Religious strength

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

There is always people who disagree with you or discourage you to do what you believe is religiously and morally right, but you need to stand on your own and not be discouraged by it and keep doing it even if you are the last person who believe in it. This will make you a strong Muslim and increase you in your ranks with Allah. Allah expect us to be strong determined people. We don't go by what people say, we go by what Allah says.

Our example is Prophet Ibrahim, alayhissalaam. He was one man against the whole world.

"Surely, Abraham was a nation obedient unto God, a man of pure faith and no idolater, showing thankfulness for His blessings; He chose him, and He guided him to a straight path. And We gave him in this world good, and in the world to come he shall be among the righteous." Qur'an Ibrahim 16:120-122

May Allah grant us a sound understanding of the religion and give us the strength to practice what we know. Ameen. Please keep us in your prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

United we stand

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you have a blessed Friday.

Alhamdulillah, we have a spectacular Friday here in Seattle. The weather is simply splendid! SubhanAllah. Most importantly, we were blessed to be able to perform our Friday prayer with thousands of sincere Somalian and Ethiopian Muslims. When I entered the women musalla, for a moment I felt I was in masjid Annabawi, not the architecture, far from it, but the place was filled with Qur'an. The sisters (maybe about 300 of them) were very serious in their worship. Most sisters were reading Qur'an and some were memorizing the Qur'an while waiting for the imam to come to the pulpit. I could see the light and purity in their faces. I was the only "foreigner" in the crowd but I did not feel foreign with their warm welcome. MashaAllah.

I left the masjid, which was opened 6 months ago, with much amazement and with a smile in my heart. I came to know that the brothers and sisters struggled and worked hard together as a community to convert a casino into a masjid which now houses a few thousands Muslims for Friday prayer. The casino sign still stand, not sure why, but the whole idea of a casino was turned into a house of worship, only further proof that truth prevails and Islam is indeed true. Most of the brothers and sisters are not well-to-do but obviously they understood the meaning of victory comes from Allah alone and and the meaning of striving for the cause of Allah. They just did their part even with only coins in their pockets and purses!

Today I saw everybody contributed to a fundraiser towards building a masjid in Boston. It brought me to tears when I heard that the Boston Muslim community who contributed much to their fundraiser earlier on. SubhanAllah. And now they are returning the favor, with what they have, even only coins. As a community they could not forget their brothers and sisters, who once helped them build their place of worship. Indeed, these communities are our great examples of this time. United we stand!

Allah is the Planner. It was no coincidence that we had to switch our ride to a taxicab, the latter also came 30 minutes late and we would have missed the Friday prayer had it not the masjid address I had was wrong. When I gave the driver the address of the masjid to take us to, he told us that the address was an old address--that the masjid had recently moved, now closer to the hotel, SubhanAllah. I asked him if he is a Muslim and he said yes and we then gave our salaams. He decided to pray at the masjid since he would not have time to drive to another masjid he frequented, thus relieved us from having to wait for another taxi after Jumah.

So, how could our day today not spectacular and splendid? Allahu Akbar!

May Allah bless your day and make it spectacular. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

I cannot survive without Him

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

I pray that you are well.

I am still a bit shaken because I almost hit someone this morning. Inna lillahi wainna ilayhi raji'un. It would have been a fatal accident at least for the pedestrian. I was driving at the speed limit of about 50 miles an hour on a winding 2-way road to take my kids to school this morning and suddenly there was this human being right in front of me. It was still dark and I did not see her until I got very close to almost hit her. She had dark clothes on. I quickly swerved my car to the left and alhamdulillah there was no car coming from the opposite direction. SubhanAllah. Who prevented the accident from happening? Allah, al-Raqib. Without Him it would have been a huge disaster! Where would I be without Him? I could not survive without Him!

If you don't love Him for who He is, love Him for what He gives you. He is ever watchful over us and give us what is good for us.

May Allah protect us from all trials. Ameen.

Wassalaam

Who deserve it?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

I pray that you are well.

When we do something (big or small) for someone (spouse, children, parents, friends...), it is not because that someone deserve it. It is because we are doing it for Allah. When we have this set concretely in our hearts, we will feel peace no matter what happen. Even if that person does not reciprocate our kindness with kindness, perhaps ignore us, perhaps belittle us, perhaps it went unappreciated, we don't have this ouch in our hearts which can be projected in our actions which can be blown out of proportion and then the civil war started!

You see if you do things because you expect something in return from that person--kindness, praise, love, recognition .... you can never be happy, you probably angry all the time, all stressed out, headaches, migraines.... Remember that person is only a human like you--full of flaws, a slave like you--powerless. How could that person possibly give anything to you if Allah doesn't want to give it to you? So we do everything to please Allah and hope for His mercy and generosity to us. Remember you happen to be nice because Allah make you nice. He give you tawfiq to be nice. So you are thankful to Him for enabling you to be a nice person. If you are not thankful, you might be turned into that unappreciative wretched being. And Allah is able to do that just like that! May Allah protect us from that.

Next time before you do anything, clear out your heart from wanting anything from His servant and do that thing for that someone only for Allah. Keep your duties for Allah's sake and Allah will keep guiding you inshaAllah. If you are having trouble getting along with somebody, blame yourself and say if I were rectified that person will be rectified and ask Allah to rectify both of you.

In every setting, we have a leader and follower(s) because Islam is a religion of unity and authority. If we don't respect and obey the ones who Allah invested leadership within them upon us and if we don't fulfill our responsibilities towards the ones who Allah have entrusted us with, there will be chaos and we will all sink together.

So don't waste your time fighting with each other. Just pretend to not notice some of people's bad traits so long as they are not clear sin. Don't keep telling people you are doing this wrong and doing that wrong; and all the put downs. Pretend that everything is fine otherwise it is very difficult for people to get along. Be gentle and patient with people. Remember we are on the same boat and we are going to the same destination. We need each other to make sure we arrive safely to our destination.

"And whosoever does a righteous deed, be it male or female, believing, We shall assuredly give him to live a goodly life; and We shall recompense them their wage, according to the best of what they did." Qur'an An-Nahl 16:87

May Allah make our hands hold tight to His religion and bless all our relationships. Ameen. Please do not forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Be good to thy neighbors

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

I pray that you are well.

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser--in fees, expenses, and waste of time ... Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this.
--Abraham Lincoln.

This is one of the American ideals--don't fight with your neighbors--that the America's forefathers taught us. But we already have this built in in Islam except do we all practice it?

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Jibril alayhissalaam kept enjoining on me the rights of the neighbor until I thought that he would give him a share in the inheritance." We should honor and take extreme care of our neighbors. It is reported that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, Allah be well pleased with him, said: "If a man is praised by his neighbor, relatives and companions, then do not doubt his righteousness.

When you are nice to your neighbors, they will become your ally--they don't feel you are strange anymore, and it makes your life much easier. One of the ways to break the ice and one of the best ways to win their hearts is to send your neighbors gifts once in a while, even if it is something small. Your neighbors will be easy with other Muslims and perhaps they will defend us, Muslims, when we are under attack. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave gifts to the new Muslims after the Battle of Hunayn to soften their hearts. There is something about gifts that melt people's heart.

My neighbors are one example. When we first moved here about 3 years ago, I delivered gifts to all my neighbors. They had looked at me very strange at one time--my kids and I were the Muslims around. They were surprised with the gifts but I told them it is my Islamic tradition. Thereafter, once a month or so, I would bake banana bread and when I was not too busy and had more time, I would bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and had my children delivered them to my neighbors, typically on Friday and they were told it was our "holy" day. For my neighbor facing my kitchen, except in a few instances, I would send my neighbor what I cooked because I knew they could taste the food from the aroma coming out of the chimney.

My family is the only Muslim family in the neighborhood but I could count on my neighbors to help me if I need them inshaAllah. Whenever I traveled, my adjacent neighbors took their own initiative to watch over my house and made sure that my gardener did his job and one of my neighbors would turn off my sprinklers during rainy season. When I was abroad for almost a year, my next door neighbor was especially helpful. When my electricity bills were unprecedentedly high, more than what it was when we were living in the house, I knew something was not right. My neighbor, as busy as she was with her family and business travels, between her husband and her, resolved the issue for me. Among other things, they discovered the AC was on and some windows were opened! One of my neighbors had emailed me about a fire that broke out at a nearby marine base and she advised me to run the AC to circulate the air in the house. One of my Muslim friends who had keys to my house and to my automobiles did that for me but inadvertently forgot to close the windows and turn off the AC and so the high utility bills! When I needed something from my client's file while I was abroad, my neighbor spent hours searching for the documents, scanned and emailed them to me (this was a huge favor she did for me), but she did not mind this at all. My neighbors are always welcomed to knock at my door at any time, and they did so every so often to say hello, and they too would not mind us knocking at their doors at any time and sometimes I did, to borrow tools but often the man of their houses would voluntarily do the work that I needed to borrow the tool for. During the Southern California fires in the first year we live here, my neighbors who did not leave the area would check up on us every day and night to make sure we were alright and if we need anything.

These are my neighbors who Allah blessed me with and I hope yours are as nice too, if not nicer, inshaAllah. If they are estranged to you, start the tradition if you have not already. Keep giving (if nothing else, make a point to smile and greet them and genuinely ask them them how they are doing when you pass them) even if they did not reciprocate.

Who are our neighbors--some say it encompasses 40 homes on each side of your home or 8 city blocks--but for sure the ones adjacent to your house you should have good and close relationship with. Don't be a stranger to them. Our neighbors are an integral part of our lives as Muslims, and by being good to them and showing your presence, you are in fact spreading the message of Islam.

May Allah bless you with good neighbors. Ameen. Please do not forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Seize the moment

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

One day you have something and the next day that something is gone. You made all these plans and in the end it didn't happen. Don't wonder. Don't despair. Allah, the One who is responsible over everything, He is able to do what He wants. He can change everything and anything. He organizes and reorganizes. We are but helpless without Him, al-Karim.

"God turns about the day and the night; surely in that is a lesson for those who have eyes." [Qur'an 24:44]

All we need to do is seize the moment in worship of Him and obedience to Him.

"I swear by the time! Surely Man is in the way of loss, save those who believe, and do righteous deeds, and counsel each other truth, and counsel each other patience." [Qur'an, Al-'Asr 103:1-3]

Take advantage of the five before five.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to a man while he was advising him:

"Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death."

You should exercise the energy that you have for the sake of Allah by procuring knowledge of Allah, obtaining halal sustenance, and worshiping Allah through acts that you might not be able to do later on in life.

We all fall sick at one time or another. If we did not fall sick, we would not be humans. Some sicknesses can be more severe that the other, and for certain people even more severe. We won't know how long we will have full possession of our faculties before we fall sick. Therefore, take advantage of it before that time comes.

The majority of mankind do not appreciate these two blessings--good health and free time. We don't want to be among those!

Do not forget to invest for your next life, the real eternal life, so you can pick the fruits when you need it the most. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Verily, the money that you spend in charity is your money, and the money that you leave behind is the money of your inheritors." Do you love your own money more or the money of your inheritors?

How much free time do we have and what do we waste it on? Think about it. Spending time wisely does not necessarily mean doing purely religious deeds. Islam is a complete way of life. Many acts can be rewarded if you change your intention and do them for the sake of Allah. But everyone of us should recite the Qur'an everyday, even if it is only for five or ten minutes. Surely, you can find 5 or 10 minutes everyday to build this relationship with the Qur'an. Everyone of us should pray some extra prayers as well, a few sunnahs. One of the greatest act of worship is to seek beneficial knowledge. Do whatever you can to increase your knowledge of Islam--have a daily routine. These are some of the most important religious deeds to fill your time. Don't start with the distractors--TV and the like--the greatest waste of time are these things. There is more to life than them! Read a book instead.

You are only allowed one life on this earth and you will not be able to come back and change that life. For every good you do you will be rewarded, and for every evil you do you will be punished. Inna lillahi wainna ilayhi raji'un. When you are in your grave, the only thing that will follow you that can help you is your Iman and good deeds. So seize the moment in doing righteous deeds and not let a moment pass you by without remembrance of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala

May Allah guide is to excellence and give us tawfiq. Ameen.

Please do not forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Secret to be loved

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, direct me to an act which if I do it, (will cause) Allah to love me and people to love me." He, Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered: "Be indifferent to the world and Allah will love you; be indifferent to what people possess and they will love you." Ibn Majah

The secret of getting people to love you is not to compete with them in their beloved world (dunya). If people feel that you come to them for a share of their dunya their guard will go up. People love people who are genuine and sincere--those who do things for the sake of Allah and use the dunya for the sake of the next life.

One thing that brings us closer to Allah and to be loved by Him is al-zuhd (the indifference towards the world). Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked one day if someone owns one thousand dinar, can he still be a zahid? He replied yes, if he does not feel rejoice if the money increases and he does not become sad if it decreases. We must not become slaves to our worldly possessions. Instead we should work our worldly possessions for the worship of the One who bestow them to us--we use and spend them sincerely for Allah's sake only.

The dunya is cursed because it distracts people from Allah. It is a test for us. We either use it in the right way and be rewarded or we use it in the wrong way--compromise principles and indulge in disobedience--and fail the test.

"We have appointed all that is on the earth for an adornment for it, and that We may try which of them is best in works." Qur'an al-Kahf 18:7.

"Brief is the enjoyment of this world whereas the life to come is best for him who fears God." Qur'an An-Nisa 4:77

"The present life is but the joy of delusion." Qur'an AleImran 3:85

"O my people, surely this present life is but a passing enjoyment; surely the world to come is the abode of stability. Qur'an Ghafir 40:39

"As to these, they love the fleeting life, and put away behind them a Day (that will be) hard." Qur'an Al-Ihsan 76:27

"But you prefer the life of this world although the life to come is better and more enduring." Qur'an al-A'la 87:16-17

"... patient men, desirous of the Face of their Lord, who perform the prayer, and expend of that We have provided them, secretly and in public, and who avert evil with good -- theirs shall be the Ultimate Abode" Qur'an Ar-Ra'd 13:22

May Allah love us and make those who love Him love us and grant us righteous deeds so He loves us. Amin. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan

Wassalaam

Allah mentions them to those in His presence

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu Alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Abu Hurayra, Allah be well pleased with him, related that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A group does not gather in one of the houses of Allah Most High reciting Qur'an and studying it together, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy envelopes them, the angels encompass them, and Allah mentions them to those in His presence. (Muslim)

MashaAllah we had a great turnout for the khatma last night at Masjid Al-Ittehad and many Amin to the du'a (including the angels inshaAllah and Allah knows best). May Allah accept our worship and du'a. May Allah draw us closer to Him and give us tawfiq to continue reciting His words everyday. Amin.

Our next khatma will be on Friday, April 16, 2010 at 7pm (California time) inshaAllah. Please continue reading at a least a juz of the Qur'an a day with your family and invite your friends and circle of influence to do so. "Help one another to piety and godfearing; do not help each other to sin and enmity. And fear God; surely God is terrible in retribution." Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:2

Reciting the Qur'an is a great act of worship. Every letter you recite will earn you the pleasure of Allah and will draw you closer to Him Subhanahu. A person should maintain his recitation and do much of it.

Abi Dawud related from the Righteous Forebears, Allah be well pleased with them, that some of them would finish the Qur'an once very two months, once every month, once every 10 nights, 8 nights; most of them every 7 nights, some every 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2 nights, some everyday and night, twice everyday and night, twice each day, and 8 times each day--4 by night and 4 by day. Uthman ibn Affan, Allah be well pleased with him, and Imam Shafi'i and Mujahid, Allah have mercy on them, completed recitation of the Qur'an every day.

A hadith of Anas, Allah be well pleased with him, said that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The best of works are al-hall and al-rihlat." It was asked, "what are they?" He said, "Beginning the Qur'an and completing it."

May Allah grant us tawfiq. Amin. Please do not forget us in your prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Share the blessings of our monthly event--Khatma Qur'an today Friday 3/19 at 6pm

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Don't miss the opportunity to share the blessings of this special monthly event of Khatma Qur'an. Bring your families.

Group recitation of final chapter (Juz 'Amma) begins at 6pm
Du'a
Maghrib prayer
potluck dinner
'Isha prayer


It is emphatically recommended to attend gatherings in which the khatma takes place. It is established in Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered women during their menses to go our on Eid to participate in the goodness and the supplications of the Muslims.

Related by Abi Dawud

ibn Abbas, Allah be pleased with him, would make a person watch over someone finsihing the Qur'an, and when he wanted to finish he would inform ibn Abbas so he could participate in it.

"When Anas ibn Malik, Allah be pleased with him, would complete the Qur'an, he would gather his family and supplicate to Allah."

"al-Hakim ibn Utayba said Mujahid and Abdata sent for me and said, "We sent for you because we want to finish the Qur'an, and supplication when finishing the Qur'an is answered."

"Indeed, mercy descends when completing the Qur'an."

"They would gather when completing the Qur'an, saying that the mercy now descends."

Darimi related that Humayd al-A'raj said: Whoever recited the Qur'an and then supplicated, four thousand angels say 'Amin!' to the supplication"

May Allah accept. Ameen.

Wassalaam

Choose your companions

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

You love someone because you feel they are close to Allah. Their closeness to Allah wins your love for them. It is a very virtuous deed indeed when you love someone for Allah. Through it you get the sweetness of faith. You feel content and your heart is tranquil. The heart moves with Allah. The sign that you love someone for Allah is that you can leave that someone when he/she is distant from Allah. People who are distant from Allah, you have an aversion of them. You don't want to be their best friend.

It is good to love the believers because this is our means of success in the Day of Judgment.

So choose your companions carefully. You will be like them. These are the people that can bring you closer to Allah or away from Allah. When you see righteousness in your companions, it is good to say I love you. And to all my teachers and my companions, I love you.

May Allah resurrect us with His beloved and enter us into Paradise with him. Ameen. Please do not forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

P.S. Today is our group recitation of Juz 'Amma and du'a at Masjid Al-Ittehad, Vista for the khatma Qur'an. Begin at 6:00 pm. Potluck dinner after Maghrib. InshaAllah. Those nearby please being your families and join us at the masjid. May Allah reward you well. Ameen.

It takes a village

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Indeed, raising children to be good people, good citizens, good children, good spouses, good parents, good...is a mighty task! We don't have a village to help us raise even one child, let alone 2,3,4...but does this mean our children is finished? No, of course not, inshaAllah. There is still hope. We can create a village for them. If we teach them not to be selfish, 90% of the job is done.

Start by living this famous hadith ourselves as we are their foremost examples: "None of you truly believes (in Allah and in His religion) until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Bukhari and Muslim)

The idea is that we love for other Muslims what we love for ourselves. We should care for and help one another. Loving goodness for others is part of loving them. We love good things for them as much as we love those things for ourselves. We wish other Muslims to be better than us in worshiping and manners and at the same time we strive to be better than what we are now. We treat them the way we want them to treat us. We are merciful and compassionate in our treatment of others. Part of good treatment of others are excusing them and giving them fair chances. For example, if a person commits a mistake, then we should find excuses for them and not jump to conclusions. There are many ways to excuse others who did mistakes, so we can live together peacefully and avoid confrontations. If they commit a sin then we love for them that they leave the sinful act. We advise them out of our love for them. We should choose the best words in our conversation. Good words can bring happiness to people's heart and can avoid confrontations and quarrels.

The Qur'an says:

"O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak always the right word." Qur'an Al-Ahzab 33:70

"And tell My servants that they should always say those words that are the best. Satan verily, sows a state of conflict and disagreements among them." Qur'an Al-Isra' 17:53

So this is where we start building the village for our children to raise their children. Remember, we each have a role to play and changes to be made. We cannot aimlessly go through lives today the same way as yesterday, this year the same way as last year or 5 or 10 years ago. If each one of us understand our role and make a change, our children will have a huge village to grow up in, in no time. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the early Muslims and the Companions, Allah be very pleased with them all, suffered persecutions and many trying times and fought selflessly in battles just so Allah's words can come to us. We should learn and apply them in our lives.

May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Happiness is not worldly comfort

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

My brother and I had the opportunity to visit China, the land of our maternal ancestors. This was several years ago. After the Tiananmen Square massacre, China was not in the list of places I wanted to visit but this one hadith always play in my mind since I was little (Seek knowledge even if you have to travel to China--not sure if this is a real hadith but we grew up with this hadith) and alas it sparked my curiosity about China so I made that trip.

Once I was there I was pleasantly surprised by the place and the Chinese warm hospitality. People were very pleasant despite the poverty. And it was among the most safest place that I had been so far. I felt right at home. SubhanAllah. What was so incredible was people walking around with black plastic bags and I wondered what that was.

One day my brother and I went to the bank to collect some money. The teller gave us 2 big black grocery bags. In it were packs of money! I said to my brother in disbelief: Don't expect me to carry the money around like this! Everybody would know what's inside since we came out of a bank. My brother was bewildered as well but then he said: In Rome do as Romans do, by extrapolation, in China do as the Chinese do! Tawakkal ala Allah Subhanahu! We saw around us people carrying black grocery bags walking nonchalantly.

I learned a lot from this trip about the Chinese. They have many great virtues. Chinese were among the most hardworking people and family is central to their lives. They work together as a family--I could see this in action. One time I saw a skinny man riding a trishaw with a heavy load of things on a hilly road and his wife was helping pushing the trishaw up. While in state of much physical exertion, they could still cast a big friendly smile at me. It was a sight that would make any heart sink. And truly, happiness lies in the heart--not in the worldly comfort and material things!

We went again a few years ago and things hadn't changed but it was a great reflection of the mercy of Allah and a good boost of our Iman. Alhamdulillah. If you have the resource, China would be a good place to visit. Bring with you some Islamic literature for the Muslims there as they are quite deprived of this due to some governmental censure.

May Allah bless your day with your loved ones. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Wisdom

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

If we understand the importance of Qur'an and sunnah and live it, we will have a rich life because Islam is rich in all aspect of our lives. The problem is that we don't take the time to learn and understand the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace--we bog ourselves in the regimen and the nitty gritty of technicalities. We pray and fast in Ramadhan and don't do haram (you think you don't), now we think we have it down--we are Muslims and they are not. Technically, yes, we can call ourselves Muslims if we pray and fast. Similar to someone who knows how to cut and sew, is he a surgeon? Will you trust him to do surgery on you? There are more to be a surgeon than just cutting and sewing. Likewise there is more than rituals to Islam. There is MANNERS. Manners with Him and manners with His creation. These manners are meant to bring happiness to our lives (this life and the next) and to people around us. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent to perfect noble character. And good character weighs heavier on the scale in the Day of Judgment. So this aught to tell us the importance of good character and good manners. And we should be very conscious of this in going about our everyday lives.

Just a smile can make a person's day but will you be able to smile at people all the time? Just a three letter word "plz" for "please" can make a mother's day. Sidebar: My 17 year old son would send me a text message when he was ready to be picked up from his evening classes at school for the last few months. The text was short and to the point "pick me up". One day I received a text from him via his friend's phone (he lost his phone, the 3rd time, and I did not get him another one just to teach him a lesson). The text was "pick me up plz." The "plz" was a soothing breeze to my heart! When I saw him I immediately told him how I felt and from then on he appended the word "plz" to his text message. MashaAllah. A few days ago, he decided to clean the house (he said just for me) and to our amazement he found the phone that he thought he lost at school behind a couch! He was elated of course and I told him to take wudu' and make 2 raka'at prayer to thank Allah.

If you take a course or two and read some Islamic books, you can begin to develop a taste of the richness of Islam. They give you a few considerations and some ideas of what to do. But many things in Islam can be answered in more than one ways depending on who the people are and what the circumstances are, and only by keeping the company of knowledgeable people who have good manners will help you practice your knowledge and develop a taste of what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, which no amount of book learning or studies can give. This is the idea of wisdom. We ask Allah to give us wisdom.

Allah give wisdom to whoever He wills and whoever He gives wisdom He gives tremendous good. Good character is based a lot on wisdom. Having wisdom is when you have a situation and you know what is the best thing to do to cover all of your areas.

"He gives the Wisdom to whomsoever He will, and whoso is given the Wisdom, has been given much good; yet none remembers but men possessed of minds." Qur'an Al Baqarah 2:269

"Whomsoever We will, We raise in rank; over every man of knowledge is One who knows." Qur'an Yusuf 12:76

May Allah bless your day. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

When Muslims become lazy and fat

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

It is a recurring theme in the Muslim history that when the Muslims have sincerity towards the religion of Allah, they achieved victory. Allah opened up the land for the Muslims. When the Muslims prospered, they became corrupt and greedy and that led to the downfall.

In times when the Muslims were in hardship--when they were living in poverty and being attacked, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, predicted to the Companions that in the future Allah will sprout forth blessings of the land, that they would gain great wealth, and this was what he feared for them the most--WEALTH. The companions used to eat the 2 black thing -- dates and water. In rare occasions when they have bread, salt and oil, this was a great feast to them and they thank Allah profusely! Look at us! Meat/fish/beans 3+ course meals everyday! And what have we become!

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al−Khudri, Allah be pleased with him: Once the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, sat on a pulpit and we sat around him. Then he said, "The things I am afraid of most for your sake (concerning what will befall you after me) is the pleasures and splendors of the world and its beauties which will be disclosed to you." Somebody said, "O Allah's Apostle! Can the good bring forth evil?" The Prophet remained silent for a while. It was said to that person, "What is wrong with you? You are talking to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he is not talking to you." Then we noticed that he was being inspired divinely. Then the Prophet wiped off his sweat and said, "Where is the questioner?" It seemed as if the Prophet liked his question. Then he said, "Good never brings forth evil. Indeed it is like what grows on the banks of a water−stream which either kill or make the animals sick, except if an animal eats its fill the Khadira (a kind of vegetable) and then faces the sun, and then defecates and urinates and grazes again. No doubt this wealth is sweet and green. Blessed is the wealth of a Muslim from which he gives to the poor, the orphans and to needy travelers. (Or the Prophet said something similar to it) No doubt, whoever takes it illegally will be like the one who eats but is never satisfied, and his wealth will be a witness against him on the Day of Resurrection." Bukhari

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The best of my ummah is my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them... Then, after them, people will come who will testify only for their own interests, be treacherous, violate their vows, and they will become fat." Bukhari.

How did the companions become the best of nation? It happened in adversity. The companions went through many trying times. Adversity makes people strong. Fearing Allah and living a life of piety and uprightness result in Allah open great bounty to the land.

The concerns of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, came true in Andalus, Muslim Spain. The great Muslim empire began here. Muslims came in Andalus, prospered and became lazy and fat. So they lose everything. When there is no sense of self sacrifice and well wishing for others everybody fight to take their piece and self destruct. One of the sunnah of Allah is Muslims win against all odds, when the odds are with them, they lose. The sunnah of history is when people become greedy everything fell apart. This is how Muslim empire and all great empires rise and fall. Indeed, the dunya is the root of all evils.

If we learn our history correctly and learn from the lessons of our history, we will not have the energy to sit back and just go with the flow of our times. We will not sit and fatten ourselves as if we are not fat already. Instead we will find time to build and strengthen our communities--support the community masjid and its activities, take care of our youths who are drifting away from Islam because we are too busy trying to fatten them and ourselves.

May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen.

Please do not forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

People's secrets

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Occasionally, I have clients who asked me if he/she should tape his/her spouse and worse when they brought me tape recordings of their spouses/partners. Sometimes they gave me hard copy of private emails of their spouses/partners and other similar material, and photos and the like. They thought they could use them to win their cases or at a minimum, make the other side look bad in public. What do you think my reaction was?!

