two hours, and after they have sworn on their tortoise lives that they will not eat the sandwiches, he finally agrees.

So Roy sets off down the road at a steady pace. 20 days pass and he still isn't back and Mick and Andy are starving, but a promise is a promise. Another 5 days and he still isn't back, but a promise is a promise. Finally they can't take it any longer so they take out a sandwich each, and just as they are about to eat it, Roy pops up from behind a rock and shouts,

"I KNEW IT'......I'M NOT GOING!"