The Blessings of Selawat

Send your peace and salutations to our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w as much as you can, continuously and consistently, and especially on Fridays.... That's because your selawats and salams go straight to Saiyidinna Muhammad s.a.w and he answers them directly!!!(though we can't hear) Subhana Allah!

O my beloved one,
O Habib,
O Rasulullah saw, intercede for me, grant me your intercession on the Day of Judgement! Ameen ameen!

Acceptance of God's will

Of all messengers, the most important figure in the Last Prophet's lineage is undoubtedly Abraham a.s. There are many reasons for this, but from the outset, the Quran points to this particular link with Abraham a.s through the insistent and continuous expression of pure monotheism, of human consciousness's adherence to the divine project, of the heart's access to His recognition and to His peace through self-giving. This is the meaning of the word Islam, which is too often translated quickly by the mere idea of submission but which also contains the twofold meaning of 'peace' and 'wholehearted self-giving'. Thus a Muslim is a human being who, throughout history - and even before the last Revelation - has wished to attain God's peace through the wholehearted gift of him or herself to the Being. In this sense, Abraham a.s was the deep and exemplary expression of the Muslim:

'He (God) has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion. It is the religion of your father Abraham. He has named you Muslims, both before and in this (revelation); so that the Messenger may be a witness for you(the new Muslim community), and you may be witnesses for humankind.' (Quran 18:110)

And as we all know Ishmael was given birth by Abraham's servant Hagar, and Isaac was given birth by Sarah, Abraham's first wife; and she told Abraham to send Hagar and the child away to a valley in the Arabian Peninsula called Bacca. Abraham a.s had to undergo another terrible trial of his son's sacrifice.

I would like to extract this part 'The Trial of Faith: Doubt and Trust' from the book by Tariq Ramadan on 'The Messenger':
'The whole Abrahamic experience unveils the essential dimension of faith in the One. Abraham, who is already very old and has only been blessed with a child, must undergo the trial of separation and abandonment, which will take Hagar and their child, Ishmael, very close to death. His faith is trust in God: he hears God's command - as does Hagar - and he answers it despite his suffering, never ceasing to invoke God and rely on Him. Hagar questioned Abraham about the reasons for such behaviour; finding it was God's command, she willingly submitted to it. She asked, then trusted, then accepted, and by doing so she traced the stepes of the profound 'active acceptance' of God's will: to question with one's mind, to understand with one's intelligence, and to submit with one's heart. In the course of those trials, beyond his human grief and infact through the very nature of that grief, Abraham develops a relationship with God based on faithfulness, reconciliation, peace and trust. God tries him but is always speaking to him, inspiring him and strewing his path with signs that calm and reassure him.

Masya allah! Truly, these are the people who have executed 'takwakkal and taqwa' in its truest and purest form.

It is so important for us to perform this act of 'active acceptance' of God's will wholeheartedly. This story inspired me and i hope it will do the same to you.

May Allah swt give us the strength and capability to perform this with ease and iman. ameen ameen.

Loving our Beloved

This video comes in 9 parts. You can view the remaining at:
http://www.sacredknowledge.co.uk/video/loving-the-beloved-by-shaykh-muhammad-al-yaqoubi.html

‘Aisha, The Daughter of Abu Bakr, The Mother of The Believers

In the name of Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Aisha, along with all the other wives of the Prophet, upon him be peace, are known as the Mothers of the Believers. This is based on the verse of Quran in which Allah describes the Messenger and his wives, saying, ‘The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers.’ Although she had no children of her own, she was known as Umm ‘Abdullah, the mother of Abdullah because of her closeness to her nephew ‘Abdullah bin Zubayr whose mother, ‘Asmâ, was ‘Aisha’s sister. May Allah be pleased with them all.

She was the daughter of the Prophet’s best friend, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. The Prophet’s servant, Anas, related that the Messenger, upon him be peace, was once asked, ‘who is the most beloved person to you?’ ‘’Aisha,’ he replied.’ He was then asked, ‘and from among the men?’‘Her father,’ he replied.As her grandfather also embraced Islam, the family of Abu Bakr was the only family to have four generations of Companions.

There are several features which distinguish her from the other wives of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them. She was the only wife that was not previously married and she was the only one upon whose bed the Messenger, upon him be peace, received revelation.

‘Aisha was born in a state of Islam, eight years before the Migration to Madina. She used to worship intensely, fasting the ‘perpetual fast’, that is, fasting every day except the feast days on which it is prohibited to fast. She had little concern for this temporal world or wealth. Whenever she received presents, she would either distribute among the wives of the Messenger, upon him be peace, as she did with a gift of gold coins from the Khalifa Mu’âwiyya or among the whole community as she did with a large gift from ‘Abdullah bin Zubayr.

