Thursday, 18 October 2007

al-Kabaa'ir (the Major Sins)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

al-Kabaa'ir (the Major Sins)

Based on adh-Dhahabi's al-Kabaa'ir

and The Path to Paradise by M. Tahlawi

1. Associating partners with Allah (Shirk)

Great Shirk: worshipping beings other than Allah (proof all over Quran)

Small Shirk: Riya

The Prophet (saw), "Should I not inform you of that which I fear for you even more than the dangers of Dajjal? It is the hidden shirk: A person stands to pray and he beautifies his prayer because he sees the people looking at him". (Sahih; Sunan ibn Majah)

2. Committing murder: (Furqan; 68)

3. Performing Sorcery (2: 102)

4. Not performing the Prayers (Maryam: 59)

5. Withholding the Zakat (Charity) (3: 180)

6. Breaking the fast of Ramadhan or not fasting in that month without a valid excuse.

Prophet (saw) said, "Islam is built upon five pillars: testifying that there is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, performing the prayers, paying the zakat, making the pilgrimage to the house, and fasting the month of Ramadhan" (Sahih al-Jami # 2837)

7. Not performing the pilgrimage when one has the ability to do so (above hadith)

8. Disobeying one's parents (al-Isra: 23)

9. Cutting off the ties of relationships (Muhammad: 22)

10. Committing adultery or fornication (al-Isra: 30)

11. Committing sodomy

The Prophet (saw) said, "Allah will not look at a person (with pleasure) who commits sodomy with a man or a woman" (Sahih al-Jami # 7678)

12. Taking or paying interest (2: 275)

13. Devouring the wealth of orphans (4:10)

14. Forging statements concerning Allah or forging Hadith (al-Zumar: 60)

15. Fleeing from the battle (al-Anfal: 16)

16. Wrongdoing, deception or oppression on the part of the ruler (al-Shura: 42)

17. Being arrogant, boastful, vain (al-Nahl: 23)

18. Giving false testimony (al-Furqan: 72)

19. Drinking alcoholic beverages (5: 90)

20. Gambling (5: 90)

21. Slandering innocent women (al-Nur: 23)

22. Misappropriating something from the booty (3:161)

23. Stealing (5:38)

24. Committing highway robbery (5: 33)

25. Making false oath

Prophet (saw) said, "If someone is ordered to take an oath and he takes a false oath in order to take possession of property of a Muslim, then he will incur Allah's wreath when he meets Him" (Sahih al-Jami # 6083)

26. Committing oppression (al-Shuara: 277)

27. Levying illegal taxes

Prophet (saw) said, "Do you know who the bankrupt is? The bankrupt form my nation is the one who appears on the Day of Resurrection having performed the prayers, fasted and paid the zakat, but had also abused that person, slandered that person, wrongfully taken the wealth of that person and spilled the blood of that person. These people will take from his good deeds. If his good deeds are thereby exhausted, he will be given their sins and then he will be thrown into the hell-fire" (Sahih al-Jami #87)

28. Consuming forbidden wealth or taking it by any means (2: 188)

29. Committing suicide (4: 29)

30. Being a perpetual liar (3: 61)

31. Ruling by laws other than the laws of Islam (5: 44)

32. Engaging in bribery (2: 188)

33. Women appearing like men and vice-versa

Prophet (saw) said, "Allah's curse is upon women who appear like men and upon men who appear like women" (Sahih al-Jami # 4976)

34. Being a dayyouth

Dayyouth: is the one who approves the indecency of his womenfolk and who is void of jealousy or the pimp who facilitates indecency between two people

Prophet (saw) said, "Allah has forbidden the Paradise to three people: the alcoholic, the runaway slave, and the one who is complacent in the face of the evil deeds that his family is performing" (Sahih al-Jami # 3047)

35. Marrying for the purpose of making a woman allowable for another (Baqarah)

36. Not keeping clean from the remains of urine

Ibn Abbas reported that Prophet (saw) passed by a grave and said, "These two are being punished and they are not being punished for something hard. But it is a great sin. One of them did not keep himself clean form his urine and the other went around spreading tales" (Sahih al-Jami # 2436)

37. Acting for show (al-Maoon: 4-6)

38. Acquiring knowledge only for worldly gain or concealing knowledge (2: 160)

39. Breaching trusts (al-Anfal: 27)

40. Reminding people of one's kindness (2: 27)

41. Denying predestination (al-Qamar: 49)

"If Allah were to punish the inhabitants of the heavens and earths, then He would punish and He would not be doing injustice to them. If He were to have mercy on them, His mercy would be greater than from their actions. If a person had amount of gold equivalent to Mount Uhud or similar to Mount Uhud and spent it in the Path of Allah, (that spending) would not be accepted form him by Allah until he believes in the preordainment of good and evil. And until he knows that what afflicted him was not going to miss him and what missed him was not going to afflict him. If you were to die with any belief other than that, you would enter the Hellfire" (Kitab al-Sunnah by Ibn Abu Asi # 245. Albani says that its chain is sahih)

