Saturday, December 31, 2011

Look At The Majesty Of The One Disobeyed

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

If you learned that many of the sins you have committed have be downgraded to minor ones, before you breathe a sigh of relief, consider that someone said, "Don't look at the smallness of the sin, rather look at the Majesty of the One whom you have disobeyed," and furthermore, know that guarding against the minor sins keeps us away from the major sins, while committing the minor ones leads us to the major ones. The famous rule is that a minor sin becomes a major one with persistence.

Saying of Ibn Abbas, Allah be pleased with both father and son,

وأخرج ابن جرير وابن المنذر وابن أبي حاتم عنه أن رجلا سأله كم الكبائر أسبع هي قال هي إلى سبعمائة أقرب منها إلى سبع غير انه لا كبيرة مع استغفار ولا صغيرة مع اصرار

There is no major sin with repentance and no minor sin with persistence. Ibn Hajar reported in al-Fath

May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala guide us. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala knows Best
Wassalaam

Thursday, December 29, 2011

A Bunch Of Facts

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

There is a difference in presentation of facts and a narrative. If you say "John Smith died," this is a fact. I can turn this into a narrative like this--The king died and then the queen died of grief. They left no heir, so the kingdom went into disarray. The people started to fight with each other for the throne. John Smith died in the midst of violence. I connected bites of information (facts) together in cause and effect such that one lead to the other. I have given meanings to a bunch of facts with this narrative. I have related to you a story.

We all live lives. Some people they live life as a bunch of facts. For example:
I go to work.
I make this amount of money
I came back and play with my kids
I eat
Tomorrow I will go to work
I go to work
I make this amount of money
I came back and watch TV
I eat
Tomorrow I will go to work
I go to work
My car broke down (why?)
My child is sick (why?)
My wife ran away (why me?)
...
After a while they become bored because their lives is fact after fact after fact. The things don't come together. There is no purpose. There is no meaning.

Allah created us all in a special way. All of us have an inner urge to try to give meaning to the events that happen around us. A life without meaning is not worth living. If there is no purpose, if there is no meaning, things happen just like that and that's all to it, a human being will self destruct.

Animals are not like this. They respond to stimuli in a certain way. Human beings are created such that they want meaning. Human beings are psychologically compelled to make sense of life. If they don't find meaning, they don't live a happy life and nothing will make sense. This is a terrible state of mind to be in. They get all kinds of psychological problems. They fall into depression, have anxiety, get angry and have rancor in their lives.

If people don't find meaning, they don't find inner rest. So they go after something they enjoy: eat food, listen to the music, watch TV, go to amusement park, smoke, drink ... but all of these things don't really give meaning to their lives. These are just temporary distractions that come to an end. When they keep on repeating it, they get bored of it.

Human beings don't find meaning in their lives by behaving like animals. Animals drink, eat, play and have sex. Human beings were not made for that purpose. Human beings were made for a higher purpose. They will not be satisfied until they find that purpose.

Islam teaches us that everything happens for a purpose. There is a chain of cause and events that come together and they all moving towards an unavoidable conclusion. At the end there will be a beautiful story, grand and momentus. This is why we should learn Islam and practice it to the fullest. Only Islam give meaning to your entire life. There won't be a moment of boredom in your life and you can't wait for that grand ending. This is the blessing of Iman (Faith).

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Best Thing You Can Busy Yourself With

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

On the authority of Abu Dharr Jundub ibn Junaadah, and Abu 'Abdul Rahman Mu'aadh bin Jabal (radiAllaahu anhuma) that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good deed which will wipe it out, and behave good-naturedly towards the people. [related by At-Tirmidhi]


This hadith talks about taqwa (Godfearingness), effacing the wrong through the right, and good character. The only real way to change our inner form is through taqwa and tawbah (repentance).

Taqwa is made beloved to the believers by clearly showing His love for this word and for the people characterized by this word. The basic meaning is protecting and guarding yourself against what you are afraid of. Tawqa of Allah (iitaqullah) means to do something (shield of good deeds) to place between yourself and the anger of Allah. It is also used with respect to Hell (ittaqunnar) or the Last Day (wattaqu yauman fihi illallah). Each of these, Hell and the Last Day, there is something to be frightened of. So protect yourself. How? By running towards Allah.

Tawbah is the process of turning back to Allah after we have made a slip.

Good character is the most central teaching in Islam. The whole religion of Islam is a means to perfect character, the way that we are--our substance, our quality.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
I was only sent to perfect noble character. (Ahmad)

Verily, the most beloved of you to me are the best of you in character. (Bukhari)

The most weightiest thing a person can bring in the Day of Judgment is not something that he did but it is the way that he was.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked: "What most entered people into the garden?" He answered: "Taqwa of Allah and good character."

Taqwa and tawba work together. If there is no taqwa there is no impetus for change, if there is no tawba, your impetus will fade out. When taqwa dies, the flame necessarily dies with it. Taqwa and tawba are the magic elixir for transforming one's character. Through resolving to please Allah and avoid His anger, and repenting for one's slips does transformation result.

The nature of character is second nature. Someone who is mechanical cannot do many good deeds. You don't stop and think to do something good. You don't stop and formulate what are the reasons for you not to yell back at people because your character (patience, forbearing) will beat your mind to it. Someone is trying to annoy you, it doesn't vex you. You don't have to go through a mental process to bring on your patience. But mental process is needed on the way there. That's why the greatest act of worship is character transformation. We have a global intention in the beginning to acquire certain good character for the sake of Allah. Your great reward is the fact that you acquire this good character.

The point is not to be robotic but to be on auto pilot--obviously I am going to serve my guest kindly--you are kind; obviously I am going to dig into my pocket for that poor person--you are generous and merciful; obviously I am not going to throw tamper tantrum at my wife or beat her up when she is grumpy--you are chivalrous.

The change you want to make has to be for the sake of Allah--You show kindness to people and good treatment to others, including your parents, for the sake of Allah...You refrain from being angry and you are gentle and loving for the sake of Allah...and so on.

We know Allah does not love people who are angry. He loves people who are patient and merciful. So if you are working on your anger, make a condition for yourself, e.g. if I ever get angry out of the order, then I will give an extraordinary charity. Once a family therapist shared a story of a husband who promised his wife that he would punish himself by paying his wife a large sum of money if he abused his wife again. No one can enforce his promise in this world but his taqwa of Allah can.

We all know the level of who we are. Each one of us, no matter how good we are, have many areas that need change. Start working on changing them now, one by one--some examples are: impatient/rash to patient, ingratitude to gratitude, arrogant/boastful/ostentatious/proud/vane to humble, greedy/miser to generous, wasteful/excessive to frugal, irresponsible to responsible, unjust/unkind to just/kind, angry/rage/malicious to calm/merciful/forgiving, untrustworthy to trustworthy, hateful to loving, immodest to modest/shy/haya'.

This is not going to be an overnight transformation, but an on-going process. Some take more work to change than the other. But through constant resolve to please Allah and avoid His anger, and continuous tawba, the change and transformation will result. According to the saying of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, "The best actions are continuous ones, even if they are slight."

If you work on them and they stay with you for the rest of your life, no act of worship can compare to something that you have changed within yourself that will stay with you for the rest of your life. That's why working on character is the weightiest thing a person can be busying himself on. Because this is the thing you are going to bring back with you to Allah--the person that you are.

May Allah grant you tawfiq (success) and success is from Allah alone. Ameen. Please include us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Thursday, December 22, 2011

All Things Will Perish Except His Face

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Allah does everything with a wisdom. Wisdom roughly speaking is benefit that returns to creation, not to the Creator.

For example, one of the wisdom of illness is that if you are patient you will be rewarded in the next life.

What is the benefit of bad things that happen to people? The wisdom behind things happen to us, sometimes is known and sometimes is unknown. We, as humans, have limited knowledge in terms of our existence. We are judging with incomplete knowledge.

