Free Live Event by Qibla!

A free live event is being organized by Qibla called 'Freedom, Virtue and the Good Life'.

For more information, please check out this link.

Hopefully everyone can benefit from the event conducted by Shaykh Qays Arthur and Shaykh Sohail Hanif.

May Allah accept our efforts.  Amin.

Make up your mind already!

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

My dear father always said " Your decision defines who you are ".  Life is full with choices,  vanilla or chocolate?  blue or red?  Manchester or Liverpool?  football or basketball? Ahmad or Ali?  Muslim or Mu'min?

Hold up?  what?  muslim or mu'min?  You kidding right?  aren't those two words represent the same thing?  the adherent of Islam?  is it not?

Well,well the two terminologies are used to define the adherent of Islam but the difference are like black and white.  They both are colors but very different from each other.

I remember in one of my respected moulana's admonishment he mentioned that everyone can be a muslim not everyone is a mu'min, to be a mu'min you will need to make effort.

Muslims are those who accept the religion.  So most people who born into a muslim family would accept that that they are muslim.  Their parent would name them Aisha or Yusuf to show that the are muslim.

Mu'min on the other hand are those who believe.  Those who practise Islam because he believe in Allah Taala, His pleasure and His wrath, His Jannah and Jahannam.

If you still confused as i was back then when i was still studying,  think of it like this the doctor told you that you have a sore throat,  you would accept it because the statement comes from a well versed doctor but to believe what the doctor said is truly up to you.  How do you know if you believe him?  when you stop eating oily food and start drinking plenty of water.

Similarly, if your name is Fatimah then you most probably be a muslim.  But if you pray, fast, give sadaqah and cover your aurah solely to earn the pleasure of Allah and you want to stay away from His wrath then you definitely a mu'min.

Now please circle the correct answer :
The one and only question that matters

Are you.....

a)Muslim
b)Muslim and Mu'min

Good luck in your exam everyone!

Sayyidul Istighfar

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

 

The Prophet Muhammad said, “If somebody recites it during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning he will be from the people of Paradise.”
[Sahih Al-Bukhari.  Other reports are in An-Nasa'i and At-Tirmidhi]  

Translation:  O Allah, You are my Lord, there is none worthy of worship but You. You created me and I am Your slave. I keep Your covenant, and my pledge to You so far as i am able. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I admit to Your blessings upon me, and I admit to my misdeeds. Forgive me, For there is none who may forgive sins but You.

 

Wise Sayings

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

"Do not become proud merely because you worship often, for consider what happened to Iblees after he spent a great deal of time worshipping."
-Hasan Al-Basri (rahmatullahi alahi)

''Faith wears out in the hearts of anyone of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) to renew the faith in your heart''
[Tabarani]

"Whoever fears Allah will not be harmed by anyone,
while whoever fears others besides Allah will not be helped by anyone.”
[Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad]

''Every drop of sweat and every breath we take in life, if not taken for the sake of Allah,
will lead to regret and sorrow on the Day of Judgment. ''
[Umar bin Khatab (radhi Allahu 'anhu)]

"There is nothing more difficult for me to correct than my Intentions, for it continually attempts to change." 
(Sufyān al-Thawrī)

"A calamity that makes you turn to Allah is better for you than a
blessing which makes you forget the remembrance of Allah."
(Ibn Taymiyah)

MARRIAGE IS A GARDEN

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

"نساءكم حرث لكم فاتوا حرثكم انى شئتم "

Your wives are a tilth for you , so go to your tilth , when or how you wish.

                                                                                    (Surah Baqarah: 223)

Entering into the union of marriage is almost like walking into an uncultivated garden.

Instead of the garden being full of lush green grass and brightly coloured flowers , it is

simply a plot of earth! The garden will remain so until two loving hearts start to work

on it with spades , fresh soil and a variety of seeds and saplings.  Like a garden ,
marriage can be cultivated to produce the most gorgeous blossoms through
good intentions and tender loving care !

Allah (عز و جل) says in the Quran;

و من ايته ان خلق لكم من انفسكم ازواجا لتسكنوا اليها و جعل بينكم مودة و رحمة

And among His signs is that He created for you wives from among
yourselves ,that you may dwell in tranquillity with them  and He has
put between you affection and mercy.

                                                                                                              (Surah Ar-Rum: 21) 

PLANTING THE SEEDS

When Muslim couples enter into marriage , they begin their married life not knowing
much about each other.  Many couples make the mistake of simply getting down
to the business of married life -cooking , cleaning , and earning a wage - and avoid
the vital communication that they need to start their marriage off on the right foot.
Communication is the only way to plant the seeds of love in each others hearts
and eventually those seeds will grow into the strongest force of love to cement the
union permanently.  Both husband and wife should strive to find out everything about
their spouse , even the most minute details , like what their most embarrassing moment
was.  In fact it is these tiny details which is the very 'fabric' of the person you have
chosen to share your life with.  It is through those life experiences that they have
come to be the person they are today.

REMOVING THE WEEDS

Like a garden , there is no doubt that marriage is hard work.  When two people , no
matter how much love they share , are in a confined space together , day in and day
out , it is only logical that they will have disagreements from time to time.  Those
disagreements can be about silly things , like who left the cap off the toothpaste!,
or more serious matters like disciplining the children.  Regardless of the source ,
anger and discontentment in marriage ( The unwelcome weeds that often sprout
up in your otherwise pristine garden ) are to be taken seriously.  Communication ,
again , is the best way to deal with these pesky marital disagreements!.  The aim
of any argument should be that both view points are expressed in a calm manner.
Then the couple should come to a compromise so that both sides feel they have
gained minor victories.  Marriage is not a dictatorship where one spouse rules
over the other.  Rather marriage is a partnership where spouses unite for the sake
of their families and more importantly for the sake of Allah.

WATERING EVERYDAY

Like any garden , the seeds of love one has worked so hard to plant need WATERING.
Without water the seeds will never grow and existing blooms will shrivel and ,
eventually die.  The sort of watering that is required in marriage are such actions
that build up this love, for example , being grateful to one's spouse and showing
good manners are excellent ways to increase the love between them.  Always
remembering to say JAZAKALLAH ( THANK YOU ) and showing respect
when it is needed will go a long way to make one's garden grow.

DON"T FORGET THE FERTILIZER

Add a bit of romance to the marriage!.  Surprise each other from time to time.
This may vary from bringing home a small gift or flowers to preparing a special
meal and dressing up.  A little imagination will go a long way here!.  The idea is to
spice up the marriage and avoid getting into a dull routine that may negatively
affect the marriage.  This will INSHALLAH , result in the success that every
gardener dreams about.

"What don't kill you, makes you stronger" Herbal tea anyone?

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hmm you probably think to yourself " what a cliche' title, can't the writer be a little more creative?"   I would think that too but in all honesty i have never believe in a saying as i would this one.  Every time life pushes me down this cliche' saying usually pull me back up.
 

Imagine, it's pouring outside and i invited you in my house and i offered to make for you a cup of tea.  Your heart started to leap as you felt cold and wanted something warm to drink.  As i stir the cup of tea you waiting patiently for a cup of sweetened refreshing tea.  Then i handed over the cup to you,  you immediately took a sip of the tea and yuck it was so bitter.


Your anticipation of the tea now been teared down as i made a cup of bitter herbal tea for you.  Not to offend me, you took another sip, this time a smaller one.  The bitterness still there but this time you are ready for it.  The third sip you took, you felt as though you could bare the bitterness already.  The forth sip onward you drank it as you would a sweetened cup of tea.  Then when you completed the cup of tea, you thanked me for that bitter cup of herbal tea because not only you felt refreshed but you felt much warmer and healthier.
 

Like that is life.  As kids we picture the world to be pink and purple, people are kind to one another, life would be easy and when we grow up we will be a princess and our prince will buy for us a Ferrari.  Little by little Allah SWT teaches us that the world is not perfect.  Allah SWT let us meet new friends, lest do we know that some are the betrayal type.  We cried our heart out but by the last tears we learnt that not everyone is kind and then we became aware as to whom we could trust.


Then life seem perfect again....again Allah swt test.  This time he send a disease to one of our family members that take their life away.  As hurtful as it is we learnt that nothing last forever and we do not take things for granted again.  Then life seem to be ok again.....then as you enter adulthood, you realise that princes are born into not an occupation that you could seek and tall, dark and handsome prince charmings driving a FERRARI are not available in your town.  You learnt that 5'4" Malay men driving Myvis are not too bad.  And you learnt to be happy with what you have because you ARE fortunate.


And then Allah SWT test you with many things at ones, it's so hard that you feel like you could not bear it anymore so you try to reach out for help, then you realised that there are so many more people out there that are in worse situation then you,  then you learnt that your pains and hurts are tiny and you are thankful to what Allah SWT had destined for you.

So today, when you think about all the hardships and pains that you endured, i bet there will be a smile carved on your lips because those pains and hurt were just a test from Allah SWT and now you are much much stronger then you were before and if it wasn't for all those test you won't be who you are today.

Allah SWT is so great isn't He?  if it were to be sunny all the time or rainy all the time then there will be no rainbow!

Love as we know it...

