"The owner and editor of "Al Hilal", a daily newspaper in Urdu, Hafiz Ali Bahadur Khan B.A., visited Hazrat on one occasion just before his demise, who, in spite of his extreme weakness and inability, spoke to him for about half an hour. He was very much impressed by this discussion and after reaching Bombay, in a few editions wrote about his impressions of Hazrat's personality and significance of the work in such a way which until now was not expected to be acknowledged by any editor or leader. I received that copy of "Al Hilal" from somewhere and having read Hafiz's article, I became very happy and intended to read it to Hazrat. I took that paper with me hoping that on some appropriate occasion, I may attend to him and having seen the paper in my hand, he might himself inquire what was in my hand. I would then reply and have the opportunity to read the article to him. Contrary to hope and expectations, Hazrat did not inquire about it. After a long time I could not restrain myself and said to him: "Hazrat! On one occasion, Hafiz Ali Bahadur from Bombay came here and all thanks to Allah, he was greatly impressed. He wrote a few articles concerning our work in which he acknowledged its greatness and importance from which it is manifest that he understood it well. If permitted, I would read some of it to you."

He replied: "Molvi Sahib! What is the use of speaking about that work which was accomplished. We must see how much is still left of the work that has to be done. We must look into the shortcoming of what has been done. To what extent were there deficiencies and sincerity and how far have we lacked in having the greatness of Allah's order in mind. How much have we failed to adopt the example of our Nabi (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and in our search into the manners of practice. Molvi Sahib! To be happy at looking back without taking stock bf the above is just like a traveler who becomes happy looking back at the distance covered. Looking back should only be for the purpose of finding out shortcomings and to acquire the way to remedy them in future and to see what has to be done in the future. Don't look back at one who has understood our work and acknowledged it. Look at how many hundreds or thousands there are to whom we have not delivered Allah's words as yet and as to how many there are who, in spite of being informed and having acknowledged our work, are not taking part because of the lack of effort on our part."

What did you learn in your 20s?

1. Don't isolate yourself. I did this mistake. I was angry to world, to people, to my life. I was sitting in my room all day. Watching movies, playing Championship Manager 03-04 etc. And then i realized that there are some people outside, who can share some interest with you, who can be with you. Never Ignore Social Skills.
2. You are alone. It means that you are responsible for all the things. There is no one except you, to help you, to motivate you. Alone.
3. Don't get fat. Please go to gym. ( I learned this very hard way. WOMEN WILL IGNORE YOU. So, start today and be fit! )
4. Add : For those "I am fit but no girlfriend" sayers, read "No More Mr. Nice Guy". Having a good product Nothing without Selling.
5. Leave the parents' house as soon as possible. Learn washing dishes, paying bills. Learn Life.
6. Travel. I did this, I am so glad now. If you don't have a big budget use Workaway and WWOOF. Workaway.info the site for free work exchange. Gap year volunteer for food and accommodation whilst travelling abroad.
7. Talk with that girl. Just go, smile and say "Hello, I am X. What about drinking coffee this weekend?". At worse, she will say "No!" and you will feel bad only 2-3 days. Better than regret.
8. About shyness. Read this : Deniz Murat's answer to Why I am so Shy?

source: http://www.quora.com/What-did-you-learn-in-your-20s

What are mistakes which software engineers make in the first 1-2 years of their career?

1. Not being willing to learn new languages and skills. Not willing to read technical books.
2. Making assumptions where information is needed and instead of raising them just coding things up with the assumptions.
3. When looking for help, asking for more than a  general direction, expecting people to do the groundwork and still expect them to help you the next time.
4. Not paying attention to performance: Use of good Data Structure and Algorithms.
5. Not paying attention to design: Design Pattern, Object Modeling, Best Practices
6. Not paying attention to security: SQL Injection
7. Not paying attention to testing: Writing test cases. Thinking of only happy flows and testing the success scenario with a belief that you're done with the code if that runs (in reality far from it).
8. Documentation: Improper logging and comments.
9. Descriptive Variable and Functions names.
10. Blind copy paste making an assumption that it would work.
11. Forget to take backup and remove all debugging statements like System.out.print before application goes into production.
12. Not detecting and removing code that is obsolete due to your changes and letting it fester around to confuse and astound others.
13. Jumping directly on solution. Don't start solution hunting the moment you face a problem or bug. Even if you copy from others solution, don't forget to learn and understand the solution.
14. Expecting you can read intent and tone in email communication.  (ASCII does not contain facial expression or intonation.) Actually reading the whole email without making any assumption.
15. Not focusing on career development and networking.
16. Not asking for code review and help.
17. Starting with a know it all instead of a learn it all attitude.
18. Paying less attention to domain, understand who the users are and why they use what we build. Understand the environment the user will be in when using your program.
19. Not able to provide reasonable/reliable estimates for the task in hand. At times they become too much optimistic and give strict deadlines while other times they estimate the task much bigger than it actually is.

source: http://www.quora.com/What-are-mistakes-which-software-engineers-make-in-the-first-1-2-years-of-their-career

Shirk

"We are filled with nifaq (hypocrisy). We may not make Sajda to any statue or any tree or any fire, but our heart makes Sajda to the beauty of ghair mehram. That's what you should think. You shouldn't think 'my eyes look'. You should think 'my heart is making Sajda to her. That's what I'm doing'. You actually say it: 'it's irresistible', 'I'm addicted', 'I'm hooked', 'I'm attracted'. You have become weak. Yes what you seek is weak, false, fake, but you are weak for wanting that. This is a type of nifaq. Just imagine then that Allah Taala is concealing our nifaq like he concealed their* nifaq. What if on the day of judgment Allah Taala exposes our nifaq just like he is going to expose their nifaq?"

* i.e. the munafiqeen (hypocrites) of Madinah at the time of the Prophet Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam

Shaykh Mufti Kamaluddin Ahmed from a talk in England on "The Fake Muslim"

(transcribed from audio so it may be slightly different from his exact words)

Full talk available on www.islamicspirituality.org

Reasons for Fatigue

1. Depression
2. Stress
3. Anxiety
4. Lack of exercise
5. Bad nutritional choices
6. Dehydration
7. Withdrawal symptoms hours from the last coffee

Money: Its purpose

source: http://www.ashrafiya.com/2015/04/15/money-its-purpose/


A seeker living abroad for his medical training wrote,

The travelling expenses for visiting home will be around three thousand dollars (a substantial amount for a foreign trainee in mid 1990’s). Would it be appropriate to spend so much money on myself?

Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah protect him) replied,

‘Assess your financial capacity (for spending). If no major necessity is affected and you do not have to draw loan then (be aware that) money is for providing happiness and comfort to one’s self and family. Moreover, making parents happy (by visiting them) is a reward-able action.’

Islahi khatoot  

Grudges

source: http://www.ashrafiya.com/2015/03/18/grudges


Our master Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him), said,

“The gates of Paradise are opened every Monday and Thursday. Every slave who has not associated any partner with Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) is forgiven except one who has enmity with his (Muslim) brother. It is said regarding them “Leave them until they make peace with each other”.

Explanation: The meaning of this Hadith is explained by another narration which Imam Mundhiri (rahimahullah) has narrated in Targheeb wa Tarheeb with reference to Awsat Tabrani.  It is stated in that narration that everyone’s deeds are presented (to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala) every Monday and Thursday. Whoever asked for forgiveness is forgiven, and whoever made Tawba, his Tawba is accepted. But the deeds of those who keep a grudge against each other are returned (meaning their istighfar and tawba are not accepted) until they stop having a grudge against each other. There are also some other Hadith regarding this topic. It is learnt from them that if a Muslim has a grudge against his Muslim brother then he does not deserve the mercy and forgiveness of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) until he cleans his heart from this grudge.

Source: Hadith # 411, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad by Imam Bukhari (rahimahullah) with Urdu translation and explanation by Maulana Muhammad Khalid Sahab Khangarhi