When you look at outward perspective with your child being bullied at school, you as a parent might see that there is good in it because he is learning to deal with difficulty. As he learns to deal with difficulty, he gets better equipped to deal with people when he grows up. You know this, but your child does not see it. He only views that something bad is happening. We are like children when compared to people who are closer to Allah than us. They see the wisdom but we don't see. As we become closer to Allah and have a greater relationship with Allah, there is more and more wisdom that we see. Allah gives wisdom to whoever He wills.

But let's say there is no wisdom. So what? Bad things won't go away. They happened, they are happening and they are going to happen. Are you going to be emotional, spiteful and angry?
Someone who respond this way, they have inner pride and self worth. We have to remember that if Allah wills anything, He doesn't need a reason. So the first thing you should do when bad things happen, is to humble yourself before Allah. It should take the inner pride away and make you a better person.

Everything with Allah is in due proportion, All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Most Great, the Most High. Whatsoever is on earth will perish, and the Face of the Lord, full of Majesty and Honor, will abide forever.

وَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّـهِ إِلَـٰهًا آخَرَ ۘ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ ۚ لَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٨٨

And call not upon another god with God; there is no god but He. All things perish, except His Face. His is the Judgment, and unto Him you shall be returned. [Qur'an al-Qasas 28:88]

May Allah Most High save us from the trial and tribulations of this life and the next. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Why Does God Do Bad Things To Good People?

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Why does God do bad things to good people? The real question is not why does God do this and why does God do that. The real question is why aren't you accepting what Allah is sending your way. He is God, you are the servant. He is powerful, you are nothing. He is significant, you are insignificant. Pure monotheism (tauhid), where the Omnipotence of Allah is realized, this is a non question and doesn't deserve an answer.


لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ ﴿٢٣

He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned. [Qur'an Al-Anbiya' 21:23]

Who am I to ask these questions? Someone who has a strong spiritual relationship with Allah, they realized the meaning of laa illaha illallah (None has the right to be worshiped but Allah) and laa yus alu 'amma yaf'alu wa hum yus alun لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ , and so when something happens to them or when it happens to anybody else, they are not going to say "Why did God do that to me?" because this attitude comes from being inwardly big. When someone who is inwardly small and humble, they don't think to ask these questions.

A Perspective
Illness usually bring people to religion through the front door; mine brought me thorugh the back. I did not need to know if I was being punished or tested. Neither my health nor my illness was about me. The force that played havoc with the cortisol in my blood was the same force that helped my body recover; if I felt better one day and worse the next, it was unchanged. It chose no side. It gave the girl in the hospital next to me pneumonia; it also gave her white blood cells that would resist the infection. And the atoms in those cells, and the nuclei in those atoms, the same bits of carbon that were being spun into new planets in some corner of space with a name. My insignificance had become unspeakably beautiful to me. The unified force was a God too massive, too inhuman, to resist with the atheism in which I had been brought up. I became a zealot without a religion. It was unclear to me whether there was a philosophy big enough for monotheism so adamant. It had to be a faith that didn't need to struggle to explain why bad things happen to good people, a faith in which it was understood that destruction in creation.

-- G. Willow Wilson, The Butterfly Mosque
May Allah bring us closer to Him and guide the Ummah. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Monday, December 19, 2011

When Knowledge Is Taken Away

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, who have assumed their role in conveying the Message of Islam and calling people to the religion Islam.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets do not leave behind any dinars or dirhams (i.e., wealth), but they leave behind knowledge. Whoever receives this knowledge receives abundant good fortune. [Reported by al-Tirmidhi]
Allah wills good for the scholars. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
Whoever Allah wishes good for, He enables him to understand the religion properly.[Reported by al-Bukhari]

They are the people who truly fear Allah.
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ وَالدَّوَابِّ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ كَذَٰلِكَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّـهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ ﴿٢٨

And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving. [Qur'an Fatir 35:28]

The honor of the scholars is tremendous. The Lord has made them witnesses to the greatest of truths and has mentioned their testimony alongside His own and that of His angels.
شَهِدَ اللَّـهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ ۚ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ﴿١٨

Allah bears witness that La ilaaha illa huwa (none has the right to be worshiped but He) -- and the angels, and men possessed of knowledge -- upholding justice; La ilaaha illa huwa (none has the right to be worshiped but He), the All-mighty, the All-wise. [Qur'an AleImran 3:18]
Allah has raised their status in this world and the next.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا يَفْسَحِ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِذَا قِيلَ انشُزُوا فَانشُزُوا يَرْفَعِ اللَّـهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ ﴿١١

O believers, when it is said to you 'Make room in the assemblies', then make room, and Allah will make room for you; and when it is said, 'Move up', move up, and Allah will raise up in rank those of you who believe and have been given knowledge. And Allah is aware of the things you do. [Qur'an al-Mujadila 85:11]
They are the most knowledgeable of people about evil and what leads to it, so they warn people of it.
ثُمَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُخْزِيهِمْ وَيَقُولُ أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِيَ الَّذِينَ كُنتُمْ تُشَاقُّونَ فِيهِمْ ۚ قَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ إِنَّ الْخِزْيَ الْيَوْمَ وَالسُّوءَ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٢٧

Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them and say, "Where are My 'partners' for whom you used to oppose [the believers]?" Those who were given knowledge will say, "Indeed disgrace, this Day, and evil are upon the disbelievers" [Qur'an al-Nahl 16:27]

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ اللَّـهِ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَلَا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلَّا الصَّابِرُونَ ﴿٨٠

But those who had been given knowledge said, "Woe to you! The reward of Allah is better for he who believes and does righteousness. And none are granted it except the patient." [Qur'an al-Qasas 28:80]
Our salvation is connected to the presence of scholars.
'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'Aas said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, Allah does not take knowledge away by taking it away from people's (hearts); He takes knowledge away by taking away the scholars (i.e., when scholars die), and when there is not one scholar left, the people will turn to ignorant leaders who, when they are consulted, will give fatwas without knowledge. They are misguided and they misguide others.'" [Reported by al-Bukhari]
Imaam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said,
"People need knowledge more than they need food and drink, because they need food and drink two or three times a day, but they need knowledge all the time." Thus the loss of scholars is a great calamity, "...because the death of the entire tribe is less serious than the death of one scholar."

We ask Allah to preserve our scholars and guide the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad, Allah bless him and grant him peace. We ask Allah to forgive our scholars who have left us, have mercy on them, make their graves wide and fill with light, and admit them to a place of honor in the Day of Resurrection. We ask Allah to forgive us and compensate us with good for our loss. O Allah, you are All-Hearing and You answer prayers.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Miraculously Eloquent

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

The Qur'an is the greatest miracle to prove that Prophet Muhammad, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Messenger of God. We say the Qur'an is miraculously eloquent. It is surpassing eloquence with no equal. By that we mean that it is conventionally inimmitable. Shakespeare is more eloquent than any other English prose but it is imitable, so we don't call Shakespeare miraculous.

Someone who is an expert in Arabic, they would say the norm has been broken when they hear the eloquence of the Qur'an. The Arabs used to compete with each other in eloquence and used to vie with each other in eloquence. This was the culture in which the pre-Islamic Arabs lived. They hung the most eloquent Arabic poetry in the Ka'aba, but there was always somebody who was considered the most eloquent poet of the time.

When they challenged the Prophet is the messenger of God, the Qur'an challenged them to produce a surah like the Qur'an. The Arabs disbelievers went to war, spent money and lost lives when all they had to do was to bring a surah like the Qur'an. Not only they didn't bring a surah like it, they didn't even try to compete because they saw it as conventionally inimitable.

If one is an expert in the Arabic language and one has mastered the Arabic language as the pre- Islamic Arabs did, then one will be able to see this first hand as they did. If one is not an expert, one can infer its miraculous inimitability through historical contexts that the experts had at the time, who had a culture of competing in eloquence did everything else, when all they had to do was to produce a surah like it. It says they were unable to do so.