She was very knowledgeable, eloquent and succinct in her speech. ‘Urwa said that he did not know anyone more knowledgeable about poetry than ‘Aisha. The ruler, Mu’âwiyya, once asked her to write some advice on which to base his system of government. She wrote:Whoever holds to the pleasure of people while angering Allah, Allah will leave him to them. Whoever holds to the pleasure of Allah while angering people, He will save him from their ploys.

Abû Musa said that there was no saying of the Messenger that was problematic to any one of us except that when we referred it to ‘Aisha she knew about it. Atâ said she was the most knowledgeable person in our community and always had the best and most learned opinion of all people. When Marwân used to relate hadith from her, he would say ‘the Truthful One, daughter of the Truthful One, the Beloved of the Beloved of Allah relayed to us …’ She related 1210 hadith.

She died in the month of Ramadan in the year 58H. Abû Hurairah led the prayers over her and her nephews buried her in the Baqî cemetery in Madina.

(Sources: Ibn Hajr, al-Isâba fi Tamyîz al-Sahâba, al-Qurtubi, al-Istiâb fi ma’rifatul ashâb and Muhammad al-Jardâni al-Dimyâti, al-Jawâhir al-Lu’luwiyya)

Surah al-Ahzâb 33:6.

The Value of Shahadah

Masya allah... This speech is much needed in our times, of trials and tribulations; where Muslims renounce their faith. (May Allah swt continue to keep us in a state of iman when we return to Him.amin)

Staying faithful to our Creator

It was with much heartache that I heard from my friend that her friend's mother had renounced Islam and embraced Christianity. (O Allah, please keep all believing man and woman on the straight path.)

She also shared with me that most of the older generation Muslims found Islam to be an oppresive and restrictive religion, hence they never felt that Islam is the right religion for them.

All it takes is just some true understanding of what Islam is all about.

When I first heard about Islam, all I knew about it was the 'malays' can't do this and can't do that, or can't eat this nor can't eat that. And you are right, I thought Islam is only for the malays, just like Christianity for the Caucasians, Eurasians etc etc, and naturally all Chinese would be praying to the idols. But my perception opened up only when my ex colleague decides to speak to me about Islam through a fresh perceptive. From then on, my perception about Islam is no longer a one-sided story. All praises be to Allah! for opening the doors to me!

It is not hard to imagine how Allah swt is the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate and the Most Generous! He gives without hesitation! Not just to the Muslims, but to His entire Creation! Only mankind fails to comprehend His generousity and greatness. And no matter where you are, what you are doing, and which phase of your life you are going through, know and be comforted by the thought that Allah is always with us.

The Prophet s.a.w said:

There are one hundred parts of mercy. Allah has given only one part which is distributed among the jinn, humankind, animals and insects. It is because of this that they are kind to one another, show mercy to one another; it is because of it that a wild animal is kind to its young. But, Allah has kept ninety-nie parts of mercy with Him, which He will show to His servants on the Day of Resurrection. (Bukhari, Muslim)

Bliss!

So it was a day out for me and my mother. It's been a long time since we go out together.

She picked me up at the train station and we went straight to East Coast Park. She wanted to sit on the grass but didn't have any mats with her so i took out my prayer mat. She was delighted. But i was concerned if the area where she chose was clean. Nevertheless, we found a spot that was 'free from visible najis' and we laid the mat and sat down to enjoy the seabreeze.


We ordered a set lunch and 2 more other dishes(Oliver Twist and a Nippon Garden salad). There was a soup, a vegetable dish and a choice of steamed rice, brown rice or olive rice. And i ordered a tofu dish called 'Golden Oats'.

Top: Shanghai Tang(mushrooms with Caixin;red and yellow peppers) Bottom: Oats with mini tofu(deep fried) yummy!!!

Partially hidden: Nippon Garden salad. My favourite. And the winter melon soup; sedap!!!

Masya allah... pictures tell a thousand words right? The food was so delicious that it will be a pity not to finish them up. We took an hour to enjoy our food slowly. I could see that my mother was very very happy. She thanked me for the food and said that I made her day. And that's bliss! to know that i've made her day.

I'm not sure if that comment made by the waitress made her day too because she thought we were sisters. I told her she was my mum but she didn't believed it initially because....... she thought i was Malay. haha... I responded that i'm a chinese. And before i could say anything more to the waitress, my mum reiterated to her that i am a chinese muslim.

Now that's something amazing... perhaps she has, more or less accepted this fact and she dares to embrace the truth and speak up. Alhamdulillah.

It motivates me to do more. May Allah swt guides me along. amin.