Ramadhan Reflections: Day 11

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you,

Quran: 10:65

And let not their speech grieve you. Indeed, honor [due to power] belongs to Allah entirely. He is the Hearing, the Knowing

After the recent events of Orlando, people the resentment towards Muslims has spiked again. Obviously, Islamophobia is present and current everywhere, be it social media, or in your day to day life, ofcourse the event which illustrate Islam as a religion of violence spark a new found hatred for non-muslims towards muslims. People will say things, in fact recently, people have been saying a lot. Shouting from their cars, signalling with their hands that they’ll slaughter us, and so on and so forth. Despite all of this we have to keep faith in Allah. Don’t let people’s insults towards Islam keep us from spreading the good word of the religion and the most effective way being in our behaviour towards others. Not just that, the people that insult Allah’s words, our prophets, our values, they’ll have to answer to Allah. We simply can not let it demoralize us. This is only the beginning, the struggles for muslims will only get harder.

Hadith:

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, although both are good. Strive to do that which will benefit you and seek the help of Allah, and do not feel helpless. If anything befalls you, do not say ‘If only I had done (such and such), the such and such would have happened,’ rather say: ‘Allah has decreed and what He wills He does,’ for ‘if only’ opens the door to the work of the shaytaan.”

[Muslim]

For those who have exams, or have had exams, stay positive. Whatever Allah has decreed, cannot be changed. Remember Allah doesn’t ever give up on his believers. We’re the ones that distance ourselves from Allah.

And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near.

2:186

Allah will answer our duas, we just need to remember to call him.

Follow this link to understand more about dua.

Sunnah: 

Greetings. When someone greets you, reply with a response equivalent to their greeting or with an addition.

And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it [in a like manner]. Indeed, Allah is ever, over all things, an Accountant.

4:86

Ramadhan Reflections:

Yesterday I think I made the most sincere dua. More so  because I am understanding the significance of dua more. I’ve been watching videos by the likes of Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan, Sheikh Omar Sulaiman, Yasir Qadhi etc. These videos have been really beneficial to my outlook in life. I’ve linked one of the videos above, and simply continued to browse via the suggested videos. I honestly recommend for you to watch tafsir and lectures because they really help give a better insight into understanding the Quran. How’re we to build a strong bond with Allah if we fail to understand his words.

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 10

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you,

Quran: 9:41

Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah . That is better for you, if you only knew.

Everyone has something to offer in the path of Allah. Whatever we can offer we should try to give to Allah. Though the context of this ayah was regarding a battle the essential principle of using our talents and unique attributes in the path of Allah still applies.

Tafsir: Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

Hadith: 

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “One day, the Messenger of Allah, (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), commanded us to give charity. I had some property, so I said, ‘Today I shall surpass Abu Bakr if I surpass him any day.’ I, therefore, brought half of my property. The Messenger of Allah, (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), asked, ‘What have you left for your family?’ I replied, ‘The same amount.’ Abu Bakr brought all that he had with him. The Messenger of Allah asked him, ‘What have you left for your family?’ He replied, ‘I have left Allah and His Messenger for them.’ I said, ‘I shall never compete with him in anything.’

Reported by Abu Dawud 1678 and at-Tirmidhi 3675. 

After the prophets as our perfect role models, we should look at the Sahaba. Here for instance, Abu Bakr has so much trust in Allah that he gives everything to his name for his sake. This is the mind set we should aspire to have. At the end of the day every breath we take is a blessing of Allah, in Abu Bakr’s case, all of his possessions would not have been able to compensate for the gratitude of Allah’s blessings. But, in saying this, it was the most he could have done to show gratitude. Our gratefulness towards Allah should become so integrated in our lifestyle, that everything we do, we do for Allah.

Ramadhan Reflection:

Linking to the point above, about doing things for the sake of Allah, if we get into the habit of taking Allah’s name before everything we do, how many sins would we commit compared to the times we wouldn’t take his name. For instance, saying ‘Bismillah’ before you turn your music on, that would stop you entirely from listening to it, no? Instead, you might listen to nasheeds, or Quran recitation. Surely remembering Allah keeps us aware of our actions, and as a result away from sin.

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 9

Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmathullahi wa barakathu,

May the peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be with you.

