Three Ahadith (1)

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

(1) Hazrat Umar bin Khattab (ra) has related: "I heard the Holy Prophet (saw) as having said that intentions determine the worth of a person's actions and he will attain what he intends. If by immigration, his aim is to please Allah and His Messenger (saw), then his migration is for this purpose. And, if he migrates seeking the attainment of some worldly object, or for the sake of marrying a woman, so his migration will be reckoned for that particular object".

(Bukhari and Muslim)

(2) Hazrat Aisha (ra) has related that the Holy Prophet (saw) said: "An army will advance towards the Kabah, and when it reaches the plain of Bedai Madinah, the entire army will be devoured by the earth". Whereupon she said: "Messenger of Allah (saw), why should those who were unwillingly accompanying the army, and those who do not belong to the army, suffer?" The Holy Prophet (saw) replied, "The whole army will be swallowed up by the earth, but on the Day of Judgement, they will be raised up according to their intentions".
(Bukhari and Muslim)

(3) Hazrat Aisha (ra) has related that the Holy Prophet (saw) said: "There is no emigration after the conquest of Makkah but only Jihad (striving and fighting in the cause of Allah) will continue, and good intentions. So, if you are summoned to fight, you should respond."
(Bukhari and Muslim)

Wasalaam!

Do Not Be Afraid

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The world we live in is all consuming. Night melts into day, days slip in and out of weeks, weeks blur as the months go by and, before we know it, another year has passed, and we are wondering where the time has gone.

Everything around us jostles and fights for our undivided attention. Families, friends, work, studies – the demands on our time are seemingly endless. Often, we are so immersed in the mundanity of the everyday, in the demands of our personal lives, that we become inward facing. We begin to feel distant from world events, cut off from the larger battles that are being fought all around us – religiously, socially and politically.

And we forget that we, too, have a part to play in the events that are affecting the Ummah and shaping the societies we live in.

We forget that we are meant to be one body, feeling each others pain, sacrificing for one another, ransoming ourselves and our wealth for the sake of Allah.

We forget that we are supposed to be the best of nations, calling to good, warning against evil, worshipping Allah with every fibre of our being, with every action, public and private.

We forget that we were tasked to be the bearers of glad tidings, that we have been given the honour of carrying this message to the four corners of the earth.

We know how important this work is; we know what is at stake, and we know the prize that awaits us.

But so many of us are afraid.

We hesitate to tell the truth, in case the people turn away from us. We bite our tongues , worrying that we will offend, fretting that our words will wound instead of heal.

Many times, we shy away from the confrontations, from the battles, from the clashes of civilisation and civility that can sometimes accompany this call, this da’wah.

Indeed, many of us feel we don’t have enough knowledge to give da’wah, thinking that this call should be reserved for the experts. It is then that we need to remember that da’wah is not only in giving talks or taking part in debates – it is in the little things we do, too. The da’wah we give with our actions, our manners and attitudes.

For every one of us is a caller. Whether it is with a surah or hadith that is learned and taught, a lesson that is attended, a cause that is supported, a good deed, a kind word, we are all callers. And our call should be a sincere call to the truth; to our families and loved ones, members of our community, to Muslims and non-Muslims.

We should not be afraid.

I invite you to reaffirm your commitment to spreading the message of Islam. Recommit to sharing the beauty of the deen, with everything at your disposal, the resources, gifts and talents that you have been with blessed with.

“If Allah guides a person through you, it is better for you than all that is on the earth” (Bukhari and Muslim)

May Allah make it easy for us to make sincere da’wah part of our regular ibadah and bless us by guiding others through us – ameen.

 (By Naima B. Robert)

Quotes of the Week: 7th June - 14th June

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Brothers - make a habit of offering Salah at the masjid. Don't wait for six strong men to take you to the masjid for the first time at your Janazah.

Sisters - wear hijab and cover yourselves. Don't wait for your funeral shroud to be the first time your whole body is covered.

If I have been guided by Allah to make dua, then I know that the response will come with it.

(Umar ibn Khattab ra)

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but rising every time we fall. 

Allah only puts us into a clouded state of mind in order for us to see the light. He is waiting for that cry, not the cry of words but the silent cry that finally understands, and says, "Allah, it is only You that can help me".

Everyone will pass through times of sleep and neglect following his lusts but do not sink into sleep as the morning of the Hereafter is close at hand.

(Ibn Qayyim ra)

If you take a child and you throw the child up, there's a point where they go into this state of complete panic. And then, when they come back into your arms, they are laughing. That is this world, I guarantee you. That moment, that is our life. We came from Allah, and we're going back to Allah. And there is just a moment where we are in a complete state of panic. But just relax, we're in good hands.

(Shaykh Hamza Yusuf)

Have a blessed week, inshallah.

Wasalaam!

His Signs Are Everywhere

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Alhamdulillah, everything is perfectly created and planned. When we think of this concept though, we often think of the sun that comes up every day at its appointed time, the precise alignment of the planets, or our perfect anatomy. We think of our ordained provisions, our birth, our death, or other big events as a reminder of fate and destiny. Usually, that is what we think of when we reflect on the perfection of Allah's planning and creation. It is in those big moments that we sit there and ponder and reflect on the message Allah is relaying to us.

But a huge part of our life is made up of a million little events, small moments, and subtle happenings that we let go by without an ounce of reflection. It could be a piece of advice someone gave us, a lecture we attended, something we have heard or seen, a conversation we were a part of, or even a delay or setback we witnessed.

We forget that even those not so obvious events happened by Allah's Will, and they also contain wisdom and perfection.

These moments are not random. They are not coincidences. Like the big moments and signs, these little ones also contain their own little wisdom, message and an opportunity for us to learn and grow.





 190. Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.

191. Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire. 

(Surah Ale-Imran)

May Allah make us from those described in the above verses - Ameen.

Wasalaam!  

People of Substance

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Muslims are meant to be people of reflection, and really, as an ummah today we need to reflect. Why are we in the state that we are in? Is it a lack of numbers? And the answer to that is no. One in every five people walking on the face of this earth is a Muslim. Is it because of wealth and resources? Again, the answer is no. Many of the greatest natural resources are in the hands of the Muslims. So what is the reason? A billion in number, so much wealth, and why are we in the decadence that we find ourselves in today?
 
The reason for this is that there is a lack of men and women of substance.
 
Men and women were mobilized when Hazrat Ali (ra) became the khalifah, and this was at a time of great turmoil, Hazrat Uthman (ra) had just been martyred. He ascended the pulpit and his first inaugral speech, his first khutbah, was what? All he said was, "O people, you are in need of a man of actions and not a man who just speaks". And then he descended from the pulpit. And really, this was a miracle of the Prophet (saw), he created men and women of substance. Because he never worked on structures but he worked on the hearts and the minds of individuals, until he created men and women who changed the landscape of history. Men and women who were heavy in the scales of Allah.
 
Men and women like Hazrat Abdullah ibn Masood (ra). On one occasion, he was climbing a tree, and he had very thin shins, and when the Sahabah (ra) saw his thin shins, they began to laugh. And the Prophet (saw) asked the Sahabah (ra), "What is making you laugh?" They said, "O Messenger of Allah (saw), the thin shins of Abdullah ibn Masood (ra)". The Prophet (saw) said, "I swear by Allah, if the thin shins of Abdullah ibn Masood (ra) were placed in one side of the scale, and the Mountain of Uhud was placed on the other side of the scale, the thin shins of Abdullah ibn Masood (ra) would be heavier than the Mountain of Uhud". Why? Because every muscle, every drop of blood which ran through these thin shins was for the sake of Allah. They weren't a large mass, but they were of quality. And this is a sunnah of Allah - Allah never judges a group of people by their numbers. He judges them by their quality, by their substance.
 
The greatest men of this ummah were who? It was the 313 who participated in the Battle of Badr. On one occasion, Hazrat Jibraeel (as) descended to the Prophet (saw) and he said, "O Messenger of Allah, who are the best from your ummah?" He said, "Those who participated in the Battle of Badr." And Jibraeel (as) said, "Similarly, out of all those angels in the heavens, the most honorable and the best are those angels who descended on the day of Badr and assisted the Muslims. These were 313 men but they were men of substance. They trusted Allah. They stood against an army of 1000, who were armed to their teeth. They hardly had any horses, they hardly had any weapons but they trusted Allah until they reached a state which was unparalleled in the history of Islam.

In the time of the Prophet (saw), there was a Sahabi called Haatib bin abi Bultah (ra). And Haatib (ra) was a Badri Sahabi, and when the Prophet (saw) decided to attack Makkah, he informed the Sahabah. And what Haatib (ra) did, and he was a man who had migrated but he wasn't a Qurayshi. He wrote a letter to the people of Makkah, informing them of the plans of the Prophet (saw), and the Prophet (saw) sent Ali (ra), Miqdaad (ra) and Zubair (ra) and he said, "Go to the Garden of Khaaq, and there you will find a lady on a camel and with her she will have a letter and bring that letter back". And they went to the Garden of Khaaq and exactly where the Prophet (saw) said they found a lady on a camel and they said, "Give us the letter." And she said, "I have no letter." But these people trusted in the words of the Prophet (saw), they knew that if the Prophet (saw) said something, it was the truth. They said, "Give us the letter otherwise we will have to search you". And from the plaits of her hair, she brought a letter forth, which was from Haatib (ra), informing the people of Makkah about the plans of the Prophet (saw). The Prophet (saw) summoned Haatib (ra) and he said, "What's this, Haatib?" And Haatib (ra) said, "O Messenger of Allah (saw), do not hasten to pass judgement over me, because I am not a man who likes disbelief or I am displeased with Islam, but the reason I did this is because every other migrant Muhajir has family in Makkah who can help their direct family. I have no family, and the only reason I did this was so the people of Makkah wouldn't harm my family. And the Prophet (saw) turned to Haatib (ra) and he said, "Indeed, you have spoken the truth". And Hazrat Umar (ra) was standing there and he said, "O Messenger of Allah (saw), let me strike at the neck of this Munafiq!" And the Prophet (saw) said, "O Umar, didn't Haatib participate in the Battle of Badr?" And Umar (ra) said, "Yes, he did." The Prophet (saw) said, "Maybe Allah looks favourably upon the people of Badr, and He says, "O people of Badr, do as you wish because Jannah has become wajib upon you".

Why? Because these people trusted in Allah! Numbers never scared them. Nobody aspires to be a Salahuddin (ra). Nobody tries to be an Umar ibn Khattab (ra) or Abu Dharr (ra) or Abu Bakr (ra) or a Khadijah (ra) or a Fatima (ra). Nobody aspires to be like them. We live off our legacy. We remember these people but none of us aspire to be like them. 

May Allah make us all people of substance - Ameen.

(Shaikh Zahir Mahmood)

Wasalaam!

The Month of Sha'ban

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

All praise be to Allah - the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, Sha'ban, is finally upon us. First, we must continue to pray the dua which we started to pray in Rajab:

 O Allah, make the months of Rajab and Sha'ban blessed for us, and let us reach the month of Ramadan.
We should have hope in Allah that He accepts the second part of the dua for us, and allows us to reach the blessed month of Ramadan.

Apart from Ramadan, Sha'ban is the month where the Prophet Muhammad (saw) would fast the most.

Hazrat Aisha (ra) narrates, "The Prophet (saw) used to fast until we would say that he will never stop fasting and he would abandon fasting until we would say that he will never fast. I never saw the Prophet (saw) fasting for a whole month except the month of Ramadan and I did not see him fasting in any month more than in the month of Sha'ban"
(Sahih Bukhari)

Another Hadith mentions, ".. The Prophet (saw) used to fast the whole month of Sha'ban except for a few days. When he (saw) was asked the reason for this, the Prophet (saw) replied, "It is a month which people generally neglect between Rajab and Ramadan. It is a month in which deeds are brought before the Lord of the Worlds. Therefore I like my deeds to be raised whilst I am fasting".
(Nasaai)

Hazrat Anas (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) was asked, "Which fast is the most meritorious after the fasts of Ramadan?" He replied, "Fasts of Sha'ban in honour of Ramadan". 
(Tirmidhi)

The Prophet (saw) said, "Allah draws up a list of the persons who will die in the forthcoming year. Therefore I like that my death comes when I am in a state of fasting".
(Nasaai)

The month of Sha'ban should be valued in its entirety. We do not know if we will be alive this time next year to enjoy its blessings again, therefore we should make the most of it whilst we still have the chance. There are many people in their graves who would wish for a chance like ours. 

One of the main things that we should try and do is make up any missed (qadha) compulsory fasts or prayers that we have been unfortunate to miss. It doesn't matter how many we have - at least try and make a start, inshallah.

The 15th Night of Sha'ban

A blessed night in Sha'ban is the 15th night. A few Ahadith regarding this night are:

Hazrat Ali (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) said, "When it is the 15th of Sha'ban, then stand in worship at night and fast during the day. Because Allah descends in this night at sunset to the first heaven and says: "Is there any seeker of forgiveness that I may forgive him? Is there any seeker of sustenance that I may sustain him? Is there anyone in affliction that I may remove his affliction? Is there anyone like this, like that and so on?" This continues until Fajr".
(Ibn Majah)

Hazrat Muadh ibn Jabal (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) said, "Allah looks upon all those created by Him on the middle night of Sha'ban and forgives all those created by Him, except the one who associates partners with Him or the one who has malice in his heart against another Muslim.

Subhanallah, this hadith is saying that:

•  Allah will forgive you if you were created by Him - which we all were!
• Allah will forgive you if you don't associate any partners with Him and believe and worship only Him
• Allah will forgive you if your heart is pure and clean towards another Muslim. 

There are many people who have some kind of hatred in their hearts for another person or people. This feeling of hatred is what will stop you from being forgiven by the Lord of the Worlds. This is why we should forgive everybody and encourage others to do the same, inshallah.

What should be done on this night?
1. Pray optional namaz (nafil salah)
2. Recite the Quran
3. Perform Dhikr 
4. Pray Durood Shareef
5. Make dua and supplicate to Allah for all your needs

What should not be done on this night?
1. Refrain from all activities that displease Allah
2. Refrain from cooking special meals or having special celebrations for this night
3. Try not to perform optional acts of worship collectively, but try to perform them alone

This night is meant for worshipping Allah in solitude. This is the time to enjoy direct contact with the Lord of the Universe, and to devote one's attention to Him and Him alone. These are the precious hours of the night in which nobody should intervene between one and His Lord, and one should turn to Allah with total concentration, not disturbed by anyone else.

On this night, if one does feel tired, then it will be better for him to go to sleep rather than start doing something which is sinful and will waste time.

The Fast of 15th Sha'ban
It is mustahab (preferable) to fast on the day following the night of the 15th. 

May Allah give us all the ability to make use of this blessed month, reap its rewards and may He allow us to reach the month of Ramadan in good health and Imaan - Ameen.

Wasalaam!

Quotes of the Week: 31st May - 7th June

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

"The servant has two standings in front of Allah. A standing in front of Him during the prayer and a standing in front of Him on the Day of meeting with Him. Whoever stood for the first standing, giving its due right, the other meeting will become easier for him. And whoever took this standing lightly and did not perform it with its due right, the other standing will be hard and severe for him"
(Ibn Qayyim ra)

"Hold fast to truthful companions, live with them closely for they are a charm at times of ease and an aid at times of difficulty. Stick to the truth even if the truth kills you, and do not involve yourself with issues that don't concern you. Do not ask about things which haven't taken place for indeed, that which has already taken place is enough to occupy you from it. Do not seek help or take affairs from someone who doesn't wish to see you succeed, and do not befriend the sinful lest you learn from his sins and evil. Keep away from your enemy and be cautious from even your friend, except for the truthful and trusted friend. And no one is trustworthy except him who fears Allah."
(Hazrat Umar Ibn Khattab ra)

"Don't let your happiness depend upon something you may lose one day.There is only One who is eternal and won't perish. In Him, you can find true and complete happiness. Your Lord, the Lord of Mankind, make Him your reason to smile and you will have eternal happiness, insha allah."

"Hate no one, no matter how much they've wronged you. Live humbly, no matter how wealthy you become. Think positively, no matter how hard life is. Give much, even if you've been given little. Keep in touch with the ones who have forgotten you. And forgive those who have wronged you, and do not stop praying for the best for those you love".
(Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib ra)

"Deeds without sincerity are like a traveller who carries in his water jug dirt. The carrying of it burdens him and it brings him no benefit".
(Ibn Qayyim ra)

"Tell me, o lost soul, what is it you are searching for? What is it you wish to seek? Have you looked into your heart, that hole through which light seeps? Quit looking around blindly, for what you are searching for is before your very eyes. Only when you allow yourself to see, will your senses melt in humbleness before that very Light".

"He has so many other creatures yet He never forgets me, but I only have one Creator yet I've forgotten Him countless times".
(As-Saadi ra)

"Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you".

" You are confined only by the walls you build yourselves".

"If light is in your heart, you will find your way home".
(Rumi)

"Do not resent the calamities that come and the disasters that occur, for perhaps in something that you dislike will be your salvation, and perhaps in something that you prefer will be your doom".
(Hasan Basri ra)

"Your life is either an example or a warning".
(Al-Shareef ra)

Have a blessed week everyone!

Wasalaam!