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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Advice on Gaza

Please read this it'll only take a few minutes. Some really PRACTICAL advice regarding the situation in Gaza.

A brother's version of the advice he received from the Habayab of yemen may Allah swt raise their rank.... I don't know who this brother is I received it online from another friend. Spread it if you feel it will benefit others.


Assalamu alaikum,

Insha Allah, my dear brothers and sisters you are all well. Not a day passes during which I don't think of you all. May Allah (swt) grant us all firmness in iman, during these times.

Subhan Allah, with all that is happening to our brothers and sisters in Gaza, some of us may be asking "what can I do to help?". Is it by way of protests, sending aid, making dua etc?

I have been fortunate to be in the company of the 'ulama and saliheen and so I will attempt, in my broken English, to summarise their advice to the Muslim ummah. I have selected some quotes of Habib Omar, said during an address while we were with him in the valley of the Prophet Hud (as), a couple of weeks back, and also a quote or two from Habib Hussein, taken from a class he g a ve recently.

Habib Omar, may Allah preserve him, no doubt acknowledged that the Jews just continue doing what they do, as they have been for centuries - nothing new and we shouldn't be surprised. The surprise is not in how the non-Muslims treat us. The surprise is how the Muslims have changed over time and how they have become distant from their Creator. He goes on to say, the Allah of today is the same Allah that has saved and destroyed many nations of old. He is the same Allah who destroyed Fir'awn, 'Ad and Thamud, and the nation of Nuh (as) etc. He is the same Allah who saved Musa (as) and his people from Fir'awn, He is the same Allah who gave victory to the Prophet Hud (as), He is the same Allah who gave victory to the P rophet Nuh (as) after he raised his hands to Allah (swt) as per Surat al-Qamar, Ayat 9 to 11:
كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ فَكَذَّبُوا عَبْدَنَا وَقَالُوا مَجْنُونٌ وَازْدُجِرَ

"Before them the People of Nuh rejected (their messenger): they rejected Our servant, and said, "Here is one possessed!", and he was driven out."
فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ

"Then he (Nuh) called on his Lord: "I am surely defeated: send your Victory""
فَفَتَحْنَا أَبْوَابَ ا! لسَّمَاء بِمَاء مُّنْهَمِرٍ

"So We opened the gates of heaven, with water pouring forth."

Habib Omar explained to us, in the most eloquent manner, with force and conviction, in the three dimensional, eternal language of Arabic, that the fault lies with the Muslim ummah. He questioned, who of us is sincere in their du'a to Allah (swt)? He questioned who of us gets up in the middle of the night and calls upon his Creator as was the regular practice of the sahabah, of the tabi'een, and many of the glorious empires of Islam where even the common man got up in the middle of the night to weep before his Lord.

Habib Hussein put it another way. If the thousands of protestors around the world, screaming and shouting at the unsympathetic governments were to redirect their efforts towards calling upon Allah (swt) this would be far more effective and beneficial. Why? Allah (swt) teaches us in Surat Al-Mu'minun, Ayah 76:

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَاهُم بِالْعَذَابِ فَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ وَمَا يَتَضَر ّ َعُونَ

"We inflicted Punishment on them, but they humbled not themselves to their Lord, nor do they submissively entreat (Him)!"

Habib Hussein explains the tafsir behind this ayah. Any time a people have had some form of punishment inflicted on them, two things are required:
1. Tamaskan – in the ayah, the word اسْتَكَانُو is used. The root word is miskeen. Allah requires that we be in the state of a broken human being, brought to his knees in humility before Him. This is the first condition.
2. Tadara'an – in the ayah, the word يَتَضَرَّعُونَ is used. This is a form of du'a. There are two types of du'a. Firstly, there is the du'a that we normally make everyday, possibly in a low voice, or in public such as at the end of a prayer etc. The second form of du'a is that which Allah (swt) refers to in this Ayah. This du'a is literally crying out loud, screaming out to Allah (swt), begging Him for help. Many of the ummah perform the first type of du'a. Few perform the second du'a. Perhaps none of us in the West have seen the second form of du'a.

The scary part is that if we are not in these two states ie, being in a humble, sorry state before Allah and then calling upon Him in a sorrowful state, He will bring us to our knees through His creation. For far too long as an ummah in the modern times, we have been too arrogant to bring our selves to our knees before Allah (swt) in a sincerely humble state. So we are being forced to right now. How many of us have received text messages from someone who doesn't normally pray or make dua, requesting you to make du'a, read surat Yasin for our Palestinian brethren or stay up in the middle of the night praying.

If the half a million protestors were to just get up in the middle of the night, pray two rak'at and then throw themselves before Allah (swt) tadara'an this would be better for the Muslim ummah and more effective as we will be addressing our issues to the One who is the Most Merciful and sympathetic to our situation.

Do not misunderstand this advice. The Jews and other kuffar complicit in the murders of innocent men, women and children will be brought to justice by Allah (swt). The focal point here is what is our duty as Muslims now, in these unforgiving times, whe r e the fitan increase by the minute. The archetypes of the eras of old are all lessons for us on how to deal with these situations. Remember, it's the same Allah then as is now.

Habib Hussein also mentioned how some Muslims have chosen to boycott Israeli products. If it is known that certain businesses openly and actively support the war on the Muslims then this is ok. However to boyco tt Jewish products altogether is not a tool to victory. It was known that Rasul Allah (saws) openly made trade with the Jews, and even those Jews who were his enemies. Even at the time of his passing he had some of his goods with them and they with him (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and companions).

Rather than boycott the products we should be boycotting the thoughts and ideologies that are invading our homes, through the television, the internet and other media. Why isn't anyone declaring war on the intellectual warfare that is being waged against our Muslim women, children, youths and men. That is the deadliest war.

As for what is happening in Gaza, Rasul Allah (saws) made du'a that the majority of his ummah be shuhadah (martyrs). Remember : our dead are in Jannah, their dead are in Jahannam. He also opened our eyes to another scenario. What if both sides were Muslims attacking each other? The outcome would be that the killer and the killed would both be sent to Jahannam.

So lets not despair from the mercy of Allah. We need to look at the situation through the eyes of the 'arifin (the knowers of Allah). These are all events unfolding in the greater plan of Allah (swt). Sure, what is happening is gruesome and makes us all cry for our dead, due to the injustice that is occurring. Rasul Allah (saws) says "whoever sleeps at night, and does not care about the affairs of the Muslims, is not from us".

We grieve over the injustice. Yet, let our actions and reactions be directed by the nur al ilahi (Divine Light) and the nur khayr khalqillah (The Light o f the Best of Creation). This can only be done by taking advice from the heirs of the Prophets, the true 'ulama.

The real tools for victory are the following:
· Turning back to the One who can give victory in an instant. As Allah (swt) uses the phrase in the Qur'an : just like the blinking of an eye.
· Make a sincere tawbah to Allah (swt) and make a promise from this day on to reject all actions against the rida (acceptance) of Allah (swt) and His Prophet (saws) and promise to try to be a better Muslim each day by advancing yourself in your akhlaq and knowledge;
· Being pure and sincere in your dua, by acknowledging in your heart to Allah that you are in need of Him and that you are nothing;
· Being sincere and focused in our salat;
· Being in regular company of the true 'ulama and taking on their advice
· Increasing our 'ibadat. The time has come to move on from being minimalists. Those of us just performing Fara'id need to step up a notch and start performing Nawafil.
· Start getting up in the middle of the night and call upon the Most Merciful.
· Try to minimise our interaction with those who don't carry La ilaha ila Allah in their heart. Limit it to what is necessary for da'wah and daily business interaction. Start putting up barriers around your heart and only let in that which is loved by Allah and His Prophet (saws). Do the same in your homes. Protect your children and spouses from thoughts not originating from the Divine source. If your children go to public schools and spouses work in environments where Muslims are the minority then the following points become crucial;
· Daily, read a portion of the Qur'an and ponder its meaning
· Daily, create a circle of knowledge in the home where the seerah, shama'il, ahadith and personality of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) are studied;
· Fill your homes with the practice of the sunnah of the beloved Prophet (saws);
· Increase your dhikr by reciting regularly and daily : lailaha ila Allah, salawat on the Prophet Muhammad (saws),
· Daily make a sincere tawbah to Allah.
· Daily give a form of sadaqah to advance the Deen of Allah (swt).
· Once a month, or once a year or once in your life do something that benefits the Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad (saws). This is what really makes Rasul Allah (saws) happy. He (saws) says "the deeds of my ummah and shown to me". Right now both the good and bad deeds of the ummah are shown to our beloved Nabi (saws).
· Be an ambassador to Rasul Allah (saws) by living his character.
· Seek knowledge from the traditional mashayikh and avoid fringe groups who end up withering away just like today's fad.
· Be a teacher of Qur'an, Seerah, Sunnah or other Islamic sciences and help spread the truth.!
· Be a forgiving servant of your fellow Muslim brethren and assume they are better than you.

I hope this puts things in perspective and allows us to be a little more focussed in our direction. By performing the above, insha Allah we will be working toward being an ummah, loved by Allah so that once we raise our hands and ask for the victory, He sends down angels from the Heavens to stand by our side.


Your faqir brother........

Saturday, January 24, 2009

On Reliance on God

Chapter 31 The Book of Assistance, On Reliance On God(Tawakkal)

BismilLah

-Syeikh began by asking us to think what are the connections between sabr, syukur zuhud and tawakkal.
- Stations (maqaam) have three elements in it: ‘ilm, ‘amal and haal (knowledge, state and action).
- Imam Ghazali said tawakkal is manzilu min manaazilu deen (Manzil being a place to rest or relax, a station, home) wa maqaam min maqamat muqeenun (those with certainty, syukur and tawakkal have the same origin but with different maqam and Imam Bukhari and Imam Haddad put syukur before tawakkal in their books) bal huwa min ma’ali (higher) darajat muqtaribeena (those who seek to come close) wa ufi nafsi ghamidoon min haythu ‘ilm wa syaqul ‘amal– it is ghamid: difficult to comprehend in knowledge and difficult in action.
- Imam Malik was the first muhaddith to organise his book in chapters. He collected ahadith and prayed istikhara before placing the hadith in which chapter.
- In Ihya’ of Imam Ghazali, he placed tawakkal in book 5 (last quarter: munjiyaat) chapter 4 and named it Kitab tawhid and tawakkal.
- The first section in Al-Hikam is fiqh al-asbab ie the mean.

- Tawakkal came from the root word wakala. It means handing over responsibility and depending on their judgement. Wakala is translated as an agent in english.
- According to Imam Ghazali the reality of a mutawakkil connected to his heart. It is like I’timadul haj ie handing over stone to someone in haj.
- Four qualities to have tawakkal on someone:
- muntahal hidaya (upmost guidance) – the one who guide
- have the power
- fisaha (eloquence) with action
- syafaqa (compassion, affable)
- There is a hadith quoted by many muhaddith amongst them Ibnu Majah and Ibnu Hambal who put it in the chapter of Zuhud:
"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."
Birds have tawakkal in Allah but they still went out in the morning. According to Ibnu Hajar tawakkal is not leaving the asbab and action. A man said that he did not leave the masjid because his rizq is from Allah. Ahmad Ibnu Hambal said that this man did not have knowledge.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

du'a yawmul asyura



BismilLah.

For yawmul asyura (10th of Muharram):
- read the first part (HasbunaAllahu wa ni'mal wakeel, ni'mal mawla wa ni'man naseer) 70 times
- and the du'a (subhanaAllahi mil'al mizaan.. till the end) 7 times.

May Allah accept your effort.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

The life of Muhammad - part one

BismiLlahir Rahmanir Rahim

AlhamdulilLah, yesterday we had the chance to follow Syeikh Muhammad Samir An-Nass class on seerah. We have listen to it online through halaqa online and Alhamdulillah this is some of our note:

Rasul Salallahu alayhi Wassalam’s character is the character of Qur’an. That’s why it is very important for us to learn about him.

Allah knows us more than we knew ourselves. The best way to live our life is according to the One who has created us while He is not in need of us. Rasul (Salallahu alayhi Wassalam) is the messenger for us from Allah. So, we should follow his way.

Allah take care of Rasul Salallahu alayhi Wassalam as He said you are in Our eye ‘fa innaka bi a’yunina’

‘Laqad kana lakum fi rasulillahi uswatun hasana’. He is the best example for us.

The original inhabitants of Makkah were Jurham. They speak Arabic language and it is called fusha ismail. They were replaced by Khuza’.

From Khuza’ was a man called Zayd who was better known as Qusay, which means 'far'. He was brought up far from Makkah. On his return to Makkah he married the daughter of Khuza'. He gathered the tribes of Makkah and the surrounding areas. He then took control of Makkah and its five major responsibilities:
1) looking after the ka’ba (hijaba/sidana)
2) feeding people and the pilgrimage (rifada)
3) giving water to the travellers (siqaya)
4) he was responsible for hosting meetings in his house
5) and the standard (flag)

Qusay had four children. The second one named Abdu Manaf. He was smarter and had more skill than his older brother, Abdul Daar. He became the leader after Qusay. Although all the responsibilities went to his older brother Abdul Dar out of respect. Eventually after some dispute, they divided the roles in a treaty.
These responsibilities remain with their descendents for example the keys to the Kaba are held with Banu Shayba who are the descendents of Abdul Dar. The flag and leadership are the responsibility of the khalifa. Providing water and food to the pilgrimage went to the descendents of Abdu Manaf.

The largest gathering for the Arabs is the haj. As the inhabitant of Mekkah, Quraisy were exposed to all Arab’s dialect and they picked up the best of accent.

The well of Zamzam
He mentioned that when Jurham left Makkah, they buried the well of Zamzam. The Prophet's grandfather, Abdul Mutalib saw the place of the well in a dream. At that time he only had one son named Harith. He made an oath that if he Allah gave him ten children he would 'sacrifice' one of them.

When he had his tenth son, he went to a 'kahin', soothsayer. Likewise when he found the water, they went to a kahin, soothsayer to find out who has the rights to the water.
They have found some treasure buried with the well. Abdul Mutalib divided it into 3 portions; one for Ka’ba, one for himself and the remaining for Quraisy. They have put their name in wooden particles and decided who get the ka’ba’s portion. With the recovery of the well of zamzam, it is easier for them to supply water to the pilgrimage. The responsibility went to Sayidina Abbas RadhiyaAllahu anhu and his son.
Khalid ibn Said ibn As dreamt that it was complete darkness and suddenly there was light came from zamzam and spread gradually. He went to tell his brother and said that something will happen from Abdul Mutalib’s side.

When Abdul Mutalib had 10 sons, he asked them to put their names in wooden arrows (al-qidah). They drew lots using arrows without its metallic sharp end. When he pulled the arrow, the name of his favourite son Abdullah kept coming up. His mother's family (Banu Makhzum tribe) refused to allow the slaughter to go ahead and they tried to find compensation for this sacrifice. So they went again to a kahin (soothsayer). The kahina who lived in the norh of Yathrib gave the answer on the next day saying that they can replace the sacrifice with blood money, ie 10 camels. If the name still came out, they have to add another 10 camels until they stop taking out his name. Hence 100 camels were slaughtered by Abdul Mutalib. Rasul Salallahu alayhi Wassalam was called ibnu zabihayn by the badwi, ie the son of 2 sacrifices (one of Abdullah and the other is Sayidina Ismail Alayhi salaam).

Abdul Mutalib went to Banu Zuhra, a section amongst the quraisy and asked them the hand of Aminah for his son, Abdullah. He himself married Aminah’s cousin Halah and they had Sayidina Hamza (RadhiyaAllahu ‘anh).

He said he, SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam, was the answer to the supplication of the prophet Abraham and the 'glad tidings' given to 'my brohter Isa' Parakletes, and Piraklates, one meaning the holy ghost and the other meaning 'the most praised' (Ahmed). His mother and grandfather both felt that the young baby (SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam) was to grow up to be the Prophet. His mother indicated it in a poem she wrote before her death

Hasan bin Thabit related that he heard the Jews of Madina saying 'tonight the star of Ahmed' has risen, indicating the birth of Messenger, SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam. This happened on 12th Rabi al-Awal (3rd Lunar month) in the year of the elephant ie 571 ce.

The Jewish ruler of Yemen prosecuted the Christians of that area. The Christians then went to Caesar and later to the Negus of Ethiopia for help. The Negus invaded Yemen and some of the Christians then went to built a huge church to attract the Arabs. An Arab man came and defiled the church, and out of anger the governor then decided to attack Makkah in revenge. The governor, named Abraha, came to Makkah from the south. The elephant that lead the army halted at Muzdalifa. It would not enter the sanctuary. Groups of birds approached with stones in the beaks and feet and they dropped them on the army. Abraha's army was destroyed.

When Rasul SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam, a group of people from Banu Sa’ad (who lived in Ta’if and surrounding area) came to wet babies from Mekkah. Amongst them was Sayidatina Halimah. She was a hungry and sick lady. She had a baby called Abdullah ibn Harith who cried a lot. The baby was always hungry as Sayidatina Halimah did not produce enough milk. But when Sayidatina Halima saw the face of Rasul SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam, she knew that it is a ‘mubarak’ face and it is the beginning of big changes in her life.
Prophet Muhammad’s mother is buried at Abwa between Makkah and Madina when he was six years old (SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam). Umm Ayman, who looked after him on the rest of the journey was described by the Messenger, SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam as 'my second mother'. On his return he was looked after by his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib who showed great respect to the young boy. After his grandfather passed away, he (SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam) was looked after by his uncle, Abu Talib. Abu Talib was the only uncle with the same mother as Sayidina Abdullah. He lived with Abu Talib and his wife, Sayidatina Fatimah binti Asad. They gave him great respect to the extent that they would not let anyone start their food until he (SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam) start eating.
In Rasul SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam’s life, he went to Syria twice. The first was when he spoke with Bahira (the second one he SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam did not speak to any of the people of the book). Bahira was a monk lived at Bosra (also known as Bostra). He saw the sign of prophethood from the group that travelled together with him SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam and invited them to come in. When he saw each one of them, he asked why not everyone comes in and when he saw Rasul SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam’s face, he immediately knew that this is the person he was looking for.
When he SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam came back to Mekkah, two large tribe (Quraysh and Hawasin) was about to have a war. This was called harb al-fijar (the sacriligious war) as it happened during a sacred month. Aged twenty, he attended the signing of an agreement called hilf al-fudul, the pact of the righteous. He SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam said that this is more blessed than 'red camels' which symbolised the greatest worldy item to the Arabs, ie it was better than the best worldly thing.

His second trip to Syria was with Khadija's servant Maysarra. Maysarra met another monk named Nestora. Upon returning home, Sayidatina Khadija sent a neighbour called Nafisa to the Messenger, SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam, to suggest marriage. Sayidina Abu Talib went with the Messenger, SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam and proposed and conducted the marriage. The Messenger SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam was 25 years old and Khadija was 40. Sayidatina Khadijah had been married twice before and had some children. Amongst them Hind and Umar who grew up in Rasul SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam’s house. Sayidatina Khadija gave him two sons, Abdulllah and al-Tayyib and 4 daughters: Zainab, Ruqqayah, Umm Kulthum and Fatima. All his children passed away during his life except Sayidatina Fatima RadhiyaLlahu ‘anha.

‘the best amongst you is the one who is best with his family’

When he was 35 year old, a woman was making tawaf in the Ka’ba when fire starts burning the building. The Quraisy took the task of rebuilding it. There was a snake that used to stay in a place in the Ka’ba and it was suddenly taken away by a strange bird. The Quraisy took it as a sign that they can break and rebuild the Ka’bah. They decided that they will not spend any haraam money on the Ka’ba. When they started rebuilding it, there was shortage of money and they took out a part from the Ka’ba called Hijr Ismail. (If someone prays in this area, he is praying inside the Ka’ba). They made the Ka’ba a bit smaller, but higher than the original building and they also built the door higher.
After the task of re-building the Ka’ba complete, a fight was about to break again regarding who has the right to put Hajr Al-aswad on its place. Abu Umaya (father of Umm Salama RadhiyaAllahu anh) who was an honourable man from Bani Makhzum of Quraisy suggested that the first man who came through the gate will decide who will pick up the stone. Abu Umaya was well-known for his generosity and was called awzadu rakab as he will spend for everyone that travels with him.
The first person to come through the gate was Rasool SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam and everyone was happy. He was nicknamed Al-Ameen, the trustworthy because of his character SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam. He put his rida’ syareef (the upper portion of haraam’s clothes) and put the black stone on it. Then he asked the leaders of every tribe to come and hold his Rida’ and bring the stone to Ka’ba. He put the stone in its place with his blessed hands SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam.

Q & A
Shaykh said 'Anyone that says his knowledge is the same as Allah's knowledge is wrong. No one knows it as Allah knows it. He, SallaLlahu ‘alayhi Wassalam , does not have complete knowledge but to say that he does not have knowledge of the unseen is also wrong. There is relative knowledge of the unseen.

Question: what is the ruling on maulid? He said it is fine to make maulid as long as it is not through haram action.

Three special ladies with some differences who is the best, Fatima (the Shaykh's opinion) Khadija and Aisha (RadhiyaLlahu ‘anhum).

Al-hikam 24, 25, 26

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