Source : Sacred-Texts / 05 May 2014

A person in whom the desire for this knowledge has disappeared is like one who has lost his appetite for healthy food, or who prefers feeding on clay to eating bread. All bodily appetites perish at death with the organs they use, but the soul dies not, and retains whatever knowledge of God it possesses; nay, increases it.

Source : Sacred-Texts / 01 May 2014

This world is a stage or market-place passed by pilgrims on their way to the next. It is here that they are to provide themselves with provisions for the way; or, to put it plainly, man acquires here, by the use of his bodily senses, some knowledge of the works of God, and, through them, of God Himself, the sight of whom will constitute his future beatitude. It is for the acquirement of this knowledge that the spirit of man has descended into this world of water and clay. As long as his senses remain with him he is said to be "in this world"; when they depart, and only his essential attributes remain, he is said to have gone to "the next world."

Source : Sacred-Texts / 26 Apr 2014

Many claim to love God, but each should examine himself as to the genuineness of the love which he professes. The first test is this: he should not dislike the thought of death, for no friend shrinks from going to see a friend. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever wishes to see God, God wishes to see him." It is true a sincere lover of God may shrink from the thought of death coming before he has finished his preparation

Source : Ask Imam / 23 Apr 2014

General loud dhikr is clearly proven from many Ahadith.

See the following Hadith:

Source : Productive Muslim / 23 Apr 2014

“…for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.” (Surah Al-Rad, 13:28)

To be close to our Creator is a fundamental need of every human being and striving to achieve it can be the healing for our chaotic inner selves which, in turn, leads to:

Allah’s subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) love

Source : Islam1 / 17 Apr 2014

Envy is a nasty disease of the heart that leads to bad conduct and behavior, all of which are sins and evils.

Envy leads to animosity, evil thinking about others' intentions, backbiting, spreading rumors, lying, turning back on each other's, parting with bad terms, it may also lead the envious person to inflict physical damage with the envied person and even murder may Allah forbid. It is a bad seed for a terrible tree of diseases.

There are two degrees of this recollection of God. The first degree is that of those saints whose thoughts are altogether absorbed in the contemplation of the majesty of God, and have no room in their hearts for anything else at all. This is the lower degree of recollection for when a man's heart is fixed and his limbs are so controlled by his heart that they abstain from even lawful actions, he has no need of any device or safeguard against sins. It was to this kind of recollection that the Prophet referred when he said, "He who rises in the morning with only God in his mind, God shall look after him, both in this world and the next." Some of these recollectors of God are so absorbed in the thought of Him that, if people speak to them they do not hear, or walk in front of them they do not see, but stumble as if they collided with a wall.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF SELF

Knowledge of self is the key to the knowledge of God, according to the saying: "He who knows himself knows God," [hadith] and, as it is written in the Koran, "We will show them Our signs in the world and in themselves, that the truth may be manifest to them." Now nothing is nearer to thee than thyself, and if thou knowest not thyself how canst thou know anything else? If thou sayest "I know myself," meaning thy outward shape, body, face, limbs, and so forth, such knowledge can never be a key to the knowledge of God. Nor, if thy knowledge as to that which is within only extends so far, that when thou art hungry thou eatest, and when thou art angry thou attackest someone, wilt thou progress any further in this path, for the beasts are thy partners in this? But real self-knowledge consists in knowing the following things:

Source : Islamic Da'wah Academy / 12 APr 2014

It should be remembered that in Salah, one communicates with one’s Lord, therefore, one should consider how one offers his/her Salah. Allah ta’ala has commanded us to establish the Salah. Establishment means to carry out Salah and all its constituents (including it’s pre-requisite: wudu [ritual ablution]) very carefully.

By Abu Amina Elias / Faith in Allah.org / 03 Apr 2014

Love is a deep concept that has many different attributes, as can be understood from the many words used to describe love in Arabic. In his commentary on the Forty Hadith, Imam An-Nawawi makes a distinction between religious love (muhabbat ad-diniyyah) and human love (muhabbat al-bashriyyah). In Islam, it is important for us to understand the difference between religious love and human love.