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Muslims should not neglect the seasons of worship; rather, they must be among the first to excel in and compete in them. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {So for this let the competitors compete.}[Quran 83:26]
, said: “O Allah, bless Rajab and Sha‘baan for us, and let us live till the coming of Ramadan.” [Ahmad and At-Tabaraani] The righteous predecessors used to supplicate Allah The Almighty to let them live until the coming of Ramadan and to accept it from them. At the sighting of the new moon, supplicate Allah The Almighty saying: “O Allah, let this moon come to us with security and faith; with safety and Islam; and guidance to what You love and approve. My Lord and your Lord is Allah.” [At-Tirmithi, Ad-Daarimi, and Ibn Hibbaan: Saheeh]
says, “It is recommended for the person who experiences an obvious favor or is protected from an obvious curse that he prostrates in gratefulness to Allah The Almighty or praises Him duly.” Among the greatest blessings Allah The Almighty grants the slave is guiding him to obedience and worship. When Ramadan comes and the Muslim is in good health, this is a great blessing worthy of thankfulness and it requires the praise of Allah The Almighty Who bestows it. All perfect and continuous praise be to Allah The Almighty as suits the majesty of His Face and His Great Authority.
This is something that is very personal and important to me. I hope that you will learn and benefit from it. Let me begin by saying “Bismillah.” When I first started University, I had met another Muslim brother. We had become good friends, but this friendship was not like any other ordinary friendship, I would have done anything for him, he was like my real brother.
During our last year of University, this brother of mine announced that he was engaged and that he was to be married after he graduates this year and finds himself a job. I was glad for him and so was he. He talked non stop about getting married, I was sort of getting jealous of him, because the brother had it made for him, finishing school, getting married and especially coming from a wealthy family. Continue reading
The final state of a person at the time of death is what matters in the Hereafter. In this article, we discuss some of the causes for both good and evil sealing states, and how a person’s inner traits will dominate at the time of death.
In a hadith transmitted by Ibn Abi ’al-Dunya in his Commanding the Good and Forbidding Evil from Abu Umama (Allah be pleased with him) the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to his Companions (Allah be pleased with them): “How will your situation be when your women become tyrannical, your youth become transgressors and you abandon striving and jihad in the path of Allah?” They asked, “Will that really occur? The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Yes, by the One in whose hand my soul is, something even worse than that will occur.” They said, “What could be worse than that, O Messenger of Allah?” Continue reading
There was a pious man among the Banu Israel who always remained busy in the worship of Allah. A group of people came to him and told him that a tribe living nearby worshipped a tree. The news upset him, and with an axe on his shoulder he went to cut down that tree.
On the way, Satan met him in the form of an old man and asked him where he was going. He said he was going to cut a particular tree. Satan said, “You have nothing to be concerned with this tree, you better mind your worship and do not give it up for the sake of something that does not concern you.” “This is also worship,” retorted the worshipper. Then Satan tried to prevent him from cutting the tree, and there followed a fight between the two, in which the worshipper overpowered the Satan.
Finding himself completely helpless, Satan begged to be excused, and when the worshipper released him, he again said, “Allah has not made the cutting of this tree obligatory on you. You do not lose anything if you do not cut it. If its cutting were necessary, Allah could have got it done through one of his many Prophets.” The worshipper insisted on cutting the tree. There was again a fight between the two and again the worshipper overpowered the Satan. Continue reading
This is the story of the giant ship engine that failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.
Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, from top to bottom.
Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man searched into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. & instantly, the engine lurched into life & got started.
He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for £10,000.
“What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”
So they wrote the old man a note saying “Please send us an itemised bill.”
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer …..£2.00
Knowing where to hammer..£9,998.00
Total £10,000
Moral of The Story:
Effort itself is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life,
‘Makes all the difference’. So often we see people striving, working and making effort tirelessly, often for years only for them to later on realise that they were all misplaced and how they wish they had spent the time and effort on something more fruitful. This reminds me of a quote I once read a long time ago:
“My worry for you is not that you fail to succeed, but that you succeed in the wrong thing.”
An example that spring to mind which I have heard from our scholars is that people strive to do a lot of good a’maal but fail to refrain from committing sins, and they explained this point by using the example of a petrol tank with a hole in the bottom, we keep on filling it with petrol, little realising our loss of fuel from the hole in the tank.
May Allah give us the ability to reflect, learn and act on the above. HaqIslam
All praises, thanks, devotions and worship for Allah and only Allah, the one and only God. May the peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad sal’Allah alayhe wasallam, his family, his offspring, his companions and all those who follow him till the end of time.
