Internet 101 : An Islamic Perspective

"Allah has blessed the human being with this tongue, with the ability to communicate. That's a gift from Allah, and we honor that gift by using this tongue for things that are noble, by...by speaking the truth, by speaking for justice, by not wasting and squandering this gift that Allah has given us. Now...when we speak to each other and we say hurtful things, it lasts in that moment. But when you put a, you know, an absurd and obnoxious and arrogant comment online, and you become one of those trolls that say ridiculous things under videos or under blog posts etc. etc. Every time someone hears your inappropriate comments, it's going to be a debit for you, because every time evil has increased, something bad has increased in the world, someone else has been exposed to evil because of your words, you're responsible. So in that sense, putting stuff up online, you need to be a lot MORE careful than you are actually in person. Because in person, that conversation died immediately, so its sinful impact maybe you're only accountable for it for that one moment. But when you put something up online...it's gonna be visited and revisited and revisited and re-lived, and for every one of those occasions you are answerable and I am answerable. So we have to be careful about that, from a spiritual point of view. 

The next thing I wanna talk about is, just...you know, Allah, عز وجل, He gives us certain social principles; those principles, they applied in a society in Medina, and they apply in the United States in 2011, and they will apply 50 years from now. The ethical principles are universal and they're timeless. And some of those principles are things like "not making fun of others". "Don't make fun of each other, maybe they're better than you, don't let women make fun of other women; maybe they're better than them." "Don't call each other names" - "Don't accuse people of other things; don't call each other all kinds of names." Now if you put that as your constitution, your, your...your ethical code, your charter, this is how I'm gonna behave online, it would probably cut down 95% of your interaction. "Not making fun of people? What else do you do on Facebook??!!" You know, Not accusing someone of something, not commenting on somebody's photos (and saying), "What were you wearing! God!" You know...etc. That's all we do! Is poke fun at each other! That's 90% of the interaction. That's kind of the reason I got off of it, because all I was getting was just ridiculous, ridiculous stuff, but I've been re-motivated to jump in again, Jazak Allah u Khayran!

By Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

I Love You!

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakathuhu

I walked into a person today who gave me a hug and a kiss on my cheek and I felt that this person, this man, loves me for the sake of Allah. He's an older man and I really felt that he loves me for the sake of Allah so I thought that I should sit here today and speak about loving for the sake of Allah.

Now, you have to know that there are two types of friends. Friends who love each other for the sake of Allah and friends who love each other for the sake of Shaythan. And those who love each other for the sake of Allah, they want good for you. They want you to do good and they want good for you and they wanna see you doign good. And those who love you for the sake of the devil, for the sake of Satan, for the sake of the Shaythan, they want evil for you and they want you to do evil with them and they want to see you doing evil. SubahaanAllah. You see the difference. But look at the advantage of those who love each other for the sake of Allah. The Almighty calls, the Almighty Allah, he calls on the Day of Resurrection, He says, 'Where are those who love for my sake?' He calls on the Day of Resurrection and he says where those who love for my sake. 'On this day, I shall shade them under my shade, when there is no shade but my shade.' Subhanallah. On this day, I shall shade them under my shade when there is no shade but may shade. Who? 

And there is something greater than loving each other for the sake of Allah. That's something great! And there is something greater than loving each other for the sake of Allah and that is getting the Almighty Allah Azzawajal to love you. There is nothing greater than that. Why? Why? Because. When you get Allah Azzawajal to love you, it's like you have everything. You own everything. You've got it right there. You've got the power; you've got the keys in your hands. You own it. When you get the Almighty Allah Azzawajal to love you. Listen to this hadith. This hadith is Sahih. It is authentic by Muslim, Bukhari, Tirmidhi and Maalik. The Prophet (sal) said, 'if the Almighty Allah Azzawajal loves a person, he calls down on Jibreel and he says, 'I love this person, so you shall love him.'' So then, Jibreel loves him. Then Jibreel calls down to all these billions and billions of Angels in the skies...And he says, 'Allah Azzawajal loves that person, so you shall love him'. So then all these angels love that person whom the Almighty Allah Azzawajal fell in love with. And then acceptance is granted to this person on this earth in his life. Subhanallah. That's when you get the Almighty Allah Azzawajal to love you. He gets the angels to love you; and he gets everybody on this earth to accept you and most of them to love you. Most of the believers to love you. 

So the first thing is that we want to make sure that when we love somebody, we love them for the sake of Allah. And most importantly, we only want good for them and want them to do good. When we see them doing evil, we give them advice, we pull them back to good. When they do evil, we pull them back to good and we don't allow that to happen because we love them for the sake of Allah. Last but not least, we have to work really hard in getting the Almighty Allah Azzawajal to love us. Do whatever you can to get him to love you. Love each other for the sake of Allah and Allah will love you. 

Jazakamullahu Khairan

Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakathuhu.

By Ustadh Rayan Arab 

You Can Have Whatever You Want!

Assalaamu Alaikum.

Many of us want something so bad, but we don't know how to get it or we tried so hard to get it, but we didn't see any results, so the next thing we did is, we gave up. Many of us try to get the things that we want, but when we don't see any results, the next thing we do is, we give up. Example -- Abdullah and Ahmed; they both want success, or they both want to achieve something in life. So they both worked really hard for this. Abdullah doesn't see any results, so he gives up. Ahmed doesn't see any results, but he continues. One month later, Abdullah comes to Ahmed, and he asks him: "Did you achieve anything in life?" Ahmed says: "Oh yes I did! I have everything I ever asked for". Abdullah cries "Why did I give up?". 

Allah Azzawajal gave us the ability to have whatever we want. With the way we think, with the way we talk, with the way we walk, by the way we move, by the way we live this life, and by the way we present this Deen. You my friend - You can have whatever you want, You my brother, You, my sister, you can have anything you want. Remember, Allah Azzawajal says: "And seek, with what you have the home of the hereafter, and don't forget your portion of this dunya." We all want something - All of us, but what he wants, is different than what he wants and what she wants, is different than what she wants - And what the Muslim wants is different than what the Kafir (Disbeliever) wants. The Kafir wants the Dunya (Worldly Things), the Muslim wants the Akhirah (Hereafter). Well, some Muslims want the Dunya. And some want the Akhirah and some want both - the Dunya and the Akhirah, and guess what, you can have this Dunya, without losing an inch of the Akhirah. But with what? How is that possible? With something called Az-Zuhd (Asceticism) - And this is, to show more eagerness for the next life, more than you show for this life. Az-Zuhd -- Example - you have a million dollars. If it increases to 2 million, you don't get happy. And if it decreases to 0, you don't get sad. Az-Zuhd - If you have a lot of money, you don't get happy and if it goes up, you don't get happy, and if it goes down, you don't get sad. That is Az-Zuhd. Why? Because you detach yourself from the Dunya and you are attached to the Akirah. Because this Dunya, you see, if you attach yourself to it, it runs away from you. Like Tom and Jerry. If you attach yourself to this Dunya, you are Tom, and the Dunya is Jerry. It runs away from you. But if you detach yourself from this Dunya, you are Jerry and the Dunya is Tom, it chases you. It comes after you, it wants you. With Az-Zuhd my friend, you can have whatever you want.

