بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
The Fifteenth Night of Sha`ban, known in Arabic as Laylat al-Nisf min Sha`ban, literally “the eve of the middle day of Sha`ban,” is one of the greatest nights of the year. (In Islam the night precedes the day so really it is the night before the fifteenth day of Sha`ban.) `Ata’ bin Yasar said that after Laylat al-Qadr there is no night better than the Fifteenth Night of Sha`ban. Its greatness is due to the divine gifts that are bestowed during it.
One night Sayyidah `A’ishah noticed that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had left her house. She went out to see where he was and found him in the Baqi` Graveyard raising his arms to the heavens in supplication. He said to her that on that night, the fifteenth night of Sha`ban, Allah forgives more people than there are hairs on the sheep of the tribe Kalb, an Arab tribe renowned for the great flocks of sheep that its members possessed. [Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]
He also said (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): “Allah gazes at His creation on the fifteenth night of Sha`ban and then forgives all His slaves except for two types of people: those who attribute partners to Allah and those who have rancour for their fellow Muslims.” [Ahmad]
The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that when this night comes we should spend it in prayer and fast the following day, because truly Allah calls out to His slaves from sunset until dawn: “Is there anyone seeking forgiveness from Me so that I may forgive him? Is there anyone seeking provision from Me so I may provide for him? Is there anyone suffering so I may relieve his suffering?” [Ibn Majah]
Imam `Ali went out on the fifteenth night of Sha`ban and gazed at the heavens. He said that the Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him) went out at a similar time on this same night and said that if anyone calls upon Allah at this time, Allah answers him and if anyone seeks His forgiveness, He forgives him. For this reason he would spend the night in worship. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There are five nights on which du`a’ is not rejected: the first night of Rajab, the fifteenth night of Sha`ban, Thursday night, the night before `Id al-Fitr and the night before `Id al-Nahr (al- Adha).” [al-Suyuti]
`Ikrimah and other commentators of the Qur’an were of the opinion that the “Blessed Night” referred to in Surah al-Dukhan is the fifteenth night of Sha`ban.
Allah says of it:
فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ
In it every decreed affair becomes distinct. [Qur'an Ad-Dukhan 44:4]
According to this opinion it is the night in which everything that Allah has decreed for His slaves for the ensuing year becomes manifest. Their provision is allotted and those who are destined to die are named. `Ata’ bin Yasar said that on this night the Angel of Death receives a scroll on which are the names of all those who are destined to die in the coming year. He said: “A man may plant crops, get married and build buildings while his name has already been recorded amongst the dead. The Angel of Death is only waiting for the order to take his soul.” Thus many of the pious would ask Allah on this night to be recorded amongst the felicitous, just as they would ask for plentiful provision.
Sayyiduna `Umar bin `Abd al-`Aziz said: “Do not neglect four nights in the year, because in those nights Allah pours His mercy on His slaves: the first night of Rajab, the fifteenth night of Sha`ban, the night before `Id al-Fitr and the night before `Id al-Adha.” It was thus the habit of some of the early Muslims to “bring life” to the fifteenth night of Sha`ban. They encouraged people to come together in the mosque on that night to pray, supplicate and seek forgiveness.
A number of the hadith that talk about the immense gifts which Allah bestows on this night mention several categories of people that are excluded from receiving these gifts. Among those mentioned are those who attribute partners to Allah and those who have rancor in their hearts for their fellow Muslims. Some of the scholars mentioned specifically those who insult the Companions or the early generations of the Muslims or declare their fellow Muslims to be disbelievers or innovators. Other categories mentioned are those who fornicate, cut the ties of kinship or disrespect their parents.
These categories of people are also denied forgiveness and acceptance on other great nights such as the first night of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qadr. We should thus do our utmost to avoid these attributes. One of the early scholars said: “The best attributes are to have a sound heart, a generous soul and sincerely want good for the Ummah. Through these qualities the great ones reached the stations that they reached, not through a great amount of prayer and fasting.”
May Allah not deprive us of any of the gifts that are bestowed on this great night. May He give us the ability to seek His pleasure by praying to Him and seeking His forgiveness in this night. We ask that He decrees for us all that is good and deflects from us all that is harmful. May He bestow never-ending peace and blessings upon our guide and master Muhammad, through whom we came to know the superiority of one time over another and in whose guidance is all good in this life and the next.
O Allah bless us in Sha`bān and enable us to reach Ramadhan.
Ameen
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
Source: Muwasala
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Prayer On The 15th Night Of Sha'ban
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
It is the practice of many of the pious people of the Ummah to recite Surah Ya Sin three times on the 15th night of Sha`ban. The first time they read it with the intention of being blessed with a long life spent in obedience to Allah, the second time with the intention that calamities are diverted and the third time with the intention of not being in need of people and being blessed with a good ending. After each reading of Surah Ya Sin they read the following supplication:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين
اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد و آله و صحبه و سلم
اللهم يا ذا المَنِّ ولا يُمَنُّ عَلَيْهِ يا ذا الجَلالِ والإكْرام ياذا الطَوْلِ والإنْعام لا إلهَ إلا أَنْتَ ظَهْرَ اللاَّجِينَ وجَارَ المُسْتَجِيرينَ وأَمَانَ الخائِفِينَ
اللهم إِنْ كُنْتَ كَتَبْتَنَا عِنْدَكَ أَشْقِياءَ أَوْ مَحْرومينَ أَوْ مَطْرودِينَ أَوْ مُقَتَّراً عَلَيْنَا في الرِّزْقِ فَامْحُ اللهم بِفَضْلِكَ شِقَاوَتَنا وحِرْمَانَنا وطَرْدَنا
وإِقْتَارَ أَرْزَاقَنَا وأَثْبِتْنَا عِنْدَكَ في أُمِّ الكِتابِ سُعَداءَ مَرْزوقينَ مُوَفَّقِينَ لِلْخَيْراتِ
فَإِنَّكَ قُلْتَ وقَوْلُكَ الحَقُّ في كِتابِكَ المُنْزَل على لِسَانِ نَبِيِّكَ المُرْسَل (يَمْحُو اللهُ ما يَشَاءُ وَيُثْبِتُ وعِنْدَهُ أُمُّ الكِتَابِ)
إلهَي بِالتَّجَلِّي الأَعْظَمِ في لَيْلَةِ النِّصْفِ مِنْ شَعَبانَ المُكَرَّمِ الَّتي يُفْرَقُ فِيها كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ وَيُبْرَمُ نَسَأَلُكَ أَنْ تَكْشِفَ عَنَّا مِنَ البَلاءِ ما نَعْلَمُ
وما لا نَعْلَمُ وما أَنْتَ بِهِ أَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الأَعَزُّ الأَكْرَمُ
وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم
Transliteration:
BismiLlāhi’r-Raḥmani’r-Rahīm al-Ḥamdu liLlāhi Rabbi’l`ālamīn
Allāhumma ṣalli `alā Sayyidinā Muḥammadin wa ālihi wa ṣaḥbihi wa sallim
Allāhumma yā dhā’l-Manni wa lā yumannu `alayhi yā Dhā’l-Jalāli wa’l-Ikrām yā Dhā’ṭawli wa’l-In`ām
Lā ilāha illa anta Zahra’l-lājīna wa jāra’l-mustajīrīna wa amāna’l-khā’ifīna
Allāhumma in kunta katabtanā `indaka ashqiyā’a aw maḥrūmīna aw maṭrūdīna aw muqattaran `alaynā fī’r-rizqi fāmḥu Allāhumma bifadhlika shiqāwatanā wa ḥirmānanā wa ṭardanā wa iqtāra arzāqanā wa athbitnā `indaka fī ummi’l-kitābi su`adā’a marzūqīna muwaffaqīna li’l-khayrāti
Fa innaka qulta wa qawluka’l-ḥaqqu fī Kitābika’l-Munzal `alā lisāni Nabiyyika’l-Mursal (yamḥū Allāhu mā yashā’u wa yuthbitu wa `indahu Ummu’l-Kitābi)
Ilhayi bi’t-tajallī’l-l`aẓam fī Laylati’n-Niṣfi min Sha`abāna al-Mukarrami’llatī yufraqu fīhā kullu amrin ḥakīmin wa yubramu nasaluka an takshifa `annā mina’l-balā’i mā na`alamu wa mā lā na`alamu wa mā anta bihi a`alamu innaka anta al-`Azzu al-Akramu
Wa ṣallā Allāhu `alā Sayyidinā Muḥammadin wa `alā ālihi wa ṣaḥbihi wa sallim
Translation:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate.All praise is due to Allah Lord of the Worlds.
O Allah, bestow peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad and upon his Family and Companions.
O Allah, the Bestower of favors. No one has favor over You. O Possessor of Majesty and Nobility, the One Who constantly bestows His bounties. There is no god but You, the One who grants safety and refuge to those that seek it and to those in fear.
O Allah, if You have recorded us as being wretched, deprived, cast out or if You have recorded that our provision be restricted then erase this by Your bounty. Instead record us in “the Mother of the Book” as being felicitous, as having plentiful provision and grant us the ability to do good works. Truly You have said, and Your word is true, in Your revealed Book, on the tongue of Your Prophet: Allah erases and confirms what He wishes and with Him is the Mother of the Book.
يَمْحُوا۟ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثْبِتُ ۖ وَعِندَهُۥٓ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ [Qur'an, Ar-Ra'd 13:39]
O Allah, through Your most mighty manifestation on the fifteenth night of Sha`ban the Ennobled, in which every decreed affair becomes distinct and unchangeable, we ask You to remove all tribulations, those that we know and those that we do not know and those about which You know more, truly You are the Most Mighty, the Most Generous.
O Allah, bestow peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad and upon his Family and Companions.
And Allah knows best
Wassallam
Source: Muwasala
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
It is the practice of many of the pious people of the Ummah to recite Surah Ya Sin three times on the 15th night of Sha`ban. The first time they read it with the intention of being blessed with a long life spent in obedience to Allah, the second time with the intention that calamities are diverted and the third time with the intention of not being in need of people and being blessed with a good ending. After each reading of Surah Ya Sin they read the following supplication:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين
اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد و آله و صحبه و سلم
اللهم يا ذا المَنِّ ولا يُمَنُّ عَلَيْهِ يا ذا الجَلالِ والإكْرام ياذا الطَوْلِ والإنْعام لا إلهَ إلا أَنْتَ ظَهْرَ اللاَّجِينَ وجَارَ المُسْتَجِيرينَ وأَمَانَ الخائِفِينَ
اللهم إِنْ كُنْتَ كَتَبْتَنَا عِنْدَكَ أَشْقِياءَ أَوْ مَحْرومينَ أَوْ مَطْرودِينَ أَوْ مُقَتَّراً عَلَيْنَا في الرِّزْقِ فَامْحُ اللهم بِفَضْلِكَ شِقَاوَتَنا وحِرْمَانَنا وطَرْدَنا
وإِقْتَارَ أَرْزَاقَنَا وأَثْبِتْنَا عِنْدَكَ في أُمِّ الكِتابِ سُعَداءَ مَرْزوقينَ مُوَفَّقِينَ لِلْخَيْراتِ
فَإِنَّكَ قُلْتَ وقَوْلُكَ الحَقُّ في كِتابِكَ المُنْزَل على لِسَانِ نَبِيِّكَ المُرْسَل (يَمْحُو اللهُ ما يَشَاءُ وَيُثْبِتُ وعِنْدَهُ أُمُّ الكِتَابِ)
إلهَي بِالتَّجَلِّي الأَعْظَمِ في لَيْلَةِ النِّصْفِ مِنْ شَعَبانَ المُكَرَّمِ الَّتي يُفْرَقُ فِيها كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ وَيُبْرَمُ نَسَأَلُكَ أَنْ تَكْشِفَ عَنَّا مِنَ البَلاءِ ما نَعْلَمُ
وما لا نَعْلَمُ وما أَنْتَ بِهِ أَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الأَعَزُّ الأَكْرَمُ
وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم
Transliteration:
BismiLlāhi’r-Raḥmani’r-Rahīm al-Ḥamdu liLlāhi Rabbi’l`ālamīn
Allāhumma ṣalli `alā Sayyidinā Muḥammadin wa ālihi wa ṣaḥbihi wa sallim
Allāhumma yā dhā’l-Manni wa lā yumannu `alayhi yā Dhā’l-Jalāli wa’l-Ikrām yā Dhā’ṭawli wa’l-In`ām
Lā ilāha illa anta Zahra’l-lājīna wa jāra’l-mustajīrīna wa amāna’l-khā’ifīna
Allāhumma in kunta katabtanā `indaka ashqiyā’a aw maḥrūmīna aw maṭrūdīna aw muqattaran `alaynā fī’r-rizqi fāmḥu Allāhumma bifadhlika shiqāwatanā wa ḥirmānanā wa ṭardanā wa iqtāra arzāqanā wa athbitnā `indaka fī ummi’l-kitābi su`adā’a marzūqīna muwaffaqīna li’l-khayrāti
Fa innaka qulta wa qawluka’l-ḥaqqu fī Kitābika’l-Munzal `alā lisāni Nabiyyika’l-Mursal (yamḥū Allāhu mā yashā’u wa yuthbitu wa `indahu Ummu’l-Kitābi)
Ilhayi bi’t-tajallī’l-l`aẓam fī Laylati’n-Niṣfi min Sha`abāna al-Mukarrami’llatī yufraqu fīhā kullu amrin ḥakīmin wa yubramu nasaluka an takshifa `annā mina’l-balā’i mā na`alamu wa mā lā na`alamu wa mā anta bihi a`alamu innaka anta al-`Azzu al-Akramu
Wa ṣallā Allāhu `alā Sayyidinā Muḥammadin wa `alā ālihi wa ṣaḥbihi wa sallim
Translation:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate.All praise is due to Allah Lord of the Worlds.
O Allah, bestow peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad and upon his Family and Companions.
O Allah, the Bestower of favors. No one has favor over You. O Possessor of Majesty and Nobility, the One Who constantly bestows His bounties. There is no god but You, the One who grants safety and refuge to those that seek it and to those in fear.
O Allah, if You have recorded us as being wretched, deprived, cast out or if You have recorded that our provision be restricted then erase this by Your bounty. Instead record us in “the Mother of the Book” as being felicitous, as having plentiful provision and grant us the ability to do good works. Truly You have said, and Your word is true, in Your revealed Book, on the tongue of Your Prophet: Allah erases and confirms what He wishes and with Him is the Mother of the Book.
يَمْحُوا۟ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثْبِتُ ۖ وَعِندَهُۥٓ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ [Qur'an, Ar-Ra'd 13:39]
O Allah, through Your most mighty manifestation on the fifteenth night of Sha`ban the Ennobled, in which every decreed affair becomes distinct and unchangeable, we ask You to remove all tribulations, those that we know and those that we do not know and those about which You know more, truly You are the Most Mighty, the Most Generous.