This evidence would not be admissible to prove the truth of the matter as they were obtained without permission of the other party. Further, this sort of evidence can easily be tampered and placed out of context. Even if there is a remote chance that this evidence is admissible in court to prove other than the truth of the matter, I would not have used them and so there was no need for me to view/listen/read them.

So why not? Isn't this is part of my job? Absolutely not! My eyes were not created to look at people's secrets or other people's private information without their consent. My ears were not created to eavesdrop. Ironically, it was a little easier to convey this message to my non-Muslim clients than to my Muslim clients.

When a man or woman decided to tape or hack into his/her spouse's email, they think they have the upper hand. But to me, it clearly shows that the marriage is a goner. When there is no trust or respect in a relationship or marriage to a point one have a need to tape or hack into the other spouse's email, there is only one solution--divorce. My job, as a legal representative, is one and only one--to make the exit as subtle and private as possible--the whole world, including me and their children don't need to see/hear the dirty laundry. He/she does not have to convince me that he/she is good and his/her spouse is bad. I am not the judge. The judging is best left in the hands of the Just Judge, al-Adl al-Hakam.

Unfortunately, technology has made it easier for people to pry into other people's lives--good or bad. While before people have to look through a peephole, hire agencies or private investigators to get people's information, now with a few keystrokes in the privacy of their own homes people can retrieve a lot of information about somebody. Even though nobody sees what you are doing, Allah is the all-Seer, He sees what you do. Even though you will not be prosecuted for the invasion of privacy, you have no right to the information, no matter how trivial, without explicit consent of the owner of the information, even if they are public records or on the web. Remember one day you are going to answer to Allah. Only Allah look at people's deeds and secrets--sins and otherwise. If you happen to see the secret of people, close your eyes. You don't want to spread what you know of others either and if you do, Allah will eventually seek your secret and expose them even the ones in your own house. Don't waste your time looking for or at people's secrets--spend that time in remembrance of Allah instead. Say SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar and many other dhikr instead.

May Allah grant us taqwa. Ameen. Please do not forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Surely we belong to God, and to Him we return

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Alah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Yesterday we had an announcement after Jumah prayer of the passing of a young member of our community, a medical school student, due to a car accident. May Allah have mercy on him and forgive him and admit him into the highest Paradise, and may Allah grant abundant patience to his parents and family. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un

Narrated Abu Huraira, Allah be very pleased with him: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "(A believer) who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is offered and the burial ceremonies are over, he will return with a reward of two Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the (Mount) Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial, will return with the reward of one Qirat only." Bukhari

It has been said that whenever someone escorts the funeral of his brother Muslim, Allah orders the angels to escort his own funeral and pray over him when he dies.

"Who, when they are visited by an affliction, say, 'Surely we belong to God, and to Him we return (Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un)'" Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:156

"Those whom the angels take while they are goodly, saying, 'Peace be on you! Enter Paradise for that you were doing.' " Qur'an An-Nahl 16:32

"Those who have said, 'Our Lord is God.' then have gone straight, upon them the angels descend, saying, 'Fear not, neither sorrow; rejoice in Paradise that you were promised. We are your friends in the present life and in the world to come; therein you shall have all that your souls desire, all that you call for, as hospitality from One All-forgiving, One All-compassionate.'" Qur'an Fussilat 41: 30-32

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْوَهَّابُ

"Our Lord, make not our hearts to swerve after that You have guided us; and give us mercy from You; You are the Bestower." Qur'an AleImran 3:8

رَبِّنَا لَمَّا جَآءَتْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ

"Our Lord, pour out upon us patience, and gather us to You as Muslims.'" Qur'an al-'Araf 7:126

Ameen

Wassalaam

Allah is watching over you

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Never feel alone. When you are in the pits of life, where nobody care about you, know that He is always there. Your friends or your loved ones may be too busy to notice your pain but not Allah, ar-Raqib. He sees every detail. He sees the little cry in your heart. He is not tired to listen to your cries, to your complaints. He is the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep. (Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:255) If you make yourself known to Him in times of prosperity, in times of happiness, He will be with you in times of difficulties, in times of loneliness.

When you grieve, no need to show your grief to people--they cannot remove your grief. If you show it to the wrong people, it might come back to haunt you. Follow Ya'qub alayhissalaam. He complained only to Allah. "He said, 'I make complaint of my anguish and my sorrow unto God; I know from God that you know not." Qur'an Yusuf 12:86

"And put your trust in Allah; Allah suffices for a guardian." Qur'an An-Nisa 4:81

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا

May Allah comfort our souls and make us not look to His creation but only to Him. Ameen. Please do not forget me in your night prayers. Ameen.

Wassalaam

Good Company and Telling the Truth

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Ka'b ibn Malik, a great companion, Allah be very pleased with him, got himself into a big trouble for not attending the Battle of Tabuk. He had fought in every battles except Badr. He had no excuse and told the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, this truth. But many men of his tribe said something which almost influenced him to go back to the Prophet and give himself an excuse but for the example of 2 pious men who also told the truth.

Do not underestimate the influence of your environment and company.

"They were something over eighty men; Allah's Apostle accepted the excuses they had expressed, took their pledge of allegiance asked for Allah's Forgiveness for them, and left the secrets of their hearts for Allah to judge. Then I came to him, and when I greeted him, he smiled a smile of an angry person and then said, 'Come on.' So I came walking till I sat before him. He said to me, 'What stopped you from joining us. Had you not purchased an animal For carrying you?' I answered, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle! But by Allah, if I were sitting before any person from among the people of the world other than you, I would have avoided his anger with an excuse. By Allah, I have been bestowed with the power of speaking fluently and eloquently, but by Allah, I knew well that if today I tell you a lie to seek your favor, Allah would surely make you angry with me in the near future, but if I tell you the truth, though you will get angry because of it, I hope for Allah's Forgiveness. Really, by Allah, there was no excuse for me. By Allah, I had never been stronger or wealthier than I was when I remained behind you.' Then Allah's Apostle said, 'As regards this man, he has surely told the truth. So get up till Allah decides your case.'

I got up, and many men of Banu Salama followed me and said to me. 'By Allah, we never witnessed you doing any sin before this. Surely, you failed to offer excuse to Allah's Apostle as the others who did not join him, have offered. The prayer of Allah's Apostle to Allah to forgive you would have been sufficient for you.' By Allah, they continued blaming me so much that I intended to return (to the Prophet) and accuse myself of having told a lie, but I said to them, 'Is there anybody else who has met the same fate as I have?' They replied, 'Yes, there are two men who have said the same thing as you have, and to both of them was given the same order as given to you.' I said, 'Who are they?' They replied, Murara bin Ar−Rabi Al−Amri and Hilal bin Umaiya Al−Waqifi.' By that they mentioned to me two pious men who had attended the Ghazwa (Battle) of Badr, and in whom there was an example for me. So I did not change my mind when they mentioned them to me."

"Allah's Apostle forbade all the Muslims to talk to us, the three aforesaid persons out of all those who had remained behind in that Ghazwa. So we kept away from the people and they changed their attitude towards us till the very land (where I lived) appeared strange to me as if I did not know it. We remained in that condition for fifty nights. As regards my two fellows, they remained in their houses and kept on weeping, but I was the youngest of them and the firmest of them, so I used to go out and witness the prayers along with the Muslims and roam about in the markets, but none would talk to me, and I would come to Allah's Apostle and greet him while he was sitting In his gathering after the prayer, and I would wonder whether the Prophet did move his lips in return to my greetings or not. Then I would offer my prayer near to him and look at him stealthily. When I was busy with my prayer, he would turn his face towards me, but when I turned my face to him, he would turn his face away from me."

We cannot imagine how miserable the 3 companions must have felt losing the companionship of the Prophet and the other companions.

"And to the three who were left behind, until, when the earth became strait for them, for all its breadth, and their souls became strait for them, and they thought that there was no shelter from God except in Him, then He turned towards them, that they might also turn; surely God turns, and is All-compassionate. O believers, fear God, and be with the truthful ones." Qur'an At-Tawbah 9:118-119

"...I heard the voice of one who had ascended the mountain of Sala' calling with his loudest voice, 'O Ka`b bin Malik! Be happy (by receiving good tidings).' I fell down in prostration before Allah, realizing that relief has come. Allah's Apostle had announced the acceptance of our repentance by Allah when he had offered the Fajr prayer. The people then went out to congratulate us."

The Prophet was beaming with happiness when Ka'b came to him after the revelation.

Narrated `Abdullah bin Ka`b: I heard Ka`b bin Malik talking after his failure to join (the Ghazwa of) Tabuk. He said, "When I greeted Allah's Apostle whose face was glittering with happiness, for whenever Allah's Apostle was happy, his face used to glitter, as if it was a piece of the moon, and we used to recognize it (i.e. his happiness) from his face."

When we do something wrong, do we weep? The reality is that when we do something wrong, we make the Prophet, the one who we are asking for intercession in the Day of Judgment, unhappy and Allah is unhappy with you too. And how many wrongs do we do everyday that we slight them or don't even care! That's why we moist our mouths with lots of istighfar (asking Allah's forgiveness) and salawat upon the Prophet.

