Divine Peacefulness

How to live a humble life

2011-04-03T01:36:00.002+13:00

Salam Alekoum readers

I haven't posted in a loong while lol. I've sorta went through a mental block, the thought of writing a post was like such a huge effort that I did not want to partake xD But I hope its going away inshaAllah. I also need to give this place a revamp I can seriously see dust when I look at my blog haha.

Anyways, here is a wonderful lecture given by Nouman Ali Khan on how to live a humble life =) Enjoy

Libya

2011-02-26T05:15:00.000+13:00

Prayer from Tunisia for our brothers and sisters in Libya.

Surat Al Sajda

2011-01-17T02:25:00.005+13:00

(إِنَّمَا يُؤۡمِنُ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُڪِّرُواْ بِہَا خَرُّواْ سُجَّدً۬ا وَسَبَّحُواْ بِحَمۡدِ رَبِّهِمۡ وَهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ ۩ (١٥) تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمۡ عَنِ ٱلۡمَضَاجِعِ يَدۡعُونَ رَبَّہُمۡ خَوۡفً۬ا وَطَمَعً۬ا وَمِمَّا رَزَقۡنَـٰهُمۡ يُنفِقُونَ (١٦) فَلَا تَعۡلَمُ نَفۡسٌ۬ مَّآ أُخۡفِىَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعۡيُنٍ۬ جَزَآءَۢ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ (١٧)

15. Only those believe in Our Signs, who, when they are recited to them, fall down in adoration, and celebrate the praises of their Lord, nor are they (ever) puffed up with pride.

16. Their limbs do forsake their beds of sleep, the while they call on their Lord, in Fear and Hope: and they spend (in charity) out of the sustenance which We have bestowed on them.

17. Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them - as a reward for their (good) deeds.

Remember death, the destroyer of all earthly pleasures.

2011-01-08T23:33:00.001+13:00

Journey to Happiness 2 (Introduction)

2011-01-03T19:41:00.003+13:00

Salam Alekoum

Lecture given my Amr Khalid in Arabic, and translated to English by Dar al-Tarjama

In the name of Allah[1](SWT)[2], The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful, All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon our master, the most noble Prophet Muhammad.

Welcome to our program, a Journey to Happiness. We shall live together thirty days in Ramadan going on a journey to happiness.

Everyday, when the sun rises, people make billions of movements. Cars, trains, phones, schools people, all are in motion until the sun sets. All these activities are heading for one thing: searching for happiness, yet no one stops for a moment and asks the important question: “ Who grants happiness?” Allah (SWT) is He who created the sun, gave life, happiness etc. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as," And that He, Ever He, makes to laugh, and He makes to weep", (TMQ[3], 53:43). Laughter and happiness are in Allah's hands. Happiness is Allah's gift, so ask Allah today to grant you happiness. These are not my words, the Prophet SAWS[4] taught us the morning dhikr (the remembrance of Allah) of everyday to supplicate Allah to grant us the lives of happy people, the death of martyrs, to accompany prophets, the right death, and shameless resurrection.

I have asked many young people if they were happy and many answered with a question about the meaning of happiness and how could they feel it, or seize it. Unfortunately many of them said that they were not happy and wished to be, but could not.

Young men wonder how they can be happy while they do not find anyone who understandsembraces and appreciates them, without calling them loose. They want someone to help, respect them and appreciate their ideas. Some girls say that they want their parents to embrace them, but they were divorced a long time ago while others want someone to hear and embrace them.

In this journey to happiness, I cannot solve concrete and difficult problems, but I can light up a torch to show you the right way. In this program, I will use lights of the Prophet (SAWS) that will show you how to be happy.

Years ago, I made the program "On the Path of the Beloved"now, narrating stories about the life of the Prophet (SAWS). This year, I will not narrate stories; in fact, I will guide you to the doors of happiness. I have brought with me a symbolic thing, a torch to light up your way. When you read the hadith[5] of the Prophet, do not read it as only a speech, but consider it as a light which shall illuminate your life. Whenever Allah (SWT) mentions the Prophet (SAWS) in the Qur'an, He describes him as a light. Allah says what can be translated as, "A light has already come up to you from Allah, and an evident Book." (TMQ, 5:15).

"So the ones who believe in him, and rally to him (in assistance) and vindicate him, and closely follow the light that has been sent down with him, those are they (who) are the prosperers.” (TMQ, 7:157).

"O you who have believed, be pious to Allah, and believe in His Messenger, (and) He will bring you a twofold share of His Mercy, and He will make for you a light whereby you will walk …"(TMQ, 57:28).

I am here to show you the way through the light of the Prophet (SAWS). In return you are expected to try to follow the light on this journey that will last for thirty days, and you should promise to complete it until the end. If you do so, you will not regret it. On the contrary you will come out of Ramadan with a broad smile, strong and powerful. I say that because I have tried it with some people and with myself. I am sure of that because there is a secret in this program. Everyone thinks that happiness is found in one thing, but happiness is a mixture of seven groups and seven doors.

Your senses are five, if you miss one, it will be a problem, the same thing with happiness, it is a mixture of seven groups, if you miss one you will be miserable. We will symbolize each group with a color, as follows:

1- Orange: It is a color which represents sunrise, i.e. the beginning of everything. Therefore, it is to start on the right foot with Allah (SWT), with yourself, with your dream, and with your goal in life, in other words, draw your way to jannah (Paradise).

2- Green : Which represents good and giving, i.e. if you give happiness to others you will be happy.

3- Red: The color of danger. It refers to pure soul and the obstacles on the way of happiness such as pride, envy, hatred, etc.

4- Blue: The pure color of the sky, i.e. the big heart which accepts, forgives and pleases people.

5- Yellow: The color of Gold. It is the Will. If you have a strong will you will succeed in your life.

6- Warm family relations, your relation with your family, with your friends, etc.

7- A full relation with Allah.

You say that you know these groups but they are not organized, I will help you to arrange and organize them.

Today we will begin with the first group. Start in a correct way; it is very nice to start Ramadan with sunrise. In this program, I intend to bring a smile and peace into people's lives. The Prophet (SAWS) assures us that nothing can lead people to jannah (Paradise) as granting happiness to others.

Happiness is not a thing that you can seize, buy, take from others, or weigh. It is an immaterial thing that comes out of the heart, for this reason it was reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said that in the human body there is a part, if it is good then the whole body will be good, and if it is bad the whole body will be bad.

The source of happiness is one's self. Many people have material problems which I cannot solve. There are people who lack peace like the people in Gaza, other people live in slums, with no food, no drink and no shelter, hence, they are not happy. There are young men who suffer from unemployment. There are many problems which our program cannot solve, but we can light up the torches. I do not want to numb people’s minds and say emotional words so that they can accept their situations. On the contrary, I will depend on your spirit, faith and the Prophet's lights to make you stronger and able to solve your problems, and this is the idea of our program.

Let us begin with the first group: start on the right foot with Allah (SWT)’ with yourself, with your goal and dream in life, with faith and ambition. Its color is orange i.e., sunrise, and this will be the beginning of Ramadan.

Today’s episode is the intention to worship. Psychologists say that any habit needs 21 days to be changed, and in Ramadan every day we will change habits. It was reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said that when Ramadan comes, a caller asks those who seek goodness to come and asks those who seeks evil to go away.

In the Prophet (SAWS) said that when Ramadan, the doors of jannah are opened, while those of hell are closed, and devils are chained.

Start on the right foot today, if you worship Allah strongly intending to ask Him to make you happy and solve your problems, He will grant you what you want. What encouraged me to make this program is Allah's promise of happiness. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, "Ta-Ha[6]. In no way have We sent down the Qur’an upon you for you to be wretched;" (TMQ, 20: 1-2). "…then whoever closely follows My guidance, so he will not err away, nor will he be wretched;" (TMQ, 20:123).

"Whoever does righteousness, be it male or female, and he is a believer, then indeed We will definitely (give him to) live a goodly life;" (TMQ, 16: 97).

Therefore, we say that there is happiness in life.

Eid Mubarek!

2010-11-18T07:14:00.004+13:00

As Salam Alekoum!

Eid Mubarek to you all <3 Sorry for not posting sooner has some issues with blogger ._. May Allah make it a year of happiness and propsperity for all, and may He bestow upon us with the best Iman in our hearts so we all meet in Janna. Ameen.

Peace and Love <3

Alekoum el Salam

Arafah 2010

2010-11-15T17:45:00.003+13:00

As Salam Alekoum

This time last year, I was in Arafah. I was sitting on the carpeted ground in our camp area, leaning my back on my mother's legs whom was sitting on a chair (she can't sit on the ground due to leg pain). I spent the day reflecting on my life, conversing with Allah with Duaas and thanks, and reading Quran. I remember also eating lots of those yummy salted crackers to keep my energy up lol.

It's been one whole year Subhan Allah. I'm fasting today, and I am experiencing severe nostalgia lol. May Allah bless me, and all you dear readers, with Hajj and the chance to be in the sacred place of Arafah.

Spend the day in doing thikr. As the saying goes, make your tongue moist with rememberance of Allah. Reflect on your life, make Duaa and give thanks =)

‘The best of supplications is the supplication on the day of ‘Arafah and the best which I and the Prophets before me have said (is):

La illaha illa Allah wahdahu la shareeka lah, laho almulku wa laho alhamdu wa hoowa 'aala kuli shay'en qadeer

‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, alone, without partner. To Him belongs all praise and sovereignty and He is over all things omnipotent.’

Perfect Balance

2010-11-13T20:23:00.005+13:00

As Salam Alekoum

I was browsing through Huffingto n Post when I come across an article titled "Why are you here? A new theory may hold the missing piece". A few paragraphs from the article really caught my eye:

"... According to the current paradigm, the universe, and the laws of nature themselves, just popped out of nothingness. The story goes something like this: From the Big Bang until the present time, we've been incredibly lucky. This good fortune started from the moment of creation; if the Big Bang had been one-part-in-a-million more powerful, the cosmos would have rushed out too fast for the galaxies and stars to have developed. If the gravitational force were decreased by a hair, stars (including the Sun) wouldn't have ignited. There are over 200 physical parameters like this that could have any value but happen to be exactly right for us to be here. Tweak any of them and you never existed."

"The story of evolution reads just like "The Story of the Three Bears," In the nursery tale, a little girl named Goldilocks enters a home occupied by three bears and tries different bowls of porridge; some are too hot, some are too cold. She also tries different chairs and beds, and every time, the third is "just right." For 13.7 billion years we, too, have had chronic good luck. Virtually everything has been "just right." "

I just don't understand how someone can be OK with believing that the whole universe was created in "luck". The perfect balance of life, of the interactions of species, of little mathematical formulas in nature, of the Moon's giving the ebb and wave of the sea, of the dead seed becoming a live plant just with water, with everything, screams loudly to me of the existence of a force greater than anything in this universe ... of the existence of Allah.

image source

Anyway, the new theory that is presented in the article, called Biocentrism, does not say that this is all happened randomly and that we are merely lucky for it all. Instead it says that rather than the universe having had created life, life created the universe. Our conscious minds is what creates time and space, and that they are not physical objects. You can read the principles of the theory from the wiki link.

I like how the theory says that life created the universe. I know that the scientist behind the theory is referring to us humans with the world (life). But from what I see, saying that life created the universe admits that there was an intelligent force behind the creation of our world. That it is impossible for it to all have been random coz the odds are beyond the word high lol. And I guess you guys know what that intelligent force is to me =)

Anyways, this post is not a self-reassurance for me on my faith in Allah, because I find assurances in my daily life, al hamdulillah. Instead, I just wanted to highlight the specific paragraphs in the article coz I liked their wording, and to let you guys know in what other ways people who don't believe in Allah try to justify and make sense of this world.

Wa Alekoum el Salam <3

Journey to Happiness 1 (Paradise)

2010-11-10T02:09:00.000+13:00

Salam Alekoum

Lecture given my Amr Khalid in Arabic, and translated to English.

In the name of Allah[1], The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful, praise be upon Him, and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah (SAWS[2]). Welcome and Ramadan Kareem.

Our program this year is quite different from all the previous ones. It is “A Journey to Happiness”. We will go on a trip for thirty days; thirty days of moving from place to place. We are shooting in Lebanon; among the mountains, the sea, and the rivers. We are living the journey, that’s why we did not film in a studio because we want to feel the sense of the trip. The goal of this trip is happiness. How to be happy in this world? Today, people are suffering from problems, sorrows, pain, disease, financial distress, delayed marriage, delayed employment, fatigue, etc. Can we, with ideas, with faith, with a new way of thinking, with a stronger moral, overcome many problems and face the financial and material problems that we were unable to face previously because we had a weaker soul. This is what our program is about this year. Multiple recipes, an integrated package and not separate recipes. Seven sets and if you live by them you will live happily.

However, today's episode does not speak about any of this. We will not talk about any of the seven sets. The first episode is the introduction. In our first episode, we will only deal with two words: “journey” and “happiness”. Before we begin the journey that we will launch tomorrow, by Allah’s will, we just have to agree on these two words.

Pay close attention because this will be the base for all our coming talk! I would like, first, to ask all young men and women watching us to start by preparing a notebook. We shall call this, “The Notebook of the Journey to Happiness”. We will write so many things but let's start with the word, “journey”.

What do I mean by this word? I mean your journey and mine in this life. Let us agree on a basic fact about this trip. It is a short trip; a very short one, in fact. I have to mention this because I will speak to you later about death, problems and pain, so, at the outset I must remind you that it is very short. The trip is not as long as you see it, or as portrayed and exaggerated to us.

There is an idea that says that a man lives in five stages:

* Stage 1: The Creation Stage: When Allah created all before the start of all mankind, He said what can be translated as “And (remember) as your Lord took from the Seeds (Or. sons) of Adam, from their backs, their offspring, and made them bear witness concerning themselves, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes indeed, we bear witness.’ (So) that you should not say on the Day of the Resurrection, ‘Surely we were heedless of this,’” (TMQ[3], 7:172).

* Stage 2: The Generation: From your earliest grandfather down to your mother and father, and then to you when you arrive in life.

* Stage 3: Your Life in this World: The 60 to 70 years you will spend here.

* Stage 4: The Grave: The life of the isthmus, which we do not know anything about. The grave is either one of the gardens of Jannah or one of the pits of hellfire.

* Stage 5: The Hereafter: Jannah or Hell, jannah by Allah’s will.

The shortest of them is your life in this world. The 60-70 years, while the Creation Stage was too long, and the grave, we do not know its duration, and jannah? ... It's infinity. So life is too short and the world that follows it is too long. We were taught in mathematics, that if any number is divided by infinity the result is zero. If you live in this world for one hundred years and possess all its treasures and enjoyed them, when you divide it by infinity, you will get zero.

In this world no one will continue to move up. Everything has to go up and down. The Prophet (SAWS) had a camel named al-Qasswa’ which no camel could outrun. One day, a simple Bedouin came with his camel and beat al-Qasswa’. The Companions were indignant. The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) told them that Allah asserts the rule that everything in this world which goes up must come down. The whole world does not equal the weight of a mosquito’s wing in Allah’s calculations. If this world, with everything in it, is not equivalent to a mosquito’s wing, then what do you; with all your possessions add up to? Let us see this world for its true value. No matter what your pains, sorrows and sufferings are in this world, see them in their true size.

This is the first fact that we will agree on: All the pain and sufferings, wealth and appearances are there for a short period. The short journey is not worth the sadness. No matter how great is your pain, it will pass.

The second word we will agree on is: “happiness”.

Let us agree that there is no full happiness in this world; there must be discomfort and pain. In fact, every movement in this world is done in search of happiness. The search for funds; money is only papers but its value comes from its ability to bring more happiness. Same goes to love, children, glory, reputation, etc. Complete happiness is only in jannah. Our movement and acts in this world is only a test for us, as Allah says what can be translated as, “to try you, whichever of you is fairest in deeds” (TMQ, 67:2) to see who deserves it and who does not.

As long as we talk about happiness, let us imagine that we have entered jannah. Imagine that you are now on the Day of Judgment, and you passed successfully all the required stages. Now you are passing on as-siraat[4] and you crossed it safely. You are now at the gate of Jannah. They once asked one of the followers, “When can you be assured of entering jannah?” He replied, “When as-siraat is behind you. If it is behind you, then you are one of the people of jannah.” Try to imagine the shape of the gate, its size, color. Imagine the company around you: the blessed Prophet, his companions, the previous prophets, and the angels. The angels will greet you and welcome you, as VIP visitors were welcomed in this world. The greeting of the angels at the gate of Jannah is different. As Allah says what can be translated as, “And the ones who were pious to their Lord will be driven in hordes to the Garden till when they have come to it, and its gates will be opened, and its Keepers will say to them, ‘Peace be upon you! You have been good, so enter (into) it eternally (abiding)’” (TMQ, 39:73).

Try to imagine such a reception at jannah. Now let us see in any of the rows in front of jannah you are standing: Front or back? Imagine yourself standing in the back rows, and the Prophet (SAWS) comes to take your hand to the front ones, next to him (SAWS) because you were one of those who cared for orphans and he (SAWS) told us that he who will do so will be very close to him in jannah. Or because you were an ethical person, as he (SAWS) is reported to have said that the closest one to him on the Day of Judgment will be the one with the finest ethics. Then you find yourself in the front rows despite your late arrival and due to the goodness of your acts.

Now everyone stands in front of the gate waiting for it to open, and here comes the Prophet (SAWS) to open it. He (SAWS) knocks at the gate and the jannah’s gate-keeper refuses to open except to Prophet Muhammed (SAWS) as Allah (SWT) commanded him. The gate then finally opens. Try to imagine the scene. The Prophet (SAWS) is reported to have said that the size of the gate to Jannah when opened equals the distance between Mecca and Syria!!! Jannah itself is equal to both the skies and earth, so imagine the size of its gate. Try and smell the fragrance of jannah. The Prophet (SAWS) is reported to have said that the smell of jannah can be detected five hundred years away.

Now you are standing at its gate, and it is open. Before entering, Allah, The Almighty will address the people of jannah and offer them four things: to be always well, and never fall sick; to be always youthful, and never age; to be always alive, and never die; and to be always happy, and never be sad again. The word grief is erased forever; you are only left with happiness. Then before entering you will go through a river called, “The River of Life”. This is the real “life”. You will wash in this river and the malice in your heart is taken away. There is no longer anger, hate, or envy, only love and peace and goodness and tenderness. Then you enter jannah.

Imagine Allah (SWT) is calling to you and telling you that He has prepared for His righteous slaves, what no eye has seen; what no ear has heard nor the heart of man ever did imagine. We usually associate our expectations of a gift with the one offering it. For example, if you are promised a sum of money by a child you will expect it smaller than if it is promised by a bank manager. The sum expected from a president is larger. Now, what can we expect if Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, The King of all Kings is the one offering this gift?

Note that the order of the senses: eye, ear then heart is significant, because what you have seen is less than what you have heard about and for sure you have neither seen nor heard as much as your mind or heart has conjured up in imagination. Also note that Allah does not say that He ordered the angels to prepare it, He prepared it by Himself for those entering jannah. What is prepared by the Almighty? How great can it be?

Imagine yourself taken by the hand of the Prophet (SAWS) to be shown to your palace. He (SAWS) is holding your hand because he is happy with you and your good deeds which were shown to him by the angels every Thursday during your earthly life. Imagine that your palace is in front of the palace of the Prophet (SAWS); you are the neighbor and companion of the Prophet (SAWS) in jannah as a reward for the short journey (life) when you were tired but endured it and its pains patiently. The Prophet (SAWS) is reported to have described the jannah’s palaces to have a brick of gold and a brick of silver, they are held together with musk and their floors are made of pearls and their roof is the throne of The All-Merciful. The Prophet (SAWS) described the combs of the dwellers of jannah as made of gold, their sweat as musk. They are inspired to praise the glories of Allah, as we are inspired to breathe. Then imagine the space of your palace in jannah. The Prophet (SAWS) is reported to have said that the one occupying the lowest rank in jannah has a palace so big that he will walk a thousand years without reaching its end. The Companions then asked him (SAWS) if this is the lowest ranking then what about the highest ranking? He (SAWS) replied that the highest ranking looks directly at Allah (SWT) morning and night. Allah said that wherever you will look in jannah you will see blessings, you will become a king. You were poor and weak but it was just a short journey, you are today in complete happiness, blessed and with a great kingdom.

The sweetest thing that will happen in heaven is when Allah speaks to you and tells you that He is pleased with you then asks you if you are satisfied with Him and with jannah. Imagine this and you ask Him to look upon His Face, and imagine that all blocks are torn down and that you can see Him as you can see the full moon. The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) says that this is the greatest pleasure they are given in jannah.

A Journey to Happiness is a short trip we take to get to the happiness in the hereafter. I do not say we bear the fatigue and misery in this world waiting for the blessings of the hereafter; this is not true, just like those who claim that religion is the opium of the people. In fact, the Prophet (SAWS) never mentioned jannah and the success in the hereafter without mentioning the way of success in this world. Jannah is a means to success in this world and not a drug. To the contrary, the Prophet (SAWS) used jannah as a reform for life. He who walks a road seeking knowledge will be guaranteed an easy road to jannah by Allah; if you want to succeed, learn. Jannah is under the feet of mothers. Pleasing your mother is a road to heaven. He who is patient for losing his eyesight will enter jannah. All these are examples of ways for us to enter jannah through our deeds in this world.

Today we have agreed on these two facts: (1) That life is a short trip, (2) That complete happiness is only possible in the hereafter. As of tomorrow we will start our journey; we will try to learn patience, determination, prayer, get closer to Allah. We will focus on the religious, psychological, spiritual, and mental aspects so that we can face our problems; the material problems being greater. We will solve our problems and be happy in this world on our journey to happiness.

====================================================

[1] The word Allah is the Arabic term for God. Although the use of the word "Allah" is most often associated with Islam, it is not used exclusively by Muslims; Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Jews also use it to refer to the One God. The Arabic word expresses the unique characteristics of the One God more precisely than the English term. Whereas the word "Allah" has no plural form in Arabic, the English form does. Allah is the God worshipped by all Prophets, from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

[2] SAWS: Salla Allah alayhe Wa Salam [All Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him]

[3] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

[4] As-siraat: This word means path or way but in this context it refers to a narrow path that every person needs to cross on the Day of Judgment; a kind of test. Once, a person succeeds in crossing it, he or she is allowed into jannah (Paradise). Success in crossing as-siraat is dependent on many things; among these things are a person’s good deeds and Allah’s mercy.

Podcast

2010-10-23T19:47:00.005+13:00

Salam Alekoum

It's been more than a month since my last post. What brought me back here is the fact that I am still getting many visitors from around the world, and also the fact that I do not want this to be another one of my projects that just becomes dust in the wind =) I am still a student of Islam, and this is my (notebook) shared with the world. My apologize for having not updated in a while.

Life has been pretty busy over the past month, one amazing thing is that I am now an instructor at our local University. It isn't really that big of a deal when you really look at it, but it is to me as I would love to one day become an academic professor in computer science (more women are needed as computer science professors!). Alhamdulillah, I hope these are my first steps towards it.

Now to share something with you all. I have been following Nouman Ali Khan's Podcast on Bayyinah as he goes through the tafsir of juz' aama in the Holy Quran. He has now completed the tafsir of juz' aama and has began the tafsir of the 29th juz' = juz' tabraka. Here are the links to the first three podcasts on the tafsir of one of my fav suras in the Holy Quran (Suraat Al-Mulk). Make sure to follow the Podcasts, its super enlightening!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Wa Alekoum el Salam <3

Missing in action

2010-09-13T22:14:00.002+12:00

Salam Alekoum

A late Eid Mubarek to all muslims out there in the world <3 I hope it was a wonderful one for everyone, and that they managed to gain back the kgs lost during Ramadhan with delecious Eid sweets haha (I know am one of them =P)

I sort of cut off in the middle of my Ramadhan posting. Let's just say a couple of big wheels started getting in motion in my life, and al 7amdulillah it has all ended well =)

اللهم اهدنا فيمن هديت.. وعافنا فيمن عافيت.. وتولنا فيمن توليت.. وبارك لنا فيما أعطيت.. وقنا واصرف عنا شر ما قضيت.. نستغفرك ونتوب إليك.. ونؤمن بك ونتوكل عليك.. ونثنى عليك الخير كلهُ أنت الغنى ونحن الفقراءُ إليك

Ramadhan links 7

2010-08-18T14:47:00.002+12:00

I apologize for the delay with the links today as well as with the (How to deal with Allah) series. In the middle of country hopping again =) Will be back on track soon inshaAllah

Episode 7 of ISR

Chronicle 7 of Dr.Tariq Ramadan

Episode 7 of the Journey of happiness to heaven

Ramadhan links 6

2010-08-17T11:20:00.002+12:00

Episode 6 of ISR

Chronicle 6 of Dr.Tariq Ramadan

Episode 6 of the Journey of happiness to heaven

Ramdhan links 5

2010-08-16T10:15:00.002+12:00

Episode 5 of ISR

Chronicle 5 of Dr.Tariq Ramadan

Episode 5 of the Journey of happiness to heaven

Ramdhan links 4

2010-08-15T12:45:00.002+12:00

Here's an article I read that really moved my heart =)

Episode 4 of ISR

Chronicle 4 of Dr.Tariq Ramadan

Episode 4 of the journey of happiness to heaven

How to deal with Allah (episode 3) - كيف تتعامل مع الله الحلقة الثالثة

2010-08-15T11:57:00.005+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

An English translation of the episode:

Have you ever come across an individual, whom after lighting a great fire that burnt for three days without stop, ended up throwing his own son in the fire? Ofcourse not.

In that case, have a look at the following hadeeth

جاء رجل إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ومعه صبي فجعل يضمه إليه فقال له النبي عليه السلام:" أترحمه؟" قال: نعم فقال عليه السلام:" فالله أرحم بك منك به وهو أرحم الراحمين"

A man came to the Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings upon him) and with him is a little boy. The man hugged the child to himself, so the Prophet (Allah's blessings on him) said to the man: "Do you feel mercy on him?" The man said: "yes" The Prophet said: "Allah is more merciful to you than you are to the child, for He is the Most Merciful"

Allah is more merciful than to just throw you in hellfire. Allah is more merciful than that. But how does one deal accordingly with this mercy? How do you deal with Allah when his mercy is upon you?

This is a very important question that we must all know the answer to. But before we do, we first need to ask ourselves: how can we attain Allah's mercy? Glad tidings to you my dear brothers and sisters, for the attainment of Allah's mercy is easy with no hardship, for Allah's mercy encompasses everything. As to his anger, it does not encompass everything. For it is him, Subhanh, who said:

ورحمتي وسعت كل شيء

My mercy extendeth to all things

Surat Al-Aaraf, Verse 156

And this is what suits the Most Merciful, and if it were not the case then indeed we would all be at a great loss.

Know that, though you have been shown mercy by your family and loved ones, Allah's mercy on you is greater. He is the one to have initially bestowed them upon you, your friends and loved ones, out of His mercy on you. If you were to collect all the mercy that you have been shown by different people in your lifetime, Allah's mercy would be more and more encompassing. There is no at all that can succeed the mercy of Allah, Subhanh wa Ta'ala. The best of poets out there cannot properly or truley describe even a small part of Allah's mercy, which He has spread to the corners of his Kingdom.

Therefore, Allah has chosen to raise the status of His great mercy in the eyes of His creation. The Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings on him) once said:

لما قضى الله الخلق كتب في كتاب فهو عنده فوق العرش إن رحمتي غلبت غضبي

When Allah completed creation, he ordained in a book that is placed above His throne (my mercy dominates my anger)

Allah Akbar.

Notice how he has kept ths book with Him, over His throne. he could have placed this book in the heavens, or down on Earth upon a certain mountain for example. But he did not do that, and instead kept it with Him, honouring the status of mercy.

So why despair from the mercy of Allah, when it encompasses everything? How will it not encompass you? It is spread out to creations that are worse than you. Recall the hadith of the one who killed 99 human beings, and completed it to 100, and though all this Allah's mercy reached him when he repented. You have not killed anyone, so how can Allah not bestow His mercy upon you?

The entire univrerse from its beginiing to its end is filled with Allah's mercy, as the sea is filled with water and the atmosphere is filled with air. Say what you may of Allah's mercy, it is above and way more than what you say. Imagine what you may of Allah's mercy, it is more than anything you can think up.

One may ask "How can I attain this mercy?" There is nothing standing between you and Allah's mercy but of you to ask Him of it, and He will grant it to you.

مايفتح الله للناس من رحمة فلا ممسك له

What Allah out of his Mercy doth bestow on mankind there is none can withhold

Surat Al-Aaraf, Verse 2

Allah's mercy is so close to you that all you have to do is think of something you would like Allah to grant you, and it will be given to you according to your expectations of Allah. You think of Allah as having mercy on you, it will be granted. You think of Allah as sheilding you away from hellfire, it will be granted. You think of Allah blessing you with the Firdous (highest Paradise) then it will be granted to you. There is no hassle to it, the situation is actually more simpler than you could have imagined. These are not my own words and musings, but are the words of Allah Subhanh. It is what He said about Himself, otherwise how could I know of all this. Listen to Him in the hadeeth al qudasi:

أنا عند ظن عبدي بي فليظن بي ماشاء

I am as my Salve thinks of me, so let him think of me in whatever way he wants

There is no grey area to the matter where one might wonder "will Allah answer my prayers?" No, it is absolute certainty. The Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings upon him) said:

ادعوا الله وأنتم موقنون بالإجابة

Pray to Allah and you are sure of an answer

Allah will end up giving you even more than what you initially wanted. But there is one condition to it, that it be hope and not wishes. What is the difference between the two? Hope comes with action, I hope for Allah's mercy by complying to what he has ordained. As for wishes, they are simple thoughts with no compliance attached to them.

Just consider how merciful Allah is in how, when His mercy is bestowed upon you, you begin to feel it surround you and bring utmost peace in your heart. This on its own is a great act of mercy. Now consider that this is only in duniya (current life). When it comes to akhera (after-life), we have great hope in Allah that His creation on that day will finally witness the greatest acts of mercy that has never crossed their mind before. Forgivness, pardonings, and overlooking acts of sin. We should summn great hope with such a thought. We must also work hard to attain this mercy. This is the condition that Allah has set:

وإني لغفار لمن تاب وآمن وعمل صالحا ثم اهتدى

But, without doubt, I am (also) He that forgives again and again, to those who repent, believe, and do right, who are ready to receive true guidance.

Surat Taha. Verse 86

Comply with the conditions, and welcome the good news of mercy. After having said all this, and brought to light the nature of Allah's mercy, showing how open its door is and how it ends up turning acts of sins in good deeds, pointing out how one could attain it ... after all of this if a person still insists on being disobidient and turning a blind eye on Allah, thus losing Allah's mercy that encompasses all, then he does not deserve Allah's mercy.

How does one get close to Allah's mercy? My dear brothers and sisters if you have reached a status in yout life where you show great mercy to people and are kind to them, then Allah's mercy will truely be close to you. And not only close, but extremely close. The Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings upoon him) said:

الراحمون يرحمهم الرحمن

Those who show mercy will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful.

And if a person does not do that, then he will not be shown mercy.

من لايرحم لا يُرحم

He whom is not merciful, will not be shown mercy (by Allah)

In closing, I would like to ask of all of you with a pleading heart, that we all be together under Allah's mercy on the Day of Judgement. Let us make a pact right now, that we do our best during our life on Earth to attain this great mercy, so we may all, with the permission and will of Allah Subhanh, meet toghether in Paradise, with the prophets and the martyrs and the best of people, for they truley are the best of companions.

Ramadhan links 3

2010-08-14T12:35:00.002+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

I apologize for the post being late. I had my hands full today at home <3

Episode 3 of ISR

Chronicle 3 of Tariq Ramadan

Episode 3 of Journey of happiness to heaven

How to deal with Allah (Episode 2) - كيف تتعامل مع الله الحلقة الثانية

2010-08-14T12:26:00.005+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

An English translation of the episode:

Our Lord brings down from the heavens many things that are beneficial to us, the very best of which is guidance (heedaya). There is nothing more beautiful than for Allah to guide you to him, because you will not find anyone or anything better for you than Him, Subhanh,

Therefore, if you are of those whom Allah has guided to Him, then I say congratulations to you with all my heart, and I ask Allah to continue blessing you my dear brothers and sisters.

Now, this brings us to the question of this episode:

How do you deal with Allah if he has guided you?

I ask Allah to set you on guidance, to continue blessing until its light is complete upon you. If you are of those whom Allah has guided then I ask to please preserve and maintain yourself on it because you now have something that most of the people on Earth lack. It is guidance ... and the degree of guidance is an indicator of Allah's love for you. Similarly, Allah's love for a person becomes less as the guidance of that person becomes less.

One may ask: "How do I know if Allah has guided me or not?" The answer is rather simple. If you know that the halal is and what the haram is, and you choose to do the former while leaving the latter, then Allah has guided you. If you are guided then you are close to Allah. If Allah blesses you with a guided heart and is with you throughout your days, what else would you want or need after it?

One may also ask "Well, how may I become guided by Allah?" You will not be able to become guided unless Allah Himself brings it down upon your heart. If Allah does not bless you with it, then you can never get guided, Allah has mentioned in the Quran on the people of paradise:

وَقَالُواْ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى هَدَٮٰنَا لِهَـٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَہۡتَدِىَ لَوۡلَآ أَنۡ هَدَٮٰنَا ٱللَّهُ‌ۖ

And they say: The praise to Allah, Who hath guided us to this. We could not truly have been led aright if Allah had not guided us.

Surat Al Aaraf, Verse 43

It has also been said by the scholars:

If goodness is one hand, and my heart is in my other hand, I would not be able to put goodness in it except if it is Allah who does it.

I know what some of you may say to me after I mentioned the previous point on guidance: "If this is the case, then what can I do? There is nothing that I can do to become guided" I say to them no, on the contrary there is something you can do. Ask guidance of Allah and he will give it to you. Don't just stand around, with arms folded waiting for guidance to just drop down on you. Our Lord Allah loves you to ask of him so he can give to you:

وَقَالَ رَبُّڪُمُ ٱدۡعُونِىٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ

And your Lord hath said: Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer.

Surat Ghafir, Verse 60

Ask of Him guidance, and He will give it to you. Have a look at the best Sura in the Quran, Surat al Fatiha

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.

Notice that Allah did not say

إياك نعبد واياك نرجو

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we plead

Nor did he say

إياك نعبد واياك نخاف

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we fear.

