بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Baihaqi reported on the authority of Salman Al-Farsi (Radhi Allah ‘Anhu) that Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wassallam) delivered a sermon on the last day of the month of Sha’ban. In it he (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wassallam) said,
“O People! The month of Allah (Ramadhan) has come with its mercies, blessings and forgivenesses. Allah has decreed this month the best of all months. The days of this month are the best among the days and the nights are the best among the nights and the hours during Ramadan are the best among the hours. This is a month in which you have been invited by Him (to fast and pray). Allah has honored you in it. In every breath you take is a reward of Allah, your sleep is worship, your good deeds are accepted and your invocations are answered.
Therefore, you must invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts free from sin and evil, and pray that Allah may help you to keep fast, and to recite the Holy Qur’an. Indeed!, miserable is the one who is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this great month. While fasting remember the hunger and thirst on the Day of Judgement. Give alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen. Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from sounds that should not be heard.
Be kind to orphans so that if your children may become orphans they will also be treated with kindness. Do repent to Allah for your sins and supplicate with raised hands at the times of prayer as these are the best times, during which Allah Almighty looks at His servants with mercy. Allah Answers if they supplicate, Responds if they call, Grants if He is asked, and Accepts if they entreat. O people! you have made your conscience the slave of your desires.
Make it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break from the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah for long intervals, and make this load lighter. Understand fully that Allah has promised in His Honor and Majesty that, people who perform salat and sajda (prostration) will be guarded from Hell-fire on the Day of Judgement.
O people!, if anyone amongst you arranges for iftar (meal at sunset) for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave, and Allah will forgive him his sins. A companion asked: “but not all of us have the means to do so” The Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wassallam) replied: Keep yourself away from Hell-fire though it may consist of half a date or even some water if you have nothing else.
O people!, anyone who during this month cultivates good manners, will walk over the Sirat (bridge to Paradise) on the day when feet will tend to slip. For anyone who during this month eases the workload of his servants, Allah will make easy his accounting, and for anyone who doesn’t hurt others during this month, Allah will safeguard him from His Wrath on the Day of Judgement. Anyone who respects and treats an orphan with kindness during this month, Allah shall look at him with kindness on that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsmen well during this month, Allah will bestow His Mercy on him on that Day, while anyone who mistreats his kinsmen during this month, Allah will keep away from His Mercy.
Whomever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from Hell, and whomever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other months. Whomever repeatedly invokes Allah’s blessings on me, Allah will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while the scales of others will be tending to lightness. Whomever recites during this month an ayat (verse) of the Holy Qur’an, will get the reward of reciting the whole Qur’an in other months.
O people!, the gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord that they may not be closed for you. While the gates of Hell are closed, pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan has been chained, invoke your Lord not to let him dominate you.”
Ali ibn Talib (Radhi Allah ‘Anhu) said: “I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what are the best deeds during this month’?” ‘He replied: ‘O Abu-Hassan, the best of deeds during this month is to be far from what Allah has forbidden’.”
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Ramadhan is Qur'an and Fasting Not Sahur and Iftar
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
When a child keep doing wrong, the mother will come to him and say, "What will I do with you?" to remind the child of her and perhaps he will stop doing the wrong by himself.
Today is the start of Ramadhan for many of us. When you think of Ramadhan, only two things should come to mind -- Qur'an and fasting, not sahur and iftar. This is the time to leave many of the the things we normally do and spend most of our time with the Qur'an to develop that actual relationship with our Lord.
While many Muslims are fasting, many more are not fasting (out of heedlessness) and lots more don't go to their local masjid for prayers.
Allah says to mankind,
Allah has endowed human with such natural faculties and abilities that every limb and every joint of his body was enough to remind him of His Creator, and to make him obedient, but he is lured away from his gracious Lord, has forgotten Him and disobeyed Him.
The question is: How did he forget his Lord, how did he become heedless of Him, and how is he lured away from his Lord? On this occasion, بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ the adjective karim (Gracious) used for the 'Lord' points to the answer. The reason for such an ungrateful attitude is that Allah is Gracious and does not punish man immediately after his committing a sin. Rather, his sustenance, welfare and well-being, and worldly comforts [and pleasures] are not curtailed. He misinterprets Allah's magnanimity, and thus falls into deception. If man were to think rationally, he would adopt a grateful attitude and obedient behavior, rather than adopting an ungrateful attitude and imprudent behavior.
If you are not fasting or not praying at the masjid or if you are busy with preparing iftar or sahur and not reciting or listening to the Qur'an, remember this very loving statement from our Lord, "O man! What has deceived you about your Gracious Lord ... ?"
May Allah increase our iman (faith) and bring us closer to His Book this Ramadhan.
اللهم أهله علينا بالأمن والإيمان والسلامة والإسلام
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
When a child keep doing wrong, the mother will come to him and say, "What will I do with you?" to remind the child of her and perhaps he will stop doing the wrong by himself.
Today is the start of Ramadhan for many of us. When you think of Ramadhan, only two things should come to mind -- Qur'an and fasting, not sahur and iftar. This is the time to leave many of the the things we normally do and spend most of our time with the Qur'an to develop that actual relationship with our Lord.
While many Muslims are fasting, many more are not fasting (out of heedlessness) and lots more don't go to their local masjid for prayers.
Allah says to mankind,
يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ ﴿٦﴾ الَّذِي خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّاكَ فَعَدَلَكَ ﴿٧﴾ فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ مَّا شَاءَ رَكَّبَكَ ﴿٨﴾ كَلَّا بَلْ تُكَذِّبُونَ بِالدِّينِ ﴿٩﴾ وَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ لَحَافِظِينَ ﴿١٠﴾ كِرَامًا كَاتِبِينَ ﴿١١﴾ يَعْلَمُونَ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ ﴿١٢[Qur'an, Al-Infitar 82:5-12]
O man! What has deceived you about your Gracious Lord, (6) Who created you, then perfected you, then brought you in due proportion? (7) He composed you in whichever form He willed. (8) Never! (i.e. one should never be heedless towards him.) But you deny the Requital, (9) While (appointed) over you there are watchers, (10) Who are noble, writers (of the deeds), (11) Who know whatever you do. (12)
Allah has endowed human with such natural faculties and abilities that every limb and every joint of his body was enough to remind him of His Creator, and to make him obedient, but he is lured away from his gracious Lord, has forgotten Him and disobeyed Him.
The question is: How did he forget his Lord, how did he become heedless of Him, and how is he lured away from his Lord? On this occasion, بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ the adjective karim (Gracious) used for the 'Lord' points to the answer. The reason for such an ungrateful attitude is that Allah is Gracious and does not punish man immediately after his committing a sin. Rather, his sustenance, welfare and well-being, and worldly comforts [and pleasures] are not curtailed. He misinterprets Allah's magnanimity, and thus falls into deception. If man were to think rationally, he would adopt a grateful attitude and obedient behavior, rather than adopting an ungrateful attitude and imprudent behavior.
If you are not fasting or not praying at the masjid or if you are busy with preparing iftar or sahur and not reciting or listening to the Qur'an, remember this very loving statement from our Lord, "O man! What has deceived you about your Gracious Lord ... ?"
May Allah increase our iman (faith) and bring us closer to His Book this Ramadhan.
اللهم أهله علينا بالأمن والإيمان والسلامة والإسلام
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Saturday, June 28, 2014
The Purpose and Reward of Ramadhan Fasting
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
As we enter the blessed month of Ramadhan, we should remind ourselves that the purpose of our existence is to work for the pleasure of our Lord.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “Ramadhan, a blessed month, has come to you during which Allah the Most High has made it obligatory for you to fast. In it the doors of Heaven are opened, the doors of Hell are closed, and the rebellious shaytan are chained. In it there is a night (worshipping in it) which is better than (worshipping for) a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its good (and blessing) has indeed been deprived of all good.” [Nasa’i]
Allah chose the month of Ramadhan for us to fast for the entire month, not just parts of it. The purpose of the fasting is not to starve and dehydrate us or make us feel what the homeless and poor feel without food and water for a whole day.
The very purpose of fasting is so we may become people of taqwa (righteousness, piety, God fearingness). Fasting is an act of self control/restraint from which a person is meant to acquire a state which is of the most and emphasized of human state -- a state of being conscious of your Lord and wary of disobeying Him in one's action. It is to break the desire for lust, and to cool the fire of selfishness, so that the soul instead of being inclined towards the desires of lust, it becomes obedient towards the commands of the Almighty.
Allah Almighty says,
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.
If you are not going to chase after taqwa this Ramadhan, then there is no point of starving yourself. If you are fixed to do what you regularly do -- watching TV, wasting, etc, then there is no point of starving yourself. If you are not going to leave the prohibitions (making haram money, gambling, selling/drinking liquor, taking riba, showing awra (nakedness), etc) and other bad actions (malice, lying, bad/harsh speech, backbiting, breaking promises, cheating, anger, arrogance/pride, arguing, taking or neglecting the rights of others, smoking shisha at night, etc) then there is no point of starving yourself this Ramadhan.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalaam said,
“When any of you is fasting, let him not commit sin…”
"If one (who is fasting) does not give up falsehood and action according to it, Allah has no need that he should give up his food and his drink." [Bukhari]
"How many a faster has no share of his fasting save hunger and how many a person who stands the night in prayer has no share of his prayer except sleeplessness." [Al-Nasa'i]
Don't feel too happy because you have performed 8 or even 20 rakaat of taraweeh prayers every night while you disobeyed Allah during the day, while the food you just ate at iftar time is haram or from haram source and your clothing you are wearing is purchased from haram earnings and you are feeding your family from haram. Allah is pure and He only accepts what is pure.
Turn to Allah and ask for Him for His forgiveness and for taqwa.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalaam said,
“Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward (from Allah) all his past sins will be forgiven. Whoever prays during the night in Ramadan with faith seeking his reward (from Allah) all his past sins will be forgiven. And whoever passes Lailat-ul-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward (from Allah the Most Exalted) all his past sins will be forgiven.” [Bukhari]
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Every deed of the son of Adam will be rewarded between ten and seven hundred fold. Allah said: ‘Except fasting, for it is for Me and I shall reward for it’”
When the Generous One says this, it is a tremendous reward, something you cannot imagine. Only Allah knows the extent of his reward and how much his good deeds will be multiplied.
Fast is half of patience and patience is half of truth. The patient will be given rewards without measure. Paradise has got a gate named Rayyan. None except a fasting person will enter Paradise by that gate."
As you enter the month of Ramadhan, ask yourself what you will do to improve your connection with Allah. Commit to it this entire Ramadhan. Tawfiq (success).
May Allah bless us with His closeness, taqwa, and accepted works. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
As we enter the blessed month of Ramadhan, we should remind ourselves that the purpose of our existence is to work for the pleasure of our Lord.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “Ramadhan, a blessed month, has come to you during which Allah the Most High has made it obligatory for you to fast. In it the doors of Heaven are opened, the doors of Hell are closed, and the rebellious shaytan are chained. In it there is a night (worshipping in it) which is better than (worshipping for) a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its good (and blessing) has indeed been deprived of all good.” [Nasa’i]
Allah chose the month of Ramadhan for us to fast for the entire month, not just parts of it. The purpose of the fasting is not to starve and dehydrate us or make us feel what the homeless and poor feel without food and water for a whole day.
The very purpose of fasting is so we may become people of taqwa (righteousness, piety, God fearingness). Fasting is an act of self control/restraint from which a person is meant to acquire a state which is of the most and emphasized of human state -- a state of being conscious of your Lord and wary of disobeying Him in one's action. It is to break the desire for lust, and to cool the fire of selfishness, so that the soul instead of being inclined towards the desires of lust, it becomes obedient towards the commands of the Almighty.
Allah Almighty says,
... يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣﴾ أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَٰتٍ ۚ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:183-184]
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous - (183) [Fasting for] a limited number of days. ...
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.
If you are not going to chase after taqwa this Ramadhan, then there is no point of starving yourself. If you are fixed to do what you regularly do -- watching TV, wasting, etc, then there is no point of starving yourself. If you are not going to leave the prohibitions (making haram money, gambling, selling/drinking liquor, taking riba, showing awra (nakedness), etc) and other bad actions (malice, lying, bad/harsh speech, backbiting, breaking promises, cheating, anger, arrogance/pride, arguing, taking or neglecting the rights of others, smoking shisha at night, etc) then there is no point of starving yourself this Ramadhan.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalaam said,
“When any of you is fasting, let him not commit sin…”
"If one (who is fasting) does not give up falsehood and action according to it, Allah has no need that he should give up his food and his drink." [Bukhari]
"How many a faster has no share of his fasting save hunger and how many a person who stands the night in prayer has no share of his prayer except sleeplessness." [Al-Nasa'i]
Don't feel too happy because you have performed 8 or even 20 rakaat of taraweeh prayers every night while you disobeyed Allah during the day, while the food you just ate at iftar time is haram or from haram source and your clothing you are wearing is purchased from haram earnings and you are feeding your family from haram. Allah is pure and He only accepts what is pure.
Turn to Allah and ask for Him for His forgiveness and for taqwa.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalaam said,
“Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward (from Allah) all his past sins will be forgiven. Whoever prays during the night in Ramadan with faith seeking his reward (from Allah) all his past sins will be forgiven. And whoever passes Lailat-ul-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward (from Allah the Most Exalted) all his past sins will be forgiven.” [Bukhari]
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Every deed of the son of Adam will be rewarded between ten and seven hundred fold. Allah said: ‘Except fasting, for it is for Me and I shall reward for it’”
When the Generous One says this, it is a tremendous reward, something you cannot imagine. Only Allah knows the extent of his reward and how much his good deeds will be multiplied.
Fast is half of patience and patience is half of truth. The patient will be given rewards without measure. Paradise has got a gate named Rayyan. None except a fasting person will enter Paradise by that gate."
As you enter the month of Ramadhan, ask yourself what you will do to improve your connection with Allah. Commit to it this entire Ramadhan. Tawfiq (success).
May Allah bless us with His closeness, taqwa, and accepted works. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Friday, June 27, 2014
Let's Read Surah Kahf Today -- Difficult Tests To Pass
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 two very difficult trials in this world -- extreme difficulty and extreme luxury.
Extreme difficulty are things like serious calamity, earthquake, famine, poverty, violence, etc. Such difficulty can knock the senses out of the one being afflicted and he can lose his faith.
Extreme luxury is when everything is easy -- you open the fridge, all kinds of food are looking at you; you turn on the tap, hot/cold water started to flow at the exact speed you wanted; it's hot, the AC comes on (automatic setting); you go to the store, you find everything you need; everything work like clock work -- e.g. you go to the bank or governmental office/agency (post office, dmv, passport office) or call the number you can expect they are open during stated hours; etc. When you have too much luxury you can easily take things for granted and when suddenly you have one thing less or slightly below the standard you are used to (e.g. the hotel didn't have extra pillow), you get upset. You stop being grateful and this is a loss of faith.
The owner of the two gardens in Surah Kahf was tested with extreme wealth and he lost it.
We are being tested all the time. This Ramadhan is no exception. You just have to recognize them and try to overcome them.
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Affliction will continue to trouble the believers, men and women, in their bodies, their families, and their property until they meet Allah Almighty purified of every wrong action."
Be grateful with everything you have or don't have. Don't waste anything -- including iftar food and especially your time. This is one of the many tests that many will ignore. Whether you have little or plenty, give. Don't hold back. When you gather with your friends and family at home or masjid, this is a test -- don't use this blessing to backbite and gossip and having too much talk.
If you are sick, be careful not to cause others to feel bad for you. Sickness is purification. So it is a blessing.
Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went to visit a bedouin when he was ill and said, "Do not worry. It is a purification if Allah so wills." He said that the bedouin said, "It is a fever which boils in an old man and will cause him to visit the graves." "It is a blessing then," he concluded.
'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn Sa'id reported that his father said, "I was with Salman when he visited a sick person in Kinda. When he went in, he said, 'Good news! Allah makes the illness of the believer an expiation for him and a restoration, whereas the illness of the corrupt person is like a camel whose people hobble it and the let it go. It doe sot know why it was hobbled or released.'"
If you are blessed with good health, spend a good amount of time with the Qur'an (learning it and memorizing it) and do extra prayers this Ramadhan. Don't mind if you are alone in this. A lot of times people don't want to follow Allah's guidance because they are afraid they won't be happy. But Allah guarantees those who follow His guidance will not have fear in this life and the next life. You may the only one in your family who fast, who go to taraweeh and perform qiyamulail. Don't stop. Keep going. Don't feel alone. Be grateful for the blessing of guidance. Following this Deen (Islam) and guidance is very personal and a brave initiative. And nobody outside Allah's guidance can enjoy tranquility and peace. When you do follow Allah's guidance, He will give you new company -- in this dunya (world) you get the company of believers and in the akhirah (Hereafter) Allah will enter you in the company of the righteous.
May Allah keep us on the right path and grant us the company of the righteous in this life and the next.
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance. [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:10]
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives
Strengthening Faith in Ramadhan
Ramadhan Detox
The First Night of Ramadhan
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
There are two very difficult trials in this world -- extreme difficulty and extreme luxury.
Extreme difficulty are things like serious calamity, earthquake, famine, poverty, violence, etc. Such difficulty can knock the senses out of the one being afflicted and he can lose his faith.
Extreme luxury is when everything is easy -- you open the fridge, all kinds of food are looking at you; you turn on the tap, hot/cold water started to flow at the exact speed you wanted; it's hot, the AC comes on (automatic setting); you go to the store, you find everything you need; everything work like clock work -- e.g. you go to the bank or governmental office/agency (post office, dmv, passport office) or call the number you can expect they are open during stated hours; etc. When you have too much luxury you can easily take things for granted and when suddenly you have one thing less or slightly below the standard you are used to (e.g. the hotel didn't have extra pillow), you get upset. You stop being grateful and this is a loss of faith.
The owner of the two gardens in Surah Kahf was tested with extreme wealth and he lost it.
وَدَخَلَ جَنَّتَهُۥ وَهُوَ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِۦ قَالَ مَآ أَظُنُّ أَن تَبِيدَ هَـٰذِهِۦٓ أَبَدًا ﴿٣٥﴾ وَمَآ أَظُنُّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ قَآئِمَةً وَلَئِن رُّدِدتُّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّى لَأَجِدَنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهَا مُنقَلَبًا ﴿٣٦[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:35-36]
And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said, "I do not think that this will perish - ever. (35) And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return." (36)
We are being tested all the time. This Ramadhan is no exception. You just have to recognize them and try to overcome them.
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Affliction will continue to trouble the believers, men and women, in their bodies, their families, and their property until they meet Allah Almighty purified of every wrong action."
Be grateful with everything you have or don't have. Don't waste anything -- including iftar food and especially your time. This is one of the many tests that many will ignore. Whether you have little or plenty, give. Don't hold back. When you gather with your friends and family at home or masjid, this is a test -- don't use this blessing to backbite and gossip and having too much talk.
If you are sick, be careful not to cause others to feel bad for you. Sickness is purification. So it is a blessing.
Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went to visit a bedouin when he was ill and said, "Do not worry. It is a purification if Allah so wills." He said that the bedouin said, "It is a fever which boils in an old man and will cause him to visit the graves." "It is a blessing then," he concluded.
'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn Sa'id reported that his father said, "I was with Salman when he visited a sick person in Kinda. When he went in, he said, 'Good news! Allah makes the illness of the believer an expiation for him and a restoration, whereas the illness of the corrupt person is like a camel whose people hobble it and the let it go. It doe sot know why it was hobbled or released.'"
If you are blessed with good health, spend a good amount of time with the Qur'an (learning it and memorizing it) and do extra prayers this Ramadhan. Don't mind if you are alone in this. A lot of times people don't want to follow Allah's guidance because they are afraid they won't be happy. But Allah guarantees those who follow His guidance will not have fear in this life and the next life. You may the only one in your family who fast, who go to taraweeh and perform qiyamulail. Don't stop. Keep going. Don't feel alone. Be grateful for the blessing of guidance. Following this Deen (Islam) and guidance is very personal and a brave initiative. And nobody outside Allah's guidance can enjoy tranquility and peace. When you do follow Allah's guidance, He will give you new company -- in this dunya (world) you get the company of believers and in the akhirah (Hereafter) Allah will enter you in the company of the righteous.
May Allah keep us on the right path and grant us the company of the righteous in this life and the next.
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance. [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:10]
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives
Strengthening Faith in Ramadhan
Ramadhan Detox
The First Night of Ramadhan
The First Night of Ramadhan
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Ramadhan Kareem to you and your family. We ask Allah to bless us with better and accepted prayers and works that pleases Him. Please forgive me and my family for any shortcomings. Jazakallahu khairan.
In preparation for the first night of Ramadhan, I would like to share with you an address by Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya,
Related Archives
Strengthening Faith in Ramadhan
Ramadhan Detox
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Ramadhan Kareem to you and your family. We ask Allah to bless us with better and accepted prayers and works that pleases Him. Please forgive me and my family for any shortcomings. Jazakallahu khairan.
In preparation for the first night of Ramadhan, I would like to share with you an address by Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya,
Dear brothers and sisters from the nation of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),
As we wait in eager anticipation of the noble guest who approaches, the blessed month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed, we undoubtedly are making physical and spiritual preparations therefore.
Among the preparations that the scholars of Islam have encouraged is preparing our hearts for Allah's gaze. Baihaqi relates, “When it is the first night of the month of Ramadan, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, gazes to them and the one to whom Allah looks, He does not punish him, ever.” The place to which Allah looks is the heart. So what will Allah see in your and my heart if He were to look to us on the first night of Ramadan?
One of the qualities that would prevent us from this blessed gaze (and from many other opportunities for forgiveness) is malice. The Prophet, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught us of the Night of Power and the Half Night of Sha’ban that those who harbor rancor, mistreat parents, severe bonds of kinship or drink are prevented from Allah’s merciful gaze. Do we want Allah to look to His servants on the first night of Ramadan and overlook us because we are bearing ill will against each other? Is whatever anyone has done to hurt us so important that we can not overlook it in exchange for an opportunity for eternal salvation from Allah's punishment? What about all of those whom we have wronged? Do we not need Allah's pardon as well as theirs?
We can purify our hearts in preparation for this gaze from our Merciful, Forgiving Lord and also expose ourselves to an opportunity for His pardon when we need it most, by pardoning His servants. Allah said, "The one who pardons and reconciles his reward is upon Allah;" Quran (42:40). Tabarani relates that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A caller will call [on the Day of Rising], ‘Let him stand whose reward is upon Allah and let him enter paradise’ Then he will call a second time, ‘Let him stand whose reward is upon Allah and let him enter paradise’ It will be said, ‘Who is the one whose reward is upon Allah, Mighty and Majestic?’ He will say, ‘Those who pardon people.’ Then he will call a third time, ‘Let him stand whose reward is upon Allah and let him enter paradise.’ Then so and so many thousand will stand and enter paradise without reckoning." Imagine being among that fortunate group and having all of our many sins forgiven and receiving our reward directly from Allah!
In preparation for the blessed first night of Ramadan, Insha'Allah, and that day in which each of us will meet Allah, let us pardon one another and all of Allah's servants. I will begin with my own sinful self. O Allah, if any of Your slaves have transgressed the rights You have prescribed to me, they are excused. I ask you to grant them and me Paradise, and that You make us among its dwellers whom You have described in Your saying, "We have removed what was in their breasts of rancor, brethren on couches facing one another;" Quran (15:47). I also ask anyone who I have wronged to seek their due from me and to forgive me.
“Our Lord forgives us and our brethren who preceded us in faith and do not place in our hearts ill will towards those who believe. Our Lord, indeed you are compassionate and merciful.” Quran (59:10)
And Allah alone grants tawfiq (success),
Abdul-Kareem Yahyaa
Related Archives
Strengthening Faith in Ramadhan
Ramadhan Detox
Strengthening Faith in Ramadhan
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
We tend to think that Ramadhan is the month of fasting but Allah introduces it as the month of Qur'an in the only verse of Ramadhan,
These verses were revealed after more than 2/3 of the Qur'an has been revealed. Interesting to note that in this particular verse, Allah is telling us that the Qur'an is guidance for the people and the criterion between right and wrong as if people don't already know this. Why? Because in the month of Ramadhan we are supposed to be reintroduced to the Qur'an almost as though we don't know anything about it. This is the spirit we should enter Ramadhan with -- we refresh our relationship with the Qur'an all anew as if we never had a relationship with it before.
This Ramadhan we will have the opportunity to listen to a lot of Qur'an during taraweeh prayers but many of us probably won't understand much of it, perhaps all of it. And that was the case last Ramadhan. How about next Ramadhan -- is it going to be the same?
The Muslim communities, i.e. our Muslim families, are suffering from weakness of faith. The way to strengthen our faith is not by listening to Islamic lectures after lectures or going to Islamic conferences after conferences -- these are iman rush times, but to have actual relationship with the Qur'an.
The actual relationship we have with the Qur'an is when we are standing in prayer and reciting it, and when we are standing behind an imam and listening to it being recited. Our relationship with the Qur'an happens five times a day at least. If somebody's prayer is good, his Qur'an is good, and if someone is not engaging with the Qu'ran in his prayers, then his relationship with the Qur'an is entirely superficial.
Make this Ramadhan a starting point to train ourselves to have that actual relationship with the Qur'an. Pick a few surahs, memorize them, know the meanings and tafsir of the surahs and learn the vocabulary also. Make this your family project this Ramadhan. If you have not memorized much Qur'an, we suggest the following surahs: Al-Hadid (57), Al-Jumu'ah (62), Al-Munafiqun (63), Al-Taghabun (64). You are free to do more. Recite what you have memorized in your prayers everyday throughout Ramadhan. All this boils down to so we can have a better prayer. InshaAllah, this exercise will continue beyond Ramadhan and your prayer will become better and better as you progress in your memorization and understanding of the Qur'an.
May Allah make us reach the noble month of Ramadhan and enable us to memorize lots of Qur'an and benefit from the Qur'an this Ramadhan. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
We tend to think that Ramadhan is the month of fasting but Allah introduces it as the month of Qur'an in the only verse of Ramadhan,
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ ۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّـهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُوا۟ ٱلْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿١٨٥﴾ وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ ﴿١٨٦[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:185-186]
The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. (185) And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided. (186)
These verses were revealed after more than 2/3 of the Qur'an has been revealed. Interesting to note that in this particular verse, Allah is telling us that the Qur'an is guidance for the people and the criterion between right and wrong as if people don't already know this. Why? Because in the month of Ramadhan we are supposed to be reintroduced to the Qur'an almost as though we don't know anything about it. This is the spirit we should enter Ramadhan with -- we refresh our relationship with the Qur'an all anew as if we never had a relationship with it before.
This Ramadhan we will have the opportunity to listen to a lot of Qur'an during taraweeh prayers but many of us probably won't understand much of it, perhaps all of it. And that was the case last Ramadhan. How about next Ramadhan -- is it going to be the same?
The Muslim communities, i.e. our Muslim families, are suffering from weakness of faith. The way to strengthen our faith is not by listening to Islamic lectures after lectures or going to Islamic conferences after conferences -- these are iman rush times, but to have actual relationship with the Qur'an.
The actual relationship we have with the Qur'an is when we are standing in prayer and reciting it, and when we are standing behind an imam and listening to it being recited. Our relationship with the Qur'an happens five times a day at least. If somebody's prayer is good, his Qur'an is good, and if someone is not engaging with the Qu'ran in his prayers, then his relationship with the Qur'an is entirely superficial.
Make this Ramadhan a starting point to train ourselves to have that actual relationship with the Qur'an. Pick a few surahs, memorize them, know the meanings and tafsir of the surahs and learn the vocabulary also. Make this your family project this Ramadhan. If you have not memorized much Qur'an, we suggest the following surahs: Al-Hadid (57), Al-Jumu'ah (62), Al-Munafiqun (63), Al-Taghabun (64). You are free to do more. Recite what you have memorized in your prayers everyday throughout Ramadhan. All this boils down to so we can have a better prayer. InshaAllah, this exercise will continue beyond Ramadhan and your prayer will become better and better as you progress in your memorization and understanding of the Qur'an.
May Allah make us reach the noble month of Ramadhan and enable us to memorize lots of Qur'an and benefit from the Qur'an this Ramadhan. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Ramadhan Detox
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Ramadhan, the noble guest, is just around the corner. When we talked about Ramadhan, the first thing that comes to most minds is fasting for 29 or 30 days and because this is summer, perhaps the next thing that comes to mind, is fasting for very long hours. Some Muslims are getting very anxious about fasting a whole month in the summer while non-Muslims asked, "How would you manage not eating and drinking for such long hours?"
Fasting this Ramadhan should not scare you because whatever the circumstance is, Allah will make it easy for you, inshaAllah.
Ramadhan is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed. So this is the month when we should spend most of our time with the Qur'an, the guidance for us in this life, not thinking about iftar, not shopping for Eid, not planning for vacations, etc.