By Rayan Arab

The Real Definition Of Sabr

Sabr is a word that I'm sure we've all heard many times. We need to know what it means and we need to know what the Quran says about Sabr and we need to know what is required of us as Muslimeen, when it comes to the term Sabr. Some translate it as patience, but let me inform you, patience is only a part of Sabr. 

Patience is only a very small part of Sabr, and its amazing and surprising how many people do not realize the extent of this word. It includes forbearance; It includes endurance; It includes steadfastness; It includes perseverance and it includes restraint. All these terms together make the one word Sabr in the Arabic language. Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) created us, He brought us into existence and He put us onto this earth in order to test us. The reason why we are here at this moment is to pass the test that Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) has decided to put us through by the mere fact that He created us, and we need to be conscious of this at every moment of our lives. Every minute is a test from Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala). We need to pass it and we need to protect ourselves from failure, and Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) warns us and He reminds us and He continues to remind us. He asks us to seek assistance through bearing Sabr, which means being patient, practicing restraint, being forbearant, persevering and so on. 

So let us listen to what Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) says. He says, in Surat ul-Bakarah: "Wastaeenu bisabri wassalaah..." [2:45] - Seek assistance through sabr, through bearing patience, through restraining yourselves and through prayer - SubhanAllah. Seek assistance to achieve whatever you want, to pass the tests of Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala). Seek assistance to do that by bearing Sabr and by engaging in salah. And Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) says: "...wa innaha lakabeertun illa a'lal khashi'een" [2:45] - Indeed, it is very difficult to do this except for those who are pious, those who are humble, those who will adopt the laws of Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) wholeheartedly, for them it will be simple to engage in Sabr. Also Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) tells us: "Ya ayyuha allatheena amanusta'eenu bissabri wassalah. inna Allaha ma'as sabireen" [2:153] - O you who believe, seek assistance. You need help? Seek help through bearing patience, bearing Sabr and through salah and Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) says He is definitely with those who bear patience. Then Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) says at the end of Surat Ale-Imran: "Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu isbiru wasabiru warabitu wattaqu Allaha la'allakum tuflihoon" [3:200] - O you who believe, bear patience and endure and protect the limits of Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) in order that you may succeed. We ask Allah (Subahaanawa Ta'ala) to grant us success. 

by Mufti Ismail Menk

A Tragedy Of Our Times!

We find, respected brothers and sisters, (that) one of the tragedies of our times is...that the most evil and immoral people have become icons and celebrities. 

A person might have a certain skill in a sporting field, he becomes a sporting star. Youth flock towards him, embrace his life, honor him, revere him, imitate him, (and) emulate him. But then you find this very same sporting star's life, as far as his social life is concerned, it is in total shambles. This very person, when he comes to that point, that pinnacle of fame, like they say in English, 'When you cannot control fame, it becomes a flame and it burns the very same person' - many a times when they come to that pinnacle of fame and they cannot control themselves, in that fit of ecstasy; either they get drugged, they rape women, molest children, and this from time to time, the media continuously features this. And these are the people that have become icons and celebrities, who themselves are deprived and devoid of morals and values. 

The only human whose life has been groomed to perfection, the only human whose life has been nurtured (and) molded to perfection, that it could reflect and manifest guidance for humanity in its entirety till the day of Qiyamah, is the life of Nabee Al Kareem (The Beloved Prophet ﷺ). We find the galaxy of Prophets' in its entirety were all molded by Allah. However, the difference between the two is, the respective Prophets' lives were molded that it could reflect guidance for the people of their time, hence the life of Moses (peace be upon him) was molded by Allah, that the Israelites could relate to his life. The life of Isa (peace be upon him) was molded, and governed, and shaped, and groomed by Allah, (so) that the people and the disciples of Isa could relate to his life. The life of Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) was molded that the people of Madyan could relate to his life. But the life of Nabee Al Kareem (ﷺ) was so uniquely fashioned by Allah, and time doesn't bear and permit with me, but if you understand the Qur'an, how Allah has groomed, and fashioned, and molded that life of Nabee (ﷺ), as he himself said: "My lord has mannered me, so my manners are best". That: "My Allah nurtured me, and my Allah perfected my nurturing." And like the poet said...that: "Humanity in its entirety was compelled to acknowledge the beauty of Nabee (ﷺ) to such an extent that even his enemies had to say it, 'as much as we hate him, there isn't a more honest man than Muhammad (ﷺ)'". And then the poet goes on to say, which is the climax of the two couplets: "The beauty and the excellence of a man is what his enemy can admit and acknowledge, and not his friends". And that critical part, which we unfortunately have not conquered today, was conquered in the most unique way by Nabee Al Kareem (ﷺ). That his very enemies who hated him the most, yet had the most trust in the life of Nabee Al-Kareem (ﷺ). 

By Sheikh Sulaiman Moola 

The Tongue - A Recipe For Disaster

The tongue! And the tongue is a very small and very very dangerous instrument. You wanna hear a recipe for a disaster? - Ok, here it is. This is a recipe for disaster. Number one! The tongue is an instrument or a muscle that never tiers. True or false? You can get tired of speaking, but your tongue as a muscle doesn't get tired. Anyone know? Anyone ever remember a time when your tongue got tired? Impossible! You know the strongest and (the) largest muscles in your body will get tired. Strongest muscle in your lower body, your thighs get tired, in your upper body, the lats, strongest muscle, largest, they get tired - but the tongue never ever gets tired. Your Jaws get tired, right? Sometimes your throat, you're at the buffet, you are eating too fast - Swallow, Swallow, Swallow, (and) your throat hurts, Your cheeks from smiling from laughing too long, but your tongue, incredible! That's the first recipe. Okay? This is the first part of the recipe. Number one, it's a small instrument that never ever gets tired. Number two, few people can control it. See how this is getting worse and worse. It never gets tired, few people control it and number three, it is one of the main causes of people going into the hellfire. Is this not a recipe for a disaster? Absolutely! (1) Doesn't get tired, (2) few people know how to control it, (3) and it is one of the main things that lead people into hellfire (correction). 