The reason for this, is that you are not able to properly worship Allah unless He aids you and supports you with it. Therefore, you will not be able to be properly guided unless Allah aids you with it. Hence, you should ask Allah of this aid. Also, notice what is the aya after

ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ

Guide us to the straight path

So you see the beauty of the Quran? So you see the beautiful consistency?

Allah says in the hadith al Qudasi

يا عبادي كلكم ضال إلا من هديته فاستهدوني أهدكم

O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you

My dear brothers and sisters, there is a skill and etiquette when it comes to dealing with Allah in a proper way, because to heal with Him, Subhanh, is different than anything else you have dealt with. Within the etiquette of dealing with Allah is that we are the ones who go to Him and seek becoming closer to Him. The proper way is that we should take the first step, it is not Allah who comes to us. Allah says:

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِہِمۡ

Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts

Surat Al-Rad, Verse 11

Allah is the Lord and the Master and the Kind ... any king has people coming to him and not the opposite. If you take the first step of going to Allah, Subhanho wa Ta'ala, then Allah will also come to you but with a bigger step, i.e: more closer. Allah says in the Hadith al Qudasi:

من تقرب إلي شبرا تقربت إليه ذراعا ومن تقرب إلي ذراعا تقربت إليه باعا وإذا أقبل إلي يمشي أقبلت إليه هرولة

And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed

Allah Akbar! (Allah is great)

It is then that Allah will bless you with what you need and even more than what you could have imagined. He will not leave you, even though you are the one who went to Him initially. He will aid you and less you and be with you all the time. Except in one situation. If you leave Him ... and if you leave Him then Allah will leave you.

ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمۡ يَكُ مُغَيِّرً۬ا نِّعۡمَةً أَنۡعَمَهَا عَلَىٰ قَوۡمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِہِمۡ‌ۙ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ۬

That is because Allah never changeth the grace He hath bestowed on any people until they first change that which is in their hearts, and (that is) because Allah is Hearer, Knower.

Surat Al-Anfal, Verse 53

Be sure that Allah, Subhanh, will not leave you unless you are the one to have left him first.

فَلَمَّا زَاغُوٓاْ أَزَاغَ ٱللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمۡ‌ۚ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَہۡدِى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقِينَ

So when they went astray Allah sent their hearts astray. And Allah guideth not the evil-living folk.

Surat As-Saff, Verse 5

And I know that once any of us tastes the true sweetness of Guidance, he will not want to ever leave it. I swear to Allah, that us humans have not found happiness nor complete peace until we are close to Allah, Subhanh. And the closer we get to him, the more happiness we feel.

A question to you: "Who created happiness?"

Allah. So will He give it to someone whom has steered clear of Him, or one who has been guided to Him?

I ask of Allah to make all of us of the guided ones.

One last point in regards to how we should deal with Allah when we are guided by Him. My dear brothers and sisters, no matter how minute a good deed you do as a result of Allah's guidance, you must immediately attribute this favour to Allah Subhanho wa Ta'ala. In addition, another proper action one must do when blessed with guidance is to spread this guidance to others. Give dawah to Allah, because if you are guided and also invite others to become guided by Allah, then there is no one better than you.

Allah says:

وَمَنۡ أَحۡسَنُ قَوۡلاً۬ مِّمَّن دَعَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحً۬ا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِى مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ

And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Him).

Surat Fussilat, Verse 33

However, be aware that giving dawah to Allah is an art on its own. One needs to have a pleasant and calm demeanour, to have knowledge, to speak in a caring way, with a smile on the lips.

وَلَوۡ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلۡقَلۡبِ لَٱنفَضُّواْ مِنۡ حَوۡلِكَ‌ۖ

for if thou hadst been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about thee.

Surat Aal Imran, Verse 159

Know that one of the best actions a person can do for Allah's sake when properly guided is to give dawah and to make Duaa for the guidance of others. You spread guidance to them face to face with your speech, then you ask guidance for them with your Master. Just as the Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings upon him) used to make Duaa for us during his prayers and supplications to Allah.

I ask of Allah to join us all with Heedaya (guidance to him), so we may reach the most beautiful place in this universe

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ يَہۡدِيهِمۡ رَبُّہُم بِإِيمَـٰنِہِمۡ‌ۖ تَجۡرِى مِن تَحۡتِہِمُ ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرُ فِى جَنَّـٰتِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ
دَعۡوَٮٰهُمۡ فِيہَا سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ ٱللَّهُمَّ وَتَحِيَّتُہُمۡ فِيہَا سَلَـٰمٌ۬‌ۚ وَءَاخِرُ دَعۡوَٮٰهُمۡ أَنِ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ

Lo! those who believe and do good works, their Lord guideth them by their faith. Rivers will flow beneath them in the Gardens of Delight
Their prayer therein will be: Glory be to Thee, O Allah! and their greeting therein will be: Peace. And the conclusion of their prayer will be: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds!

Surat Yoonis, Verse 9-10

Ramadhan links 2

2010-08-13T04:16:00.005+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

In the Shade of Ramadhan episode 2

Dr Tariq Ramdhan's Chronicles part 2

The journey of happiness to heaven episode 2

How to deal with Allah (Episode 1) - كيف تتعامل مع الله الحلقة الأولى

2010-08-12T22:55:00.006+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

I have chosen a series to translate to English for my fellow Muslims out there with whom Arabic is not their language. The show is titled (How to deal with Allah), and is given by a young sheikh named Mashari Al Kharaz.

I apologize for any short comings in my translation. Please free to point them out if you come across any <3

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All Praise goes to Allah, and His peace and blessings are on His Prophet Mohammed and on his family and companions.

How do we deal with Allah? This is probably one of the most important questions we ever come across in our life. Though we live with many things in our life, the most important thing in this universe to us is Allah, Subhanho wa Ta'ala. You will not be able to find anyone more kinder to you, more nicer to you, nor the best to you in dealings than Allah Subhanho wa Ta'ala. The odd thing with all this is that we do not feel this, even though Allah deals with us everyday in different acts of kindness. He covers our sins, He blesses us with great joy, He is merciful to us, He grants us many bounties ... just the simple act of having water to drink is a great kindness of Allah. And throughout all of this, He does not wait for anything in return from us, for we do not have anything that He, Subhanho wa Ta'la does not already have.

So why does Allah do all this for us? Because he is the Affectionate one, with whom there is no limit to his affection. He is the kind, with no end to his kindness. We are the ones who are in need of Allah, while He is independent of us:

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلنَّاسُ أَنتُمُ ٱلۡفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِۖ وَٱللَّهُ هُوَ ٱلۡغَنِىُّ ٱلۡحَمِيدُ

O ye men! It is ye that have need of Allah. but Allah is the One Free of all wants, worthy of all praise.

Surat Fatir, Verse 15

So if the one who deals with us is the Greatest, the most Merciful and the most affectionate, there should be a way for us to deal with Him properly also. I am not talking about the general dealings with Allah such as prayer and thikr (remembrance), but there are specific and minute actions that we need to be aware of, so we deal with Allah accordingly to how He deals with us.

So how do you deal with Allah if he covers your sins? If Allah has covered your sins then you should accept this great gift. You might ask yourself though: "What is this gift? And how do I properly accept it?" Allah might also take away this cover after a period of time, however there are certain dealings, if done properly, will make sure this cover stays with you even on the Day of Judgement.

You speak to people everyday in a certain way, but you do you properly speak to Allah? There is a proper way to speak to the Almighty, and when perfected will lead to Allah giving you what you ask for and perhaps even more.

Have you ever wondered, how do I deal with Allah when he is angry? Allah's wrath is great, and if it befalls anything it destroys it. So if Allah is Angry with me, what should I do? There are certain actions that Allah loves of his slave to perform in order for His anger, Subhanho wa Ta'ala to dissipate. And t's not only tawbah, but there are other actions as well. On a side note, Allah Subhanho wa Ta'ala is satisfied quickly, simple things makes him satisfied with His slave. Hence, we need to know how to deal with Allah properly when He is angry with us.

Alot of people have the idea that once they have attained the satisfaction of Allah with them, that their mission in life is complete. This is a misconception. You should be just as concerned about how to deal with Allah when He is satisfied with you as your concern for when he is angry with you. Reaching the satisfaction of Allah is one step, and the continuation of this satisfaction is another step on its own. But how does one actually know whether Allah is actually satisfied with him or not?

Then there is a higher step than satisfaction only, and Allah does not bestow this except upon a few. It is the attainment of Allah's love so you become Allah's beloved and this love spreads to the heavens with the Angels and spread to the Earth so people love you. But how do you deal with Allah when you have attained such a status?

People always love to visit the place of their beloved, and Allah has placed on this Earth his house, the Mosque, where his beloveds may flock to Him and stand between His hands in prayer and submission. How does one deal with Allah when he enters His house? I know of a certain individual, whom after having learnt the secrets of how to properly enter Allah's house, has said "I swear to Allah when I implemented the actions, it was as if I am entering the Mosque for the first time" (meaning his perspective and attitude changed).

A human being, throughout his lifetime, will go through certain situations and with certain people where he will feel shy. There is nothing out of the ordinary with this. The odd and amazing thing though is that Allah sometimes is shy of us! I myself would not have learnt of this had I not read a hadith of our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah upon him). How does one know if Allah is shy of them, and does one deal with Allah in such a situation?

This and other questions mentioned previously are some of the topics that will be covered with our show (How to deal with Allah). We always hear of books and programs and training courses that revolve around the topic of how to deal with your husband or wife, how to deal with your children, how to deal with your boss, with customers, etc. But we have not heared of one that revolves around the topic of how to deal with Allah.

We first presented this topic in a lecture about a year ago in Kuwait city. We were surprised that the number of attendees reached over 35,000 men and women! This is the biggest gathering for a lecture in Kuwait's history. It happened that during this lecture, two Arab non-Muslim girls passed by the area where the lecture was happening. They heared the words being spoken, and both started gathering. They walked up to us and made their intentions of wanting to enter Islam known. The news reached me inside the Mosque where I was giving the lecture, and I immediately gave the good news to the gathering. (The video of this lecture gathering can be seen starting at minute 8.22)

And now the question: How do you deal with Allah? What is the answer to this question? I am sure that this answer, without exaggeration, will change your life completely with Allah's will.

So what is the answer? Keep watching the series for it =)

As Salam Alekoum

Ramadhan links 1

2010-08-12T03:48:00.004+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

A series that I greatly enjoyed last year is back again, and with a wonderful start =)

Dr Tariq Ramadan's chronicles for the holy month, here's part 1

And finally, Amr Khalid's show for Ramadan this year is called (The journey of happiness to heaven). It's in arabic, but am sure an English translation will be coming soon on Amr Khalid's site in the future for those intrested inshaAllah =)

Ramadhan goals

2010-08-11T02:34:00.006+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

Ramadhan has been announced tomorrow in Malaysia =D Al 7amdulillah that we have been given another chance to see through this blessed month, and I would to extend my congratulations to Muslims all over the globe with the coming of Ramadhan <3

I love the idea that is being presented in the previous video, as it resonates true with what I am thinking also. I have written up my list of Ramadhan goals about a week ago, and I have it open in front of me right now, considering the different means by which I will achieve them all inshaAllah.

The list is long, but here are some points from it:

Work on having the best Kushoo during prayers (Al 7amdulillah the series I linked in my last link has been an excellent help with this)
To memorize a large section of the Quran
To spend my days reading and listening to an array of lectures (have built my library, just a few pieces missing that will be filled in the coming days inshaAllah =))
Qeeyam al Lail and lots of Quran reading

In addition to a list of goals, I have written out a list of things I will make Duaa for. Ramadhan is the month of Mercy. It is the month where Allah may forgive the sins of His worshipers and give them a clean slate to start with. It is our chance to redeem ourselves, and to increase our Eman and Taqwa.

Get yourself a piece of paper and a pen. Sit down and think, what would I like to achieve by the end of the thirty days. How do I want to improve myself, what would I like to ask of Allah, what do I need in my life. It need not be a long list of goals, just set something realistic for yourself so you may start slow and power onwards as time goes by.

May it be the best Ramadhan for all of us in terms of our Ibada, inshaAllah =)

As Salam Alekoum

Anniversary Reflection

2010-08-09T04:47:00.009+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

Today is the one year anniversary of my blog =) Warning: following post contains tracings of mushiness.

Image credit lifeshadows

Subhan Allah, one whole year has past, and it has been an amazing one. Al 7amdulillah, this blog has served has my gateway to speak my thoughts about my religion, for me to share my excitement with fellow readers as I delve deeper into Islam, and for me to just simply share my love for Allah, all his prophets (peace and blessings on them all) and the religion of Islam. I have asked Allah to give me success in my endeavour, because I really do take it seriously as I want to make sure to not offend or insult or share wrong information, but instead share the beauty that is in the Quran and Sunna. I have made to Duaa to Allah several times for my current endeavour (and future planned endeavours) to be a success, and I ask Him, Subhanho wa Taala, the same again. Ameen.

Reflecting on the past year personally ... I have completed my University life and got my degree successfully, I have come back, found a job that I enjoy, and I am going to spend the first week of Ramadhan with my family in Malaysia, rather than on my own in New Zealand like last year. However, Al 7amdulillah, the greatest thing to have happened to me for sure is the Hajj trip when I first got back home from NZ. I thank Allah for having made the whole thing possible so easily. Like I said in my post about the trip, it was a jihad, but the sights you see and the emotions you feel during it is beyond indescribable. Lol, I'm tearing up right now, thinking about it. Praise be to Allah for having granted me this blessing, and inshaAllah I will be granted the blessing of another Hajj trip in my lifetime. One important thing I have learned in my past year is that the power of Duaa truly is great, and the blessings that we have been granted with is endless.

وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا

“[...] and if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them,”

(Surat Ibrahim - Verse 34)

In terms of reflecting on the blog, it started out as a portal for me to just share material I have come across about Islam, i.e: videos, audio files, etc. I suppose it still is somewhat such a portal, but I have also been typing up my own material. I rather enjoy that, as it gives me a chance to use my brain for thinking hehe =P To reflect, as Allah has commanded us to ... to research, to read, to share myself with you my dear readers.

I hope that this blog has benefited people out there, and will also continue benefiting inshaAllah. To all my returning readers and followers: Thank you for putting up with the ramblings of a random Muslim girl =)

Haha, sorry if I started becoming a little formal up there, it's just me simply pouring out honest thoughts. Praise be to Allah, for blessing me and fellow Muslims with Islam.

رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ ٱلْوَهَّابُ

"Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Granter of bounties without measure"

(Al Imran - Verse 8)

As Salam Alekoum

[Links]

2010-08-03T06:20:00.007+12:00

_The new Ramadhan Issue of Modest Beautiful Muslimah is out.

_Brother Suhaib Webb gave a lovely lecture on how to welcome the coming month of Ramadhan. Here's the transcript of part 1 and part 2.

_Must read: How to Taste the Sweetness of Prayer, by sister Jinan Bastaki. I realize that alot of us out there have problems with Kushoo during prayers (I admit that I do as well) . It's a series, and I have just gone through the first two parts, but its worth dedicating a whole afternoon to improve your state during Salah (and your Iman ultimatly, inshaAllah)

P art I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part XIV | Part XV | Part XVI|Part XVII | Part XVIII | Part XIX | Part XX | Part XXI | Part XXII | Part XXIII | Part XXIV |Part XXV | Part XXVI | Part XXVII

_Another good read, what with the rise of people glorifying such things: Who is your favourite Celebrity?

_You know how I am a big fan of brother Nouman Ali Khan's tafsir series (podcast here)? Well, I got directed to a blog that has transcripts of the lectures given by brother Nouman =) InshaAllah it will benifet many people out there.

_Finally, a poem that I really loved, taken from verbage =)

[Source ~ Unknown]

I asked for Strength:
And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom:
And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity:
And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage:
And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love:
And God gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors:
And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted;
I received everything I needed.
My Prayer has been answered.

Reminder

2010-07-31T06:04:00.005+12:00

On our road trip back to Kuala Lumpur after spending a few days in Langkawi Island (which was beautiful mashaAllah ... and days there were fun al hamdullilah), we parked at one of the highway rest stops to stretch our legs and grab a light lunch.

I walked through the food stalls at the stop, when my eyes happened to linger on this Quran aya, hanging on the wall of a stall. Took a snap of it with phone camera

{And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out, and He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is ((Allah)) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion}

Surat Al Talaq, Verse 2 and 3.

I stopped short, staring at it ... Subhan Allah and Al Humdulillah it served as a wonderful reminder for me =)

[Links]

2010-07-17T06:17:00.007+12:00

As Salam Alekoum!

I am gonna start a new segment on the blog with awesome stuff I've come across during my surfing of the Islamic websphere =) Here goes!

Productive Muslim have a new segment coming up that will help those of us out there that just need a little push to do our very best during the coming Ramadhan. This will include audio lectures, tips and tricks and support also. Sign up for it right here at ProductiveRamadan.com.

