An Introduction to the Lord of the Worlds – Day 22
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Here’s Day 21.]
10. Many people don’t have a correct understanding of dua (supplication).
In this section, I’m not going to be focusing on the etiquettes of dua but rather some errors that people make with regards to dua. The reason for these errors is due to their lack of knowledge of Allah’s Names and Attributes and of His Rights.
a) Forgetting to do dua.
Unfortunately, this is a very, very, very common problem.
A couple of years ago, I had a Ramadan workshop and was talking about the importance of dua.
One of the sisters in attendance, came up to me at the end and told me that during the workshop, she realised that she hadn’t been doing dua. At all.
[Note: I do not teach anymore. I moved over to blogging.]
This was a bit shocking to me. How could people NOT do dua?
Subhan Allah, after that, I met so many people who had the same issue. Either they didn’t ask at all or they forget to do dua for things that they wanted!
One of my classmates was searching for a specific type of cat for her daughter and she was telling me the story. I asked her if she had done dua. No, she had forgotten.
Have you wanted something (halal) for a long time?
If the answer is yes, have you ever asked Allah for it? If you haven’t asked, then why not??
ASK ALLAH.
I repeat: ASK ALLAH.
An Introduction to the Lord of the Worlds – Day 21
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Here’s Day 20.]
[Note#1: This series started last Ramadan so for those who missed it, here’s Day 1.
Note #2: I made a mistake in yesterday’s post (which I corrected now). The ayah (verse) mentioned after the ayah about Ramadan is the one in Surah Al-Baqarah, not the one in Surah Al-Ghafir. May Allah reward the sister who pointed this out to me.]
9. Why do we need to know about shirk (polytheism) in dua (supplication) if we’re only calling upon Allah alone?
a) A thing is known through its opposite.
We won’t truly understand what “dry” is until we know what “wet” is.
We won’t truly understand what “hot” is until we know what “cold” is.
In the same way, we won’t understand the beauty of tawheed (worshipping Allah alone) if we don’t understand the ugliness of shirk (attributing partners to Allah).
Also, knowing what shirk is, will protect us from falling into it.
How to make a fresh start – Part 4
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Yes, I know. You’re struggling to remember what this series is all about. It’s about the man who murdered 99 people.]
In the last part, I mentioned the importance of having good friends. Here’s one more hadeeth on the importance of being around righteous people:
إن لله ملائكة يطوفون في الطرق يلتمسون أهل الذكر ، فإذا وجدوا قوما يذكرون الله تنادوا : هلموا إلى حاجتكم . قال : فيحفونهم بأجنحتهم إلى السماء الدنيا ، قال : فيسألهم ربهم ، وهو أعلم منهم ، ما يقول عبادي ؟ قال : تقول : يسبحونك ويكبرونك ويحمدونك ويمجدونك ، قال : فيقول : هل رأوني ؟ قال : فيقولون : لا والله ما رأوك ، قال : فيقول : وكيف لو رأوني ؟ قال : يقولون : لو رأوك كانوا أشد لك عبادة ، وأشد لك تمجيدا وأكثر لك تسبيحا ، قال : يقول : فما يسألونني ؟ قال : يسألونك الجنة ، قال : يقول : وهل رأوها ؟ قال : يقولون : لا والله يا رب ما رأوها ، قال : يقول : فكيف لو أنهم رأوها ؟ قال : يقولون : لو أنهم رأوها كانوا أشد عليها حرصا ، وأشد لها طلبا ، وأعظم فيها رغبة ، قال : فمم يتعوذون ؟ قال : يقولون : من النار ، قال : يقول : وهل رأوها ؟ قال : يقولون : لا والله يا رب ما رأوها ، قال : يقول : فكيف لو رأوها ؟ قال : يقولون : لو رأوها كانوا أشد منها فرارا ، وأشد لها مخافة ، قال : فيقول : فأشهدكم أني قد غفرت لهم . قال : يقول ملك من الملائكة : فيهم فلان ليس منهم ، إنما جاء لحاجة . قال : هم الجلساء لا يشقى بهم جليسهم
Narrated by Abu Hurairah (radiallahu anhu): Allah ‘s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “Allah has some angels who look for those who celebrate the Praises of Allah on the roads and paths. And when they find some people celebrating the Praises of Allah, they call each other, saying, “Come to the object of your pursuit.’ ” He added, “Then the angels encircle them with their wings up to the sky of the world.” He added. “(after those people celebrated the Praises of Allah, and the angels go back), their Lord, asks them (those angels)… though He knows better than them… ‘What do My slaves say?’ The angels reply, ‘They say: Subhan Allah, Allahu Akbar, and Alhamdulillah.