O Allah, bestow peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad and upon his Family and Companions.
And Allah knows best
Wassallam
Source: Muwasala
Friday, May 29, 2015
Let's Read Surah Kahf Today (Friday): Children Are A Blessing
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
The birth of a child is the coming of Allah's honor into your household.
Allah says,
Humanity has been described with relationship to parents. In that there are two entities that have been honored -- the children and the parents. Every child that has been born into a family has brought Allah's honor to that family. It is a gift of Allah to be parents and that we get to raise our child, someone who Allah has honored.
Our children will be diverse, have different personalities. We should celebrate their diversity and grateful that they are different. Stop comparing one child to all the other children because that develops all kinds of inferiority/superiority complex and jealousy, which will negatively impact their lives now and in the future.
In Surah Al-Kahf, Allah gives us an example of a man with two gardens who felt superior than the other.
Consequently, he lost everything.
And don't wish for things Allah has given to another. The other man did not wish for what the rich man has.
Like your paycheck is your provision (rizq), your child is your rizq. Allah compares our children to an investment.
When we raise our children right, every good deed they do is an investment in our next life (akhirah). And if one day they are able to be good parents and raise your grandchildren right, that's building your akhirah. And those grandchildren will build your akhirah and you will continue building your akhirah till the end of time through each righteous offspring. But that does not mean your children get to be serious about the religion and you get to do whatever you want, being neck deep in riba, backbiting, yelling and screaming, being angry all the time, rushing through prayers, telling lies, being with the phone all the time, watching ballgames, being wasteful, wasting time, etc. There is no double standard. This is a hypocrisy. If you have hypocrisy, then your money and your children will not benefit you in the next life.
Our children will increase our rank if we are already believers, not to pull us out of Hell. You have to have the bare minimum yourself for your children to benefit you in the akhirah. Good parents are concerned about their own good deeds.
There are failed nations that Allah talks about. Bani Israil and Ahlul Fir'aun come up a lot in the Qur'an. They were not mentioned as Israiliyun or Ashabul Fir'aun (Companions of Fir'aun) but identified as children of Israil or family of Fir'aun. We can glean from this identification that their failure is attributed as failure of parenting.
Children are means by which a state of ummah will change. If we do our job right, Allah promise that He will leave our next generation, the generation that come after good people authority in the land. He will give Islam to them that they can live by Islam in the land.
I care about my kids and you care about your kids. But that's not enough. We each have to decide to be good parents and take the means to become one. You are their role models. You are not going to find a good role model for your kids in Youtube or Facebook or TV or in movies.
Allah decides how long our children will live. It is a blessing that they woke up alive this morning. While we are still here and Allah continues to bless us with them in our lives, be grateful and be a good parent.
May Allah help us raise our children well and grant us righteous offspring and make us among the grateful. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
The birth of a child is the coming of Allah's honor into your household.
Allah says,
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلْنَـٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَـٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَفَضَّلْنَـٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍۢ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًا ﴿٧٠[Qur'an, Al-Isra' 17:70]
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference. (70)
Humanity has been described with relationship to parents. In that there are two entities that have been honored -- the children and the parents. Every child that has been born into a family has brought Allah's honor to that family. It is a gift of Allah to be parents and that we get to raise our child, someone who Allah has honored.
Our children will be diverse, have different personalities. We should celebrate their diversity and grateful that they are different. Stop comparing one child to all the other children because that develops all kinds of inferiority/superiority complex and jealousy, which will negatively impact their lives now and in the future.
In Surah Al-Kahf, Allah gives us an example of a man with two gardens who felt superior than the other.
أَنَا۠ أَكْثَرُ مِنكَ مَالًا وَأَعَزُّ نَفَرًۭا ﴿٣٤...[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:34]
..."I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in [numbers of] men." (34)
Consequently, he lost everything.
And don't wish for things Allah has given to another. The other man did not wish for what the rich man has.
...[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:40]
إِن تَرَنِ أَنَا۠ أَقَلَّ مِنكَ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا ﴿٣٩﴾ فَعَسَىٰ رَبِّىٓ أَن يُؤْتِيَنِ خَيْرًۭا مِّن جَنَّتِكَ وَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهَا حُسْبَانًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا ﴿٤٠﴾ أَوْ يُصْبِحَ مَآؤُهَا غَوْرًۭا فَلَن تَسْتَطِيعَ لَهُۥ طَلَبًا ﴿٤١
... Although you see me less than you in wealth and children, (39) It may be that my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden and will send upon it a calamity from the sky, and it will become a smooth, dusty ground, (40) Or its water will become sunken [into the earth], so you would never be able to seek it." (41)
Like your paycheck is your provision (rizq), your child is your rizq. Allah compares our children to an investment.
نِسَآؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُوا۟ حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّىٰ شِئْتُمْ ۖ وَقَدِّمُوا۟ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّكُم مُّلَـٰقُوهُ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٢٢٣[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:223]
Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you wish and put forth [righteousness] for yourselves. And fear Allah and know that you will meet Him. And give good tidings to the believers. (223)
When we raise our children right, every good deed they do is an investment in our next life (akhirah). And if one day they are able to be good parents and raise your grandchildren right, that's building your akhirah. And those grandchildren will build your akhirah and you will continue building your akhirah till the end of time through each righteous offspring. But that does not mean your children get to be serious about the religion and you get to do whatever you want, being neck deep in riba, backbiting, yelling and screaming, being angry all the time, rushing through prayers, telling lies, being with the phone all the time, watching ballgames, being wasteful, wasting time, etc. There is no double standard. This is a hypocrisy. If you have hypocrisy, then your money and your children will not benefit you in the next life.
Our children will increase our rank if we are already believers, not to pull us out of Hell. You have to have the bare minimum yourself for your children to benefit you in the akhirah. Good parents are concerned about their own good deeds.
وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ ٱلَّذِينَ خَسِرُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ فِى عَذَابٍ مُّقِيمٍ ﴿٤٥[Qur'an, Ash-Shura 42:45]
...And those who had believed will say, "Indeed, the [true] losers are the ones who lost themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Unquestionably, the wrongdoers are in an enduring punishment." (45)
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَن تُغْنِىَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَـٰدُهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا ۖ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمْ وَقُودُ ٱلنَّارِ ﴿١٠[Qur'an, AleImran 3:10]
Indeed, those who disbelieve - never will their wealth or their children avail them against Allah at all. And it is they who are fuel for the Fire. (10)
ٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ أَيْمَـٰنَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ ﴿١٦﴾ لَّن تُغْنِىَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَـٰدُهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ ﴿١٧[Qur'an, Al-Mujadilla 58:16]
They took their [false] oaths as a cover, so they averted [people] from the way of Allah, and for them is a humiliating punishment. (16) Never will their wealth or their children avail them against Allah at all. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally (17)
There are failed nations that Allah talks about. Bani Israil and Ahlul Fir'aun come up a lot in the Qur'an. They were not mentioned as Israiliyun or Ashabul Fir'aun (Companions of Fir'aun) but identified as children of Israil or family of Fir'aun. We can glean from this identification that their failure is attributed as failure of parenting.
Children are means by which a state of ummah will change. If we do our job right, Allah promise that He will leave our next generation, the generation that come after good people authority in the land. He will give Islam to them that they can live by Islam in the land.
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَمَا ٱسْتَخْلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى ٱرْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِى لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِى شَيْـًٔا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ ﴿٥٥[Qur'an, An-Nur 24:55]
Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that - then those are the defiantly disobedient. (55)
I care about my kids and you care about your kids. But that's not enough. We each have to decide to be good parents and take the means to become one. You are their role models. You are not going to find a good role model for your kids in Youtube or Facebook or TV or in movies.
Allah decides how long our children will live. It is a blessing that they woke up alive this morning. While we are still here and Allah continues to bless us with them in our lives, be grateful and be a good parent.
May Allah help us raise our children well and grant us righteous offspring and make us among the grateful. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Visit Your Brother/Sister
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Narrated by Abû Hurayrah (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) that Allâh’s Messenger (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) said:
“A man went out to visit a brother of his in a different village, so Allâh, the Most High, put an angel in wait for him in the road. So when the angel came to him he said: Where are you going? He said: I am going to visit a brother in this village. He said: Is it that you have done something for him for which you seek repayment? He said: No, it is just that I love him for Allâh’s sake. He said: Then I am one sent by Allâh to you (to inform you) that Allâh, the Mighty and Majestic, loves you, just as you have loved for His sake.”
Narrated by Abû Hurayrah (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) said, 'Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, will say on the Day of Rising, "Where are those who loved each other for My majesty? Today I will shade them in My shade on the day when there is no shade except My shade." "'
اللهم إني أسألك حبك، وحب من يحبك، والعمل الذي يبلغني حبك، اللهم اجعل حبك أحب إلى من نفسي، وأهلي، ومن الماء البارد
O Allah! I ask You for Your Love, the love of those who love You, and deeds which will cause me to attain Your Love. O Allah! Make Your Love dearer to me than myself, my family and the cold water. [Tirmidhi]
May Allah grant us deeds which will cause us to attain His love and shade us under His shade when there is no shade except under His Throne. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Narrated by Abû Hurayrah (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) that Allâh’s Messenger (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) said:
“A man went out to visit a brother of his in a different village, so Allâh, the Most High, put an angel in wait for him in the road. So when the angel came to him he said: Where are you going? He said: I am going to visit a brother in this village. He said: Is it that you have done something for him for which you seek repayment? He said: No, it is just that I love him for Allâh’s sake. He said: Then I am one sent by Allâh to you (to inform you) that Allâh, the Mighty and Majestic, loves you, just as you have loved for His sake.”
Narrated by Abû Hurayrah (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) said, 'Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, will say on the Day of Rising, "Where are those who loved each other for My majesty? Today I will shade them in My shade on the day when there is no shade except My shade." "'
اللهم إني أسألك حبك، وحب من يحبك، والعمل الذي يبلغني حبك، اللهم اجعل حبك أحب إلى من نفسي، وأهلي، ومن الماء البارد
O Allah! I ask You for Your Love, the love of those who love You, and deeds which will cause me to attain Your Love. O Allah! Make Your Love dearer to me than myself, my family and the cold water. [Tirmidhi]
May Allah grant us deeds which will cause us to attain His love and shade us under His shade when there is no shade except under His Throne. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
Monday, May 25, 2015
Avoid Animosity and Dissension
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Our enemy is not our own kind -- Muslims or non-Muslims. The true enemy of mankind is the Shaytan. This is very ancient conflict, continuing since the time when Allah, the One free and far removed from all defects, created our father, Adam ('alayhis-salaam), and what occurred between him and Shaytan is well known. This conflict will be intensified or diminished depending on the slave's closeness to or distance away from his Lord.
We have been forewarned as our father and our mother has been forewarned.
So let this be a warning for us, and its opposite be glad tidings. We must not leave any way for Shaytan to enter upon our hearts through our actions, granting him neither full nor partial access. Indeed his deceptions are many and his traps abundant.
So beware of this, and do not let Shaytan trap you with his snares and his tricks, and your impregnable fortress against him is the constant remembrance of Allah.
Shaytan won't sit still until he sees us just as doomed as him, and be his companions in Hellfire.
From Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) who said that Allâh’s Messenger said:
“Indeed Shaytan has despaired that those who pray should worship (him) in the Arabian peninsular, however (he seeks) to provoke animosity between them.”
Shaytan will cause animosity between men and women, men and men, women and women, siblings, husband and wife, in-laws, friends, leaders, nations, and so on. Unrest is everywhere -- nasty divorces, child custody battles, domestic violence, adultery, family disputes, neighbor disputes, landlord tenant disputes, hate crimes, killings, wars...
Perhaps a word which one does not realize allows to escape from his tongue and it falls upon one of the servants of Allah, or a mistake he makes, perhaps this will cause a great fire to blaze in the hearts of the brothers. Shaytan desires this the most and it causes him to be joyful and happy.
Part of that animosity is actually done in the name of Islam. The most beautiful Sunnah of the Prophet (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) is made so ugly, distorted, mutated and presented as the Sunnah. But it is actually nothing but the opposite of the Sunnah. The worst and the most poisonous propaganda against Islam, unfortunately, is not being done by non Muslims, but it is done at the hands of Muslims, whether knowingly or unknowingly. People would say the most satanic things against their fellow Muslims.
From Abdullah ibn Mas’ood (radiyAllâhu ‘anhumaa) who said:
“How will you be when you are covered by a trial in which the young grow up and the old become infirm. If anything of it is abandoned it is said: The Sunnah has been abandoned. It was said: When will that occur, O Aboo Abdur Rahman? He said: When your scholars pass away, and those ignorant amongst you become many; when those who recite amongst you are many, but those who have understanding of the religion are few; when your leaders are many, but those who are trustworthy are few; when this world is sought with actions of the Hereafter; and when knowledge is sought for other than the Religion.”
So the means of escape is to follow the example provided for us. Indeed obeying and following Allah’s Messenger (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) is the greatest escape from the trials which envelop us.
So learn, and act, and fear Allah and obey Him that you may be shown mercy.
Allah has given us a special gift that no other creation were given, not even the angels, that is, Allah Himself taught our father, Adam, names and attributes of things.
What we each has is a piece of that revelation. As a result, humans can take the raw material of this earth and design and produce things. Use that for our mutual benefit and not to harm or kill each other.
Remember, Shaytan is forever lurking to carry out his promise against mankind.
Learn the Sunnah and apply them in your lives for that is a sure way to making this world a better place. If you don't get to see it in your lifetime, at least you have done your part and hopefully you won't be held accountable for the corruption on this earth, inshaa Allah.
May Allah grant us safety and well-being and protect us from the evil whispers from among the jinn and mankind. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak 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.
Our enemy is not our own kind -- Muslims or non-Muslims. The true enemy of mankind is the Shaytan. This is very ancient conflict, continuing since the time when Allah, the One free and far removed from all defects, created our father, Adam ('alayhis-salaam), and what occurred between him and Shaytan is well known. This conflict will be intensified or diminished depending on the slave's closeness to or distance away from his Lord.
We have been forewarned as our father and our mother has been forewarned.
وَنَادَاهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا أَلَمْ أَنْهَكُمَا عَن تِلْكُمَا الشَّجَرَةِ وَأَقُل لَّكُمَا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمَا عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ ﴿٢٢ ....[Qur'an, Al-A'raf 7:21]
...And their Lord called to them, "Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that Satan is to you a clear enemy?" (22)
So let this be a warning for us, and its opposite be glad tidings. We must not leave any way for Shaytan to enter upon our hearts through our actions, granting him neither full nor partial access. Indeed his deceptions are many and his traps abundant.
So beware of this, and do not let Shaytan trap you with his snares and his tricks, and your impregnable fortress against him is the constant remembrance of Allah.
Shaytan won't sit still until he sees us just as doomed as him, and be his companions in Hellfire.
From Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) who said that Allâh’s Messenger said:
“Indeed Shaytan has despaired that those who pray should worship (him) in the Arabian peninsular, however (he seeks) to provoke animosity between them.”
Shaytan will cause animosity between men and women, men and men, women and women, siblings, husband and wife, in-laws, friends, leaders, nations, and so on. Unrest is everywhere -- nasty divorces, child custody battles, domestic violence, adultery, family disputes, neighbor disputes, landlord tenant disputes, hate crimes, killings, wars...
Perhaps a word which one does not realize allows to escape from his tongue and it falls upon one of the servants of Allah, or a mistake he makes, perhaps this will cause a great fire to blaze in the hearts of the brothers. Shaytan desires this the most and it causes him to be joyful and happy.
Part of that animosity is actually done in the name of Islam. The most beautiful Sunnah of the Prophet (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) is made so ugly, distorted, mutated and presented as the Sunnah. But it is actually nothing but the opposite of the Sunnah. The worst and the most poisonous propaganda against Islam, unfortunately, is not being done by non Muslims, but it is done at the hands of Muslims, whether knowingly or unknowingly. People would say the most satanic things against their fellow Muslims.
From Abdullah ibn Mas’ood (radiyAllâhu ‘anhumaa) who said:
“How will you be when you are covered by a trial in which the young grow up and the old become infirm. If anything of it is abandoned it is said: The Sunnah has been abandoned. It was said: When will that occur, O Aboo Abdur Rahman? He said: When your scholars pass away, and those ignorant amongst you become many; when those who recite amongst you are many, but those who have understanding of the religion are few; when your leaders are many, but those who are trustworthy are few; when this world is sought with actions of the Hereafter; and when knowledge is sought for other than the Religion.”
So the means of escape is to follow the example provided for us. Indeed obeying and following Allah’s Messenger (salAllâhu ‘alaihi wa’sallam) is the greatest escape from the trials which envelop us.
So learn, and act, and fear Allah and obey Him that you may be shown mercy.
Allah has given us a special gift that no other creation were given, not even the angels, that is, Allah Himself taught our father, Adam, names and attributes of things.
وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَـٰؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ﴿٣١[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:58]
And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful." (31)
What we each has is a piece of that revelation. As a result, humans can take the raw material of this earth and design and produce things. Use that for our mutual benefit and not to harm or kill each other.
Remember, Shaytan is forever lurking to carry out his promise against mankind.
قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴿١٦﴾ ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَائِلِهِمْ ۖ وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ ﴿١٧[Qur'an, Al-A'raf 7:16-17]
[Satan] said, "Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path. (16) Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You]." (17)
Learn the Sunnah and apply them in your lives for that is a sure way to making this world a better place. If you don't get to see it in your lifetime, at least you have done your part and hopefully you won't be held accountable for the corruption on this earth, inshaa Allah.
May Allah grant us safety and well-being and protect us from the evil whispers from among the jinn and mankind. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Don't Be Greedy, Share The Earth
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
God made everything on this earth for you, everyone, every nation, every people -- as a gift.
Whatever Allah made on the earth is for you altogether. There is not a thing on the earth that He has not put in service for human beings. All of the resources of the earth (all that the earth contains) were made for human beings. All humanity have to share all the resources of the earth. But human beings become greedy, just like nations become greedy, just like a entire block of nations become greedy, just like states and cities become greedy. You will find in a city, for example, certain neighborhood get more resources, government benefits, better paved streets, etc than other neighborhoods in the city. Because of certain people's greed, there are people who get more resources at the expense of others.
Allah is letting us know a principle of how to live on this earth in this ayah -- that Allah made all the resources of the earth for the service of all humanity. Human beings have to share these resources and learn to live with each other and co-exist peacefully.
We know of many stories about the sacrifices and generosity of the companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), the best of generations ever lived on this earth. They are people praised by Allah in the Qur'an. Indeed they are our role models and we should learn from them.
One of the great companions, Abdullah ibn 'Umar, the son of Umar Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them) is also known for his charity. He was fond of freeing slaves that he would go out and work and when he had enough money to free a slave (Muslim or non Muslim slave), he would do so. One day he was sick and his wife prepared him a fish. A beggar came to the door and asked for food. Abdullah asked his wife to give the fish to the beggar. The wife gave the fish to the beggar but asked the beggar if she could buy the fish from him and the beggar agreed. So she bought the fish from the beggar and took it to her husband. As soon as Abdullah was about to eat the fish, the beggar returned and said "I have money but I am still hungry.) Abdullah heard it and asked his wife to give the fish to the beggar.
As a group, we have the Ansar (helpers) and the Muhajirin (emigrants), may Allah be pleased with all of them. The Muhajirin gave up their wealth (their homes and estates) to give support to Allah and His Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) to establish His religion. The Ansar, the Muslims of Al-Madinah, who gave asylum to their Muhajirin brethren in their own homes and comforted them with their wealth. They also gave aid to Allah and His Messenger by fighting alongside the Muhajirun. Certainly they are allies to one another, for each one of them has more right to the other than anyone else.
Abdur-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) was linked by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) with Sa'd ibn ar-Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him). Sa'd in the spirit of generosity and magnanimity with which the Ansar greeted the Muhajirin, said to Abdur-Rahman:
"My brother! Among the people of Madinah I have the most wealth. I have two orchards and I have two wives. See which of the two orchards you like and I shall vacate it for you and which of my two wives is pleasing to you and I will divorce her for you."
Abdur-Rahman must have been embarrassed and said in reply: "May Allah bless you and your family and your wealth. But just show me where the suq (market) is.."
Abdur-Rahman went to the market-place and began trading with whatever little resources he had. He bought and sold and his profits grew rapidly. Soon he was sufficiently well off and was able to get married. He went to the noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) with the scent of perfume lingering over him.
‘Abdullah ibn Masood (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whoever wants to follow a path, let him follow the path of one who has died, for the living are not safe from fitnah. I mean the Companions of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). They were the best of this ummah: the purest in heart, the deepest in knowledge and the most straightforward. Allah chose them to accompany His Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and establish His religion, so recognize their status and follow in their footsteps and adhere as much as you can to their example of conduct and attitude, for they followed true guidance.”
What is meant by it is that whoever wants to follow a path to his Lord, he should not come up with a path by himself or imitate with regard to matters of religion one among the living who is like him, because he is still alive and he does not know what kind of end Allah will cause him to have. Thus he may find himself following a man in his religious affairs who, even though today he may he following guidance and the Sunnah, may end up following something other than that. The only one who is safe in that regard is one who follows, on his path to his Lord, the way of the righteous early generations of this ummah: the Companions of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), those who have died and there is no longer any fear that they may fall into fitnah.
May Allah enable us to follow the footsteps of the noble companions and remove greed from our hearts and make us among those who are charitable and generous. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
God made everything on this earth for you, everyone, every nation, every people -- as a gift.
... هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:29]
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth (altogether) ...
Whatever Allah made on the earth is for you altogether. There is not a thing on the earth that He has not put in service for human beings. All of the resources of the earth (all that the earth contains) were made for human beings. All humanity have to share all the resources of the earth. But human beings become greedy, just like nations become greedy, just like a entire block of nations become greedy, just like states and cities become greedy. You will find in a city, for example, certain neighborhood get more resources, government benefits, better paved streets, etc than other neighborhoods in the city. Because of certain people's greed, there are people who get more resources at the expense of others.
Allah is letting us know a principle of how to live on this earth in this ayah -- that Allah made all the resources of the earth for the service of all humanity. Human beings have to share these resources and learn to live with each other and co-exist peacefully.
We know of many stories about the sacrifices and generosity of the companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), the best of generations ever lived on this earth. They are people praised by Allah in the Qur'an. Indeed they are our role models and we should learn from them.
One of the great companions, Abdullah ibn 'Umar, the son of Umar Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them) is also known for his charity. He was fond of freeing slaves that he would go out and work and when he had enough money to free a slave (Muslim or non Muslim slave), he would do so. One day he was sick and his wife prepared him a fish. A beggar came to the door and asked for food. Abdullah asked his wife to give the fish to the beggar. The wife gave the fish to the beggar but asked the beggar if she could buy the fish from him and the beggar agreed. So she bought the fish from the beggar and took it to her husband. As soon as Abdullah was about to eat the fish, the beggar returned and said "I have money but I am still hungry.) Abdullah heard it and asked his wife to give the fish to the beggar.
As a group, we have the Ansar (helpers) and the Muhajirin (emigrants), may Allah be pleased with all of them. The Muhajirin gave up their wealth (their homes and estates) to give support to Allah and His Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) to establish His religion. The Ansar, the Muslims of Al-Madinah, who gave asylum to their Muhajirin brethren in their own homes and comforted them with their wealth. They also gave aid to Allah and His Messenger by fighting alongside the Muhajirun. Certainly they are allies to one another, for each one of them has more right to the other than anyone else.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَوا وَّنَصَرُوا أُولَـٰئِكَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يُهَاجِرُوا مَا لَكُم مِّن وَلَايَتِهِم مِّن شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ يُهَاجِرُوا ۚ وَإِنِ اسْتَنصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُم مِّيثَاقٌ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ﴿٧٢[Qur'an, Al-Anfal 7:72]
Indeed, those who have believed and emigrated and fought with their wealth and lives in the cause of Allah and those who gave shelter and aided - they are allies of one another. But those who believed and did not emigrate - for you there is no guardianship of them until they emigrate. And if they seek help of you for the religion, then you must help, except against a people between yourselves and whom is a treaty. And Allah is Seeing of what you do. (72)
Abdur-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) was linked by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) with Sa'd ibn ar-Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him). Sa'd in the spirit of generosity and magnanimity with which the Ansar greeted the Muhajirin, said to Abdur-Rahman:
"My brother! Among the people of Madinah I have the most wealth. I have two orchards and I have two wives. See which of the two orchards you like and I shall vacate it for you and which of my two wives is pleasing to you and I will divorce her for you."
Abdur-Rahman must have been embarrassed and said in reply: "May Allah bless you and your family and your wealth. But just show me where the suq (market) is.."
Abdur-Rahman went to the market-place and began trading with whatever little resources he had. He bought and sold and his profits grew rapidly. Soon he was sufficiently well off and was able to get married. He went to the noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) with the scent of perfume lingering over him.
‘Abdullah ibn Masood (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whoever wants to follow a path, let him follow the path of one who has died, for the living are not safe from fitnah. I mean the Companions of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). They were the best of this ummah: the purest in heart, the deepest in knowledge and the most straightforward. Allah chose them to accompany His Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and establish His religion, so recognize their status and follow in their footsteps and adhere as much as you can to their example of conduct and attitude, for they followed true guidance.”
What is meant by it is that whoever wants to follow a path to his Lord, he should not come up with a path by himself or imitate with regard to matters of religion one among the living who is like him, because he is still alive and he does not know what kind of end Allah will cause him to have. Thus he may find himself following a man in his religious affairs who, even though today he may he following guidance and the Sunnah, may end up following something other than that. The only one who is safe in that regard is one who follows, on his path to his Lord, the way of the righteous early generations of this ummah: the Companions of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), those who have died and there is no longer any fear that they may fall into fitnah.
May Allah enable us to follow the footsteps of the noble companions and remove greed from our hearts and make us among those who are charitable and generous. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
Friday, May 22, 2015
Let's Read Surah Kahf Today (Friday) -- Wealth and Children
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah warns us of the Day of Resurrection which is sure to come, no doubt about it.
He warns of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward.
So don't let this worldly life distract you from Allah and keep you away from His remembrance.
May Allah bring us out of the state of heedlessness and carelessness to the state of wakefulness. May Allah help us to worship Him with excellence and save us from the trials and tribulations of this life and the next.
O Allah, Most High, Most Magnificent, Most Forbearing, Full of Wisdom, Most Generous, Ever Near and Ready to respond to Your servants, Most Loving: keep us far from the splendor of this life, the evil end of heedlessness, lust and bad manners; forgive our sins; relieve us from our burdens; remove evil from us; and deliver us from distress, and make for us a way out of it. You have power over all things.
Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah warns us of the Day of Resurrection which is sure to come, no doubt about it.
... وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ وَعْدَ ٱللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَآ[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:21]
And similarly, We caused them to be found that they [who found them] would know that the promise of Allah is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt...
He warns of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward.
So don't let this worldly life distract you from Allah and keep you away from His remembrance.
ٱلْمَالُ وَٱلْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَٱلْبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا ﴿٤٦﴾ وَيَوْمَ نُسَيِّرُ ٱلْجِبَالَ وَتَرَى ٱلْأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً وَحَشَرْنَـٰهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا ﴿٤٧[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:46-47]
Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope. (46) And [warn of] the Day when We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth prominent, and We will gather them and not leave behind from them anyone. (47)
إِنَّمَآ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَأَوْلَـٰدُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُۥٓ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿١٥﴾ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا ٱسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَٱسْمَعُوا۟ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ وَأَنفِقُوا۟ خَيْرًۭا لِّأَنفُسِكُمْ ۗ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِۦ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿١٦﴾ إِن تُقْرِضُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَـٰعِفْهُ لَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ شَكُورٌ حَلِيمٌ ﴿١٧﴾ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ﴿١٨[Qur'an, At-Taghabun 64:15-18]
Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and Allah has with Him a great reward. (15) So fear Allah as much as you are able and listen and obey and spend [in the way of Allah]; it is better for your selves. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful. (16) If you loan Allah a goodly loan, He will multiply it for you and forgive you. And Allah is Most Appreciative and Forbearing. (17) Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (18)
May Allah bring us out of the state of heedlessness and carelessness to the state of wakefulness. May Allah help us to worship Him with excellence and save us from the trials and tribulations of this life and the next.
O Allah, Most High, Most Magnificent, Most Forbearing, Full of Wisdom, Most Generous, Ever Near and Ready to respond to Your servants, Most Loving: keep us far from the splendor of this life, the evil end of heedlessness, lust and bad manners; forgive our sins; relieve us from our burdens; remove evil from us; and deliver us from distress, and make for us a way out of it. You have power over all things.
Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Welcoming Sha'ban 1436 A.H
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Welcome to the month of Sha'ban, the 8th month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
Two momentous events occurred in Sha`ban. It was the month in which the moon was split in half for the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) and the Qiblah was changed from Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem to the Ka`bah in Makkah.
Sha'ban is immediately preceding the month of Ramadhan. Therefore, some preparatory measures are suggested by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam)
The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) used to fast most of the month in Sha'ban.
Ummul Mu'mineen Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) 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."
Ummul-Mu'mineen 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 Ramadan."
These reports indicate that fasting in the month of Sha'ban, though not obligatory, is so meritorious that Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) did not like to miss it.
It is related that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) said,
When the Generous One says "It [Fasting] is Mine and I repay it," it is a tremendous reward indeed, something weu cannot imagine. Only Allah knows the extent of his reward and how much his good deeds will be multiplied.
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) 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’”
This is like the verse in which Allah says,
The words '[Fasting] is Mine' are sufficient to indicate the superiority of fasting over all other acts of worship. [Al-Nasaa’i]
Other than fasting, it is recommended to send abundant peace and blessings upon the Beloved of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace (salawat). It was in this month that Allah revealed:
The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) called Sha`ban 'my month,' when he said in the hadith: 'Rajab is the month of Allah, Sha'bān is my month, and Ramadan is the month of my Ummah.'
Sending blessings upon the Prophet(sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is one of the greatest means of strengthening our connection to him in this life and also the next. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) informed us that “The closest people to me on the Day of Rising will be those who send the most blessings upon me.” [Tirmidhi]
There are numerous benefits and rewards of sending peace and blessings on the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam)
It was also the habit of some of the early Muslims to recite the Qur’an in abundance during Sha`ban. This along with fasting gives us the best preparation for Ramadhan, as it takes time for the nafs to become accustomed to doing these things in abundance.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا في رَجَبٍ وَ شَعْبَانَ وَ بَلِّغْنا رَمَضَانَ
O Allah bless us in Rajab and Sha`bān and enable us to reach Ramadhan. [Ahmad]
May Allah increase us in provision both physically and spiritually. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak 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.
Welcome to the month of Sha'ban, the 8th month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
Two momentous events occurred in Sha`ban. It was the month in which the moon was split in half for the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) and the Qiblah was changed from Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem to the Ka`bah in Makkah.
Sha'ban is immediately preceding the month of Ramadhan. Therefore, some preparatory measures are suggested by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam)
The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) used to fast most of the month in Sha'ban.
Ummul Mu'mineen Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) 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."
Ummul-Mu'mineen 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 Ramadan."
These reports indicate that fasting in the month of Sha'ban, though not obligatory, is so meritorious that Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) did not like to miss it.
It is related that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) said,
"Allah said, 'Every action of the son of Adam is for himself except for fasting. It is Mine and I repay it.' Fasting is a shield. When someone is fasting, he should not have sexual relations nor quarrel. If someone fights him or insults him, he should say, 'I am fasting'. By the One in whose hand the self of Muhammad is, the changed breath in the mouth of the faster is more fragrant to Allah Almighty than the scent of musk. The faster experiences two joys: when he breaks his fast he rejoices and when he meets his Lord he rejoices in his fasting."[Bukhari]
When the Generous One says "It [Fasting] is Mine and I repay it," it is a tremendous reward indeed, something weu cannot imagine. Only Allah knows the extent of his reward and how much his good deeds will be multiplied.
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) 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’”
This is like the verse in which Allah says,
إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ﴿١٠ ...[Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:10]
...Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account." (10)
The words '[Fasting] is Mine' are sufficient to indicate the superiority of fasting over all other acts of worship. [Al-Nasaa’i]
Other than fasting, it is recommended to send abundant peace and blessings upon the Beloved of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace (salawat). It was in this month that Allah revealed:
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا ﴿٥٦[Qur'an Al-Ahzab 33:56]
Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace. (56)
The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) called Sha`ban 'my month,' when he said in the hadith: 'Rajab is the month of Allah, Sha'bān is my month, and Ramadan is the month of my Ummah.'
Sending blessings upon the Prophet(sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is one of the greatest means of strengthening our connection to him in this life and also the next. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) informed us that “The closest people to me on the Day of Rising will be those who send the most blessings upon me.” [Tirmidhi]
There are numerous benefits and rewards of sending peace and blessings on the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam)
It was also the habit of some of the early Muslims to recite the Qur’an in abundance during Sha`ban. This along with fasting gives us the best preparation for Ramadhan, as it takes time for the nafs to become accustomed to doing these things in abundance.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا في رَجَبٍ وَ شَعْبَانَ وَ بَلِّغْنا رَمَضَانَ
O Allah bless us in Rajab and Sha`bān and enable us to reach Ramadhan. [Ahmad]
May Allah increase us in provision both physically and spiritually. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Saturday, May 16, 2015
In Pursuit of Guidance
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Our personalities and aptitudes may be different but one thing we should share in common is in pursuit of guidance. The first step to guidance is in pursuit of knowledge.
Knowledge is an integral part of Islam. In one example, Allah tells us in Surah Az-Zumar, verse 9:
And we are familiar with the first word of revelation in Surah Al-Alaq, verse 1:
It’s not just important to have knowledge; traversing the path to acquire knowledge is in itself highly regarded in Islam.
Seeking knowledge is one of the great acts of worship that leads one to the path of Paradise. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) told us: Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Paradise. [Ibn Majah and others]
However, the aim behind seeking knowledge is more important than the knowledge itself. Seeking true knowledge with a Divine aim, for the pleasure of Allah and serving His creatures, leads one to Paradise in the company of Prophets and the righteous. But seeking knowledge for personal, mundane, or worldly motives leads a person to ignorance, sins against the creatures of Allah, and ultimately, Hell.
Be sincere towards Allah in seeking knowledge – and indeed in all your affairs; if you intend to dispel ignorance from yourself and from others, and to draw closer to Allah first of all, then this is worship. And you should not seek to show off to people with your knowledge or to argue with the foolish.
One must follow the right way of acquiring knowledge, starting with what is easy before embarking on difficult matters. It is also essential to use a balanced approach and not to take on more than you can handle so that you will not give up.
There is no excuse not to seek knowledge especially in this technological and information age. Allah has given us many ways nowadays that make it easy to seek the knowledge without any hardship and without having to leave the comfort of your home; that is by means of electronics (computer, smartphones, etc) and the internet/wifi.
To begin the path...
You should allocate time for reading Qur'an and for all other branches of knowledge everyday. Read a little about Tawheed and about hadeeth and fiqh and all other branches of knowledge. If you can't travel and study at traditional or formal Islamic schools, there are various sources available online that provide guided study and you should enroll in their program.
You should memorize some of the Qur’an. This can only be achieved by following and sticking to a daily program of memorizing a certain amount.
You should read summaries of all branches of knowledge, and leave the detailed works until later. In almost every branch of knowledge there are books which give a gradual approach, starting with brief discussions and ending with lengthy and detailed analysis. Strive to memorize these texts if you can, because memorizing evidence, whether from the Qur’an or Sunnah, and memorizing the texts of knowledge will help you to follow the correct path to knowledge. The scholars said, “Whoever memorizes the texts has excelled.” You should strive to study the commentaries on these books.
Seek Allah's help always, putting your trust in Allah, pursuing the appropriate means, and praying to Him to make things easy are all among the greatest and most beneficial means of reaching one's goal. Shyness should not prevent you from seeking knowledge and asking questions.
One of the salaf said, “No shy or arrogant person will ever seek knowledge.” So shyness should not stop you from asking questions about Islam. And arrogance is harmful in this world and in the Hereafter; one of its harmful effects in this world is that it keeps a person from asking and learning.
O Allah teach us what is beneficial to us and benefit us by what you have taught us and increase us in knowledge. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
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Bayyinah
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Our personalities and aptitudes may be different but one thing we should share in common is in pursuit of guidance. The first step to guidance is in pursuit of knowledge.
Knowledge is an integral part of Islam. In one example, Allah tells us in Surah Az-Zumar, verse 9:
هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ[Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:9]
... Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?"...
And we are familiar with the first word of revelation in Surah Al-Alaq, verse 1:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ[Qur'an, Al-Alaq 96:1]
Read, in the Name of your Lord who created.
It’s not just important to have knowledge; traversing the path to acquire knowledge is in itself highly regarded in Islam.
Seeking knowledge is one of the great acts of worship that leads one to the path of Paradise. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) told us: Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Paradise. [Ibn Majah and others]
However, the aim behind seeking knowledge is more important than the knowledge itself. Seeking true knowledge with a Divine aim, for the pleasure of Allah and serving His creatures, leads one to Paradise in the company of Prophets and the righteous. But seeking knowledge for personal, mundane, or worldly motives leads a person to ignorance, sins against the creatures of Allah, and ultimately, Hell.
Be sincere towards Allah in seeking knowledge – and indeed in all your affairs; if you intend to dispel ignorance from yourself and from others, and to draw closer to Allah first of all, then this is worship. And you should not seek to show off to people with your knowledge or to argue with the foolish.
One must follow the right way of acquiring knowledge, starting with what is easy before embarking on difficult matters. It is also essential to use a balanced approach and not to take on more than you can handle so that you will not give up.
There is no excuse not to seek knowledge especially in this technological and information age. Allah has given us many ways nowadays that make it easy to seek the knowledge without any hardship and without having to leave the comfort of your home; that is by means of electronics (computer, smartphones, etc) and the internet/wifi.
To begin the path...
You should allocate time for reading Qur'an and for all other branches of knowledge everyday. Read a little about Tawheed and about hadeeth and fiqh and all other branches of knowledge. If you can't travel and study at traditional or formal Islamic schools, there are various sources available online that provide guided study and you should enroll in their program.
You should memorize some of the Qur’an. This can only be achieved by following and sticking to a daily program of memorizing a certain amount.
You should read summaries of all branches of knowledge, and leave the detailed works until later. In almost every branch of knowledge there are books which give a gradual approach, starting with brief discussions and ending with lengthy and detailed analysis. Strive to memorize these texts if you can, because memorizing evidence, whether from the Qur’an or Sunnah, and memorizing the texts of knowledge will help you to follow the correct path to knowledge. The scholars said, “Whoever memorizes the texts has excelled.” You should strive to study the commentaries on these books.
Seek Allah's help always, putting your trust in Allah, pursuing the appropriate means, and praying to Him to make things easy are all among the greatest and most beneficial means of reaching one's goal. Shyness should not prevent you from seeking knowledge and asking questions.
One of the salaf said, “No shy or arrogant person will ever seek knowledge.” So shyness should not stop you from asking questions about Islam. And arrogance is harmful in this world and in the Hereafter; one of its harmful effects in this world is that it keeps a person from asking and learning.
O Allah teach us what is beneficial to us and benefit us by what you have taught us and increase us in knowledge. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassallam
Recommended Online Institutes
Free Online Courses: SeekersHub
Free Arabic Course: Institute of the Language of the Qur'an
Bayyinah
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Importance of Trust in Relationship
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Trust is an important component in a healthy relationship. It may be the most vital ingredient to a successful relationship. If your relationship lacks trust, it's hard to get close to the other person and to rely on him or her for support.
Likewise, you won't be able to get close to Allah if you don't have trust in Him. How then can you rely on Allah if you don't trust Him?
Allah has many Names. He Alone owns the most beautiful of Names. Each of them has its own benefits but what ties His Names together is trust. No matter which Name we call Him, trust is a common thread in the relationship between us and Allah.
For example,
When we call on Al-Rahman, we are calling on Allah's mercy. We trust His mercy will come when needed, we trust that His mercy will come in full amount, ...
When we call on Al-'Aleem, we are calling on the Knower of all. We trust what He knows, what He wants us to know, what He doesn't want us to know, ...
When we call on Al-Hakim, we are calling on the Perfectly Wise. We trust His wisdom.
When we call upon Al-Khaaliq, we are calling the Creator. We trust why He created us, why He created us the way we are, why He did not make us taller or shorter, why He created us a different ethnicity...
When we call upon Al-Wadud, we are calling on the Loving One. We trust that He is truly forgiving, all-embracing in His love.
When we call upon Al-Razzaq, we are calling on the the Sustainer of all the worlds. We trust that He will provided for us sustenance out of the good things of life
When we call on Al-Tawwab, we are calling on the Guide to Repentance. We trust that He will accept our sincere repentance
Trust is something that needs to be developed and nurtured in any relationship. Trust in Allah is built through calling on His most beautiful Names. Trust will lead to respect and awe.
So keep calling on His Names. We should try to call upon all His 99 Names once daily while reflecting on its meanings.
May Allah make us of those whose tongues are moist calling upon His Beautiful Names. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives
Beautiful Windows
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Trust is an important component in a healthy relationship. It may be the most vital ingredient to a successful relationship. If your relationship lacks trust, it's hard to get close to the other person and to rely on him or her for support.
Likewise, you won't be able to get close to Allah if you don't have trust in Him. How then can you rely on Allah if you don't trust Him?
Allah has many Names. He Alone owns the most beautiful of Names. Each of them has its own benefits but what ties His Names together is trust. No matter which Name we call Him, trust is a common thread in the relationship between us and Allah.
For example,
When we call on Al-Rahman, we are calling on Allah's mercy. We trust His mercy will come when needed, we trust that His mercy will come in full amount, ...
When we call on Al-'Aleem, we are calling on the Knower of all. We trust what He knows, what He wants us to know, what He doesn't want us to know, ...
When we call on Al-Hakim, we are calling on the Perfectly Wise. We trust His wisdom.
When we call upon Al-Khaaliq, we are calling the Creator. We trust why He created us, why He created us the way we are, why He did not make us taller or shorter, why He created us a different ethnicity...
When we call upon Al-Wadud, we are calling on the Loving One. We trust that He is truly forgiving, all-embracing in His love.
When we call upon Al-Razzaq, we are calling on the the Sustainer of all the worlds. We trust that He will provided for us sustenance out of the good things of life
When we call on Al-Tawwab, we are calling on the Guide to Repentance. We trust that He will accept our sincere repentance
Trust is something that needs to be developed and nurtured in any relationship. Trust in Allah is built through calling on His most beautiful Names. Trust will lead to respect and awe.
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ﴿٨[Qur'an, Ta-Ha 20:8]
Allah - there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names. (8)
So keep calling on His Names. We should try to call upon all His 99 Names once daily while reflecting on its meanings.
May Allah make us of those whose tongues are moist calling upon His Beautiful Names. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives
Beautiful Windows
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Keep Shaytan Away With Best Speech or Silence
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 drivers for our behaviors -- knowledge/reason and emotion. When people get angry or upset, for example, over some speech, it is because they didn't use knowledge or reason, which if they did, it would actually prevent them from getting angry or upset. It is their emotion that has come to the forefront that drives them to anger. And Shaytan will come right in to make the situation worse.
Shaytan loves to create dissension between people. He does not use his words but he uses your words. He spices it up or down depending on the situation and presents the new flavor to the other side who will interpret it in the worse possible way.
Communication is not about words, it is about the perception of words. If you don't use the best choice of words, Shaytan will take the rest and create a horrible perception of what you mean. And that's how fights and arguments started, or on the quiet side, bad heart feelings which cause people stop talking to each other or become cold towards each other.
We have a beautiful example in the Qur'an on how to use the best words in communication especially when talking about other people's behavior against us. When Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) recounted Allah's favor, he did not bring up what his brothers had done to him. He never said Allah took him out of the well but said Allah took him out of prison. He concealed and covered his brothers' mistakes and not let his brothers dwell in their wrong against him. Such is a beautiful person.
What do you think would have happened had Prophet Yusuf started talking about what his brothers did to him and threw him in the well?
So choose the best words for your speech. And if you are on the receiving end and if you didn't like what the other person have said, give the other 70 excuses before you let your emotions take the driver's seat.