My Halal Kitchen has written out an article titled (10 Tips for a Productive Ramadan Kitchen) Though I am not incharge of my own kitchen per se, I still found it to be an intresting read and perhaps it will benifit some readers more than others =)

The July issue of Modest Beautiful Muslimah online magazine is out. It's called (The Family Issue)

That's it for now =)

As Salam Alekoum <3

Beautiful Duaa for repentance

2010-07-16T02:39:00.003+12:00

اللهم إنى أستغفرك من كل ذنب تبت إليك منه ثم عدت فيه، وأستغفرك من كل ما وعدتك به من نفسى ولم أوف لك به، وأستغفرك من كل عمل أردت به وجهك فخالطه غيرك، وأستغفرك من كل نعمة أنعمت بها علىّ فاستعنت بها على معصيتك، وأستغفرك يا عالم الغيب والشهادة من كل ذنب آتيته فى ضياء النهار وسواد الليل فى ملأ أو خلاء وسر وعلانية يا حليم

The following is an attempt at translating to the best of my abilities (and with the aid of Google translate =P)

O Allah, I ask You for forgiveness from every sin I repented from to you then returned to it, and I ask you for forgiveness of all that I promised you of myself but did not fulfil, and I seek your forgiveness of all the work I commited to do for Your face only (i.e for Allah only) but it ended being shared amongst Yourself and others, and forgiveness of every blessing bestowed upon me by You that I used as an aid in transgressing against you, and I seek your forgivness, O Knower of the unseen and truth, of every sin I approached in the light of day and the darkness of night, with a crowd of people or alone, in secret or in open, O Most Patient One on the transgressions of his slaves.

Hope

2010-07-14T16:01:00.006+12:00

When we aim for a certain career in life, say a doctor or architect or programmer, we need to first go through a learning process. What I mean by this is that we have to be taught the tricks of the trade, make mistakes (no one is immune to this) and if we are truley commited to our ultimate carrier goal, we would learn from those mistakes to not commit them again and continue onwards. We will be given projects and assignments, tests and exams, to measure the amount of understanding we have and wether we need to improve ourselves and learn more.

Our life on this earth is not really that different. We have our teachers, the Quran given to us by Allah Subhanho Wa Taala, and our Prophet, Allah's peace and blessings upon him. No human being is immune to mistakes (ie sins). The difference however between a believer and a weak believer or a non believer is that we first realize and recognize that what was commited is indeed a mistake, and try our best to never commit them again. We move on by doing better, becoming better people. We must not get bogged down witht the shaitan ensanaring us in his doubt trap of making us believe that we will never be forgiven by Allah.

Allah tells us in the Quran:

قُلۡ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡرَفُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُواْ مِن رَّحۡمَةِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغۡفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ هُوَ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surat Az-Zumar, Aya 53

Another aya in the Quran that moved me deeply in regards to this issue if from Surat Ghafer (i.e: The Forgiver)

ٱلَّذِينَ يَحۡمِلُونَ ٱلۡعَرۡشَ وَمَنۡ حَوۡلَهُ ۥ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمۡدِ رَبِّہِمۡ وَيُؤۡمِنُونَ بِهِۦ وَيَسۡتَغۡفِرُونَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ رَبَّنَا وَسِعۡتَ ڪُلَّ شَىۡءٍ۬ رَّحۡمَةً۬ وَعِلۡمً۬ا فَٱغۡفِرۡ لِلَّذِينَ تَابُواْ وَٱتَّبَعُواْ سَبِيلَكَ وَقِهِمۡ عَذَابَ ٱلۡجَحِيمِ (٧) رَبَّنَا وَأَدۡخِلۡهُمۡ جَنَّـٰتِ عَدۡنٍ ٱلَّتِى وَعَدتَّهُمۡ وَمَن صَلَحَ مِنۡ ءَابَآٮِٕهِمۡ وَأَزۡوَٲجِهِمۡ وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِهِمۡۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ (٨) وَقِهِمُ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِۚ وَمَن تَقِ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ فَقَدۡ رَحِمۡتَهُ ۥۚ وَذَٲلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡفَوۡزُ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ (٩)

7. Those who sustain the Throne (of Allah, i.e the angels) and those around it Sing Glory and Praise to their Lord; believe in Him; and implore Forgiveness for those who believe: "Our Lord! Thy Reach is over all things, in Mercy and Knowledge. Forgive, then, those who turn in Repentance, and follow Thy Path; and preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire!

8. "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom.

9. "And preserve them from (all) ills; and any whom Thou dost preserve from ills that Day,- on them wilt Thou have bestowed Mercy indeed: and that will be truly (for them) the highest Achievement".

What is asked of us is that we recognize the sin (admit the mistake), make a reservation within ourselves to never make it again, and ask Allah for forgivness. And even if you do (mistakenly) commit the sin again, do not despair. When Allah, Subhanho wa Taala, created mercy, He created 100 parts of it. He bestowed upon the Earth one part, and left the 99 parts with him. This is the mercy you see between a mother and her child, between loved ones, even between animals with their young. If this is just one part of mercy, what of the 99 parts that will be shown to by Allah to His servants?

Hence, one must not despair at all in this life. In contrast, one must also be mindful of what they need to do in order to be forgiven by Allah. A pearl of wisdom I once heared that explains this quite well is the following:

Fear and hope are like the two wings of a bird. If they are well balanced, the flight will be well balanced. But, If one is stunted, the Right would also be stunted. And, to be sure, if the two are lost, the bird will soon be in the throes of death.

I pray that Allah will bestow upon us all with a mind aware of evil deeds, to bless our hearts with true Eman and to forgive us all for our mistakes.

As Salam Alekoum <3

Update

2010-07-13T15:02:00.003+12:00

As Salam Alekoum

Hehe ... well to be honest with you, my dear reader, I am kinda stumped as to how to start this post. My fingers have been lingering on the keyboard for a few minutes as I racked my brain for the best opening, and decided to just talk about what exactly is on my mind right now. I am feeling a bit of shame for having let this place go and get slightly dusty, and so would like to basically tell you a little of what has been going on with me and where I am right now. The past couple of months, I've been juggling three jobs. I will not do that again lol. I came to realize that, even though I do have the skill, love and motivation to do the best in each of them, I still dont have the best time organizing skills nor discipline to complete my tasks as I was supposed to. Also, I ended not doing as well as I know I can in each one of them. I was not very happy with myself. I decided that rather than trying to do as many things as I can at a time, I need to begin to make decisions on what my true capabilites are and hence what I really can achieve in a certain amount of time. Al Hamdullah, it was a good learning experience =)

So now, to the present. I am currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia =) It's my first real holiday for a looooooong while now, and I am really enjoying myself Al Hamdullah! The malls and shopping in KL is amazing haha. And oh the foooooooooooood I have been spending ALOT of quality time with the bakeries here. Everytime we pass by one I have to step in to it xD Cake Sense has yummy Banana Muffins! Do pass by if you're in the city =P The Mosques are beautiful, every mall has a prayer area with a clean place to perform wudhu and also clean head and body coverings available for the ladies (for those who are not muthajbat) I really liked that it catered to them also. I have not visited any other place other than KL so far, but from my browsing of the different areas of Malaysia its a super gorgeous country <3 We will be visiting other areas soon inshaAllah. Also, I'll be spending the first week of Ramadhan here. I am so looking forward to that =D

As Salam Alekoum <3

Ibn Al Qayyim - Paradise

2010-06-18T20:12:00.002+12:00

A really good friend of mine typed out the following poem and emailed it to me. I would like to share it with all, coz I really loved it.

Regarding Paradise Ibn al Qayyim said:

That it is only out of fear it should be attained

By any except the one deserving, and your Lord is most knowledgeable of the Creation.

And even if it should be concealed from us with every dislike thing,

And surround by that which troubles the souls,

By Allah, what delights are contained inside

And all manners of pleasure for the soul to enjoy.

And from Allah is the sweetness of life in its pavilions,

Its gardens, and in the meadow which will make one smile.

And to Allah belongs its valley where there is promise of increase

For those who love Allah; if only I could be of them!

In that valley, the lover wanders,

And he sees the wandering to be a great attainment.

And from Allah is the joy of the lovers when

He addresses them from above and greets them with Salam.

And by Allah, when they see Allah directly

Neither shall darkness cover their sight nor shall they tire.

So O what a glance which gives a brightness to the face,

Can the enthralled lover ever forget after that?

There are all manners of fruit which never go out of season.

Bunches of grapes and apples of the garden,

And pomegrenates, all manner of fruits enthralling the heart

And roses adorn its fields

And wine is passed around to taste.

All manners of beauty are gathered together,

O what a wonderous gathering it is.

It has many types of beauty which altogether

Make it impossible to forget.

Remember ar-Rahman who is watching always

So pronounce Tasbih without stuttering,

So that whenever you face the army of despair

It shall turn back on its heals vanquished

And fast the day nearest to you, perhaps tomorrow

You will enjoy the 'Id of Fitr while the people are fasting.

And go forward, be not satisfied with a base life,

No one attains pleasure without effort.

And if the whole world should be restricted for you

And you should have not even a known place to stay.

Then come to the Gardens of Eternity,

For they are our first dwelling places and they contain many pavilions.

We are prisoners in the hands of our enemies; do you think

We shall return to our lands and have peace?

They claim that when the stranger goes out

And his lands are far away, he becomes infatutuated (with it).

What strangeness is greater then ours

For which the enemies have taken every measure against us.

Come to the marketplace where the lovers meet,

That is the place that is known for them.

Whatever you like, take without payment

For the traders have all made advance payments and given up their goods.

And come to the Day of Increase in which

The Lord of the Throne shall visit, that is a holiday!

Come to a valley that is vast

Its dirt is greater than the fragrance of musk.

Pulpits of light you will find there and silver

And of pure gold which does not break.

Mounds of musk setup as sitting places

For those who are beneath the owners of the pulpits.

So while they are busy in their joys

And their sustenance comes to them,

Suddently there is a peircing bright light

Filling the far corners of the Garden

The Lord of the Heavens Manifests Himself and then He speaks,

"Peace be upon You." as all of them hear

With their ears His greetings of peace when He greets them.

He says, "Ask me whatever you wish for all that you

Wish is with me and I am Most Merciful."

They all say, "We ask you (Your) Pleasure

For You are the One who owns all that is beautiful and shows mercy."

He grants this to them and they all bear witness

That Allah is Most Generous.

So O you who would sell this for a measly price hastily given

It is as if you do not know; indeed, you shall know!

So if you do not know, then that is a calamity,

And if you know, then the calamity is greater!

Time, Love, Praise and Encouragement in Relationships - Nouman Ali Khan

2010-06-14T04:45:00.001+12:00

Salam Alekoum =)

A new lecture by Nouman, revolving around how to maintain a healthy relationship between spouses and children. Although the talk is mainly addressed to Muslim men rather than women, I found it to be really enlightening in terms of how I would like to raise my children in the future, as well as behave with my husband (if, Allah willing, I am blessed with both these things).

One thing that resonated with me is how Nouman mentioned the fact that your spouse, your parents, your family, is a gift from Allah to you. Not having or maintaining a good relationship to them and being ungrateful to them really means that you are ungrateful to Allah, who gave you this gift.

May Allah forgive me for all my shortcomings before when it comes to my parents and family. I love them with all my heart, no matter how insane it can get at times haha =P

Salam out!

Ibada in Islam (part 2)

2010-05-21T03:46:00.004+12:00

This is a continuation of a past post, which can be found by following the link:

Ibada in Islam (part 1)

---------------------------------------------

So what is this concept of slavery that we are getting at? Every other slavery is forced, but this slavery [to Allah] is willing. You walk into this slavery, you accept this slavery yourself. Even in Surat Al Fatiha He [Allah] did not say o'bodo (enslave yourselves, worship and enslave yourselves). Instead, we said

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ

eeyaka na'bodo

We declared (we enter into the slavery and worship you only). That's essentially what we said. So now the uniqueness of Allah's mastery is that we enter into this slavery willingly, and secondly instead of being based on anything else, the primary drive of this slavery is that the master is not hated ... the master is loved. It's a different kind of slavery. What were those five conditions that I was referring to before [i.e. in the beginning of the talk on slavery]?

The first of them is actually love. To be a slave of Allah, you have to love Allah. You can't be considered a slave until you love him. And what that love goes to mean is that everything else you love must be less than the love you have for Allah, and everything else you love must be dictated by the love you have for Allah. So you cannot love your wife or your children or your family or whatever, unless that love is taba'an ... it's underneath/in submission to the love you have for Allah. That's the first condition of slavery.

The second is obedience. [la ta'aten le makhlooqen fi ma'seyat al khaliq] the messenger, Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, said. I.e.: there is no obedience to the creation while disobeying the creator. In other words, yes you have to obey other things like you have to obey your boss, you have to obey traffic laws, but none of those obedience can exist while you are in disobedience to Allah. That obedience comes first [You don’t get rewarded for the other obedience’s]. That's the second consideration of Allah's slavery. The first one was love, and the second is obedience.

The third one is sincerity. What that means is, everything that you do, you do it as a slave now. It's not "somethings" that you do as a slave. If you are a worshiper, only Sala [Muslim prayer] is for Allah while everything else is for you. But if you are a slave, what is everything for? Who is everything for? Everything is for Allah. Everything. Your job is for the sake of Allah, your family is for the sake of Allah, your worship is for the sake of Allah. Everything is for the sake of Allah. But when you just think of yourself as a worshiper you only give one part of your life to Allah, you don't give the whole thing to Allah. So Allah teaches us in the Quran

قُلۡ إِنَّ صَلَاتِى وَنُسُكِى وَمَحۡيَاىَ وَمَمَاتِى لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ
[ina salati wa nusuki wa mahaya wa mamati lillahi raab el 3almeen]
My prayer belongs to Allah (it's for his sake) My sacrifice is for his sake, my life and my death are also for his sake

You know what the means practically? It practically means that when I make career goals, when I make family goals, when I make business goals, what is my ultimate agenda? What are these things for? They are for the service of my master. It's a change of attitude. So even with most Muslims today, when we look at the ayat where Allah calls us to become his slaves, what do we reduce it to most of the time? We reduce it to worship. He [Allah] is asking for something WAY more, something huge, something tremendous, instead.

So we got three conditions so far. We got love, obedience and sincerity. Our motives are now directed by Allah, sincerely for the sake of Allah, and that's what's gonna come up in this aya.

Then two more. The next condition is trust. Tawkul. We have to have trust in our master. Btw, just a side note, these five conditions I quote from which scholar? Ibn Taymiya rahmeaho Allah [May Allah have mercy on him]. You have to have absolute trust in this master. Whatever He does, you have to trust is good for you. Whatever He gives you, it's good for you, whatever He didn't give you, He didn't give you coz it's good for you. If you got something, it's from Allah, it's a gift. If you didn't get something there's also good in that, you have to have absolute trust. Whatever may happen, whatever may occur, it is because of Allah's decree:

مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ إِلَّا فِى ڪِتَـٰبٍ۬ مِّن قَبۡلِ أَن نَّبۡرَأَهَآ
[ma asaba min musebaten fil arthi wa la fee anfosekoum illa fee ketabn min qabli an nabraa-ha lkay la taa-so ala ma fatkoum wa la tafraho ala ma atakoum]
Naught of disaster befalleth in the earth or in yourselves but it is in a Book before we bring it into being

It's simple: whatever you are given in life, you don't become sad over what you lose, you don’t become overjoyed over what you gained, everything is from Allah. Your tawakul is placed, your complete trust and reliance is placed in Allah. So this slave does not put his trust in means. You don't trust your car because it's from a reliable company, you don't trust your family! Instead, your trust in them comes from who? Your trust and your expectations come from Allah, not from your family. When you place your trust in creation you will always be disappointed. When you place your trust in Allah, nothing will disappoint you. Nothing will disappoint you. So this is trust, tawakul.

And finally, it's the terms of slavery, which is a very interesting concept. In every relationship there are terms. For example: the teacher and the student: there is a relationship. And in that relationship both parties have certain responsibilities. In a parent and child relationship, again both sides have certain responsibilities, don't they? Employer and Employee, both sides have a certain understanding. You have to come to work at this time, you have to leave at this time, you leave at 8 on this day, this is how much you will get payed. Do this, don't do this. There are terms. We understand that the terms of this slavery are not dictated by us. We understand that the terms of this slavery are dictated by Him [Allah], the Master. In other words, what does it mean to become a "good slave", that definition does not come from me. Those standards don't come from me. I cannot think of myself "I think I am a pretty good slave. I think I am doing alright" From your own assumption, you can't do that. Those standards of what makes you a slave and what makes you a rebel are dictated by Him and you have no hand in them, nor any say in them. This is the problem with most people in their relationship with God. Even though they will tell you “I love God too man. You Muslims, you love God! We love Him too! I love God too. “Well how do you please him?”Whatever my heart tells me. My heart tells me this is good, that's why I do it" That concept does not exist for us because who's dictating what's good and what's bad? Allah aza wa jal. He put the fitra in us, but what is dictated comes from the master.

These are the conditions of slavery. And this is the essence of this deen. In the end what is this guidance about: you become salve, you accept Him as master. That's the essence of Quran in the end ... that is the juice of the matter. And it is this concept that is nowadays being separated or not being understood in line with worship.

Ibada in Islam (part 1)

2010-05-10T19:20:00.000+12:00

Listening to one of Nouman Ali Khan's podcast (this one was a tafseer on Surat Al Bayyinah), I happened upon a most wonderful discussion on the concept of Ibada in Islam. I took the time to write out the discussion as narrated by Nouman, but just changed a few words here and there (since for one to talk about a topic is different than for one to read a topic). I will split the discussion into two posts, in order to not daunt those out there whom are not champion readers.

Just some background info, he has reached the tafseer of the fifth Aya in the Sura. Also, Bayyinah in arabic means that which is crystal clear, there is no black or white to it.

For the full podcast, here's the download link (this discussion starts at about 3.30) :

Tafseer Surah 098 – Bayyinah Part 2 by Nouman Ali Khan

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We shall discuss the concept of Ibada from the linguistic point of view only, we're not even gonna go into a full deep discussion.

One of the most beautiful discussions on Ibada is actually compiled by Ibn Taymeya (Rahemaho Allah, May Allah have mercy on him) who talks about the five conditions of being a slave to Allah. I'll atleast hightlight those five things, but for now inshaAllah ta3la we shall talk about some other issues.

Commonly, with the words (Ibada, leya'bado Allah [so they they worship Allah]) when translated to English the translation says "worship". The key term is worship. We have to address the gap between the arabic word

(leya'bodo)
(Ibabada)
(Ya'bodo)
It is even mentioned in Surat Al Fatiha (eeyaka na'bodo)

and the english word worship, because there is a gap and if we don't understand that gap, this will lead to there being a gap in our understanding sometimes. You know, if we don't truley fill that void then there is something missing in our reading from the Quran.

The word worship in the English language is very specific, It's used for particular acts of worship offerred at particular times. Worship is also specific to specific religions. So for example the Christian has his own mode of worship, the Muslim has his own mode of worship, the Jews may have their own mode of worship, and Hindus may have their own mode of worship. But if you ask someone who speaks the English language "what comes to your mind when you hear the word (worship)? what images pop into your mind?" The images that will pop into their mind is somebody kneeling, somebody bowing down, somebody at a church, at a synagogue, these are the kind of images that crop into the mind. Therfore, because we are translating from Arabic to English, we have to becareful of the words we choose and the images they conjure up in the mind of the people who speak that language.

The word Abada in Arabic includes the meaning of worship, but has another distinctly seperate connotation also and that is that of slavery. So Abid is a worshiper but Abd is actually a slave. What's the difference between a worshiper and a slave? In English atleast, there is a huge difference. They may not have anything to do with each other. Some one who is worshiping may not be a slave and someone who is a slave may not be worshiping. They could be two mutually exclusive things.

But when we use the word Ibada in Arabic we actually combine two concepts together: that of worship and also that of slavery. These two are together. So when we translate the Aya:

وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓاْ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ
(Wa ma omeroo ila laybodo Allah)
What were they commanded except that they should worship Allah

we are missing the other half that is implied and meant. We didnt capture it.

Now, what is the opposite of Abd in arabic? It is Raab [Master]. The antonym, the lingustic antonym of Abd is Raab. But Abd is two things right? It could be one who is a slave and the one who worships also (in a larger sense a great worshiper). If you think of it in the meaning of slave in Arabic, then the opposite of it is Raab. If you think of it in the meaning of a worshiper, then the opposite of Abd in arabic is Iillah [a diety that is worshiped]. So there is two antonyms: one from the meaning of worship and one from the meaning of slavery. Two seperate antonyms. But both are implied when Allah uses the word Abd in verbal form and in nominal form as a noun, both of those meanings are meant.

So the first thing I wanna do, and I assume everyone here is clear about what worship means, I wanna clarify some things about what slavery means so that we have a little more comprehensive view of the Aya and of the term in general as it occurs in the Quran. I am taking the time to explain this, because as I said this Aya represents a summury of the entire Quran. "What were they told except," and then Allah says leya'bodo Allah, i.e "so they become Ibad of Allah, so they may enter into slavery of Allah and worship him".

This first thing. Slavery is different than worship because slavery has no time associated with it. Worship is at a cetain time, at a cetain place, a certain activity. But a slave, when is he a slave? When he's sleeping he's a slave, when he's awake he's a slave, when he's eating, when he's not eating, when he's changing he's clothes, when he's working, when he's on vacation, he's always a slave. So slavery is a state of being, while worship is an act itself. Someone can be a worshiper at cetain times, but they are not always worshipers, but a slave is a a slave, they are always a slave.

That's one huge difference between the two. The other thing sometimes, to be politcally correct, when some people translate, instead of slave, they use the word servant. Or humble servant, some translations offer that word. This comes from the english word service. You are a servant at your company. If you're an accountant you serve your company, you are a servant for them. A servant could be a janitor, a servant could be somebody who is working a job but in any of those scenarios service is a give or take, it's an exchange. Service is an exchange, I give a service what do I expect in return? To be payed. Also, service is specified. If you're an accountant you cannot be asked to wash the windows, unless the economy is really bad. If your service is one thing you are not asked for anything else. But in slavery, what are you asked to do? Everything that the master says. Everything that the master says you have to do. So it is totally different from the idea of service and significatly different from the idea of worship. Both of those things are seperate. That's the first issue with slavery.

The second issue is that slavery, as it is understood in the world, is never something you want to enter into, slavery is usually something forced upon you. Worship is something you do voulntarliy but slavery is not something you would do voluntarily. It's always involuntary. You can apply for a job in a service, you can be in a certain service industry and apply to become a part of that service. But you don't apply to become a slave, you don't give in an application and say "I love taking beatings, and I love chains around my neck". You don't do that, it doesn't make any sense. The one who is in slavery would want nothing more than to be free of that slavery. That is the nature of slavery in human history. So it does conjure up negative images. However, we cannot abonden the term and stop being true to the text because of those negative images. We have to still be true to the text, plus fully explaining the concept.

The thing is, in this slavery [the one mentioned in the Aya, and in the Quran] who is the master? Allah ... and Allah is nothing like his creations. He's far above his creations. In every other slavery a human being is the master. Another human being is the master. But in this slavery, Allah is the master. And since Allah is completely different from all of his creations, when he is the master he's a different kind of master ... a kind of master that no other master can be like. Even in Surat Al Fatiha, before we call him Raab, What do we say?

ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ
Al Hamdu Lillahi Raab

We say Al Hamdu Lillah first, which means we praise him, and we show him gratitude first. No master is praised, no master is shown gratitude, except Allah. Every other master is cursed, every other master is complained about, but even Allah before he tells us he is master what does he tell us? Al Hamdu Lillah. This is a different kind of master. Which means that, if he is a different kind of master we must be a different kind of slave. You understand so far?

Update

2010-04-27T04:12:00.003+12:00

Salam guys =)

I've been blessed with another last minute trip to Mecca, this time for Omra ofcourse. All I can say is that it was so lovely that I actually kinda felt depressed at having to leave xD InshaAllah I'll be blessed with another visit to Mecca soon.

The Haram was not as crowded as during Hajj time, that's a whole other scene on itself and cannot be described till you are actually there yourself (may Allah bless you all with Hajj soon) but it was still was pretty packed, more so than I expected at this time of year mashaAllah. I noticed that the greatest number of a particular country of people there were Turks. During Hajj and even until now I keep seeing a great number of Turkish people, mashaAllah. My mother told me that there's a kind of Islamic revolution going there, where people are coming back to the roots of the religion. Old and young Turks were there, and little adorable kids as well <3 We got to know a couple of people throughout our time in the Mosque, since you get to sit next to a different person at nearly every prayer. This is another thing I loved about the experience, having to meet people from all walks of life.

One thing that I did enjoy as well, and not related to the Haram, was this store we went into called Mecca Dates. They sell dates if you haven't figured it out yet =P I was on Cloud 9 in that store as the seller kept giving us samples and samples and samples of different dates, and I kept gourging on them .... I.LOVE.DATES! So I bought me two boxes of my favourite samples (one of them was called Anbar, I don't remember the name of the other one), and I finished them in like 3 days xD

Here's a photo, taken on the second day of us being there

[Aya] Anger

2010-04-11T19:55:00.005+12:00

وَلَمَّا سَكَتَ عَن مُّوسَى ٱلۡغَضَبُ

"When the anger of Moses was appeased"

Verse 154, Surat Al A'araf

The English translation I shared here is really not satisfactory to the words that are in Arabic. Appeased somehow does not seem like the right word to be used here, because anger is described as something that can talk, then can be made quiet. The word used in Arabic in place of appeased is (سَكَتَ) which means to become quiet. Like a noisy room that suddenly becomes quiet when someone walks in for example. Though Appease does include the meaning of to make something quiet, it also includes the meaning to calm something down.

The anger that is described in the verse seems like something that talks to you, or more like shouts and screams at you, causing of noise in your head and within you. You need to take control of it and shut it up basically lol, make it quiet.

Does anger feel that way to you? It sure does with me.

Allah knows best.

More to come on topic in later post.

Lectures in Muscat

2010-04-10T23:31:00.006+12:00

Lectures this week in Muscat (sorry for not providing the title of the lectures as I am not aware of them yet):

Skeikh Mohammed Al Areefi in SQU's open theatre on Sunday the 11th April at 7 pm

Skeikh Hamza Yusuf in Qurm Park's theater on Wednesday the 14th, Thursday the 15th and Friday the 16th April at 8.15 pm

Update:

For more info follow this link http://www.islamfact.com/islamfact_news/3061.html

Surat Al Kahaf questions

2010-04-03T18:03:00.006+13:00

My dear readers, I am in a bit of a pickle and I would appreciate some insight from you guys on some verses from Surat Al Kahaf.

The story of Prophet Moosa and Khithr (Peace be upon them) is one of the many that is told to us by Allah in Surat Al Kahaf (and one of my favorites) . Khithr is basically an embodiment of Qadar (destiny ordained to us by Allah Subhanho wa Taala) and it just goes to show that no matter how much you think you know ... you just don't.

The verses that caught my attention (as was first pointed out to me by my Mother) are the following:

قَالَ هَـٰذَا فِرَاقُ بَيۡنِى وَبَيۡنِكَ‌ۚ سَأُنَبِّئُكَ بِتَأۡوِيلِ مَا لَمۡ تَسۡتَطِع عَّلَيۡهِ صَبۡرًا

He answered: "This is the parting between me and thee: now will I tell thee the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience.

أَمَّا ٱلسَّفِينَةُ فَكَانَتۡ لِمَسَـٰكِينَ يَعۡمَلُونَ فِى ٱلۡبَحۡرِ فَأَرَدتُّ أَنۡ أَعِيبَہَا وَكَانَ وَرَآءَهُم مَّلِكٌ۬ يَأۡخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ غَصۡبً۬ا

"As for the boat, it belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water: I but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized on every boat by force.

وَأَمَّا ٱلۡغُلَـٰمُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤۡمِنَيۡنِ فَخَشِينَآ أَن يُرۡهِقَهُمَا طُغۡيَـٰنً۬ا وَڪُفۡرً۬ا

"As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man).

فَأَرَدۡنَآ أَن يُبۡدِلَهُمَا رَبُّہُمَا خَيۡرً۬ا مِّنۡهُ زَكَوٰةً۬ وَأَقۡرَبَ رُحۡمً۬ا

"So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection.

وَأَمَّا ٱلۡجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَـٰمَيۡنِ يَتِيمَيۡنِ فِى ٱلۡمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحۡتَهُ ۥ كَنزٌ۬ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَـٰلِحً۬ا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبۡلُغَآ أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسۡتَخۡرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحۡمَةً۬ مِّن رَّبِّكَ‌ۚ وَمَا فَعَلۡتُهُ ۥ عَنۡ أَمۡرِى‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ تَأۡوِيلُ مَا لَمۡ تَسۡطِع عَّلَيۡهِ صَبۡرً۬ا

"As for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the Town; there was, beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous man: So thy Lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure - a mercy (and favor) from thy Lord. I did it not of my own accord. Such is the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience."

Verses 78 to 82, Surat Al Kahaf

As Khithr begins to explain to Prophet Moosa (Peace be upon them) the reason for his actions, there is a change in who is being referred to as doing the action (I totally don't remember what this is called in English grammar).

With the boat, Khithr says (seemingly referring only to himself):

فَأَرَدتُّ أَنۡ أَعِيبَہَا
I but wished to render it unserviceable

With the youth, Khithr says (seemingly referring to several):

فَخَشِينَآ
we feared

فَأَرَدۡنَآ أَن يُبۡدِلَهُمَا رَبُّہُمَا
So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange

With the wall, Khithr says (seemingly referring to Allah only):

فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ

So thy Lord desired

I had a little think about it and came up with my own reasoning (Allah knows best) that the reason why:

Khithr referred to himself only with the boat incident is that he created the fault in it with his own hands.
Khithr referred to a group with the youth is that he killed the youth but then Allah Subhanho wa Taala will bless the boy's parents by creating for them another child (so I assume here that "we" refers to Khithr and Allah).
Khithr referred to Allah only with the wall incident because it is Allah who will keep the treasure safe as well as the two youths until they are able to find it.

However, I am not a student of Tafseer, and so this reasoning is just an opinion that should not be taken as the correct answer. I would love to learn more about as well as understand why the verses keep changing with regards to subject matter (hope that is the right way to say it) . I did try to have a search on the world wide web, but that didn't yield the desirable results.

If any reader has an idea on the matter, read something on the subject or has asked someone of knowledge about it, please please don't hesitate to tell me about it, whether in the comments or by flicking me an email =)

Jazakoum Allah Khairan!

Blessings again ...

2010-03-29T18:14:00.004+13:00

I shared in the blog a post about a week ago about Yusuf Estes coming to Muscat. I attended two of his lectures here and both were wonderful =) I was so so so excited to see him right in front of me rather than on Youtube like I usually do. He used the same jokes as always but I still ended up laughing anyway LOL xD

During the first lecture, a man reverted to Islam. I believe he was British judging from the accent. I can't tell you how emotional that was for me. I never cry in public, but on that day I found the tears streaming down my face. I kept thinking how fortunate I am to be here, to witness a man who's sins are about to be replaced with mountains of Hasanat. I also felt happiness from the great blessing Allah has bestowed upon this man to give him Hedaya and guide him to Islam. I hear sniffling and turn my head around to find most if not all the women in the row I was sitting in (including my Mama) with tears in their eyes also. Yusuf explained to the man the words of shahada that he is about to say in English, then guided him through the Arabic words. It was wonderful =)

I did not attend the third lecture unfortunaltly, but my cousins did and they told me that four people on the day reverted to Islam, mashaAllah. One before the lecture and three right after it. I was super disappointed that I did not make it =( Al Hamdullah in the end of it all.

Blessings take different forms in our life. There are the super obvious ones, like the people that have reverted back to Islam with the guidance of Allah Subhanho wa Taala. Then there are the less obvious ones, the tiny ones if you may. The day before yesterday, I went for my usual walk in the park with my Mother. At the end of it, I was thirsty and hot and I craved for oranges. As soon as I got my hands on a piece of orange, I bit into it and its sweet juice exploded in my mouth and cooled me off as well as quenched my thirst. I realized how incredible this simple little fruit is, how blessed we are that Allah gave it to us. You must remember that as Muslims, we have to bear in mind that NONE of what we have in this world is ours. Even our own limbs are not ours, but all blessings from Allah. He gave us arms and hands, and did not give others. He gave eyes to see with, and did not give others. He gave us a family and a home, and did not give to others. He blessed us with the ability to eat whenever we want to, rather than starve like many people in the world. It just goes on and on.

وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعۡمَتَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحۡصُوهَآ‌ۗ
إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ لَظَلُومٌ۬ ڪَفَّارٌ۬

"If you count Allah's blessings, you can never encompass them all.

Indeed, the human being is transgressing, unappreciative."

(Surat Ibrahim, verse 34)

Try to think about the blessings in your life, the tiny ones and the big ones. Take a few minutes out of your busy time in the day and think about it. Thank Allah for it all, for bear in mind that the most blessed in this world will be asked the most of what they did with their blessings and if they appreciated and thanked Allah for it. Another thing that is also good to mention is that many people these days seem to think that they are loved by Allah because of their wealth and health and good life ... and therefore better than the people whom are not as blessed. Do not for a second even believe that.

ثُمَّ لَتُسۡـَٔلُنَّ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ

"Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in!)."

(Surat Al Takathur, verse 8)

[Aya] Blessings

2010-03-24T18:53:00.005+13:00

Heaven Lies Under the Feet of the Mother

2010-03-23T06:11:00.005+13:00

It was Mother's Day yesterday =) People all over the Arab World celebrated the day by making their mums feel extra special with showers of gift and love. In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, I want to write a post showcasing the great respect Mothers are given in Islam.

It begins with the hadith of the Prophet Mohammad Peace and Blessings be upon him: "Heaven lies under your mother's feet" (Ahmad, Nasai) Imagine now, you're mother standing in front of you and Heaven surrounds her. Allah has bestowed this great rank on her.

A second hadith that showcases the respect Islam gives to mothers is the following: A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim).

My little brother and sisters know this song =P

Yusuf Estes ...

2010-03-16T03:47:00.004+13:00

Is coming to Oman!

In accordance with the plan of cultural activities 2010, the Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture will organise three lectures in English by world renowned Islamic preacher Yusuf Estes. The first lecture will be on the topic, ‘Islam’s relationship with other heavenly religions’, on March 24 at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque Auditorium. Seating will be extended to the mosque courtyard. The second lecture on the topic, ‘Let us come to the common terms’, will be held on March 25 at the city amphitheatre in Qurum Natural Park while the third lecture will be held on March 26 at the same place on the topic, ‘Why preachers of other religions convert to Islam’.

Q&A session

All the lectures will start at 8pm and will be followed by a question and answer session. The organisers have appealed to people of all faith to benefit from Yusuf Estes’ educative and inspiring lectures.

Yusuf Estes, who reverted to Islam, is today engaged in delivering lectures across the world. He was raised in a strong Christian home, educated in Texas and became successful owning music stores, TV shows and used his talents for piano and organ as a music minister while preaching the Bible. Estes converted to Islam in 1991 after meeting an Egyptian man he identifies simply as “Mohammed”, with whom Estes’ father had undertaken business dealings. According to Estes, he learnt about Islam accidentally and gradually while himself in the process of earnestly attempting to convert Mohammed to Christianity.

He served as a delegate to the United Nations Peace Summit for Religious Leaders and US Federal chaplain from 1994 until 2000.

His lectures in universities, institutions, military and public venues are for all faiths — Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Jewish alike. Many preachers, priests and rabbis have complimented his way of presenting a fresh and enlightening picture of the world’s fastest growing religion — Islam. He works to share Islam and its correct message with our youth, new Muslims and others in simple English terms, and he makes it fun and easy to understand, while referring to the Holy Quran and the teachings of Islam.

He uses the latest in website technology on the Internet and offers hi-tech technology like DVDs and CDs to encourage us all to share the message of “Peace, Surrender and Obedience to God”.

Source

This piece of news really drew a huge smile on my face ... I am so looking forward to going to the lectures! (InshaAllah) I've become such a fan of this grandpa and his way of speaking out to people with such wit and humor (I guess this blog is evidence of that =P) May Allah reward him for all his efforts and keep him safe during his journey.

Nouman Ali Khan - Surat Al Takathur

2010-03-08T06:11:00.008+13:00

Surat Al Takathur is the 102nd Sura in the Quran. The Arabic word (takathur) translates to (rivalry in worldly increase). In the sura, Allah tells mankind how they go through their life, competing with each other at worldly gain, and how petty this all this once they finally reach their graves to realize the ultimate truth.

Allah also tells us how we will all be asked about the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Many people these days seem to believe that because they have been given wealth and many blessings in this world, it comes to the conclusion that they are special and Allah loves them more than others. The last verse in Surat al Takathur tells us that we will be questioned about these blessings, and what we have done with them. This could prove to be fatal in the end.

I've always had the first 6 verses of the Sura in the back of my mind ... our wake up call is always death, weather it was with someone we know or to us ourselves. Some of us are lucky to have been blessed with "waking up" when someone close to them passed away in order to have a chance to make better their life in the current world, rather than face "waking up" in their own grave in the unseen world.

أَلۡهَٮٰكُمُ ٱلتَّكَاثُرُ (١) حَتَّىٰ زُرۡتُمُ ٱلۡمَقَابِرَ (٢) كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ (٣) ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ (٤) كَلَّا لَوۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ عِلۡمَ ٱلۡيَقِينِ (٥) لَتَرَوُنَّ ٱلۡجَحِيمَ (٦

Rivalry in worldly increase distracteth you (1) Until ye come to the graves. (2) Nay, but ye will come to know! (3) Nay, but ye will come to know! (4) Nay, would that ye knew (now) with a sure knowledge! (5) For ye will behold hell-fire. (6)

Here's the lecture by Nouman Ali Khan on Surat Al Takathur. Now you guys already know am a big admirer of this guy, so this lecture is pretty good =)

Download in .mp3 format

Nouman Ali Khan - Surat Al Takathur

One last thing, you can be notified by email everytime a new tafseer lecture has been posted by Nouman to his website. Sign up here --> http://bayyinah.com/dream/podcast/

Surat Al Mulk (part 1)

2010-02-21T09:08:00.007+13:00

Oh blog ... I am so sorry I have left dust begin to pile up on you =( I hardly have time to sit at the laptop anymore, not like when I was in NZ. However, I have not stopped listing the topics I want to share with you, and they will all be posted inshaAllah, most probably slowly but hopefully not, one by one.

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(Photo taken by me)

Surat Al Mulk, over the past year, has become one of my favorites in the Holy Quran. Al Mulk translates to The Sovereignty or Control, and we see why it was called by this name with the first verse of the sura. The words with which it begins has an awesome aura to it ... it delivers to me the feeling of the incredible mightiness of Allah Subhanho wa Taala, that it almost always makes my heart beat just a little faster.

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath Power

It is narrated in the Suna of the Prophet Mohammad Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him that he would read Surat Al Mulk every night before sleep, for this Sura protects its reciter from the punishment of the grave.

وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "من القرآن سورة ثلاثون آية شفعت لرجل حتى غفر له وهى تبارك الذي بيده الملك" رواه أبو داود والترمذي

Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “The Quran contains a surah of thirty ayats which will intercede for a man until he is forgiven. It is: ‘Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion” [abu Dawud, Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi]

Here is a recitation of the Sura by one of my favorite Quran reciters, followed by a link to an English translation of it for those interested.

Yusuf Ali English Translation

One of the things that stand out to me in the Sura, other than Allah's mighty declaration of his dominion over everything, is a challenge from Allah to us. Look up to the sky, do you see a single mistake, a single crack. But no, don't look only once, look twice! You will not find a single mistake in the sky that is above you, in outer space itself. Instead your vision will come back to you and you are in a state of weariness from trying to find a flaw.

Note that in the Sura, Allah says that we have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps (the stars). This goes to show that the world we live in, including outer space is in the lowest heaven, and there are six other heavens above, each one on top of the other.

A vivid description of Hell Fire is included in the Sura, the terrible drawing in of it's breath as it blazes hotter and hotter. The word used here is Shaheeq in Arabic, and it is a form of really deep breath that is audible as it is being drawn in. There are many points in the Quran that seem to point out the Hell Fire is a living creature: it asks for more to be thrown within it and it breathes. May Allah protect us from it, Ameen.

The Sura speaks of people whom are thrown within Hell Fire, and its Keepers (Angels) will ask these people if no messengers or messages have come to them. The people will say that messengers and messages have come but they basically chose to ignore, calling it folly. They will further go on to admit that had they been hearing properly and thinking properly they would not be people of the Hell fire! They admitted to their mistake, but it's a little too late.

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I'll continue speaking about the Sura in a part 2 inshaAllah =)

Quran Mystic Experience

2010-02-06T07:25:00.009+13:00

It should be remembered, nevertheless, that full appreciation of the spirit of the Quran demands practical involvement with the struggle to fulfill its mission. The Quran is neither a book of abstract theories and cold doctrines which the reader can grasp while seated in a cosy armchair, nor is it merely a religious book like other religious books, the secrets of which can be grasped in seminaries and oratories. On the other contrary, it is the blueprint and guidebook of a message, of a mission, of a movement, As soon as this Book was revealed, it drove a quiet, kind-hearted man from his isolation and seclusion, and placed him upon the battlefield of life to challenge a world that had gone astray. It inspired him to raise his voice against falsehood, and pitted him in a grim struggle against the standard-bearers of unbelief, of disobedience to God, of waywardness and error. One after the other, it sought out everyone who had a pure and noble soul, mustering them together under the standard of the Messenger. It also infuriated all those who by their nature were bent on mischief and drove them to wage war against the bearers of the Truth.

This is the Book which inspired and directed that great movement which began with the preaching of a message by an individual, and continued for no fewer than twenty-three years, until the Kingdom of God was truly established on earth. In this long and heart-rending struggle between Truth and falsehood, this Book unfailingly guided its followers to the eradication of the latter and the consolidation and enthronement of the former. How then could one expect to get to the heart of the Quran truths merely by reciting its verses, without so much as stepping upon the field of battle between faith and unbelief, between Islam and Ignorance? To appreciate the Quran fully one must take it up and launch into the task of calling people to God, making it one's guide at every stage.

...

This will be an experience different frm any so-called 'mystic experience'. I designate it the 'Quranic mystic experience'. One of the characteristics of this 'experience' is that at each stage one almost automatically finds certain Quranic verses to guide one, since they were revealed at a similar stage and therefore contain the guidance appropriate to it. A person engaged in this struggle may not grasp all the linguistic and grammatical subtleties he may also miss certain finer points in the rhetoric and semantics of the Quran, yet it is impossible for the Quran to fail to reveal its true spirit to him.

Again, in keeping with the same principle, a man can neither understand the laws, the moral teachings, and the economic and political principles which the Quran embodies nor appreciate the full imp0ort of he Quranic laws and regulations, unless he tries to implement them in his own life. Hence the individual who fails to translate the Quranic precepts into personal practice will fail to understand the Book. The same must be said of any nation that allows the institutions of its collective life to run contrary to the teachings of the Quran.

The above is quoted from the Introduction of the English translation of the book "Towards Understanding the Quran" by Abul Ala Maududi. (Really enjoying the book btw)

I have found that, once one begins to bring into their life the principles that is presented in the Holy Book, you truley do look upon everything from a different perspective. For one thing, you will find contement with whatever happens in your life, wether your life is like a ship sailing on calm beautiful waters, or like a ship sailing on stormy rough seas. When you feel angry, you say in your mind the verse from Surat Aal Umran (134)

وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِين

who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men;- for Allah loves those who do good

And you restrain your anger, for the sake of becoming one of those whom Allah loves. This will lead to an explosive situation being avoided.

When you have a person whom you are on bad terms with, you recall the following verse from Surat Fusilat (34)

ولا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلا السَّيِّئَةُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ

Nor can goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: Then will he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate!

And you change your attitude towards the person, try to take the advice that Allah has given and be good to them. Suddenly, and somewhat surprisingly, you find that the person whom you have held hatred for before in your heart becomes a good friend.

The examples that I have shared now are extremely simple ones. I suppose with just these two verses being applied in a person's life, so many bad everyday situations can be avoided, and relationships between people will improve as well!

So now when you read the Quran, keep a look out for the advice and orders that Allah gives us in His Book. Make note of the qualities of a believer that Allah speaks of and try to implement them in your life, and avoid that qualities of a disbeliever. Understand why the stories that have been mentioned in the Quran are so important, and what their morals are. Sit up straight whenever you come across Allah calling to us in His Book with "Oh you who believe ..." and listen/read intently to what is being said.

The Mercy of Allah

2010-01-26T06:47:00.008+13:00

Do you guys ever notice how most of the topics that Scholars talk about deal with the actions in Islam .. what I mean by this is the following:

How important Salah is and what a grave sin it is not to perform it.
How important Zaka is and what a grave sin it is not to give it.
How important Hijab is and what a grave sin it is not to wear it.

And so on. By all means I am NOT saying that these things are not important, on the contrary they are super important to us as Muslims. However, most of the time lecturers and scholars seem to forget to mention another very grave sin to us Muslims, and that is to lose hope in the mercy of Allah, Subhanho wa Taala.

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surat Az-Zumar (39), Verse 53

I remember, when I was young, hearing a teacher at school talking to a parent of a girl in my class and telling her about how the youth of today have a really twisted way of thinking. The youth have basically given up hope on ever entering Paradise, and so might as well do all the sins they want since eli 5arbana 5arbana (what's rotten is rotten, basically if they are going to Hell they might as well enjoy the ride). I was pretty young when I happened upon this conversation, and so you can imagine what an impact it left in me since I can still remember it quite clearly.

I don't know what truly brought those youth to such a conclusion, but I think it might have something to do with them being told that once you have done a certain sin/sins, there is no way in the world you can be forgiven for it/them, or at least they were told that it would be incredibly difficult for them to repent from it/them. Lectures delivered in the form of threats, telling them of the punishments waiting for them after they die for what they have done. Though this form of advice does work on some people, it will make others lose hope or become immune and numb to it.

The Quran does have warnings in it to the people of sin, but it is also filled with glad tidings to the people who repent from their sins, whom seek Allah's forgiveness and apologize to Him for what they have done. The Verse from Surat Az- Zumr is a beautiful example of it, where Allah orders us to never despair from His Mercy.

وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا

وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمْ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا

وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا اصْرِفْ عَنَّا عَذَابَ جَهَنَّمَ ۖ إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا

إِنَّهَا سَاءَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَ‌ٰلِكَ قَوَامًا

وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَـٰهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَ‌ٰلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا

يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا

إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَـٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

وَمَن تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَإِنَّهُ يَتُوبُ إِلَى اللَّهِ مَتَابًا

And the servants of ((Allah)) Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, "Peace!";

Those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord prostrate and standing;

Those who say, "Our Lord! avert from us the Wrath of Hell, for its Wrath is indeed an affliction grievous,-

Evil indeed is it as an abode, and as a place to rest in";

Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those (extremes);

Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred except for just cause, nor commit fornication; - and any that does this (not only) meets punishment.

(But) the Penalty on the Day of Judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in ignominy,-

Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful,

And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to Allah with an (acceptable) conversion

Surat Al-Furqan (25), Verse 63-71.

I love how the verses in Surat Al-Furqan play out. They begin by describing to us the characteristics of the servants of Allah, making note them down so you can try to become as such. The Verses then take a scary turn, telling us how people who do not follow such a righteous path and perform a sin will have punishment dealt to him doubly on the day of judgment, making you get goosebumps. But then, Allah tells us that this will only be dealt to those who refuse to repent and seek the mercy of Allah. For those who do seek the mercy, all their bad sins will be turned into righteous deeds. I mean seriously, how good of a deal is this? But their is one condition for it to totally happen as such and it's for a person to truley repent, from deep within their heart and do as the verses have instructed us.

Do you not think that losing hope in Allah is also a grave sin that people must be told about? Don't ever lose hope in Allah, He is always close for those who seek Him.

إِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ

When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.

Surat Al-Baqara (2), Verse 186

Documentary - Phase 3

2010-01-10T18:21:00.005+13:00

A friend linked me the first episode of this series a couple of days ago, and I have been watching it with fascination. Here's a preview of it from the creators:

Another groundbreaking and riveting series from the creators of The Arrivals and The Divine Book. Phase 3 aims to set a new standard in online films. This production will (inshallah) wake up the world, and unite the people from every country, religion, culture or creed against injustice. A film by the people, for the people.

Phase 3 is a WakeUpProject Film made up of 5 chapters.

There a number of different speakers from different faiths and backgrounds quoted in the series, including Imran Hosein. The series is still ongoing with only three chapters released so far.

Here's the Intro to the series and all released episodes can be found on YouTube. The editing is incredible and it even has its own theme song =P

Documentary - Phase 3

Imran Hosein - Dajjal, the False Messiah

2010-01-10T07:03:00.008+13:00

As with most people out there, I've always had quite a fascination with the subject of Dajjal, or the Antichrist, in religion. I've read books and articles on people's different ideas about who the Dajjal is and what he looks like based on Hadeeths from the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him. However, only one particular idea took its roots in my mind and it was not from a random person's book, but from my mother. I think was telling here what I had learnt about the description of the Dajjal and what would happen when he comes. She told me that she thinks Dajjal will not be a person, but more of a movement in the world, that all the description we have is religious symbolism and prophecies on how the world will become as the end draws nearer and nearer.

I'll have to admit, that seriously freaked me out.

And you know what ... it does kinda make sense to me. There are still a few points I need to iro out for myself with more research, like what about the Hadeeth about a young man walking out of Madina towards the Dajjal and talking to him. And so I came across Imran Hosein, and incredibly knowledgeable Muslim in the realms of Dajjal and related topics. Here is an excerpt about him from his Wiki page:

Imran Nazar Hosein is a leading International Islamic Philosopher, Scholar and author, specialising in world politics, economy, eschatology , modern socio-economic/political issues and expert on international affairs. He is best-selling author of Jerusalem in the Qur'an.

Source

The first lecture I came across of his was titled (Dajjal, the False Messiah) and in it he discusses his strong viewpoint on the relegious symbolism revolving around the subject of Dajjal. This lecture really intrigued me and I do want to listen to more of his talks on the subject inshaAllah. It's pretty chilling how he predicted the fall of the US economy ( lecture was given in 2007, perhaps earlier)

And finally, Allah knows best in terms of who/what Dajjal is.

Imran Hosein - Dajjal, the False Messiah .mp3 (lecture number 24)

Example of Fitrah

2009-12-30T08:27:00.002+13:00

Check out this adorable little baby and how listens to the recitation of the Quran, mashaAllah mashaAllah. To me, the video is an example of Fitrah where the baby is able to recognize the words that are being spoken (by his attention being caught). Children are such pure and innocent creatures, their souls still not stained by the temptations of the world ... oh how I love them <3

Funny story told by Saudi Sheikh Areefi

2009-12-21T00:33:00.004+13:00

I provided a translation of what the Sheikh is saying in the video. Basically imagine that it is him talking. Another point is that when I say the word Prayer, I mean performing Salah. Video is kinda funnier in Arabic coz the Shiekh does voice impressions as he tells the story xD

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I remember, a while ago, I was giving a few lectures in Jordan. So I sat in a gathering and I spoke a little about Prayer (Salah). There was an old Jordanian man in this gathering, his age was about 70.

He said to me “Sheikh”.

I turned to him and said “Yes?”

He said to me “I would like to tell you my story with Prayer”

I don’t remember ever coming across anyone before that had a story to do with Prayer. People have stories with a job, stories with ladies they fell in love with … but a story with Prayer? “You have a story with Prayer?” I said to the old man.

“Yes ya Zalameh (Zalameh translates to Man. People in Shaami countries sometimes use it when talking to each other) what are you saying? I told you I have a story with Prayer”

“Ok, don’t get irked. Tell me your story with Prayer.”