Allah Almighty says,
So complete reciting the Qur'an as many times you can this Ramadhan, and learn, understand and memorize some verses of the Qur'an everyday in Ramadhan. You should try do this with your family. Ramadhan is a special month in which doing all these things would be easier. But you have to get off your devices, especially your wifi/iPhones/Androids. Don't waste Ramadhan on Facebook statuses, text messages, social network, watching TV or world cup. Make Ramadhan a time to detox yourself and your family of all these.
One of the biggest problem in our life is materialism/consumerism. People are going for the latest this and that, and they are spending most of their time working to acquire the latest this and that, and thus they never get the chance or have very little chance to study the Book of Allah. The real solution to materialism/consumerism is personally understanding the Book of Allah. The more you start understanding the Book of Allah for yourself you will no longer be interested in materialism because it does not fulfill you and you feel empty. So, don't miss this opportunity to get close to the Book of Allah.
Make lots of du'a (supplication) this Ramadhan. Memorize some of the Prophetic du'as and know their meanings. Know that you are not just anybody to Allah and that you can't reach Him. You are a specific person to Allah and He is near. Allah told directly to us this in the Qur'an ... "فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ Indeed I am near." And He responds to invocation. Allah told directly to us this as well in the Qur'an ... "أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me."
We may at times have turned our backs on Allah through our disobedience or our wasting of time all year with all our devices and quests for material, but Allah never turns His back on us. He is always near. When someone is near, you can talk to him. So, you can talk to Allah. When you realize that Allah is near, you become different forever. What better conversation to have other than with Allah, Mighty and Majestic? Allah has blessed us with Ramadhan so we can train ourselves to jump the hurdles and talk to Him. So spend the bulk of your time this Ramadhan with the Book of Allah by reciting, memorizing and learning it. InshaAllah the peace and tranquility you experience this Ramadhan will carry over after Ramadhan and for the rest of your life.
Make the intention now that you will get off your devices this Ramadhan and you will bring your family to complete reciting the Qur'an, memorize and learn it. InshaAllah, you and your family will experience the best Ramadhan ever.
May Allah make us reach Ramadhan and make it the best Ramadhan for us and our families. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Ramadhan, the noble guest, is just around the corner. When we talked about Ramadhan, the first thing that comes to most minds is fasting for 29 or 30 days and because this is summer, perhaps the next thing that comes to mind, is fasting for very long hours. Some Muslims are getting very anxious about fasting a whole month in the summer while non-Muslims asked, "How would you manage not eating and drinking for such long hours?"
Fasting this Ramadhan should not scare you because whatever the circumstance is, Allah will make it easy for you, inshaAllah.
Ramadhan is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed. So this is the month when we should spend most of our time with the Qur'an, the guidance for us in this life, not thinking about iftar, not shopping for Eid, not planning for vacations, etc.
Allah Almighty says,
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ ۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّـهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُوا۟ ٱلْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿١٨٥﴾ وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ ﴿١٨٦[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:185-186]
The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. (185) And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided. (186)
So complete reciting the Qur'an as many times you can this Ramadhan, and learn, understand and memorize some verses of the Qur'an everyday in Ramadhan. You should try do this with your family. Ramadhan is a special month in which doing all these things would be easier. But you have to get off your devices, especially your wifi/iPhones/Androids. Don't waste Ramadhan on Facebook statuses, text messages, social network, watching TV or world cup. Make Ramadhan a time to detox yourself and your family of all these.
One of the biggest problem in our life is materialism/consumerism. People are going for the latest this and that, and they are spending most of their time working to acquire the latest this and that, and thus they never get the chance or have very little chance to study the Book of Allah. The real solution to materialism/consumerism is personally understanding the Book of Allah. The more you start understanding the Book of Allah for yourself you will no longer be interested in materialism because it does not fulfill you and you feel empty. So, don't miss this opportunity to get close to the Book of Allah.
Make lots of du'a (supplication) this Ramadhan. Memorize some of the Prophetic du'as and know their meanings. Know that you are not just anybody to Allah and that you can't reach Him. You are a specific person to Allah and He is near. Allah told directly to us this in the Qur'an ... "فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ Indeed I am near." And He responds to invocation. Allah told directly to us this as well in the Qur'an ... "أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me."
We may at times have turned our backs on Allah through our disobedience or our wasting of time all year with all our devices and quests for material, but Allah never turns His back on us. He is always near. When someone is near, you can talk to him. So, you can talk to Allah. When you realize that Allah is near, you become different forever. What better conversation to have other than with Allah, Mighty and Majestic? Allah has blessed us with Ramadhan so we can train ourselves to jump the hurdles and talk to Him. So spend the bulk of your time this Ramadhan with the Book of Allah by reciting, memorizing and learning it. InshaAllah the peace and tranquility you experience this Ramadhan will carry over after Ramadhan and for the rest of your life.
Make the intention now that you will get off your devices this Ramadhan and you will bring your family to complete reciting the Qur'an, memorize and learn it. InshaAllah, you and your family will experience the best Ramadhan ever.
May Allah make us reach Ramadhan and make it the best Ramadhan for us and our families. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Believe It Or Not -- Muslims Are Amazing People
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Believe it or not -- Muslims are amazing people. Every Friday you see all types of Muslims congregate in one place to pray the Friday prayer. Muslims accept anybody who wants to join. Who else can do such a thing without prejudice?
Whether they are pious or weak Muslims, bad or good Muslims, yellow, white or black Muslims, new or born Muslims, rich or poor Muslims, they all come together under one roof, and they all don't mind listening attentively to a speaker they have never met before and praying behind someone they don't even know his name. They don't hesitate to welcome new people to the congregation. People get to know each other during this congregation. This is where some of the great friendships started. This is the beauty of Islam. Alhamdulillah (All praise and thanks are due only to Allah).
Yesterday, we witnessed this once again. We are visiting Washington state and grateful to find an Islamic center in town listed on the website so we can attend the Friday prayer and participate in the Ramadhan worship. When we arrived at the site for the first time for Friday prayer, there were nobody there. We saw a masjid building under construction which made us wonder if the prayer would be at another location. I stepped out of the car to find out. There stood a man on the other side of the street looking towards the masjid and as soon as he saw me, he said, "1:12" I immediately understood it as the time of Friday prayer because I recalled the masjid website had shown 1:12pm as time of prayer. It was about 12:30pm and we were very early apparently. So I proceeded to ask him where the prayer would be. He pointed to an old house next to the building under construction and to where exactly the women's prayer area. So I proceeded to the women's prayer area, and my son went to the men's prayer area on the other side of the house.
The place was quite empty. There was one other person there and she was reciting the Qur'an beautifully. But around 1pm, more people came and in no time the place was almost full with ladies and girls of different ages and ethnicities. SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah). After the prayer, I introduced myself to a lady next to me who came with her daughter and granddaughter. She came from Arizona to visit her daughter and her family and it turned out that she is Malaysian like me. SubhanAllah. What are the chances that we would meet Malaysians in a small Washington city, as I said to my son who asked me about the possibility of meeting a Malaysian at the masjid earlier before we left for the masjid. More people came to welcome us. We exchanged contact information.
As I was walking with my son towards the parking lot, a brother came towards us to welcome us and invited us for a masjid BBQ this weekend. Alhamdulillah.
Indeed, we should be proud of Muslims and to be Muslims. Never be ashamed to be Muslims or try to hide our Muslim identity. It is very important that Muslims frequent the masjid and pray there especially for men. Men should at least pray Fajr and 'Isha at the masjid. Some of my great friendships started in masjids. So, even if you feel you are not welcome in any particular masjid, it should not matter because the masjid is the house of Allah -- make yourself welcome there and others too.
Allah Almighty says,
May Allah unite the Muslims and bring honor back to the Muslims. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Believe it or not -- Muslims are amazing people. Every Friday you see all types of Muslims congregate in one place to pray the Friday prayer. Muslims accept anybody who wants to join. Who else can do such a thing without prejudice?
Whether they are pious or weak Muslims, bad or good Muslims, yellow, white or black Muslims, new or born Muslims, rich or poor Muslims, they all come together under one roof, and they all don't mind listening attentively to a speaker they have never met before and praying behind someone they don't even know his name. They don't hesitate to welcome new people to the congregation. People get to know each other during this congregation. This is where some of the great friendships started. This is the beauty of Islam. Alhamdulillah (All praise and thanks are due only to Allah).
Yesterday, we witnessed this once again. We are visiting Washington state and grateful to find an Islamic center in town listed on the website so we can attend the Friday prayer and participate in the Ramadhan worship. When we arrived at the site for the first time for Friday prayer, there were nobody there. We saw a masjid building under construction which made us wonder if the prayer would be at another location. I stepped out of the car to find out. There stood a man on the other side of the street looking towards the masjid and as soon as he saw me, he said, "1:12" I immediately understood it as the time of Friday prayer because I recalled the masjid website had shown 1:12pm as time of prayer. It was about 12:30pm and we were very early apparently. So I proceeded to ask him where the prayer would be. He pointed to an old house next to the building under construction and to where exactly the women's prayer area. So I proceeded to the women's prayer area, and my son went to the men's prayer area on the other side of the house.
The place was quite empty. There was one other person there and she was reciting the Qur'an beautifully. But around 1pm, more people came and in no time the place was almost full with ladies and girls of different ages and ethnicities. SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah). After the prayer, I introduced myself to a lady next to me who came with her daughter and granddaughter. She came from Arizona to visit her daughter and her family and it turned out that she is Malaysian like me. SubhanAllah. What are the chances that we would meet Malaysians in a small Washington city, as I said to my son who asked me about the possibility of meeting a Malaysian at the masjid earlier before we left for the masjid. More people came to welcome us. We exchanged contact information.
As I was walking with my son towards the parking lot, a brother came towards us to welcome us and invited us for a masjid BBQ this weekend. Alhamdulillah.
Indeed, we should be proud of Muslims and to be Muslims. Never be ashamed to be Muslims or try to hide our Muslim identity. It is very important that Muslims frequent the masjid and pray there especially for men. Men should at least pray Fajr and 'Isha at the masjid. Some of my great friendships started in masjids. So, even if you feel you are not welcome in any particular masjid, it should not matter because the masjid is the house of Allah -- make yourself welcome there and others too.
Allah Almighty says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ ﴿١٣[Qur'an Al-Hujurat 49:13]
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (13)
May Allah unite the Muslims and bring honor back to the Muslims. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Always a Win-Win
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
For the believers there is always a win-win situation.
The Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:
Deeply reflect on this hadith and say: Alhamdulillah ‘alaa kulli haal – Alhamdulillah in every case or situation and feel the blessing.
The Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,
Increase in saying this beautiful praise in your daily life. And say it out of deep love, honor, and with humility and gratitude to your Lord.
Remember Paradise when you say Alhamdulillah, and ask Allah to make you of those who say,
Allah calls Himself Al-Hameed — the Most Praiseworthy , the Praised One. He is the One who is always deserving of praise, regardless if He is being praised or not.
Al-Hameed Himself says,
The Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam mentioned:
Allah provides us with the ability to realize His blessings and thank Him for them with Alhamdulillah. Then He rewards us for that with the most valuable thing we could imagine, weight in our scale of good deeds, which could in turn allow us entry into Paradise by the His mercy. So simple, and yet the reward is tremendous.
Make a Ramadhan resolution that you will make lots of sincere utterance of Alhamdulillah and in every situation of your life this Ramadhan -- hot weather, long fasting, allergies, sickness, dehydration, water shutoff, blackouts, etc.
Practice now.
Busy your lips with this dhikr, every spare moment you have: waking up; washing the dishes; walking, driving, waiting in line, after prayer, before sleep, between mouthfuls of your meal, before exam/after exam, in the bus/car. In short, say Alhamdulillah in every spare moment you have. Try to put away your electronics at night and most of the day. Don't keep checking your messages/emails and sending/answering them or update your FB statuses. Keep your tongue wet with the sincere dhikr of Allah instead and reap this most magnificent of rewards.
May Allah make us of those who praise Him as you should be praised, guide us in praising Him often and sincerely, and make us of those who say Alhamdulillah in Paradise. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archive
Grateful for Alhamdulillah
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
For the believers there is always a win-win situation.
The Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:
The affair of the believer is amazing. The whole of his life is beneficial, and that is only in the case of the believer. When good times come to him, he is thankful and it is good for him, and when bad times befall him, he is patient and it is also good for him.[Muslim]
Deeply reflect on this hadith and say: Alhamdulillah ‘alaa kulli haal – Alhamdulillah in every case or situation and feel the blessing.
The Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,
No servant is blessed by Allah and says, Alhamdulillah except that what he was given is better than that which he has himself acquired.[Ibn Maajah]
Increase in saying this beautiful praise in your daily life. And say it out of deep love, honor, and with humility and gratitude to your Lord.
Remember Paradise when you say Alhamdulillah, and ask Allah to make you of those who say,
عْوَىٰهُمْ فِيهَا سُبْحَـٰنَكَ ٱللَّـهُمَّ وَتَحِيَّتُهُمْ فِيهَا سَلَـٰمٌ ۚ وَءَاخِرُ دَعْوَىٰهُمْ أَنِ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿١٠[Qur'an, Yunus 10:10]
Their call therein will be, "Exalted are You, O Allah," and their greeting therein will be, "Peace." And the last of their call will be, "Praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds!" (10)
Allah calls Himself Al-Hameed — the Most Praiseworthy , the Praised One. He is the One who is always deserving of praise, regardless if He is being praised or not.
Al-Hameed Himself says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ أَنتُمُ ٱلْفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى ٱللَّـهِ ۖ وَٱللَّـهُ هُوَ ٱلْغَنِىُّ ٱلْحَمِيدُ ﴿١٥﴾ إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ﴿١٦[Qur'an, Fatir 35:15-16]
O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy. (15) If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation. (16) And that is for Allah not difficult. (17)
وَهُدُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلطَّيِّبِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ وَهُدُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ ﴿٢٤[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:24]
And they had been guided [in worldly life] to good speech, and they were guided to the path of the Praiseworthy. (24)
The Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam mentioned:
The best dhikr (remembering Allah) is laa ilaaha illallah and the best supplication is Alhamdulillah[Tirmidhee]
Purity is half of faith and the praise of Allah (alhamdulillah) fills the scale; glorification and praise fill up what is between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is a light, charity is proof (of sincere faith), and patience is illumination. The Qur'an is a proof for you or against you; all people go out early in the morning and sell themselves, either setting themselves free or destroying themselves.[Muslim]
Allah provides us with the ability to realize His blessings and thank Him for them with Alhamdulillah. Then He rewards us for that with the most valuable thing we could imagine, weight in our scale of good deeds, which could in turn allow us entry into Paradise by the His mercy. So simple, and yet the reward is tremendous.