Hamdun al-Qassar, one of the great early Muslims, said, “If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves.” [Imam Bayhaqi]
Know who your real enemy is...often times it is not your fellow Muslim.
Of course, of the most virtuous traits of the believer is silence. Avoid talking too much, as plentiful speech is not free from mistakes. Excessive speech, beyond what is needed, is considered speech that doesn’t concern a person.
It is reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever is silent is safe.” Jabir ibn Samura, Allah be well pleased with him, was asked, “Did you used to sit with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)?” to which he replied, “Yes. He had long silences and seldom laughed. His companions would mention poetry and their business and they would laugh and he might smile.”
We should try to speak in small, measured words. The speech of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was clear, whoever heard it understood it; if someone wanted to count his words they could.
We should learn to be soft spoken, and not raise our voice unnecessarily. In the Qur’an, Luqman says to his son, “lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voices is braying of the asses.” [Qur’an, Luqman 31:19]
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day, then let him say the good or remain silent.”
Whoever wishes to speak, then choose words of remembrance of Allah, or commanding the good, or forbidding the evil; and he must avoid words that do not concern him.
It is said that nine-tenths of well being are in silence and that tribulations are connected to speech. One of the righteous said, “I imposed on myself to pray two cycles of prayer for every word that doesn’t concern me, but that proved easy for me, so then I imposed on myself to fast a day for every word that doesn’t concern me, but that proved easy for me and I didn’t desist, so then I imposed on myself to give one silver coin in charity for every word that doesn’t concern me, and I found that tough.”
We seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan. May Allah protect us from excessive speech and the tribulations that are connected to our speech. May Allah forgive our shortcomings and purify our tongues and grant us beautiful speech. May Allah unite our families, friends, and the ummah in good. Ameen. I ask those who was hurt by my speech to forgive me. May Allah bless you.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak 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.
There are two drivers for our behaviors -- knowledge/reason and emotion. When people get angry or upset, for example, over some speech, it is because they didn't use knowledge or reason, which if they did, it would actually prevent them from getting angry or upset. It is their emotion that has come to the forefront that drives them to anger. And Shaytan will come right in to make the situation worse.
Shaytan loves to create dissension between people. He does not use his words but he uses your words. He spices it up or down depending on the situation and presents the new flavor to the other side who will interpret it in the worse possible way.
وَقُل لِّعِبَادِى يَقُولُوا۟ ٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ يَنزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ كَانَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ عَدُوًّا مُّبِينًا ﴿٥٣[Qur'an, Al-Isra']
And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy. (53)
Communication is not about words, it is about the perception of words. If you don't use the best choice of words, Shaytan will take the rest and create a horrible perception of what you mean. And that's how fights and arguments started, or on the quiet side, bad heart feelings which cause people stop talking to each other or become cold towards each other.
We have a beautiful example in the Qur'an on how to use the best words in communication especially when talking about other people's behavior against us. When Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) recounted Allah's favor, he did not bring up what his brothers had done to him. He never said Allah took him out of the well but said Allah took him out of prison. He concealed and covered his brothers' mistakes and not let his brothers dwell in their wrong against him. Such is a beautiful person.
وَقَالَ يَـٰٓأَبَتِ هَـٰذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُءْيَـٰىَ مِن قَبْلُ قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّى حَقًّا ۖ وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِىٓ إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِى مِنَ ٱلسِّجْنِ وَجَآءَ بِكُم مِّنَ ٱلْبَدْوِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ أَن نَّزَغَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى لَطِيفٌ لِّمَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ﴿١٠٠[Qur'an, Yusuf 12:100]
... And he said, "O my father, this is the explanation of my vision of before. My Lord has made it reality. And He was certainly good to me when He took me out of prison and brought you [here] from bedouin life after Satan had induced [estrangement] between me and my brothers. Indeed, my Lord is Subtle in what He wills. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise. (100)
What do you think would have happened had Prophet Yusuf started talking about what his brothers did to him and threw him in the well?
So choose the best words for your speech. And if you are on the receiving end and if you didn't like what the other person have said, give the other 70 excuses before you let your emotions take the driver's seat.
Hamdun al-Qassar, one of the great early Muslims, said, “If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves.” [Imam Bayhaqi]
Know who your real enemy is...often times it is not your fellow Muslim.
Of course, of the most virtuous traits of the believer is silence. Avoid talking too much, as plentiful speech is not free from mistakes. Excessive speech, beyond what is needed, is considered speech that doesn’t concern a person.
It is reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever is silent is safe.” Jabir ibn Samura, Allah be well pleased with him, was asked, “Did you used to sit with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)?” to which he replied, “Yes. He had long silences and seldom laughed. His companions would mention poetry and their business and they would laugh and he might smile.”
We should try to speak in small, measured words. The speech of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was clear, whoever heard it understood it; if someone wanted to count his words they could.
We should learn to be soft spoken, and not raise our voice unnecessarily. In the Qur’an, Luqman says to his son, “lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voices is braying of the asses.” [Qur’an, Luqman 31:19]
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day, then let him say the good or remain silent.”
Whoever wishes to speak, then choose words of remembrance of Allah, or commanding the good, or forbidding the evil; and he must avoid words that do not concern him.
It is said that nine-tenths of well being are in silence and that tribulations are connected to speech. One of the righteous said, “I imposed on myself to pray two cycles of prayer for every word that doesn’t concern me, but that proved easy for me, so then I imposed on myself to fast a day for every word that doesn’t concern me, but that proved easy for me and I didn’t desist, so then I imposed on myself to give one silver coin in charity for every word that doesn’t concern me, and I found that tough.”
We seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan. May Allah protect us from excessive speech and the tribulations that are connected to our speech. May Allah forgive our shortcomings and purify our tongues and grant us beautiful speech. May Allah unite our families, friends, and the ummah in good. Ameen. I ask those who was hurt by my speech to forgive me. May Allah bless you.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
What Kind of Witness Are We to Humanity?
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 (Islam) consists of practices and behind those practices, there is a spirit. The prayer to most of us is a bunch of rak'aah but for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) it is a journey to the seven heavens, the greatest gift. The fasting for most of us is a diet plan but for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is the commemoration of the Qur'an being revealed, something so deep. Facing the qiblah is a routine thing we do everyday during prayer, and if we don't know the direction we check our smartphones. But for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), it is the inauguration of a new ummah and a revival of the legacy of Ibrahim (alayhissalaam), something so deep.
Unfortunately, over time this deep, powerful and meaningful heavy practices of our religion becomes shallow. A time will come when we will have people who follow the shallow end of the practices forgetting the spirit of the Deen entirely. They love the ka'bah but they don't know what it means by the legacy of Ibrahim (alayhissalaam).Then everything about the outside get really important. Religion is reduced to the outward. When the inward is reduced then what is left is the outward.
So, what kind of witness are we, as Muslims, to humanity?
The proof to this religion is how awesome Muslim society is. What is the state of our Muslim society? You don't have to look far to know. Just look in your own community, in the masajid, in your family. Wudu', prayer, fasting, giving charity, hajj, dress code, diet, etc is body worship, but no soul. It is possible that you have people dedicated to prayer, fasting, hajj, follow the dietary restriction of Islam, but they live a life of a materialist -- they still live for this world, their aspirations are limited to this life.
If we think the Muslim ummah is in crisis, there is no bigger crisis than us having to stand on the other side of the testimony of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam).
May Allah show us the falsehood as falsehood and give us the ability to stay away from it. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak 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.
Our Deen (Islam) consists of practices and behind those practices, there is a spirit. The prayer to most of us is a bunch of rak'aah but for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) it is a journey to the seven heavens, the greatest gift. The fasting for most of us is a diet plan but for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is the commemoration of the Qur'an being revealed, something so deep. Facing the qiblah is a routine thing we do everyday during prayer, and if we don't know the direction we check our smartphones. But for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), it is the inauguration of a new ummah and a revival of the legacy of Ibrahim (alayhissalaam), something so deep.
Unfortunately, over time this deep, powerful and meaningful heavy practices of our religion becomes shallow. A time will come when we will have people who follow the shallow end of the practices forgetting the spirit of the Deen entirely. They love the ka'bah but they don't know what it means by the legacy of Ibrahim (alayhissalaam).Then everything about the outside get really important. Religion is reduced to the outward. When the inward is reduced then what is left is the outward.
So, what kind of witness are we, as Muslims, to humanity?
The proof to this religion is how awesome Muslim society is. What is the state of our Muslim society? You don't have to look far to know. Just look in your own community, in the masajid, in your family. Wudu', prayer, fasting, giving charity, hajj, dress code, diet, etc is body worship, but no soul. It is possible that you have people dedicated to prayer, fasting, hajj, follow the dietary restriction of Islam, but they live a life of a materialist -- they still live for this world, their aspirations are limited to this life.
If we think the Muslim ummah is in crisis, there is no bigger crisis than us having to stand on the other side of the testimony of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam).
... وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِّتَكُونُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ ٱلرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:143]
And thus we have made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you...
May Allah show us the falsehood as falsehood and give us the ability to stay away from it. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Can Muslims Celebrate Mother's Day?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
It goes without saying that every committed Muslim is supposed to respect his parents, especially his mother, whether they are nice people or not, even if they happened to be non-Muslims.
Respecting one's parents is exhibiting the best possible behavior before one's parents, and includes: taking care of their physical well-being, honoring them, treating them well, acting in the best manner, and making no trouble for the parents.
Dutifulness to parents, especially the mother, and treating them kindly is an act of worship enjoined in both the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). There is a direct correlation between your ability of showing appreciation towards your parents and your ability to show appreciation towards your Creator. If you have a hard time appreciating your parents, who are in the seen, then it is only logical that you also have a hard time appreciating Allah, Who is in the unseen.
Just as worshiping Allah, being dutiful to parents is not confined to a specific time. It is an obligation that should be observed every time, as we all know.
What Islam goes against is to imitate non-Muslims by marking a special occasion such as celebrating the Mother’s Day in a way that shows that mothers do not deserve due respect and care save on this very day. If we are going to make the whole year a Mother’s Day, then Islam welcomes celebrating the occasion with open arms.
Muslim scholars have maintained various opinions regarding the issue.
Shaykh Faysal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states in part:
The well-known erudite scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi states in part:
Dr. `Abdul Fattah `Ashoor, Professor of Qur’an Exegisis at Al-Azhar University, concludes,
Whether you want to follow the position of it being halal or haram, ask yourself this question first...is what I am going to do will bring me closer to Allah or further away from Allah. Be honest with your answer. In the end you are the one who is going face Allah with your deeds.
May Allah guide us and enable us to be dutiful to our parents. Ameen.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archive
Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
It goes without saying that every committed Muslim is supposed to respect his parents, especially his mother, whether they are nice people or not, even if they happened to be non-Muslims.
Respecting one's parents is exhibiting the best possible behavior before one's parents, and includes: taking care of their physical well-being, honoring them, treating them well, acting in the best manner, and making no trouble for the parents.
Dutifulness to parents, especially the mother, and treating them kindly is an act of worship enjoined in both the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). There is a direct correlation between your ability of showing appreciation towards your parents and your ability to show appreciation towards your Creator. If you have a hard time appreciating your parents, who are in the seen, then it is only logical that you also have a hard time appreciating Allah, Who is in the unseen.
Just as worshiping Allah, being dutiful to parents is not confined to a specific time. It is an obligation that should be observed every time, as we all know.
What Islam goes against is to imitate non-Muslims by marking a special occasion such as celebrating the Mother’s Day in a way that shows that mothers do not deserve due respect and care save on this very day. If we are going to make the whole year a Mother’s Day, then Islam welcomes celebrating the occasion with open arms.
Muslim scholars have maintained various opinions regarding the issue.
Shaykh Faysal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states in part:
The Mother’s Day implies paying more attention and exerting more effort in expressing gratitude to mothers. So there is nothing wrong in that.
However, there are two reservations worth mentioning; first, considering the Mother’s Day a feast; second, confining the task of showing dutifulness to mothers to that specific day, giving implication that throughout the whole year, just only one day is for showing love to parents. If such two anomalous points are addressed, then there is nothing wrong in considering the Mother’s Day a chance to give more care to mothers.
Thus, we may take the Mother’s Day as a chance to lay more emphasis on our duty towards our mothers, as Islam enjoins us, because dutifulness to parents is a genuine Islamic teaching. But Muslims, in doing that, should never deviate from the Islamic teachings, they should do things in Islamic manners, not in Western manners. Hence, they would not be imitating the non-Islamic habits of the West.
Hence, viewed in juristic perspective, we can say that celebrating the Mother’s day is controversial among the contemporary scholars. While a group of them consider it haram (unlawful) as a kind of blind imitation of the Western non-Islamic habits, which have no benefit for Muslims, another group see it halal(lawful) on condition that showing gratitude and dutifulness to parents should not be confined to that day only.
The well-known erudite scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi states in part:
The Arabs tend to blindly follow the Western in their celebration of the Mother’s Day, without trying to understand the wisdom behind inventing such an occasion.
A Muslim must not allow any gap between him and his mother, he must offer her presents every time. This indicates that Muslims can dispense with such an occasion, the Mother’s Day. Unlike the case in the West, where it’s a vogue for some children to show indifference to their mothers’ feelings, and, what’s more, it is so common to see some parents being dragged to infirmaries (as their kids have no time for them), dutifulness to parents in Islam, alongside with worshiping Allah, is a sacred duty.
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ ثَلَـٰثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـٰلِحًا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ ۖ إِنِّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ ﴿١٥
And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims." (15) [Qur'an, Al-Ahqaf 46:15]
Reflecting on the aforementioned Qur’anic verse, we find it stressing both parents’ right, but reviewing the following verses we find them paying special care to the mother and tackling the hardships she suffers in pregnancy, fosterage and rearing children.
In this verse, Almighty Allah informs man of the debt he owes his mother since he was a fetus, passing by the process of childbirth, infancy, childhood until he comes of age. A child normally forgets the hardship which his mother underwent during pregnancy. Hence Almighty Allah draws his attention to such hardships, laying emphasis on her great status in Islam.
Dr. `Abdul Fattah `Ashoor, Professor of Qur’an Exegisis at Al-Azhar University, concludes,
Holding celebrations in honoring others and commemorating anniversaries are neither feasts nor Islamic. But one may seize any chance to express gratitude to those who deserve it. This is how we should consider the Mother’s Day. The mother has a special place in the Islamic culture, and all other civilized cultures. So it is something good to do anything to please her and show gratefulness to her.
So dedicating a day to showing good feelings towards parents, especially the mother, is by no means blameworthy as it does not contradict the Islamic teachings, nor can it be merely considered a form of joining the Western vogue of making celebrations. Conversely, it is a kind of devotion to Allah’s orders that we should be dutiful to our parents.
Whether you want to follow the position of it being halal or haram, ask yourself this question first...is what I am going to do will bring me closer to Allah or further away from Allah. Be honest with your answer. In the end you are the one who is going face Allah with your deeds.
May Allah guide us and enable us to be dutiful to our parents. Ameen.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archive
Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother
Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
It is obvious that your parents deserve your utmost respect and devotion, second only to your Creator.
Allah Almighty says,
The fact that Allah has mentioned parents in the same verse as Himself shows the extent to which we should strive in our efforts to serve our parents who sacrificed so much for us. Doing so will help us to become better people.
Allah Almighty says,
No one can deny the supreme sacrifice and care that a mother gives to her child. The debt we owe to our mothers is magnified due to the difficult nature of pregnancy and giving birth - not to mention the nurturing and attention paid to us during infancy.
A man came to Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, O Allah's Messenger! Who is more entitled to get my good companionship?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Your mother." The man said. "Who is next?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Your father.” [Bukhari]
A man once consulted the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet." [Tirmidhi]
On another occasion, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Allah has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers..." [Bukhari]
Allah Almighty says,
In other words, we must treat our mothers in a manner befitting their exalted position.
Each of us should appreciate what we have in our mothers. They are our teachers and our role models. Every day with them is an opportunity to grow as a person. Every day away from them is a missed opportunity.
A father’s sacrifice is just as big. It is the father who is given the responsibility to to provide for the family. Every day, without wasting time, the father goes to work, be it using his mental faculties or thru physical labor, with perseverance and determination, so he can provide for his family.
Parents hope for their children to succeed in life--that they become Godfearing, have excellent character and praiseworthy manners, and they are dutiful to their parents and their own families, and useful to society.
A child who has achieved this is the one who gladdens the heart of his/her parents, and like a child who is mentioned in the following du'a:
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
When a person dies, he ceases to receive reward for his deeds with the exception of the following: establishing a foundation for the welfare of the public (for example, building a mosque, school, hospital, etc.), knowledge which has benefited others, and a virtuous offspring who supplicates for him. [Bukhari].
Every child must aspire to fulfill the desires and hopes of his/her parents and constantly strive to be virtuous. A child who is good to his parents will be bounteously rewarded with Paradise in the Hereafter and will enjoy a life of happiness in this world before the next. On the other hand, a child who mistreats his parents will incur the wrath of Allah and will be punished in this world before the next.
"Allah’s pleasure ceases when the parents’ pleasure cease; Allah's Wrath ceases when the parents’ wrath cease." [Bukhari]
Narrated Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was asked about the great sins He said, "They are:−− (1 ) To join others in worship with Allah, (2) To be undutiful to one's parents. (3) To kill a person (which Allah has forbidden to kill) (i.e. to commit the crime of murdering). (4) And to give a false witness." [Bukhari]
"The punishment of every sin will be held back till the Day of Judgment with exception of the sin of going against one’s parents, in which case, punishment will take place during his lifetime before his death." [Tabarani].
It has been narrated that Alqamah was a good companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He was very diligent when it came to praying, fasting and giving charity. However, upon getting married, his love for his wife was greater than for his mother. As a result, when he was dying, he was not able to recite the Kalimah "la ilaha illallah." The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked the mother to forgive her son, however, she refused to do so. Eventually, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) told Bilal to gather some firewood; and told the latter to burn Alqamah. Upon seeing this, the feelings of love for her son prevailed; forgave her son, after which, Alqamah was able to recite the Kalimah "La ilaha illah" as he breathed his last.
Children should help out their parents financially should such help be needed. A young man once came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) with a complaint that his father wanted to take his property. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied: Anta wa-maluka li-Abika [You and your property are for your father (to use)]
No doubt, having parents is a huge blessing. Show your gratitude to Allah by being grateful to your parents. Be kind to them and make du'a for them during each prayer.
Teach your children this du'a so they can make this great du'a for you and your parents.... Inshaa Allah. This good deed takes so little of your time but the reward is immense.
My Lord, forgive me and my parents and him who enters my house believing, and the believers male and female, the living from among them and those who have passed away
My Lord, have mercy on my parents as they nurtured me when I was little
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous
Ameen
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak 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.
It is obvious that your parents deserve your utmost respect and devotion, second only to your Creator.
Allah Almighty says,
وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۚ إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّۢ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا ﴿٢٣﴾ وَٱخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًا ﴿٢٤[Qur’an, Al-Isra' 17:23-24]
And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], "uff," and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. (23)
The fact that Allah has mentioned parents in the same verse as Himself shows the extent to which we should strive in our efforts to serve our parents who sacrificed so much for us. Doing so will help us to become better people.
Allah Almighty says,
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ فِى عَامَيْنِ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِى وَلِوَٰلِدَيْكَ إِلَىَّ ٱلْمَصِيرُ ﴿١٤[Qur'an, Luqman 31:14]
And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.
No one can deny the supreme sacrifice and care that a mother gives to her child. The debt we owe to our mothers is magnified due to the difficult nature of pregnancy and giving birth - not to mention the nurturing and attention paid to us during infancy.
A man came to Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, O Allah's Messenger! Who is more entitled to get my good companionship?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Your mother." The man said. "Who is next?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Your father.” [Bukhari]
A man once consulted the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet." [Tirmidhi]
On another occasion, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Allah has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers..." [Bukhari]
Allah Almighty says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًۭا وَنِسَآءً ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْحَامَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا ﴿١[Qur'an, An-Nisa 4:1]
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer. (1)
In other words, we must treat our mothers in a manner befitting their exalted position.
Each of us should appreciate what we have in our mothers. They are our teachers and our role models. Every day with them is an opportunity to grow as a person. Every day away from them is a missed opportunity.
A father’s sacrifice is just as big. It is the father who is given the responsibility to to provide for the family. Every day, without wasting time, the father goes to work, be it using his mental faculties or thru physical labor, with perseverance and determination, so he can provide for his family.
Parents hope for their children to succeed in life--that they become Godfearing, have excellent character and praiseworthy manners, and they are dutiful to their parents and their own families, and useful to society.
A child who has achieved this is the one who gladdens the heart of his/her parents, and like a child who is mentioned in the following du'a:
وَٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا[Qur’an, Al-Furqan 25:74]
And those who say, "Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous."
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
When a person dies, he ceases to receive reward for his deeds with the exception of the following: establishing a foundation for the welfare of the public (for example, building a mosque, school, hospital, etc.), knowledge which has benefited others, and a virtuous offspring who supplicates for him. [Bukhari].
Every child must aspire to fulfill the desires and hopes of his/her parents and constantly strive to be virtuous. A child who is good to his parents will be bounteously rewarded with Paradise in the Hereafter and will enjoy a life of happiness in this world before the next. On the other hand, a child who mistreats his parents will incur the wrath of Allah and will be punished in this world before the next.
"Allah’s pleasure ceases when the parents’ pleasure cease; Allah's Wrath ceases when the parents’ wrath cease." [Bukhari]
Narrated Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was asked about the great sins He said, "They are:−− (1 ) To join others in worship with Allah, (2) To be undutiful to one's parents. (3) To kill a person (which Allah has forbidden to kill) (i.e. to commit the crime of murdering). (4) And to give a false witness." [Bukhari]
"The punishment of every sin will be held back till the Day of Judgment with exception of the sin of going against one’s parents, in which case, punishment will take place during his lifetime before his death." [Tabarani].
It has been narrated that Alqamah was a good companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He was very diligent when it came to praying, fasting and giving charity. However, upon getting married, his love for his wife was greater than for his mother. As a result, when he was dying, he was not able to recite the Kalimah "la ilaha illallah." The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked the mother to forgive her son, however, she refused to do so. Eventually, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) told Bilal to gather some firewood; and told the latter to burn Alqamah. Upon seeing this, the feelings of love for her son prevailed; forgave her son, after which, Alqamah was able to recite the Kalimah "La ilaha illah" as he breathed his last.
Children should help out their parents financially should such help be needed. A young man once came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) with a complaint that his father wanted to take his property. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied: Anta wa-maluka li-Abika [You and your property are for your father (to use)]
No doubt, having parents is a huge blessing. Show your gratitude to Allah by being grateful to your parents. Be kind to them and make du'a for them during each prayer.
رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًۭا ...[Qur'an, Al-Isra' 17:24]
...My Lord, have mercy on them both (my parents) as they nurtured me when I was little.
Teach your children this du'a so they can make this great du'a for you and your parents.... Inshaa Allah. This good deed takes so little of your time but the reward is immense.
هَلْ جَزَآءُ ٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ إِلَّا ٱلْإِحْسَـٰنُ ﴿٦٠[Qur'an, Ar-Rahman 55:60]
Is the reward for good [anything] but good? (60)
My Lord, forgive me and my parents and him who enters my house believing, and the believers male and female, the living from among them and those who have passed away
My Lord, have mercy on my parents as they nurtured me when I was little
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous
Ameen
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Saturday, May 9, 2015
No Greater Honor Than Being A Slave of Allah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
The highest state any human being has reached is when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) goes in the company of Allah Almighty during al-Isra' wa al-Mi'raj (midnight journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and the Ascent to the heavens). This journey signal honor and distinctive miracle of the beloved Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam). Yet the term Allah used to honor him (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) at that highest place is that we associate with no status at all, that is 'abd (slave).
The word: بِعَبْدِهِ (bi'abdihi: His slave) used here for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is special. It shows that, in this magnificent setting of honor and welcome, when Allah, on His own, elects to call someone 'His slave', a unique bond of love lies embedded therein and that this is the highest honor any man could ever have.
This is to show that the standing of 'abd is the highest standing for there is no greater honor than humbling yourself before Allah.
Who are the true slaves of Allah?. Click the link.
May Allah make us among His best slaves. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
The highest state any human being has reached is when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) goes in the company of Allah Almighty during al-Isra' wa al-Mi'raj (midnight journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and the Ascent to the heavens). This journey signal honor and distinctive miracle of the beloved Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam). Yet the term Allah used to honor him (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) at that highest place is that we associate with no status at all, that is 'abd (slave).
سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ ﴿١[Qur'an, Al-Isra' 15:1]
Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing. (1)
The word: بِعَبْدِهِ (bi'abdihi: His slave) used here for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is special. It shows that, in this magnificent setting of honor and welcome, when Allah, on His own, elects to call someone 'His slave', a unique bond of love lies embedded therein and that this is the highest honor any man could ever have.
This is to show that the standing of 'abd is the highest standing for there is no greater honor than humbling yourself before Allah.
Who are the true slaves of Allah?. Click the link.
May Allah make us among His best slaves. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Beautiful Windows
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
We named things that have value to us. We don't name particle of dust or insects. Things are elevated through their names and if something is given many names, it shows that this matter is extremely exalted and also it gives you different angles to look and understand this named being.
For example, the Qur'an has many names--Al-Qur'an, Al-Kitab, Al-Tanzil, Al-Furqan, Al-Dhikr. Something that is magnified and extremely elevated might have multiple names. This shows the multiple points of perfection within which you view the named.
Allah has many Names through which we know Him. He is not showing all His Names to everyone. Some He shows to a particular person. Some He keeps to Himself. This is not unique in the Shari'ah that Allah hides something of virtue so we might exhaust our effort in finding it. For example, Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power in Ramadhan) is hidden from us so we might exhaust ourselves of finding it. The blessed hour on Friday when du'as (supplications) are answered are hidden so we might exhaust ourselves in finding it. All of the Names of Allah are not all listed so people might read, contemplate, know these Names and search for them. The hadith in the Tirmidhi version listed 99 Names of Allah. This is the common list of 99 Names of Allah that commentators comment on. But the hadith does not mean Allah has only 99 Names. But they are beautiful windows to know Allah in general.
The knowledge of Allah is why we are here. It is why Allah breathed the soul of life into each and everyone of us. Allah sent an angel to the wombs of our mothers when we were four months into our conception and it breathed into it a spirit of life. The spirit that was breathed into us is a secret of Allah.
The soul, which is a tremendous mystery of the mysteries of the universe, the soul which can be elevated to the ranks to be truly dear to Allah, this soul was only created to worship Allah.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both father and son) narrated: "Worshiping Allah means knowing Allah."
So the only spirit within our bodies, it is only here so that we might know Allah and we know Him through Allah's Names. Those who don't know Him and those who don't remember Him, have only miseries because they have turned away from that very reason they are walking on this earth.
Allah's beautiful Names are limitless perfection. If you learn something is perfect would you just be satisfied with knowing it? Allah is beyond our imaginations but Allah has described Himself with words which, in our limited way, we are able to emulate. In emulating the meanings we are drawing ourselves close to Allah.
Allah expects us to strive towards perfection and beauty and there is no perfection or beauty except in His Names. So our perfection and our beauty is to strive to emulate His Names, not merely just knowing the names and their meanings and that Allah has them because what this means your ears work and you know some Arabic. It is not simply a case of memorizing the Names either. Where is the rank? Children can do that. But we should really be deeply certain that Allah is characterized by these Names. We should look for deep veneration and feel in awe of these Names--how great is the Al-Ghafur, Al-Wahhab, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Wadud, and so on. This awe necessarily drives you to be like them and venerate them.
Anything opposite from Allah's Names is not perfection. Beauty is in these Names and anything opposite of these Names is not beauty. Excellence is in these Names and anything opposite of these Names is not excellence. Someone who knows this, how could he not want to have a share in this real perfection, excellence and beauty. Someone who doesn't want this is because he is ignorant or because his heart is filled with something else and this knowledge has not settled in him.
"The one looking at the Attributes of Allah must have a heart devoid of wanting other than Allah, for knowledge is the seed of longing." (Ghazali)
Knowledge is the seed of longing. When we learn about Allah's Names, this is the seed through which will grow the tree for longing of Allah and this longing will bring about action but if we plant this seed and there is no soil in the heart, the seed will get blown away and nothing will happen. So it is a very important that we look for deep certitude and veneration, followed by striving to acquire what is acquirable of Allah's Attributes.
"Verily Allah has ninety nine Names, one hundred except one; whoever encompasses them enters Paradise." (Bukhari)
"Verily, Allah Most High, has 99 Names; whoever encompasses them enters Paradise. He is Allah, the One who there is no god but He, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Malik, AlQuddus, Al-Salam, Al-Mu'min Al-Muhaymin, Al-'Aziz, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Khaliq, Al-Bari', Al-Musawwir, Al-Ghaffar, Al-Qahhar, Al-Wahhab, Al-Razzaq, Al-Fattah, Al-'Alim, Al-Qabid, Al-Basit, Al-Khafid, Al-Rafi', Al-Mu'izz, Al-Mudhill, As-Sami', Al-Basir, Al-Hakam, Al-'Adl, Al-Latif, Al-Khabir, Al-Halim, Al-'Azim, Al-Ghafur, Ash-Shakur, Al-'Ali, Al-Kabir, Al-Hafiz, Al-Muqit, Al-Hasib, Al-Jalil, Al-Karim, Al-Raqib, Al-Mujib, Al-Wasi', Al-Hakim, Al-Wadud, Al-Majíd, Al-Ba'ith, Ash-Shahid, Al-Haqq, Al-Wakil, Al-Qawiyy, Al-Matin, Al-Wáli, Al-Hamid, Al-Muhsi, Al-Mubdi, Al-Mu'id, Al-Muhyi, Al-Mumit, Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum, Al-Wajid, Al-Májid, Al-Wahid, Al-Ahad, As-Samad, Al-Qadir, Al-Muqtadir, Al-Muqaddim, Al-Mu'akhkhir, Al-Awwal, Al-Akhir, Al-Zahir, Al-Batin, Al-Walí, Al-Muta'ali, Al-Barr, At-Tawwib, Al-Muntaqim, Al-Afu, Al-Ra'uf, Malik al-Mulk, Dhul-Jalali Wal-Ikram, Al-Muqsit, Al-Jami, Al-Ghani, Al-Mughni, Al-Mani', Ad-Darr, An-Nafi', An-Nur, Al-Hadi, Al-Badi, Al-Baqi, Al-Warith, Al-Rashid, As-Sabur" [Tirmidhi]
Teach them to your children and your loved ones.
Translation of the 99 Names
May Allah teach us the knowledge of Him and grant us beauty inwardly and outwardly. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
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 named things that have value to us. We don't name particle of dust or insects. Things are elevated through their names and if something is given many names, it shows that this matter is extremely exalted and also it gives you different angles to look and understand this named being.
For example, the Qur'an has many names--Al-Qur'an, Al-Kitab, Al-Tanzil, Al-Furqan, Al-Dhikr. Something that is magnified and extremely elevated might have multiple names. This shows the multiple points of perfection within which you view the named.
Allah has many Names through which we know Him. He is not showing all His Names to everyone. Some He shows to a particular person. Some He keeps to Himself. This is not unique in the Shari'ah that Allah hides something of virtue so we might exhaust our effort in finding it. For example, Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power in Ramadhan) is hidden from us so we might exhaust ourselves of finding it. The blessed hour on Friday when du'as (supplications) are answered are hidden so we might exhaust ourselves in finding it. All of the Names of Allah are not all listed so people might read, contemplate, know these Names and search for them. The hadith in the Tirmidhi version listed 99 Names of Allah. This is the common list of 99 Names of Allah that commentators comment on. But the hadith does not mean Allah has only 99 Names. But they are beautiful windows to know Allah in general.
The knowledge of Allah is why we are here. It is why Allah breathed the soul of life into each and everyone of us. Allah sent an angel to the wombs of our mothers when we were four months into our conception and it breathed into it a spirit of life. The spirit that was breathed into us is a secret of Allah.
وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّى وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا ﴿٨٥[Qur'an, Al-Isra' 17:85]
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the ruh (spirit/soul). Say, "The ruh is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little." (85)
The soul, which is a tremendous mystery of the mysteries of the universe, the soul which can be elevated to the ranks to be truly dear to Allah, this soul was only created to worship Allah.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both father and son) narrated: "Worshiping Allah means knowing Allah."
So the only spirit within our bodies, it is only here so that we might know Allah and we know Him through Allah's Names. Those who don't know Him and those who don't remember Him, have only miseries because they have turned away from that very reason they are walking on this earth.
Allah's beautiful Names are limitless perfection. If you learn something is perfect would you just be satisfied with knowing it? Allah is beyond our imaginations but Allah has described Himself with words which, in our limited way, we are able to emulate. In emulating the meanings we are drawing ourselves close to Allah.
Allah expects us to strive towards perfection and beauty and there is no perfection or beauty except in His Names. So our perfection and our beauty is to strive to emulate His Names, not merely just knowing the names and their meanings and that Allah has them because what this means your ears work and you know some Arabic. It is not simply a case of memorizing the Names either. Where is the rank? Children can do that. But we should really be deeply certain that Allah is characterized by these Names. We should look for deep veneration and feel in awe of these Names--how great is the Al-Ghafur, Al-Wahhab, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Wadud, and so on. This awe necessarily drives you to be like them and venerate them.
Anything opposite from Allah's Names is not perfection. Beauty is in these Names and anything opposite of these Names is not beauty. Excellence is in these Names and anything opposite of these Names is not excellence. Someone who knows this, how could he not want to have a share in this real perfection, excellence and beauty. Someone who doesn't want this is because he is ignorant or because his heart is filled with something else and this knowledge has not settled in him.
"The one looking at the Attributes of Allah must have a heart devoid of wanting other than Allah, for knowledge is the seed of longing." (Ghazali)
Knowledge is the seed of longing. When we learn about Allah's Names, this is the seed through which will grow the tree for longing of Allah and this longing will bring about action but if we plant this seed and there is no soil in the heart, the seed will get blown away and nothing will happen. So it is a very important that we look for deep certitude and veneration, followed by striving to acquire what is acquirable of Allah's Attributes.
"Verily Allah has ninety nine Names, one hundred except one; whoever encompasses them enters Paradise." (Bukhari)
"Verily, Allah Most High, has 99 Names; whoever encompasses them enters Paradise. He is Allah, the One who there is no god but He, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Malik, AlQuddus, Al-Salam, Al-Mu'min Al-Muhaymin, Al-'Aziz, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Khaliq, Al-Bari', Al-Musawwir, Al-Ghaffar, Al-Qahhar, Al-Wahhab, Al-Razzaq, Al-Fattah, Al-'Alim, Al-Qabid, Al-Basit, Al-Khafid, Al-Rafi', Al-Mu'izz, Al-Mudhill, As-Sami', Al-Basir, Al-Hakam, Al-'Adl, Al-Latif, Al-Khabir, Al-Halim, Al-'Azim, Al-Ghafur, Ash-Shakur, Al-'Ali, Al-Kabir, Al-Hafiz, Al-Muqit, Al-Hasib, Al-Jalil, Al-Karim, Al-Raqib, Al-Mujib, Al-Wasi', Al-Hakim, Al-Wadud, Al-Majíd, Al-Ba'ith, Ash-Shahid, Al-Haqq, Al-Wakil, Al-Qawiyy, Al-Matin, Al-Wáli, Al-Hamid, Al-Muhsi, Al-Mubdi, Al-Mu'id, Al-Muhyi, Al-Mumit, Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum, Al-Wajid, Al-Májid, Al-Wahid, Al-Ahad, As-Samad, Al-Qadir, Al-Muqtadir, Al-Muqaddim, Al-Mu'akhkhir, Al-Awwal, Al-Akhir, Al-Zahir, Al-Batin, Al-Walí, Al-Muta'ali, Al-Barr, At-Tawwib, Al-Muntaqim, Al-Afu, Al-Ra'uf, Malik al-Mulk, Dhul-Jalali Wal-Ikram, Al-Muqsit, Al-Jami, Al-Ghani, Al-Mughni, Al-Mani', Ad-Darr, An-Nafi', An-Nur, Al-Hadi, Al-Badi, Al-Baqi, Al-Warith, Al-Rashid, As-Sabur" [Tirmidhi]
Teach them to your children and your loved ones.
Translation of the 99 Names
May Allah teach us the knowledge of Him and grant us beauty inwardly and outwardly. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Friday, May 8, 2015
Let's Read Surah Kahf Today (Friday): Your Friday "Wird" Regardless
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
A wird is a regular act that one does to go closer to Allah.
It is mentioned in the famous hadith Qudsi in Bukhari: Allah Almighty said,
The most beloved of works to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) were those which the person did regularly. [Bukhari]
Somebody who wants to come close to Allah, i.e. somebody who wants to be among the Saabiqun (Forerunners) as mentioned in Surah Waqi'ah, does not stop at the obligatory awrad. But he performs the recommended and voluntary acts, such as supererogatory prayers, sunnah fasting, salawat (sending blessings upon the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), istighfar (seeking forgiveness), reciting the Qur'an, giving charity, acquiring of sacred knowledge, invocation (dhikr) or reflection (fikr), etc.
Who are the Saabiqun? Allah Almighty says,
The best awrad (plural for wird) are those whose words were narrated from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) because Allah did not choose for him anything but the most perfect and the best, and he did not choose anything but that for his ummah.
Allah has prescribed on us a general regular devotions (awrad) which is the obligatory worship. This is the first step to draw closer to Allah. You have the daily awrad of establishing prayer 5 times again and again, the yearly awrad of fasting in Ramadhan and paying zakat, and once in a lifetime which is performing hajj. This is the minimum awrad that we must do in order to worship Allah.
To do a good job in worshiping Allah requires planning. This planning is done out of the spirit of slavehood, not out of greed of wanting something from Allah. Allah asks us to worship Him and so we do that. This is what a real slave would do. We don't go to Allah to ask Him to give this and give that. The proper manner is always to focus at what you should do rather than what you expect to receive because the slave does not expect anything but just does his duty.
There is a reward in this life for doing the regular acts of worship. By doing the acts, there is change that happens. With the change, there is knowledge that descend the heart and this is very pleasant. But the real reward is in the next life which outshines everything in this life. Allah, the All-Generous Master has promised and He doesn't break His promise. Our job is to just keep doing the awrad. He will fulfill His promise whenever He decides to do it.
It is a meritorious act to read the entire Surah Kahf on Fridays. You should not miss it. Set a time in the morning immediately after Fajr prayer to read it so you will be more likely to do it and maintain it. Don't leave it up to chance that you will get the time or even remember to read it after everybody wake up and start demanding your time or you get distracted with other things.
Our awrad are more important than anything else because if you miss doing them, you will miss it altogether. You can only do these acts in this life, and then it is over. So we should give them importance and our utmost for the fruits of these works will be for eternity and will come as a result of the works.
Another important wird on Friday is the salawat. Recite salawat today in abundance. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam)) said: "Increase your recitation of salawat on me on Friday because on this day Angels present themselves to me. There is no servant of Allah who recites salawat upon me, except that his voice reaches me from wherever he is". The Companions asked even after your departure? "He replied, Yes after my departure too, because Allah has made it forbidden upon the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets." [At-Tabarani]
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
May Allah increase us in worship and enable us to be consistent with our awrad and bless us with nearness to Him. 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.
Whoever has no wird is a qird (monkey).
[Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf]
A wird is a regular act that one does to go closer to Allah.
It is mentioned in the famous hadith Qudsi in Bukhari: Allah Almighty said,
...My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than what I have made obligatory upon him,...Then Allah Almighty said,
and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works until I love him...
The most beloved of works to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) were those which the person did regularly. [Bukhari]
Somebody who wants to come close to Allah, i.e. somebody who wants to be among the Saabiqun (Forerunners) as mentioned in Surah Waqi'ah, does not stop at the obligatory awrad. But he performs the recommended and voluntary acts, such as supererogatory prayers, sunnah fasting, salawat (sending blessings upon the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), istighfar (seeking forgiveness), reciting the Qur'an, giving charity, acquiring of sacred knowledge, invocation (dhikr) or reflection (fikr), etc.
Who are the Saabiqun? Allah Almighty says,
وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ ﴿١٠﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ ﴿١١[Qur'an, Al-Waqi'ah 56:10-11]
And the forerunners, the forerunners - (10) Those are the ones brought near [to Allah] (11)
The best awrad (plural for wird) are those whose words were narrated from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) because Allah did not choose for him anything but the most perfect and the best, and he did not choose anything but that for his ummah.
Allah has prescribed on us a general regular devotions (awrad) which is the obligatory worship. This is the first step to draw closer to Allah. You have the daily awrad of establishing prayer 5 times again and again, the yearly awrad of fasting in Ramadhan and paying zakat, and once in a lifetime which is performing hajj. This is the minimum awrad that we must do in order to worship Allah.
To do a good job in worshiping Allah requires planning. This planning is done out of the spirit of slavehood, not out of greed of wanting something from Allah. Allah asks us to worship Him and so we do that. This is what a real slave would do. We don't go to Allah to ask Him to give this and give that. The proper manner is always to focus at what you should do rather than what you expect to receive because the slave does not expect anything but just does his duty.
There is a reward in this life for doing the regular acts of worship. By doing the acts, there is change that happens. With the change, there is knowledge that descend the heart and this is very pleasant. But the real reward is in the next life which outshines everything in this life. Allah, the All-Generous Master has promised and He doesn't break His promise. Our job is to just keep doing the awrad. He will fulfill His promise whenever He decides to do it.
It is a meritorious act to read the entire Surah Kahf on Fridays. You should not miss it. Set a time in the morning immediately after Fajr prayer to read it so you will be more likely to do it and maintain it. Don't leave it up to chance that you will get the time or even remember to read it after everybody wake up and start demanding your time or you get distracted with other things.
Our awrad are more important than anything else because if you miss doing them, you will miss it altogether. You can only do these acts in this life, and then it is over. So we should give them importance and our utmost for the fruits of these works will be for eternity and will come as a result of the works.
Another important wird on Friday is the salawat. Recite salawat today in abundance. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam)) said: "Increase your recitation of salawat on me on Friday because on this day Angels present themselves to me. There is no servant of Allah who recites salawat upon me, except that his voice reaches me from wherever he is". The Companions asked even after your departure? "He replied, Yes after my departure too, because Allah has made it forbidden upon the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets." [At-Tabarani]
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا ﴿٥٦(56) [Qur'an, Al-Ahzab 33:56]
Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
May Allah increase us in worship and enable us to be consistent with our awrad and bless us with nearness to Him. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Heroes of Islam: Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (R.A.)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the tribe of Banu Huzail and was also the sworn ally of Banu Zahra. When he was still a youth, not yet past the age of puberty, he used to roam the mountain trails of Makkah far away from people, tending the flocks of a Quraysh chieftain, Uqbah ibn Muayt. People called him "Ibn Umm Abd" (son of the mother of a slave).
He had heard the news of a Prophet who had appeared among his people but he did not attach any importance to it both because of his age and because he was usually far away from the Makkan society. It was his custom to leave with the flock of Uqbah early in the morning and not return until nightfall.
One day while tending the flocks, ibn Mas'ud saw two men, middle-aged and of dignified bearing, coming towards him from a distance. They were obviously very tired. They were also so thirsty that their lips and throat were quite dry. They came up to him, greeted him and said, "Young man, milk one of these sheep for us that we may quench our thirst and recover our strength."
"I cannot," replied the young man. "The sheep are not mine. I am only responsible for looking after them."
The two men did not argue with him. In fact, although they were so thirsty, they were extremely pleased at the honest reply. The pleasure showed on their faces...
The two men in fact were the blessed Prophet himself (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his companion, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). They had gone out on that day to the mountains of Makkah to escape the violent persecution of the Quraysh.
The young man in turn was impressed with the Prophet and his companion and soon became quite attached to them.
It was not long before ibn Mas'ud became a Muslim and offered to be in the service of the Prophet. The Prophet agreed and from that day the fortunate ibn Mas'ud gave up tending sheep in exchange for looking after the needs of the blessed Prophet.
Ibn Mas'ud remained closely attached to the Prophet. He would attend to his needs both inside and outside the house. He would accompany him on journeys and expeditions. He would wake him when he slept. He would shield him when he washed. He would carry his staff and his siwak (toothbrush) and attend to his other personal needs.
Ibn Mas'ud received a unique training in the household of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He was under the guidance of the Prophet, he adopted his manner and followed his every trait until it was said of him, "He was the closest to the Prophet in character."
Ibn Mas'ud was taught in the "school" of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). ibn Mas'ud was the best at reciting the Qur’an among the companions and he understood it better than them all. He was therefore the most knowledgeable on the Shari’ah. Nothing can illustrate this better than the story of the man who came to Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) as he was standing on the plain of Arafat and said:
"I have come, O Amir al-Mu'mineen, from Kufah where I left a man filling copies of the Qur'an from memory."
Umar became very angry and paced up and down beside his camel, fuming.
"Who is he?" he asked.
"Abdullah ibn Mas'ud," replied the man.
Umar's anger subsided and he regained his composure.
"Woe to you," he said to the man. "By Allah, I don't know of any person left who is more qualified in this matter than he is. Let me tell you about this." Umar continued:
"One night the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was having a conversation with Abu Bakr about the situation of Muslims. I was with them. When the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) left, we left with him also and as we passed through the mosque, there was a man standing in prayer whom we did not recognize. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) stood and listened to him, then turned to us and said, 'Whoever wants to read the Qur'an as fresh as when it was revealed, then let him read according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd.'
After the prayer, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud sat making supplications, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Ask and it will be given to you. Ask and it will be given to you."
Umar continued: "I said to myself, I shall go to ibn Mas'ud straight away and tell him the good news of the Prophet's ensuring acceptance of his supplications. I went and did so but found that Abu Bakr had gone before me and conveyed the good news to him. By Allah, I have never yet beaten Abu Bakr in the doing of any good."
In another Hadith, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Learn the Qur’an from four people, Abdullah ibn Masood, Salim Maula Abi Huzaifah, Ubayy Ibn Kaab and Mu'az Ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with them).’ The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Read the Qur’an in the same manner as Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud teaches.’
Ibn Mas'ud attained such a knowledge of the Qur'an that he would say, "By Him besides Whom there is no god, no verse of the Book of Allah has been revealed without my knowing where it was revealed and the circumstances of its revelation. By Allah, if I know there was anyone who knew more of the Book of Allah, I will do whatever is in my power to be with him."
Ibn Mas'ud was not exaggerating in what he said about himself. Once Umar ibn al-Khattab met a caravan on one of his Journeys as caliph. It was pitch dark and the caravan could not be seen properly. Umar ordered someone to hail the caravan. It happened that ibn Mas'ud was in it.
"From where do you come?" asked Umar.
"From a deep valley," came the reply. (The Qur'anic expression used)
"And where are you going?" asked Umar.
"To the ancient house," came the reply. (The Qur'anic expression used)
"There is a learned person ('alim) among them," said Umar and he commanded someone to ask the person:
"Which part of the Qur'an is the greatest?"
" 'Allah. There is no god except Him, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep,' " replied the person answering, quoting the Ayat al-Kursi (the verse of the Throne).
"Which part of the Qur'an is the most clear on justice?"
" 'Allah commands what is just and fair, the feeding of relatives . . .' " came the answer.
"What is the most comprehensive statement of the Qur'an?" " 'Whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it.' "
"Which part of the Qur'an gives rise to the greatest hope?"
" 'Say, O my servants who have wasted their resources, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate.' "
Thereupon Umar asked: "Is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud among you?"
"Yes, by Allah," the men in the caravan replied.
ibn Mas'ud was not only a reciter of the Qur'an, a learned man or a fervent worshiper. He was in addition a strong and courageous fighter, one who became deadly serious when the occasion demanded it.
The companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) were together one day in Makkah. They were still few in number, weak and oppressed. They said, "The Quraysh have not yet heard the Qur'an being recited openly and loudly. Who is the man who could recite it for them?"
"I shall recite it for them," volunteered ibn Mas'ud.
"We are afraid for you," they said. "We only want someone who has a clan who would protect him from their
"Let me," ibn Mas'ud insisted, "Allah shall protect me and keep me away from their evil." He then went out to the mosque until he reached Maqam Ibrahim (a few metres from the Ka'bah). It was dawn and the Quraysh were sitting around the Ka'bah. ibn Mas'ud stopped at the Maqam and began to recite:
" 'بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ ﴿١﴾ عَلَّمَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ ﴿٢﴾ خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ ﴿٣﴾ عَلَّمَهُ ٱلْبَيَانَ ﴿٤
. . .
(The Most Merciful (1) Taught the Qur'an, (2) Created man, (3) [And] taught him eloquence. (4)..) [Surah Ar-Rahman]
He went on reciting. The Quraysh looked at him intently and some of them asked:
"What is Ibn Umm Abd saying?"
"Damn him! He is reciting some of what Muhammad brought!" they realized.
They went up to him and began beating his face as he continued reciting. When he went back to his companions, the blood was flowing from his face.
"This is what we feared for you," they said.
"By Allah," replied ibn Mas'ud, "the enemies of God are not more comfortable than I at this moment. If you wish. I shall go out tomorrow and do the same."
"You have done enough," they said. "You have made them hear what they dislike."
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud did Hijrah three times, twice to Ethiopia and once to Madinah. He participated in every Gazwah. It was he who beheaded Abu Jahl in Badr. It was to him that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) presented Abu Jahl’s sword as a share in the booty. The Khalifah Umar sent Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud to Kufa to educate the people and to take charge of the Bait-ul-Maal. When Umar fixed salaries for the Companions, he offered Abdullah a salary too. Abdullah refused and said, ‘Why do you try to turn me to the world.’
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud lived to the time of Khalifah Uthman. It was during this era that he retired from his post and returned to Madinah. When he was sick and on his death-bed, Uthman came to visit him and said,
'Uthman: What are you suffering from?
Ibn Mas'ud: From my sins.
'Uthman: Do you desire anything?
Ibn Mas'ud: The mercy of my Lord.
'Uthman : Shall I call a doctor for you?
Ibn Mas'ud: It is the doctor who has given me the ailment.
'Uthman: Shall I not give you your stipend which you have refused to take for years now?
Ibn Mas'ud: I have no need for it.
'Uthman: Accept it, [please]. You are leaving daughters behind you. It will help them.
Ibn Mas'ud: Do you fear poverty for my children? I have commanded them to read Surah Al-Waqi'ah every night for I have heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) saying, 'Whoever reads Al-Waqi'ah every night will never suffer from poverty.'
That night, in either 33 or 34 A.H, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud passed away to the company of his Lord, his tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah and with the recitation of the verses of His Book.
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the tribe of Banu Huzail and was also the sworn ally of Banu Zahra. When he was still a youth, not yet past the age of puberty, he used to roam the mountain trails of Makkah far away from people, tending the flocks of a Quraysh chieftain, Uqbah ibn Muayt. People called him "Ibn Umm Abd" (son of the mother of a slave).
He had heard the news of a Prophet who had appeared among his people but he did not attach any importance to it both because of his age and because he was usually far away from the Makkan society. It was his custom to leave with the flock of Uqbah early in the morning and not return until nightfall.
One day while tending the flocks, ibn Mas'ud saw two men, middle-aged and of dignified bearing, coming towards him from a distance. They were obviously very tired. They were also so thirsty that their lips and throat were quite dry. They came up to him, greeted him and said, "Young man, milk one of these sheep for us that we may quench our thirst and recover our strength."
"I cannot," replied the young man. "The sheep are not mine. I am only responsible for looking after them."
The two men did not argue with him. In fact, although they were so thirsty, they were extremely pleased at the honest reply. The pleasure showed on their faces...
The two men in fact were the blessed Prophet himself (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his companion, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). They had gone out on that day to the mountains of Makkah to escape the violent persecution of the Quraysh.
The young man in turn was impressed with the Prophet and his companion and soon became quite attached to them.
It was not long before ibn Mas'ud became a Muslim and offered to be in the service of the Prophet. The Prophet agreed and from that day the fortunate ibn Mas'ud gave up tending sheep in exchange for looking after the needs of the blessed Prophet.
Ibn Mas'ud remained closely attached to the Prophet. He would attend to his needs both inside and outside the house. He would accompany him on journeys and expeditions. He would wake him when he slept. He would shield him when he washed. He would carry his staff and his siwak (toothbrush) and attend to his other personal needs.
Ibn Mas'ud received a unique training in the household of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He was under the guidance of the Prophet, he adopted his manner and followed his every trait until it was said of him, "He was the closest to the Prophet in character."
Ibn Mas'ud was taught in the "school" of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). ibn Mas'ud was the best at reciting the Qur’an among the companions and he understood it better than them all. He was therefore the most knowledgeable on the Shari’ah. Nothing can illustrate this better than the story of the man who came to Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) as he was standing on the plain of Arafat and said:
"I have come, O Amir al-Mu'mineen, from Kufah where I left a man filling copies of the Qur'an from memory."
Umar became very angry and paced up and down beside his camel, fuming.
"Who is he?" he asked.
"Abdullah ibn Mas'ud," replied the man.
Umar's anger subsided and he regained his composure.
"Woe to you," he said to the man. "By Allah, I don't know of any person left who is more qualified in this matter than he is. Let me tell you about this." Umar continued:
"One night the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was having a conversation with Abu Bakr about the situation of Muslims. I was with them. When the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) left, we left with him also and as we passed through the mosque, there was a man standing in prayer whom we did not recognize. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) stood and listened to him, then turned to us and said, 'Whoever wants to read the Qur'an as fresh as when it was revealed, then let him read according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd.'
After the prayer, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud sat making supplications, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Ask and it will be given to you. Ask and it will be given to you."
Umar continued: "I said to myself, I shall go to ibn Mas'ud straight away and tell him the good news of the Prophet's ensuring acceptance of his supplications. I went and did so but found that Abu Bakr had gone before me and conveyed the good news to him. By Allah, I have never yet beaten Abu Bakr in the doing of any good."
In another Hadith, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Learn the Qur’an from four people, Abdullah ibn Masood, Salim Maula Abi Huzaifah, Ubayy Ibn Kaab and Mu'az Ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with them).’ The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Read the Qur’an in the same manner as Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud teaches.’
Ibn Mas'ud attained such a knowledge of the Qur'an that he would say, "By Him besides Whom there is no god, no verse of the Book of Allah has been revealed without my knowing where it was revealed and the circumstances of its revelation. By Allah, if I know there was anyone who knew more of the Book of Allah, I will do whatever is in my power to be with him."
Ibn Mas'ud was not exaggerating in what he said about himself. Once Umar ibn al-Khattab met a caravan on one of his Journeys as caliph. It was pitch dark and the caravan could not be seen properly. Umar ordered someone to hail the caravan. It happened that ibn Mas'ud was in it.
"From where do you come?" asked Umar.
"From a deep valley," came the reply. (The Qur'anic expression used)
"And where are you going?" asked Umar.
"To the ancient house," came the reply. (The Qur'anic expression used)
"There is a learned person ('alim) among them," said Umar and he commanded someone to ask the person:
"Which part of the Qur'an is the greatest?"
" 'Allah. There is no god except Him, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep,' " replied the person answering, quoting the Ayat al-Kursi (the verse of the Throne).
"Which part of the Qur'an is the most clear on justice?"
" 'Allah commands what is just and fair, the feeding of relatives . . .' " came the answer.
"What is the most comprehensive statement of the Qur'an?" " 'Whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it.' "
"Which part of the Qur'an gives rise to the greatest hope?"
" 'Say, O my servants who have wasted their resources, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate.' "
Thereupon Umar asked: "Is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud among you?"
"Yes, by Allah," the men in the caravan replied.
ibn Mas'ud was not only a reciter of the Qur'an, a learned man or a fervent worshiper. He was in addition a strong and courageous fighter, one who became deadly serious when the occasion demanded it.
The companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) were together one day in Makkah. They were still few in number, weak and oppressed. They said, "The Quraysh have not yet heard the Qur'an being recited openly and loudly. Who is the man who could recite it for them?"
"I shall recite it for them," volunteered ibn Mas'ud.
"We are afraid for you," they said. "We only want someone who has a clan who would protect him from their
"Let me," ibn Mas'ud insisted, "Allah shall protect me and keep me away from their evil." He then went out to the mosque until he reached Maqam Ibrahim (a few metres from the Ka'bah). It was dawn and the Quraysh were sitting around the Ka'bah. ibn Mas'ud stopped at the Maqam and began to recite:
" 'بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ ﴿١﴾ عَلَّمَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ ﴿٢﴾ خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ ﴿٣﴾ عَلَّمَهُ ٱلْبَيَانَ ﴿٤
. . .
(The Most Merciful (1) Taught the Qur'an, (2) Created man, (3) [And] taught him eloquence. (4)..) [Surah Ar-Rahman]
He went on reciting. The Quraysh looked at him intently and some of them asked:
"What is Ibn Umm Abd saying?"
"Damn him! He is reciting some of what Muhammad brought!" they realized.
They went up to him and began beating his face as he continued reciting. When he went back to his companions, the blood was flowing from his face.
"This is what we feared for you," they said.
"By Allah," replied ibn Mas'ud, "the enemies of God are not more comfortable than I at this moment. If you wish. I shall go out tomorrow and do the same."
"You have done enough," they said. "You have made them hear what they dislike."
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud did Hijrah three times, twice to Ethiopia and once to Madinah. He participated in every Gazwah. It was he who beheaded Abu Jahl in Badr. It was to him that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) presented Abu Jahl’s sword as a share in the booty. The Khalifah Umar sent Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud to Kufa to educate the people and to take charge of the Bait-ul-Maal. When Umar fixed salaries for the Companions, he offered Abdullah a salary too. Abdullah refused and said, ‘Why do you try to turn me to the world.’
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud lived to the time of Khalifah Uthman. It was during this era that he retired from his post and returned to Madinah. When he was sick and on his death-bed, Uthman came to visit him and said,
'Uthman: What are you suffering from?
Ibn Mas'ud: From my sins.
'Uthman: Do you desire anything?
Ibn Mas'ud: The mercy of my Lord.
'Uthman : Shall I call a doctor for you?
Ibn Mas'ud: It is the doctor who has given me the ailment.
'Uthman: Shall I not give you your stipend which you have refused to take for years now?
Ibn Mas'ud: I have no need for it.
'Uthman: Accept it, [please]. You are leaving daughters behind you. It will help them.
Ibn Mas'ud: Do you fear poverty for my children? I have commanded them to read Surah Al-Waqi'ah every night for I have heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) saying, 'Whoever reads Al-Waqi'ah every night will never suffer from poverty.'
That night, in either 33 or 34 A.H, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud passed away to the company of his Lord, his tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah and with the recitation of the verses of His Book.
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