After the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed away, Islam left indelible mark by causing the collapse of two super powers at the time, the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire. Muslims took them away. People under the sway of Muslims didn't like the Muslims and to be under the dominion of the Muslims. The tension between Muslims and non-Muslims proceeded for 100s of years. This is one of the wisdom for Allah placing conflicts in the early ages of Islam so nobody can claim that the Qur'an was not a true revelation of God. People, whose life mission was to extinguish the message of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not try to claim that the Qur'an was not true revelation of God. If they had done so, it would have reached us because it would have been mass transmitted.

As Muslims, we believe that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Messenger of Allah. We affirm it everyday several times by saying the shahada (testimony of faith) in every prayer and when we repeat the adhan when we hear it. Ash-hadu an la illaha illa-Allah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah (I bear witness that there is none has the right to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah).

This should not be something we say on the tongue and that is it. The consequence of this belief is that we believe in everything that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought (including believe in the angels, the Divine Scriptures, all the prophets and the Last Day) and we act upon what he taught us for all his teachings were revelations and inspirations conveyed to him by Allah, the One whose pleasure and love we seek.

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّـهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّـهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٣١

"Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.' (Qur'an AleImran 3:31)

آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٢٨٥

The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination." (Qur'an al-Baqarah 2:285)

May Allah guide us and the Ummah of Muhammad Rasullullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Healthy Foods Equals Healthy Life?

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Most of us, although in our minds we believe there is no god except Allah, practically we believe that this thing and that thing benefit, and this thing and that thing does not benefit, that if I do this I will benefit and if I do that I will be harmed. This is because our greed and our attachment to particular things of the world blind us like this.

For example, whenever somebody is greedy for eating healthy foods, they are willing to sacrifice anything to eat healthy foods. They are greedy for it normally because they want to live a long life. They see healthy life is caused by eating healthy foods, and long life is caused by being healthy. They have become conditioned into believing this food makes them healthy and that food makes them sick.

Somebody like the awliya of Allah (friends of Allah), those who remember Allah frequently, they don't see this way. That's not how they interact with foods. They have absolute certainty that Allah gives good health and they make du'a to Allah to give them good health. They take the cause out of it. This is because they understood completely the consequences of saying There is no god except Allah. La illaha illallah

We need to look at the world as a means to bring us closer to Allah and not let our greed forget the One who causes things to happen for you. Allah is the creator of everything, including your food, your health and your life.

On the authority of Abu 'Abbaas 'Abdillaah bin 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu anhumaa) who said : One day I was behind the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) [riding on the same mount] and he said :

O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be Mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you. Be Mindful of Allah and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, then ask Allah [alone]; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allah [alone]. And know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah had already prescribed for you. And if they were to gather together to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allah had already prescribed against you. The Pens have been lifted and the Pages have dried.

[It was related by at-Tirmidhi, who said it was a Good and Sound Hadith.]

In another narration, other than Tirmidhi:

Be Mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. Recognize and acknowledge Allah in times of ease and prosperity, and He will Remember you in times of adversity. And know that what has passed you by [and you have failed to attain] was not going to befall you, and what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and hardship with ease.

May Allah bring us closer to Him and give us a sound understanding of Islam. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Heart Quakes

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

The job of shaytan is whispering to you doubts. He makes you think you have doubts, but there is no doubt that there is no god except Allah and Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. Allah alone we worship and Allah alone we ask for help.

The cure for this doubt is to show gratitude to Allah. If you are grateful to Allah for the blessings of guidance, the blessings of belief, the blessings of the scholars, and for all other countless blessings, you won't be trapped by the whispers of shaytan. If we don't thank Allah for these blessings we are in danger of falling into the trap of shaytan. Indeed shaytan, to man, is a manifest enemy [Qur'an Yusuf 12:5].

Allah says,

نَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّـهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ﴿٢﴾ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ ﴿٣﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا ۚ لَّهُمْ دَرَجَاتٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ ﴿٤


Those only are believers who, when God is mentioned, their hearts quake, and when His signs are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and in their Lord they put their trust, (2) those who perform the prayer, and expend of what We have provided them, (3) those in truth are the believers; they have degrees with their Lord, and forgiveness, and generous provision. (4)
May Allah protect us from the whispers of shaytan. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Do You Fit In?

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Allah created eye so that it sees. This is the wisdom for the creation of eye. It is not because He need to create eye to cause your sight. Allah can create our sight without eyes. Allah does not need to send down rain for plants to grow, nor medicine to cure, nor a Messenger to guide us. He does not need an intermediary to achieve an effect. He can make plants grow without rain; He can cure without medicine; He can create guidance in the hearts of people without Messengers.

The wisdom behind our creation so that we wind up worshiping the Creator and magnify Him. Allah does not need for us to worship Him nor does he need for anyone to magnify Him, but we do need to worship Him and we are in utter need of our Master.

The man who is living in the middle of the drought stricken desert of Africa, who can't even speak a word of English but says Subhana Rabbi al 'Alaa (My Lord Most High is exalted above all limitation) and/or Subhana Rabbi al-Adheem (My Lord Most Great is exalted above all limitation), here the wisdom of the creation of mankind is being fulfilled.

How do you fit in for the purpose of our creation? We fit in by worshiping Allah. If you don't, you don't fit in.

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

God

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

God is somebody who is rightfully worshiped. This is what God really means. God is not an intellectual concept that people imagine.

It is easy to say God is the Creator الْخَالِقُ, God has Power, God is the Merciful الرَّحِیمُ, the Beneficent الرَّحْمَنُ, the All-Knowing العَاِیمُ, the One who hears all things السَّمِیعُ, the One who sees all things الْبَصِیرُ, the Embodiment of Peace السَّلاَمُ, the Eternal Lord الْمَلِكُ, the Mighty One, the Total Provider الرَّزَّاقُ, the Abaser المُذِلُّ, the Self-sufficient One الْغَنِيُّ, the Eternally Living One الْحَيُّ, the Self subsisting one الْقَیُّومُ, the Maintainer of life الْمُحْیِي, the Bountiful One الْكَرِیمُ, the Majestic One الْجَلِیلُ, the Sustaining One المُقیِت, the Sublime One الْعَلِيُّ, the Embodiment of the Truth الْحَقُّ, the Strong One الْقَوِيُّ, and the entire 99 glorious Names and Attributes of Allah that many of us know.

What do you do with this knowledge? This knowledge should drive you to worship Him and nothing besides Him.

Allah says,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. Qur'an adh-Dhariyyat 51:56
Worship is a complete abasement of one self before somebody who is God. When can one worship someone? It is when the One who one is worshiping needs no one and everything needs Him.

Because Allah needs no one and everyone is in absolute and utter need of Him, we worship Allah. We humble ourselves before Him. We put our foreheads down on the ground before Him. We run to do His bidding. We give up everything to Him. We turn to him for all our needs. We see ourselves as completely incapable. We rely on our Master. Worship is the ultimate lowering of ourselves before somebody who we believe needs no one and everyone needs Him. This is what it means to worship Allah, the only One who deserves to be worshiped. La illaha illallah.

اللَّـهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Allah - there is no god except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. (Qur'an al-Baqarah 2:255)

وَلِلَّـهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing. (Qur'an al-'Araf 7:180)

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Don't Miss Fasting On The White Days Of This Sacred Month

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Slavehood has a meaning of extreme neediness--extreme neediness to please Allah and to be close to Allah, extreme neediness for His forgiveness and mercy. Somebody who feels very needy for Allah's forgiveness and mercy pounds on the door of opportunity that Allah opens for them and looks for every opportunity to please Allah.

Part of being a slave of Allah is to honor what Allah has honored and considered great what Allah has made great. Allah has made this month of Muharram sacred. So we honor this month and be a thankful slave by performing extra worship.

Another recommended worship that we should not miss this month is fasting on the 3 white days, which will fall on December 8, 9 and 10 for most locations.

Ibn `Abbas, Allah be pleased with father and son, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not leave fasting the white days whether he was travelling or whether he was resident. (al-Nasa’i).

The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, encouraged his Companions to fast three days in every month and to fast on the white days (13th, 14th and 15th of each lunar month) specifically.

The reward for fasting on these 3 days in Muharram is multiplied because this is a sacred month.

The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
The best (month) to fast after Ramadan is the Month of Allah which you call al-Muharram.

May Allah accept your worship and bring you closer to Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Commemorating Day Of Ashura (Muharram 10)

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

It is recommended to fast on the 10th of Muharram (Day of Ashura), which is Monday (some places is Tuesday) and the day before or the day after. It is a means for expiation of sins of the previous year.

When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) came to Medina he found the Jews fasting the Day of `Ashura’, the tenth of Muharram. He asked them why they were fasting and they told him that it was an auspicious day: the day on which Allah saved Musa and his people and drowned Firaun and his people. Musa fasted out of gratitude to Allah and his people continued the practice after him. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told the Jews that his nation was closer to Musa than them. He then fasted that day and ordered his Companions to fast.1


Several narrations point to the significance of this day from the earliest of times. It has been narrated that it was the day on which Allah forgave our father Adam, the day on which the Ark of Nuh came to rest on the mountain known as al-Judi and the day on which Allah forgave the people of Yunus (peace be upon him and all the Prophets).

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) taught us to commemorate this day, primarily by fasting. He informed us that if we do so Allah wipes out the sins of the previous year.2 We may ask: if we have already fasted the Day of `Arafat then Allah has already erased our sins in the previous and coming year so what more can be gained from fasting `Ashura’? Some of the scholars mention that continuously fasting both days leads to a deeper erasure of one’s wrongdoings, protection from falling into sin in the future and also has the effect of wiping out the wrongdoings of one’s family and neighbours.


Why does fasting the Day of `Arafat wipe out the sins of two years whereas fasting the day of `Ashura’ only wipes out the sins of one year? One reason, the scholars say, is that the Day of `Arafat is a day attributed to Sayyiduna Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) which is clearly superior to `Ashura’ which is attributed to Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him).

He recommended (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that his Ummah also fast the day before or the day after so that our tradition be distinct from the tradition of the Jews.

We should also renew our repentance on `Ashura.’ The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that it is a day on which Allah allowed a certain people to repent and He will continue to allow others to do the same.3


It has been narrated that if someone spends generously upon his family on the Day of `Ashura’ Allah will treat with him generosity for the rest of the year. Sufyan bin `Uyayna said, “We tried this for fifty years and all that we saw was good.” It has likewise been narrated that the one who gives charity on this day will have the reward of a whole year’s charity.

In Tarim people gather in Masjid Ba `Alawi on the eve of `Ashura’ to read the merits of the day and to make du`a. The day itself is a day of Eid. Children wear their best clothes, amusements are provided for them and gifts are given to them.

1 Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim
2 Narrated by Muslim
3 Narrated by al-Tirmidhi

[abdulkarimyahya.com]


May Allah Most High accept your fasting and good deeds and erase your sins. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Now You See, Now You Don't

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

We think we have eyes and so we can see everything. But during a thick foggy day, you cannot see anything ahead of you, and you say, "I can't see anything because of the fog." We are so used to saying this that we forget something. The fog did not cause your inability to see anything ahead of you, neither your eyes cause your ability to see when there is no fog. It is Allah who caused this to happen. There is merely a correlation between you not able to see anything and the fog. You have been conditioned this way; whenever there is a fog, there is a hampered vision. But the reality is that Allah made you not able to see at that time. He could make you see even with the fog. This is just our reminder to remember the Creator of everything.

In the Battle of Badr the disbelievers outnumbered the Muslims by more than 3 times; 1000 Quraysh vs 300 Muslims. This was the first encounter for the Muslims and they were not prepared for a battle. But Allah helped the believers and made the disbelievers saw the Muslims double in number to scare the disbelievers. They did not imagine the numbers but they saw it with their own eyes.

Allah can change anything including the way your eyes are supposed to see at any particular moment. So remember Allah and fear Him. Watch how you use your eyes. Don't be looking at things you are not supposed to and lower your gaze when you are in the presence of non-mahram.

قَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ ءَايَةٌ فِى فِئَتَيْنِ ٱلْتَقَتَا ۖ فِئَةٌ تُقَـٰتِلُ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّـهِ وَأُخْرَىٰ كَافِرَةٌ يَرَوْنَهُم مِّثْلَيْهِمْ رَأْىَ ٱلْعَيْنِ ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ يُؤَيِّدُ بِنَصْرِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَبْصَـٰرِ

There has already been a sign for you in the two companies that encountered, one company fighting in the way of God and another unbelieving; they saw them twice the like of them, as the eye sees, but God confirms with His help whom He will. Surely in that is a lesson for men possessed of eyes. (Qur'an AleImran 3:13)

May Allah make us His thankful servants and Godfearing. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Have You Forgotten What The Messenger Told You?

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

When the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, mobilized his army for the Battle of Uhud against the disbelievers (kuffar of Quraysh), he selected 50 skillful archers that formed a squad and placed them under the command of Abdullah ibn Jubair.

He ordered them to stay where they were, in a location on Mount Uhud, where they could see the army of the disbelievers when they approached.

He clarified the mission of this squad. He said to Abdullah ibn Jubair:

1. Drive the horses away from us with arrows

2. Do not let them attack us from behind (this command is another way of saying the 1st)

3. Whether we win or lose, stand steadily in your position (this command is another way of saying the 1st and the 2nd)

4. Watch that we are not attack from your side. (this command is another way of saying the 1st, 2nd and 3rd)

Then he told the 50 archers.

5. If you see us snatched in pieces by birds (a sign that the Muslims were killed), do not leave your position until I send for you.

6. If you see that we have defeated the enemy and trodden on them, do not leave your position until I send for you. (There is a wisdom to hold the posts.)

But what did the archers do? When they saw the Muslims had defeated the kuffar badly, and the kuffar were running away from the battlefield, they left their positions to get the booty, i.e. the dunya.

Abdullah ibn Jubair reminded them and said "Have you forgotten what the Messenger told you?" But they did not hear him. 10 people including Abdullah stayed behind trying to protect the position. The rest went after the booty. Even with clear instructions from the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, they left. Actually, they had 10 reminders not to leave their positions under any circumstances--6 from the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, 1 from their leader, Abdullah bin Jubair and 3 from the kuffar. Khalid bin Walid, who was at that time a non-believer and who commanded the Quraysh cavalry, had attempted 3 times to penetrate the Muslims from the rear but unsuccessful because the archers were shooting arrows at them. The archers should have seen this but they suddenly became deaf and blind.

Khalid ibn Walid seized this opportunity. He rode with his men around Mount Uhud and attacked the flank of the Muslim army through the pass. Abdullah ibn Jubair’s depleted forces tried unsuccessfully to resist the attack.

The fleeing soldiers of the enemy also returned and joined the attack from the front and the scales of the battle turned against the Muslims. The suddenness of these attacks by outnumbering forces, from both the rear and the front, caused great confusion among the Muslim ranks. The enemy forces wanted to either seize Allah’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, alive or kill him, and attacked him from all sides, striking with swords, thrusting with spears, shooting arrows and hurling stones.

There was a rumor that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was martyred in the battle, which led many Companions to lose courage. Those who defended him fought heroically. Despite the indescribable resistance of the Muslim warriors around the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, defeat seemed inevitable until Ka’b ibn Malik, seeing the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, shouted: ‘O Muslims! Good tidings for you! This is Allah’s Messenger, here!’ The scattered Companions advanced toward him from all sides, rallied around him, and led him to the safety of the mountain.

If you imagine yourself in Uhud, you might say, "If I am with the 50 archers, I would follow the command of the Prophet." But you might not. Remember the story of the companion Hudhaifa bin Al Yamman in the Battle of Khandaq. These archers forgot the clear instructions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, because Allah wanted them to forget. But this is not the reason that you should disobey Allah. We have to obey the commands of Allah and His Messenger. We have to plan and take the means to accomplish the plan but we have to know that if you don't achieve the result or if you achieve the result, it is within Allah's plan. Whatever goals we have, it has to be for Allah and through Allah.

The Battle of Uhud is a victory to the Muslims despite 70 companions were killed and many wounded. We have 70 martyrs, that means they are in Paradise with Allah. The kuffar (including many powerful leaders) who Allah knows they were not going to change, were killed in the battle. Muslims who survived, learned a huge lesson, that if you want to do something, you have follow the instructions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. The kuffar who survived, including Hind (who hired Wahshi to kill Hamzah, the beloved uncle of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and when Hamza was killed, she ordered his stomach to split open, and she mutilated his body and chewed his liver), Abu Sufyan, the leader of the kuffar, and Khalid bin Walid embraced Islam later in the da'wah and became great Companions and instrumental in defending and spreading Islam.

Khalid bin Walid learned a very important lesson from Uhud and it became his attitude which saved the Muslims. When there is a battle, inevitably there is a point when there is a kind of disturbance, whether the army is defeated or had victory. Khalid would look for this moment and ceased the opportunity to attack the enemy. In many battles in which Khalid led the Muslim army, he used the lesson of Uhud and thus saved the Muslims. He used this in the Battle of Mu'tah, fighting the apostate and Musaylamah al Kadhab, and in the Battle of Yarmuk of 36,000 Muslims against 200,000 Romans. Hind and Abu Sufyan helped a great deal in Battle of Yarmuk in which the Roman army was defeated and marked the collapse of the Roman empire, the oldest empire in history.

With all that had happened at Uhud; 70 Muslims killed, many wounded, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, raised his hands and thanked Allah. Why? Because he believed in the Divine plan. Ten years from that date, the Roman empire was defeated by the Muslims under the leadership of Khalid bin Walid.

So when we asked, why bad things happen to the Muslims? Remember what happened to the Muslims in Battle of Uhud, what Hind did to Hamzah and what Khalid did to the Muslims, and what the Muslims achieved as a result of what happened to the Muslims in this battle. They were but a few of the wisdom of Uhud that we know after the fact. We might not be able to see the wisdom of what is happening to the Muslims now but if we live long enough we might be able to see it. But this is not important. What is important is that we obey Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. We cannot be deaf and blind to the commands of Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. They have been repeated to us in many different ways. Don't be heedless lest we will perish. And if we want to achieve something we have to look to Allah, not the dunya. If we don't, even if we succeed, it is not a true success.

May Allah guide the Ummah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Ameen.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Muhammad صل الله عليه وسلم The Last Prophet Movie

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

Muhammad صل الله عليه وسلم The Last Prophet Movie

Muhammad ibn 'Abdullāh (Arabic: محمد; Transliteration: Muḥammad; pronounced [mʊˈħæmmæd] also spelled Muhammed or Mohammed)(ca. 570/571 -- June 8, 632), (Monday, 12th Rabi' al-Awwal, Year 11 A.H.) was the founder of the religion of Islam, and is considered by Muslims to be a messenger and prophet of God, the last law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets, and, by most Muslims, the last prophet of God as taught by the Qur'an. Muslims thus consider him the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets. He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action.

Born in 570 in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to Islamic beliefs it was here, at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God.

Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets. Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was met with hostility from some Meccan tribes; he and his followers were treated harshly.

To escape persecution, Muhammad sent some of his followers to Abyssinia before he and his remaining followers in Mecca migrated to Medina (then known as Yathrib) in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, which is also known as the Hijri Calendar. In Medina, Muhammad united the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown to 10,000, conquered Mecca. In 632, a few months after returning to Medina from his Farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, and he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single Muslim religious polity.
[source: iqratube]

May Allah's blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions. Ameen.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Fasting In The Blessed Month Of Muharram

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Today is the starting of the new Hijri year. Allah's sacred month of Muharram is the first month of the Hijri calendar. It is recommended to increase one's sunnah fasting in this month.

Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

The best fasting after Ramadhan is fasting Allah's month of Muharram." [Muslim]

Muharram is a blessed and important month. It is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allah says,

إِنَّ عِدَّةَ ٱلشُّهُورِ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ ٱثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِى كِتَـٰبِ ٱللَّـهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ مِنْهَآ أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ ۚ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا۟ فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۚ وَقَـٰتِلُوا۟ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ كَآفَّةً كَمَا يُقَـٰتِلُونَكُمْ كَآفَّةً ۚ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّـهَ مَعَ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allah is with the righteous [who fear Him]. (Qur'an At-Tawba 9:36]

Allah's words: "... so do not wrong yourselves during them ... " mean do not wrong yourselves in these sacred months, because sin in these months is worse than in other months. It was reported that Ibn 'Abbas said that this phrase referred to all the months, then these four were singled out and made sacred, so that sin in these months is more serious and good deeds bring a greater reward.

Qutadah said concerning this phrase that wrongdoing during the sacred months is more serious and more sinful that wrongdoing at any other time. Wrongdoing at any time is a serious matter, but Allah gives more weight to whichever of His commands He will. Allah has chosen certain ones of His creation. He has chosen from among the angels Messengers and from among mankind Messengers. He chose from among speech the remembrance of Him (dhikr). He chose from among the earth the mosques, from among the months Ramadhan and the sacred months, from among the days Friday and from among the nights Laylat al-Qadr, so venerate that which Allah has told us to venerate. People of understanding and wisdom venerate the things that Allah has told us to venerate. [Summarized from the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him.]

Abu Bakrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhu'l-Qa'dah, Dhu'l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumada and Sha'ban.[Bukhari]
Muharram is so called because it is a sacred (muharram) month and to confirm its sanctity.

We ask Allah to help us obey Him and make us of those who are pious and fear Him. We ask Allah to increase our love for His Noble Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. We ask Allah to make us followers of the Sunnah of His Noble Prophet, to make us live in Islam and die in a state of iman. Ameen.

Please keep us in your du'as. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Friday, November 25, 2011

No Complaints, Only Much Thanks

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Everything that is happening should remind us of how much we need Allah, that we can't do anything without His help and His tawfiq, but how little we see His blessings and how little we thank Him for everything.

Everyday, we can catch ourselves complaining about something, maybe not overtly but silently or indirectly. We complain when we have to wait in line for hours. Thank Allah that He gave you the two feet to enable you to stand up in the line for so long. We complain when people are not doing their jobs properly. Thank Allah that He gave you enough patience so that you don't lose control and start hitting and yelling at people, perhaps get yourself deported.

The other day, I was at the visa office to renew my visa and my children's visa. As expected, it was almost a whole day event with long standing in line and seeing impatient and angry foreigners and angry staff.

When I first arrived there was a line for women and another line for men which were group enforceable. I thought that was thoughtful. I stood behind the last person in the women's line. But after a while I realized the line wasn't moving. I asked the people in front of me if I could go to the front and see what was going on. They said ok (good luck!). I went to the window and tried to get the attention of the staff but no one bothered to look at the window. Some of them were chatting, eating, smoking, walking up and down and you wonder if much was being done. Finally, a staff came and I asked him if I was standing at the right window to process our visas. He grudgingly took our passports, looked at them and left the passports on the counter and walked away.

One of the ladies who was standing behind me said, "I used to have a lot of patience, but after I came to Egypt I lost it, and now I am trying to be patient." I said, this is the best place to teach patience and tawakkul (they don't call Egypt a factory of knowledge for no reason) and that we don't realize how little patience we had before and how much we relied on human systems until we come to Egypt. In US and Europe, everything runs like clock work and so we took many things for granted living there. We forget Allah is the One who is running everything, the clock and the clock work included.