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

The word love escapes our lips almost all the time.  " I love you Jane" said Peter {can you tell i grew up reading Peter and Jane}.  I love red velvet cake or i love xxxx brand lipstick {not trying to endorse any brand lipstick but i would certainly suggest MAC lipsticks}.  Then if you ask Peter why he loves Jane he would say either she's beautiful or she's intelligent or she understand him, and if i ask you why you love red velvet cake you would say because it's exquisitely delicious or its color is unique etc etc.  I too would have a specific reason why i love MAC lipsticks.So do you call this love "unconditional" love??  I wouldn't!  

We love all these things due to a reason or two.  We gain something from this "love".  As we previously learnt in Sharah Aqeedah-Tahawi love is divided into many ranges.  I wouldn't want to touch on all the aspect as this scribble of mine would be rather lengthy.  I just want to highlight on unconditional love.  

The love that exist without any reason or benefit,  the love that gives and gives but never takes...yup wayyyy pass laila majnun love decree.  The love that Allah SWT has for us.  Allah Taala does not need anything from us nor have a specific reason to love us but yet He still does.  

The air that we breathe,  the water that we drink,  the food that we eat are just a small way for Him to show that he loves us.  He does not just gives us air on Valentine's day,  or gives us water when we do well in school but He gives his bounties on a daily basis.  No matter how good or bad we are.  He never stop giving no matter if we forgotten him or if we hurt His deen.  He never dump us or ignore us.  He's always there.  Always.

So, if someone loves us that much wouldn't it be fair that we love him back?  No,no we do not have to give him air or water or a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, He just want us to follow His deen.  Not for his sake, for OUR SAKE.  So that when we leave this perishable world, we will gain the eternal happiness in Jannah.  Wow that's what i call unconditional love.

So the next time you stress out and feel like jamming to backstreet boys {or whatever you kids listen to nowadays} or you think of skipping the payment of Zakat this year or your fingers are itching to call that non-mahram think would it be fair to cheat on Allah SWT?  WOULD IT?

The Neighbor of Hazrath Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb رحمة الله عليه

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Neighbor of Hazrath Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb رحمة الله عليه

A neighbor of Hazrath Maulana رحمة الله عليه has posted on a well-known Islamic forum his experiences being the neighbor of this august personality.  He says that he tells his fellow neighbors whilst crying:  "Barakah has permanently left our street.  Who is there to make dua for us now?"  In these are lessons for each one of us and gives us an insight into the life of Hazrath Maulana رحمة الله عليه.


Incident One:

On 1 occasion towards the latter part of May 2005, Esha salaah was around 7 pm.  I returned from Umrah and from the airport I went directly to my mums place to meet all my relatives and have supper.  I was not well so I took leave early at about 9 pm and reach my home at about 9:30 pm.  As my vehicle entered my drive way I noticed that from Hazrath's رحمة الله عليه home the security gate opened and Hazrath رحمة الله عليه came walking out briskly and he was dressed ready for bed.  He immediately embraced me requesting a sinner like me to make dua for him. He asked if I needed anything for breakfast:  Bread, milk, etc.  i informed Hazrath رحمة الله عليه that I would buy everything that I need the next morning.  I requested his leave and thereafter I entered my home and went immediately to relieve myself. Whilst I was doing that, i heard the doorbell ring.  When I finished relieving myself, I enquired from my wife who was that? She informed me that it was Hazrath رحمة الله عليه.  He had brought for us a loaf of bread, a litre of milk and juice each and a tray of eggs.  The next morning I was so exhausted, that I could not even move freely.

There are 2 lessons that I learned from Hazrath رحمة الله عليه:
1. When someone returns from Umrah request there duas as they have returned from a spiritual journey whereby there duas are readily accepted.
2. Hazrath رحمة الله عليه in his wisdom realised that after I had returned from a long journey, it would be difficult to get up and go and buy the necessities the next day.


Incident Two:

On another occasion, I was leaving for India for treatment for my sickness.  I received a call from Hazrath رحمة الله عليه, he requested me first to make dua for him as well as to help him as there was a mother and daughter begging outside his house.  One of his instructions to me was to not offend them and ask them politely to leave.  He had already given each one of them R100 (+/- $14/£10) (i.e. Total: R200/$28/£20) and they wanted more.  The beggars if you had seen them, they did not appear to be in need (ALLAH knows best).  I say that because they appeared reasonably well dressed and well nourished.  I did as Hazrath رحمة الله عليه had requested.

There was a lesson to be learned here as well:
1. Hazrath رحمة الله عليه never turned anyone away empty handed even though they may appear not in need.
2. Hazrath رحمة الله عليه asked me to politely ask these people to leave even though they were causing him thakleef (pain) by asking for more.
3. Hazrath رحمة الله عليه once again requested a sinner like me to make dua on his behalf. He realised that a Musafir's (Traveler's) duas are accepted.


Incident Three:

My wife received several letters from family members to give to Hazrath رحمة الله عليه.  On one occasion, my daughter who was about 8 years old was asked by my wife to hand over a letter to Hazrath رحمة الله عليه.  So whilst she was leaving my son who was about 4 years also insisted he wants to give a letter to Hazrath رحمة الله عليه.  Little did we realise that it was an old scrap of paper that he had scribbled on.  He too handed this scrap of paper to Hazrath رحمة الله عليه.

What can I say I am grieved with tears as I type this out.  Hazrath رحمة الله عليه responded to my son in such a beautiful way.  His response:

"Dear Yusuf

Mashallah. Received your letter written opposite side.  Making dua ALLAH TAALA bless you with long life, good health, ilm and amal.  May he make you coolness of parent’s eyes, a pious hafez and scholar.

Enclosed (R)10.00 gift and chocolate.

Make dua for me too.

(Signed)Yunus Patel
(Dated) 8/11/2010"


Incident Four:

Hazrath رحمة الله عليه's son Muhammed (DB) is my very close friend.  We regularly are in and out of each other’s homes and we frequently in contact with one another.  On another occasion I was leaving to work in Saudi Arabia, so I decided to have a BBQ (referred to as Braai in South Africa).  So I asked Muhammed (DB) which night should we have the braai. He informed me that Friday would be ok as his father رحمة الله عليه would not be at home.  So I asked politely what his father رحمة الله عليه not being at home got to do with us having a braai?  His response left me speechless.

His response:
1. He asked me if I had ever seen a braai take place at his father's رحمة الله عليه house and I said "No"
2. So I asked why? And he said because if he رحمة الله عليه had a braai, then the smell of the meat being braaied with affect the neighbors.  Perhaps some of the neighbors have not had a meat meal for many days or maybe they also may desire it.  He did not want to cause the neighbors takleef (difficulty).


Incident Five:

On another occasion, it was about 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  I had just returned from somewhere or I was outside my home (I don’t remember exactly).  When I looked at Hazrath رحمة الله عليه yard, he was playing cricket with his grandchildren, Ml. Naeem Motala's 2 sons.  He رحمة الله عليه was fielding whilst one of them was bowling and the other was batting.  The ball was hit out of the yard onto the street.  Hazrath رحمة الله عليه went out of the yard fetched the ball and threw it gently back at the grandchild that was bowling.  He had time to play with his grandchildren as well.

Signs of weak imaan:

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

Committing sins and not feeling any guilt.

Having a hard heart and no desire to read the Quran.

Feeling too lazy to do good deeds, e.g. being late for salat

Neglecting the Sunnah.

Not feeling anything when hearing verses from the Quran, for example when Allah warns us of punishments and His promise of glad tidings.

Finding difficulty in remembering Allah and making dhikr.

Not feeling bad when things are done against the Shariah.

Desiring status and wealth.

Being mean and miserly, i.e. not wanting to part with wealth.

Ordering others to do good deeds when not practising them ourselves.

Making fun of people who do simple good deeds, like cleaning the mosque.

Not feeling concerned about the situation of Muslims.

Liking to argue just for the sake of arguing without any proof.

Becoming engrossed and very involved with dunya, worldly things, i.e. feeling bad only when losing something in terms of material wealth.

Dialah Allah...

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

Apabila awak sujud, maka beritahulah Dia akan rahsia-rahsiamu, tetapi jangan biarkan dia yang di sebelahmu sekalipun mendegarmu.  Bisiklah kepadaNya dengan air matamu kerana sesungguhnya Dialah Pemilik hatimu.

Apabila hari yang baru tiba, maka katalah,“Selamat datang, wahai tetamu mulia,” dan kemudian, muliakanlah layanannya melalui penunaian satu solat fardhu, perlaksanaan satu sunnah, pembacaan sedikit Quran dan pembaharuan taubat.  

Dan, di samping semua ini, senyumlah!  Kerana adanya Dia yang mengambil berat akanmu, membantumu, mendengar kata-katamu dan melihatmu.  Dialah Allah.   

Tidaklah Dia membuatmu menangis melainkan untuk membuatmu ketawa; dan tidaklah Dia mengambil daripadamu melainkan untuk memberi kepadamu; dan tidaklah Dia menahan sesuatu daripadamu melainkan untuk kebaikanmu; dan tidaklah Dia mengujimu melainkan kerana kasihNya kepadamu.  

Tiada Tuhan melainkan Allah! 

   

 (Mesej sms yang diedar).