Quran: 7:201

Indeed, those who fear Allah – when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight.

This is a description of the people with Taqwa and how Satan momentarily influences then when they are vulnerable. However their Taqwa prevails over their temptations.

Tafsir: Sheikh Omar Sulaiman

Hadith:

Abû Dharr al-Ghifârî and Mu`âdh b, Jabal relate that the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said: “Fear Allah wherever you are. Follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will blot it out. And deal with people in a good manner.”

[ Sunan al-Tirmidhî ]

Sunnah:

The Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم told al-Baraa` bin Aazib (r.a.) “If you go to your bed, then do your wudoo (ablution) as you would do it for prayer, then lie on your right”

[Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]

The importance of this Sunnah

In another hadith, which is classed as “good” by Albaani, the need of ablution has been described in these words:

It is narrated from Ibn Umar (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said, “Purify these bodies, and Allah will purify you. Whenever a slave spends his night in a state of purification, an angel spends his night within his (slave’s) hair and he does not turn over during the night except that he [the angel] says: O Allah, forgive Your slave, for he went to sleep in a state of purification.

Can you imagine the rewards and blessings there are in sleeping with wudhu.

And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return; then He will inform you about what you used to do

Quran: 6:60

Since Allah takes our souls, imagine if he were to take our souls whilst we were in the state of wudhu, a state of faith.

Ramadhan Reflections:

Do you ever feel so blessed that you have no words to explain, except …

Alhamdulillah

 

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 8

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathu

May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be with you.

Quran: 7:8

And the weighing [of deeds] that Day will be the truth. So those whose scales are heavy- it is they who will be the successful

In this ayah, the word ‘successful’, اَلمُفْلِحُوْنَ, concerns the people who work hard to be successful. This ayah tells us we need to work hard in order to gain Jannah, we need to work hard for our scales to be heavy. The idiom ‘you reap what you sow’, applies to the hereafter too. We simply need to prioritise the right things, refresh our intentions and remember Allah for our hard work to be full of barakah. Only then will our fruits taste sweet.

Tafsir: Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

Hadith: 

Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

Dawud (a.s) would never eat except from the earnings of his own hand’s work

[Sahih Bukhari]

This hadith tells us about the responsibility and the hard work of the Prophet Dawud. Our prophets are our role models, they teach us how to live our lives humbly. Remember the first act of defiance against Allah, was stemmed by arrogance. By following the Prophet’s example we avoid momentarily become one with Satan.

Ramadhan Reflections:

I think it’s worth reflecting over our actions and comparing them with the characters mentioned in the Quran. For instance when we commit sin, we commit out of arrogance. Allah is no longer the Greatest in that moment of time, hence we commit the bad deeds. This arrogance is similar to the arrogance of Satan. The reason I think it’s valuable to compare ourselves to the likes of Shaytan, is because it invokes a fear within us. No one wants their character to parallel Satan, an enemy of Allah. And so it makes us rethink our actions. That’s one tip to help avoid sin, a reminder for myself first and foremost.

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 7

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmathullahi wa barakathu 

May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be with you.

Quran: 5:88

And eat of what Allah has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And fear Allah , in whom you are believers.

We underestimate the importance of eating lawfully. If we look at the first act of disobedience by mankind, Adam’s eating of the forbidden fruit, as soon as he had eaten from the forbidden fruit, Allah’s blessings had gone. This is relevant to our lives today. If we eat unlawfully our blessings stop. 

Tafsir: Yasir Qadhi 

Hadith: 

-On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah said: “Allah the Almighty is good and accepts only that which is good. Allah has commanded the Faithful to do that which He commanded the Messengers, and the Almighty has said: “O ye Messengers! Eat of the good things, and do right..” (Quran 23:51). And Allah the Almighty has said: “O ye who believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you..” (2:172). Then he mentioned [the case of] a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky [saying]: O Lord! O Lord!-while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothing unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, so how can he be answered!” 

(Muslim)

Ramadhan Reflections:

I guess I don’t really have much to say today. But, I met this young lady whilst I was at work. And she was wearing niqab. Plus she was from my local area. My area is quite a racist place to be, and let’s not deny that Islam is racialised. Simply by observing the Hijab I have encountered Islamphobia. Let alone wearing Niqab. I’ve been wanting to start wearing it lately, but I don’t know what’s been stopping me. So I asked her about Islamophobia and she said as long as you do it for the sake of Allah, Allah’s going to protect you. So, don’t it too much thought. So Insha’Allah when I’m ready to take the challenge I will wear it. Right now, I’m preparing myself spiritually, because at the end of the day we are looked upon as the role models of society, so there’s very little room for mistakes. It was an eye opening conversation.

Anyway, I hope your Ramadhan is going well for you. And you’re managing to maintain reciting Quran for the month, and boycotting the extra little things like swearing.

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 6

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you,

Quran: 5:34

Except for those who return [repenting] before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

Even if you have a sinful past there’s always time to turn back to Allah. 

Tafsir by Omar Sulaiman 

Hadith: 

Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, reported: One day I was behind the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and he said to me:

“O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that even if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.”

[Tirmidhi]

Ramadhan Reflection:

A life without Allah, is hardly a life at all

So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.

2:152

The fearful thing is what if we forget Allah in times of prosperity?

May our rememberance of Allah be in every point of our lives, in hardship and ease.

Ameen

Alhamdulillah  

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 5

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you,

Quran: 4:31

If you avoid the major sins, which you are forbidden, we will remove from you your lesser sins and admit to you a noble entrance in paradise

Appreciate Allah’s mercy here. If you avoid the major sins- subject to school of thought, opinions of scholars, Allah will still grant you paradise. 

For more about the major sins, click this link. 

Hadith: 

Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “When Allah drowned Firaun, he said (while drowning), ‘I believe that there is no God but He in whom the Children of Israil believe.’ Jibreel said to me, ‘O Muhammad! If you could have seen me when I took the mud from the sea and shoved it into his mouth, fearing that the mercy of Allah might save him.’” 

[Tirmidhi]

This is Firawn, the person guaranteed hell. And Allah would’ve forgiven him. Allah’s mercy is beyond our comprehension. 

Ramadhan Reflection: 

What’s shocking is every time we commit sin, we sin in arrogance. When we refrain from sin it’s from humility of our Rabb, right? So when we sin, we disregard the laws the Almighty has put in place, we live life according to ourselves, under the influence of waswasah. So, when we sin who are we most similar to? Satan, Iblis. The first sin was out of arrogance. And so every time we sin, we replicate the behaviour of Iblis. That’s terrifying. Even after we sin Allah forgives us, as we repent. But think about it, whilst asking for forgiveness, we’re under Allah’s mercy, it’s he who is providing us life for us to repent. So how do we have the audacity to sin, and sin knowingly?

Subhan’Allah

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 4

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you,

Quran: 3:133

And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous

This verse tells us that there are two rewards we can achieve by being ‘righteous’. These two rewards are Allah’s forgiveness and Jannah. What’s great about this is Allah is already ready to forgive, we just need to seek it. Plus, Jannah is already waiting for us. It’s only by working hard that we can achieve luxuries, we know this simply from learning from this dunya, it applies to the Hereafter as well. This verse tells us that this dunya is almost like a competition, we haste towards his forgiveness like a race. At the end no matter where they finish in the race, they would have crossed the finish line. It tells us that everyone will attain Jannah.

Here is a link to provide you with some tafsir on this ayah, by Sheikh Yasir Qadi.

Hadith:

Abu Umaamah is reported to have said that ‘The Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said, “My Lord promised me that seventy thousand of my Ummah will enter paradise without being brought to account of being punished, with each thousand of them will be another seventy thousand of them, plus three handfuls of the handfuls of the Lord, may He be glorified.

Al-Tirmidhi

May Allah make us among them.

Ameen

Ramadhan Reflection: It was iftaar and obviously, we’re having our usual conversations as a family etc. Someone makes a joke and  me and my sisters burst into a fit of giggles.  See my mother’s sense of humour is questionable, she laughs at strange things, things that we wouldn’t think of as funny. We realised the only people that can make my mother laugh with, to the point where your breathing becomes difficult is her sisters. It’s crazy to think when me and my sisters are older, the sense of humour of the new generation will be completely different to our sense of humour, we will only be able to understand each other. Our children will look at us and think, ‘Mum, that wasn’t funny’. The only people that will be able to make me have a belly laugh, where your stomach starts hurting, is my sisters. That’s special. That’s the bond between siblings.

