Blessings again ...

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

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)

Heaven Lies Under the Feet of the Mother

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 ...

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

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)

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.

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

(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.

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

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

Quran Mystic Experience

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.