Ramadan

In about 3 weeks, we are going to approach Ramadan, insya allah. Have you made any preparations for it in the month of Rejab or Sha’ban?

Ramadan is the month for the believers, in which Allah had multiplied the rewards in this month, freed us from the whisperings of Shaytan and from the gates of Hellfire. This is a month, the first of which brings Allah's Mercy, the middle of which brings His Forgiveness and the last of which brings freedom from Jahannam. And in this month four things you should continue to perform in great number, two of which shall be to please your Lord, while the other two shall be those without which you cannot do. Those which shall be to please your Lord, are that you should in great quantity bear witness that there is no deity to worship except Allah(recite the Kalimah Tayyibah) and make much Istighfaar. And as for those two things without which you cannot do, you should beg of Allah for entrance into paradise and ask refuge in Him from Jahannam.

Ramadan is a gift. It’s a spiritual wash. Let us cherish each Ramadan as though it’s our last. Through hunger, thirst and abstaining from pleasures, we are reminded of many things. We are reminded that in the end, our life is not actually all in our control. Regardless of whatever we do throughout the year to make ourselves feel as though we are in control of our own lives through pleasures and gifts, Allah swt reminds us that indeed we are not so. There is a Sovereign above who is the authority above us.

Lastly : For whatever action we do in Ramadan, its only motive should be the pleasure of Allah. We love Allah for what He made us, what He gave to us and what He does for us directly in our lives and that is why in return we do things to seek His pleasure.

You can visit this website to read the entire article.

We are in this world, but not of this world

Says Ustaz; when he delivered a talk on ‘This World and its relationship with the Hereafter’ at Pergas last Saturday.

It is a topic that Muslims would need it at times like these; when the world seemed to have contained so much for mankind, and at the same time, it could result in the downfall of mankind; the financial crisis, companies downsized and employees exit, families broke down because the breadwinner loses his job. And the list goes on…

What has the world got anything to do with the Muslims?

Ustaz also told us this before in his other classes: ‘Put the akirah on your head, and the dunya under your armpit’. So that when the akirah is not stable, the hand goes up to support it and drops the dunya. This is how insignificant the world means to the Muslim. Not that we do not cherish the world that Allah swt created for us, but we do not attach our hearts to it, sacrificing what is most precious and eternal for us: Akirah, or the Hereafter.

As much as we cherish and prepare for our Akirah, Muslims do not need to forsake this world. We do not need to renounce this world or seclude ourselves away from everybody and live in a cave.

Islam teaches us that we can enjoy this worldly life to the fullest, as long as we are always grateful. Allah swt gave us this world, so that we may prepare ourselves for the next. The time that we spent here is so insignificant to the time we will spent in the Akirah. Travellers of this world, we are; preparing ourselves with the provisions given by Allah swt for the next.

A Muslim’s primary focus should be to use every gift, time, health, wealth, every bestowals etc which Allah has given us in this world, to utilize in a beneficial way. He benefitted us, and we should benefit others too.

Allah has given Director Yasmin Ahmad the ability to draw people to her amazing works. That’s her gift, and she had utilized it in a fruitful way. She has returned to Allah swt in the month of Sha’ban. Al-fatihah.

And I shall leave you to enjoy his presentation slides and an advice from Prophet Muhammad s.a.w:
‘Work for your worldly needs, as though you are going to live forever, and strive for your Hereafter, as though you are going to die tomorrow’. (Hadith by Bukhari)

This World And The Hereafter(2)Slideshare

View more presentations from zhulkeflee.

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)