Make a Ramadhan resolution that you will make lots of sincere utterance of Alhamdulillah and in every situation of your life this Ramadhan -- hot weather, long fasting, allergies, sickness, dehydration, water shutoff, blackouts, etc.
Practice now.
Busy your lips with this dhikr, every spare moment you have: waking up; washing the dishes; walking, driving, waiting in line, after prayer, before sleep, between mouthfuls of your meal, before exam/after exam, in the bus/car. In short, say Alhamdulillah in every spare moment you have. Try to put away your electronics at night and most of the day. Don't keep checking your messages/emails and sending/answering them or update your FB statuses. Keep your tongue wet with the sincere dhikr of Allah instead and reap this most magnificent of rewards.
May Allah make us of those who praise Him as you should be praised, guide us in praising Him often and sincerely, and make us of those who say Alhamdulillah in Paradise. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archive
Grateful for Alhamdulillah
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Worry about the Future?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In this world full of uncertainties, we have anxieties about a whole lot of things -- we are afraid of not having enough money for this and for that, afraid of failing the exam, nervous about a job interview, afraid the plane might crash, worry about our children, nervous about going through the airport security, afraid of talking in front of an audience, and so on. Some people worry just about everything, even worried about how people will look at them funny in a particular clothing. It is debilitating to live a life of anxiety and hard on people around you.
Of course, this is different from thinking of the future and preparing for it, which is praiseworthy and does not fall under the category of anxiety. We should think about the Hereafter all the time, and that thinking should be reflected in all the things we do throughout the day.
Observe your day today and list down all your worries.
So how do we cease to worry and begin living our lives with peace? Know that much of our worries will go away by listening to what Allah says. Allah says you don’t need to be afraid فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ. This phrase occurs so many times in the Qur'an.
Allah says about a group of people that there will be no fear on them. Allah says this after He orders Adam and Eve to descend on earth. Who are these amazing people? They are people who follow His guidance.
Allah clarifies further in other places what is meant to ‘follow My guidance’:
So it means that if we obey Allah, we don’t need to be worried about the future.
Also, remember that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said,
If you are still worried, you just need to ask one question to dispel this idea: did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam behave in that way? Our Prophet sallalllahu alayhi wassallam was a very optimistic person. In fact, he advised us to have good opinion of Allah, and that automatically means being optimistic about the future. Learn more about him and his teachings and you will find solace in your life.
Once you have certainty that Allah guarantees that you will not grieve if you obey Him, have complete trust that Allah will take care of everything, and have a good opinion of Allah, you will not spend a moment longer worrying about things inshaAllah.
Note: If you are having a serious persistent anxiety problem, do not hesitate to check with a doctor or psychiatrist, because it could be a symptom of many psychological and biological problems.
Make a Ramadhan resolution that you will spend more time reading and understanding the Qur'an and less time worrying about things.
O Allah, I am your slave, the son of your slave. My forelock is in Your Hand. Your judgment of me is inescapable. Your trial of me is just. I am invoking You by all the names that You call Yourself, that You have taught to anyone in Your creation, that You have mentioned in Your Book, or that You have kept unknown. Let the Qur’an be delight of my heart, the light of my chest, the remover of my sadness and the pacifier of my worries.
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In this world full of uncertainties, we have anxieties about a whole lot of things -- we are afraid of not having enough money for this and for that, afraid of failing the exam, nervous about a job interview, afraid the plane might crash, worry about our children, nervous about going through the airport security, afraid of talking in front of an audience, and so on. Some people worry just about everything, even worried about how people will look at them funny in a particular clothing. It is debilitating to live a life of anxiety and hard on people around you.
Of course, this is different from thinking of the future and preparing for it, which is praiseworthy and does not fall under the category of anxiety. We should think about the Hereafter all the time, and that thinking should be reflected in all the things we do throughout the day.
Observe your day today and list down all your worries.
So how do we cease to worry and begin living our lives with peace? Know that much of our worries will go away by listening to what Allah says. Allah says you don’t need to be afraid فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ. This phrase occurs so many times in the Qur'an.
Allah says about a group of people that there will be no fear on them. Allah says this after He orders Adam and Eve to descend on earth. Who are these amazing people? They are people who follow His guidance.
قُلْنَا ٱهْبِطُوا۟ مِنْهَا جَمِيعًا ۖ فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّى هُدًى فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَاىَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿٣٨[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:38]
We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. (38)
Allah clarifies further in other places what is meant to ‘follow My guidance’:
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿٢٧٧[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:277]
Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish prayer and give zakah will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. (277)
So it means that if we obey Allah, we don’t need to be worried about the future.
Also, remember that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said,
If you were to rely on Allah as He should be relied on, He would provide for you as He provides for the birds. They go out early in the morning hungry and return in the evening full.[Tirmidhi]
If you are still worried, you just need to ask one question to dispel this idea: did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam behave in that way? Our Prophet sallalllahu alayhi wassallam was a very optimistic person. In fact, he advised us to have good opinion of Allah, and that automatically means being optimistic about the future. Learn more about him and his teachings and you will find solace in your life.
Once you have certainty that Allah guarantees that you will not grieve if you obey Him, have complete trust that Allah will take care of everything, and have a good opinion of Allah, you will not spend a moment longer worrying about things inshaAllah.
Note: If you are having a serious persistent anxiety problem, do not hesitate to check with a doctor or psychiatrist, because it could be a symptom of many psychological and biological problems.
Make a Ramadhan resolution that you will spend more time reading and understanding the Qur'an and less time worrying about things.
O Allah, I am your slave, the son of your slave. My forelock is in Your Hand. Your judgment of me is inescapable. Your trial of me is just. I am invoking You by all the names that You call Yourself, that You have taught to anyone in Your creation, that You have mentioned in Your Book, or that You have kept unknown. Let the Qur’an be delight of my heart, the light of my chest, the remover of my sadness and the pacifier of my worries.
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Monday, June 16, 2014
Hospital of the Hereafter
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
All the big paychecks, big houses, fame, popularity, influence, trophies, world cup, great wonderful children, spouses and family, social friends, academic degrees and accomplishments, life of the rich and famous, or even the encyclopedia of knowledge that we might have, is not success. Success is having a pure heart.
Allah Almighty says,
Muslims are people who constantly purify their hearts. The heart is mentioned repeatedly in the Qur’an. One of the mentioned du'a (supplication) of Prophet Ibrahim 'alayhissalaam, beseeches to Allah:
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
We may be praying 5 times a day, fast in Ramadhan, perform hajj and umrah every year and outwardly living a life of piety, but most of us don't look deep into our hearts -- jealousy, envy, hatred, ostentation, pride, arrogance, greed, miserliness, etc, may have crept into our hearts; we don't watch our tongues all that well -- we backbite, gossip, slander, say words that hurt others knowingly or unknowingly, lie, break promises, etc; we don't lower our gazes and we look at things that we are not supposed to; we allow our ears to hear/listen things that we are not supposed to hear/listen; we don't pay attention to what we eat and what we feed our family whether it is halal or haram; we don't cover ourselves properly and attract people's attention to our body that are not supposed to be shown, and so on. These caused internal blemishes.
We all have internal blemishes. If we don't consciously clear these internal blemishes while they are tiny, it will get big and bigger and eventually kill the heart.
There are people with internal blemishes and never worked on it. They may have issues with backbiting, miserliness, greed, etc, i.e they don't submit to Allah 100%, and all of a sudden when life takes a turn -- losing loved ones, marital infidelity, husband taking a second wife, losing jobs, losing property, savings or investments, accidents, serious illness, losing fame, etc -- they exploded, spiritual explosion ensues. We want to protect ourselves from losing our iman (Faith in the Oneness of God) by constantly working on purifying our hearts.
If we don't purify our heart in this life, it will be purified in the Hereafter and that will be very painful.
Think of the hospitals around us -- they have different wards for different illnesses. They have wards for terminally ill patients where patients receive hospice care, and that's all the hospital can do until the patient die. Those with serious illnesses, but not terminal, they stay in different wards and receive treatment for their illness, maybe for a day, a few days, a week, or longer but eventually they will come out of the hospital. Others who have minor symptoms are treated in the hospital outpatient clinic -- they go in, get checked, get prescription and they can leave the hospital -- some may stay for a few hours to get some tests.
We really don't need to be in the hospital of the Hereafter even as outpatients. Hell is a way to purify Muslims who have sinned before they can be admitted into Paradise. Everyone even with a mustard seed of iman (faith in the Oneness of Allah) by default is destined for Paradise eventually. But there is no guarantee that we will be in that position at the end of our life.
Some hearts cannot get purified and these are hearts that Allah has sealed. It is not because Allah wanted to do this to them, but they asked for it by their continuous bad actions and disobedience of Allah. Allah gives people many many many chances to remedy themselves. He is As-Sabur, Al-Haleem. That's why we see some people even though they don't pray, don't care about Islam, doing all kinds of bad things, they still live a very long life. Part of this is because Allah is giving them the opportunity to come back to Him.
Allah loves all His creation. He is ar-Rahman ar-Rahim (Most Merciful, Most Compassionate). His mercy outweighs His wrath.
We should constantly doing tawba (repentance), leaving the desires of this dunya (material world) and fill our hearts with remembrance of Allah. We have to remove all attachment to the dunya. You can constantly test yourself whether or not you are attached to the dunya -- e.g. if you lose something or someone took away something belonging to you without your permission, and your heart is right with that thing and you can't get over it, that is an indication you have love of the dunya in your heart. But if you say Alhamdulillah and move on, that is an indication that you don't have that love of the dunya.
If we are looking more to the World Cup this Ramadhan, that shows who is more important in your heart. This is can turn into a big problem. No one is saying we should live in a cave. We can have big causes and big things as long as they are not in our hearts.
We have to submit to Allah 100%. Take all the means to accomplish this. Avoid those things that is haram (forbidden). We cannot tell ourselves we can do a little haram as long as we are praying and fasting. Don't sins lightly. Use Allah's blessings only for His pleasure. If we are humble, have manners with Allah, and have that sincerity of worship, He will give us that purity of heart.
So, we have two options -- we either live a life of piety (taqwa) for the sake of Allah or choose the hard option and allow yourself to be burned in the Hellfire to get that purity.
Make a Ramadhan resolution that you will not waste your time to watch the World Cup, movies and shows, listen to music, and engage in idle chats and gossip. Tawfiq.
We ask Allah to purify our hearts and remove the love of the dunya from our hearts. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives
Sound Heart
Grateful for Alhamdulillah
It is the Sound of Music
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
All the big paychecks, big houses, fame, popularity, influence, trophies, world cup, great wonderful children, spouses and family, social friends, academic degrees and accomplishments, life of the rich and famous, or even the encyclopedia of knowledge that we might have, is not success. Success is having a pure heart.
Allah Almighty says,
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّىٰ ﴿١٤[Qur'an Al-A'la 87:14]
He has certainly succeeded who purifies himself (14)
Muslims are people who constantly purify their hearts. The heart is mentioned repeatedly in the Qur’an. One of the mentioned du'a (supplication) of Prophet Ibrahim 'alayhissalaam, beseeches to Allah:
وَلَا تُخْزِنِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ ﴿٨٧﴾ يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ ﴿٨٨﴾ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّـهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ ﴿٨٩٨﴾ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّـهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ ﴿٨٩[Qur'an Al-Shu’ara 26:88-89]
And do not disgrace me on the Day they are [all] resurrected - (87) The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children (88) But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart. (89)
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
Indeed there is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.[Bukhari and Muslim]
We may be praying 5 times a day, fast in Ramadhan, perform hajj and umrah every year and outwardly living a life of piety, but most of us don't look deep into our hearts -- jealousy, envy, hatred, ostentation, pride, arrogance, greed, miserliness, etc, may have crept into our hearts; we don't watch our tongues all that well -- we backbite, gossip, slander, say words that hurt others knowingly or unknowingly, lie, break promises, etc; we don't lower our gazes and we look at things that we are not supposed to; we allow our ears to hear/listen things that we are not supposed to hear/listen; we don't pay attention to what we eat and what we feed our family whether it is halal or haram; we don't cover ourselves properly and attract people's attention to our body that are not supposed to be shown, and so on. These caused internal blemishes.
We all have internal blemishes. If we don't consciously clear these internal blemishes while they are tiny, it will get big and bigger and eventually kill the heart.
There are people with internal blemishes and never worked on it. They may have issues with backbiting, miserliness, greed, etc, i.e they don't submit to Allah 100%, and all of a sudden when life takes a turn -- losing loved ones, marital infidelity, husband taking a second wife, losing jobs, losing property, savings or investments, accidents, serious illness, losing fame, etc -- they exploded, spiritual explosion ensues. We want to protect ourselves from losing our iman (Faith in the Oneness of God) by constantly working on purifying our hearts.
If we don't purify our heart in this life, it will be purified in the Hereafter and that will be very painful.
Think of the hospitals around us -- they have different wards for different illnesses. They have wards for terminally ill patients where patients receive hospice care, and that's all the hospital can do until the patient die. Those with serious illnesses, but not terminal, they stay in different wards and receive treatment for their illness, maybe for a day, a few days, a week, or longer but eventually they will come out of the hospital. Others who have minor symptoms are treated in the hospital outpatient clinic -- they go in, get checked, get prescription and they can leave the hospital -- some may stay for a few hours to get some tests.
We really don't need to be in the hospital of the Hereafter even as outpatients. Hell is a way to purify Muslims who have sinned before they can be admitted into Paradise. Everyone even with a mustard seed of iman (faith in the Oneness of Allah) by default is destined for Paradise eventually. But there is no guarantee that we will be in that position at the end of our life.
Some hearts cannot get purified and these are hearts that Allah has sealed. It is not because Allah wanted to do this to them, but they asked for it by their continuous bad actions and disobedience of Allah. Allah gives people many many many chances to remedy themselves. He is As-Sabur, Al-Haleem. That's why we see some people even though they don't pray, don't care about Islam, doing all kinds of bad things, they still live a very long life. Part of this is because Allah is giving them the opportunity to come back to Him.
Allah loves all His creation. He is ar-Rahman ar-Rahim (Most Merciful, Most Compassionate). His mercy outweighs His wrath.
وَمَا ٱللَّـهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْمًا لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿١٠٨ ...[Qur'an, AleImran 3:103]
... and Allah wants no injustice to the worlds. (108)
We should constantly doing tawba (repentance), leaving the desires of this dunya (material world) and fill our hearts with remembrance of Allah. We have to remove all attachment to the dunya. You can constantly test yourself whether or not you are attached to the dunya -- e.g. if you lose something or someone took away something belonging to you without your permission, and your heart is right with that thing and you can't get over it, that is an indication you have love of the dunya in your heart. But if you say Alhamdulillah and move on, that is an indication that you don't have that love of the dunya.
