1. From top to bottom, all that I could find was "praise". "Praise Allah" - The very sentence has risen a question, why should we praise allah?
A human being on earth, feels happier when he is praised. A king loves to be praised, because he is a human being, thats the nature of human being, because thats how we are created by Allah. But why Allah?? Kulhuwalahu Ahad surah says - that there is nobody like him. But, I am .. how do I say this.. I can find Allah as an ordinary king, hunger for appreciation and praise.
It is a simple fact of worship. Allah says:
"I have only created Jinns and humans, that they may worship me"(Soorah Zaareeyaat 51:56)
Praising Allah is an act of worship as are other acts. Allah is not need of our appreciate and praise, he is not like an ordinary king as you state. You should be careful in what you say. By praising Him, we are only helping ourselves. Allah has made it a means of increasing good deeds, thanking Allah for His bounties on us, and means of pleasing Him. We have attributes similar to Him but they are limited like we are. For example, we have knowledge but He has infinite knowledge. We have compassion but He is Most Compassionate, and hence forth.
I understand he is worthy of such praise - His creations are Alhamdulilah, splendid, Allah alone knows the secret behind nature's beauty, but .. Allah should not demand some one to praise.
The Creator can demand whatever so ever wishes. He demands us to enjoing good and forbid evil. He demands us to pray and pay zakah and not join partners with Him. It is His right on us to demand or command as He wishes. Who are we the creation to question Him or tell Him what He can or cannot do.
I read a hadeeth, I shall quote ...The Prophet (s.a.w) will go and make sujood
under Allah's throne and will praise Allah with maginificient praises that Allah will teach him only then and there. Allah will then him to raise his head because his intercession has been accepted. Then the Judgement will start.
Well the above hadeeth, has put me a question ..
Allah likes some one, only when a person praises him.. Allah is big, Allah is great ... Why should he command a person to praise him? Allah knows he is the greatest .. There can be none like him.. He is the best.. But why Allah likes praise, is my query?
As I said before, praising Allah is an act of worship. He does not need our praising Him but we need it as means of going to Jannah. How can one not praise the Lord for His majestic powers and countless bounties given to us?
There was a man who lived on a mountain for 500 years. He was provided with sustenance by Allah, and all he did was worship in that time. When he died he wanted to go to Jannah based on his worship and so his 500 years of worship was put on one side of scale and just one bounty of Allah (lets say it’s eyesight) on the other side and it was heavier. Then he asked to enter Jannah by Allah’s mercy and so he was allowed. This illustrates that no matter how much worship we do, it still will never equal to the bounties Allah has given us. But it also illustrates that we should continue to worship to please Allah so we can enter Jannah by His mercy and pleasure. Allah is not pleased with one who does not praise him, then that person is seen as arrogant and full of pride.
In regards to the hadith, each prophet is given one dua for his ummah that will not be rejected. All the previous prophets made their duas for their ummah but our Prophet (saws) didn’t make the dua and saved it for this day. And so he will kneel before the throne of Allah and make this dua for the salvation of his ummah. This hadith has nothing to do with the topic on hand.
2. I understand that he has created us, he has created everything around us. He has concluded our fate when we are born - that this person on earth will enter Heaven and this person will go to Hell. When such is the case, why are we forced to live in this earth? and why should we experience the punishment (i.e., being in hell) when he has already defined my life?
The question of predestination and freewill confuses many people when it really isn’t that hard to comprehend. Allah has written in our portions what we will get in this world, He has written everything that will happened to us. At the same time He has given us free will to choose. Just because He has written it down does not mean you do not have free will. The first thing He created was Kalam (pen) and told it to write, write all that is and all that will be. So it is written what will be, meaning what will transpire to ends of time. What it means is all that you will do, the choices you will make, the way you will live your life and everything you will do is already written down. It does not mean you are blind slave following a script but rather all your life and future actions have been recorded already because Allah has knowledge of the gaib (unknown) for He knows the past, present and future.
There was a poor man at the time of one of the Prophets. He told the prophet to make dua to Allah to give him all his provisions as one lump sum and that he rather eat to his full one day and die happy then starve daily on the little he has. So the prophet made the dua for him and Allah gave him all that was decreed for him as his share. The man ate and enjoyed it but he also gave it to others and fed others and shared with others. So the man came back and asked the prophet, why does he still have so much and keep getting more after his initial share? He was told that he didn’t just eat it all but spread it and shared it with others. All this goodness has increased his share. The man had free will to do what he wanted to do, and his actions proved fruitful. All of this has already been written before even the creation was started. This story also tells us that what is your Qadr (decree) can also be changed by your actions.
2. And there is another hadeeth ... this is with regard to the punsihment given to animals.
"No Justice will be unsettled. Allah will even settle the offenses that took place among animals. The prophet (s.a.w) said: "The rights will surely be rendered to their people during Resurrection Day - to the extent that a horned goat will be punsihed on behalf of a goat with a cut ear " (Muslim)
My Doubt : Animals have only five senses, if I am not wrong. In that case, how can the goat be punished?
No body is talking about punishment here. What the hadith says is that everyone will see justice on J-day. Even the two sheeps that headbutt each other will see justice on that day. The whole point behind the hadith is the absolute justice of Allah. All creatures of Allah will see justice on that day, even the animals.
3. Allah says in Surah Aal Imraan 3:77 that He will not speak to or look at some wrong doers. The prophet said : "There are three types of people that on Resurrection Day, Allah will not speak to them, look upon them, or purify them, they will have a painful punishment : a man who drags his garment, a person who markets his merchandise with untruthful oaths, and a person who boasts about his favours towards others" - (Muslim, Ahmad)
My Doubt: Allah has created all of us. Allah has even decided the wrong doers. Lets assume "X" has been created by Allah, and that "X" has was a merchant and had marketed goods unlawfully .. in that case, Why should Allah refuse to see him..
Allah created us and gave us FREE will to do as we please. He sent Prophets as messengers and warners to us. The prophets have told us what to do and what not to do, what pleases Allah and what does not please Allah. So it is up to YOU to do as you wish. You can either obey Alalh and do what is commanded of you from your Creator or you can do as you wish. Don’t blame Allah for actions of humans. One who drags his garment does it out of pride. Having pride is a major sin against which stern warning has been given. One who sells with untruthful oats is a liar, a believer is not a liar and Allah does not like liars. One who does favors and boasts about them lacks humility and is a show off. Allah does not like such people either. So Allah gave warnings to us and it us who have chosen to be that way by our choice and have chosen to be disobedient servants. So it is foolish to think Allah is not allowed to punish us after giving us warnings, guidance and telling us before hand that we will be held accountable for it.
Lets see the hadeeth ... "When the small quantity of sperm remains in the womb for forty nights, God sends an angel it to shape it and fashions its hearing, sight, skin, flesh and bones, then he asks : My Lord! Will it be a male or female? Your Lord ordains what ever he pleases and the angel writes it. Then he asks, O My lord! What age will he attain? Similarly the sustenance is questioned. Your lord will ordain whatever He pleases and the angel writes it. Then the angel leaves with his document of destiny and nothing is added or erased from it. It will be asked, "Is he good or bad?". Then God will make him good or bad." (Sahih Muslim)
From the hadeeth it is evident that, before we are lay our legs on earth.. What we are going to be, whether we will remain as a True Beleiver or not, is documented. In that case, why should Allah punish us? May Allah forgive me for speaking this way. Allah is punishing the wrong doers, as Allah pleases to punish them.
Again read my post above about Qadr and free will. Angel is writing only what will be and nothing more. When we write biographies of people, we wait till the person is dead so we can go back and look at the history and then write it. Allah who has knowledge of everything writes it before you even start your life. It’s your biography in advance, one that tells what you will get in life and what you will do in life. It is you who is doing the action, the wirting is just a record showing what you will do. How you life your life is your choice and free will, that is why we have those who do good and those who do evil. Some aspects of our life is already decreed for us by Allah, like how much wealth we will get in this duniya. And some aspects we have freedom over, such as do I oppress others or be kind to them. What is decreed by Allah can also be changed, it can be changed by evil eye or black magic, and we have been given the means to protect our self against it. And it can be changed by dua. So if you don’t like your kismet, don’t say it is my kismet and live with it. Read surahs and duas to protect yourself from evil eyes of other and make sincere duas for it to be changed.
Allahu Alim