“Sheikh, when I was a young man, I was not a very good person: I was rotten. However, I used to Pray. All my bad friends would not Pray, I was the only one amongst them who did. So I entered a Masjid once in order to Pray, and as I lifted my eyes to perform the Takbeera, I saw infront of me written on the wall a Hadeeth of the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him that said: ‘Whomever his Prayer would not stop him performing Fahshaa and Munkar (Sinful deeds), he has no Prayer (i.e.: the Prayer is not accepted with Allah)’ ”

This Hadeeth, by the way, is weak. The old man continues:

“I thought to myself ‘what in the world is this?’ I have no Prayer …? My Prayer does not stop me from sinning so that means I have no Prayer … so what am I Praying for then!? You know what, I will not Pray anymore!’”

--The Sheikh pauses and smiles at the audience--

Instead of thinking “I will not sin anymore so that my Prayer can be accepted by Allah” the old man thought “I will not Pray anymore so that my sins be accepted” ! Look at how Iblees (Devil) plays with people! The old man continues:

“And so, Sheikh, for 10 years of my life after this incident I did not Pray a single Prayer … what is the point of me Praying when I have no Prayer? I was invited to a party at one point after all this time passed, and there was a Saudi man there from Jeddah. And there were so many people in the boisterous party, doing who knows what. The Jeddah man sat next to me, and we both began drinking together. The Jeddah man asked me, and we were drunk at this point: ‘Where is your girlfriend?’

I told him: ‘I don’t have a girlfriend.’

‘How come? Don’t you do Zina? (premarital sex)’

‘No, I don’t do Zina.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t want to that’s all!’

‘Well … if you don’t do Zina then why don’t you Pray?’”

Remember, this is them talking to each other and they are drunk. Subhan Allah, sometimes wisdom comes from the most unlikely sources. The old man continues:

“I said to the Jeddah man: ‘I don’t Pray because, look at me, I drink’

‘Listen to me man’ the Jeddah man said ‘Us human beings, we have ropes between us and our Lord of the Worlds. A rope called [Being good to Parents]. A rope called [Reading the Quran]. A rope called [Giving Charity]. A rope called [Prayer]. When you are not good to your parents, you come to the first rope and you cut it. When you don’t read Quran, you come to the second rope and you cut it. When you don’t give charity, you come to the third rope and cut it. Dude, keep the last rope [Prayer] between you and our Lord of the Worlds intact, it might come in handy to you someday!’”

This is them and they are drunk, one of them telling the other to keep the Prayer rope intact incase he needs it later. The old man continues:

“As the Jeddah man finished talking, I thought to myself ‘What he is saying is truly right …’ I stood up, left the party, went home, washed myself and Prayed Maghrib and Ishaa. And since that day I have never left a single Prayer!”

And the reward of bringing the old man back to the righteous path is given to whom? –Sheikh pauses and smiles again—This is one of the benefits of alcohol by the way, because as it says in the Quran (In them there is great harm and also benefit to people).

Icky toilets

2009-12-12T22:45:00.003+13:00

Have you ever entered a toilet in a Muslim country and found yourself on the verge of collapsing from the horror of the sight that is before? I know, I know ... I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it and I apologize if I caused any more sick feelings in the pit of stomachs out there. However, this is a very important subject in Islam. Cleanliness in Islam is VERY important. That is why we perform the Wudu before prayer, and we purify ourselves with water after certain acts we do as human beings.

Yet, I can't help but be amazed (and I don't mean amazed in a good way) at the way some toilets are used by Muslims. It's horrible, it's disgusting and it's sick. Do they not know that putting harm in a person's way is a sin? Do they not know the etiquette that has been taught to us by our Prophet Peace Be Upon Him when going to the toilet? Do they not know how important it is to be clean and pure?

Even going to the toilet can be a way of getting 7asanat (good deeds) if performed in the correct Islamic way, and yet can also end up being a saye2a (sin) when done in a wrong and harmful way.

Like I said in the previous post, Islam is more than just the 5 pillars (i.e: shahada, prayer, fast, zaka, hajj) but it encompasses every aspect of the life, even going to the toilet! The following video elaborates more on the topic. I apologize if anyone found this post and/or the video a bit icky, but it truly is a problem that needs to be addressed. InshaAllah people will begin realizing just how important this topic is, and teach themselves as well as their children the proper way of using toilets.

Been to Hajj and back again

2009-12-12T08:37:00.008+13:00

Salam Alekoum readers out there!

It's been a long while, has it not? =P I am back home right now, been home for more than a month so far and I must say already itching for work xD Initially I wanted a holiday until February but that's just too long I am already starting to feel bored and want to be able to do something worthwhile with my time (along with the other things I do like reading, drawing, cooking, etc)

One incredible thing that did happen to me so far is that I went to Hajj =) It was not planned at all. I just walked in one day on my Mom and Dad discussing the idea of going to Hajj, they asked if I would like to come, I said YES! and my Dad kinda banged his hand on the table in this hardcore way and went "Ok, we are going to Hajj this year!" I think this was like two weeks before Hajj, so we had a tiny amount of time to prepare ourselves. I felt so happy and so incredibly grateful for Allah blessing me with the chance to be going on this journey so easily and with no complications. Hamdullah, hamdullah, hamdullah!

The journey of Hajj in the means of 3ibada (worship) and doing the manasek (the different procedures) was so amazing. My favourite day was waqfat el 3arafa (Arafa) when we went to the mountain and all sat around out it in the different camps. On this day, from the time the sun rises, to the time the sun sets, all a person's sins can be forgiven with his Duaa to Allah. I took this day upon myself as a day I would contemplate all the blessings that I had in my life and thank Allah for them (or atleast I tried my best coz no matter how hard I try I will never be able to see all the blessings that have been bestowed on me), to ask for forgivness for the bad things I have done for my life, and finally to pray for myself as well as for my dear family and friends.

Seeing the Masjid el 7aram for the first time in my life really moved me to tears. I couldn't believe I was finally looking at it. And what was more amazing was the AMOUNT of people streaming towards it. The best way I can describe it is for you to imagine an ant mound, and thousands of tiny ants streaming towards it from every single direction. That's how the people were moving towards the Masjid for prayer. I couldn't believe the sheer number of humans I saw there, Subhan Allah, and we (My Mom, Dad and I) were just a speck in the stream as we became a part of it.

I saw people there of every race in the world during Hajj, faces that I have never seen the likes of before in my life. A nice activity to engage in is to sit somewhere where you can watch a crowd of people moving along, and remember the following verse from the Quran:

وَأَذِّن فِى ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلۡحَجِّ يَأۡتُوكَ رِجَالاً۬ وَعَلَىٰ ڪُلِّ ضَامِرٍ۬ يَأۡتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ۬

And proclaim unto mankind the pilgrimage. They will come unto thee on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every deep ravine

(Surat Hajj, verse 27)

I must say though, there were a few scary moments during my time there. Due to the huge number of people, sometimes the crowds can get a little stiffling and it would kinda make me start hyperventilating coz I really do not like crowds and being in the middle of so many human beings. However, I kept repeating the Duaa (Allahuma yaser wa la tu3aser) (Oh my Lord, make it easy and dont make it hard) and hamdullah I was able to get through some really tough situations that I normally would not be able to go through. My father literally pulled me out of a crowd of people during Rami el Jamarat because I was getting pulled away from him by the stream lol. My elbow was really sore later on that day xD

Another thing that disappointed me is the behaviour of some Muslims in terms of throwing trash and even dealing with people. I was shocked at the amount of garbage in Meena, it was so bad it started to reek. Have they forgotten the ahadith of the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him dealing with keeping a place clean and beautiful as well as not throwing garbageon the ground. Also, the behaviour of some Muslims in terms of smashing into people when they are walking was really not cool. It seems that people forget that Islam is more than just the 5 pillars, but a whole way of life. All I can say is Allah yhdeena jamee3an inshaAllah.

I came back from Hajj feeling kind of a mix of emotions as a result of my experience there. I was sad due to the some of the behaviour and sights I saw there, but feeling incredibly happy that I was able to perform the journey and to have read so much Quran as well as Duaas in such a short number of days. I was terribly ill and so exhausted, and ended mostly sleeping during the next week after our return and recovering from a fever I had. However, looking back now on my time in Maka and the Hajj, I hope that Allah will grant me the chance to perform this journey again one day if He so wills it for me coz I really would love to go through it again, no matter how much of a Jihad it is.

Nouman Ali Khan - Divine Speech

2009-10-25T15:36:00.006+13:00

Another 1 week and I will be done with a big stage of my life inshaAllah.

All thanks goes to Allah that I made it this far, it really does feel unreal .. AlHamdullah.

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Yes, I am going through a Nouman craze at the moment =P MashaAllah I can't have enough of his lectures ... the way he interprets the verses and presents his thoughts. I also love how he approaches it from the classical literature point of view, i.e that this is a book that was revealed to a tribe that took pride in literature and poetry and none of them could come even close to creating such a thing.

I am a big fan of literature, I read books and am mesmerized by the words that a human brain can produce, the tying together of thought, feeling and expression in a few sentences. However, over the past two years I lost my love for reading. I couldn't find anything that spoke to me on the level that books once did. In fact, I lost interest in a lot of things, life was generally living it out each day at a time. All this time the Quran was on my shelf and I am ashamed to admit that I hardly ever read it, and if I did it would be just because it's a duty (Friday: reading Surat al Kahaf, or during Ramadhan). This has all changed now.

I feel excitment when I am about to read the Quran. I sit on the floor, with my back leaning against my bed and recite the Quran slowly, carefully. It's like I am seeing things I never realized were in there before. Sentences jump out at me, I go back and reread verses again and again, I recall lectures and stories that I have heard over the years and I am able to pull out the morals from them. I tell myself that I should read a certain amount then go off and do chores, but end up reading more and more. It's almost like soul cleansing, the way I feel before and after reciting the Quran is completely different, all the negative emotions and feelings are completely gone. AlHamdulillah.

One of the things that contributed to this is education about my religion ... the more I learn, the more my eyes open and the more I fall in-love with Islam.

Here's a video that's excellent in terms of education, one of the best from brother Nouman. I've watched it twice already and will gladly watch it over and over. May Allah grant this brother and all the Muslims the high Ferdaws, Ameen.

Nouman Ali Khan - Divine Speech part 1

Nouman Ali Khan - Divine Speech part 2

Nouman Ali Khan Tafseer

2009-10-17T16:43:00.004+13:00

An update on the post where I shared links to mp3 files of bother Nouman's tafseer of Surat al Naba'. I've listened to nearly all the files available on the site so far (with more coming out week by week) and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I like how brother Nouman gives different view points and then reasons on why this viewpoints exist, and gives his opinion on the matter. Inspiring person hehe.

Here's the link to where you can access all the files:

http://www.bayyinah.com/dream/

Store them on an MP3 player and listen to them whenever possible: driving, training, cleaning the house, etc.

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Update:

The website has undergone some changes and you can now listen to the Tafseers as podcasts hosted on the site.

Black American Revert Story

2009-10-17T16:34:00.004+13:00

Another two weeks till I am done with Uni .. inshaAllah 5air.

I miss this place =(

My honors presentation and interview is on Tuesday. The first year group I have been managing have their presentation on Friday. I also have to submit my design report on that day.

I need to conduct a usability study on AutoBOB (the indexing programme I developed) and submit it's report on 30th of October. Also, a diary study report is due and I have my Data Mining exam on the same day.

Then I leave New Zealand on the 3rd of November, arrive in Oman on 5th and begin my life as a University graduate, inshaAllah =)

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I loved hearing this dude's story.

Tafsir: Nouman Ali Khan - Surat An Naba'

2009-10-08T09:06:00.007+13:00

The video is an intro by brother Nouman to his dream: being able to teach arabic and relate the tafsir of the Quran from the language it was brought down in precisely.

The following two link are a first in a series of lectures offered by Nouman where he will faser (the act of performing tafseer) juzo' amma (the last section in the Quran). All lectures can be found: http://www.bayyinah.com/dream/

The first lectures revolve around Surat An Naba'. The sound quality is not the best to be honest, but it becomes perfect with the second lecture (guess they fixed the mic problem or whatever it was). The lectures are in MP3 format and can be downloaded and placed in your MP3 player for later listening =P

Enjoy!

Surat An Naba' 1

Surat An Naba' 2

---------------------------

Update:

The Bayyinah website has gone through some changes and you can now listen to the lectures as podcasts hosted on the site. Here are the links to Surat An Naba' lectures:

Part 1

Part 2

Yusuf Estes - Priests and Preachers entering Islam

2009-10-01T23:16:00.003+13:00

The title is a little misleading with this lecture. Although Sheikh Yusuf does mention a little on the topic of the title, he mostly concentrated on it from his point of view (he used to be a protestant music minister). It's a really lovely talk, where he talks in detail on his coming to Islam, as well as the people around him (friend, wife, father). I always learn something new from Sheikh Yusuf's talk (even if his jokes are kinda repeated alot xD) and feel so inspired that such a human being exists on this Earth =)

Enjoy! Here are the YouTube links

Yusuf Estes - Priests and Preachers entering Islam

Yusuf Esters - Priests and Preachers entering Islam (Q&A)

Huran Yahya - Heal Yourself Through Forgiveness

2009-09-27T23:37:00.005+13:00

Harun Yahya is the author, who writes under the pen name Harun Yahya, was born in Ankara in 1956. He studied arts at Istanbul's Mimar Sinan University and philosophy at Istanbul University. Since the 1980s, the author has published many books on political, faith-related and scientific issues. Harun Yahya is well known as an author who has written very important works disclosing the imposture of evolutionists, the invalidity of their claims and the dark liaisons between Darwinism and bloody ideologies. Some of the books of the author have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Albanian, Arabic, Polish, Russian, Bosnian, Indonesian, Turkish, Tatar, Urdu and Malay and published in the countries concerned. Harun Yahya's books appeal to all people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, regardless of their age, race and nationality, as they center around one goal: to open the readers' mind by presenting the sign's of God's eternal existence to them.

This is his website for those intrested to read more of his articles (highly recommend you to do so, some pretty wicked stuff are on there) Here is a lovely article written by him, revolving the incredibly rare act in our current day and age of total forgiveness.

One of the moral traits recommended in the Qur'an is forgiveness:

Hold to forgiveness, command what is right, and turn away from the ignorant. (7: 199)

In another verse Allah commands: "… They should rather pardon and overlook. Would you not love Allah to forgive you? Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (24:22)

Those who do not abide by the moral values of the Qur'an find it very difficult to forgive others. Because, they are easily angered by any error committed. However, Allah has advised the faithful that forgiveness is more proper:

The repayment of a bad action is one equivalent to it. But if someone pardons and puts things right, his reward is with Allah… (42:40)

…. But if you pardon and exonerate and forgive, Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (64: 14)

It has also been revealed in the Qur'an that forgiveness is a superior moral trait:
"But if someone is steadfast and forgives, that is the most resolute course to follow." (42:43)
For that reason, believers are forgiving, compassionate and tolerant people who, as revealed in the Qur'an,
"control their rage and pardon other people." (3:134)

Believers' notion of forgiveness is very different to that of those who do not live by the morals of the Qur'an. Even though many people may say they have forgiven someone who has offended them, it nevertheless takes a long time to free themselves of the hatred and anger in their hearts. Their behaviour tends to betray that anger. On the other hand, the forgiveness of believers is sincere. Because believers know that human beings are tried in this world, and learn by their mistakes, they are tolerant and compassionate. Moreover, believers are also capable of forgiveness even when they are in the right, and the other in the wrong. When forgiving, they make no distinction between large errors and small ones. Someone may cause severe losses to them by mistake. However, believers know that everything takes place under the command of Allah, and according to a specific destiny, and therefore, they surrender themselves to these developments, never acquiescing to anger.

Established Through Research

According to recent research, American scientists established that those capable of forgiveness are healthier in both mind and body. Dr. Frederic Luskin, who holds a Ph.D. in Counselling and Health Psychology from Stanford University, and his team, studied 259 people living in the city of San Francisco. The scientists invited the subjects to attend six one-and-a-half-hour sessions, and aimed to instruct the subjects in forgiveness during their conversations.

The subjects of the experiments stated that they suffered less after forgiving people who had wronged them. The research showed that people who learned to forgive feel much better, not only emotionally but also physically. For example, it was established that after the experiment psychological and physical symptoms such as stress-related backache, insomnia and stomachaches were significantly reduced in these individuals.

In his book, Forgive for Good, Dr. Frederic Luskin describes forgiveness as a proven recipe for health and happiness. The book describes how forgiveness promotes such positive states of mind as hope, patience and self-confidence by reducing anger, suffering, depression and stress. According to Dr. Luskin, harboured anger causes observable physical effects in the individual. He goes on to say that:

The thing about long-term or unresolved anger is we've seen it resets the internal thermostat. When you get used to a low level of anger all the time, you don't recognize what's normal. It creates a kind of adrenaline rush that people get used to. It burns out the body and makes it difficult to think clearly-making the situation worse1.

In addition, Dr. Luskin says, when the body releases certain enzymes during anger and stress, cholesterol and blood pressure levels go up-not a good long-term disposition to maintain the body in2.

Emotional Balance

An article called "Forgiveness," published in the September-October 1996 edition of Healing Currents Magazine, stated that anger towards an individual or an event led to negative emotions in people, and harmed their emotional balance and even their physical health3. The article also states that people realise after a while that the anger is a nuisance to them, and wish to repair the damage to the relationship. So, they take steps to forgive. It is also stated that, despite all they endure, people do not want to waste the precious moments of their life in anger and anxiety, and prefer to forgive themselves and others4.

In another study involving 1,500 people depression, stress and mental illness were observed to be less frequent in religious people. Dr. Herbert Benson, who conducted the research, linked this to the way religions encourage "forgiveness", and went on to say:

There's a physiology of forgiveness… When you do not forgive, it will chew you up5.

According to an article titled, "Anger is Hostile To Your Heart," published in the Harvard Gazette, anger is extremely harmful to the heart. Ichiro Kawachi, an assistant professor of medicine, and his team scientifically demonstrated this with various tests and measurements. As a result of their research, they established that grumpy old men had three times the risk of heart disease than their more tempered peers. "The tripling of risk," Kawachi says, "involves high levels of anger, explosive anger that includes smashing things and wanting to hurt someone in a fight6."

Researchers believe that release of stress hormones, increased oxygen demand by the heart's muscle cells, and added stickiness of blood platelets, which leads to clots explain how anger increases the chance of a heart attack7. Furthermore, at times of anger, the pulse rises above its normal level, and leads to increased blood pressure in the arteries, and thus to a greater risk of heart attack.

Psychosomatic Disorders

According to researchers, anger and hostility can also trigger the production of proteins linked to inflammation in the blood. The journal Psychosomatic Medicine suggested that the emotion triggers the production of inflammatory proteins, which may in turn be causing the hardening of the arteries, causing heart disease and stroke8. According to Associate Professor Edward Suarez of the Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina, the protein interleukin 6 (or IL-6) is much higher in men who are angry and depressed. High blood levels of IL-6 lead to atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty deposits in the lining of the walls of arteries9. According to Suarez, as well as factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol, heart disease is also linked to psychological states such as depression, anger and hostility10.

Another article, titled "Anger Raises Risk of Heart Attack," published in The Times, stated that a short temper might be a short cut to a heart attack, and that young men who reacted to stress by becoming angry were three times more likely to develop premature heart disease, and were five times more likely to have an early heart attack11. Scientists at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, found that quick-tempered men are at risk of heart attack even if there is no family history of heart disease12.

All the available research shows that anger is a state of mind that seriously damages human health. Forgiveness, on the other hand, even if it comes hard to people, is pleasing, an aspect of superior morals, that eliminates all the harmful effects of anger, and helps the individual to enjoy a healthy life, both psychologically and physically. Forgiveness, of course, is one of a form of behaviour by which a person can stay healthy, and a positive virtue everyone should live by. However, the true aim of forgiveness-as in all else-must be to please Allah. The fact that the features of this sort of morality, and that the benefits of which have been scientifically identified, have been revealed in many verses of the Qur'an, is just one of the many sources of wisdom it contains.

--------------------------------------------------

1- Jennifer Desai, "Stanford Forgiveness Project's Dr. Frederic Luskin studies why learning to forgive might be good for the body as well as the soul," Almanac, 9 June 1999, www.almanacnews.com/morgue/1999/1999_06_09.forgive.html.
2- Ibid.

3- Frederic Luskin, Ph.D., "Forgiveness," Healing Currents Magazine, September-October 1996, www.stanford.edu/~alexsox/4_steps_to_forgiveness.htm.

4- Ibid.

5- Claudia Kalb, "Faith & Healing," Newsweek, 10 November 2003, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3339654/site/newsweek.

6- William J. Cromie, "Anger is Hostile to Your Heart," Harvard Gazette, www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1996/11.07/AngerisHostileT.html.

7- Ibid.

8- Peter Lavelle, "Anger trigger to heart disease found?," ABC Science Online, 5 August 2003, www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s915243.htm.

9- Ibid.

10- Ibid.

11- Mark Henderson, "Anger Raises Risk of Heart Attack," The Times, London, 24 April 2002, www.rense.com/general24/anger.htm.

12- Ibid.

Source

Suhaib Webb - The Fear of Allah

2009-09-26T11:49:00.004+12:00

In this lecture, brother Suhaib speaks about how one can fear Allah and revere Him. However, don't think that this is the same fear as the fear we feel of people here on Earth. When we fear someone, we tend to run AWAY from them. When we fear Allah Subhanho wa Taala, we run TOWARDS him. A number of stories are shared in the lecture, as well as examples that easily bring the idea forward.

I watched the lecture twice, that's how much I liked it hehe. Plus brother Suhaib's yo yo yo accent is awesome, and when he suddenly switches to Egyptian Arabic its even awesome-r haha. Enjoy!

Suhaib Webb - The Fear of Allah

Suhaib Webb - Revenge of the Fallen

2009-09-23T21:47:00.005+12:00

Ustadh Suhaib Webb was born in 1972 and raised in the State of Oklahoma, USA. During his teens he became a Hip Hop DJ and made many records with different artists and bands. Suhaib Webb converted to Islam at the age of 20. He completed his degree in Elementary Education and served as Imam for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City. He moved to the Bay Area and is currently in his second year of studies at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. While in the States Ustadh Suhaib works with MAS at many local and national levels.

I very recently came across this brother (3 days ago) and I loved all his lectures and speeches so far. He has a very (yo yo yo) attitude when it comes to talking which is so weird to hear when one discusses islamic matters haha. I guess I've been brought up with the notion that all scholars and sheikhs are these rigid boring people that speak in ye olden language.

Here is an amazing lecture revolving sins and the reality of humans being far from perfect.

His Egyptian accent is wicked haha

Suhaib Webb - Revenge of the Fallen

Where have I been?

2009-09-23T18:51:00.003+12:00

This is gonna be an (about me) update. First I want to apologize for not having been taking care of this place like I said I would, but I really got caught up with Ramadan and my studies. My days were composed of:

-Waking for su7oor, reading Quran, praying, reading a little more Quran and maybe some Duaas, sleep

-Wake up, get dressed up, off to uni

-Go immediatly to friend's place for if6ar

-Come home usually about 8 pm, pray Taraweeh

-A bit of studies or surfing on the web and sleep

In the beginning I was able to manage my time well because I did not have a lot of assignments due at Uni, but then they started piling up one by one and ... AHH!

Oh well that part is over with, and Ramadan is over as well =( May Allah accept all our fasting and worship throughout this whole month. The air does not feel the same at all with the Holy Month gone.

And Eid Mubarek! Eid here was on a Monday, but I decided to skip lectures and spend the day under the shade of a tree, eating yummy BBQ with fellow Muslims here hehe.

The most crazy Uni time of the year is creeping up. I have 4 weeks left until I have to

-Hand in Managment Report

-Hand in Design Report

-Finish Usability Project

-Prepare for a presentation

-Design a poster for engineering day

and throw a couple of assignments here and there. May Allah help me through this time. I do admit that I am kinda nervous, but I will do my best and whatever happens I will be satisfied with it. Hehe, inshaAllah Khair =).

THEN ITS BACK HOME! TO MY FAMILY =D

I will do my best to keep this place alive during the next month. Salam Alekoum!

Beauties of Islam - Relationship between human beings and Almighty Allah

2009-09-17T06:57:00.003+12:00

Even though this series is mostly aimed at people who are new to Islam or are curious about it, I did find it very lovely to watch. I'll post the videos I epically liked. Here is the first one, where Sheikh Yusuf explains our relationship with Allah.

Bilal Assad - Those Who Desire Paradise

2009-09-15T23:38:00.001+12:00

Another awesome lecture from this brother.

Those Who Desire Paradise.

Fasting From One's Desires - Bilal Asaad

2009-09-12T07:56:00.004+12:00

Sorry for not updating this place .. my time has been squished my university/assignment/sickness. I'll post the usual Ramadan vids later, but here is an excellent lecture. We're in the last days of Ramadan, still a chance for one to make better their fasting

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 18 Observing Allah

2009-09-09T23:20:00.001+12:00

Dr. Imad talks about the concept of observing Allah because He is always observing us.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 18

2009-09-09T23:19:00.001+12:00

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 18

شاهد كيف يصبغون الكتاكيت (الصيصان) - مقطع مؤثر

2009-09-09T23:09:00.004+12:00

Title of video --> Watch how they dye/color the chicks.

Warning: if you love animals, be prepared for some heart breaking scenes. I couldn't take watching the video, but just goes to show how heartless so many people are. Harming a helpless creature is FORBIDDEN in Islam. The Shaikh in the video is greatly condemning the act, expressing his disbelief at how the man is treating the chicks as though they are food, dropping into a bowl and mixing them all up.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 17 Entering and Exiting the home

2009-09-08T23:39:00.001+12:00

Ustadh Jamaal shares with us the proper etiquette for entering and exiting the home.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 17

2009-09-08T23:38:00.000+12:00

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 17

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 16 He Frowned

2009-09-07T23:02:00.000+12:00

Dr. Imad shares with us an important story from the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 16

2009-09-07T22:59:00.000+12:00

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 16

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 15 Spending for Allah

2009-09-06T17:51:00.001+12:00

This episode reminds us of the great reward of spending in Allah's way, the Almighty, as is mentioned in the parable from surat Baqarah.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 15

2009-09-06T17:44:00.003+12:00

I felt so guilty at the end of the episode when we were told how Allah Subhanho Wa Taala told Prophet Moosa Peace Be Upon Him how special the Umma of Prophet Mohammed Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him. The guilt I felt is due to how far so many of us have strayed from the straight path of Islam. We take for granted what we are blessed with.

Readers, I have a major test tomorrow, please say a Dua for me to pass xD Here's the episode

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 15

Nouman Ali Khan - Obedience from Love of Allah

2009-09-06T17:40:00.004+12:00

Br. Nouman Ali Khan discusses in this khutbah an indirect form of shirk. It is a form in which we follow and chase what is haraam. It is crucial that we obey what Allah ta'ala has said. Br. Nouman discusses the fate of those who obey their culture, tradition and relatives rather than Allah's commands. At the end of the day, knowledge doesn't keep us away from haraam. It is the sincere dedication to obey Allah ta'ala that will ultimately help us.

Sound quality is kinda bad, but quite a thought provoking lecture/khutbah in our present day and age.

Nouman Ali Khan - Obedience from Love of Allah

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 14 Al Ghafoor

2009-09-05T17:52:00.000+12:00

Beautiful Episode =)

Muslema Purmul shares with us the meaning of yet another beautiful characteristic of Allah, Al Ghafoor.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 14

2009-09-05T17:49:00.002+12:00

I still didn't have the chance to watch this episode (was studying for a test) but from what was said yesterday am guessing the flight of Prophet Moosa Peace Be Upon Him and the Children if Israel from Egypt and Pharaoh is told, in addition to one of Allah's miracles to Prophet Moosa: Splitting the sea.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 14

Nouman Ali Khan - Who are the People of Taqwa?

2009-09-05T17:43:00.003+12:00

This is defiantly one of my favorite lectures given by the brother. Click on the link to watch the video in HQ.

Nouman Ali Khan - Who are the People of Taqwa?

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 13 Hope

2009-09-04T20:59:00.001+12:00

Some pretty bad technical errors occur in this episode starting somewhere at the 4th minute where the music becomes so loud you can't hear what is being said xD Still, some good points are covered.

Dr. Imad uses verses from the Quran to shed light on the importance of having hope in Allah.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 13

2009-09-04T20:55:00.003+12:00

This episode was kinda scary for me to be honest. In it the plagues or curses Allah Subhanho wa Taala sent down on Egypt as warnings are spoken about. Even after all the doubtless signs from Allah, Pharoh still refused to grant Prophet Moses Peace Be Upon Him's request of letting him and the Children of Israel to leave Egypt.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 13

Nouman Ali Khan - Our Legacy for the Next Generation: Doubt?

2009-09-04T20:05:00.003+12:00

I guess I am considered to be in the middle when it comes to generations. What I mean is that I am not the next generation, as in I am not that young anymore, nor am I the current generation, as in I have not contributed as much to my society to be counted as one. Haha hope that made sense =P Nevertheless, this lecture by brother Nouman is a gem for all generations. It shows how far we have strayed from the path by arguing over petty thing, missing the big picture and hence warranting Allah's Subhanho Wa Taala's wrath on us. Disagreement is normal amongst human beings, after are all each is an individual on his own. What we need to learn to do is live with these disagreements in a light manner, not letting them take control over us. The art of talking when needed, and backing down when did so needs to be pounded into so many people's heads haha. Speaking your mind all the time being counted as a good trait is a misconception.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 12 The role of the Heart

2009-09-03T21:54:00.000+12:00

Munir reminds us of what the true purpose of our heart is.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 12

2009-09-03T21:50:00.002+12:00

Good episode as always. I am way too sleepy at the moment to even give an overivew of what is talked about, but seriously it is a good episode *sleepy thumbs up*

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 12

Nouman Ali Khan - The Quran: The Book of Timeless Guidance

2009-09-03T21:47:00.004+12:00

This is not part of the after taraweeh series by brother Nouman (won't be posting anymore of them since I've posted all that is available), but still an amazing lecture. You can't help but look at the Quran in a different light after this lecture.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 11 Speech and Spirituality

2009-09-02T16:14:00.003+12:00

MUST WATCH!!

Jamal reminds us of some of the Islamic etiquette of speaking with one another, and how these basic manners are a part of spirituality.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 11

2009-09-02T16:12:00.003+12:00

Another exciting episode xD Prophet Moosa Peace Be Upon Him and Pharoh's battle continues, this time infront of a huge crowd. Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah!

I love the effort Amr Khaled put into this episode, standing in the sun and running from place to place to bring us closer to the images and meanings. May Allah reward him for it all, Ameen.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 11

Nouman Ali Khan - The Healthy Marriage

2009-09-02T16:09:00.002+12:00

This is the 19th and the last video available from the wonderful series =(

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 10 Cover Me

2009-09-01T20:21:00.001+12:00

Dr. Imad narrates the story of the reaction of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) to receiving the revelation. Dr. Imad draws important lessons from this great events that we can implement in our lives.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 10

2009-09-01T20:02:00.002+12:00

I enjoyed this episode SO MUCH! In it we are taken through the debate Prophet Moosa and Pharoh had in a super exciting way xD

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 10

Nouman Ali Khan - Wasting Time

2009-09-01T19:53:00.003+12:00

This is the 18th lecture in the series.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 9 Light Upon Light

2009-08-31T16:54:00.003+12:00

Khaled Bahijri reflects on the parable in the Quran that refers to the guidance of Allah as light upon light. He reminds where the guidance of the light comes from and how we can work to attain that guidance.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 9

2009-08-31T16:52:00.002+12:00

In this episode, we are walked through the emotions that Prophet Moosa felt as Allah Subhanoh wa Taala spoke to him, and revealed to him his great mission

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 9

Nouman Ali Khan - Being the best to our parents

2009-08-31T16:50:00.001+12:00

This is the 16th lecture in the series.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 8 Al Hameed

2009-08-30T16:52:00.001+12:00

Muslema Purmul reminds us why Allah (swt) is the Most Praiseworthy and how we should be grateful for the blessing that we receive from Al Hameed.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 8

2009-08-30T16:42:00.004+12:00

One of the points presented by Amr Khalid in this show was about how the Prophets spent alot of time alone with nature before revelations reached them. It was part of making their belief stronger. Yesterday I had the lovely opportunity for the first time in my life to pray outdoors, in front of an ocean. I took a photo of the view. It's a different experience, praying to the sounds of nothing but the lapping of the water, and lifting your head after the Salam to see Allah's creation in front of your eyes: the sky, the mountain, the water. I think this might be one of the reasons why people are losing their Eman these days, we don't see Allah's creation before our eyes, but are surrounded by concrete monsters.

The photo was taken during the morning time, we prayed later during the afternoon. The sun was in front of us and lighting slightly different. Btw, afternoon is my favourite time of the day =P The period that's like two hours before sunset.

And here's the episode =P

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 8

Nouman Ali Khan - The Dua of Ibrahim Peace Be Upon Him

2009-08-30T16:40:00.001+12:00

This is the 15th lecture in the series.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 7 Controlling Anger

2009-08-29T22:34:00.000+12:00

Dr. Imad gives helpful tips on controlling ones temper and observing the proper Islamic character even during frustrating situations.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 7

2009-08-29T22:29:00.003+12:00

We follow the Prophet Moosa Peace Be Upon Him as he flees from Egypt and heads to Madyan. Part 1 of the Madyan story. I was awestruck with the location filmings in this episode, I wanna go and see =(

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 7

Nouman Ali Khan - The Best Friend Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH)

2009-08-29T22:26:00.003+12:00

This is the 8th episode in the series. I couldn't find the 9th episode, sorry guys =(

Allah only chooses the best and so He chose Prophet Ibrahim as His friend. Br. Nouman Ali Khan shows us his character with Allah and brings out the lessons for us to learn from.

In the Shade of Ramadan 2009 - Episode 6 Importance of Islamic Manners

2009-08-28T16:33:00.002+12:00

Jamal Diwan explains why observing the proper Islamic characteristics is so important in our dealings with one another.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 6

2009-08-28T16:30:00.004+12:00

The sixth episode in the series. We learn of the events that forced Prophet Moses Peace Be Upon him to flee from the city he grew up in, and draw the lesson of the importance of making good decisions in our life on our own.

Amr Khalid: Quran Stories - Episode 6

Nouman Ali Khan - Righteous Company

2009-08-28T16:27:00.005+12:00

This is the 7th episode in the series.

Brother Nouman discusses the results of taking friends other than the righteous slaves of Allah.

And no this does not refer to non-muslims, but to muslims and inanimate objects as well. Super amazing lecture, must watch.