If we are looking more to the World Cup this Ramadhan, that shows who is more important in your heart. This is can turn into a big problem. No one is saying we should live in a cave. We can have big causes and big things as long as they are not in our hearts.
We have to submit to Allah 100%. Take all the means to accomplish this. Avoid those things that is haram (forbidden). We cannot tell ourselves we can do a little haram as long as we are praying and fasting. Don't sins lightly. Use Allah's blessings only for His pleasure. If we are humble, have manners with Allah, and have that sincerity of worship, He will give us that purity of heart.
So, we have two options -- we either live a life of piety (taqwa) for the sake of Allah or choose the hard option and allow yourself to be burned in the Hellfire to get that purity.
Make a Ramadhan resolution that you will not waste your time to watch the World Cup, movies and shows, listen to music, and engage in idle chats and gossip. Tawfiq.
We ask Allah to purify our hearts and remove the love of the dunya from our hearts. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives
Sound Heart
Grateful for Alhamdulillah
It is the Sound of Music
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Who Said Marriage is All Honeymoon
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Marriage counseling is one of America's fastest growing industries. Why? Because people are demanding more and more from their spouse and getting less and less content with their marriage.
As Muslims, we should know that marriage is not something we take lightly. Marriage is one of the heaviest sunnas to bear and most difficult rights to fulfill while being the most complete of matters in benefit and the greatest of virtues in reward. In it is the protection of the religion, perfection of character and the pride of the Master of creation.
It is reported that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "When a slave married, he has completed half of the religion, so let him fear Allah in the remaining half."
Allah Almighty says,
If you are thinking about getting married, first thing is that you must learn about marriage and rules pertaining to it. It becomes obligatory upon you to seek this knowledge once you intend to get married. You don't start swimming when you haven't learned how to swim. You will drown. Marriage is the same. If you are married and haven't learned it, you need to learn it now, especially if your marriage is drowning. This knowledge will help you steer your marriage towards the right direction, inshaAllah. Tawfiq.
First thing you need to know is that marriage is not about seeking or demanding your rights. It is about fulfilling duties and working together to help each other come closer to Allah. If this is not happening in your marriage, you ought to take a very serious look at it and try to fix it the best you can. First, look deep into your own behaviors rather than pointing finger at your spouse. It is easy to blame and see the inadequacies of the other person -- you can blame your spouse and your spouse can blame you but who is right? No amount of marital counseling would help couples who act this way. Even if you are right, even if you can convince everyone you are 100% right and you are able to drum up more supporters to take your side, it won't help fix your marriage. Marriage is not about any of these -- it is about cooperation, compromise and able to see things through the other person's lens. The key to accomplish all these is patience and forbearance. If you want the marriage, then you have to learn to be patient and forbear.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
Never take your spouse for granted. If a man has a righteous and modest wife, he should be grateful. Having a righteous and modest wife is a great blessing a man is not able to thank Allah enough for. It is a huge relief of a mountain of headache by having a righteous and modest wife. Imagine husbands who have to keep thinking about his wife running off with a man while he is at work! So, bear your wife's argumentation and overbearingness patiently. Don't argue with your wife as it is not seemly for a man to argue with his wife. For a woman, observe around you -- a responsible husband and a chivalrous man is a scarce commodity nowadays. So, never forget your husband's favors, no matter how slight, and you should see your shortcomings in serving him. Try to ignore the shortcomings of your husband and admire his good qualities.
Allah brought a man and a woman together in matrimony for a purpose -- to know Him and to worship Him. So, seek to please Allah and no one else. When you do something for your spouse, you do it for Allah, not because your spouse deserves it, not because you expect something from your spouse. Don't expect anything from your spouse -- you will be content with your marriage that way. Leave the reward to Allah. Remember, Allah's treasure is greater than what your spouse can ever give you. By the same token, if you don't fulfill your duties, remember who you are displeasing more -- Allah.
Marriage is not all honeymoon. You have to work very hard at it and don't sweat the small stuff. The real bliss is in the Hereafter.
Make a Ramadhan resolution to remove any blameworthy traits that your spouse always complain about you. Take a few moments and list them down and work hard to remove them. Ask Allah to help you remove them and to replace them with praiseworthy traits.
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous.
May Allah grant us patience. And success is from none other than Allah Alone.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Marriage counseling is one of America's fastest growing industries. Why? Because people are demanding more and more from their spouse and getting less and less content with their marriage.
As Muslims, we should know that marriage is not something we take lightly. Marriage is one of the heaviest sunnas to bear and most difficult rights to fulfill while being the most complete of matters in benefit and the greatest of virtues in reward. In it is the protection of the religion, perfection of character and the pride of the Master of creation.
It is reported that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "When a slave married, he has completed half of the religion, so let him fear Allah in the remaining half."
Allah Almighty says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ ﴿١٣[Qur'an, al-Hujurat 49:13]
O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into races and tribes, so that you may know one another. Surely the noblest of you, in Allah’s sight, is the one who has taqwa (Godfearingness, righteousness, piety). Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (13)
ـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِن تَتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّـهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ ﴿٢٩[Qur'an, al-Anfal 8:29]
O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty. (29)
If you are thinking about getting married, first thing is that you must learn about marriage and rules pertaining to it. It becomes obligatory upon you to seek this knowledge once you intend to get married. You don't start swimming when you haven't learned how to swim. You will drown. Marriage is the same. If you are married and haven't learned it, you need to learn it now, especially if your marriage is drowning. This knowledge will help you steer your marriage towards the right direction, inshaAllah. Tawfiq.
First thing you need to know is that marriage is not about seeking or demanding your rights. It is about fulfilling duties and working together to help each other come closer to Allah. If this is not happening in your marriage, you ought to take a very serious look at it and try to fix it the best you can. First, look deep into your own behaviors rather than pointing finger at your spouse. It is easy to blame and see the inadequacies of the other person -- you can blame your spouse and your spouse can blame you but who is right? No amount of marital counseling would help couples who act this way. Even if you are right, even if you can convince everyone you are 100% right and you are able to drum up more supporters to take your side, it won't help fix your marriage. Marriage is not about any of these -- it is about cooperation, compromise and able to see things through the other person's lens. The key to accomplish all these is patience and forbearance. If you want the marriage, then you have to learn to be patient and forbear.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
A believer must not hate (his wife) believing woman; if he dislikes one of her characteristics he will be pleased with another.[Muslim]
Never take your spouse for granted. If a man has a righteous and modest wife, he should be grateful. Having a righteous and modest wife is a great blessing a man is not able to thank Allah enough for. It is a huge relief of a mountain of headache by having a righteous and modest wife. Imagine husbands who have to keep thinking about his wife running off with a man while he is at work! So, bear your wife's argumentation and overbearingness patiently. Don't argue with your wife as it is not seemly for a man to argue with his wife. For a woman, observe around you -- a responsible husband and a chivalrous man is a scarce commodity nowadays. So, never forget your husband's favors, no matter how slight, and you should see your shortcomings in serving him. Try to ignore the shortcomings of your husband and admire his good qualities.
Allah brought a man and a woman together in matrimony for a purpose -- to know Him and to worship Him. So, seek to please Allah and no one else. When you do something for your spouse, you do it for Allah, not because your spouse deserves it, not because you expect something from your spouse. Don't expect anything from your spouse -- you will be content with your marriage that way. Leave the reward to Allah. Remember, Allah's treasure is greater than what your spouse can ever give you. By the same token, if you don't fulfill your duties, remember who you are displeasing more -- Allah.
Marriage is not all honeymoon. You have to work very hard at it and don't sweat the small stuff. The real bliss is in the Hereafter.
Make a Ramadhan resolution to remove any blameworthy traits that your spouse always complain about you. Take a few moments and list them down and work hard to remove them. Ask Allah to help you remove them and to replace them with praiseworthy traits.
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous.
May Allah grant us patience. And success is from none other than Allah Alone.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Thursday, June 12, 2014
A Ramadhan Resolution
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Tomorrow is already the middle of Sha'ban. Indeed, the blessed Ramadhan is fast approaching. This is an excellent opportunity to start observing hijab properly. If you resolve to do this and start now, you will find Ramadhan to be even greater and better for you than ever before inshaAllah.
The hijab (covering) is not only for women but also for men. As our first responsibility in hijab is to lower our gaze, covering would be an empty gesture if we don’t act modestly. One will not work without the other.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “Zina (adultery) of the eyes is looking at [that] which is not allowed…” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Allah Almighty says,
On the authority of Jurayr: “I asked the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) about accidentally looking at something that is not allowed and he said, ‘Turn your eyes away.” [Muslim].
The hijab of women is revealed not only to protect themselves from being gazed at, but also for women not to purposely attract men’s attention.
Allah Almighty says,
You can expect difficulties when you start observing the hijab, but these difficulties are nothing compared to the inner peace it provides. Cover yourselves well, lower your gaze and uphold the boundaries between men and women that Allah gave us for our own benefit. You will have a source of joy and contentment that will always be with you inshaAllah.
We need to protect ourselves from the smallest act of zina and anything that could lead to zina, as Allah Almighty commanded:
May Allah grant us tawfiq, forgive our sins, enable us to forgive each other and make us reach Ramadhan with a pure heart. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Tomorrow is already the middle of Sha'ban. Indeed, the blessed Ramadhan is fast approaching. This is an excellent opportunity to start observing hijab properly. If you resolve to do this and start now, you will find Ramadhan to be even greater and better for you than ever before inshaAllah.
The hijab (covering) is not only for women but also for men. As our first responsibility in hijab is to lower our gaze, covering would be an empty gesture if we don’t act modestly. One will not work without the other.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “Zina (adultery) of the eyes is looking at [that] which is not allowed…” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Allah Almighty says,
قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا۟ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا۟ فُرُوجَهُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَزْكَىٰ لَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ ﴿٣٠[Qur'an An-Nur 24:30].
Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. (30)
On the authority of Jurayr: “I asked the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) about accidentally looking at something that is not allowed and he said, ‘Turn your eyes away.” [Muslim].
The hijab of women is revealed not only to protect themselves from being gazed at, but also for women not to purposely attract men’s attention.
Allah Almighty says,
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ أَخَوَٰتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّـٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ أَوِ ٱلطِّفْلِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَوْرَٰتِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّـهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٣١(Qur'an An-Nur 24:31).
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed. (31)
You can expect difficulties when you start observing the hijab, but these difficulties are nothing compared to the inner peace it provides. Cover yourselves well, lower your gaze and uphold the boundaries between men and women that Allah gave us for our own benefit. You will have a source of joy and contentment that will always be with you inshaAllah.
We need to protect ourselves from the smallest act of zina and anything that could lead to zina, as Allah Almighty commanded:
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلزِّنَىٰٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَـٰحِشَةً وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًا ﴿٣٢[Qur'an Al-Isra' 17:32]
And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse (zina). Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way. (32)
May Allah grant us tawfiq, forgive our sins, enable us to forgive each other and make us reach Ramadhan with a pure heart. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Grateful For Alhamdulillah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Our Deen teaches us that even if we already know, a reminder benefits a Muslim.
Allah Almighty says,
Our Creator, Lord of the Worlds, introduces Himself in the Surah Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qur'an, also known as the Mother of the Qur'an (Umm al-Qur’an).
Our connection with Allah everyday begins with Al-Fatiha. However, if we don't pray or if we pray and don't understand the meanings of the words, then we don't have that connection with Allah, then we won't have the connection with this Surah. So first thing, you should not give yourself any excuse not to pray (or not to pray on time) and if you don't know how to pray, you should learn how to pray.
We can glean from this Surah that Allah has decided that all humanity is to be introduced to Him and get to know Him through this Surah.
Let's just take the words Alhamdulillah from the first part of the second ayah (ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢ ) One part of Alhamdulillah is that you thank Allah and the second part is that you appreciate (praise) Allah.
Sometimes in life, we can have praise without thanks -- for example, you may praise a noble prize winner but you won't thank him. And the opposite is true, you may thank someone but you won't praise him -- for example, Allah ordered that children be thankful to their parents even if they don't pray or follow other religion...so while children may thank their parents, they may not praise their conduct or their conviction to other religion. Musa alayhissalaam thanked Fir'aun, by his acknowledgment of the favors that Fir'aun used to give him being raised in his castle, but he never praised him.
When we say Alhamdulillah, then we are saying we praise Allah for whatever He is doing, and at the same time we thank Him that He did it.
We are grateful for Alhamdulillah because other religion don't have Alhamdulillah. Sometimes, we find some Muslims who don't understand Alhamdulillah. So when someone asked them, "How are you?", "How's your family?", they might say "Alhamdulillah" but it is almost a complain or a dissatisfaction rather than truly thanking and praising Allah.
Alhamdulillah should come from the bottom of our hearts, even in the midst of tribulations and all the things that are going wrong in our lives, we are finding many things that are going right. If you are feeling hot or cold because of the temperature outside, at least you are not feeling sick. There could be so many things that can go wrong in your body and you should be grateful to Allah that you have your health. If you are in a poor Muslim country, at least you have food on your table and you can pray at the masjid everyday or hear the adhan 5 times a day. Do you really like to be in a country where you have to work day and night to pay your bills and you can hardly find Muslims around? There are so many other things that are going right in our lives and we should not lose sight of that but thank and praise Allah abundantly.
Muslims are people of Alhamdulillah which means we are constantly grateful and constantly positive. If we understood Alhamdulillah we will never depressed, angry, stressed, nervous, fearful, lose hope or complain.
We find today in the Ummah, that people complain and complain about the state of the Muslims -- they complain about the ignorance of the Muslims, the corruption within the Muslim societies, and all the negatives about Muslims, as if we don't have enough from other people attacking Muslims. We have to remember, Allah is the One who can change our circumstances. So, the first things we should do is turn to Him and say Alhamdulillah. And show a positive attitude towards ourselves and people around us.
May Allah make us among the people of His remembrance and of those who are grateful to Him in every moment of our lives. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Our Deen teaches us that even if we already know, a reminder benefits a Muslim.
Allah Almighty says,
وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ ٱلذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ[Qur'an, Adh-Dhariyat 51:55]
And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers. (55)
Our Creator, Lord of the Worlds, introduces Himself in the Surah Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qur'an, also known as the Mother of the Qur'an (Umm al-Qur’an).
Our connection with Allah everyday begins with Al-Fatiha. However, if we don't pray or if we pray and don't understand the meanings of the words, then we don't have that connection with Allah, then we won't have the connection with this Surah. So first thing, you should not give yourself any excuse not to pray (or not to pray on time) and if you don't know how to pray, you should learn how to pray.
We can glean from this Surah that Allah has decided that all humanity is to be introduced to Him and get to know Him through this Surah.
Let's just take the words Alhamdulillah from the first part of the second ayah (ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢ ) One part of Alhamdulillah is that you thank Allah and the second part is that you appreciate (praise) Allah.
Sometimes in life, we can have praise without thanks -- for example, you may praise a noble prize winner but you won't thank him. And the opposite is true, you may thank someone but you won't praise him -- for example, Allah ordered that children be thankful to their parents even if they don't pray or follow other religion...so while children may thank their parents, they may not praise their conduct or their conviction to other religion. Musa alayhissalaam thanked Fir'aun, by his acknowledgment of the favors that Fir'aun used to give him being raised in his castle, but he never praised him.
When we say Alhamdulillah, then we are saying we praise Allah for whatever He is doing, and at the same time we thank Him that He did it.
We are grateful for Alhamdulillah because other religion don't have Alhamdulillah. Sometimes, we find some Muslims who don't understand Alhamdulillah. So when someone asked them, "How are you?", "How's your family?", they might say "Alhamdulillah" but it is almost a complain or a dissatisfaction rather than truly thanking and praising Allah.
Alhamdulillah should come from the bottom of our hearts, even in the midst of tribulations and all the things that are going wrong in our lives, we are finding many things that are going right. If you are feeling hot or cold because of the temperature outside, at least you are not feeling sick. There could be so many things that can go wrong in your body and you should be grateful to Allah that you have your health. If you are in a poor Muslim country, at least you have food on your table and you can pray at the masjid everyday or hear the adhan 5 times a day. Do you really like to be in a country where you have to work day and night to pay your bills and you can hardly find Muslims around? There are so many other things that are going right in our lives and we should not lose sight of that but thank and praise Allah abundantly.
Muslims are people of Alhamdulillah which means we are constantly grateful and constantly positive. If we understood Alhamdulillah we will never depressed, angry, stressed, nervous, fearful, lose hope or complain.
We find today in the Ummah, that people complain and complain about the state of the Muslims -- they complain about the ignorance of the Muslims, the corruption within the Muslim societies, and all the negatives about Muslims, as if we don't have enough from other people attacking Muslims. We have to remember, Allah is the One who can change our circumstances. So, the first things we should do is turn to Him and say Alhamdulillah. And show a positive attitude towards ourselves and people around us.
May Allah make us among the people of His remembrance and of those who are grateful to Him in every moment of our lives. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Towards A Successful Mission
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah Almighty says,
When Allah ordered Prophet Musa alayhissalaam to go to Fir'aun and invite him to worship Allah, he did not try to get out of it or give excuses as to why he shouldn't perform or rely on his own self and on his own ability. Instead, he asked Allah to grant him five favors.
1. Give calmness in his heart -- to expand the ability of his heart to enable him to receive all the knowledge and wisdom of prophethood, and at the same time to bear with the slander of those people who will oppose him in his mission.
2. Make the task easy for him -- having been granted prophethood he realized that it is not the human ability and skill or other apparent causes which make affairs easy or difficult. In reality, things become easy or difficult as Allah wills.
In a hadith the believers have been advised to seek Allah's help in their affairs:
"0 Allah! Be kind to us and make our difficult tasks easy because it is easy for You to make every difficult thing easy."
3. Untie the knot in his tongue so that people may understand his speech
calm his heart and make his mission easy.
4. Make for him assistance from his own family (Harun) -- this relates to the assembling of means which would facilitate the successful completion of his mission, and the most important among these was the appointment of a deputy or a helper, who would assist him in this task.
He specified the person from his own family because the behavior and conduct of a member of the family is well-known. Besides, there is mutual affection and understanding between the members of the family which greatly helps towards the accomplishment of the mission. But it is essential that the person selected should be competent and in possession of the merit necessary for the performance of his duties so that his selection may not be attributed to nepotism and favoritism.
Nowadays when there is a scarcity of people of integrity and dedication, the ruler who appoints his own close relatives to be his deputies renders himself liable to public criticism. When, however, the standards of probity and integrity are high, such appointments are considered normal and are, in fact, conducive to the more efficient performance of sensitive assignments.
Although Musa had the power to appoint his brother Harun as his deputy on his own, but he petitioned to Allah to confer the appointment on his brother in order to seek His grace.
5. Increase his strength through his deputy and let him share his task
Allah granted all his requests.
In this there are great lessons for us.
Allah has chosen Prophet Musa to do da'wah to the worst tyrant. Musa was the kind of person who cannot stand to see injustice. He could easily get angry and take matters into his own hands. Someone like Fir'aun could easily make Musa nervous and/or angry. When you do da'wah, you cannot be nervous and/or angry. You need to be calm in your heart. Musa asked this of Allah before he embarked on his huge mission.
What gives us calmness in the heart is lots of dhikr. Through dhikr, we will remember that Allah is present, watching, seeing, hearing and in complete view of our circumstance. We cannot lose sight of that or our emotions will have control of us. Good companions and a conducive environment definitely contribute towards the better performance of worship and dhikr (remembrance of Allah.) A person whose friends are negligent about Allah cannot devote himself to His worship with the same quality and quantity as the person who is fortunate to have the company of pious men and righteous friends devoted to Allah's worship and dhikr.
When you see someone who is disobeying Allah, especially your loved ones or close friend, you can easily get angry, upset and even depressed because you might feel that you have failed or you have not done enough. Remember, people next to you is not Fir'aun. You shouldn't be stressed or nervous about doing da'wah to them. They may say obnoxious thing or reject you completely but they cannot be as bad as Fir'aun. You shouldn't be angry or depressed. Make the du'a of Prophet Musa and remind yourself that your job is to put in your best effort and Allah will help you and give barakah (blessing) to your effort.
If you didn't accomplish what you set out to do, maybe that you didn't put enough effort, so Allah didn't give the barakah (blessing); or maybe you put the effort, and Allah didn't give barakah and maybe that is better for you. We have to trust Allah with the outcome of our efforts. Go in your mission with positive attitude and Allah will make it easy for you. Don't start something with a negative or defeated attitude.
When Allah chose Musa to confront Fir'aun, there was no better candidate than him to do the job. Even so, Musa still asked Allah to expand his breast with assurance and ease the task for him. He realized that it is not the human ability and skill or other apparent causes which make affairs easy or difficult.
We have to realize that our qualification, as good as they are, is never enough. Allah has to make the task easy for us.
There is no Muslim who should accept himself doing mediocre work or less than perfect job. In whatever a Muslim does, it should be the best. There is no reason why it shouldn't be the best. Allah created us in the best form. He gave us the intellect, good work ethics and ability to get work done. We should use these gifts to accomplish our task towards perfection. If you are a student, you should work to your potential to be the best; if you are a doctor, you should be the best doctor; if you are a taxi driver, you should be the best taxi driver. This should be an attitude of a Muslim going in any task or job. And always remind ourselves that our accomplishments are not because of our own doing and effort but they are because Allah give us that ability to accomplish those tasks. This would keep us away from arrogance.
May Allah enable us and our families to take advantage of the wisdom of these verses and to live for our Deen and to make the best of this world for our Deen. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah Almighty says,
ٱذْهَبْ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُۥ طَغَىٰ ﴿٢٤﴾ قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى ﴿٢٥﴾ وَيَسِّرْ لِىٓ أَمْرِى ﴿٢٦﴾ وَٱحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِى ﴿٢٧﴾ يَفْقَهُوا۟ قَوْلِى ﴿٢٨﴾ وَٱجْعَل لِّى وَزِيرًا مِّنْ أَهْلِى ﴿٢٩﴾ هَـٰرُونَ أَخِى ﴿٣٠﴾ ٱشْدُدْ بِهِۦٓ أَزْرِى ﴿٣١﴾ وَأَشْرِكْهُ فِىٓ أَمْرِى ﴿٣٢﴾ كَىْ نُسَبِّحَكَ كَثِيرًا ﴿٣٣﴾ وَنَذْكُرَكَ كَثِيرًا ﴿٣٤﴾ إِنَّكَ كُنتَ بِنَا بَصِيرًا ﴿٣٥[Qur'an Ta-Ha 20:24-35]
Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed." (24) [Musa] said, "My Lord, expand for me my breast [with assurance] (25) And ease for me my task (26) And untie the knot from my tongue (27) That they may understand my speech. (28) And appoint for me a minister from my family - (29) Aaron, my brother. (30) Increase through him my strength (31) And let him share my task (32) That we may exalt You much (33) And remember You much. (34) Indeed, You are of us ever Seeing." (35)
When Allah ordered Prophet Musa alayhissalaam to go to Fir'aun and invite him to worship Allah, he did not try to get out of it or give excuses as to why he shouldn't perform or rely on his own self and on his own ability. Instead, he asked Allah to grant him five favors.
1. Give calmness in his heart -- to expand the ability of his heart to enable him to receive all the knowledge and wisdom of prophethood, and at the same time to bear with the slander of those people who will oppose him in his mission.
2. Make the task easy for him -- having been granted prophethood he realized that it is not the human ability and skill or other apparent causes which make affairs easy or difficult. In reality, things become easy or difficult as Allah wills.
In a hadith the believers have been advised to seek Allah's help in their affairs:
"0 Allah! Be kind to us and make our difficult tasks easy because it is easy for You to make every difficult thing easy."
3. Untie the knot in his tongue so that people may understand his speech
calm his heart and make his mission easy.
4. Make for him assistance from his own family (Harun) -- this relates to the assembling of means which would facilitate the successful completion of his mission, and the most important among these was the appointment of a deputy or a helper, who would assist him in this task.
He specified the person from his own family because the behavior and conduct of a member of the family is well-known. Besides, there is mutual affection and understanding between the members of the family which greatly helps towards the accomplishment of the mission. But it is essential that the person selected should be competent and in possession of the merit necessary for the performance of his duties so that his selection may not be attributed to nepotism and favoritism.
Nowadays when there is a scarcity of people of integrity and dedication, the ruler who appoints his own close relatives to be his deputies renders himself liable to public criticism. When, however, the standards of probity and integrity are high, such appointments are considered normal and are, in fact, conducive to the more efficient performance of sensitive assignments.
Although Musa had the power to appoint his brother Harun as his deputy on his own, but he petitioned to Allah to confer the appointment on his brother in order to seek His grace.
5. Increase his strength through his deputy and let him share his task
Allah granted all his requests.
In this there are great lessons for us.
Allah has chosen Prophet Musa to do da'wah to the worst tyrant. Musa was the kind of person who cannot stand to see injustice. He could easily get angry and take matters into his own hands. Someone like Fir'aun could easily make Musa nervous and/or angry. When you do da'wah, you cannot be nervous and/or angry. You need to be calm in your heart. Musa asked this of Allah before he embarked on his huge mission.
What gives us calmness in the heart is lots of dhikr. Through dhikr, we will remember that Allah is present, watching, seeing, hearing and in complete view of our circumstance. We cannot lose sight of that or our emotions will have control of us. Good companions and a conducive environment definitely contribute towards the better performance of worship and dhikr (remembrance of Allah.) A person whose friends are negligent about Allah cannot devote himself to His worship with the same quality and quantity as the person who is fortunate to have the company of pious men and righteous friends devoted to Allah's worship and dhikr.
When you see someone who is disobeying Allah, especially your loved ones or close friend, you can easily get angry, upset and even depressed because you might feel that you have failed or you have not done enough. Remember, people next to you is not Fir'aun. You shouldn't be stressed or nervous about doing da'wah to them. They may say obnoxious thing or reject you completely but they cannot be as bad as Fir'aun. You shouldn't be angry or depressed. Make the du'a of Prophet Musa and remind yourself that your job is to put in your best effort and Allah will help you and give barakah (blessing) to your effort.
If you didn't accomplish what you set out to do, maybe that you didn't put enough effort, so Allah didn't give the barakah (blessing); or maybe you put the effort, and Allah didn't give barakah and maybe that is better for you. We have to trust Allah with the outcome of our efforts. Go in your mission with positive attitude and Allah will make it easy for you. Don't start something with a negative or defeated attitude.
When Allah chose Musa to confront Fir'aun, there was no better candidate than him to do the job. Even so, Musa still asked Allah to expand his breast with assurance and ease the task for him. He realized that it is not the human ability and skill or other apparent causes which make affairs easy or difficult.
We have to realize that our qualification, as good as they are, is never enough. Allah has to make the task easy for us.
There is no Muslim who should accept himself doing mediocre work or less than perfect job. In whatever a Muslim does, it should be the best. There is no reason why it shouldn't be the best. Allah created us in the best form. He gave us the intellect, good work ethics and ability to get work done. We should use these gifts to accomplish our task towards perfection. If you are a student, you should work to your potential to be the best; if you are a doctor, you should be the best doctor; if you are a taxi driver, you should be the best taxi driver. This should be an attitude of a Muslim going in any task or job. And always remind ourselves that our accomplishments are not because of our own doing and effort but they are because Allah give us that ability to accomplish those tasks. This would keep us away from arrogance.
May Allah enable us and our families to take advantage of the wisdom of these verses and to live for our Deen and to make the best of this world for our Deen. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Friday, June 6, 2014
Friday is here -- Let's Recite Surah Kahf -- Humility in Knowledge
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In the best traditions of this Ummah, Imam Malik considered his knowledge as a trust. When he knew something to be right or wrong, no intimidation could stop him from declaring so. It was his fatwa that divorce given under compulsion is invalid, that earned him the wrath of the ruler (as it implied that pledge of allegiance given under compulsion was also invalid). He was punished with lashes and at every strike he said, "I am Malik bin Anas and I declare that divorce given under compulsion is invalid."
It was the same Imam Malik who was more likely to say "la adree" (I don't know) or "la ahsin" (I don't know it very well) in response to the constant flow of queries directed toward him. Once a person approached him and told him that he had come from Marrakesh --- after a six month journey --- only to ask a question. "My people back home are waiting for your answer," he said. After hearing the question Imam Malik replied, "Please tell your people that I do not know the answer to your question." In one case he was asked 48 questions and in response to 32 of them he said, "I don't know." It was commonly said that if somebody wrote down Imam Malik's answers to questions, he could easily fill pages with "I don't know" before writing a real answer.
The reason for this extraordinary care was nothing but a deep sense of accountability before Allah. It was the caution of a person who was standing between Hell and Heaven, fearful that one wrong step could lead him to the former. "Before you answer a question about religious law, visualize that you are standing at the gates of Hell and Heaven," he used to advise others.
Imam Malik was not alone in this matter. Ibn Jareej used to attend the majlis (sitting) of Abdullah ibn Umar, Radi-Allahu anhuma. "In answer to more than half the questions he used to say I don't know." Ibn Abi Layla saw 120 Sahabah (companions). "Whenever one of them was asked a question he wished that someone else would answer it."
Nor was this caution restricted to Fiqh (Islamic Law). In interpreting the Qur'an or the Hadith, they exercised same care. Imam Muslim whose Sahih Muslim is unanimously considered second of the two most authentic collections of Hadith, had set for himself only the task of Hadith collection leaving the job of interpreting them to others. He was so concerned about this that he did not even divide the book into chapters for such classification would amount to interpretation.
We are in a totally different world today. Across the Muslim world today there are innumerable "experts" who are willing to interpret the Qur'an and Hadith, give fatwas, even do Ijtihad --- all without the benefit of even the minimum religious education and training. If such a person is a good writer or a good speaker that is qualification enough. For the audiences today readily confuse eloquence with scholarship. If the "expert" also carries the magic title "Dr." that certainly fills any gaps in his authority. It does not matter whether his educational achievement maybe in gynecology or business administration, journalism or nuclear science, physics, engineering or animal husbandry.
The results have been disastrous. Plainly, we do not know and we do not know that we do not know.
"The parable of the knowledge of all of mankind, in comparison to the knowledge of Allah, is that of a drop of water in comparison to all of the oceans."
Even if the oceans were ink for the Words of Allah, and all the trees were pens, the pens would be broken and the water of the sea would run dry, and the Words of Allah would remain, for nothing can outlast them. For no one can comprehend the greatness of Allah or praise Him as He deserves to be praised, except the One Who praises Himself. Our Lord is as He says He is and He is beyond what we can say. The blessings of this world, the beginning and end of it, in comparison to the blessings of the Hereafter, are like a mustard seed compared to the entire world. [Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
Allah Almighty says,
Whatever little knowledge we have, it should humble us. Remember, there is always someone who knows more than us and no one knows more than Allah Almighty. Realizing this, it should humble us immediately. That is the purpose of knowledge -- humility not arrogance.
May Allah increase us in humility and make us die in submission to Him alone. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In the best traditions of this Ummah, Imam Malik considered his knowledge as a trust. When he knew something to be right or wrong, no intimidation could stop him from declaring so. It was his fatwa that divorce given under compulsion is invalid, that earned him the wrath of the ruler (as it implied that pledge of allegiance given under compulsion was also invalid). He was punished with lashes and at every strike he said, "I am Malik bin Anas and I declare that divorce given under compulsion is invalid."
It was the same Imam Malik who was more likely to say "la adree" (I don't know) or "la ahsin" (I don't know it very well) in response to the constant flow of queries directed toward him. Once a person approached him and told him that he had come from Marrakesh --- after a six month journey --- only to ask a question. "My people back home are waiting for your answer," he said. After hearing the question Imam Malik replied, "Please tell your people that I do not know the answer to your question." In one case he was asked 48 questions and in response to 32 of them he said, "I don't know." It was commonly said that if somebody wrote down Imam Malik's answers to questions, he could easily fill pages with "I don't know" before writing a real answer.
The reason for this extraordinary care was nothing but a deep sense of accountability before Allah. It was the caution of a person who was standing between Hell and Heaven, fearful that one wrong step could lead him to the former. "Before you answer a question about religious law, visualize that you are standing at the gates of Hell and Heaven," he used to advise others.
Imam Malik was not alone in this matter. Ibn Jareej used to attend the majlis (sitting) of Abdullah ibn Umar, Radi-Allahu anhuma. "In answer to more than half the questions he used to say I don't know." Ibn Abi Layla saw 120 Sahabah (companions). "Whenever one of them was asked a question he wished that someone else would answer it."
Nor was this caution restricted to Fiqh (Islamic Law). In interpreting the Qur'an or the Hadith, they exercised same care. Imam Muslim whose Sahih Muslim is unanimously considered second of the two most authentic collections of Hadith, had set for himself only the task of Hadith collection leaving the job of interpreting them to others. He was so concerned about this that he did not even divide the book into chapters for such classification would amount to interpretation.
We are in a totally different world today. Across the Muslim world today there are innumerable "experts" who are willing to interpret the Qur'an and Hadith, give fatwas, even do Ijtihad --- all without the benefit of even the minimum religious education and training. If such a person is a good writer or a good speaker that is qualification enough. For the audiences today readily confuse eloquence with scholarship. If the "expert" also carries the magic title "Dr." that certainly fills any gaps in his authority. It does not matter whether his educational achievement maybe in gynecology or business administration, journalism or nuclear science, physics, engineering or animal husbandry.
The results have been disastrous. Plainly, we do not know and we do not know that we do not know.
"The parable of the knowledge of all of mankind, in comparison to the knowledge of Allah, is that of a drop of water in comparison to all of the oceans."
Even if the oceans were ink for the Words of Allah, and all the trees were pens, the pens would be broken and the water of the sea would run dry, and the Words of Allah would remain, for nothing can outlast them. For no one can comprehend the greatness of Allah or praise Him as He deserves to be praised, except the One Who praises Himself. Our Lord is as He says He is and He is beyond what we can say. The blessings of this world, the beginning and end of it, in comparison to the blessings of the Hereafter, are like a mustard seed compared to the entire world. [Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
Allah Almighty says,
قُل لَّوْ كَانَ ٱلْبَحْرُ مِدَادًا لِّكَلِمَـٰتِ رَبِّى لَنَفِدَ ٱلْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَن تَنفَدَ كَلِمَـٰتُ رَبِّى وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِۦ مَدَدًا ﴿١٠٩[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:109]
Say (Muhammad to mankind), "If the sea were ink for [writing] the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like of it as a supplement." (109)
وَلَوْ أَنَّمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مِن شَجَرَةٍ أَقْلَـٰمٌ وَٱلْبَحْرُ يَمُدُّهُۥ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ سَبْعَةُ أَبْحُرٍ مَّا نَفِدَتْ كَلِمَـٰتُ ٱللَّـهِ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ﴿٢٧[Qur'an, Luqman 31:27]
And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise. (27)
Whatever little knowledge we have, it should humble us. Remember, there is always someone who knows more than us and no one knows more than Allah Almighty. Realizing this, it should humble us immediately. That is the purpose of knowledge -- humility not arrogance.
May Allah increase us in humility and make us die in submission to Him alone. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Sha'ban Fasting
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In about 3 weeks we will say farewell to Sha'ban, the 8th month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and welcome the blessed month of Ramadhan. Before we do that, we should try to pick up a few days of fasting this month.
Fasting in Sha'ban provides the best preparation for Ramadhan fasting because not only it allows our nafs to become accustom to doing things in abundance, it also makes it easier for those who reside in parts of the world where days are long, to transition fasting for 18+ hours everyday.
The Prophet ﷺ used to fast most of the month in Sha'ban.
Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "Prophet Muhammad ﷺ used to fast the whole of Sha'ban. I said to him, 'Messenger of Allah, is Sha'ban your most favorite month for fasting?' He said, 'In this month Allah prescribes the list of the persons dying this year. Therefore, I like that my death comes when I am in a state of fasting."
Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "I have never seen the Messenger of Allah fasting for two months continuously except in the months of Sha'ban and Ramadhan."
These reports indicate that fasting in the month of Sha'ban, though not obligatory, is so meritorious that Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not like to miss it.
May Allah bless us in the remaining days of Sha'ban and enable us to prepare our hearts for His merciful gaze on the first night of Ramadhan. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Ameen.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In about 3 weeks we will say farewell to Sha'ban, the 8th month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and welcome the blessed month of Ramadhan. Before we do that, we should try to pick up a few days of fasting this month.
Fasting in Sha'ban provides the best preparation for Ramadhan fasting because not only it allows our nafs to become accustom to doing things in abundance, it also makes it easier for those who reside in parts of the world where days are long, to transition fasting for 18+ hours everyday.
The Prophet ﷺ used to fast most of the month in Sha'ban.
Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "Prophet Muhammad ﷺ used to fast the whole of Sha'ban. I said to him, 'Messenger of Allah, is Sha'ban your most favorite month for fasting?' He said, 'In this month Allah prescribes the list of the persons dying this year. Therefore, I like that my death comes when I am in a state of fasting."
Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "I have never seen the Messenger of Allah fasting for two months continuously except in the months of Sha'ban and Ramadhan."
These reports indicate that fasting in the month of Sha'ban, though not obligatory, is so meritorious that Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not like to miss it.
May Allah bless us in the remaining days of Sha'ban and enable us to prepare our hearts for His merciful gaze on the first night of Ramadhan. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Ameen.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Eyeing For The Lofty Mansions
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Would you not like to be the dwellers of lofty mansions?
The righteous people having special closeness to Allah will be given Al-Ghuraf (the lofty mansions, i.e. a superior place and high chamber in Paradise) which will look like stars to common people. Beside other bonus of Paradise they will have the honor that angels will greet and felicitate them.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said "In Paradise there will be such upper Houses that their interior could be seen from outside and the exterior from inside". The Sahabah inquired from him as to who will live in them. Then he sallallahu alayhi wassallam replied "Those who keep their speech clean and soft, greet every Muslim, feed the poor, and offer Tahajjud prayers at night when others are sleeping."
Narrated Abu Saeed Al-Khudri: the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi was sallam, said:
“The people of Paradise will look at the dwellers of Al-Ghuraf in the same way as one looks at a brilliant star far away in the east or in the west on the horizon; all that is because of their superiority over one another (in rewards).”
On that the people said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Are these residences (lofty mansions) for the Prophets which nobody can reach?”
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi was sallam, replied, “No! By Him (Allah) in Whose Hand my soul is, these are for men who believed in Allah and also believed in the Messengers.”
[Al-Bukhari]
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Our Lord! Bestow on us from our spouses and our offspring the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the righteous.
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam.
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Would you not like to be the dwellers of lofty mansions?
The righteous people having special closeness to Allah will be given Al-Ghuraf (the lofty mansions, i.e. a superior place and high chamber in Paradise) which will look like stars to common people. Beside other bonus of Paradise they will have the honor that angels will greet and felicitate them.
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُجْزَوْنَ ٱلْغُرْفَةَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا۟ وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلَـٰمًا ﴿٧٥﴾ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا ﴿٧٦[Qur'an, Al-Furqan 25:75-76]
Those will be awarded the highest place (in Paradise) for what they patiently endured, and they will be received therein with greetings and [words of] peace and respect. (75) Abiding therein;— excellent it is as an abode, and as a place to dwell. (76)
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٥٧﴾ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَنُبَوِّئَنَّهُم مِّنَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ غُرَفًا تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ نِعْمَ أَجْرُ ٱلْعَـٰمِلِينَ ﴿٥٨﴾ ٱلَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا۟ وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ﴿٥٩[Qur'an, Al-Ankabut 29:57-59]
Every soul will taste death. Then to Us will you be returned. (57) And those who have believed and done righteous deeds - We will surely assign to them of Paradise [elevated] chambers beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Excellent is the reward of the [righteous] workers (58) Who have been patient and upon their Lord rely. (59)
وَمَآ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَـٰدُكُم بِٱلَّتِى تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِندَنَا زُلْفَىٰٓ إِلَّا مَنْ ءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَآءُ ٱلضِّعْفِ بِمَا عَمِلُوا۟ وَهُمْ فِى ٱلْغُرُفَـٰتِ ءَامِنُونَ ﴿٣٧[Qur'an, Saba 34:37]
And it is not your wealth or your children that bring you nearer to Us in position, but it is [by being] one who has believed and done righteousness. For them there will be the double reward for what they did, and they will be in the upper chambers [of Paradise], safe [and secure]. (37)
[Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:20)
لَـٰكِنِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ رَبَّهُمْ لَهُمْ غُرَفٌ مِّن فَوْقِهَا غُرَفٌ مَّبْنِيَّةٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ ۖ وَعْدَ ٱللَّـهِ ۖ لَا يُخْلِفُ ٱللَّـهُ ٱلْمِيعَادَ ﴿٢٠
But those who have feared their Lord - for them are chambers, above them chambers built high, beneath which rivers flow. [This is] the promise of Allah. Allah does not fail in [His] promise. (20)
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said "In Paradise there will be such upper Houses that their interior could be seen from outside and the exterior from inside". The Sahabah inquired from him as to who will live in them. Then he sallallahu alayhi wassallam replied "Those who keep their speech clean and soft, greet every Muslim, feed the poor, and offer Tahajjud prayers at night when others are sleeping."
Narrated Abu Saeed Al-Khudri: the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi was sallam, said:
“The people of Paradise will look at the dwellers of Al-Ghuraf in the same way as one looks at a brilliant star far away in the east or in the west on the horizon; all that is because of their superiority over one another (in rewards).”
On that the people said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Are these residences (lofty mansions) for the Prophets which nobody can reach?”
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi was sallam, replied, “No! By Him (Allah) in Whose Hand my soul is, these are for men who believed in Allah and also believed in the Messengers.”
[Al-Bukhari]
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Our Lord! Bestow on us from our spouses and our offspring the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the righteous.
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam.
Monday, June 2, 2014
What Can Break Through Hardships?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Absolute comfort, without hardship, is not possible in this world. People's desire to live peacefully and comfortably in this world, without enduring any hardship, is a silly idea and a false notion, which is not possible to happen.
Ibn 'Abbas radhiAllahu anhu said: 'Man was conceived and held in his mother's womb. The mother bore the pangs of birth. The hardship of sucking the mother's milk and the difficulty of weaning. This is followed by seeking livelihood and other necessities of life with hardship. Then he endures hardships and long-suffering of old age, death, grave, resurrection, accountability of deeds before Allah, reward and punishment.'
Some scholars say that no creation suffers as much difficulties or hardships as human beings, despite the fact that his body is smaller and weaker than most other animals.
The greatest difficulty and hardship would be borne at resurrection and life-after-death, when we will have to account for all the things we have done throughout our life.
Since difficulty, hardship, distress and affliction are bound to befall every person, a wise person should be ready to work hard for something that may help him for an eternal life. The only thing that will help him for this is faith and obedience to Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wassallam.
Our Deen requires that we should be a source of benefit and comfort to others; abstain from hurting them; amend our own conduct and think of reforming others also, so that, on the Day of Judgement, we may be among the companions of the right hand, the people of Paradise, enjoying a happy recompense for what we have done in this life. Those who persistently denied the Truth and disobeyed Allah are the unfortunate ones, companions of the left hand, they shall be encircled by the Hellfire.
Righteous deeds can relieve our hardships and save us from the punishment of the Hereafter.
It is an act of great reward to feed a hungry person, and even a greater reward to feed an orphan of near relationship, or to a poor person lying in dust. If an orphaned family member is given food to eat, its reward is two fold, for satisfying the hunger of a hungry person and for maintaining family ties and fulfilling his rights. Feeding him in a day when he is hungry will attract more reward. If an orphan is not a close relative or family member, but he is so poor as to be wallowing in dust, spending on him will yield a greater reward.
Doing only of good actions is not enough for raising the all round stature of the Muslim community. Good ideals and right principles, combined with continuous and sustained adherence to the path of moral rectitude and teaching of virtues to others, are equally essential to achieve the high goal. A believer must pay attention to his socio-moral obligation; advise one another to patience and compassion, and abstain from hurting others.
Du'a for one in difficulty
May Allah enable us to feed the hungry orphans and the poor lying in the dust. May grant us righteous deeds and protect us from bad and evil deeds. May Allah save us from the trials and tribulations of this life and the next and grant us tawfiq to the highest station. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Absolute comfort, without hardship, is not possible in this world. People's desire to live peacefully and comfortably in this world, without enduring any hardship, is a silly idea and a false notion, which is not possible to happen.
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ﴿٤[Qur'an, Al-Balad 89:4]
We have certainly created man into hardship. (4)
Ibn 'Abbas radhiAllahu anhu said: 'Man was conceived and held in his mother's womb. The mother bore the pangs of birth. The hardship of sucking the mother's milk and the difficulty of weaning. This is followed by seeking livelihood and other necessities of life with hardship. Then he endures hardships and long-suffering of old age, death, grave, resurrection, accountability of deeds before Allah, reward and punishment.'
Some scholars say that no creation suffers as much difficulties or hardships as human beings, despite the fact that his body is smaller and weaker than most other animals.
The greatest difficulty and hardship would be borne at resurrection and life-after-death, when we will have to account for all the things we have done throughout our life.
Since difficulty, hardship, distress and affliction are bound to befall every person, a wise person should be ready to work hard for something that may help him for an eternal life. The only thing that will help him for this is faith and obedience to Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wassallam.
Our Deen requires that we should be a source of benefit and comfort to others; abstain from hurting them; amend our own conduct and think of reforming others also, so that, on the Day of Judgement, we may be among the companions of the right hand, the people of Paradise, enjoying a happy recompense for what we have done in this life. Those who persistently denied the Truth and disobeyed Allah are the unfortunate ones, companions of the left hand, they shall be encircled by the Hellfire.
و۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ ﴿١٨﴾ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ ﴿١٩﴾ عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ ﴿٢٠[Qur'an, Al-Balad 89:20]
But they who disbelieved in Our signs - those are the companions of the left. (19) Over them will be fire closed in. (20)
Righteous deeds can relieve our hardships and save us from the punishment of the Hereafter.
فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ ﴿١١﴾ وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ ﴿١٢﴾ فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ ﴿١٣﴾ أَوْ إِطْعَـٰمٌ فِى يَوْمٍ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍ ﴿١٤﴾ يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ ﴿١٥﴾ أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ﴿١٦﴾ ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ ﴿١٧[Qur'an, Al-Balad 89:12-18]
And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass? (12) It is the freeing of a slave (13) Or feeding on a day of severe hunger (14) An orphan of near relationship (15) Or to a Miskin (poor) cleaving to dust (out of misery) (16) And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion. (17) Those are the companions of the right. (18)
It is an act of great reward to feed a hungry person, and even a greater reward to feed an orphan of near relationship, or to a poor person lying in dust. If an orphaned family member is given food to eat, its reward is two fold, for satisfying the hunger of a hungry person and for maintaining family ties and fulfilling his rights. Feeding him in a day when he is hungry will attract more reward. If an orphan is not a close relative or family member, but he is so poor as to be wallowing in dust, spending on him will yield a greater reward.
Doing only of good actions is not enough for raising the all round stature of the Muslim community. Good ideals and right principles, combined with continuous and sustained adherence to the path of moral rectitude and teaching of virtues to others, are equally essential to achieve the high goal. A believer must pay attention to his socio-moral obligation; advise one another to patience and compassion, and abstain from hurting others.
None has the right to be worshipped except Allah Forbearing. None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, Lord of the magnificent throne. None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, Lord of the heavens, Lord of the Earth and Lord of the Noble Throne.
None has the right to be worshipped except You. How perfect Your are, verily I was among the wrong-doers. [Du'a of Prophet Yunus alayhissalaam in the Qur'an, Al-Anbiya 21:87]
O Allah, it is Your mercy that I hope for, so do not leave me in charge of my affairs even for a blink of an eye and rectify for me all of my affairs. None has the right to be worshipped except You.
May Allah enable us to feed the hungry orphans and the poor lying in the dust. May grant us righteous deeds and protect us from bad and evil deeds. May Allah save us from the trials and tribulations of this life and the next and grant us tawfiq to the highest station. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Righteous Path or Sinful Path?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah has equipped us with human soul which has the capacity to distinguish between good and bad, and right and wrong. In other words, in our make-up, Allah has built in us a special ability to choose freely the righteous path or the sinful path. Man is not a creature of pure force or coercion. We have the free will to choose our path of good or evil. We have the option to do good or refrain from sin. The choice is ours, for which we are rewarded or punished.
Whenever the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam recited these verses [91:7-8], he would stop and recite the following supplication aloud:
Mankind is divided into two groups: 1) successful and 2) unsuccessful. The successful ones are those who constantly purifies themselves. Those who rejected the message of Allah belong to second group. Such a group will receive severe punishment in the Hereafter. Sometimes, however, an installment of punishment is meted out to them in this world as in the case of Thamud.
Some practical tips on purification of the heart:
Sincere Repentance
Sins are barriers which restrict the opportunity to do good and righteous works; so begin your journey with sincere repentance.
Establish Daily Routines (Awrad)
Just like our physical muscles, our spiritual muscles need to undergo regular training in order to be strengthened.
Imam Al-Ghazali exhorts on the importance of routines, “Your time should not be without structure, such that you occupy yourself arbitrarily with whatever comes along. Rather, you must take account of yourself and order your worship during the day and the night, assigning to each period of time an activity that must not be neglected nor replaced by another activity. By the ordering of this time, the blessing will show in itself.”
Allah has provided us with a daily routine and we must perform them, without excuse or neglect.
a) The Obligatory Prayers
Most of us struggle to keep up with our obligatory prayers on time. You have to take whatever means to get them in place and in place properly. Those already doing this should work on offering the voluntary prayers (Al Sunnah Rawatib) and supererogatory prayers (dhuha, tahajjud, 6 rak'aat after sunset prayer, salat al-wudu', etc).
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, "Allah will build a house in Heaven for whoever is diligent in observing 12 Sunnah Rak'aat (as follows): 4 Rak'aat before and 2 after the Dhuhr (Midday) Prayer, 2 after the Maghrib (Sunset Prayer), 2 after the ‘Isha’ (Evening) Prayer and 2 before the Fajr (Dawn) Prayer." [at-Tirmidhi]
Sound actions emanate from sound states. If you are struggling to keep up with the prayers, look at the spiritual causes that might be hindering your access to this blessing. Are your constantly engaged in sins for which you feel no guilt or remorse? What type of people are you surrounded by? Do you sleep in a state of ritual purity to facilitate waking up for Fajr? Are the intentions behind your acts sincere?
You have to constantly re evaluate and renew your intentions. The moment you start noticing your sincerity, you've become insincere. The moment you get upset because people don't appreciate you, you've become insincere.
b) Have a daily reading of the Qur'an
Pick an amount that you can commit to reading from the Qur'an everyday. Make it a routine to read that amount after one of the obligatory prayers — after Fajr is usually the best time to do so.
c) Daily Supplications (Dhikr) for Morning and Evenings
Having a regular wird (a designated amount) of dhikr is also necessary in one's daily routine. The Prophet ṣallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam recommended supplications for mornings and evenings. Set aside a time, usually after Fajr and Maghrib, to recite them.
d) Sending peace and blessings upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wassallam (salawat)
In your daily supplications be sure to include a routine of salawat. We should aim to do this throughout our day, but including it in our daily routine inculcates the practice. One way to do this is to establish the habit of saying ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam whenever he is mentioned.
Make an effort to, “Keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah.”
Control Your Diet
Imam Al-Ghazali considered the stomach and genitals to be the dominators of our desires; if they are in control; all other limbs are kept in check. Controlling our diet is especially needed, given that we live in a society where obesity is a serious problem and we don't think twice about eating to satiety.
Imam Al-Haddad succinctly summarize the moderation we need to bring to our diets: Do not make good and pleasurable food your prime concern. Beware of eating excessively and frequently eating to satiety, for even if it be from halal foods it will still be the beginning of many evils. It results in hardening of the heart, loss of perspicacity, confused thinking, laziness in worship, and other things. The way to be moderate is to stop eating while still desiring to eat, and not to start eating until you really want food. The sign that yours is a real desire is that you desire any kind of food.
Make Du'a' and Avoid Sins
Practical measures outlined above need to be coupled with supplication asking Allah to grant you a pure heart. In addition, while sins are inevitable, an active effort needs to be made to avoid sins we commit consistently. As mentioned earlier, sins are barriers that limit the opportunity to do good and righteous works; avoiding them and constantly seeking forgiveness is therefore vital.
May Allah purify our hearts, make us of those who remember Allah much and save us from the Hellfire. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah has equipped us with human soul which has the capacity to distinguish between good and bad, and right and wrong. In other words, in our make-up, Allah has built in us a special ability to choose freely the righteous path or the sinful path. Man is not a creature of pure force or coercion. We have the free will to choose our path of good or evil. We have the option to do good or refrain from sin. The choice is ours, for which we are rewarded or punished.
وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا ﴿٧﴾ فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا ﴿٨[Qur'an Ash-Shams 91:7-8]
And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it (7) And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness, (8)
Whenever the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam recited these verses [91:7-8], he would stop and recite the following supplication aloud:
اللهم آت نفسي تقواها أنت وليها ومولاها وأنت خير من زكاها
0 Allah! Give my soul its good. You are its Guardian and Master, and the best to purify it.
Mankind is divided into two groups: 1) successful and 2) unsuccessful. The successful ones are those who constantly purifies themselves. Those who rejected the message of Allah belong to second group. Such a group will receive severe punishment in the Hereafter. Sometimes, however, an installment of punishment is meted out to them in this world as in the case of Thamud.
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا ﴿٩﴾ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا ﴿١٠[Qur'an Ash-Shams 91:9-10]
He has succeeded who purifies it, (9) And he has failed who instills it [with corruption]. (10)
Some practical tips on purification of the heart:
Sincere Repentance
Sins are barriers which restrict the opportunity to do good and righteous works; so begin your journey with sincere repentance.
إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ ﴿٢٢٢ ...[Qur'an, Al-baqarah 2:222]
... Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves." (222)
Establish Daily Routines (Awrad)
Just like our physical muscles, our spiritual muscles need to undergo regular training in order to be strengthened.
Imam Al-Ghazali exhorts on the importance of routines, “Your time should not be without structure, such that you occupy yourself arbitrarily with whatever comes along. Rather, you must take account of yourself and order your worship during the day and the night, assigning to each period of time an activity that must not be neglected nor replaced by another activity. By the ordering of this time, the blessing will show in itself.”
Allah has provided us with a daily routine and we must perform them, without excuse or neglect.
a) The Obligatory Prayers
Most of us struggle to keep up with our obligatory prayers on time. You have to take whatever means to get them in place and in place properly. Those already doing this should work on offering the voluntary prayers (Al Sunnah Rawatib) and supererogatory prayers (dhuha, tahajjud, 6 rak'aat after sunset prayer, salat al-wudu', etc).
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, "Allah will build a house in Heaven for whoever is diligent in observing 12 Sunnah Rak'aat (as follows): 4 Rak'aat before and 2 after the Dhuhr (Midday) Prayer, 2 after the Maghrib (Sunset Prayer), 2 after the ‘Isha’ (Evening) Prayer and 2 before the Fajr (Dawn) Prayer." [at-Tirmidhi]
Sound actions emanate from sound states. If you are struggling to keep up with the prayers, look at the spiritual causes that might be hindering your access to this blessing. Are your constantly engaged in sins for which you feel no guilt or remorse? What type of people are you surrounded by? Do you sleep in a state of ritual purity to facilitate waking up for Fajr? Are the intentions behind your acts sincere?
You have to constantly re evaluate and renew your intentions. The moment you start noticing your sincerity, you've become insincere. The moment you get upset because people don't appreciate you, you've become insincere.
b) Have a daily reading of the Qur'an
Pick an amount that you can commit to reading from the Qur'an everyday. Make it a routine to read that amount after one of the obligatory prayers — after Fajr is usually the best time to do so.
c) Daily Supplications (Dhikr) for Morning and Evenings
Having a regular wird (a designated amount) of dhikr is also necessary in one's daily routine. The Prophet ṣallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam recommended supplications for mornings and evenings. Set aside a time, usually after Fajr and Maghrib, to recite them.
d) Sending peace and blessings upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wassallam (salawat)
In your daily supplications be sure to include a routine of salawat. We should aim to do this throughout our day, but including it in our daily routine inculcates the practice. One way to do this is to establish the habit of saying ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam whenever he is mentioned.
Make an effort to, “Keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah.”
Control Your Diet
Imam Al-Ghazali considered the stomach and genitals to be the dominators of our desires; if they are in control; all other limbs are kept in check. Controlling our diet is especially needed, given that we live in a society where obesity is a serious problem and we don't think twice about eating to satiety.
Imam Al-Haddad succinctly summarize the moderation we need to bring to our diets: Do not make good and pleasurable food your prime concern. Beware of eating excessively and frequently eating to satiety, for even if it be from halal foods it will still be the beginning of many evils. It results in hardening of the heart, loss of perspicacity, confused thinking, laziness in worship, and other things. The way to be moderate is to stop eating while still desiring to eat, and not to start eating until you really want food. The sign that yours is a real desire is that you desire any kind of food.
Make Du'a' and Avoid Sins
Practical measures outlined above need to be coupled with supplication asking Allah to grant you a pure heart. In addition, while sins are inevitable, an active effort needs to be made to avoid sins we commit consistently. As mentioned earlier, sins are barriers that limit the opportunity to do good and righteous works; avoiding them and constantly seeking forgiveness is therefore vital.
May Allah purify our hearts, make us of those who remember Allah much and save us from the Hellfire. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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