42. Eavesdropping on other's private conversation (Hujarat: 12)

43. Spreading harmful tales(al-Qamar: 10)

44. Cursing others

Prophet (saw) said, "Abusing a Muslim is evil and fighting him is disbelief" (Sahih al-Jami # 3598)

45. Not fulfilling one's promises

Prophet (saw) said, "Whoever has a four characteristic is a complete hypocrite. Whoever posses any of these characteristics has the characteristics of hypocrisy until he gives it up; whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it up…" (Bukhari)

46. Believing in what soothsayers & astrologers say Prophet (saw) said, "Whoever goes to fortuneteller and asks him about something will not have his prayer accepted for forty nights" (Sahih al-Jami # 5816)

47. A wife being rebellious to her husband (4: 34)

48. Putting pictures of beings with souls on clothing, curtains, rocks and any other items

Prophet (saw) said, "…the people who will receive the greatest punishment on the day of judgment are those who compete with Allah in creation [those who make pictures or statues]" (sahih al-Jami # 1691)

49. Striking one's self, wailing, tearing one's clothing, pulling one's hair & similar deeds as a form of mourning

Prophet (saw) said, "One who strikes his cheeks or tears his clothing and shouts in the manner of pre-Islamic culture is not one of us" (Sahih al-Jami # 5713)

50. Committing injustice (al-Shura: 42)

51. Being overbearing or taking advantage of the weak, slaves, wives or animals

Prophet (saw) said, "Allah will torture those who torture people in this world" (Muslim)

52. Harming neighbors

Prophet (saw) said, "A person whose neighbor is not safe from his mischief will not enter paradise" (sahih al-Jami # 7002)

53. Harming and abusing Muslims (al-Ahzab: 58)

54. Wearing one's clothes too long, i.e. below the ankles

Prophet (saw) said, "What is below the ankles will be in the hellfire " (Bukhari)

55. Harming the slaves of Allah

Prophet (saw) said that Allah said, "Whoever shows enmity to a slave of Mine (Allah's) I shall be at war with him" (Sahih al-Jami # 1778)

56. Men wearing silk & gold

Prophet (saw) said, "Gold and silk have been permitted for the females of my nation and forbidden for its males" (Sahih al-Jami # 209)

Prophet (saw) said, "Men who wears silk in this world will have no portion [of heavens] in the hereafter" (Muslim)

57. Running away of a slave

Prophet (saw) said, "If a slave runs away, his prayers will not be accepted" (Sahih al-Jami # 257)

58. Sacrificing animals for other than Allah

Prophet (Saw) said, "The one who sacrifices for other than Allah is cursed by Allah" (Sahih al-Jami # 4988)

59. Claiming that somebody is one's father while the claimant knows it is not true

Prophet (saw) said, "One who claims that someone is his father and knows that it is not true will be forbidden of paradise" (Sahih al-Jami # 5865)

60. Arguing or quarreling for show & not seeking the truth

Prophet (saw) said, "Whoever argues in support of something that is wrong and he knows it Allah will be angry with him until he stops" (Sahih al-Jami # 6073)

61. Not allowing excess water to flow to others

Prophet (saw) said, "Whoever doesn't allow the access water or pasture for others will not share in the blessings of Allah on the day of judgment" (Sahih al-Jami # 6436)

62. Not measuring the weights properly (al-Mutafafifeen: 1-3)

63. Thinking that one is safe from Allah's planning (al-Araf: 99)

64. Eating carrion, blood or pork meat (al-Anam: 145)

65. Not praying in the congregation & praying by one's self without a valid excuse

Prophet (saw) said, "Whoever hears the call to prayer and doesn't come to prayer, there is no prayer for him say for the one who has valid excuse" (Sahih al-Jami # 6176)

66. Continually not performing the Friday prayers and congregational prayers without any valid excuse

Prophet (saw) said, "If people don't stop abandoning the Friday Prayers Allah may seal their hearts and they will become headless" (Muslim)

67. Harming others by manipulation one's bequests (4: 12)

68. Being deceitful or deceptive (Fatir: 43)

69. Spying on the Muslims & pointing out their secrets (al-Kalam: 11)

70. Abusing or reviling anyone of the Companions of the Prophet (saw)

Prophet (saw) said, "Do not revile my companions for, by the one in whose hands is my soul, if you were to spend in charity a mountain of gold similar to mount Uhud it would not be equal to a handful or a half a handful (or what they have done)" (Sahih al-Jami # 7187)

Please make sincere repentance to Allah before as Ali (ra) said, "Today is deed without reckoning and tomorrow is reckoning without deeds". Sincere repentance has four conditions:

1) Feeling bad for the sin

2) Firm commitment in intention not to repeat sin (whether it happens again is not a condition if one tried his best)

3) Make repentance to Allah by Du'a and asking or better crying for forgiveness

4) If some person has been wronged because of this sin then one needs to make up to this person.

Source: IslamicAwakening.com

The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa'sallam said:

"The Muslim is a unique Ummah among the whole of mankind:

Their Land is ONE, their War is ONE, their Peace is ONE,

Their Honour is ONE and their Trust is ONE."

[Ahmad]

al-Birr and al-Ithm (Piety and Evil)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

al-Birr and al-Ithm

An Nawwas ibn Sam'an, reported that the Messenger of Allah said:

"Al-Bir (piety and righteousness) entails good conduct, while Al-Ithm (evil) is that which crosses your mind and which you hate for people to find out about"

Also, Wabisah ibn Ma'bad said: "I came to the Messenger of Allah , who then said:

"You came to ask about Al-Bir?' I said "Yes." He said. "Seek the answer in your heart! Al- Bir is that which your inner self feels good about, and that which your heart feels good about. Al-Ithm is that (evil thought) which crosses your mind and which is persistent (as being evil) in your inner-self, even if the people give you a Fatawa, time and again allowing what you feel unease about"

Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami said "This Hadith is among the Messenger's unique speeches, and one of the richest in meaning. Al-Bir is a unique word that entails each and every act of righteousness and piety. As for Al-Ithm, it is also a unique word that entails each and every act of sin and evil, whether major or minor. This is why the Prophet gave a contrast between the two words, treating them as antonyms."

Literally, Al-Bir entails meanings of obedience and truthfulness, as stated in Lisan Al 'Arab (Arabic Dictionary). The scholars have described Al-Bir as:"Al-Bir means to keep the relations, to be kind, to be grateful and to be kind with the friends and with one's company that he keeps. It also means to obey; and all these attitudes and types of good behavior combined describe good conduct."

Also, Ibn 'Hajar Al-Haytami said: "Al-Bir is a unique word that entails all acts of righteousness and good conduct". This is the general definition that conforms with the Hadith related by An-Nawwas ibn Sam'an, in which the Prophet describes Al-Bir as, "good conduct" while in the Hadith by Wabisah, he defines it as, "that which your inner-self feels good about."

Al-Bir, therefore, is general in meaning, and it entails treating the creation, such as and especially the parents, with kindness. Also, Al-Bir entails each and every act of piety and righteousness. Allah azza wa jal said:

"It is not Birr that you turn your faces towards the east and (or) west in prayers; but Al-Birr is the quality of one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat, and gives the Zakat, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sabirin (the Patient Ones) in extreme poverty and in ailment (disease) and at times of fighting (during battles). Such are the people of the truth and are Al-Muttaqun (The Pious)." 2 :177

Sometimes, Al-Bir is coupled with the word Taqwa, such as:

"Help you one another in Al-Birr and Taqwa; but do not help one another in sin and transgression." 5:2

In this case, Al-Birr means to treat people with kindness, while At-Taqwa means to obey Allah in what He has commanded and to refrain from what he has Prohibited. Furthermore, Al-Birr sometimes means, "To practice the obligations", while at-Taqwa means, "To avoid the prohibitions."

Source: IslamicAwakening

Tuesday, 2 October 2007

Video: Surah Al Balad Mishary Rasheed

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Sunday, 16 September 2007

Advice to Muslims in Ramadhan

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Advice to Muslims in Ramadhan

Abdullah al-Jarullah

Few intoductory and complementary notes by the translator:

1. Ramadhan is an auspicious opportunity for believers to renew their commitment to their Creator and the Sovereign of the Day of Recompense. This commitment must be both outward and inward, so that a Muslim not only recites more Qur'an and offers more units of prayer, but that she or he does so with reflection, humility and attentiveness.

2. Muslims must ensure they are not formalists who concentrate only on the outward. Achieving Allah's acceptance must be a believer's priority and is not easy. "Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear him - al muttaqoon]." [Qur'an 5:27]

3. Ramadhan is a wonderful opportunity for accounting of one's sins and making repentance. If one does not repent in Ramadhan, when will he or she do so?

4. Muslims should strive to worship Allah as best as they can from the beginning of the month, for that increases chances of the end of the month being good as well.

5. Muslims should consider what is it that they truly want to achieve in Ramadhan, whether they want to be from the winners or from the losers, and should make sure they do not perform acts of worship simply because it is the surrounding people's custom to do so.

6. Muslims must be firmly aware that Ramadhan is only a means and not an end.

Advice to Muslims in Ramadhan

From the book "Khulaasatul Kalaam" by Shaykh Jaarullah.

Brother Muslim, Sister Muslima:

1. Fast Ramadhan with belief and truly seeking the reward of Allah the Most High so that He may forgive you your past sins.

2. Beware of breaking your fast during the days of Ramadhan without a valid Islamic excuse, for it is from the greatest of sins.

3. Pray Salat ut-Taraweeh and the night prayer during the nights of Ramadhan - especially on Layatul-Qadr - based on belief and truly seeking the reward of Allah, so that Allah may forgive you your past sins.

4. Make sure that your food, your drink and your clothing are from halal means, in order that your actions be accepted, and your supplications answered. Beware of refraining from the halal while fasting and breaking your fast with the haram.

5. Give food to some fasting people to gain a reward similar to theirs.

6. Perform your five prayers on time in congregation to gain the reward and Allah's protection.

7. Give a lot of charity for the best charity is that of Ramadhan.

8. Beware of spending your time without performing righteous deeds, for you will be responsible and reckoned for it and will be rewarded for all you do during your time.

9. Perform `umrah in Ramadhan for `Umrah in Ramadhan is equal to Hajj.

10. Seek help for fasting during the day by eating the sahoor meal in the last part of the night before the appearance of Fajr.

11. Hasten breaking your fast after the sun has truly set in order to gain the love of Allah.

12. Perform ghusl before fajr if you need to purify yourself from the state of major impurity so that you are able to do acts of worship in a state of purity and cleanliness.

13. Cease the opportunity of being in Ramadhan and spend it with the good that has been revealed in it - by reciting the noble Qur'an and pondering and reflection of its meanings so that it be a proof for you with your Lord and an intercessor for you on the Day of Reckoning.

14. Preserve your tongue from lying, cursing, backbiting and slander for it decreases the reward of fasting.

15. Do not let fasting cause you cross your boundaries by getting upset due to the slightest of reasons. Rather, fating should be a cause of peacefulness and tranquility of your soul.

16. Upon completion of fasting, be in a state of taqwa of Allah the Most High, being aware of Allah watching you in secret and in public, in thankfulness for His favors, and steadfastness upon obedience of Allah by doing all what He has ordered and shunning all that He has prohibited.

17. Increase in remembrance of Allah, seeking of forgiveness, asking for Paradise and protection against the Fire, especially when fasting, while breaking the fast and during suhoor, for these actions are among greatest causes of attaining Allah's forgiveness.

18. Increase in supplication for yourself, your parents, your children and Muslims, for Allah has ordered making of supplications and has guaranteed acceptance.

19. Repent to Allah with a sincere repentance in all times by leaving sins, regretting those that you have done before and firmly deciding not to return to them in the future, for Allah accepts repentance of those who repent.

20. Fast six days of Shawwal, for whoever fasts Ramadhan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasts all the time.

21. Fast on the Day of `Arafah, the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, to attain success by being forgiven your sins of the last year and the coming year.

22. Fast on the day of `Aashuraa', the 10th of Muharram, along with the 9th, to attain success by being forgiven your sins of the past year.

23. Continue being in a state of iman and taqwa and perform righteous actions after the month of Ramadhan, until you die. "And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (i.e. death)". [Qur'an 15:99]

24. Ensure that you attain the positive effects of your acts of worship such as prayer, fasting, zakat and hajj, sincere repentance and leaving of customs that are in variance with the Sharee`ah.

25. Invoke a lot of salawat and salam upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, his Companions and all those who follow them until the Day of Judgment.

O Allah make us and all Muslims of those who fast and stand in prayer during the month of Ramadhan based on belief and truly seeking Your reward so that we are forgiven our past and future sins.

O Allah make us of those who fasted the month, attained full reward, witnessed Layatul-Qadr and attained success by permission of the Lord, Blessed and Most High.

O Allah, verily you are Forgiver, like to forgive, so forgive us.

O Lord, accept from us, verily you are the All-Hearing, all-Seeing, O Living, O Independent, O Owner of all majesty and honor.

And may Allah's blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, his family and his Companions.

Source: IslamicAwakening.com

Increasing the Love of Allaah SWT

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Increasing the Love of Allah (SWT)

(1) Recognizing the bounties Allah has bestowed upon His slaves. These bounties [are so many that they] cannot be counted or enumerated. [Allah says:] "If you count the blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them." [14:34] Hearts naturally have love for those who do good to them. Love for a blessing is from the general aspects of thanking the one who has bestowed a bounty. It is said that thanks is with the heart, tongue and limbs.

(2) Another cause is to have knowledge of Allah by His Names, Attributes and Actions. The one who knows Allah, loves Him. Whoever loves Him, obeys Him. Whoever obeys Allah is honored by Him. Whoever Allah honors, He will have him live close to Him. Whoever lives close to Him, has attained the glad tidings.

(3) One of the great causes [that leads to having love of Allah] is the specific knowledge that comes about through pondering over the creation of the heavens and the earth and what Allah has created. In the Qur'an, there is much mention of the signs of Allah that indicate His Greatness, Power, Majesty, Perfection, Eminence, Compassion, Mercy, Strength, Subjugation and other of His beautiful Names and exalted Attributes. Whenever one's knowledge of Allah is strengthened, one's love for Him is also strengthened and one's love for obeying Him is also strengthened. He will then experience the pleasure of worship, whether it be in prayer, remembrance or other forms of worship.

(4) Another cause that will bring about love for Allah is to act towards Allah with sincerity and purity while going against one's desires. This is a cause for Allah to bless a slave and when He blesses the slave, the slave loves Him.

(5) One of the greatest causes that bring about one's love for Allah is increasing one's remembrance of Allah. Whenever a person loves something, he remembers it more often. And it is through the remembrance of Allah that the hearts find tranquillity. In fact, one of the signs of having love for Allah is the constant remembrance of Allah by one's heart and tongue.

(6) One of the causes that brings about Allah's love for His slave is reciting the Qur'an often and pondering over its meaning, in particular those verses that contain Allah's Names, Attributes and Actions. Having fondness for that action will lead the slave to love Allah and Allah to love Him.

(7) Another of the causes of love for Allah is remembering what has been mentioned in the Qur'an and Sunnah concerning the believers seeing their Lord in the Hereafter and visiting them and gathering together on the Day of Abundance. That will definitely bring about in a person love for Allah.

Source: LutonMuslims

Tuesday, 28 August 2007

~Nikhahun Mubarakun~

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Inshaa'Allaah everyone is in the best of health and strongest of Imaan :)

Just wanted to say keep me in your duaas as it's my wedding today, so won't be blogging for a while, inshaa'Allaah what you read on the blog benefits you and you take away some goodness from it. May Allaah bless you all.

Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “Every gulp of air that goes out in a cause other than the cause of Allah (SWT) will turn to sorrow and regret on the Day of Judgment.” He also said, “A sign that Allah (SWT) despises you is when you find yourself wasting your time with trivial matters; in this way you miss your chance of going to heaven. And a sign that Allah (SWT) likes you is when you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you have time for.”

Fi Amanillah

Saturday, 4 August 2007

The first part of this is based on an extract from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's Lata'if al-Ma'arif (pp. 179-182), quoted by Fahd bin Sulaiman in Kayf Nast

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ramadan - Month of the Qur'an

v
By Br. Abu Dharr

Based on Ibn Rajab's "Lata`if al-Ma`arif" and other sources

The first part of this is based on an extract from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's Lata'if al-Ma'arif (pp. 179-182), quoted by Fahd bin Sulaiman in Kayf Nastafeed min Ramadan (pp. 48-50). The advice given in this article is all the more important now that we are in the last ten nights of Ramadan. Imam Bukhari reports from 'Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would tighten his waist-cloth (i.e. detach himself from his wives), spend the night in worship and awake his family, during the last ten nights of Ramadan. Ramadan is nearly over, so make the most of this precious opportunity!

Ramadan has a special relationship with the Qur'an, of course:

"The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was sent down, a guidance for mankind, clear proofs for the guidance, the Criterion; so whoever amongst you witnesses this month, let him fast it." (cf. Surah al-Baqarah 2:185)

The word 'so' (fa) in this ayah leads to the following paraphrase of one aspect of its meaning: "Fast this month because it is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down" -- see Fasting in Ramadaan by Ali al-Halabi & Saleem al-Hilali, Al-Hidaayah, 1414/1994, pp. 11-12.

Ibn 'Abbas narrates "that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was the most generous person, and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would come to him every night and he would rehearse the Qur'an with him." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Eng. trans. 6/486)

This hadith contains recommendation of the following:

Studying the Qur'an in Ramadan;
coming together for this purpose;
checking (one's memory/knowledge of) the Qur'an with someone who has preserved it better;
increasing recitation of the Qur'an in Ramadan;
that the night time is the best time to recite, when other preoccupations decrease and it is easier to concentrate, as in Surah al-Muzzammil 73:6.

Further, Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated from her father (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who told her that Jibril would rehearse the Quran with him (in Ramadan) once every year, and he did so twice in the year of his death. (Bukhari 6/485)

After mentioning the above aspects of the Sunnah, Ibn Rajab talks about the situation of the Salaf (the early Muslims) during Ramadan:

"... Some of the Salaf would complete reciting the whole Quran during the night prayer of Ramadan every 3 days, others every 7 days e.g. Qataadah, others in 10 days e.g. Abu Rajaa' al-Atardi. The Salaf would recite Quran in Ramadan in Prayer as well as outside it. Al-Aswad would finish the Quran every 2 nights in Ramadan; Ibrahim an-Nakh'I would do likewise in the last 10 nights specifically, & every 3 nights during the rest of the month. Qataadah would regularly finish the Quran in 7 days, but in 3 days during Ramadan, when he would study the Quran especially, and every night during its last 10 days. Al-Zuhri would say when Ramadan began, 'It is recitation of the Quran and feeding of people.' When Ramadan began, Imam Malik would cease narrating Hadith and sitting with the people of knowledge, and stick to reciting the Quran from its pages, while Sufyan al-Thawri would leave other acts of worship and stick to reciting the Quran. 'Aishah would recite from the pages of the Quran at the beginning of the day in Ramadan (i.e. after Dawn), until when the sun had risen, she would sleep. Zayd al-Yaami would bring copies of the Quran when Ramadan began and gather his companions around him. ..."

Ibn Rajab later continues, "The forbiddance of completing recitation of the Quran in less than 3 days applies to this being made a regular practice, but as for favoured times such as Ramadan, esp. the nights in which Laylat al-Qadr is sought, or favoured places such as Makkah for the visitor, it is recommended to increase reciting the Quran to avail the time and place. This is the view of Ahmad, Ishaq & other Imams, and the practice of others indicates this too."

The purpose here is not to discuss whether or not the latter view is correct or not, since that is purely academic for most of us, as we do not get anywhere near reciting the whole Quran in three days! However, the practice of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), his Companions, and those who followed their path, should be clear enough. As a further example, Bukhari (3/79) quotes from the noble Companion Zaid bin Thabit who answered the question, "How much time was there between the pre-dawn meal and the Dawn Prayer?" by saying, "Enough time to recite fifty ayat"; since the practice of the Arabs was to measure time in terms of everyday actions, this shows that the Sahabah were pre-occupied with the Qur'an, especially in Ramadan.

Compare all this with our sad state, when we talk so much about establishing Islam, implementing the Quran, etc. and yet have such little contact with it, maybe not completing its recitation ever at all since childhood, or perhaps never! Hence we become imbalanced in our understanding of Islam, because there are ayat which we rarely or never hear or think about; we repeat only certain selected ayat over and over again; we lost the context of the verses, the overall flow, argument and balance of the Quran, all of which is beautiful & miraculous. Because of this ignorance we go astray from the Straight Path, split up into sects, lose the blessings of Allah ...

"We took a covenant from those who said: we are Christians, but they forgot part of the message with which they had been reminded, so we ingrained amongst them enmity and hatred until the Day of Judgment..." (Surah al-Ma'idah 5:14)

In Sahih Bukhari (6/521), there is an amazing piece of advice from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Recite the Quran as long as your hearts agree on it; if you disagree about it, stop reciting it (for the time being)" -- studying the Quran should bring people together!

In Surah al-Mu'minoon (23:53), there is mention of the people before us (in whose footsteps we would follow), who broke up their Deen into sects (zuburan), each party rejoicing in what it had. One understanding of this, from the word zuburan meaning literally 'books', is that each sect left the Book of Allah, & concentrated solely on the books of its own sect, so "they split their deen up into books"!

The most twisted, ridiculous, shallow ideas, innovations and superstitions are propagated amongst Muslims when they are away from the Quran, because any little knowledge of the Quran would be enough to dispel them.

Hence, O slave of Allah, leave aside secondary books and concentrate on studying the Blessed Book of Allah in this Blessed Month (use a good translation/commentary if needed), for it is the source of all Knowledge in other books, and keep away from wasting time, especially in futile discussions and arguments which lead nowhere, for that is a sure sign of being misguided, as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Whenever a people went astray after they had been on guidance, they were given to argumentation (jadl)." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah - Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, no. 5633)

Finally, remember that the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will complain to Allah on the Day of Judgment that his people neglected the Qur'an (Surah al-Furqan 25:30). Neglect of the Qur'an is of different levels, as Ibn al-Qayyim writes:

not reciting or listening to it;
not studying and understanding it;
not conveying its message;
not judging by it in personal and communal matters, at all levels of society;
not believing in it.

All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.

Abu Dharr, Ramadan 1415.

Islaam.com

Monday, 23 July 2007

Food for thought: Quotes

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ali radiallahu anhu said, “People before us used to advise each other of three things - the one who works for his Hereafter, Allah will take care of the matters of his din and dunya for him; and the one who beautifies his inner self, Allah will beautify his appearance; and the one who rectifies that which is between him and Allah, Allah will rectify that which is between him and people”

“If your hearts were really pure they would never have enough of reciting Allah’s Words.” Uthman ibn Affan (ra)

It is said that Maalik ibn Dinaar (rahimahullaah) once went to the graveyards and said:

أتيتُ القبور فناديتها *** أين المعَظَّمُ و أين المُحْتَقِرُ

و أين المُلَبِّى إذا ما دَعا *** و أين العَزِيز إذا ما افتَخِرُ

و أين المُدَلّ بِسُلْطَانِه *** و أين القوِِّىُّ أذا ما قدَرُ

“I approached the graves and called out to it

‘Where is the exalted one and where is the debased?

Where is the caller when he did call out

And where is the powerful when he did boast

Where is the one who was arrogant in his reign

And where is the strong one when he did gain power?’

فسمع صوتاً يقول له

تفَانوا جَمِيعاً فما مُخْبر *** و مَاتوا جَميعاً و ماتَ الخبرُ

تروح و تغدو بنات الثرى *** فَتَمْحُو مَحاسِنَ تلك الصُوَر

فيا سائِلى عن أناسٍ قد مَضَوا *** أمَّا لك فِيما تَرى مُعْتَبِر

So he heard a voice say:

All have fleeted, so there is no informer

And all have died and so did the news

The daughters of the rich come and go

So they wipe away the beauty of such a picture

So O questioner of a people who have gone by

Is there not in what you see, a lesson indeed?

Qisas.com

Friday, 20 July 2007

Purification of the Heart

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Purification of the Heart

From the works of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, and Imam Ghazali

Types of Hearts

Just as the heart may be described in terms of being alive or dead, it may also be regarded as belonging to one of three types; these are the healthy heart, the dead heart, and the sick heart.

The Healthy Heart

On the Day of Resurrection, only those who come to Allah with a healthy heart will be saved. Allah says: "The day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use, except for whoever brings to Allah a sound heart. (26:88-89)"

In defining the healthy heart, the following has been said: "It is a heart cleansed from any passion that challenges what Allah commands, or disputes what He forbids. It is free from any impulses which contradict His good. As a result, it is safeguarded against the worship of anything other than Him, and seeks the judgment of no other except that of His Messenger (s). Its services are exclusively reserved for Allah, willingly and lovingly, with total reliance, relating all matters to Him, in fear, hope and sincere dedication. When it loves, its love is in the way of Allah. If it detests, it detests in the light of what He detests. When it gives, it gives for Allah. If it withholds, it withholds for Allah. Nevertheless, all this will not suffice for its salvation until it is free from following, or taking as its guide, anyone other than His Messenger (s). Those who follow the Prophet (s) in observing his Sunnah and the Shari`ah are guides to those who had not met him (s).

A servant with a healthy heart must dedicate it to its journey's end and must not give precedence to any other faith or words or deeds over those of Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace and those who are rightly guided, keeping the Prophetic example. Allah says:

"Oh you who believe, do not put yourselves above Allah and His Messenger, but fear Allah, for Allah is Hearing, Knowing. (49:1)"

The Dead Heart

This is the opposite of the healthy heart. It does not know its Lord and does not worship Him as He commands, in the way which He likes, and with which He is pleased. It clings instead to its lusts and desires, even if these are likely to incur Allah's displeasure and wrath. It worships things other than Allah, and its loves and its hatreds, and its giving and its withholding, arise from its whims, which are of paramount importance to it and preferred above the pleasure of Allah. Its whims are its imam. Its lust is its guide. Its ignorance is its leader. Its crude impulses are its impetus. It is immersed in its concern with worldly objectives. It is drunk with its own fancies and its love for hasty, fleeting pleasures.

It is called to Allah and the akhira from a distance but it does not respond to advice, and instead it follows any scheming, cunning shaytan. Life angers and pleases it, and passion makes it deaf and blind1 to anything except what is evil.

To associate and keep company with the owner of such a heart is to tempt illness: living with him is like taking poison, and befriending him means utter destruction.

The Sick Heart

This is a heart with life in it, as well as illness. The former sustains it at one moment, the latter at another, and it follows whichever one of the two manages to dominate it. It has love for Allah, faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and reliance upon Him, and these are what give it life. It also has a craving for lust and pleasure, and prefers them and strives to experience them. It is full of self-admiration, which can lead to its own destruction. It listens to two callers: one calling it to Allah and His Prophet (s) and the afterlife (akhira); and the other calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world. It responds to whichever one of the two happens to have most influence over it at the time.

The first heart is alive, submitted to Allah, humble, sensitive and aware; the second is brittle and dead; the third wavers between either its safety or its ruin.

Symptoms Of the Heart's Sickness and Signs of Its Health

"He it is Who sent down calmness and tranquillity into the hearts of the believers, that they may grow more in Faith along with their (present) Faith. And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Ever Al-Knower, All-Wise." The Holy Quran: 48:4

Four-Symptoms Of the Heart's Sickness and Signs of Its Health

The Signs of a Sick Heart

A servant's heart may be ill, and seriously deteriorating, while he remains oblivious of its condition. It may even die without him realising it. The symptoms of its sickness, or the signs of its death, are that its owner is not aware of the harm that results from the damage caused by wrong actions, and is unperturbed by his ignorance of the truth or by his false beliefs.

Since the living heart experiences pain as a result of any ugliness that it encounters and through its recognising its ignorance of the truth (to a degree that corresponds to its level of awareness), it is capable of recognising the onset of decay-and the increase in the severity of the remedy that will be needed to stop it-but then sometimes it prefers to put up with the pain rather than undergo the arduous trial of the cure!

Some of the many signs of the heart's sickness if its turning away from good foods to harmful ones, from good remedies to shameful sickness. The healthy heart prefers what is beneficial and healing to what is harmful and damaging; the sick heart prefers the opposite. The most beneficial sustenance for the heart is faith and the best medicine is the Qur'an.

The Signs of a Healthy Heart

For the heart to be healthy it should depart from this life and arrive in the next, and then settle there as if it were one of its people; it only came to this life as a passer-by, taking whatever provisions it needed and then returning home. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abdullah ibn Umar, "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a passer-by."2 The more diseased the heart is, the more it desires this world; it dwells in it until it becomes like one of its people.

The healthy heart continues to trouble its owner until he returns to Allah, and is at peace with Him, and reaches Him, like a lover driven by compulsion who finally reaches his beloved. Besides his love for Him he needs no other, and after invoking Him no other invocations are needed. Serving Him precludes the need to serve any other.

If this heart misses its share of reciting the Qur'an and invoking Allah (dhikrullah), or completing one of the prescribed acts of worship, then its owner suffers more distress than a cautious man who suffers because of the loss of money or a missed opportunity to make it. It longs to serve, just as a famished person longs for food and drink.

Yahya ibn Mu'adh said:

Whoever is pleased with serving Allah, everything will be pleased to serve him; and whoever finds pleasure in contemplating Allah, all the people will find pleasure in contemplating him.

This heart has only one concern: that all its actions, and its inner thoughts and utterances, are obedient to Allah. It is more careful with its time than the meanest people are with their money, so that it will not be spent wastefully. When it enters into the prayer, all its worldly worries and anxieties vanish and it finds its comfort and bliss in adoring its Lord. It does not cease to mention Allah, nor tire of serving Him, and it finds intimate company with no-one save a person who guides it to Allah and reminds it to Him.

Its attention to the correctness of its action is greater than its attention to the action itself. It is scrupulous in making sure that the intentions behind its actions are sincere and pure and that they result in good deeds.

As well as and in spite of all this, it not only testifies to the generosity of Allah in giving it the opportunity to carry out such actions, but also testifies to its own imperfection and shortcomings in executing them.

The Causes of Sickness of the Heart

The temptations to which the heart is exposed are what cause its sickness. These are the temptations of desires and fancies. The former cause intentions and the will to be corrupted, and the latter cause knowledge and belief to falter.

Hudhayfa ibn al-Yamani, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

The Messenger of Allah (s) said, "Temptations are presented to the heart, one by one. Any heart that accepts them will be left with a black stain, but any heart that rejects them will be left with a mark of purity, so that hearts are of two types: a dark heart that has turned away and become like an overturned vessel, and a pure heart that will never be harmed by temptation for as long as the earth and the heavens exist. The dark heart only recognises good and denounces evil when this suits its desires and whims.3

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, placed hearts, when exposed to temptation, into two categories:

First, a heart which, when it is exposed to temptation, absorbs it like a sponge that soaks up water, leaving a black stain in it. It continues to absorb each temptation that is offered to it until it is darkened and corrupted, which is what he meant by "like an overturned vessel". When this happens, two dangerous sicknesses take hold of it and plunge it into ruin:

The first is that of its confusing good with evil, to such an extent that it does not recognise the former and does not denounce the latter. This sickness may even gain hold of it to such an extent that it believes good to be evil and vice-versa, the Sunnah to be bida' and vice-versa, the truth to be false and falsity to be the truth.

The second is that of its setting up its desires as its judge, over and above what the Prophet (s) taught, so that it is enslaved and led by its whims and fancies.

Second, a pure heart which the light of faith is bright and from which its radiance shines. When temptation is presented to pure hearts such this, they oppose it and reject it, and so their light and illumination only increase.

NOTES:

1. It has been related on the authority of Abu'd-Darda' that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Your love for something that makes you blind and deaf." Abu Daw'ud, al-Adab, 14/38; Ahmad, al-Musnad, 5/194. The hadith is classified as hasan.

2. Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitab ar-Riqaq, 11/233.

3. Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman, 2/170 (with different wording).

Source