Dear shaykh I want to know if all the prophets that Allah send for the mankind performed Haj and if Issa (AS) after his return to Earth will perform Haj? Is there any hadith indicating this?
Praise be to Allah.
There is no doubt that the Isra’ and Mi’raaj (the Prophet’s Night Journey and Ascent into heaven) are two great signs of Allaah which point to the truthfulness of the His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the greatness of his status before Allaah. They are also signs of the great power of Allaah, and of His exalted position above His creation. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allaah) [above all that (evil) they associate with Him]
Who took His slave (Muhammad) for a journey by night from Al‑Masjid Al‑Haraam (at Makkah) to Al‑Masjid Al‑Aqsa (in Jerusalem), the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad) of Our Ayaat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.). Verily, He is the All‑Hearer, the All‑Seer”
[al-Isra’ 17:1]
There are mutawaatir reports from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that he was taken up into the heavens, and their gates were opened for him, until he passed beyond the seventh heaven, where his Lord spoke to him as He willed, and enjoined the five daily prayers upon him. At first Allaah, may He be exalted, enjoined fifty prayers, but our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kept going back and asking Him to reduce it, until He made them five, so they are five obligatory prayers but fifty in reward, because each good deed is rewarded tenfold. To Allaah be praise and thanks for all His blessings.
With regard to this night on which the Isra’ and Mi’raaj took place, there is nothing in the saheeh ahaadeeth to indicate that it is in Rajab or in any other month. Everything that has been narrated concerning a specific date for these events cannot be proven to have come from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) according to the scholars of hadeeth. Allaah has wise reasons for causing the people to forget it. Even if the date were proven, it would not be permissible for the Muslims to single it out for particular acts of worship, and it is not permissible for them to celebrate it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) did not celebrate it and they did not single it out in any way. If celebrating it was something that is prescribed in Islam, the Messenger would have told his ummah about that, either in word or in deed. If any such thing had happened, it would have been well known, and his companions would have transmitted the information to us. They narrated from their Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) everything that his ummah needs to know, and they did not neglect any aspect of the religion, rather they were the first ones to do anything good. If celebrating this night had been prescribed in Islam, they would have been the first people to do so. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was the most sincere of people, and he conveyed the message to the people in full, and he fulfilled the trust. If venerating and celebrating this night were part of the religion of Allaah, then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have done that and would not have concealed it. Since no such thing happened, it is known that celebrating it and venerating it is not part of Islam at all. Allaah has perfected this ummah’s religion for it and has completed His favour upon them, and He condemns those who introduce things into the religion which Allaah has not ordained. Allaah says in His holy Book, in Soorat al-Maa’idah (interpretation of the meaning):
Welcome aboard Fly Air Janazah
When we are leaving this world for the next one, it shall be like a trip to another country.
Where details of that country won’t be found in glamorous travel brochures but in the Holy Qura’an and the Hadiths.
Where our plane won’t be Indian Air Lines, British Airways, Gulf Air or Emirates but Air Janazah.
Where our luggage won’t be the allowed 30 Kgs but our deeds no matter how heavy they weigh.
You don’t pay for excess luggage. They are carried free of charge, with your Creator’s compliment. Continue reading
There once lived in Basrah a prolific and profoundly spiritual worshipper whose fear of the Hereafter caused him to become physically weak, and whose constant crying made him skinny and sick. When he was on his deathbed, his family gathered around him, and they all began to cry.
“Help me sit up.” He said. He addressed his father first: “O my father, what is making you cry?”
“My son,” began his father, “I remembered that I will lose you, and that I will be alone after you die.”
The worshipper then turned his gaze towards his mother and said, “O my Mother, what is making you cry?”
“I am crying because I will soon have to taste the bitterness of losing you,” she said.
He then turned to his sister and asked, “what is making you cry?”
“Because I will soon lose out on your kindness and will consequently have to depend on others for help,” she said. Continue reading
WHEN SIGNS OF DEATH START SHOWING UP
The blessed Companion Aboo Sa’eed Khudri radiyallahu anhu narrates that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam said, “Prompt the dying among you to say (the kalimah): Lã ilãha illallãh (I declare that there is no god but Allah).” (Muslim)
The blessed Companion Ma’qil Ibne Yasãr radiyallahu anhu narrates that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam said, “You should recite Soorah Yãseen over the dying among you.” (Musnade-Ahmad, Aboo Dãwood, Ibne Mãjah)
IN THE AGONY OF DEATH
Turn the face of the dying person towards the Qiblah. Let him or her make the following prayer, “O Allah, forgive me and have mercy on me and have me join higher companions.” (Tirmizi) Continue reading