Alhamdulillah for my sisters

“A good laugh is sunshine in the house”

William Thackeray

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 3

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you

Quran: 2:285-286

The apostle believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His apostles; We make no difference between any of His apostles; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course.

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. “Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.”

Hadith:

The Prophet (s.a.w.) also said the following:

“Allah inscribed a book two thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, from which the last two verses of Surat al-Baqarah were revealed. If they are recited for three nights, no Shaytan (devil) will remain in the house” 

narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2882

Note: The Quran ayahs above are the Quran ayahs mentioned in the Hadith 

Ramadhan Reflections:

Allah’s timing is everything. Today has been such a joyous day for my family. Today was the day which proved our struggles for ‘x’ years, to be worth the pain. Every family struggles in its own ways and whatever it may be that we endured, it definitely humbled us. And as a result, strengthened us. We were taught the value of love, the deceptive form of love,  greed, selfishness, the corruption of money,  all through a struggle we never thought would correlate with the lessons we learnt. Allah answered our prayers to make us stronger. Allah answered our prayers for our struggles to end. We learnt patience and we learnt to trust in Allah and his timing.

The Prophet (sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: ‘If you put your trust completely in Allah, He will arrange for your sustenance in the same way as He provides for the birds. They go out in the morning with their stomachs empty and return filled in the evening.’ (Tirmidhi-saheeh).

When good things happen, it makes you appreciate Allah a whole lot more. The biggest lesson to learn, was Allah can take anything away from us, just like that. And Allah can give us anything, just like that. With these trials, you begin to have humility in the way you make dua to Allah. You’ll notice the gratefulness in your duaas compared to the demands we usually make. So, thank Allah for the trials he gives you. Consider it a blessing. There’s a whole lot more good then there is bad. I promise.

Alhamdulillah

Ramadhan Reflections: Day 2

Assalamu alaikum  wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you

Quran: 2:78

‘And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except for wishful thinking, but they are only assuming’

Looking in context, this ayah was addressing the Israelites, the people of the book. Allah gave a description of them and their relationship with their holy book. Ironically, the Ummah today meets the criteria of the description of the Israelites. The ‘unlettered ones’, being those who cannot read or write – illiterate, are assuming they understand the book. The ‘unlettered ones’, ‘أميون’, derives from ‘أمي’ meaning mother. The people,perhaps may be educated, but are as unknowledgable about their book as they were when they came out of the womb, at birth. Likewise the Muslim Ummah today are unknowledgeable about the Quran. It’s terrifying how the tables have turned. The Ummah was always encouraged to be different from every other group in the Dunya, but here we are following the example of the Israelites as opposed to the Sahaba.

Tafsir of this ayah can be found via this link, the audio is approximately 20 mins long, by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan.

Hadith: 

The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “The Qur’an is an intercessor and it’s intercession is accepted and its plea is believed. Whoever makes it lead him – it leads him to Paradise and whomsoever places it behind him [the result will be] he is dragged to the Fire.” (ibn Hibban)

A reminder that if we follow the scripture we will attain Paradise, Insha’Allah. This correlates with the Quran ayah above, as to practice the Quran we have to understand it, and to understand the Quran we must study it. There’s so much barakah when we go out of our ways to learn about the Quran. Remember, this is Allah’s words, and so should be made our biggest priority. This is a reminder to myself first, and then to those reading.

Ramadhan Reflection:

 I saw a post on instagram today, and it was of a man walking to the masjid. Infact he was barely walking. He was on crutches and limping. It was a jumuah prayer, and he was still rushing for prayer and to listen to the khutbah. It puts into perspective how ungrateful we are. Seeing the joy the deen gives to others should be our motivation to find joy in the deen too. And to not treat practicing Islam as a chore. Let’s take Salah as an example, it must be done. But how many of us can say we pray Salah with Khushu? With no other thoughts disturbing you in your most intimate time of the day with Allah? How many of us can say that? Very little.

So let’s ask ourselves, are we doing what we do just because we have to, or are we doing what we do out of the joy of serving Allah, the Exalted?