We waited realizing that when Allah decides to send someone to process and give us the visas, it won't be a moment later. Some of the ladies had sat down on the floor because their feet couldn't take it anymore.

We comforted and reminded each other with words of the Qur'an, that Allah is with the patient, that Allah is the All Powerful, the All Hearing and the All Seeing (that He sees and hears everything was happening to us). We asked Allah to guide them and bring peace to Egypt (which is currently in huge turmoil again). One of the staffs must have overheard our conversation, looked over towards the pillar that separated me and him with a big smile. I took this great opportunity to ask him if someone would come and process our visas. Soon thereafter a staff came and took our passports for further processing. I said to him jazakallahu khairan.

Our lives yesterday, today, now and tomorrow is how Allah wants it to be. He has known everything before they be. Nothing moves, nothing remains still without His knowledge, His will, His power. La hawla wala quwwata illa billah. We are nothing without Allah. We are certain that we don't know what tomorrow will bring but we hope that Allah will have mercy on us and continue to shower us with His blessings and make us die with la illaha illallah at the highest of iman.

We thank Allah for by Him we see what we see in this deen, we hear what our teachers taught us about this deen, He did not choose us to be blind or deaf and did not make us be among those who are heedless and led astray.

وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ ءَاذَانٌ لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَآ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْغَـٰفِلُونَ

"And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless." Qur'an Al-A'raf 7:179

May Allah make us His grateful servants. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Don't See Yourself In Anything

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

We know Allah created our whole body. Sometimes because our body is working by default, we forget Allah. It is not sufficient to know that Allah created every part of our body, but we also have to know that all the systems are working by Allah.

It is not because you have eyes that you can see, it is not because you have ears that you can hear, it is not because you have tongues that you can talk, it is not because you have hands that you can touch and hold, it is not because you have intellect that you can think, it is because Allah wants them to function that way. If you have a bad eyesight and you go to the doctor who prescribed you glasses and you wear them it is not the glasses that enable you to see well again. It is Allah who enables you to see well again.

Do you think you are so smart that you pass your exams, that you graduated from college, that you have a PhD, that you are making so much money and have a good job or a successful business/projects? Do you think you are so great that you have so many fans, that you can make the audience cry because of your moving speech? Your intellect was able to compose a moving speech because Allah wanted it that way and your tongue was able to give a moving speech because Allah wanted it that way. Nothing came from you. You have to be conscious about this all the time. Don't see yourself in anything but see Allah in everything.

There was one Shaykh giving a Friday khutbah (sermon). It was a good and inspiring khutbah and people were crying while listening to the khutbah. When the Shaykh was leaving the mimbar (pulpit) to start the Friday prayer, he saw the people crying because of his speech. He said to himself, "I did it!" As soon as he said, Allahu Akbar and to begin reciting surah al-Fatiha, he was silent for a long time. Most people who were following behind him, including children, memorized surah al-Fatiha, and they recited the first verse, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'alamin ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ over and over again to remind him, but it was as if he couldn't hear them. At that moment he realized his mistake when he said, "I did it." Allah gave him a quick and strong lesson that he did not do anything. He made a sincere repentance to Allah in his heart and immediately he was able to recite the surah and complete the prayer. He later said that he could hear noises when people were trying to remind him of al-Fatiha, but he could not recognize the words.

What do you have in your life that you are working on or something you want to finish? Do you think you are running these things? You plan but when you get the results as you planned, don't think that you did it. It was already in Allah's plan.

What are you jealous about or sad about when you see others have a house and you don't, have many children and you don't, have a loving spouse and you don't, or when you hear about their wonderful vacations and you have been stuck in one place for the last 20 years? Do you think you can transfer what they have to you? No, everything is own and run by Allah. If He wills that you have the like of what others have, you will have them. If not, you won't.

We have to remember this always for this will bring our hearts closer to Allah.

May Allah bring our hearts closer to Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Paradise Is For Believers

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

It is not our job to judge whether a person is going to Paradise or Hell because the fate of someone is not in our hands but in Allah's, and Allah's alone. So we should hold our tongues and be concerned about ours because we don't know our ending. The wheel is still spinning.

Allah gave us a very good example for us in our lifetime. We have heard the story of Saddam Hussein, the former President of Iraq. He killed so many people even some of his own family members. You would think the worst that will happen to him in the Day of Judgment. The people of Iraq selected the first day of Eid al-Adha to execute him and while Muslims around the world were slaughtering animals for sacrifice, his people executed him for his atrocities. But what were the last words that came out of his mouth? As reported, in clear voice he uttered the shahada, saying "There is no God but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. There is no God but Allah and I testify that Muhammad." This is what we know about his ending in this life. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (To Allah we belong and to Him is the return). By sating that in this life, he reserved a place in Paradise because the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that whoever has la illaha illallah (there is no God except Allah) at his last words, he will be in Paradise. Yes, he did what he did and Allah might punish him for what he did, and Allah might forgive him as well. In the end he will be in Paradise, by Allah's mercy.

We don't have that certainty that we will be in Paradise. Yes, many of us are religious, we are trying to practice Islam. We are praying, learning the Sacred Knowledge, doing good deeds and we don't kill people but how sure are we that we will end a believer? How sure are we that we will utter la illaha illallah before our souls leave our bodies? There is no guaranty that we will. But we are doing our best in order to please Allah, and we have a hope that Allah will be pleased with us and guide our hearts and our tongues to say la illaha illallah on our deathbeds. We keep asking Allah that we hold our deen, follow the Qur'an and the sunnah and die a believer.

May Allah make us His obedient slaves, protect us from disbelief, and make us die as believers at the highest of iman and enter us into the highest Paradise with the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Friday, November 18, 2011

Doing Our Best

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Everything has been decided and written in the lawh almahfuz. Whether it is going to be in our favor or not, it is in Allah's hands alone. We have no say about it. But we still have to do our part because we are His slaves. He is the Lord. Our part is doing what Allah wants from us. If we don't know what Allah wants from us, then we learn. We ask Allah to help us and give us tawfiq.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, knew the result of the Battle of Badr before it happened, but he did not sit back and wait for Allah to send the victory. He did his part--planned and prepared the army, not stepping on anybody's toes, and he made a long and intense du'a to the Lord the whole night.

We might find certain things difficult or impossible to do but we do them anyway to the best of our ability because we are certain that Allah does not burden a soul beyond his scope (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:286). The moment it is going to be beyond our ability, help will come but we have to do our part.
Or think you that you will enter Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty and ailments and were so shaken that even the Messenger and those who believed along with him said, "When (will come) the Help of Allah?" Yes! Certainly, the Help of Allah is near!

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:214
Remember Maryam binti Imran, the mother of 'Isa, peace be upon them. When it became unbearable for Maryam to bear the labor pain, Allah sent her comfort.

And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" Then [the baby 'Isa or Jibril] cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you; And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you. So eat and drink and be glad, And if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Gracious (Allah) so I shall not speak to any human being this day.'"

Surah Maryam 19:23-26

She was told to shake the palm trunk and dates fell for her to eat to gain back her strength. If we were to ask 10 men to shake a date palm trunk at the base, they won't be able to move it even a fraction. How could a woman in labor, weak and exhausted, shake it? What's the point with shaking the tree? Allah can easily make the dates fell on her lap without any effort from her, kun fayakun, but Allah wants her to do her part.

If we want something from Allah, we have to take the first step. If we wait and expect things will come to us without any effort, nothing will happen. Allah does not reward laziness and procrastination.

So until the help comes, hang in there patiently and at the same time do our part to the best of our ability.

May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please keep us in your du'as. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Thursday, November 17, 2011

How Much Do I Know?

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

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

When you start learning the Sacred Knowledge and learn some terminology and read some hadiths, maybe you have read the entire Bukhari or the Riyadh as-Salihin or have taken a few Islamic lectures here and there, you think you are the only one who has the knowledge and the rest of the people are ignorant. You look around you and you start pointing out this is haram, that is haram, this is halal, this is makruh, this is a bid'a (innovation), that is a bid'a, that person is a kaafir, this person is a hypocrite, and so on.