May Allah have mercy on us and forgive us. Ameen. Please do not forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

P.S.
The full hadith is below. I encourage you to read it over and over again--there is a lot of lessons you can derive and learn from just this one hadith, inshaAllah.

Related in Bukhari:

Narrated `Abdullah bin Ka`b bin Malik: Who, from among Ka`b's sons, was the guide of Ka`b when he became blind: I heard Ka`b bin Malik narrating the story of (the Ghazwa of) Tabuk in which he failed to take part. Ka`b said, "I did not remain
behind Allah's Apostle in any Ghazwa that he fought except the Ghazwa of Tabuk, and I failed to take part in the Ghazwa of Badr, but Allah did not admonish anyone who had not participated in it, for in fact, Allah's Apostle had gone out in search of the caravan of Quraish till Allah made them (i.e. the Muslims) and their enemy meet without any appointment. I witnessed the night of Al−`Aqaba (pledge) with Allah's Apostle when we pledged for Islam, and I would not exchange it for the Badr battle although the Badr battle is more popular amongst the people than it (i.e. Al−`Aqaba pledge). As for my news (in this battle of Tabuk), I had never been stronger or wealthier than I was when I remained behind the Prophet in that Ghazwa. By Allah, never had I two she−camels before, but I had then at the time of this Ghazwa. Whenever Allah's Apostle wanted to make a Ghazwa, he used to hide his intention by apparently referring to different Ghazwa till it was the time of that Ghazwa (of Tabuk) which Allah's Apostle fought in severe heat, facing, a long journey, desert, and the great number of enemy. So the Prophet announced to the Muslims clearly (their destination) so that they might get prepared for their Ghazwa. So he informed them clearly of the destination he was going to. Allah's Apostle was accompanied by a large number of Muslims who could not be listed in a book namely, a register."

Ka`b added, "Any man who intended to be absent would think that the matter would remain hidden unless Allah revealed it through Divine Revelation. So Allah's Apostle fought that Ghazwa at the time when the fruits had ripened and the shade looked pleasant. Allah's Apostle and his companions prepared for the battle and I started to go out in order to get myself ready along with them, but I returned without doing anything. I would say to myself, 'I can do that.' So I kept on delaying it every now and then till the people got ready and Allah's Apostle and the Muslims along with him departed, and I had not prepared anything for my departure, and I said, I will prepare myself (for departure) one or two days after him, and then join them.' In the morning following their departure, I went out to get myself ready but returned having done nothing. Then again in the next morning, I went out to get ready but returned without doing anything. Such was the case with me till they hurried away and the battle was missed (by me). Even then I intended to depart to take them over. I wish I had done so! But it was not in my luck. So, after the departure of Allah's Apostle, whenever I went out and walked amongst the
people (i.e, the remaining persons), it grieved me that I could see none around me, but one accused of hypocrisy or one of those weak men whom Allah had excused. Allah's Apostle did not remember me till he reached Tabuk. So while he was sitting
amongst the people in Tabuk, he said, 'What did Ka`b do?' A man from Banu Salama said, 'O Allah's Apostle! He has been stopped by his two Burdas (i.e. garments) and his looking at his own flanks with pride.' Then Mu`adh bin Jabal said, 'What a bad thing you have said! By Allah! O Allah's Apostle! We know nothing about him but good.' Allah's Apostle kept silent."

Ka`b bin Malik added, "When I heard that he (i.e. the Prophet) was on his way back to Medina. I got dipped in my concern, and began to think of false excuses, saying to myself, 'How can I avoid his anger tomorrow?' And I took the advice of wise
member of my family in this matter. When it was said that Allah's Apostle, had come near all the evil false excuses abandoned from my mind and I knew well that I could never come out of this problem by forging a false statement. Then I decided firmly to speak the truth. So Allah's Apostle arrived in the morning, and whenever he returned from a journey, he used to visit the Mosque first of all and offer a two−rak`at prayer therein and then sit for the people. So when he had done all that (this time), those who had failed to join the battle (of Tabuk) came and started offering (false) excuses and taking oaths before him. They were something over eighty men; Allah's Apostle accepted the excuses they had expressed, took their pledge of allegiance asked for Allah's Forgiveness for them, and left the secrets of their hearts for Allah to judge. Then I came to him, and when I greeted him, he smiled a smile of an angry person and then said, 'Come on.' So I came walking till I sat before him. He said to me, 'What stopped you from joining us. Had you not purchased an animal for carrying you?' I answered, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle! But by
Allah, if I were sitting before any person from among the people of the world other than you, I would have avoided his anger with an excuse. By Allah, I have been bestowed with the power of speaking fluently and eloquently, but by Allah, I knew well that if today I tell you a lie to seek your favor, Allah would surely make you angry with me in the near future, but if I tell you the truth, though you will get angry because of it, I hope for Allah's Forgiveness. Really, by Allah, there was no excuse for me. By Allah, I had never been stronger or wealthier than I was when I remained behind you.' Then Allah's Apostle said, 'As regards this man, he has surely told the truth. So get up till Allah decides your case.'

I got up, and many men of Banu Salama followed me and said to me. 'By Allah, we never witnessed you doing any sin before this. Surely, you failed to offer excuse to Allah's Apostle as the others who did not join him, have offered. The prayer of Allah's Apostle to Allah to forgive you would have been sufficient for you.' By Allah, they continued blaming me so much that I intended to return (to the Prophet) and accuse myself of having told a lie, but I said to them, 'Is there anybody else who has met the same fate as I have?' They replied, 'Yes, there are two men who have said the same thing as you have, and to both of them was given the same order as given to you.' I said, 'Who are they?' They replied, Murara bin Ar−Rabi Al−Amri and Hilal bin Umaiya Al−Waqifi.' By that they mentioned to me two pious men who had attended the Ghazwa (Battle) of Badr, and in whom there was an example for me. So I did not change my mind when they mentioned them to me.

Allah's Apostle forbade all the Muslims to talk to us, the three aforesaid persons out of all those who had remained behind in that Ghazwa. So we kept away from the people and they changed their attitude towards us till the very land (where I lived) appeared strange to me as if I did not know it. We remained in that condition for fifty nights. As regards my two fellows, they remained in their houses and kept on weeping, but I was the youngest of them and the firmest of them, so I used to go out and witness the prayers along with the Muslims and roam about in the markets, but none would talk to me, and I would come to Allah's Apostle and greet him while he was sitting In his gathering after the prayer, and I would wonder whether the Prophet did move his lips in return to my greetings or not. Then I would offer my prayer near to him and look at him stealthily. When I was busy with my prayer, he would turn his face towards me, but when I turned my face to him, he would turn his face away from me.

When this harsh attitude of the people lasted long, I walked till I scaled the wall of the garden of Abu Qatada who was my cousin and dearest person to me, and I offered my greetings to him. By Allah, he did not return my greetings. I said, 'O Abu Qatada! I beseech you by Allah! Do you know that I love Allah and His Apostle?' He kept quiet. I asked him again, beseeching him by Allah, but he remained silent. Then I asked him again in the Name of Allah. He said, "Allah and His Apostle know it
better.' Thereupon my eyes flowed with tears and I returned and jumped over the wall."

Ka`b added, "While I was walking in the market of Medina, suddenly I saw a Nabati (i.e. a Christian farmer) from the Nabatis of Sham who came to sell his grains in Medina, saying, 'Who will lead me to Ka`b bin Malik?' The people began to point (me) out for him till he came to me and handed me a letter from the king of Ghassan in which the following was written: "To proceed, I have been informed that your friend (i.e. the Prophet) has treated you harshly. Anyhow, Allah does not let you live at a place where you feel inferior and your right is lost. So join us, and we will console you." When I read it, I said to myself, 'This is also a sort of a test.' Then I took the letter to the oven and made a fire therein by burning it.

When forty out of the fifty nights elapsed, behold! There came to me the messenger of Allah's Apostle and said, 'Allah's Apostle orders you to keep away from your wife,' I said, 'Should I divorce her; or else! what should I do?' He said, 'No, only keep aloof from her and do not cohabit her.' The Prophet sent the same message to my two fellows. Then I said to my wife. 'Go to your parents and remain with them till Allah gives His Verdict in this matter."

Ka`b added, "The wife of Hilal bin Umaiya came to Apostle and said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Hilal bin Umaiya is a helpless old man who has no servant to attend on him. Do you dislike that I should serve him? ' He said, 'No (you can serve him) but he should not come near you.' She said, 'By Allah, he has no desire for anything. By, Allah, he has never ceased weeping till his case began till this day of his.' (continued...) @(continuing... 1): −5.702:... ... On that, some of my family members said to me, 'Will you also ask Allah's Apostle to permit your wife (to serve you) as he has permitted the wife of Hilal bin Umaiya to serve him?' I said, 'By Allah, I will not ask the permission of Allah's Apostle regarding her, for I do not know What Allah's Apostle would say if I asked him to permit her (to serve me) while I am a young man.'

Then I remained in that state for ten more nights after that till the period of fifty nights was completed starting from the time when Allah's Apostle prohibited the people from talking to us. When I had offered the Fajr prayer on the 50th morning on the roof of one of our houses and while I was sitting in the condition which Allah described (in the Qur'an) i.e. my very soul seemed straitened to me and even the earth seemed narrow to me for all its spaciousness, there I heard the voice of one who had ascended the mountain of Sala' calling with his loudest voice, 'O Ka`b bin Malik! Be happy (by receiving good tidings).' I fell down in prostration before Allah, realizing that relief has come. Allah's Apostle had announced the acceptance of our repentance by Allah when he had offered the Fajr prayer. The people then went out to congratulate us. Some bringers of good tidings went out to my two fellows, and a horseman came to me in haste, and a man of Banu Aslam came running and ascended the mountain and his voice was swifter than the horse. When he (i.e. the man) whose voice I had heard, came to me conveying the good tidings, I took off my garments and dressed him with them; and by Allah, I owned no other garments than them on that day. Then I borrowed two garments and wore them and went to Allah's Apostle.

The people started receiving me in batches, congratulating me on Allah's Acceptance of my repentance, saying, 'We congratulate you on Allah's Acceptance of your repentance." Ka`b further said, "When I entered the Mosque. I saw Allah's Apostle sitting with the people around him. Talha bin Ubaidullah swiftly came to me, shook hands with me and congratulated me. By Allah, none of the Muhajirin (i.e. Emigrants) got up for me except him (i.e. Talha), and I will never forget this for Talha." Ka`b added, "When I greeted Allah's Apostle he, his face being bright with joy, said "Be happy with the best day that you have got ever since your mother delivered you." Ka`b added, "I said to the Prophet 'Is this forgiveness from you or from Allah?' He said, 'No, it is from Allah.' Whenever Allah's Apostle became happy, his face would shine as if it were a piece of moon, and we all knew that characteristic of him. When I sat before him, I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Because of
the acceptance of my repentance I will give up all my wealth as alms for the Sake of Allah and His Apostle. Allah's Apostle said, 'Keep some of your wealth, as it will be better for you.' I said, 'So I will keep my share from Khaibar with me,'
and added, 'O Allah's Apostle! Allah has saved me for telling the truth; so it is a part of my repentance not to tell but the truth as long as I am alive. By Allah, I do not know anyone of the Muslims whom Allah has helped foretelling the truth more than me. Since I have mentioned that truth to Allah's Apostle till today, I have never intended to tell a lie. I hope that Allah will also save me (from telling lies) the rest of my life. So Allah revealed to His Apostle the Verse:−− "Verily, Allah has forgiven the Prophet, the Muhajirin (i.e. Emigrants (up to His Saying) And be with those who are true (in word and deed)." (9.117−119) By Allah, Allah
has never bestowed upon me, apart from His guiding me to Islam, a Greater blessing than the fact that I did not tell a lie to Allah's Apostle which would have caused me to perish as those who have told a lie perished, for Allah described those
who told lies with the worst description He ever attributed to anybody else. Allah said:−− "They (i.e. the hypocrites) will swear by Allah to you when you return to them (up to His Saying) Certainly Allah is not pleased with the rebellious
people−−" (9.95−96) Ka`b added, "We, the three persons, differed altogether from those whose excuses Allah's Apostle accepted when they swore to him. He took their pledge of allegiance and asked Allah to forgive them, but Allah's Apostle left our case pending till Allah gave His Judgment about it. As for that Allah said):−− And to the three (He didfor give also) who remained behind." (9.118) What Allah said
(in this Verse) does not indicate our failure to take part in the Ghazwa, but it refers to the deferment of making a decision by the Prophet about our case in contrast to the case of those who had taken an oath before him and he excused them
by accepting their excuses.

Announcement--March khatma Qur'an 7pm March 19

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

Our next monthly khatma Qu'ran will be held at Masjid Al-Ittehad, Vista, California at 7pm Friday March 19, inshaAllah. Please complete your reading before that time inshaAllah. It is open to all Muslims. If you are new to the distribution, please refer to these links for more info. May Allah reward you well.

http://journey2allah.blogspot.com/2010/02/competing-in-patience.html

http://journey2allah.blogspot.com/2010/01/completing-quran.html

http://journey2allah.blogspot.com/2010/01/reciting-and-bearing-quranour-monthly.html

He Lived And Died For Us

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Aisha, Allah be very pleased with her, said: my head hurts! my head hurts! Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, responded to that: "Rather it is me who should say my head hurts." The Prophet was having a severe headache and a severe fever. When one of the companions put his hands on the Prophet, he had to withdraw his hands because of the intense heat and it was very uncomfortable to touch the body of the Prophet because of the fever. He said: "You are going through very severe illness", and the Prophet said: "Yes that is because we the Prophets suffer double the suffering than everyone else." Allah put them through tougher tests because Allah loves them and because they are stronger, greater and better.

One day the Prophet wanted to go to the masjid to give covenant to the people. So he asked to gather 7 different buckets of water from 7 different wells. The water was poured on his body to cool him down from the heat of the fever. He was then carried to the masjid, his head was wrapped because of the headache; he had to lean on one of the sons of al-Abbas and Ali, Allah be very pleased with fathers and sons, to take him to the masjid. His feet was dragging on the ground because he could not lift them up. He went to the masjid and gave nasiha and mentioned the shuhada of Uhud and asked Allah to forgive them. Just prior to his illness, he went to al Baqia cemetery to ask Allah to forgive those who died in alBaqia. This shows the loyalty, love and remembrance he had for them. His du'a also showed his concerns for his ummah.

He was still going around to the houses of his wives but then eventually it was becoming difficult for him. He was carried to the house of Aisha and the other wives agreed to allow him to remain in Aisha's house and Aisha tended to him.

Usama ibn Zayd (son of Zayd, Prophet's beloved "son" and Umm Ayman, the Abyssinian lady who took care of the Prophet's mother and remained in the Prophet's household for most of his life from his birth), Allah be very pleased with them all, and the Muslims were camping outside of Madina and when they heard the news of the Prophet, they came back. Usama narrated that the Prophet was too ill that he could not speak but he raised his hands up and pointed towards him and he understood that he was making du'a for him. This shows how much the Prophet loved Usama and even in times of his suffering he remembered to make du'a for him.

The Prophet was too sick and could not go out and lead the salat. He ordered Abu Bakr to lead the salat. Narrated by Anas, it was Monday when the Muslims were lining up for salat, the Prophet took a look at us and he was standing up as if his face was a page out of a book, as if his face was part of the moon and then Prophet smiled laughing, it was almost going to be a fitnah for us because of our happiness of seeing the Prophet (they thought he was getting better)--it was so much joy and Abu Bakr was almost coming back but the Prophet asked Abu Bakr to pray in his place. This was the last thing the Prophet saw of his ummah--they were in salatul jama'ah. This is the sight that pleases the Prophet. When he uncovered that curtain he saw the fruits of his efforts--the Muslims were lining up in salat, the most important deed in Islam, and he smiled in happiness!

Then the Prophet's condition declined rapidly. He has been ill for about 13 days, and he started going through the agony of the final moments of death (sakaratul maut). Aisha would soak a piece of cloth and he would wipe his face and said that there is agony in death. Prophet, the best of creation had to go through this. He was on her lap.

Aisha said: When the Prophet was in good health, he used to say, "Never does a prophet die unless he is shown his place in Paradise ( before his death ), and then he is made alive or given option." When the Prophet became ill and his last moments came while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious, and when he came to his senses, he looked towards the roof of the house and then said, "O Allah! (Please let me be) with the highest companion." Thereupon I said, "Hence he is not going to stay with us? " Then I came to know that his state was the confirmation of the narration he used to mention to us while he was in good health."

Then the Prophet's head turned towards Aisha and she screamed. Aisha said, because of her foolishness, she screamed and yelled. Now the news was spreading around in Madinah like wildlfire. Omar and alMughirah, Allah be very pleased with them both, rushed into the room. Omar said the Prophet was unconscious but alMughirah said the Prophet is dead. When Omar heard that he said "You are a man of fitnah who wants to bring dissension. He will not die until he exterminated the hypocrites.

People crowded the masjid and everywhere was weeping. We cannot imagine how the news was felt by the companions because we didn't live with him. To the companions, the Prophet was the leader, father, advisor, teacher, everything. Omar said to them that the Prophet did not die and that he was unconscious like Musa became unconscious and that he will come back and he will kill all the hypocrites. He said, Whoever said he is dead I am going to cut off his head with the sword of mine. When the news reached Abu Bakr, Allah be very pleased with him, who was outside of Madinah at the time, he rushed back on his horse, did not speak to anyone. He came into the room of Aisha, uncovered the face of the Prophet. When he saw him he cried and he kissed him. He said: "You are pure when alive and you are pure when dead. Then he went to the masjid and told Omar to sit down and made the famous statement. Whoever used to worship Muhammad, Muhammad is dead and whoever used to worship Allah you know He is alive and will not die. He recited the verse:

"Muhammad is naught but a Messenger; Messengers have passed away before him. Why, if he should die or is slain, will you turn about on your heels? If any man should turn about on his heels, he will not harm God in any way; and God will recompense the thankful." Qur'an AleImaran 3:144

Omar realized that Prophet has indeed died. He collapsed. His feet could not carry him anymore. Omar, the strong and powerful man could not bear the news. The news was like an arrow that struck his heart. Everyone was reciting this ayah as if they heard it for the first time.

Umm Salamah, Allah be very pleased with her, said the women of the Prophet gathered in the house crying continuously but we had a little comfort that we could see the body of the Prophet until late night on Wednesday when we heard the digging of the grave of the Prophet. We all broke down and screamed and all of Madinah was in uproar. Now they know the body was going into the grave! When the body of the Prophet was descended into the grave, al-Mughirah threw his ring intentionally in the grave and asked to go down the grave to retrieve his ring. He went in to touch the body of the Prophet--he was the last person to touch the body of the Prophet. When the burial was done, Fatimah, Allah be very pleased with her, asked Anas, Allah be very pleased with him: Did your heart allowed you to throw dirt on the Prophet when he was buried?" Everything was very difficult on the ummah--the death, the washing, the burial.

That's why the Prophet said that when calamity befalls upon one of you remember the calamity of my death. The greatest calamity that can befall on the Muslims had already happened and whatever happened after that is small compared to the fact that the Prophet is not with us. When time of Fajr, Bilal, Allah be very pleased with him, made the adhan. When it came to "I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah," he could not continue.

The Prophet lived and died for his ummah. The Prophet was not attached to world. The world was so small in the eyes of the Prophet and it is also so small in eyes of Allah and he left it without leaving behind anything except a mule, weapons (used in jihad) and a piece of land for the benefit of the travelers. He left a lot of the enjoyment of the world for the sake of Islam coming to us. Everything that we know about Islam came to us through him and so how much do we owe to the Prophet? The least we could do in recognition for what he did for us is that we follow him and make salat and salawat upon him.

One day Abu Bakr and Omar decided to visit Umm Ayman. She started to cry and when they asked her why, she said because the revelation has stopped. SubhanAllah, how much do we treasure the Qur'an!

The best of all creation has died but his legacy remains--the Qur'an and his sunnah. While we probably can never feel the loss that the companions went through, we should at least try to love the Prophet by striving to embody his sunnah. Learn and review his seerah often and be concerned about the ummah like the Prophet concerned about us.

May Allah make us of those who truly love the Prophet, those who will follow his sunnah, those who will be raised up with him on Day of Judgment, those who will drink from his blessed hands and those who He will admit with him into Paradise. Ameen.

Wassalaam

The true enemy

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
السلام عليكم

I pray that you are well.

The tendency is when people say bad things about you or simply something you don't like to hear, you want to respond--to set it straight. There is no need because as for you what matters is what Allah think of you. Allah is the judge and He is just. Leave it to Him--He will make it right for you. So don't be sad or mad. Allah will reward you abundantly for being patient and for avoiding confrontation with your brother/sister. Remember, our enemy is the Shaytan, not our brother/sister.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, reminded us of Shaytan, "Beware of Shaytan, for your safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things."

Shaytan does not care about causing dissension among the kuffar, he is concerned about the Muslims since he cannot make them non-believers, he is making them fight among themselves. He is always instigating this waswasa in the hearts of Muslims and causing fitnah among us.

A lesson from surah Yusuf when Ya'qub, Allah grant him peace, said to Yusuf, Allah grant him peace:
"He said, 'O my son, relate not thy vision to thy brothers, lest they devise against thee some guile. Surely Satan is to man a manifest enemy." Qur'an Yusuf 12:5

This is my personal story related to this topic--only in brief

A person of authority and high esteem hated me for none other than me being a Muslim woman. Suffice to say she was on a mission to destroy me. After you think she has exhausted all avenues to destroy me, she began another theory--she called me insane and someone with impaired cognitive functions. I was then had a successful career and led a systems project for a big company--so how could my cognitive functions be impaired! Alhamdulillah, I was not any of the two that she wanted people to believe.

But I knew I could not fight her at the time--I was alone and didn't have the right armor. So I waited 4 years and then fought back. How did I fought back? I immediately took the LSAT (law school entrance exam) and went to law school. I thought if I could not fight her from outside, I fight her from inside. And the only way for me to fight her from inside was to be an officer of the court (an attorney). Yes, she was a judge. After I graduated from law school, I fought her. I believe she was privately reprimanded and removed from office. La hawla wala quwwata illa billah. Throughout the four years, Allah helped me through my law school professors, some of them were judges. One of my teachers was a very wise and beloved federal court district judge and he said: "If your cognitive functions are impaired then all of ours are too, including hers. May God save us!" SubhanAllah!

So, we have bigger things to fight. Not squabbling between us. Like the cliche: what goes around comes around. Don't worry. Allah will aid you in ways unimaginable if you have believe and put all your trust in Him.

May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Veil

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

People around you may admire you, may like you, may adore you, but what does that do to you? Does that increase your gratitude to Allah or does that increase your pride? This is your test. Allah test you through ease and through afflictions, through happiness and through sadness. In times of difficulties you be patient and in times of ease and happiness you be grateful. He created those humans and they adore you because Allah made them adore you. When people admire you, like you, adore you, know that they see the veil Allah placed between their eyes and our sins. So be grateful to Him. Allah knows what's inside that chest cavity of yours. He sees all that you do in private. He hears all that you say in private. So be shy before Him that you are not really who people think you are. Ask for His forgiveness much.

Between you and Allah, love your heart--don't let it get infected with pride, arrogance, vanity, envy, rancor, anger, hate and many other diseases of the heart. It can easily creep inside of you if you are not aware. If you don't treat it quickly, it could be deadly. There are cures for these. Knowledge and remember death are potent remedies.

"You have had a good example in God's Messenger for whosoever hopes for God and the Last Day, and remembers God much." Qur'an al-Ahzab 33:21

"And as for those who came after them, they say, 'Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers, who preceded us in belief, and put Thou not into our hearts any rancor towards those who believe. Our Lord, surely Thou art the All-gentle, the All-compassionate.' Qur'an A-Hashr 59:10

May Allah give you and I tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Gems of brotherhood

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Some gems of brotherhood:

Brotherhood for the sake of Allah is purer that sweet water; what is for the sake of Allah, Allah demands purity in; the purer it is, the longer it lasts; the principle rule to maintain its purity is avoiding disagreement.

It is reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Three things will purify the love of your brother for you; greet him when you meet him, give him space to sit in a gathering, and call him by the most beloved of his names to him."

If one finds someone worthy of befriending, one must seize the opportunity, for few are those worthy of true friendship.

One should tell those that one loves, of the slaves of Allah, that one loves them. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “If a man loves his brother, then he should inform him that he loves him.”

A person should not take as a close friend anyone except those who he is confident about their religion, trustworthiness, righteousness, and godfearingness; for a man will be with the ones he loves, even if his works do not equal theirs. Allah might see the love for someone in the heart of someone close to Him so He has mercy on him.

May Allah grant us pure love. Ameen.

Wassalaam

You are rich!

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

You have two ears and two eyes. Do you prefer deaf or blind? Would you trade your eyes for $5M? Unequivocal NO! So you are rich, very rich. How can you say you are poor? Your eyes and ears are great blessings from Allah that often we take for granted. Be grateful--use them for what they are created for--to worship the Creator. Otherwise, if He loves you and has mercy on you, He might very well send you afflictions to remind you of Him. Don't complain when this happen.

Would you now complain about your mother for smacking your little hands when you tried to reach for the medicine because you thought they were candy and your mother was just trying to deprive you of the joy of eating candy? Maybe this will strike a good analogy. InshaAllah.

When my children were small, I took all the precautions I knew how so they didn't get into things that could harm them. I kept all medicine high in a child proof locked cabinet. But for some reason, one of my sons (he was about 2 years old at the time) was able to reach the medicine cabinet and opened a child proof bottle of children multivitamins with iron. SubhanAllah, I came home early that day from work--usually I would not have been back until 5 or 6 hours later, and found him with smears of colors on his face and his shirt and he smell medicine. I rushed him to the emergency hospital and Alhamdulillah Allah saved him. They pumped out his stomach. The doctor said if he were to arrive 5 minutes later he would have been a "dead puppy!" SubhanAllah.

So it may be tempting and seem sweet what you want to hear and what you want to see which is forbidden, but when Allah forbid something, it is because He knows it is harmful for you. He is Al-Alim, the All-Knowing.

So, protect your ears from listening to unlawful things. When you hear someone backbiting--your spouse, your children, your friends for example--help him/her leave this act and don't participate or try to listen in the backbiting.

A learned man once told me this story. A religious man was found dead on his chair by his computer. The computer was still on with a page of a bad site. You can guess what he was watching before he died! Inna lillahi wainna ilayhi raji'un. Remember this when you think you can get away with Allah.

"Whoso desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and of the world to come; God is All-hearing (as-Sami'), All-seeing (al-Baseer). Qur'an An-Nisa 4:134

May Allah cover our sins and make us die an honorable death at the highest of Iman. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalaam

Humble before Allah, Al Aziz Al Mutakabbir

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Imagine you are standing on the beach and the waves are gently hugging your legs and it recedes and you run after it and it comes back and you run away from it and it goes back to the ocean and you run after it and it comes back to you and you run away from it towards the white sandy beach and you do this many times, as though a play between you and the waves, until the sun started to set, and you sit down watching the sun setting with the sound of the gentle waves. How serene! How beautiful! How great! SubhanAllah "And to Him belongs greatness in the heavens and the earth, and He is the Mighty, the Wise." Qur'an al-Jathiyah 45:37

But people become proud when they can do something, when they have something, forgetting how small they are in front of the Creator, Al-Aziz Al-Mutakabbir, forgetting they were created from a drop of sperm, and they were a thing unremembered.

"Has there come on man a while of time when he was a thing unremembered? We created man of a sperm-drop, a mingling, and We made him hearing, seeing." Qur'an Al-Insan 76:1-2

"And when We bestow favor on man, he turns aside and behaves proudly, and when evil afflicts him, he is despairing. Qur'an Al-Isra' 17:83

Try stopping the waves from flowing to the roads when you were playing with it, running away from it. Try bringing the sun from west. You can't. If Allah commanded the ocean to flood, it would flood (remember the Tsunami!). The waves are waiting for Allah's command to flood the earth (remember Tsunami alerts!). There is nothing we can do to stop it when this happens. The sun is waiting for Allah's command to rise from the west and the sun will obey His command, the same way it is obeying Allah's command now--and this is when the door of repentance is closed and we will be on our way to the most difficult day of our being.

So, shrink yourself before Allah and be grateful with what you have. When you love something, you cannot force Allah to give it to you. When you hate something you cannot force Allah to take it away from you. You cannot make Him do anything. When He decides something, He refuses to decide something else. Who are we to tell Him what to do? We are His slaves and slaves submit to His Lord. His Lord does not submit to him. When you are humble, naturally it will lead you to gratitude, for when you are humble before Allah, the All Mighty, only then you will see the vast mercy that Allah bestows upon you and His creation. And Allah will give you more.

"And when your Lord proclaimed, "If you are thankful, surely I will increase you, but if you are thankless My chastisement is surely terrible."' Qur'an Ibrahim 14:7

"Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. Have you not considered him (Namrud) who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, because Allah had given him the kingdom? When Ibrahim said: My Lord is He who gives life and causes to die, he said: I give life and cause death. Ibrahim said: So surely Allah causes the sun to rise from the east, then make it rise from the west; thus he who disbelieved was confounded; and Allah does not guide aright the unjust people." Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:257-258

May Allah make us among the thankful and the grateful. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

The most important Day of your life

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

We see people struggling and fighting everyday for position in this world and things of this world, forgetting the most important is what will happen in the Day of Judgment. What counts is our condition and position in Day of Judgment--our Day of Judgment begins when our souls leave our bodies. So, make our struggles only for His pleasure.

Narrated Umm Salama, Allah be pleased with her: One night Allah's Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, got up and said, "Subhan Allah! How many afflictions have been descended tonight and how many treasures have been disclosed! Go and wake the sleeping lady occupants of these dwellings (his wives) up (for prayers). A well−dressed (soul) in this world may be naked in the Hereafter." (Bukhari)

Narrated Aisha, Allah be pleased with her: Allah's Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The people will be gathered barefooted,naked, and uncircumcised." I said, "O Allah's Messenger! Will the men and the women look at each other?" He said, "The situation will be too hard for them to pay attention to that." (Bukhari)

Narrated Ibn `Abbas, Allah be pleased with him: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "You will be gathered (on the Day of Judgment), bare−footed, naked and not circumcised." He then recited:−−'On the day when We shall roll up heaven as a scroll is rolled for the writings; as We originated the first creation, so We shall bring it back again -- a promise binding on Us; so We shall do.' (Al-Anbiya 21.104). He added, "The first to be dressed on the Day of Resurrection, will be Abraham, and some of my companions will be taken towards the left side (i.e. to the (Hell) Fire), and I will say: 'My companions! My companions!' It will be said: 'They renegade from Islam after you left them.' Then I will say as the Pious slave of Allah (i.e. Jesus) said. 'I only said to them what You did command me: "Serve God, my Lord and your Lord." And I was a witness over them, while I remained among them; but when You did take me to Yourself, You were the watcher over them; You are witness of everything. If You chastise them, they are Your servants; if You forgive them, You are the All-mighty, the All-wise.' (Al-Ma'ida 5:117-118) (related by Bukhari)

"God said, 'This is the day the truthful shall be profited by their truthfulness. For them await gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever and ever; God being well-pleased with them and they well-pleased with Him; that is the mighty triumph. To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth, and all that is in them, and He is powerful over everything. (Qur'an Al-Ma'ida 5:119-120)

May Allah make the best of our days the day we meet Him and grant us a good entrance in the Day of Judgment. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalaam

Tranquility

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that this finds you in tranquility. Ameen.

If we follow the rules of Allah even though we might go through difficulties, Allah promises us ease. "So, truly with every difficulty is ease; truly with every difficulty is ease." Qur'an Ar-Sharh 94:5-6

In the Battle of Badr, the first meeting between the Muslims and the non-believers, it was a very difficult moment for the Muslims because they didn't know what the outcome would be. They saw with their eyes an adversary, more in numbers (more than 3x their number) and better in preparation while they were few (about 300 men). In this difficult times with difficult feelings in their heart, Allah gave them tranquility--Allah gave them sleep.

"Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus May ye show your gratitude." Qur'an AleImran 3:123

"After (the excitement) of the distress, He sent down calm on a band of you overcome with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, Moved by wrong suspicions of Allah-suspicions due to ignorance." Qur'an AleImran 3:154

At the battle of Hunain, the Muslim had a big army and they felt confident of victory. When the enemy arrows were falling on the Muslims from every direction, Muslims were caught by surprise and most of the 12,000 Muslim army started fleeing from the battlefield. They lost trust in Allah. Camels were stumbling on one another--it was a chaotic scene and the alignment of the Muslim army was gone. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, started calling them who were running towards the sea. It was a very difficult time. But Allah revealed tranquility on the Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and on the believer and He supported them with soldiers, and this changed the situation in ways unimaginable.

"Assuredly Allah did help you in many battle-fields and on the day of Hunain: Behold! your great numbers elated you, but they availed you naught: the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and ye turned back in retreat. Then Allah sent down His Tranquility on the Messenger and on the Believers, and sent down forces which you did not see: He punished the Unbelievers; and that is the recompense of the unbelievers." Qur'an at-Tawbah 9:25-26

Even though the world around you can be a great mess, Allah can give you sakinah, tranquility, peace in your heart. On the other hand things could be great and peaceful, but Allah can put in the heart the exact opposite feeling--feeling of despair. So we cannot judge the affair from the outside but what is important is what is inside you. Tranquility descend upon those with Iman, those who have trust in Allah (tawwakkul), depend on Allah and are grateful to Allah. If we depend on Allah and attribute our successes to none other than Allah, the help of Allah will come in times of difficulties. Otherwise, even on a land that is wide and spacious, you will feel congested and constrained.

May Allah pour upon us tranquility, make the best of our lives the end of it, the best of our deeds the last of them and the best of our days the day we meet Him. Ameen.

Allah knows best.

Wassalaam

Beautiful patience

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamua alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Who among us can say I breeze through my life having no sorrows? I am sure none of you can say this. Whose heart was broken at least once--perhaps more like thousands of times--either by our parents, our children, our beloved, our spouse, our teachers, our boss, our friends, .....? We don't remember the exact number. But they were so real the moment they happened. If you remember some of them, they were horrible, as though that was the end of your life, that we thought we could never be able to go through it again. Now we are here, we forgot and we only remember the last thing that happen to us. Imagine carrying all those sorrows in one go! If you had to carry all these sorrows of the last 20, 30, 40, ... years now in one go, it would be impossible to continue your life. It is Allah, al-Jabbar al-Qahhar, the One who makes the weak strong, the One who rectifies the heart after it is saddened, the One who took away the sorrows in your life, the One who heals your pain, He took everything and leave only one sorrow that you are experiencing right now. When you reflect on this, be thankful for every sorrows that He took away from you.

When you see somebody who is going through affliction, remind him/her to be patient. Allah wanted it to take place.What Allah wants will be, what Allah does not want will not be. He dominates everything. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, has said that when Allah wants his slave to be in a certain level in Paradise and sees that he will not reach this level through his actions, Allah will afflict him with his health, honor, wealth, everything. Then Allah bestows him patience to undergo this affliction until he will finally reach the level He wanted him to be in Paradise.

He also said, "the people who were in well being in this life will wish on the Day of Judgment, when the people of tribulations are given the reward, that their skin would have been cut with blades." "No believer is afflicted with a thorn-prick or what is greater than that except that a higher degree is inscribed for him, or a sin removed from him."

We don't ask for afflictions but the moment we are afflicted, try to remember this hadith and know that the afflictions are only for our benefit and the reward is tremendous.

So, as you are walking towards Him, Allah is guiding you along the way until you reach your final destination, where He wants you to be. When He doesn't give you something you want in this world, know that He knew that it would have been bad for you to have it so He didn't give it to you. Don't despair.

An intelligent person would do on the first moment of his affliction what a foolish person would do at the end of his affliction. The wise person would be thankful to Allah the moment of his affliction. Like Prophet Yusuf, Allah grant him peace, never complained when he was thrown in the well, when he was separated from his beloved father, Allah grant them both peace, when he was slandered, when he was thrown in jail, because he knew Allah had something better for him. We should have this beautiful patience when calamities befall us.

Remember, Allah is the one who decides. He decides which river we have to swim from before we reach the ocean of success. And we just have to pass those alligators, snakes, crocodiles, .... to get to there. Tawfiq is from Allah.

May Allah grant us beautiful patience. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalaam