He Will Never Forsake You...

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

What is our religion? Our religion is not just pray, fast and go to hajj or umrah many times, but also give to people their due rights. We need to pay attention to the people around us as well--our parents, our family, our neighbor, our guests, the poor and the destitute, people afflicted with calamities.

During the Prophet's, Allah bless him and grant him peace, spiritual retreat in a cave outside Makkah, he encountered Jibril alayhissalaam and was given the first Message. Profoundly perplexed and heavy hearted, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, rushed home and said to his wife, Khadija binti Khuwalid, Allah be pleased with her, "Cover me! Cover me! O Khadija, what has happened to me? I fear for myself!"

How did his wife responded and comforted him? She said:

Never! I swear by Allah! He will never forsake you...you keep good relations with your kith and kin, you help the poor and the destitute, you serve your guests generously, you assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones.

She didn't say, "Never! I swear by Allah, He will never forsake you..you pray, you fast, you spent a lot of time thinking about Allah..." because our relationship with Allah appears in our treatment of others, and she saw only the best of her husband by his excellent treatment of others.

This is the message from the tongue of the best woman of Paradise. It should remind us about the importance of choosing a righteous spouse (and to teach our children that) as well as keep family ties, help the poor and the destitute, serve the guests generously (don't be stingy) and help those who are afflicted with calamities.

Our religion is a social religion and by you serving His creation well for His sake, you are serving Allah. One certainly cannot claim to be religious or righteous if one is not good and merciful to others.

So evaluate ourselves.

How is your relationship with your parents, your children, your spouse, your family? How do you treat those under your charge, your neighbors, your teachers/students, your elders? What are you doing to help the poor, the needy and those afflicted with calamities? If you are oblivious of these things and lacking, change. They have certain rights in Islam and you have to give them their due rights and treat them in the best possible manner and Allah will not forsake you inshaAllah.

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Life Has Consequence

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

What we do in this life has a consequence in our next life and we should be concerned about this because the next life is our permanent life. Our religion, Islam, is meant to make us in tune with this reality so we live a life that will bring us the most benefit in the next life.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not bring a "feel good" religion nor philosophies nor abstracts. He brought actions, i.e details on how to live our lives--how to pray, make wudu', marry, divorce, transact, earning a living, etc.--and through these details we change. This is the idea of closeness to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. We hear and we obey.

One should exhaust every effort to learn the religion and learn the details of how to live one's life according to what his Creator wants. Ignorance is no excuse when we face the Lord on Judgment Day and we had fallen short of doing what Allah wants from us in this life. It would be too late to correct ourselves on that Day. If that happens, we can only hope for His Mercy but remember Allah is also Just. Evildoers and sinners will have their share of punishment by His Justice and good doers and the righteous will have their reward from the great bounties and favors of Allah.

May Allah make us His obedient slaves and protect us from disobedience and from His wrath and anger. Ameen. Please keep us in your prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

When We Read Surah Kahf Every Friday...

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

One of the recommended regular devotions of Friday is reciting Surah Kahf. There are many benefits in reciting Surah Kahf. Here are a couple:

Al Haakim who said it is sahih -- the hadith of Abu Saeed -- that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

Whoever reads Suratul Kahf on yaumul Jumuah, a light will shine for him between the 2 Fridays (until the next Friday).

Al Baihaqi also provided that hadith in "As Sunan" from the same narrators and from a different chain.

Ibn Mardwiyah from Ibn Omar, Allah be pleased with them both, who said the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

Whoever reads Suratul Kahf on yaumul Jumuah, for him light would shine from beneath his foot to 'Aden in the heavens, shining for him on the Last Day and he will be forgiven for what occurs between the 2 Fridays (minor sins).

There are many lessons in the stories that Allah related to us in Surah Kahf. One that strikes me always is the story of Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, thirst for knowledge and his determination to learn from a mysterious teacher, Khidr, peace be upon him, who he could find at the junction of two seas.

Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Even so that wisdom did not comprehend everything. Divine knowledge, as far as man is concerned, is unlimited. Even after Prophet Musa received his Divine mission, his knowledge was not so perfect that it could not receive more.

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَىٰهُ لَآ أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰٓ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِىَ حُقُبًۭا

"Behold, Musa said to his attendant, "I will not give up until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travel." [Qur'an al-Kahf 18:60]

How far are you willing to seek Divine knowledge? If you cannot go too far, take the opportunity of the programs at your local masjid. Even if they are not quite organized and perhaps inadequate, you can still learn something and improve it. Have patience. Don't give up. Allah sees what you are doing. If the intention is sincere and you are consistent, Allah will bless your efforts and make things easy for you and open up things for you in ways that you couldn't imagine. InshaAllah.

رَبَّنَا آتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا ﴿١٠

"Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance." Qur'an Al-Kahf 18:10

May Allah guide us and shower us with His Light. Ameen. Please don't forget is in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Allah Raises In Degrees Whom He Wills

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Arrogance, however slight, is unacceptable to Allah. If you have an ego problem and if that ego problem is making you intellectually arrogant, check yourself before you try to correct someone. Do you really want the best for this person or do you feel big because you think you have knowledge or do you want to show that you have more knowledge than this person? Check the sincerity of your heart because you might get away with people but Allah knows and Allah sees what is in your heart.

We have to be humble with whatever knowledge that Allah bestows on us lest we become like the non-believers. The non-believers acquire education to put a title beside their names--Dr so-and so--and for worldly gains--speaking engagements, lucrative compensation and perks, etc. We acquire the knowledge of this deen to seek the pleasure of Allah--not for titles, not for praises, not to be famous, not for ranks, not for money. The knowledge of the deen is supposed to make you humble and bring you closer to Allah.

Remember Allah, Al-'Alim, the All-Knowing One, says,

(نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَاتٍ مَّن نَّشَاءُ ۗ وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٧٦ ....

... We raise in degrees whom We will, but over every possessor of knowledge is one [more] knowing. (76) Qur'an Yusuf 12:76)

The more you have knowledge, the more it should humbles you, not the more judgmental you become, and then you start broadcasting that this person is deviant and that person is deviant, this person is an innovator, that person is an innovator. This act is a disservice to this religion. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un ( إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ -- To Allah we belong and to Him is our return). We must give people their due respect especially the elders, the imams and the people of knowledge in our communities. We don't talk against them.

The more you know, the more taqwa (Godfearingness) you should have, and that's how your rank will go up.

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

The Ones Brought Near to Allah

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. The most beloved of works to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, were those which the person did regularly. (Bukhari)

How does one draw closer to Allah. It is mentioned in the famous hadith Qudsi in Bukhari:

...My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than what I have made obligatory upon him,...

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--pray 5 times daily again and again, yearly awrad such as fast in Ramadhan every year, pay zakat every year, and hajj once in a lifetime. This is the minimum awrad that we must do.

Then Allah said,

and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works until I love him...

Somebody who wants to come close to Allah, i.e. somebody who wants to be among the Sabiqun as mentioned in Surah Waqi'ah, does not stop at the obligatory awrad.

وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ ﴿١٠﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ ﴿١١

And the forerunners, the forerunners - (10) Those are the ones brought near [to Allah] (11)
Qur'an Al-Waqi'ah 56:10-11

He performs the recommended and voluntary acts, such as supererogatory prayers, sunnah fasting, sending blessings upon the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, istighfar, reciting the Qur'an, giving charity, acquiring of sacred knowledge, invocation (dhikr) or reflection (fikr), etc.

The wird is a means to draw closer to Allah. So we should be doing the wird.

Whoever has no wird is a qird (monkey). --Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf.

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 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. Also, our awrad are more important than anything because if you miss this chance to do them, you miss it. You can only do these acts in this life and then it is over. But the fruits of these works will be for eternity and will come as a result of the works. So we should learn what is obligatory on us and do it; we learn what is forbidden on us and what is disliked and avoid it.

To do a good job in worshiping Allah requires planning. For example, if one plans to pray Tahajjud or Fajr, he should not leave it by chance that he will wake up and feel fresh if he wakes up. He should take a few steps before going to sleep, for example, set an alarm clock, take wudu' and pray 2 raka'a, maybe recite Surah Waqi'ah, make intention to wake up for the worship, go to sleep early, etc. This planning is done out of the spirit of slavehood, not out of greed of wanting something from Allah.

The proper manner is always to focus at what one has to do rather than what one expects to receive because the slave does not expect anything but just does his duty. Allah, the All-Generous Master has promised and He doesn't break His promise. He will fulfill His promise whenever He decides to do it. Our duty is to keep doing what we have to do, day in and day out.

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam