Friday, May 21, 2010

Draw Muhammad Day

assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

Muhammad(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) was the best of Allah's creation to walk this Earth. He is the leader of all the prophets and messengers, the first one to enter paradise, and the only one of the prophets allowed to make intercession for his ummah! What an honor. A mercy sent to mankind, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon our leader and guide.

There is no way one can be a Muslim and not accept the prophethood of Muhammad(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam), there is no way one can have faith and not love and respect Muhammad(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam), and there is no way one can have faith and not feel anger when such a person is insulted by anyone,anywhere!

What humiliation has this ummah come to when it doesnt stand to defend the honor of its Prophet!? what kind of followers are we? Wallahi, if we only knew what the sahaba did and how they reacted when the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) was defamed,insulted, or attacked in any way. They put thier life on the line. Now, we dont even say or do anything when the book of Allah is being flushed down a toilet or being used as target practice by the enemies of Allah! So how can we stand to defend when our leader and perfect guide is drawn! We are not even mentally affected.

After all this, we dare to ask why Allah hasnt given us victory and establishment on the land? After this, we wonder why the muslims are suffering and are in such a humiliating state?! I swear by the one who raised the skies without any pillars, that Allah will never help a people who cannot even help themselves! Allah will never help a people who dont turn back to the Quran and Sunnah! Allah will never help us until we change what is within ourselves.

Allah says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ

O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm. [Surah Muhammad:7]

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَالٍ

Verily! Allah will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah). But when Allah wills a people's punishment, there can be no turning back of it, and they will find besides Him no protector.[Surah ar-Ra'ad:11]

Oh Allah help us! Oh Allah help us when we are truly deserving of your victory! Oh Allah dont destroy us for what the foolish among us are doing!

We need to revive our love for the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) for how can one feel anger and upset for someone being insulted who they dont know, have never met or lived with? We can know and live with the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) by studying and learning his seerah. After all, studying seerah is ibadah!

Here is one example of a blind man who went to defend His master(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam):

A blind man had a female slave who had borne him a child (umm walad) who reviled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and disparaged him, and he told her not to do that but she did not stop, and he rebuked her but she paid no heed.

One night she started to disparage and revile the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), so he took a dagger and put it in her stomach and pressed on it and killed her. There fell between her legs a child who was smeared with the blood that was there.

The next morning mention of that was made to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he assembled the people and said: “I adjure by Allaah the man who did this to stand up.”

The blind man stood up and came through the people, trembling, and he came and sat before the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He said: O Messenger of Allaah, I am the one who did it. She used to revile you and disparage you, and I told her not to do it but she did not stop, and I rebuked her but she paid no heed. I have two sons from her who are like two pearls, and she was good to me. Last night she started to revile you and disparage you, and I took a dagger and placed it on her stomach and I pressed on it until I killed her.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Bear witness that no retaliation is due for her blood.”


This is from Sunan Abi Dawud(hadith no. 4361) and that it is a saheeh(authentic) hadith.

SubhnaAllah! just look at how this blind man reacted for the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam)and what he did! Now, he didnt ask permission or think twice if what he was doing is allowed! But his love and sincerity towards the Messenger(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) led him to do that! Any sane muslim wouldnt think bad about this incident and if they do then subhnaAllah they should double check their faith and creed.Truly this man wasnt blind but rather it is us who are blind and hardhearted. May Allah soften our hearts!

This is not the time or place to discuss the ruling on one who insults the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) but before we even get to that, we should first revive our love for the prophet(SalaAllahu alayhi wassalam) and teach our children and instill in them the love for the leader of all mankind(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam)and his beloved companions, the best to walk this Earth after the prophets and messengers. We should teach them the seerah and read to them inspirational stories of the sahaba and how they were with the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam).

And our final call is all praise is due to Allah, the lord of the al 'Alameen.And peace and blessings be upon the final messenger.

The Ruling on One who insults the prophet(salaAllahu alayhi wassalam)

AUDIO

http://media.islambase.info/AnwarAwlaki/Dust.mp3

VISUAL

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/103739

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/22809

by Umm Abdullah

~The Yemeni and The Tyrant~

The Yemeni and The Tyrant

Tawus ibn Kaysan, one of the righteous students of Ibn ‘Abbas and a Muhaddith said, ‘I entered the Haram (Makkah) to perform ‘Umrah and when I completed it, I prayed 2 units of prayer behind the Maqam of Ibrahim and then I sat down. I turned to look at the people in the mosque when behold, I saw a group of people with weapons, swords, spears and shields! I looked and it was al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Amir of blood-shed, about whom Laila al-Akhiliya said,

حجاج أنت الذي ما فوقه أحد
Hajjaj, you are the one above whom there is none

إلا الخليفة المستغفر الصمد
Except the True Ruler, the Forgiving and Eternal One (Allah)

قتل مائة نفس وقتل سعيد بن جبير
He (Hajjaj) killed a hundred souls and he killed Sa’id ibn Jubayr(one of the companions of the prophet salaAllahu alayhi wassalam)

Al-Hajjaj once said, ‘I saw in my dream that Allah killed me once for every soul I killed except for Sa’id ibn Jubayr for Allah killed me on the Sirat (path over Hellfire) seventy times because of him.’

Tawus continues: ‘I saw the commotion so I kept seated in my place. Whilst in that state, I saw a poor, ascetic worshipper from Yemen. He went to circumambulate around the Ka’bah, then he came to pray 2 units of prayer when suddenly his garment clung to a spear from the spears of the army of Hajjaj, and so the spear fell on al-Hajjaj! He stopped him and said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Muslim.’ He said, ‘Where are you from?’ He said, ‘From Yemen.’ He said, ‘How is my brother with you people?’ (– He meant his brother Muhammad ibn Yusuf who was also a tyrannical ruler like him). He said, ‘I left him as a fat man with a fat stomach.’ Al-Hajjaj said, ‘I didn’t ask you about his health but I asked you about his justice.’ He said, ‘I left him as a deceiving and oppressive ruler.’

He said, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ So the man said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘I am al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf!’ So the man said,

أتظن أنه يعز بك أكثر من اعتزازي بالله؟
‘Do you think that he (your brother) is mightier and strengthened by you more than I am by Allah?’

Tawus said, ‘When he said that, all my hair stood on end. But al-Hajjaj let him go and left him.’

فَاللّهُ خَيْرٌ حَافِظاً وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

“… But Allah is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of those who show Mercy.”
[Yusuf: 64]

- Taken from احفظ الله يحفظك by ‘Aidh al-Qarni

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

To Veil or Not to Veil

assalamu alaikum

To Veil Or Not To Veil

By Mohammad Elshinawy

Allah(azza wa jall) says:

وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ أَوِ التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُوْلِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

meaning:

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear therof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons or their sisters' sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers, turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.” (Quran 24:31).

link to the lecture: http://kalamullah.com/lectures.html

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Ruling on Mother's Day In Islam

assalamu alaikum

Praise be to Allaah and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allaah.

Intoduction:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that his ummah would follow the previous nations, the Jews, Christians and Persians, but this was undoubtedly not praise for their actions, rather it is by way of condemnation and a warning. It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, handspan by handspan, cubit by cubit, until even if they entered the hole of a lizard, you will do so too.” We asked, “O Messenger of Allaah, (do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said, “Who else?” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3269; Muslim, 2669).

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Hour will not begin until my ummah follows in the footsteps of those who came before it, handspan by handspan, cubit by cubit.” It was asked, “O Messenger of Allaah, like the Persians and Romans?” He said, “Those are the people?”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6888)

The ignorant among this ummah, and the innovators and heretics have followed the previous nations, the Jews, Christians and Persians, in their beliefs, ways, manners and dress. Our concern here is to point out in these days their following and imitation of them through the innovation of “Mother’s Day” or “Family Day”, which is a day that the Christians innovated to honour mothers, or so they claim. This then became a day that was venerated, when government departments would be shut and people would get in touch with their mothers or send them gifts and loving messages. But when the day was over, things would go back to the way they were, with people being cut off from their mothers and disobeying them.

What is strange is that the Muslims would feel a need to imitate them in such ways, when Allaah has commanded them to honour their mothers and has forbidden them to disobey them, and has made the reward for that (for obeying them) the highest status.

Definition of the word ‘Eid

[as Mother’s Day is known in Arabic as “Eid al-umm” or “mothers’ festival”; the word Eid is derive from the root ‘aada/ya’ood meaning to come back or return]

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:

“ ‘Eid (festival) is a name that is given to an occasion which returns, when people gather in a festive manner, whether that is annual or weekly or monthly and so on.”

(Iqtidaa’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, 1/441).

Ibn ‘Aabideen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “ An ‘Eid is so called because Allaah repeatedly bestows blessings, i.e., kinds of blessings that come back to His slaves on these days, such as breaking the fast after refraining from eating, sadaqat al-fitr (obligatory charity paid at the end of Ramadaan), completing the Hajj by doing Tawaaf al-Ziyaarah, the sacrificial meats, and so on; and because the tradition on such occasions is to express joy and happiness, and to be energetic and happy.”

(Haashiyat Ibn ‘Aabideen, 2/165)

How many festivals are there in Islam?

The Muslim may note the large number of festivals that are observed among the Muslims nowadays, such as the Festival of Trees, Workers’ Day (May Day), the anniversary of the king’s accession to the throne, birthdays, etc… There is a long list of such days, but each of these is the innovation of the Jews, Christians and polytheists; they have no basis in Islam. There are no festivals in Islam apart from Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr.

It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik said: “During the Jaahiliyyah, the people had two days each year when they would play. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah he said, ‘You had two days on which you would play, but Allaah has given you something better than them: the day of al-Fitr and the day of al-Adha.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 1134; al-Nasaa’i, 1556; classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani).

Ruling on Mothers Day from the Quran and Sunnah

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/books/93

Lets remember to fear Allah and to not innovate or practice bida'a(innovations). We should always remember the hadeeth of the prophet where he says, "… The most truthful speech is the Book of Allaah. The best way is the way of Muhammad. The worst of affairs are the novelties and every novelty is an innovation and every innovation is misguidance and every misguidance is in the Fire." [Saheeh according to Sheikh al-Albaanee in Saheeh Sunan in-Nasaa'ee (no. 1487)]

عن ام المؤمنين أم عبد الله عـائـشة رضي الله عنها ، قالت : قال رسول الله صلي الله صلى الله عليه وسلم (من أحدث في أمرنا هـذا مـا لـيـس مـنه فهـو رد ). رواه الـبـخـاري [ رقم : 2697 ] ، ومسلم [ رقم :1718 ].
وفي رواية لمسلم : ( مـن عـمـل عـمـلا لـيـس عـلـيه أمـرنا فهـو رد )




On the authority of the Mother of the Faithful, Umm `Abdillaah `Aaishah (radi Allaahu 'anhaa) , who said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaau alayhi wa sallam) said:
“He who innovates something in this matter of ours [i.e. Islaam] that is not of it will have it rejected [by Allaah]”. [Related by al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
In one version by Muslim it reads: He who does an act which we have not commanded, will have it rejected [by Allaah].

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Modesty

Modesty
Sister Qismah bint Faisal

Bismillah

Allah 'azza wa jal says when narrating the story of Musa (alayhi salaam) when he had arrived in Madyan after fleeing from the tyranny of Fir'awn,

"Then there came to him one of the two women, walking shyly. She said: "Verily, my father calls you that he may reward you for having watered (our flocks) for us." So when he came to him and narrated the story, he said: "Fear you not. You have escaped from the people who are Zalimun (polytheists, disbelievers, and wrong-doers)." (Al Qasas, Verse 25).

Surely, the stories of the prophets contain many lessons, and this verse of the Quran is a perfect example of the how modesty should be displayed in the actions and speech of the righteous. This woman that approached Prophet Musa (alayhi salaam) serves as an example for the women living today, for truly the speech of Allah stands witness to her level of modesty.

In the explanation of this verse, Ibn Katheer (rahimahullah) mentions that The Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al Khattab (radiaAllahu anhu) said: "She was covering herself from them with the folds of her garment." In another narration, Ibn Hatim recorded that 'Amr bin Maymun said that Umar (radiaAllahu anhu) said, "She came walking shyly, putting her garment over her face. She was not one of those audacious women who come and go as they please." As for when the woman said, "Verily, my father calls you that he may reward you for having watered (our flocks) for us." The mufassireen(scholars of Tafsir) have said that this is example of good manners: she did not invite him directly lest he have some suspicious thoughts about her. Rather she said: "My father is inviting you so that he may reward you for watering our sheep," (i.e., give you some payment for that)

Modesty has become a thing that seems to be no longer existent in the lands of the kuffar and if one adorns their character with haya, they are shunned and thought to be "living in a shell". This distorted mindset has become so widespread that it is even seen among the Muslims of today. It's a norm for Muslim men and women to sit with each other in gatherings while jesting and joking with one another. Today, it's fine for Muslim men and women to talk to one another in seclusion in a study room or a chatroom, while their only excuse is that "nothing immoral is being discussed". However, one with true understanding will know that the immorality is not only limited to the topic of discussion, but rather its root is based in the setting in which people put themselves in.

My words are directed to myself and the sisters of this ummah, that inshaAllah we may be reminded of the words of Allah and His Messenger (salaAllahu alayhi wassalam) in a time where the 'aariyyaat have become many in number and the filthy kaafir women have become the primary examples for the Muslim women. When is it that we will take for role models, 'Aaishah and Khadijah? My sisters, let us be counted among those who guard themselves from the excess fitnah that we are living in today lest Allah may grant His abundant mercy on His needy slaves. When is ti that we will abandon the temptings of shaytaan so that we may be able to pursue the pleasure of Ar Rahman?

Allah (subhnahu wa ta'alla) says:

"O Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover yourselves (screen your private parts, etc.) and as an adornment, and the raiment of righteousness, that is better. Such are among the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, that they may remember (i.e. leave falsehood and follow truth )." ( Surah A'raaf V. 26)

Sisters, the external hijab is not enough. These jilbabs that we wear must be accompanied with the jilbabs of piety and modesty that adorn our mannerisms. Al haya must become a thing that we embrace wholeheartedly until it becomes the earth that we walk on and the determining factor for our actions. In the obedience of Allah is where true satisfaction exists, so let's arm ourselves for this battle against shaytaan (may the curse of Allah be upon him) and ask Allah (subhnahu wa ta'alla) to we count us among the victorious.