How do we know that? We know it from the hadith of Abu Hurairah (رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه), he asked An Nabi (ﷺ): "Which of the things most lead to paradise?" And Nabi (ﷺ) said: ...so, "being God conscious (or having the fear of Allah) and having good manners." Then Abu Hurairah (رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه) asked Nabi (ﷺ): "Which of the things most lead people into the hellfire?" - Most conducive to the hellfire. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "the mouth and the sexual organs." So we have the tongue being one of the top two things, that most lead people into the hellfire. In another Hadith, Muadh ibn Jabal (رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه), he asked the Prophet (ﷺ): "Are we going to be held accountable for what comes out of our mouth?" And the Prophet (ﷺ) answered him with a question, it's a rhetorical question: "Is there anything else that will cause people to topple, (basically to fall) on their faces into the hellfire (or head first into the hellfire) except for the results of what they reap with their tongue?." So it's one of the things that will cause people, most cause people to fall into hellfire, headfirst. In the Hadith of Al Muflis, the bankrupt person, when the Prophet (ﷺ) asked the companions: "Do you know who is bankrupt?" And they said, Ya Rassol Allah: "the one who is bankrupt amongst us is the one that has no money, no Darham's, no currency and no possessions." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) explained to them: "the Muflis, (the one who is bankrupt), he is the one who comes forth on the day of Judgment, with a lot of good deeds, but he has also come forth with a lot of bad manners and bad dealings with his fellow human beings." And amongst the things that the Prophet (ﷺ) says: "and he had insulted that person." So even though he had a mountain of good deeds, he will lose that mountain of good deeds because, again, one of the things related to the tongue.

by Ustadh Kamal ElMekki

Be Patient With Your Spouse!

I want you to go back tonight, brothers and sisters, to begin to repair the relationship, and can I tell you the key? In sha Allah, one of the keys, is to be Patient with each other. I have never found in my life...ever, a person with no defects. I haven't seen it. I haven't seen it, in my life time. That means from the Imam's on down, we got defects. Brother, that sister that you are going to marry tomorrow, the next week; I don't care what she looks like now, but when you marry her, you gonna see something that you never saw before! Because, you know what? It's easy to have relationships from a distance. That's easy. That sister appears to be so nice, 'O she is so submissive!' until you get married. But brother because you gonna find something in her that you don't like, and this is why the Prophet (ﷺ) told us: "Let no Muslim man hate his Muslim wife because if he is displeased with one characteristic of hers, if he hates one characteristic - he will be pleased with another." Because when you marry that woman, she's a package deal and with that package comes the good and the bad, the beauty and the ugly...and so it is with the brothers. It's a package deal, and so one of the great things, the great keys is to be patient with those things that you don't like.

By Imam Siraj Wahhaj

We Are The People Of Alhamdulillah

And SubhaanAllah -- Walhamdulillah, we are the people of Alhamdulillah! What does Alhamdulillah mean? It's basically, even though we can talk about it for hours, just a brief explanation - it is two things. Alhamdulillah is two things. One part of it is that you thank Allah, thanks is for Allah. The second part of it is appreciation, Appreciation -Praise is for Allah. Two things: Thanks & Praise. They're two separate things. 'Al madh wathanah' on the one hand, "Ash shukr' on the other hand. They're two different things. Now let's first understand the difference between these two things. 

You can see a beautiful building, and you will praise it. But you will not thank it. You will see a...you will see an amazing athlete, he plays football, and he scored an amazing goal, you will praise the athlete but you will not...thank the athlete. You will see a beautiful car, you will praise the car but you won't...thank the car. And sometimes the opposite is the case. There are some people you have to thank, even though you will never praise them. That happens too. Allah Azzawajal, for example describes that the Muslim has to be grateful to his parents no matter what. Even if your parents are 'mushrik' -- You have to be grateful to your parents...even if they are struggling against you to do shirk! They want you to leave your Iman, and you still have to be grateful to them. You will not praise their shirk, but you will still thank them. So sometimes in life, you can have praise without thanks, and sometimes in life you can have thanks without praise. I'll give you another example of thanks without praise so it becomes clear. You have the case of Firaun (la'anahullah). He...whether he liked it or not, he raised Musa (Alayhi Salaam) in his castle, and Musa (Alayhi Salaam), many years later came back to him, and he actually reminded Musa (Alayhi Salaam) saying, 'Didn't you live many years here? Didn't you spend, didn't we raise you as a newborn in this house'. He's reminding Musa (Alayhi Salaam) of his favor, and obviously when someone does you a favor you owe them thanks! So even Musa (Alayhi Salaam) acknowledges the favor, and he does thank him. He says, 'wathilka n'imatun tamunuaha alaya 'Itaraf' - He admitted, yes that is a favor you did for me. When you admit someone's done you a favor, you are thanking them

He thanked even Firaun, even though he will never ever praise him, so you can thank someone without praising them and you can praise someone without thanking them. When we say Alhamdulillah, then we are saying that we praise Allah for whatever He's doing, whatever he's doing is awesome, it's great! It couldn't be better, it's perfect! No complains and after we praise him we are also thanking him that he did it. It's a different way of thinking; it's not like anybody else.

By Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan 

The Perfect House : Marriage Advice

In our household, we would like to have a righteous husband and a righteous wife. This is our model family, this is our ideal family, but does this mean that there are no fights? Can we have houses without any fights? This is not possible...maybe probable, but not quite possible. Even in the best of houses, you would find some sort of skirmishes. Not fights, but, here and there. 

The Prophet (ﷺ) with Aisha - Aisha used to be upset with him sometimes. Imagine?! Ai'sha, being upset of the Prophet of Allah?! This is normal. This is how a man and his wife... It has nothing to do with the Messenger and the servants of Allah. It has to do with a man and his wife. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said this. 'O Aisha, I know when you are pleased with me, and I know when you are angry.' He said this out of the blue. They were happy, so they were just chit chatting. So he said, 'I know when you are angry, and I know when you are not.' She said, 'How do you know that Prophet of Allah?' He says, 'When you are angry, you say 'No! By Ibrahim's Lord!', and when you are happy you say 'No! By Muhammad's Lord!''. And she said, 'Yes Prophet of Allah, this is true. I do not abandon anything except your name. I love you, but when I am angry, I do not call your name.' 

Fathima and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) also they used to have skirmishes. The Prophet came once to his daughter's house, 'Where is Ali?' she said 'he got angry, we had something, and we fought over something, so he went to the masjid. So the Prophet (ﷺ) goes to the masjid and finds Ali sleeping on the floor, and he wakes him up and he says, 'Stand up, the father of dust!', because he was sleeping on the soil. And he said, 'This is the most beautiful name, I would never ever trade it for anything.' Abaa Turaab - This is his nickname (may Allah be pleased with him). 

Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) A man has a fight with his wife, and he is so outraged of her character, so he goes to Umar to complain, the Khalifah, the Caliph. So he knocks on the door, and they tell him 'wait for a second' and all what he hears, is Umar's wife shouting at him! Umar's wife is shouting! And he can hear that. He said, 'Haha, I am coming to complain to Umar? He needs help more than I do!' So, the guy goes away, and then Umar rushes to the door and, 'Where's the man? Come, what is it my brother?' He says, 'Nothing, nothing, I had a problem, but I think you need the help more than I do.' He said, 'My brother, this is my wife. She cooks my food, she bakes my bread, she washes my clothes. She suckles and breast-feeds my children, and she does not have to do all of that! And, not only that, my heart is calm and I don't have to look for haram when she is with me. Don't you think I should tolerate her as she is tolerating me?.' Wallahi, if we look at our spouses...with this way, we would live a beautiful life. Because then, we, whenever Shaythan comes to us and says, 'Do this' or 'Do that', I say no! She tolerates me. My wife tolerates me. I have a lot of shortcomings. So if she cooks the food that is bad and half-burnt, and no salt in it, I will eat it, I will eat 3 or 4 bites of it, and I say, 'May Allah bless you, the food was excellent' and I`m lying. Why? Because I don't take her out, I don't buy her presents, I am not kind to her, I am not a perfect husband, so I tolerate her shortcomings hoping from Allah Azzawajal that she tolerates my shortcomings and by this, we would have "the perfect house". And Allah Azzawajal knows best. I pray to Allah (subahaanahu wa Ta'ala) that he would fix all our shortcomings and that he would make our houses, ideal Muslim houses, wAllahu 'Alam. (Ameen)

By Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem 

Advice To The Youth

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

We praise Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala), send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad (ﷺ), we ask Allah to bless every single one of us and grant us goodness.

Beloved youth, the first piece of advice I have for you is the advice that Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) has delivered to us all and that is TaqwAllah. If we are to be conscious of Allah, conscious of our duty unto Allah, the do's and don'ts, and we ourselves strive to abstain from prohibition, and to fulfill the instruction of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala), it becomes much easier for us to deliver the message with a lot of passion. Whereas, if we, ourselves are not too regular with our prayers, or not too fulfilling of the duties that Allah has placed on our shoulders, it becomes more difficult for us to convey that message in a convincing manner.

Secondly, respect yourself, respect everyone around you, respect the fact that you are a Muslim, and understand that those who are around you are always in search of goodness, and the human mind is extremely inquisitive, so if you keep trying in a very polite way and if you are a person who has wisdom and tact, and you understand the norms of the people and you abstain from insulting others, in sha Allah, it will have a greater impact than if you were to just go out, and swear people, insult them, belittle them, make them feel like they are very, very far out of the fold of Islam, sometimes, yet, they are trying.

There is another piece of advice that I wish to deliver, and that is the importance of the scholars of Islam. If we are to visit the scholars of Islam who are promoting the truth, once in a while and learn from them, I think, in sha Allah, people will notice whom we are affiliated to in a greater way, and that itself would also be a means of Da'wah. What this would mean is, if we are to affiliate with the correct people, as far as possible, and even if we have had meetings perhaps, or we have had associations with those who may not be up to scratch according to what we would believe, we would still be able to clarify such matters, and we would still be able to leave a straight line, and, in sha Allah, a message that will be loud and clear. Why I say this is because, as we progress in life, people look to us, they see what we do, they see who we mix with, they see how we associate, and they learn a lesson from it, so that association is extremely important. As we grow, we may have to associate with those, sometimes...who may be searching for the truth in a way that if we mixed with them, it would help them. This is another level on its own, but we ask Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) to grant us wisdom, to grant us tact, remember, I have say this many times, and I say it again, go through the Seerah (Biography) of Muhammad (ﷺ) and study the way he treated the others, the way he spread the message, the way the Da'wah, at that particular time was delivered, that was the most pristine way, that was the best way. If we are to follow his system and his style, and understand what he did, by the Will of Allah, we will become better people.

Jazakumullahu Khaira 

Wassalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

By Mufti Ismail Menk 

Never Ever Lose Hope In Al Ghaffar!

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

My dear brothers and sisters, from the wonderful names of Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala) is Al Ghaffar. Al Ghaffar refers to the one who is continuously forgiving. Continuously forgiving, and that is Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala). And this is just a loose explanation of the term. Now, this name has an impact in our lives, because we know how weak we are as worshippers. We know how we lack diligence with regards to the commands of Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala), and with regards to those prohibitions that Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala) has set. This particular name always reminds us that no matter what we do, no matter how many mistakes we make, we should never, ever lose hope in Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala). We should never, ever become depressed. We should never, ever feel like we're destined for the hell-fire. Like, we have no hope of entering Jannah. This name makes it impossible for us to feel this and if we feel this, then we lack understanding of this wonderful name of Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala). Who is it who says, O servants of Allah...who is it who says, "Oh son of Adam, if you sin so much that your sins covered and reached the surfaces of the skies...that your sins reached the surfaces of the skies...then you turn to Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala) seeking forgiveness for your sins (he says (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala)) I will forgive your sins for you and it won't even matter to me?!" La ilaaha illa Allah! How merciful is Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala) to us?! My dear brothers and sisters, May Allah (Subahaanahu wa Ta'ala) grant us the understanding, and grant us the ability to live our lives with his names, the way his names deserved to be lived with. Ameen. Until next time, 

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

By Sheikh Sajad Umar

Like The Head Of A Camel

This is Gabriel Al Romaani for The Daily Reminder.

My Dear brothers and sisters , what is more important for a Muslim after establishing tawheed of Allah subhanwataa'al a. After establishing that He is the only one worthy of worship, that he is the one who has created us, that He is the one who has sent the messengers to warn us, to give us hidayah, to guide us and to tell us what to abstain from and what to do, and what are the ways towards jannah and what is the way to abstain & to protect ourselves from hell fire. What is more important than worshipping this lord right now? If we've establish that Allah subhanwataa'ala is the one and only, then this requires now that we worship Allah subhanwaataa'ala. And Allah subhanwaataa'ala has prescribed for us the five daily prayers. The five daily prayers are the body, the soul, the driving force of our worship to Allah subhanwaataa'ala. 

This is the main thing as the Prophet sallahahu alaihi wasallam said in a hadeeth that, 'the prayer is like the head of the camel and the jihad is like the hump of the camel. If you cut the head of the camel (prayers) the camel is dead. If you cut the hump of the camel, the camel is (pay attention) paralysed!' SubahaanAllah! Ya'ani let us look at the status of the ummah, some of us are dead & some of us are paralyzed, may be actually subahaanAllah, most of the ummah is paralyzed! Brothers and sisters, this is the basic thing, Allah subhnaawataa'ala is actually telling us, ordering us.

aqimis salaata li zulukhish shamsi il'la ghasaqish laili wa quraanal fajr . inna quraan'nal fajri kana mash'hooda 

Allah is telling us, it is an order, establish salaah. Not that...pray here. Establish it! Establishing salaah does not mean that you kinda roll out of the bed. Allahu Akbar! Do I have wudhu, I don't have wudhu, may be go back to sleep. No! Establishing salaah is a system, its your life! It is your individual relationship with Allah subhnawaataa'ala as well as the communal relationship with Allah subhnawaataa'ala. That you join your brothers, that you join your sisters and establish salaah. That you go to the masjid, that you establish this salaah. With the jama'ah (with the people) this is something very important. 

Brother! Sister! If we don't pay, If you don't pray, what is the purpose of your life? What do you do? Allah subhanwaataa'ala gave you this eyes that you are watching right now this video with, Allah subhanwaataa'ala gave you the sight that you are listening to this audio with, Allah subhanwaataa'ala gave you these hands that you can point with, Allah subhanwaataa'ala gave you these legs that you can walk on, Allah subhanwaataa'ala gave you this heart that beats and pumps the blood and oxygen into your cells, Allah subhanwaataa'ala gave you the feeling, the sensory receptors that can help you feel and touch, smell, taste! 

Brothers & sisters don't you need Allah? This is the beginning! You are sinner and you are sitting there and saying I am a sinner. Okay good. This is the beginning...start praying! Make tawba (repent). This is the way to make tawba! Make that sujood. Prolong it as the Prophet sallahu alaihi wasallam said, you want jannah? Help be by prolonging your sujood. Prolong your sujood & ask Allah subhnawaataa'ala ar rahman ar Rahim to forgive you and forgive me.

Be Like A Traveler

The prophet sallahualaihi wasallam he tells us in many different prophetic teachings, in many different ahadeeth about how to view this life. In one of them he says, 'be In this life like a strange...as if you are a stranger or a traveler (a wayfarer.)' I want us to think about this advice for a moment its very, its seems very simple and short but as is you know the prophet sallahu alaihi wasallam when he tells us something, he tells us in few words something that is so profound. When you think about been a traveler. What is the mindset of a traveler? Ask yourself the last time you were traveling, what was your mindset? Think about the hotel room that you were staying in. My question to you is when you go and you stay at a hotel, when you are traveling, how many of you go into the hotel, look around and say, 'okay now I wanna start decorating this room. Now I am going to go to the store and I am gonna spend all this money so that I can decorate my room.' And then we go to the bed spread and we say, 'oh my! This bed spread, it is the wrong color and we go and we throw it out and we go and we go get a new bed spread!' No one does this.

Why? Why don't we act this way when we are staying at a hotel room? The reason is very simple. The reason is we know that we are only staying there for a short time and then we are leaving. How many of you become really attached to your hotel bed? Like you just don't want to let it go. There's a chair in the room and you just you just become in love with the chair and you don't wanna let it go! Nobody does that! Again it's just a temporary place and then you are leaving. You don't invest a lot of money in furnishing your hotel room. Correct?

You don't become obsessed or attached to the furniture in your hotel room. The reason is that you know that you are leaving. Similarly, if your hotel bed isn't the most comfortable. You know it's just not the best bed in the world, which typically they aren't. It's not that comfortable. Your pillow it's not that comfortable. How many of you make a big deal out of that? It's okay! Why is it okay? Why is it okay to be little bit uncomfortable in a hotel room? Because you know you are staying there for a short time and you are leaving.

There is a natural sense of detachment when you are a traveler. Because you are like, 'it's okay I can handle it for few days, it's not that big of a deal I am leaving.' Now how does this apply to this life? The Prophet sallahualahi wasallam is advising us to have that mind set in this life! That I am only in this place for a short time and then I am leaving.

Just like you don't get attached to your hotel bed & your hotel chair, and you don't start spending lots of money furnishing it. We should have that same mindset in this life. It doesn't mean we can't have nice things. It does not mean that we can't furnish those, you know rooms that we have or that we have things which are comfort. However there is a big difference in having things that you own and letting those things own you!

By Ustadha Yasmin Mogahed 

Hypocrisy & Its Signs

I want to talk to you a little bit about nifaq (hypocrisy). Now hypocrisy (nifaq in Arabic), it means to dig a tunnel to submerge oneself, so that others don't know form where you will emerge. Al Imam Al Nawawi, Al Gazzali they use this imagery, where they say it's like a rat, who burrows but makes an escape hatch so that when the snake falls him in, he thinks he has trapped him but in fact that rat knows how to get out from a pre-determined exit. 

That's Munafiq.! That's the hypocrite. That's the word in Arabic. Nifaq was not known to the Arab, up until the biasa of our Nabi Muhammad (p). Al Arab, they use to pride themselves on, you know we spoke a little about it, Muru'ah, shivery, manliness. Muru'ah is...it's not about doing what's right and wrong, it's what doing, it is about doing what is most right out of what is right. That's Muru'ah. That you don't just chose what's right from what's wrong but you chose what is the most right from what is right. This is a distinguished hire mode of thinking about a believer. The Mushrikeen of Quraish, they use to pride themselves on this Muru'ah. That their word would not be brought to the ground. That their promise would be kept. Even if it meant, the one they were speaking about or questioned about was their avowed enemy.They didn't have Nifaq. Nifaq emerged after the Hijra. The Mushrikeen before the Hijra, they hated the Prophet, they would say we hate you. (sallal laho alaihi wasallam). 

After the Hijra, there was duplicity and there were people who pretended to believe when in fact in their hearts they disbelieved. And this is Nifaq ul Akbar. Major Nifaq! That a person has no faith, but claims to have faith. And those individual, the Prophet (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) left be and Umar (Radiallahu Anhu) would say to him, 'Ya Rasool Allah, Allah has informed you who they are, you know that they are disbelievers and Munafaikoon. In their hearts there is no iman and you know them by name. Ya Rasool Allah, lets dispatch them, get rid them!' The Prophet Muhammad (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) teaches us a principle in our faith. That we deal people with the outward. You never look into a person's heart because you cannot. You don't say, "I know inside, he is this, I know inside, he hates, I know inside Islam, I know inside, he is an unbeliever." No! The Prophet (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) said, "I was not orders to open a person's chest and look in their heart. Let them be." That was major Nifaq. Unbelief but pretended to believe. Do you know what it is? My dear brothers. The minor level of hypocrisy is what seen in signs. Now I want you understand, sometimes people misunderstand these hadith where the Prophet Muhammad (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) says...

The sign of a hypocrite. These are signs means it's not because they do this they are hypocrites. There's other things they do that make them hypocrites. But these signs, they manifest themselves beyond their control. A Hypocrite cannot ever hide it! Because he is a hypocrite. What are these signs? He cannot control it. When he speaks, he lies. Even though he doesn't want to lie, he will lie. Cannot control it! Why? Because in his heart, there is that susceptibility to hypocrisy. You trust him, he betrays. Promises, betrays. In another riwaaya there is four characteristics, four signs. The forth one, when he disputes with you, he is over board, he goes too far. Its not just normal abuse, he goes way over what you would expect for a particular situation or circumstance.

 By Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim

Prophet Goes To Meet His Grandson

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

This is Ahmed Saleem recording for The Daily Reminder. 

When Rasoolullah sallahualihiwasallam one day after praying zuhr salaah, he takes a sahabi with him. Abu Hurairah and he tells him lets go for a walk. The sahabi he goes with rasoolallah sallahu alaihisallam and they go out all the way to the village, or the community, the suburbs of Jewish tribes. Past those Jewish tribes, suburbs, you are taking about, by the mountain of uhud rasoolallah sallahualiwasallam comes to a door, he knocks at the door and he stays outside and he says the following words...he's like, as'samaa luka uu as'samaa luka uu. as'samaa luka uu. 

Where is my loved one! Where is my loved one! Where is my loved one!

luka'aa actually means a piece of your heart.

And then rasoolallah sallahualaihiwasallam sits with Abu Hurairah outside of the house. Now Abu Hurairah is seeing all of this, its quiet strange that rasoolallah had walked this far, knocked at this house and didn't even enter and just asked for somebody. Then what happens is moments latter Hassan radiallahuanhu he jumps out of the house and he sees his grandfather in front, and he starts running towards rasoolallah sallahualaihiwasallam. At that point rasoolallah sallahuwasallam recognizes that his height is a little bit higher than the child coming, so he lowers his body down onto floor so that he could be at the level of Hassan and he opens his arms and Hassan radiallahuanhu he jumps into a hug of nabi sallahualaihiwasallam and rasoolallah sallahu wasllam he hugs him and he starts kissing him, smelling him, smelling his hair.

Abu hurairah radiallahuanhu He's watching and then rasoolallah says and ya allah I love him so you love him and love the one whoever loves him meaning love the person whoever loves Hassan radiallahuanhu.

Now this is a very small story, short story...most of you probably heard of this story, but what are the lessons for us from this story. First and foremost think about the obedience that abu hurairah shows towards rasoolallah sallahualaihiwasallam and this is the obedience of sahaba radiallahuanhu. That on an extremely hot day rasoolallah sallahualaihiwasllam tells abu hurairah lets go and he doesn't even tell him where we're going and abu hurairah doesn't turn to rasoolallah saw and he says ya rasoolallah, 'can you tell me where are we going? What are we...like what's the plan?' Have you ever been in a car when you are lost and you know both of you are lost and you are driving and you have absolutely no idea where are you going, you are looking for a restaurant and then one of you eventually says, stop! let's make a decision of where we have to eat first so that you know, it kinda gets to you nerves but then you see abu hurairah radialahuanhu he kind of walked almost 7 to 8 kilometres from, masjid un nabawi all the way to the area we are talking about, that's a good 7-8 kilometers walk on an extremely hot day right at the zenith, right when the sun is on your head and they didn't have air conditioned cars, they didn't have umbrellas. Total obedience to rasoolsallah aualaiwasallam. 

The question I want to you to ask ourselves is you know how many times do we come across a hadith that kinda sits in wrong with what we believe or what the society is doing and how many times do we have the courage to say this is the haiths of rasool Allah sallahualaiwasllam and I know this hadith to be true and I am gonna submit to it! Its is difficult thing to do. 

Subhanaka Allahuma bihamdika asshaduan laillaha illa anta astaqfiruka atoobu ilaik!

By Ustadh Ahmad Saleem 

Stop Worrying : Leave It To Allah!

This is Rayan Arab recording for The Daily Reminder. 

Are you stressed? Did you lose a relative recently? Did you lose your job? Do you have financial issues? Do you need some help? Do you feel like you need a shoulder to cry on? 

Do you feel like you cannot smile, and you feel like there's a big cloud on top of you and you're going through these difficulties and you're watching everybody smile and laugh and you wish that you could be in their position? If so, then guess what?! There is a cure for you; this video is for you! 

Do you know about Urwa Ibn Zubayr? Urwa Ibn Zubayr was a religious scholar, one time he was invited to the khalifah. He had to travel walking, him and his son. So as he was walking him and his son, to the house of the khalifah, the father, Urwa, got sick. He felt pains in his legs, in his feet, and he told his son...he probably cannot be able to walk. But then he relaxed for a few minutes, and he got up, and he was able to walk until he reached the khalifah's house. When he reached there, he told the khalifah that he was feeling pains and the khalifah insisted that he brings a doctor. The khalifah brought a doctor, and the doctor checked out Urwa's feet, and he found out that one of his feet have to be cut off, otherwise the disease is going to spread. There was a disease in his foot, and it had to be cut off, otherwise this disease is going to spread all over his body and he will die. So then, Urwa Ibn Zubayr said, 'Okay, you can cut off my feet, but on one condition; do not give me alcohol, I'm not going to drink alcohol.' The doctor said, 'No, you have to drink alcohol, because if you don't drink alcohol, you're gonna feel pains and you'll probably die from the pains!'

So Urwa said, 'No, I'm not gonna disobey Allah. Just do it when I'm praying, when I'm in the state of sujood, as I'm praying to Allah, then go ahead and cut off my foot. Otherwise, I'm not gonna do it, I'm gonna leave my foot until I die with my foot on me.'

So then, the doctor came to Urwa Ibn Zubayr as he was in the state of sujood, and he agreed of course, he came to Urwa Ibn Zubayr, and he cut off his foot as he was in the state of prostration to Allah. Urwa Ibn Zubayr passed out. Now, as he was passed out, his son was out standing next to a horse. This horse suddenly kicks Umar, kicks Urwa's son in the face, Urwa's son falls on the floor and dies. So then he woke up later on, and the khalifah came to him and he said, 'May Allah reward you a tremendous a reward.' So he said, 'May Allah reward you a tremendous reward.' Urwa said, 'Alhamdulilah, Allah gave me four limbs, two hands, two feet, and He took away from me one. Alhamduliah, I still have three! Alhamdulilah!' So then the khalifah gave him the bad news and he said, 'Your son also passed away. May Allah reward you with a tremendous reward.' Urwa Ibn Zubayr got sad a little bit, and then he said, 'Alhamdulilah, Allah gave me four children, and He took away from me one, and He kept with me three. Alhamduilah! Alhamdulilah! Alhamdulilah!' 

At-Tawakkul 'AlAllah. Give it to Allah, whatever it is, just give it to Allah. Don't think about it too much; don't feel stressed, don't worry. Don't go through anxiety, panic attacks and all that. That is your medicine, that is your cure. If you, if you always submit your issues and your situations to Allah, these difficulties to Allah Most High, Allah will be with you and He will he help you, and he will help you out of them difficulties and bring you into ease.

By Ustadh Rayan Arab

Never Give Up!

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

My beloved brothers & sisters, it's great to be talking to you and as you know we all have examinations in life different, type of examinations and each one has to try very hard. As you know in a set up where there is a school or a university at the end of every semester, trimester or term you would have some examinations to in order qualify you to get to the next level and as you progress in life the examinations become more and more difficult and you would know with out working we don't achieve! We know the common saying "mann jadaah wa jadahau' Whoever works very hard will definitely see the fruit of that particular working. So just like we have people who fail because they did not work hard or they did not understand that the examination become more and more difficult as time passes. We also have the issue with the deen where as we progress in life we have more and more tests and they become more & more difficult until we meet with Allah subhanawaa taa'ala .

And this is why the prophet sallahau alaihi wasallam was told 'worship your rabb until death overtakes you!.' Right up to the end keep on worshipping continues, do not stop, do not pause, .do not loose hope in fact progress and become stronger and stronger. If you take a look at some of the other verses of Quran Allah subhanawaataa'ala makes mention of " fa izaa faraqta fansab ......wa ila rabbika farghab" You know Muhammad sallahau alihi wasallam deleivering the message was not easy, it was difficult, he faced so many challenges he continued he persevered, 23 whole years of nabuaah. And Allah subhanwaataa'la says when you have! Subhanallah! Subhanallah! You know the achievement that Allah subhanwataa'ala granted him! Allah subhanawataa'al will grant each person achievement according to his will obviously but also connected to the effort that the particular person makes. If we were to give up suddenly, we would never be able to achieve even jannah. Imagine a person who reads salah for 70 years and suddenly the last year just before they died they give their salaah, they throw in the throwing the blanket and say 'that's it!'

Such a person has been mentioned In the hadith of rasoolallah sallahualaihiwasallam where a person could be worshipping Allah for so many years and right at the end they turn so they are cast into hellfire! And a person could be disobedient for so many years and right in the end they worship Allah subhanwataa'ala, turn back to him so they will be from amongst those who go to paradise. So it's important to us to know, to give up you don't know how close you are to the end! Imagine a person digging a tunnel, for example and right when they are near the end they suddenly give up thinking that you know what, I don't know how long this is going to be carried on. Had they carried on for a minute longer they would have broken through!

So with us we need to continue, fulfill your salaah progress ,develop don't think for a moment that life is going to become any easier. The only thing that will happen is with the development of link with Allah subhanwaataa'ala we become more content, we understand the nature of the world. it's not an easy task but with the hope in mercy of Allah subhanwataa'ala things will be made easy and at the same time with the constant preparation without giving up hope, never ever giving up. Never say no! Never just throwing the towel, by the will of Allah subhawataa'al we will achieve and we will achieve great heights.

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaathuhu

By Shaykh Mufti Ismail Menk 

Bahlool & The Caliph

Death...is the most certain aspect of life. According to statistics, 6200 people die in the world every single hour. 6200 people die in the world, every single hour. This is happening around us. We hear of it! We see it! We wash it! We shroud it! We clothe it! We perfume it! We carry it! And thus, we bury it...

Yet, it is amazing that we believe it's not going to happen to us. At least not soon! And wallahi, brothers and sisters, this is the work of satan. This is the work of the devil. This is one of his arrows that he is firing at you day after day! He wants you to procrastinate! He wants you to be forgetful! Hateful! Why? So you will not prepare yourself for that mighty day. So you will not prepare yourself for that day where you'll enter the grave.
I knew of a story of a man called Bahlool. Of a man called Bahlool. A man who was on the opposite side, what we can say, of worldly smartness. In other words, he was simple in his comprehension, in his intellect, in his understanding, it was hard for him to understand things...A khalifah by the name of Haroon Rasheed...gave Bahlool a stick. He said, "This stick, ya Bahlool...belongs to the most foolish man on the face of this world. If you find any person more deserving of this stick than yourself, pass it on to him. And Bahlool, being Bahlool, took the stick. Several years later, Haroon Rasheed, the khalifah, became extremely ill. And no medical treatment seemed to work. Bahlool came to visit Haroon to inquire about his health.

The conversation took as follows:

Haroon said to Bahlool, "No treatment seems to work! I see my journey ahead of me! At any second!" Bahlool asked, "Where are you going?" You know, he's a bit on the opposite side of worldly smartness. "Where are you going?" "Bahlool, I'm going to the other world!" "To the other world? How long are you going to go for?" When will you come back?", he asked. "Bahlool, no one ever comes back from the other world!", he said. Bahlool said, "Then you must have made special preparations for this great journey, this eternal journey! Have you sent troops, an army, to wait for your arrival? To prepare for your arrival, once you get there?" "Bahlool", he said. "No one goes with you! And no, I have not made preparations!" Bahlool said, which should be written in gold; even though he's against or opposite the worldly smarts; he said a word, a comment, that should be written in gold. He said, "Ya Ameer Al-Mu'mineen! Oh Leader of the Faithful! You used to send troops to make extensive preparations for a trip that would last one or two days. You would first send troops that would make preparations, the most extensive preparations! And now you are going to a place where you will live forever; you will never come back, it is eternal, everlasting, and you have not made preparations for it?" He goes, "Here's the stick! Now, I have found the man who is more deserving of it." Allahu akbar. Bahlool became "Smartlool". And not opposite to worldly smartness; he became the smartest with this comment, wallahi. This is our situation. Every day, every night. We do not prepare for death. This is not a story that you just hear and forget, no! It is a story that you hear and reflect! You ponder, you contemplate upon, you apply it in your life! Because Bahlool made a comment, a statement, wallahi that should be written in gold. You are going to a journey that you will never come back from, and you have not prepared for it?!

 Illustrated Video [Sheikh Feiz Muhammad] 

The Goodly Word

Dear all, Assalamualikkum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathu.

Welcome to The Daily Reminder and our discussion about Salaah & its importance in the 21st century. My dear brother and sisters, our Shari'ah has encouraged us to keep our tongues moist with the remembrance of Allah. And, our Shari'ah, has commanded us to use our tongue in a way that will get us to Jannah. For the people of Jannah, are people...that used to speak a goodly word. Allah says about them...

That they were guided towards a goodly word. They were people that spoke good words, Allahu Akbar. Salaah, my dear brother and sisters, teaches us to use our tongues correctly, for Salaah...from its beginning till its end, is full of the praises of Allah and the recitation of the book of Allah. We train our tongues to be moist doing that which is beneficial to our life in this world and the Hereafter.

Amazing!

In Salaah, we're not supposed to remain silent. We're not supposed to remain silent.
Obviously, when we're behind the Imam, then we are listening to the recitation of the Imam. But a person who is observing Salaah by themselves, they are not supposed to be in Salaah without reciting anything, without keeping their tongue being used in goodness.
So from the beginning of the Salaah, we announce Allah to be the greatest. And Allah to be greater...greater than everything else outside of the Salaah and even when we complete the Salaah, we complete it with a goodly word. By saying the Salam - 'Assalamu Alaikkum Warahmatullah' to our right, And Assalamu Alaikkum Warahmatullah to our left.
The scholars say that when you observe the Salaah in Jama'ah, and you make the Salam to your right, You are making it to those Musalli's on your right, as well as the Angels on your right. And when you make the Salam to your left, then you are making the Salam to the Mussali's on your left. And the Angels on your left. And if you're observing Salaah by yourself then we know, we have Angels on our right and Angels on our left.
Allah assigns Angels to look after us, who make Salam to them. If you think about the Salam in Jama'ah and the Salam that you make to your right and left, then you will see that you are actually making a good word to the person next to you, whether you want to, or you don't. There is no choice, Allah has lifted us having a choice in this particular matter. Whether we like this person, whether we don't like them. Whether we're speaking to them, whether we do not speak to them We still offer the Salam, training that our tongues to be moist. In that which is good, moist in that which is the betterment of our life in this world and the next. And this Salam, O servants of Allah, and children of Adam, it's not just a greeting. But it's a du'a. It's a du'a. When we say the Salam to somebody, we're actually asking Allah to protect this person from all harm, as well as our harm both in this world and the next.

So, Salaah teaches us to use our tongues properly. And inculcates within ourselves for the love for Salam, that we spread the Salam in our communities and we learn from it, never to backbite others, never to speak a bad word from them, never to lie about them. How can we do so? When, infront of them we ask Allah to protect them from our harm and the harm of those around us.

Allahu Akbar!

May Allah inspire us to take the comprehensive benefits that Salaah has to offer in our lives. Ameen!

I love you all for the sake of Allah...

Assalamu Alaikkum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathu.

By Sheikh Sajid Umar 

The Fruits Of Iman

Do you want to know the effects of Iman Ya ikhwaan?

Then I say the following...

Iman substitutes loneliness, sadness, depression, confusion into happiness, peace of mind, an ability to sleep well at night, a sense of purpose and direction!

I swear by Allah, the One who possesses your soul and mine, that these are values that cannot be attained without Iman regardless of the smiles that people issue you in public, they cannot be attained without Iman!

Why?

Because the human heart, it possesses voids.

The human heart has compartments and in order for you to be a happy individual, every one of these compartments need their fill.

There is the compartment of food which needs its fill.

There is the compartment of drink and marital relations which need their fill.
Shelter, peace and security which need their fill!

And there is another compartment and this is where the vast majority of humanity have failed in filling.

This is the compartment that says, 'I want to know Allah.'

'I want to obey Allah.'

'I want to please Allah.'

That is a compartment that needs its fill as well.

Ibn Al Qayyim (rahimuhullah) he says, speaking about these voids...

Listen!

Listen wallahi to these heart softening words...

'In the heart of every human being there is a sense of scattering which cannot be brought back together except by turning to Allah.'

'And in the heart of every human being there is a sense of loneliness which cannot be put out except by being close to Allah.'

'And In the heart of every human being there is anxiety and there is a sense of fear and unease which cannot be removed except by fleeing to Allah.'

'And in the heart of every human being there is a sense of guilt and regret, which cannot be removed except by being pleased and content with Allah.'

 by Ustadh Ali Hammuda

Islam Is Not A Personal Religion

Religions, generally, you know specially in modern, postmodern society, religion is considered something personal.

Like religion is, in our constitution, for instance, we have the freedom of religion and just like the freedom of speech and the freedom of choice, etc. etc.

These freedoms that we enjoy in this country are because religion is a personal matter.

So, nobody can stop me from praying and I can't stop somebody else from worshiping the devil if they want to.

That's entirely up to them.

If they wanna believe in a God that's their business.

If they don't believe in no God that's their business.

Right!

It's a free marketplace of ideas.

And it's a personal thing.

But you know, this understanding from the Quran and from the Prophet Sallellahu Alahyhe wa sallam, it lends us to something.

Islam isn't only concerned with yourself.

If you are a Muslim, Islam is just not your personal business.

Islam by definition needs to be shared.

Islam by definition seeks to benefit others too.

And if I am a believer in Islam then I cannot say my Islam is limited to myself.
It doesn't affect anybody else.

I don't have to anything else but worry about myself.

So long as I am praying, so long as I am going to hajj, so long as I give some Zakat, so long as I pray I am set!

I don't have to worry about anybody else.

That is not something our religion lets us do.

By definition!

It is at the core of it concerned with others!

One of the most fundamental suras of the Quran, that probably all of you know by heart, is suratul A'sr.

Right?

Suratul A'sr very short sura!

Very easy to memorise!

Most of you probably know it by heart.

If Islam was just about yourself, it would just be illâ al-ladhîna amanû wa 'amilû as-sâlihâti!

if it was just for yourself it would have been illâ al-ladhîna amanû wa 'amilû as-sâlihâti!

And we have wa tawâsaw bi al-haqqi and we have wa tawâsaw bi as-sabr.

That is necessarily engagement with others.

That is necessarily sharing this religion and its goodness with others.

So it is something that is inherent into our religion.

And it is not something I have to prove to you.

I mean look around, the fact that we are sitting in a Mashjid, the fact that there are volunteers recording this video, this is actually collective work1! Cut

There are people, you know, could just be sitting home.

And eating halal food and waiting for Dohar and pray and say, "Look! My Islam is done. I am not doing anything wrong!"

But you know, we built community!

We engaged ourselves in this kind of work, right?

So there is something that inherently we appreciate about the struggle for this religion beyond ourselves.

By Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan