Moving to a new website….
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
So, I’m back. After a couple of years. Better late then never.
I’m not sure if anyone still remembers me but in the small chance that you do, I thought I’d pop in to mention that I’ll be moving to a new website which means that all my blogs (mentioned under “My Blogs”) will no longer be updated. The only one that I might use in future is ummmuawiyah.wordpress.com but that would only be for class notes. [Also, please note that two months from now The Greatest Month will only be accessible via thegreatestmonth.wordpress.com.]
Why am I moving? Well, it’s easier to write on one website rather than multiple ones. Also, the new one is self-hosted so I can do more with it.
What about all those pending series that I had on these blogs? In shaa Allah, I plan to continue them on the new website.
Those who want to get my new articles would need to follow my new website.
Yes, I know. You’re waiting for the link. Here you go:
It’s still pretty bare (only three new articles) so please bear with me. If anyone has any suggestions, whether content or IT related, please do share them with me. [I already know about the editing issues….]
Lastly, my apologies to all those whose comments that I didn’t reply to. I just replied to the urgent ones and kept delaying the others. Sorry.
Baarakallahu feekum.
PS. Please excuse me if you get this post more than once in your email. It just means you’re following too many of my blogs…
Al-Muhajiroon Magazine’s Ramadan issues
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
“Magazine?”
Somehow, I knew that word would catch your eye.
What is “Al-Muhajiroon”?
Well, that’s the name of a bi-monthly magazine run by the sisters at the Enlightened into Islam Center in Kuwait. [Here’s their blog.]
And it’s quite nice indeed. [Those of you who want to know more about the Names of Allah will REALLY like it. They have an article on a Name in each issue.]
You can download all the previous issues here.
Here are the Ramadan issues:
[Click on the picture to download the issue.]
1) Servitude in Fasting (Year 1429 AH)
2) What is after Ramadan? (Year 1430 AH)
3) Two Occasions of Joy for the Person Observing Saum (Fasting) (Year 1431 AH)
4) Patience and Gratitude during the Month of Ramadan (Year 1432 AH)
5) Lailatul Qadr – The Night of Decree (Year 1433 AH i.e. this year’s edition)
The Centre has also produced a couple of books. You can find them all online here.
Two of them are related to Ramadan:
[Click on the picture to download the book.]
1) The Verdicts of Fasting
2) Zakaat-ul-Fitr (The Breaking Fast Charity)
PS. It’s a total coincidence that three of the last four posts (including this one) have links to Islamic magazines.
How to learn about the rules of zakaah in an easy way…
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Someone sent me an absolutely marvelous link on zakaah the other day.
It was an interactive e-magazine which explains the fiqh (jurisprudence) of zakaah in an easy way.
If you’re anything like me (i.e. the fiqh of zakaah just goes above your head), then this e-mag is for you:
http://www.islam21c.com/emag/zakat/
Make sure you click on all the links, otherwise you’ll lose out on the “interactive” part of the magazine.
[Note: Zakaah has nothing to do with Ramadan. It’s just that most Muslims seem to pay their zakaah in Ramadan.]
Website: Ramadan with Quran
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
In my now-famous* post, I mentioned a simple technique that someone could use to focus on the taraweeh prayers. [If you haven’t read that post, then please do. I think it travelled the globe…]
[*I use the term “famous” very loosely.]
Now I have an even simpler way: sign up for the following (free, I believe) month-long intensive course which offers a daily study of the Quran:
http://www.ramadanwithquran.com/
[This is the same brother, may Allah reward him, who runs the following beneficial blog: http://trueword.wordpress.com/]
It seems that he is going to do one juz daily, covering the translation, explanation and partial recitation. It sounds very good, maasha-Allah.
The course starts on July 15th and will continue until August 12th, insha-Allah, which is great because you can start preparing for the “taraweeh recitation” ahead of time.
[This will be held onsite (for those of you in Ontario or thereabouts) and online as well but you need to sign up first.]
Please remember to send the link to all those who may be interested, insha-Allah.
What if you aren’t able to take the course?
Well then, you should read the post that I linked to above as well as the following ones:
1) Some suggestions for reading the translation of the Quran
2) Summarisation of the first 12 Ajzaa of the Quran
[By the way, Brother Abu Tawbah did an entire series on this 2 years ago. The first 12 parts can be found here. I believe the owners of this website are selling the entire series.]
3) Surah Study Guide (for any surah)
4) Want some help with tajweed (recitation)? Here you go.
5) Want some nice word to word translations? Here you go.
All the resources that one needs are available online, alhamdulillah.
The real question is: Is the heart willing?
And Allah knows Better.
Step by Step – Step 2: Some suggestions for reading the translation of the Quran
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum
In Step 1, I mentioned that one of the problems that we have today is that many Muslims can’t understand the Quran and haven’t read it from cover to cover.
I then proceeded to bore you with my life story.
In this step, I’m going to suggest a practical plan as to how you can ACTUALLY do it.
Important note: I’m assuming that the reader is a native English speaker. If not, it would obviously be better for you to read the translation in your own language.
I haven’t much clue about other languages, just the following:
1) The Quran has been translated into many languages. However, some of these are by non-Muslims who hate Islam, so one needs to be careful.
2) As far as I know, a good authentic site to get the translation in different languages is : http://www.islamhouse.com/
3) Darussalam (the company, not the city in Tanzania – someone already had this misunderstanding today) has translations in many different languages.
4) I heard that there was a very nice translation in Urdu called “Ahsanul Bayan”. It’s published by Darussalam.
5) The abridgment of Tafsir in Kathir is available in French. It’s also published by Darussalam.
[And no, I’m not an Urdu or a French speaker, although I know a bit of both.]
Before I continue, I would like to point out something very, very important. There is a difference between reciting the Quran (i.e. the Arabic text) and reading its translation.
One of the rights of the Quran is to recite it so we have to fulfill this right.
Understanding the Quran is another right, so reading the translation will aid us towards fulfilling this right.
[Here’s a series I wrote on the rights of the Quran (I just realised that I hadn’t completed it!): Parts 1, 2 and 3.]
So, what would I suggest to an English speaker?
Basic Plan:
1) Decide whether you want to start with the Saheeh International translation or the Muhsin Khan one. I would suggest starting with the Muhsin Khan one and getting the one volume abridged version.
I wouldn’t advise starting with the word to word translation just yet.
2) Get yourself a copy of the translation of the Quran along with the Arabic text
3) Decide how many ayaat (verses) you are going to recite every day.
4) Each day, recite at least that many ayaat and then proceed to read the translation of each ayah (verse). [Start from Surah Al-Fatihah.]
If you have difficulty reciting and can’t get hold of a teacher at the moment, you can try to listen to the audio first for each ayah and then repeat after the reciter. This site has recitation as well as translation: http://tanzil.net/
5) Do this each and EVERY day until you finish reciting the Quran (i.e. you finish Surah An-Nas).
If you go to bed and remember that you forgot to recite the Quran, then my advice is to hop out, do wudhu and recite the required portion. This will train you to recite the Quran daily.
If you miss a day, then you might miss another day and so on, so you shouldn’t miss a single day.
6) Choose the other translation (e.g. if you chose Saheeh, move over to Mushin Khan) and then repeat steps 3-5 all over again.
If you wish, you may use both translations at once. It’s up to you. There are quite a few sites with the translations but they don’t have the accompanying notes, which is why it’s better to get the hard copy.
Intermediate Plan:
1) Follow Steps 1-5 of the Basic Plan.
2) In addition to this, decide if you want to finish reading the translation at a faster pace.
If so, choose one translation (preferably the Saheeh one) for using with your recitation. Depending on how easy you find it to recite, this one could take quite some time.
Choose the other one (preferable the Muhsin Khan one) and read the translation. This time you don’t have to recite it because you’re already doing that when you read the other translation so you can read through this one faster and take it with you wherever you go.
In both the above cases, I would advise you to take notes about whatever questions or thoughts you might have. [Read more about keeping a Quran Journal.]
3) If you are not a reader, and prefer to listen (apart from the translation that you are reading whilst reciting), choose a good translation and then listen to it in your car, iPod, etc as often as you can until you finish the whole thing.
This site (scroll to the bottom) contains many Quran recitations along with the translations: http://quranicaudio.com/
[The “fabulous” one that I referred to in Part 1 is the 3rd last one: Shuraim and Sudais with Aslam Athar.]
You can listen to one set and then proceed to listen to another.
Advanced Plan:
[It includes all of the above mentioned things.]
1) Recite whilst reading the translation (I recommend the Saheeh translation for this) .
2) Read the second translation (I recommend the Muhsin Khan one for this).
3) Listen to a third (I recommend the Pickthall “fabulous” one mentioned above for this.)
You’ll be doing all of the above in the same time period. This way, you’ll be really surrounded with the Quran.
4) If you want to be very brave, you can also read the word to word translation but I really don’t advise it until you’ve read the translation at least once. [I’ve mentioned many word to word translations in this post.]
Remember, don’t stop until you’ve finished reciting the translation until the end.
Insha-Allah, I hope that the post was clear.
What do you think? Is the plan helpful?
Perhaps you have another technique? If so, please share, baarakallahu feekum.
An Introduction to the Lord of the Worlds – Day 10
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[This post picks up from where yesterday’s post left off.]
6) There is a difference between the Names of Allah and His Attributes.
[Note: I’m translating this portion from my teacher Ustadh Azeez Farhan’s class notes on Aqeedah Al-Wasitiyyah.
Haven’t heard of him, say the UAE folks? That’s sad because he’s one of the most knowledgeable people in the country.
Obviously, he lectures in Arabic. Here’s his website.]
What is the difference?
Free classes in Ramadan by Abu Taubah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Brother Abu Taubah (of The FIKS fame) is offering free classes in Ramadan. The topics are basically centered around the Quran e.g. manners of dealing with the Quran.
The classes are held daily and recordings are available.
You can read more about the classes here.
In order to view the classes, go to this link and sign in with guest access. Then choose the Ramadan classes.
Insha-Allah, we should all benefit from these classes because what I’ve seen from Abu Taubah’s classes is that he goes into a lot of depth (but does so in a way that everyone can understand).
Juz by Juz summary of the Quran
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Last year, I had linked to the summarisation of the first 12 ajzaa (plural of juz) of the Quran.
That was by Brother Abu Taubah.
Last year, he had another series on summarising each Juz which was aired on some channel.
That series is being uploaded on this website juz by juz on a daily basis so that everyone can get a chance to view it before the taraweeh prayers of that day*.
[For the newbies: The Quran has 30 ajzaa, so the imams generally recite 1 Juz a day so as to complete the whole Quran in Ramadan.]
The summaries should help both with the taraweeh and understanding of the Quran, insha-Allah.
Article: The Importance of Learning the Arabic Language
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Reminder: Productive Ramadan is back up.]
Okay, so I said that I wouldn’t be linking to any more articles at present, and after that post, I haven’t.
Today, I came across this heart-warming and thought-provoking article on the importance of learning Arabic and I think it is something that everyone needs to read, especially now that Ramadan is almost here.
Here’s the article.
Read it carefully because it has SO MANY points of benefit. [Read the footnotes as well.]
Note to the sisters: Read the last part very, very carefully. [Umm Zakee’s notes can be downloaded here.]
Insha-Allah, I hope that those who don’t know Arabic ponder over this article and then decide to start learning Arabic ASAP.
The Greatest Month 