Allah then says ‘Did they see Me?’ The angels reply, ‘No! By Allah, they didn’t see You.’ Allah says, How it would have been if they saw Me?’ The angels reply, ‘If they saw You, they would worship You more devoutly and celebrate Your Glory more deeply, and declare Your freedom from any resemblance to anything more often.’ Allah says (to the angels), ‘What do they ask Me for?’ The angels reply, ‘They ask You for Paradise.’ Allah says (to the angels), ‘Did they see it?’ The angels say, ‘No! By Allah, O Lord! They did not see it.’ Allah says, How it would have been if they saw it?’ The angels say, ‘If they saw it, they would have greater covetousness for it and would seek It with greater zeal and would have greater desire for it.’
Allah says, ‘From what do they seek refuge?’ The angels reply, ‘They seek refuge from the (Hell) Fire.’ Allah says, ‘Did they see it?’ The angels say, ‘No By Allah, O Lord! They did not see it.’ Allah says, How it would have been if they saw it?’ The angels say, ‘If they saw it they would flee from it with the extreme fleeing and would have extreme fear from it.’ Then Allah says, ‘I make you witnesses that I have forgiven them.”‘
Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) added, “One of the angels would say, ‘There was so-and-so amongst them, and he was not one of them, but he had just come for some need.’ Allah would say, ‘These are those people whose companions will not be reduced to misery.’ “ [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No. 8, Hadeeth No. 417]
Ramadan 2012 Prep Tip #1: Seek Knowledge… – Part 5
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Here are Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.]
Some of the problems with the way knowledge is sought today (contd.)
4) Seeking knowledge in the 21st century way and not the way of the salaf (predecessors)
Okay, I wasn’t sure how to phrase this.
First, let me explain how the earlier generations used to seek knowledge and then I’ll mention what we (21st century humans) do instead.
[Please note: I’m NOT referring to using the Internet and such stuff. What I’m referring to is the mentality that we have today towards seeking knowledge.]
a) They learnt the knowledge of Islam in ARABIC because the Quran, Sunnah and books of the scholars are in ARABIC.
What do many of us do today? We wait for the books to get translated so that we can study them!
Listen, I have to say this. It’s going to sound nasty and rough but it’s for your own good:
Please learn Arabic. If you don’t then it won’t matter if all the books of Islam were translated, because they are ALL dependent on the language.The Quran, for example, is a linguistic miracle. The language that carries this miracle is Arabic. How can you translate that??? Ever heard of the term “lost in translation”?
You don’t have to be able to speak or write but you should be able to read books and listen to lectures. It’s okay if the whole process takes two decades. Let it. How many years have you wasted just dreaming about learning Arabic and waiting for books to get translated?
And no, Arabic is not hard. Allah said it was easy so that’s that.
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ
“And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?” [Surah Al-Qamar (54) :17]
If the Quran is easy to understand, then obviously the language of the Quran is also easy to understand. [By the way, Allah repeats this ayah (verse) FOUR times in this Surah. Ponder away.]
[I’ve already proven this silly notion (about Arabic being difficult) wrong in this post.]
A Day in Your Life – No. 3: How to do wudhu properly…
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[This is the series with all the lovely bathroom pics, remember?]
So where were you?
Well, currently you’re in the bathroom, dying to rush out and get some coffee.
Sorry, that’s going to have to wait. It’s time for Fajr and you need to do wudhu (ablution) first.
So, now you need to head over to the wash basin (or sink, if you prefer).
Photo courtesy of Artceram
[Why do I get the feeling that you’re still thinking about the coffee?]
So, how do you do wudhu?
Well, you do it the way the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) did it, of course.
If you’re a beginner, please read this post on my New Muslim blog.
If you want something more advanced, then try this book: The Prophet’s (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) Wudhu
Apart from doing the external actions the proper way, don’t forget to renew your intention when doing wudhu.
How can you do that? Well, one of the ways is to remember the many virtues of doing wudhu. Here’s one of them:
إذا توضأ العبد المؤمن ، فتمضمض ، خرجت الخطايا من فيه ، فإذا استنثر خرجت الخطايا من أنفه ، فإذا غسل وجهه خرجت الخطايا من وجهه ، حتى تخرج من تحت أشفار عينيه ، فإذا غسل يديه خرجت الخطايا من يديه ، حتى تخرج من تحت أظفار يديه ، فإذا مسح برأسه خرجت الخطايا من رأسه ، حتى تخرج من أذنيه ، فإذا غسل رجليه خرجت الخطايا من رجليه ، حتى تخرج من تحت أظفار رجليه ، ثم كان مشيه إلى المسجد ، وصلاته نافلة له
[Note: The sins being mentioned here are minor sins and not major sins. What’s the difference? I’ll write a future post on that, insha-Allah, when I start a new series on the major sins.]
So, try to remember this hadeeth whilst you’re doing wudhu. You’ll notice a big change in your wudhu.
You could also try to use a siwak. That will get you even more rewards!
So, now that you’ve finished your nice, proper, refreshing wudhu, what next?
Well, you need to leave the bathroom and recite the required dhikr (remembrance). After that, you would recite the adhkar (remembrances) for wudhu (i.e. those recited after it).
However, that’s for the next part.
To be continued…
Does this story sound familiar?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Yes I’m back, as my intensive course is over, alhamdulillah. Judging by the wide smiles, my classmates and I could have won the award for “Happiest Bunnies on the Planet”.]
So, there I was listening to the recitation of the last page of Surah Fussilat so that I could start memorising it.
I use Tanzil so that I can also check the translation at the same time (to make sure that I didn’t misunderstand).
I was stunned to come across the following ayah (verse):
وَإِذَا أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ أَعْرَضَ وَنَأَىٰ بِجَانِبِهِ وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ فَذُو دُعَاءٍ عَرِيضٍ
“And when We bestow favor upon man, he turns away and distances himself; but when evil touches him, then he is full of extensive supplication.” [Surah Fussilat (41) : 51]
My eyes popped out because this story sounded…familiar. Very familiar.
In fact, I think that each of us knows somebody who behaves in this manner.
You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?
Of course you do.
This ayah pretty much summarises our life story. What’s amazing is that, despite it being mentioned in the Quran, we still don’t take heed.
So, what should we do? Well, we should also remember Allah in times of ease, not just in times of hardship, because the latter is very easy to do (hey, just ask the person in the mirror) but the former isn’t.
May Allah make us of those who are grateful for His Favours.
Seriously Short Reminder No. 31: Remember that the Fire of Hell is hotter…
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
It was 45 degrees Celsius today here in Dubai.
And we haven’t even started summer yet.
Subhan Allah, we can barely stand this heat. Shouldn’t that make us feel even more fearful of the Hell fire?
Allah says:
فَرِحَ الْمُخَلَّفُونَ بِمَقْعَدِهِمْ خِلَافَ رَسُولِ اللَّـهِ وَكَرِهُوا أَن يُجَاهِدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ وَقَالُوا لَا تَنفِرُوا فِي الْحَرِّ ۗ قُلْ نَارُ جَهَنَّمَ أَشَدُّ حَرًّا ۚ لَّوْ كَانُوا يَفْقَهُونَ
فَلْيَضْحَكُوا قَلِيلًا وَلْيَبْكُوا كَثِيرًا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
“Those who stayed away (from Tabuk expedition) rejoiced in their staying behind the Messenger of Allah; they hated to strive and fight with their properties and their lives in the Cause of Allah, and they said: “March not forth in the heat.” Say: “The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat”, if only they could understand!” So let them laugh a little and (they will) cry much as a recompense of what they used to earn (by committing sins).” [Surah At-Tawbah (9) : 81-82]
The group of people mentioned in the above ayah (verse) did not take part in jihad (fighting for the sake of Allah) because it was “too hot” for them.
Sadly, we see many people doing similar things today:
– Men who don’t want to go to the masjid because it’s too hot outside.
– Women who don’t want to wear hijab because they feel too hot in it.
– People who don’t fast in Ramadan because the heat makes them tired.
Of course, it’s not the heat that’s actually the problem. It’s that we don’t want to harm ourselves in anyway. We want the easy way out.
Unfortunately, sometimes this leads many people to putting this world above the next. So for them, if they see an act of worship as being a burden, they just drop it because it’s too much trouble.
They don’t realise that the punishment in the Hereafter is much worse than anything that could happen to them in this world.
So the next time we undergo a trial or a punishment of any sort, let us remember the following:
– Hell is even worse so we need to be steadfast in our religion.
– Paradise needs to be earned. It’s not going to drop in our laps.
A Summary of….Life?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Note: Please read this post with an open mind, otherwise you’ll hate it. The style is different from all my previous posts. Then again, perhaps it isn’t. However, as with all my posts, if you find that I have written something wrong, then please do point it out.]
So, one hits puberty and life begins:
[Disclaimer: All images are courtesy of Google Images and do not belong to me.]
Seriously Short Reminder No. 26: Don’t let the wolves eat you up…
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
“What wolves?”
These two:
ما ذئبان جائعان أرسلا في غنم ، بأفسد لها من حرص المرء على المال والشرف ، لدينه
Ibn Kab ibn Malik Al-Ansari narrated from his father (radiallahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam): “Two hungry wolves let loose among sheep are not more harmful than a person craving after wealth and status, is to his Deen (Religion).” [Sunan At-Tirmidhi, Hadeeth No. 2376. Graded “sahih” by Al-Albani in Sahih Sunan At-Tirmidhi, Hadeeth No. 2376]
The Greatest Month 