After a while you realize that there are other people who have been studying like you and in fact they have more knowledge than you. So you become serious about seeking knowledge.

After years of seeking knowledge, maybe you have memorized the entire Qur'an, maybe you have a certain degree in Islamic studies, maybe you have of so many ijazah of this and that, you now realize that you are the most ignorant person on earth because this knowledge didn't take you to Allah Most High. You realize that everything that you have is given to you and you didn't gain them yourself.

If you don't apply what you know and don't practice your knowledge in your life, if you are not humble before Allah, if you are arrogant, it doesn't matter whether you have 30,000 Facebook fans or 300,000 fans worldwide and they all love you, because it doesn't help you see Allah. What matters is Allah, that you see Allah and if you don't see Allah, you know He sees you.

May Allah give us sincerity in our hearts and excellence in our worship. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Case Of A Blown Up Tire

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

In our shortsightedness, more often than not we failed to see the wisdom of what Allah sent to us especially when it is bad. Regardless whether we see the wisdom of what is happening in our lives or not, we should remember to thank Allah for everything and be patient. Much good will come out of it if we are thankful. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel if we are patient to wait and see. In fact, this "bad" thing can be the best thing that could have ever happened to you. At the minimum, it makes you a stronger and better person and help you prepare for bigger challenges. When these challenges come our way, we should always try to remember that Allah does not burden a soul more than it can bear. This will give us the strength to bear them even while we feel that we are breaking.

May Allah protect us from the trials of this life and the next and bring us closer to Him.

When I looked back to some of the difficult events in my life, I can only thank Allah for them. Had Allah not sent them my way and not help me went through them all, I would not have been able to do what I do today and I would not have found the happiness and the peace that I am enjoying now.

I had faced some major events in my life and there were moments in my life when I felt I was in a soap opera. There was one drama after another but I could see all that drama are coming together for the better, inshaAllah.

Four years ago my tire blew up in the middle of a freeway. So what? I am pretty sure many of you have had a flat before, so nothing new, nothing exciting. But this is not about a flat tire, it is about the Divine plan. I thought I share my story with you.

I was driving a Toyota SUV on a California freeway with my children to a masjid about 50 miles away from home, to listen to an out of town al-Azhari Shaykh. It was quite early in the morning. Actually, I didn't plan to go to this event because I had much to prepare for my upcoming business trip about 500 miles away each way driving. But I decided to go to the event at the last minute.

As I was driving, suddenly I heard an explosion from the outside and immediately I felt the SUV was tilting to the right and because of the speed at which I was driving, the SUV could have overturned, but it didn't for some reason. I realized then that I had a blown up tire. I tried to maneuver towards a safe side of the highway. I had to drive a little distance to find a safe spot to stop. It was quite a dangerous situation. I didn't know the area that well. I was scared to say the least. Many things just ran in my mind. I never learned how to change tires and what spare tire I had was not really a good spare. It was only a donut and it was under inflated, so it could not have taken us very far. This happened on a weekend and I'd be lucky to find a tire shop nearby and if there was one I'd be lucky to find one that is opened that early. Anyway, I asked my kids to stay quiet in the SUV while I looked for help.

The person who Allah sent happened to know exactly where a nearby Toyota dealer was. And it happened to be off the the exit where I was standing but he was not sure if the service department opened on weekends. I decided to take my SUV there anyway and would leave it there if it was closed and find a ride home. Since the dealer was close by, I could drive the SUV with the donut tire and I wouldn't need a tow. That was good because it saved me some money. I was amazed when I saw that the service department was opened that Saturday. It could have been closed because it only opened every other Saturday.

Since it was a dealer I asked them to also perform a major service since I haven't had it done for a while and I would be driving it for the long trip. This would require me to leave the car a whole day. It was just all perfect as I didn't have to wait because we would be at the Shaykh's lessons for a whole day. In trying to figure out how to get to the masjid, the service manager offered a free loaner car which he had discretion to give out to certain customers. We arrived at the masjid safely and didn't miss anything because the Shaykh was delayed.

As it turned out, I need to replace the other 3 tires because they were bald from the inside and a major safety work was also needed. I wouldn't have known this in time for our road trip had it not been for that one blown up tire that caused me to go to the dealer for service. And there was a bonus as well--the manager gave me a big discount on the major service which somewhat compensated for the cost of the 4 tires.

There was no luck and there was no coincidence but there was Divine plan for my last minute decision to go to the Shaykh's lesson and the tire blew up. Every single detail in this event happened to accomplish Allah's Plan. This event truly increased my certainty of the Divine plan. My kids and I could have been in a serious or fatal accident had the one tire didn't blow up that day.

Sometimes in the midst of certain unpleasant event, the emotions ran high and it could get the best out of you. But if we realize that it could have been worse, we have no other choice, except being thankful to the One who created everything. And if we also realize that He is in control of everything, then we will suddenly realize that it really doesn't matter what is happening--we just go with the flow, so to speak, and resolve the issue at hand the best we can. And we wait for what is next. Only Allah knows what is next. And that is what I understood, at the time, by being patient in the face of calamities. In my heart I couldn't stop thanking Allah for sending me one relief after another and protect us from serious calamities. There were more wisdom that Allah has shown me stemming from the event to this day.

I had forgotten the details of the al-Azhari Shaykh's lecture, but I could not forget the one thing that the Shaykh did during a lunch break. He did a blood cupping (hijama) on one man. That was my first encounter of this Prophetic practice and found it fascinating. This is now more than 4 years later and I had moved to Egypt, in another continent. I had this lingering health problems that I need to take care but I don't believe in pharmaceutical drugs and they made me more sick. I remembered the hijama by this Shaykh (who was an Egyptian) and I thought I should try it. I happened to host a few al-Azhari students in my apartment and as they were leaving, I asked if they knew anyone who could perform hijama and that person happened to be standing right in front of me. SubhanAllah. She taught me how to perform the hijama so I could do it to myself regularly. This is another wisdom for my last minute decision to go to the Shaykh's lesson. Note: Egypt was not in my book whatsoever at the time but Allah has it in His plan that my cure would come from the hijama in Egypt 4 years in the future. Allah knows best.

I cannot see everything in the Divine plan for the blown up tire and chances are I will never see them all. But it doesn't matter. Our life is all in the Plan and we cannot beat that Plan for it is the best Plan. So we should operate with that certainty and from that certainty patience will come and with the patience Allah is with you for Allah is with the patient.

Allah cares about every single detail in our lives, even before we were born, and that means He loves us. If someone cares about you, don't you love that person? Of course. So, we must love Allah and increase that love in our hearts through much remembrance of Him. There is nothing that happen in our lives is bad for us because it is coming from someone who love us. We have to believe that. Allah loves the believers and we love Him.

May Allah bless our lives and give us tawfiq to the highest station. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Monday, November 14, 2011

Worship The One God Who Causes Your Death

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

You can look at anything in front of you and you can see that everything is different. They are unique. Every snowflakes that fall is different. Every leave on a tree is different. Fruits of the same tree, watered from the same water, taste different. No 2 sheep are alike even all you see is white wool. Every fingerprint is different. It just cannot happen that way without a determiner. He is our Creator, Allah, Most Powerful, Most Knowledgeable.

Other people may doubt about the existence of Allah and doubt the commands of Allah to worship Him alone. But the righteous has no doubt in his own mind, and he declares his Faith clearly and unambiguously to all.

Worship of One God is not an invention of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is a direct command of Allah. It touches the vital issues of life and death, which are in His hands and His alone. He is Al-Muhyiy and Al-Mumit, the One who gives life and the One who brings death.

قُلْ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِن كُنتُمْ فِى شَكٍّ مِّن دِينِى فَلَآ أَعْبُدُ ٱلَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَـٰكِنْ أَعْبُدُ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى يَتَوَفَّىٰكُمْ ۖ وَأُمِرْ‌تُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Say, [O Muhammad], "O people, if you are in doubt as to my religion - then I do not worship those which you worship besides Allah; but I worship Allah, who causes your death. And I have been commanded to be of the believers.

May Allah guide our loved ones who don't believe and help us spread His religion. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Make Allah The Title Of Your Life

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Everybody wants to be happy. But we can't have true happiness without making Allah the title of our life. Allah should not be buried in the rest of everything else in our lives. Allah should not be just somebody we go to because we have to or because we are in trouble or because we want something of this life.

It is not sufficient that we pray 5 times a day and forget Allah in between. It is not sufficient that we fast in Ramadhan, pile up all good deeds that one month and never fast again until the next Ramadhan comes around. It is not sufficient that we drop a few dollars in the charity box of the masjid once or twice a year and shy away from the box the rest of the time.

Likewise, going to hajj is not a vacation but it is to help you train yourself to focus on Allah alone without the distraction of your everyday life and by the time you complete the hajj you should be a different person--a better slave of Allah. So if all you come home with, after hajj, are things of the dunya like pictures, boxes of dates, perfume and you resume your bad habits and your heedlessness, nothing change in the way you conduct your life and in the intensity of your worship of Allah, then you should go again next year and before that you must learn how to perform hajj and umrah in depth.

Islam is not a seasonal thing and Allah is not a teddy bear. Allah is Allah, Mighty and Majestic. When we make Allah the title of our lives, then all of a sudden our focus is on Allah. We will rush to please Him. When we want to please someone, what do we do? We do what the person likes. The most beloved things to Allah is what He has made obligatory on us (all our religious duties) and these things we should do and keep doing more.

If we don't feel the closeness to Allah and the sweetness of faith, it is because Allah is not big in our lives. He is there but in between projects and meetings at work, taking exams, taking the kids to school, shopping, cooking, and all those things that people do as if this life has no end.

Allah created us in our forms to worship Him and nothing else besides Him and then He will make us die and our forms will perish, and no one cares about our forms anymore. This is the reality.

The other day we were at an ancient cemetery where many members of the family of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and members of the family of the Sahabah and thousands of shuhada' (martyrs, men and women, who fought the Romans during the Caliphate of 'Umar) were buried, some marked. It is still being used to bury the dead. As we were walking around the cemetery, suddenly we smell a repugnant smell and discovered that it was coming out from a new grave not too far from where we were standing. This does make us realize that we don't have much time to wait to repent for our sins. The repugnant smell is definitely nothing compared to the punishment a sinful person will suffer in the grave.

We have no one except Allah. We will have no one to help us in the grave. So remember Allah much and He will remember you.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:
Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.
It was related by al-Bukhari


On the authority of Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:
Truly of those devoted to Me the one I most favour is a believer who is of meagre means and much given to prayer, who has been particular in the worship of his Lord and has obeyed Him inwardly (1), who was obscure among people and not pointed our, and whose sustenance was just sufficient to provide for him yet he bore this patiently. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) rapped his hand and said: Death will have come early to him, his mourners will have been few, his estate scant.
(1) i.e. he has not been ostentatious in his obedience.
It was related by at-Tirmidhi (also by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ibn Majah). Its chain of authorities is sound

May Allah make us His obedient slaves and give us an excellent ending and save us from the punishment of the grave. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Thursday, November 10, 2011

An Encyclopedia of Information

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

There are lots of information out there about Islam but most people don't have the knowledge of Islam. Some of you might know people who are encyclopedias of Islamic knowledge or people who memorized verses of Qur'an and hadiths but they are short in their practice of what they know. They might not follow the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. They might lie, cheat and break promises. They might smoke, backbite, envious, arrogant, have a temper, not respecting others and the environment, throw garbage on the street, throw rocks at dogs. In short they might have a bad character.

This is because there is a difference between information and knowledge. Knowledge is something you use to improve your state of being, otherwise it is information which is useless.

Many of us are a packrat of information. It is very easy to obtain information, especially nowadays with advent of the internet. We have libraries of files in our laptops on Islam, not to mention books and CDs in our homes, some you probably have forgotten that you have them. When you go to Islamic lectures/conventions/retreats, you transcribed everything the speakers said. Those who brought laptops to the lessons would be busy typing away what the teacher said.

Do you know that while you were busy doing that you automatically missed out on the meaning of what the teacher said because your heart wasn't listening. It didn't travel to your heart because your eyes were busy on the screen, your fingers were busy on the keyboard and of course your brain has to coordinate all these actions. So, you were not 100% focusing on what the teacher said. And you are distracting others as well and thus depriving them from getting the potential knowledge. Imagine if you have 100 people in a class/hall clicking away on the keyboard transcribing what the teacher said!

Now with all these information you gathered and stored, have they changed anything about you? Have they brought you closer to Allah? If they haven't, then you have to start clearing your shelves and your storage and start over. Learn from a real teacher, someone who can teach and guide you.

May Allah grant us tawfiq to the highest station. Ameen. Please don't foget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Strengthen Our Certainty

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Virtues and actions are strong or weak, sound or unsound, according to the strength of our certainty. Certainty is power, firmness and stability of faith so great that no doubts can shake and no illusions can rock. When certainty prevails in the heart and established itself therein, the unseen becomes as if seen. We must strengthen and improve our certainty as a slave acts in obedience only to the extent that he has certainty, and becomes neglectful in his actions when his certainty diminishes.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
Omar (Allah be pleased with him) never takes a road but Shaytan takes another.

Omar's firmness and stability of faith was unshakable, that the Shaytan flees his very shadow and is content to keep at a safe distance.

Certainty derives its power and excellence from many things.

The first and most essential is we listen attentively to the verses and hadiths relating to Allah. Allah says,

أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِهِمْ أَنَّآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَرَحْمَةً وَذِكْرَىٰ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Is it not enough for them that We have sent down upon you the Book which is recited to them? [Qur'an Al-Ankabut 29:51]
The second is to learn from looking at Allah's kingdom of the heavens and the earth and the wondrous creatures of Allah's creation. Allah says,

سَنُرِيهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا فِى ٱلْـَٔافَاقِ وَفِىٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۗ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness? (53) [Qur'an Fussilat 41:53]

The third is to behave and act in accordance to the teachings of Islam, outwardly and inwardly, zealously and to the limits of one's resources. Allah says,

وَٱلَّذِينَ جَـٰهَدُوا۟ فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ لَمَعَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good. (69) [Qur'an Al-Ankabut 29:69]

The Qur'an describes the three categories of people -- believers, non-believers and hypocrites. The believers have three categories of certainty.

The first is that of the People of the Right Hand. This is firm belief but with the possibility of becoming doubtful or shaky under certain circumstances. This is called faith.

The second is that of the Ones Brought Nigh. This is the possession of the heart and its establishing itself so firmly that its opposite becomes no longer possible or even imaginable. In this degree the unseen becomes as the seen. This is called certainty.

The third is that of the Prophets and the True Saints (siddiqin) who are their perfect heirs. Here the unseen becomes seen, which thing is called unveiling (kashf) and contemplation (mushahada).

There are grades within each degrees: all are good, but some are better than others. That is Allah's grace, He bestows it upon who He will, and Allah's grace is abundant.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ وَءَامِنُوا۟ بِرَسُولِهِۦ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِن رَّحْمَتِهِۦ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِۦ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٢٨﴾ لِّئَلَّا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ أَلَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَىْءٍ مِّن فَضْلِ ٱللَّـهِ ۙ وَأَنَّ ٱلْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ ٱللَّـهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ ﴿٢٩

O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (28) [This is] so that the People of the Scripture may know that they are not able [to obtain] anything from the bounty of Allah and that [all] bounty is in the hand of Allah; He gives it to whom He wills. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty. (29)

[Qur'an Al-Hadid 57:29]

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

source: Book of Assistance by Imam Al-Haddad