Islam. I live for it: mohammad ali

mohammad ali

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QUESTION IN MY INBOX via Islamiliveforit blog by anonymous girl about the Man behaviour and public place

there's one thing i want to ask
it's about the behavior of some brothers in public places

i and my friends [girls] went for shopping one evening. we we're in the crowd when suddenly one of my friend was harrass by touching her body. when we look at the man, he continuously walk ahead without looking back as if he didn't do that. what can we do about it?
we're wearing proper hijab
i'm covering my face too

i'm wearing proper hijab and niqab. like i said i'm a foreigner in some muslim state.

if that happens again, what should she do? ishe mean what she gonna do right at that moment?
should she yell at him?
ishe m sorry but i could almost cry for such behavior
REPLY BY BR. Mohammad Usman Nisar :-
Islam had suggest solution to such problem as well

1/ Man who act like so maybe muslim or non muslim but lack proper manner and natural behaviour and tempted by satan

2/ Woman can doing following steps to avoid such events:
i) Proper Hijab and Niqab
ii) Walk at sides of road or so close that you touching the borders
iii) Woman may move around in market or etc areas with mahram member to avoid acts of evil or unmodest people.
iv) State should adopt measures as well

3/ Solution for man with weak faith and un modest
i) Tawheed
ii) Salah
iii) Remembering Allah much [zikr]
REPLY BY BR. Mohammad Ali :- [detailed answer]
Asalam o alaikum wr.

Now that it has been elaborated, so its become clear and focus will be on the particular situation which is described. And masha Allah, i must say, u replied very well.
Well first of all we should know that Islam is such a great religion that it has given us guidelines of everything. Allah Almighty gave us some guidelines of going to public places. Which are:
1- Reading dua of leaving house. And reading dua of entering the market.
2- Making sure we are in proper hijab. Both men & women.
3- Females should not be going alone, even if together, even if in proper hijab. They should be accompanied by mehrams.
4- Lowering gaze and saying salam to each other and not sit on public places (markets) uselessly.
5- Females should try to walk on sides of road rather than in the middle.

Now the reasons for the unpleasant event with which the respected sisters got confronted, according to my naaqis soch (faulty thinking) are two:
1- They were confronted by a shaytan who had no sense of shame.
2- They did the mistake of going out to market alone without any mehram.

Believe it or not. When a mehram is with u, it lowers the morale of a shaytan to 80%. A shaytan who wants to see you or harass you will think 10 times if he sees some male with you. Male here doesn't mean a 10 year old kid. Male means a mature person who seems like a man. Sisters, trust me. U cannot go to some place and expect that the shaytans would not be there. U cannot go to some place and expect that angels would be walking there. Shaytans are everywhere. And human shaytan is more dangerous. Trust me. Because the jinn shaytan runs away when you read "Auz billahi min ash shaytan ir rajeem" or when it hears adhaan. But the human shaytan doesn't run whey u read auz billah or when it hears adhaan :p It does sins at the time of adhaan too or even if u read 100 times auz billah. So human shaytan is more dangerous and to be safe from this shaytan, sisters need to make sure they do something practical, rather than just dua, and that practical thing is to go out in the market or public places with some manly mehram. Only then this human shaytan would not confront you. And if it confronts u even when u are with mehram, then i am sure, any male, whether weak or strong, will have ghairah and will like to beat this shaytan who harrassed his women folk. This is the only practical solution i see right now.

As for the question "What should sister do now?" Then one thing is to tell her male mehram and tell him to find that shaytan and teach him a lesson :D Another thing is that she should do sabr and next time take extra care and go out with mehram.

As for the question "What should she do if next time this happens" Then as for yelling, if she yells, then the shaytan who did this would simply say that He touched by mistake and he would be baree (free) of this evil deed. And also it maybe that this was done mistakenly especially in a crowded area. So we got to see all possibilities. It maybe that the other person is a shareef maulvi like Mohammad Rana Usman Nisar and someone pushed him in a crowded area like daewoo bus station and he accidentally touches some female and that female slaps or yells and this poor person has to get beaten :P lol. So all possibilities should be taken into account. But i believe if this sister is with mehram, then the mehram would himself take care of it insha Allah and sister wont have to take much tention.

As for a very exceptional situation, that the sister has no mehram, what so ever, available and she wants to do some extra special work and needs to go to market with some female friends and in this situation she gets confronted with such an act (if she is sure that person did it intentionally and not mistakenly), then the solution according to my faulty thinking is tat she should report some elderly person near her and explain it to them.

Thalaba Ibn Abdul Rahman was a young man at the age of 16. He always ran errands for the prophet pbuh. One day while walking though the city of Medina, he passed by a house with an open door. Out of curiosity he took a glance inside. In this glance, he saw a light curtain being blown away from a bathroom entrance where a woman was bathing. He immediately lowered his gaze. With an extreme feeling of guilt and hypocrisy his mind ran. Thinking to himself, How could I be of the companions, one that is close to the prophet pbuh, one who runs his errands and be so horrible as to disrespect peoples privacy??

He feared that Allah would reveal to the prophet pbuh evidence of his hypocrisy. His guilt denied him to ever show his face to the prophet pbuh. So he ran away. Days went by and the prophet kept asking the other companions if they had seen Thalaba. No one had seen him. With the prophet's worry about Thalaba he sent a few of the companions to look for him everywhere, among them were Omar Ibn Al Khattab and Salman Al Farisiy. They looked everywhere in Medina, and on the out skirts of Madina, until they came about a set of mountains between Mecca and Medina where some nomads were herding sheep. The companions asked the nomads if they had seen a young man with Thalaba's characteristics. They told the companions about a weeping boy. He had been here for 40 days. He came down from the mountains once a day weeping and drank the milk they would offer him. Then he went back up the mountains weeping, crying, always asking for Allah for forgiveness, and saying words of repentance. So the companions waited until he came down and watched him. He had lost weight. His countenance reflected sorrow as he drank the milk that was mixed with his tears.

The companions insisted that they take him back to the prophet pbuh but he refused and asked them if Allah had revealed verses saying he was a hypocrite. They told him that they had no knowledge of any such verses. He was taken back to Medina where the prophet pbuh went to see him. He asked again if Allah had put him among the hypocrites or revealed that he was. The prophet pbuh assured him that there were no such verses. He laid out Thalaba's tired, weak body and placed Thalaba's head on his lap. He said, "Oh prophet of Allah remove the head of a sinner away from you." The prophet pbuh comforted him until he told the prophet pbuh I feel as though ants are walking between my flesh and bones. The prophet told him it was death and his time had come. He witnessed while Thalaba's head was on his lap, Thalaba proclaimed. "There is no god worthy of worship other than Allah, and that Mohammad pbuh is the messenger of Allah." The prophet pbuh washed Thalaba and carried him to the grave. It is narrated that on their way to bury Thalaba, the prophet pbuh walked on his tippy toes as though he were in a crowd. When Umar asked about this, the prophet pbuh explained that he was being crowded with the angels."

Asalam o alaikum. Today i was praying Isha in my mosque behind my imam sb and something great happened which i will like to share with all. My Imam Sb. recites quran in 3-4 styles and he has a very good voice masha Allah, however one of his style is amazing and it is so heart touching that it makes people cry always.

I never cried in any prayer, because of a hard heart (may Allah soften my heart. aameen). I do not remember that i ever cried in my life on anything except 1 time on an Islamic lecture. But today i was amazed how i cried. During Isha prayer my imam sb started reciting the verses of Surah Noor. And the more he advanced, the more i went deep into the meaning and tune of what he was reciting and then this ayah came:

"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of everything." (24:35)

I could understand every word of this ayah, and the way imam sb was reciting this was amazing. All of a sudden it made me realize that infront of WHOM am i standing. ALLAH HU AKBAR!! What a feeling it was. I could feel the hair on my hands and feet stand up. All of a sudden i remembered all my sins and then the AWE of this feeling that infront of Whom am i standing, it just made me cry. I couldn't hold on. What a prayer this was. I pray to Allah to make my every prayer like this. A prayer which makes me realize in Whose presence am i standing and a prayer which makes me remind all my sins and an eagerness to ask forgiveness for them crying in the sajdah. Ya Allah grant me such a khushu in every prayer. I am very thankful to my imam sb for the beautiful qirat and thankful to Allah Almighty that He gave me the taufeeq to understand Quran. I request all my brothers & sisters who have not read quran with understanding to hasten and understand it if they want to have wonderful effects like that. May Allah give all of us the taufeeq. aameen.

BY
Mohamamd Ali

Small review by Br. Mohammad Ali

Wonderful article. Especially:
"a lot of youth fail to realize that in reality there is no such thing as “true” love before marriage, yes, there might be crushes, infatuations and the likes, but true love? No.

Some people might argue and say, how can you make such a bold statement? To that I reply, love is what creates happiness not sorrow, love is what gives you a peace of mind not worry and anguish but most importantly, love is that which brings you closer to Allaah the Most High, not that which will push you further away from Him and acquire His wrath."

"ARTICLE- TRUE LOVE"

In today’s world, a lot of young people are afflicted by a serious illness that is even more deadly than any virus or bacteria. It is an illness that affects the heart and will cause its death, if not treated.

This illness is none other than love before marriage, and it is with great sadness that a lot of youth fail to realize that in reality there is no such thing as “true” love before marriage, yes, there might be crushes, infatuations and the likes, but true love? No.

Some people might argue and say, how can you make such a bold statement? To that I reply, love is what creates happiness not sorrow, love is what gives you a peace of mind not worry and anguish but most importantly, love is that which brings you closer to Allaah the Most High, not that which will push you further away from Him and acquire His wrath.

Yet there are a few brothers and sisters, who truly love Allaah, only to find their hearts crippled by this disease, they have apparently fallen in “love” with the opposite gender (before marriage) and can’t seem to stop thinking about them, they lose their appetite, their sleep and become neglectful of life as a whole.

These individuals sometimes regret falling in love and want a way out, they want a cure for this illness, but is there really a cure?

Listen to what Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim has to say:

“And the cure for this deadly illness (i.e. love before marriage) is for the person that is afflicted to realize that this love is only due to his/her own delusions and ignorance.

So upon such a person is to first and foremost strengthen their Tawheed and reliance upon Allaah, and secondly to increase in worship and busy themselves with it, so much so that they do not have any spare time letting their minds wander and think about their beloved.

And they should call upon Allaah to protect them and save them from this evil, just as Prophet Yusuf called upon Allaah and he was saved. And they should do as he did, be as he was, in terms of ikhlaas (sincerity) and remembering Allaah in abundance.

This is because if the heart is filled with ikhlaas for the sake of Allaah, there will be no space left for any unlawful love to be present, rather this only happens to a heart that is empty and has no ikhlaas whatsoever.

And let such people remind themselves that whatever Allaah has decreed for them is only in their own best interests, and when Allaah commands something it is never to cause harm or misery to His slaves.

And let them also remind themselves that their unlawful love does not benefit them, neither in this world or the hereafter! As for this world then they will be so preoccupied with their love that it will cripple them and will cause them to live in a fantasy world. And as for the hereafter then it will cause them to be preoccupied with the love of the creation instead of love for the Creator!

These people need to be reminded, that the one who is emerged in something will never see its ill effects, neither will the person who has never experienced such things. The only people who will be able to relate to them are those who have experienced the same thing but have been saved. Such people can look back and realize how evil it is.”

[ad-Daa' wa ad-Dawaa p. 300]

To a great extent, Television tells us who we are and who we should be. It tells us that the most important thing about us is how we look. The first thing the media do is surround us with the image of ideal male/female beauty so we all learn how important it is for us to be beautiful and exactly what it takes. We are being injected that the only thing which matters is outside appearance.

We are being bombarded with all sorts of materialistic philosophies that human being is just matter and four dimensional creature and atoms bonded together and a higher animal and it sleeps and drinks and eats and walks and talks and 'survival of the fittest' theories and blah blah blah. But hold on!! Hold on! I am not just a stone! I am not just atoms of matter bonded together! I am more than that.I feel pain. Dont you? Not physical pain. But emotional pain. And i know many of us are in pain these days. I feel joy. Dont you? Is that four dimensional? And then I go near nature out of this metropolis, I feel happy. Is that physical? Then how dare they impose ideologies on us solely based on materialism! They tell us about mechanics of walking, dressing and eating and drinking. But do they ever tell us who we really are and what we really need??

This materialistic society is like a mechanical labyrinth. Built as a prison. Where the bars are invisible. It exploits our insecurities. It enriches itself on ignorance. It suppresses our ambitions. We need to think. Have our goals been diverted? From achieving the infinite to supplicating for the temporary? Have we lost sense of ourselves? Is the thing we are chasing real or illusion? Have we been deceived? Have we begun to believe their lies? Have we accepted their definition of success, happiness and truth?

We get everything. Yet feel like missing something. Always in a state of extreme un satisfaction. "Why am i not like them? Why do i not have what they have?"Comes then the extreme passion to start becoming like them. We work tirelessly day and night. All for the purpose of becoming like what we see. But... Let us pause.. Let us think..Did we leave our SELF behind during all this race? Did we forget who we really are and from where we came? Did we forget what our true nourishment is? Did we forget what truly we need to be successful?Lets ask ourselves the above questions and think, are we among those mentioned in the following ayah?

"And be not like those who forgot Allah and He caused them to forget their ownselves." (59:19)

There are alot of online skill bazaars where anyone can bid on projects on the level of skills he/she has. Either technical or non-technical.

I call it Freelance Media.

I would like to request all those who r in search of any "Rizq-e-Halal" to give it a full effort.
I can provide help as much as I can. The most famous of all these sites are as under :

http://www.whichlance.com/directory
http://www.peopleperhour.com/
http://www.freelance.com/en/
https://www.elance.com/skills_directory
http://guru.com/
http://www.vworker.com/
http://www.freelancer.com/

This is also a good replacement for our sisters who want to earn while not compromising their purdah.

by Br. Ahmed Mansoor

O young people. Don't you understand? What they show on media (TV serials, advertisements etc) is like a stimulator. It stimulates negative emotions in people, which result in self destruction. See the advertisements in which they are showing women to sell their products. They stimulate wrong emotions in people, and what do the people do afterwards?

Probably go to internet and see more (u know what more means) to fulfill their desire.

They show beautifully adorned women in every add. A guy standing with three famous prostitutes of pak film industry, selling mobile. I want to ask what ideology they want to promote through this scene?

They show that a guy is in love with a girl and is talking to her on phone all night and both love each other and exchange sms and sms package is so cheap so "buy this sim". I want to ask what happens after that? Do they even care what might happen after this girl and boy exchange sms and phone calls? They dont give a damn!! They just want their product sold. But the poor young ones have to suffer the consequences and psychological torture.

I want to ask they have sold their product by showing a woman but do they care what actually is happening because of their encouraging of such ideology (men and women mixing, having haram relations, talking to each other all night, exchanging songs, one man standing with three girls, a girl having a lot of boyfriends, a flirtious girl).

Don't we see families going out fully adorned in beautiful clothing and "fashion", and the guy is looking at other females and other perverts are looking at his sister but he doesn't care? Why? Because "woman, woman, woman" is all in his mind. What you watch effects your mind. Simple psychology rule.

I want to ask do they want to build a healthy society or a immoral wicked society?
Do they want to see adulterers, mental, frustrated, sex freak patients walking in street or peaceful good people responsible for building a healthy society?
They say extremist mullahs impose extremist ideologies on others. I want to ask isn't the media doing the same? Aren't they imposing their ideology on people? Aren't they also preaching something?

When asked all this. The dumb ones have one common reply:
"TUM ANKHEIN BAND KARLO." ---- "TUMHAREY ZEHAN MAI HI GANDAGI HAI."

Wake up my brothers & sisters. Stop fooling yourself by such childish logics. Or else what Allama Iqbal said might come true:
"Your culture will commit suicide by your own dagger.."

Sister send me question, what to reply ::

As-Salamu Alykum Brother !! Hope are you fine. I want to ask something which i am confuse about. There is a sister who is my friend and her mother used to be friend of my mother. Few days ago someone backbite about them to my mother due to which my mother have left talking to the mother of my Friend . My friend and her mother always say me to convey salam and love to my mother...whenever i chat with them or talk to them. My mother donot like to hear about them so i am afraid if i convey there salam ..my mother will scold me in some way... What should i do? Should i tell them that donot send salam because my mother donot even want to hear your name and scold me whenever i try to say that we must live like Prophet said be brothers... or should i convey salam and donot care what my mother says to me? Please help me i am confuse.

Replied by Br. Engr Mohammad Ali:

The paradox of our time is that good has become bad and bad has become good. Modesty & shyness is now termed as ill confidence and Immodesty termed as Boldness & Confidence. Shamefulness termed as backwardness and Shamelessness termed as enlightenement. Truthful & honest termed as foolish & immature and liers & deceivers termed as smart & mature. Godless termed as successful and God fearing termed as Losers.

There has come a certain offset in our thinking and feeling. We can offer respect to the grave, but we wont think about the grave. We like decorating the Quran but we wont understand the Quran. If we dislike something we will hate it, but we wont change it. If we talk about the crisis we will give all sorts of blame analysis, but we wont see what caused it and what will solve it. We want to Love Allah but we wont take the first step. We would believe in something, but we wont do it. Such an offset in us has made all the effort and strains for making our lives better only a mirage, a fable and a fools paradise.

Everything has become so strange and opposite. Is it that we are living in the worst of times (which will come just before the Day of Judgement) that Holy Prophet (pbuh) mentioned?

We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We speak too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We plan more, but accomplish less. We do all sorts of enjoyments but still no comfort in our lives.

EVER WONDERED WHY??

Today before Zuhar, as usual I was studying but before I got up to pray, something came in my mind! I have been praying a lot for this feeling and thought to come in my mind and finally it was here!!! :) I thought "Am I going for Prayer? Am I going in Masjid? What is Prayer? No... I'm going to meet my Lord! Yes I'm going to praise Him in front of Him! Suddenly I thought of cleaning myself with Wudhu! I never thought about my clothes before in my life but this time I looked at them and wondered, are they good enough as I'm going to stand in front of my Creator! I did Wudhu, this time with complete concentration and care! Then I sit back and took deep breaths! I wanted to make myself calm as I was about to meet my Sustainer! And I had to be really calm and quite in my mind! Then I got up and started walking towards Masjid. But my mind was thinking, how will I Praise my Lord? Will it be sufficient? Will He accept it? What else I'm going to talk about? O yeah I'll tell Him my every single problem and shortcomings. How I'm going to communicate with Him? I'm going to meet my Helper, my Giver and Taker. How will I Thank Him for everything? Now I was a bit confused. I dont know how I got to Masjid and how I crossed the road, no idea! I entered the Mosque and I really felt a new spirit. Never felt that before! I knew my Lord is watching me! So I went to the first row and started my prayers. Before this time I always had to struggle to be able to concentrate in my Prayers. Sometimes I succeeded but mostly my mind diverted and I start thinking about all the stuff accept prayer. But today at that time I was standing there with my Lord! nothing was in my mind accept Surah Fatihah! While reciting it I was pondering over its meaning and SubhanAllaah, such a beautiful Surah it is! Starting from Praise, rather All Praises belongs to Allah who is the Sustainer of all the worlds! What else we weak servants of Allaah wants? We have been assured that Allaah is there for us for EVERYTHING! So why worry about anything? So with this thought I become more calm and my heart was at peace! I knew Allaah is with me wherever I go! Then I recited Ar-Rehman Ar Raheem. And then I thought about my sins! I did Tobah several times but again and again I do same sins! And now Allaah gave me a hope! A hope that He is Raheem! So I started loving Him! But the very next moment I recited Malik-e-Youmiddiin! AND I cried! Now I knew He's going to hold us accountable on that Day! Now I knew I will be giving explanations on that Day, of everything I did in this world! Now my sins were again in front of me! So I cried! Next I recited Iyyaka Na'budu wa iyyaka Nasta'een. I thought of explaining my Lord that I do not do Shirk! I only pray for Him and I only seek help from Him! So I stopped crying as I was not a Mushrik Alhamdolillah! And again there was hope of Forgiveness! But why forgiveness? My sins were still there with me! So I made dua, 'O Allah guide us to the Straight path of Yours. The Path of Your people whom You are happy with and not of whom You are angry with, and not of those who are misguided!' I felt as I requested every GOOD from Allah SWT and I requested Him to keep me away from EVERY sin! I felt as I got EVERY HASANAH of this world and Akhirah! I felt as My Allah is now happy with me! I felt as now I got some light from which I can find my way in dark! SubhanAllah! So I said Aameen from the deepest of my heart and begin to smile! Allahu Akbar Never felt like that before! So I Praised Him in Rukuh and in Sajdah and I asked for forgiveness and assured Him again that I am not a Mushrik and this Salah is only for You and for my mind's peace! And with this thought I ended my remaining prayer. Allahu Akbar I never felt such a peace in my entire life! For a moment it was like I got everything! I found my RABB! SubhanAllah! So I came out of Masjid with a smile on my face and I wished I could perform my every Salah like that!"

This was the incident happened today for which I prayed a lot! O Allah All Praises belongs to you! You are so GREAT! You never isolate your servant, You always answer our Prayers! O Allah never leave us alone, never ever, not even for a second! O Allah be with us and guide us to Jannat-ul-Firdous at highest level! Aameen!

by Brother Abu Yusuf

Asalam o alaykum wr wb. Once a person steps into Islam and submits to Allah Almighty and stars practicing Islam, then that person willingly or unwillingly becomes representative of Allah's deen. Many of us want to do a lot for Allah's religion after coming into it, and this process of 'doing a lot' is known as dawah. And those people who want to get involved in this are known as Da'ee. A da'ee is not only a representative of Allah's deen, but also carries on his/her shoulder the responsibility of either bringing someone closer to Allah or making one run away from Allah. And the later is a huge thing and crime. So lets be serious about this issue and not treat dawa'h as a hobby and try to learn some good traits which a da'ee must possess.

First of all, there are some very common traits which i am sure we all know and need not discuss. These are: Ikhlas (khalis niyat) to Allah, Trust in Allah, Dua to Allah etc. However I want to discuss some traits which we lack and must give attention to. This may get lengthy, but very beneficial for those who are sincere.

1- PROPER KNOWLEDGE OF DEEN BEFORE STEPPING INTO THIS FIELD
Prophet sallalaho alayhi wassalam said: "Seeking of knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim." (Ibn Majah, 1/224. Tirmidhi 218)
The scholars are unanimous that the word "Knowledge" in this hadith means Islam.
Some people think that they are born scholars and they do not need to learn any knowledge. However Allah Almighty praised those who have knowledge and asked a simple question to such people:
"...Say: 'Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" (39:9)
"..Allah will raise up, to ranks those of you who believe and have been granted knowledge." (58:11)

Gaining basic knowledge before entering the field of dawah is very important. Basic knowledge includes Study of Holy Quran translation, Aqeedah, Ahadith books like Riyad us saliheen, Basic Fiqh books like bulugh ul maram and biography of Holy Prophet pbuh. Reading biography is most important. Because it is what will teach us how to give dawah. Gaining knowledge doesn't at all mean going to madrassa for 8 years. However it also doesn't mean reading 1 ayah of Quran and 1 hadith and thinking oneself to be scholar. Usually young people are involved in this where they read some ayah or hadith and they think they have got it all and they can talk on anything. What happens is that they do not only deviate themselves but also make others run away from Islam. Prophet Muhammad sallalaho alayhi wassalam said:
"Facilitate things to people (concerning religious matters), and do not make it hard for them and give them good tidings and do not make them run away (from Islam)." ( Sahih Bukhari-Book 3, Number 69)

Beware of doing this brothers & sisters. We may end up explaining some ayah or hadith, or fitting it somewhere, in a manner, which is not actually intended by Allah & His messenger. And ive seen many young people do that. We need to be very very careful in this. Its a serious SERIOUS crime.

2- ADOPTING A MODERATE APPROACH
What is a moderate approach? To know the answer of this question, first of all we need to know our circle of daawah. The scholars defined this circle to be:
1- Family --- 2- Relatives --- 3- Neighbours & Friends --- 4- Local Community --- 5- National --- 6- International

However, many of us especially young people run this circle completely opposite like:
1- International --- 2- National --- 3- Local community .......
This is not at all a wise thing to do and is also against sunnah. We want to target & do huge things while not knowing our calibre and responsibilities. Prophet sallalaho alayhi wassalam said:
"..Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately.' (Sahih Bukhari 8/470)

Also Allah Almighty taught us moderation and deliberation through His own amal. Strange? Ibn Qayyim when asked about the question "Why did Allah create the Heavens & Earth in 6 days when He could have created in split seconds by saying "KUN FAYA KOON"?
One of the reasons, among 6,7 reasons that Ibn Qayyim (r) mentioned while answering this was:
"Allah wanted to teach His creation deliberation & moderation. And this is a GREAT parable. If Rabbul Aalameen, the One free from all faults is adopting deliberation, then how about us, full of faults human beings?"

So we need to be very careful. This is an age of immense flood of Islamic knowledge everywhere, especially on the internet. U can see one video of some scholar and THAT'S IT! U will say "I WILL DO SUCH AND SUCH THING." And then u get indulged in that thing. Later on u see another video and u say "I WILL ALSO DO THIS!" And then u get indulged in another thing. Later on u see some organization and u say "I WILL MAKE SUCH AN ORG. TOO." And that is how u get too much excited and get involved in so many things that it becomes impossible for u to handle all and u end up doing nothing. Be moderate brothers & sisters. See your calibre, see how much knowledge you have, see are u fulfiling farz responsibilities and:
"..keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much AS YOU CAN." (64:16)
May Allah help us adopt moderation and do deeds in which we are constant. Aameen

CONCLUSION:

This field is such vast that this post does not justify this topic at all. I wanted to discuss so many things but thought that people would get afraid by seeing the length of this post. So Insha Allah i will discuss in episodes. This series is "To be continued.." and insha Allah in next i will discuss "Not boring people" & "Hikmah" with details and examples insha Allah.

So you’ve known this sister/brother for a while now, and you’ve realized that you’ve come to love them and would like to get married to them. However, you’re stumped on what to do next. You feel guilty for feeling this way and think that you’re sinning. You have this feeling of sincere love inside you for them. You are not sure what their reaction will be. You do not know what to do, tell them how you feel or just conceal your love? You’ve realized that in all your days, every lecture you’ve attended, every book you’ve read, you haven’t been told about what to do when you feel like this. You begin to wonder what is the proper thing for me to do? You feel embarrassed to admit this feeling and feel scared to tell your friends much less your parents.
You aren’t the only out there who feels like this! Read on..

One of the most taboo subjects these days among our families and among ourselves generally, at least from what I’ve noticed is to speak about love. It has become quite a taboo where one who mentions it is seen in a different light (usually not a good one). There is this feeling of guilt when one feels this emotion and usually we are led to believe it is haram.

So the question comes, how do we deal with this feeling?

I know personally that I wouldn’t have the guts to go to my parents and tell them, “Mom, Dad, I want to get married to this sister, because I love her”. Or even if I did, I would go in wearing a helmet or something fearing the notorious backhand of doom. But this doesn’t mean that they are wrong, it is only that in our cultures this subject has become one which is not spoken about.

The fact is that we don’t hear about love in the Masajid and neither in our Halaqas. But love is something that was written books about by earlier scholars such as Ibn Hazm Al Andulusi (who is actually referred to as the Faqi of Love) who wrote Tawq Al Hamamah (Ring of the Dove) and Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah wrote Rawdatul Muhibbeen (The Garden of the Lovers). So why are we shy to ask about this today and learn the Islamic viewpoint on this subject? Why do we not ask about what Allah has said about this and what Allaah’s Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam said about this?

Frankly, for some people when the word love is used, it is but a substitute for lust. Others think of it only in a universal sense as Love of Allaah and Love of the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam. But love is something that is broader than that. No doubt Love for Allaah and Love of the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam is something that, without it, we won’t have Iman.

However the love referred to here is the love between a man and a woman and it is something that if you are in it, it’s signs will show up on you.

Al Bousseeri said in his poetry:

“Does not the lover think that his love can be concealed? While his eyes are shedding tears and his heart is glowing, Had it not been for love, you would not have shed tears at the ruins (of your beloved),
Nor would you become restless at the remembrance of the cypress (tree) at the high mountain,
How do you deny love after the testimony,
Borne against you by (such) reliable witnesses
as your tears and your illness.
Love indeed transforms pleasure into pain.”

> So What Does Allaah Say About Love?

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts). Verily in that are signs for those who reflect.”
[Ar Room 30:21]

The key words in the verse are – Mawaddatan wa Rahmah – which translates as Love and Mercy. The interesting thing to note about this verse is to notice the location of this verse along with the verses that precede it and those that come after. Allah mentions His Signs (Night/Day, Heaven/Earth, Man/Woman) and He puts the feeling of Love and Mercy between spouses in the same value as the creation of Heaven & Earth. Now then how can we ignore such a great Sign of Allaah?

> What is Love?

Ibn Hazm says describing the nature of love:

Of Love–may God exalt you! -the first part is jesting, and the last part is right earnestness. So majestic are its diverse aspects, they are too subtle to be described; their reality can only be apprehended by personal experience. Love is neither disapproved by Religion, nor prohibited by the Law; for every heart is in God’s hands.

[Tawq Al Hamamah]

Love is of two types as the scholars have defined.
Hubb
Ishq

Hubb is the arabic word for love and it is made up of the letters Ha (ح) and Ba (ب). On a side note, to recognize the beauty of the arabic language, when one says Hubb, the Ha comes from deep inside the throat which almost chokes you (as love does) and when you end the word with Ba, the lips come together as if it were a kiss.

Ibn Qayyim differentiated between Hubb and Ishq. He said Hubb was pure and noble love whilst Ishq was a forbidden, beyond the limits type of love. He meant this was when someone would go to Haram measures to be with the one they love.

There are many reasons for falling in love. Ibn Hazm proceeds to describe the reasons of love:

If the cause of Love were physical beauty, the consequence would be that no body defective in any shape or form would attract admiration; yet we know of many a man actually preferring the inferior article, though well aware that another is superior, and quite unable to turn his heart away from it. Again, if Love were due to a harmony of characters, no man would love a person who was not of like purpose and in concord with him. We therefore conclude that Love is something within the soul itself. Sometimes, it is true, Love comes as a result of a definite cause outside the soul, but then it passes away when the cause itself disappears: one who is fond of you because of a certain circumstance will turn his back on you when that motive no longer exists.

[Tawq Al Hamamah]

Physical beauty is not the main cause of love, though yes it does help in falling in love and is a reason for love to grow between spouses. However, it is to be understood that Love cannot be limited to such, because if it were then there are many people that can never hope of getting married. In fact love is something deeper which comes from inside, a mercy that Allaah has placed into the hearts of His creation.

It is necessary for us who live in an environment surrounded by Haram to check our reasons for our love, whether we are loving them in a pure sense for the sake of Allaah (yes even for our spouses) or is it merely based on our desires and lusts. Lets make sure that our reason is the former.

> An Example of Love

The Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam when speaking about his wife Khadija said: “Verily, I was filled with love for her.”

However, today we find that many of us are shy to express our love. In fact, many consider it a sign of weakness to say “I love so and so” and they consider it a blow to their pride to tell their spouse, “I love you”. But here and in other narrations (will be mentioned later) that the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam was not shy to express his love of his wife. And notice that he didn’t simply say, “I love her” and leave it at that, but he said, “I was filled with love for her” and this means that it was a true real love that he had for Khadija (Radiallahu Anha) and that he was not shy to express it.

> So What is the Islamic Ruling on Love?

Love is not something forbidden. Ibn Hazm says in his awesome book, Tawq Al Hamamah:

“And yet, when was loving banned?
Did Muhammad so command,
Or is man forbidden it
By the words of Holy Writ?”

Meaning that niether did the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam forbid love nor was it forbidden by Allaah in the Qur’an.

Secondly, love in and of itself is not in our control. It is mentioned that the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam said when he used to allocate between his wives “O Allah, this is my distribution for what I have control of, but please don’t hold me accountable for something I cannot control (his love for A’isha.)”

This proves that even the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam loved some of his wives more than others and his love for one was something he could not control at times. Ibn Hazm mentions that someone said, “O ameer ul mu’mineen…I’m in love with her.” So then Umar (Radiallahu Anhu) replied, “It’s not in your hands, what can I do for you?”

Ibn Qayyim said in Al Jawab Al Kafi:

“As for loving women, there is no blame on a person who has love for them. On the contrary, it is part of his perfection (as a human being) for Allah says “And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put Love and mercy between you”

Ibn Jawzi says in his Dhaamul Hawaa:

“If you haven’t loved passionately or known the meaning of desire then get up and eat hay for you are nothing but a donkey.” & “You and the hard rock are equal.”

These quotes from Ibn Qayyim and Ibn Jawzi show that they not only considered love as something that occurs, but rather it is a sign of perfection. So when you feel love for someone, do not consider it as a flaw in yourself, rather it is a sign that you have a heart and it is a sign of your humanity. This emotion that is felt shows that there is mercy in you and that your heart is soft.

Ibn Qayyim also says:

“When we speak of rulings of love, we must describe two things. One is optional and one is not. The optional love is what leads to love (eyesight, association, etc.) and this is the love that you have to beware of (for it may lead to unlawful acts.) The non optional love, if it happens by the sudden look, or natural passions that develop, you cannot be blamed for it, but it’s how you react to it that Allah will hold you to accountable for.”

Be careful when you are in contact with the one you love for it may lead to that which is forbidden and be mindful of Allaah.

Imam Muhammad Ibn Shaab az Zuhri said,

“The first love that was ever recognized and known is the love between Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and A’isha (r.a.)”

Masrouq (a narrator) would refer to A’isha (Radiallahu Anha) in the following way:

“And on the authority of the Love of the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam“ (Meaning A’isha (Radiallahu Anha))

Nowadays when we think of love stories, the first that pops up in our minds in Romeo and Juliet. But what happened with them? They committed suicide. Their love was nothing more than Zina and had they lived on to get married they would have ended in a divorce due to the fact that their love never went any test such as marriage and it wasn’t for the sake of Allaah. The Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam said: “For those who love each other, nothing has proven as good as marriage.” (Sunan Ibn Majah) What sets apart the love of the Messenger and Aisha is the fact that they were married and in their marriage their love grew for each other.

Mentioned in Bukhari, narrated Abu Uthman:

Allah’s Apostle sent ‘Amr bin Al As as the commander of the troops of Dhat-us-Salasil. ‘Amr bin Al-’As said, “(On my return) I came to the Prophet and said, ‘Which people do you love most?’ He replied, ‘Aisha.’ I said, ‘From amongst the men?’ He replied, ‘Her father (Abu Bakr)’.

Two things about this Hadith strike me the most. The first is that the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam is not shy to admit that the person that he loves the most is his wife Aisha (Radiallahu Anha) And secondly when asked about from the men, he doesn’t simply say ‘Abu Bakr’ (Radiallahu Anhu), but he still attributes it to Aisha (Radiallahu Anha) by saying, ‘Her Father”. Indeed the love of the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam to Aisha (Radiallahu Anha) was an example to us.

Other such narrations occur which show the Messenger’s salalahu alaihiwassalam love for his wife. One that shows his humility to his wives is this one that is narrated in Sahih Al Bukhari on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (Radiallahu Anhu) who said,

“I saw the Prophet (salla Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), making for her (Safiya) a kind of cushion with his cloak behind him (on his camel). He then sat beside his camel and put his knee for Safiya to put her foot on, in order to ride (on the camel).”

> What is the Correct Thing To Do if You’re in Love?

Love usually starts from the eye, and this is why Allaah has commanded

{“Tell the believers to lower their eyes and protect their private parts…“}
[an-Nur; 30]

Love at first sight is a fact and it does occur. The Messenger said

“The glance is a poisoned arrow of shaytaan. Whoever lowers his gaze for Allah, He will bestow upon him a refreshing sweetness, which he will find in his heart on the day he meets Him.” [Al Hakim]

Ironically we find in our times a representation of falling in love the little cupids that shoot arrows into hearts thus causing the stricken to have ‘fallen in love’.

There are many ways to fall in love, (Ibn Hazm even mentions that one can even fall in love whilst asleep!) but the key fact to remember is that, yes love is not forbidden and you won’t be held accountable for loving someone, but disobeying Allaah in expression of your love is Haram and it something we must be mindful of.

When you are in love, it’s signs will show up on you regardless of how much you try to hide them. Believe it or not, the scholars have actually written out a list about them (these are general):
Eyes are wide open, they are smiling, looking towards the sky, not paying attention. Lost in Thought.
The person talks too much about his beloved.
When they are in presence of each other, full attention is given to each other.
Lover usually hurries up to meet loved one.
Sudden confusion/excitement at mere sighting of loved one.
Everything else blanks out but the beloved.
Stop sleeping at night and start daydreaming.
Wasting the day.
Weeping – Getting very emotional.

For two that love each other, the best thing is marriage as the Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam said: “For those who love each other, nothing has proven as good as marriage.” (Sunan ibn Majah) And marriage should not be put off by mere issues that conflict with a person’s preference if the preference is in matters that are the type that can be overlooked. The Messenger salalahu alaihiwassalam said “If a man whose practice of the religion satisfies you, asks you for your daughter in marriage, you should marry them; otherwise there will be corruption in the land.” (Hasan – at-Tirmidhee)

And marriage is what is encouraged (and it’s the best option) because marriage is a test and within it there come many issues that put the love at test and it is also a cause for love to grow stronger. So it is said that real love begins after the ‘in love’ phase is over. Usually when two go in to marriage all is well for the first few months and then it starts to break down. Why? Because they fail to continue to keep this love up. The love becomes conditional and the value is lost. So they start worrying about their rights yet they forget their own responsibilities. The husband demands his rights and the wife hers and in the middle of this tug of war they lose their love for each other.

Here’s a tip to a successful marriage: Look towards your obligations, and do your utmost to fulfill them. Don’t look towards your rights – in fact, forget about them; and this is for both the brothers and the sisters. Go into marriage with a mindset that’s saying: “I’m going to fulfill the obligations that my Lord has obligated me to fulfill for His pleasure”. I can guarantee, Insha’Allaah, that if you were to enter into marriage with this attitude, anything that your spouse does for you (a gift, or roses, or cooks you your favorite dish etc.) will seem like a big deal and you’ll appreciate it a whole lot more. Why? Because you weren’t expecting it. A Muslim is always seeking from Allaah, and not from the creation. And if they don’t do anything special for you, you won’t feel put down. So seek from Allaah and expect from Him alone, you’ll never be disappointed.

Ibn Abbas said, “I verily adorn myself for my wife the same as she adorns herself for me. Also I would not ask her to fulfill all the rights which she owes me, so that it would become binding upon me to fulfill all the rights which I owe her”
[Tafsir Ibn Kathir - Hasan]

But marriage is different topic, it is mentioned here only because it is the proper way to go for two who love each other.

>What if it’s a No?

Yes. This is the worst part about love. When your beloved does not want to return the feelings that you have for them.

Imam Shafiee has written a poem on this matter:

و من الشَقاوة أن تحبَ
و من تحبُ يحبُ غيرك
أو أن تريد الخير للأن
سان و هو يريد ضيرك

“And from misery is that you love,
and (the one) who you love, loves other than you,
or that you want good for a person,
and he wants to hurt you”.

Yeah this is the worst part of it, but there is not much that can be done at this state. Ibn Hazm (yes him again) has written regarding this:

And among the accidents of love is the violent anxiety and silencing intensity of feeling which overcome the lover when he sees the beloved avoiding him and eschewing him; and the sign of that is sighing, and lack of vivacity, and sobbing, and having deep sighs: and on that subject I have made a poem, from which I quote:

The beautiful patience is imprisoned,
And tears are bursting forth from the eyes!

The best that can be done at this state is patience for not everyone who has loved has been blessed with a return of the same emotion from the beloved. It’s tough, yes, very and if you were sincere in your love then it will give you many a sleepless nights and restless days but try and move on. Ask Allaah to replace this loss with something better.

> In Conclusion

I end this here with some advice for the brothers and sisters:

Brothers – If you love a sister, let her know (don’t go up to her when there’s a chance that you two will end up alone – in fact, in my humble opinion don’t go up to her at all. Send in a reconnaissance, i.e. your sister or someone likewise). If she’s understanding, she’ll appreciate it. Go to your parents and ask them to get you married (no matter how hard that is) and go about it the Halal way. Also as a side note, know that it is pointless to debate with women, they’ll end up winning. And don’t give her a hard time if she can’t cook. Aisha (Radiallahu Anha) couldn’t cook either.

Sisters – If you love a brother, let him know (again as above, not when there is a chance that you two will end up alone). Insha’Allah he’ll understand. Tell your parents about it (its even harder for you, I’m sure). If you have a brother try to get him to talk to the one you love. Keep it Halal. And lastly, know that the way to a man’s heart is through good food.
To end this I quote Ibn Hazm:

“The finest quality that a man can display in Love is continence: to abstain from sin and all indecency. For so he will prove himself to be not indifferent to the heavenly reward, that eternal bliss reserved by God for those who dwell in His everlasting kingdom, neither will he disobey his Master Who has been so gracious to him, in appointing him to be a creature worthy to receive His commandments and prohibitions, Who sent unto him His Messengers, and caused His Word to be immovably established with him-all this as a mark of His care for us, and His benevolence towards us.”

[Tawq Al Hamamah]

Following added by Mian N J Karimi, written by Xain-ul-Abidin-- http://www.facebook.com/Xynee

Something that further clarifies the topic.

"""Awesome article! SubhanAllah! I have studied this topic of love a little bit and never found such type of self explaining article! JazakAllah khair brother! Here I want to express my thought too. There was a point in article that nowadays ......it is considered almost haram to talk about love! Yes this is true and the reason again is the being ignorant of Islam! Nowadaya, as sister Thunder Cracks had said, there are brothers and even sisters who have 1000 haram relations by the time they are free from their studies! And when they are free they are over aged! I mean they are older than the correct age of marriage! Hazrat Aisha RA was married at the age of six! SubhanAllah! "In eleventh year of Prophethood in Shawal, the Prophet formally married Aisha RA when she was six of age, and consummated his marriage with her in Shawwal, the year 1 A.H. in Madinah when she was nine!" [The Sealed Nectar---Ibn Hisham 1/428-430]. Moreover Hazrat Ali when he was 21 years of age, married Hazrat Fatimah when she was 15 I guess, I'm not sure on her age but the point is that why today we do not marry our children even at the age of 25! Its too dangerous! I know some sisters who are 25 or even older and still unmarried! Well the topic was Love! So I would say that today the love is not the love! I mean today what we call a love is in fact a crush! What is crush? It's attraction and nothing else and its base is haram! The recognition of crush as love made the word LOVE too embarrassing for both Parents and children! Parents want their children out of love thing forever, when in fact they want their children out of CRUSH thing! On the other hand children doesnt want their Parents to know about their love for someone when in fact they doesnt want them to know about their secrete AFFAIR or CRUSH! The confusion of words and the frequent use led this topic untouched and unspoken! Moreover there are so much Haram things going on that even if we really LOVE someone and if we try to tell a friend or to Parents, they'll think that we dont love him or her but its just an attraction and sometimes Parents even threaten their kids as if they do it again they're gonna stop giving them pocket money or theyre gonna retain them in home(espacially for sisters)! So the thing is that we have to develop some understanding with our Parents or if we are Parents then we have to listen to our kids and try to show them the right path without being hyper! Rest is with Allah! May Allah guide us all to the right way and May Allah make ways easy for us and that will only happen when we'll follow Quran and Sunnah!""

A very nice reminder a brother shared at this page....
Praise be to Allaah, we praise Him and seek His help. Whomever Allaah guides cannot be led astray, and whomever He leaves astray, cannot be guided. I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah alone, with no partner or associate, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Allaah has commanded all the believers to repent, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And all of you beg Allaah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” [al-Noor 24:31]

People may be divided into two types, those who repent and turn to Allaah, and those who do wrong; there is no third category. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed zaalimoon (wrong-doers, etc.).” [al-Hujuraat 49:11]. We are living in a time when many people have strayed far from the religion of Allah, and sin and immorality have become so widespread that there is no one who remains free from the taint of evil except for the one who is protected by Allaah.

However, Allaah will not allow but that His light should be perfected, thus many people have awoken from the slumber of negligence. They have become aware of their failure to fulfil their duties towards Allaah, have regretted their carelessness and sin, and so have started to move towards the beacon of repentance. Others have grown weary of this wretched life of misery, and so they are looking for a way out of darkness and into the Light.

But these people face many obstacles which they think stand between them and repentance, some of which exist within their own selves, and others in the world around them

If THEY can Submit, so can You

I AM A MOLVIE AND I TOO HAVE DESIRES…!
(Abu Jammaz)
(Join us on Facebook: Islamic Brothers)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Brothers and Sisters in Islam! Today I was thinking of sharing something which actually reflects our attitude towards religious figures... We all know that in this world only Prophets (A.S) are معصوم (innocent) from all kinds of iniquities, but when it comes to expectations, we look forward to every religious figure and expect for him to become an angel....! We expect them to be innocent from every flaw; we expect perfections, whereas we all know that they are also humans like us and can make mistakes… They too have longings and temptations. Satan whispers evil in their hearts too and sometimes they are overwhelmed by it…! Allah says thus:
يريد الله ان يخفف عنكم وخلق الانسان ضعيفا * النساء 28
"And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak."
This statement of Allah SWT is general and comprises of every human being, including religious men/women. Similarly Allah SWT says:
ويدع الانسان بالشر دعاءه بالخير وكان الانسان عجولا * الاسراء 11
And man supplicates for evil as he supplicates for good, and man is ever hasty.
We forget that even the greatest people on the face of the Earth made mistakes i.e. Sahabah R.A and some of them were even punished for that…! We do not think bad about them, as we all believe that they were human beings, they were best and whatever unwanted showed up was their human weakness which overwhelmed them…! What a strange thing, we consider them humans and at the same time consider our religious figures as angels and if they make some mistake, propagate to such an extent which devalues them in every eye and disregard everything they did good for the sake of Allah. ISNT IT UNFAIR???? People tend to find mistakes in scholars so that they can satisfy their inner conscience by saying that at least I’m not a hypocrite and do not do anything wrong while ornamenting beard on my face…! You must have heard people saying that I hate that religious man as once I saw him doing this and from that day I don’t like him and I don’t want to listen to what he says as he himself is not doing it…! Despite of all the good being spread, we forget and pick one small mistake and propagate and from that day forge a fallacious opinion about them….!!!! We were supposed to hide such weaknesses and especially of those people who are doing something for Islam with sincerity and endeavoring, because this would become a big hurdle in their way… It is our responsibility not to speak bad about religious scholars even if we know something heinous about them but as it would result in becoming a hurdle, we must keep silence and forbear… Allah SWT says:
ومن ستر مسلما ستره الله يوم القيامة * بخاري 2442
And whoever conceals any (fault of the) Muslim, Allah will conceal his on the day of Resurrection (in front of the whole world).
We must understand that by this attitude, how big hurdle we become in the path of these Preachers and Scholars and ultimately in the path of Dawah of Islam, because will not be moved by the message if they come to know the weakness of the Daa’I (preacher) persuading them to revert…!
May Allah show us the right path and lead us to the righteousness and make us a source of aid in his path in spite of making us a hurdle…! Ameen!

Assalaam U Alykum WR WB!

I often wonder, where did the wisdom go? Today I see people around me (including me) and I feel something is missing, something which can change the entire system at least! We have become followers! If someone says something, we believe without giving it a second thought.

We believe what we see, hear and are told! We do what we are told to do without knowing or thinking, it might be bad for us! Our parents taught us not to believe or trust anyone until you know him well but still why is it that we do not think before trusting anyone? Should we trust everyone? Should we trust those who are our enemies? Should we trust a small box in our homes? Where did the wisdom go?

We follow trends, fashion, and all the traditions but did we ever think are they acceptable? We ave a criteria, do these things fall in that criteria? Oh! Whats criteria? Did we ever know? Or is it the headache of masjid mullaans or scholars?

Its kind of funny that we chase those things which we can NEVER grab? I'll repeat, where did the wisdom go? Why is it that we admire the life style of those who are miserable, while we want to get out of "sakoon" to find "sakoon"! We are following the stars in the sea! We'll drown eventually but still we want to proceed, get going! Where is the wisdom? Can anyone tell me few things which snatched our wisdom from us and made us like Cattle as described by the Quran?

by Br. Abu Yusuf

There are many merits of Hayaa if one wants to know. Here are some just to list a few.

Allaah loves Hayaa. We know this by the following hadeeth:
"Surely Allaah (is One who) has hayaa and is the Protector. He loves hayaa and people who cover each others faults." [Bukhaaree]

Hayaa itself is a Greatness of Islaam as our Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) indicated:
"Every way of life has a innate character. The character of Islaam is hayaa." Or "Every deen has an innate character. The character of Islaam is modesty (hayaa)." [Abu Daawood]

Hayaa only brings good and nothing else. Our Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:
"Hayaa does not bring anything except good." [Bukhaaree]

Hayaa is a very clear indication of our eeman. As the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) had mentioned to the Ansar who was condemning is brother about being shy:
"Leave him, for Hayaa is (a part) of Faith." [Bukhaaree]

Last but not least, Hayaa leads us to PARADISE. As the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) told us:
"Hayaa comes from eeman; eeman leads to Paradise. Obscenity comes from antipathy; and antipathy leads to the fire." [Bukhaaree]

The actual word Hayaa is derived from Hayaat. This means life. It is only obvious that when someone has Hayaa in them, they will LIVE a life of Islaam. On the other hand if they do not have Hayaa they are living a life that is Dead "Islaamically" but alive according to this dunya.

The Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:

"Hayaa and Trustworthiness will be the first to go from this world; therefore keep asking Allaah for them." [Bayhaaqee]

In conclusion to this essay we must understand that Hayaa is important for both men and women. Men are to control themselves by getting married as young as possible or if they cannot afford that they should fast.

Women are told to conceal themselves so that the men will not be over taken by the whispers of shaitaan and will not disrespect or take advantage of the women. There are many verses in the Qur'aan that have clearly explained how we have to behave and Allaah is All-Knowing therefore He knew that we would face these problems living in this society, and that is no excuse to change Islaam and only practice what we feel is right. Allaah has told men how to guide their modesty and has told women how to guide their modesty. If either one of them refuse to follow the commandment of their Lord, may Allaah have mercy on them and may He guide them to the straight path.

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allaah is well acquainted with all that they do. 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 thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty..." [Soorah an-Noor (24):30-31]

Asalam o alaykum. Many people keep asking me why I always advise them to study about aqeedah issues and make aqeedah strong. So here is just one branch of aqeedah i am sharing and the benefit it can bring. Belief in Qadar (destiny). It might be long. But i dont care. You people have to read this if you want so many of your matters come to ease.

1- It is from completion of Eemaan and Eemaan is incomplete without it.
2- Security from Shirk. Many people who do not have a firm belief and knowledge about qadr, fall into idolatrous beliefs and even challenge Allah Almighty on some occassions like the bollywood kaafirs who make songs like "Tarap tarap ke is dil se ah nikalti rahi. Mujko saza di pyar ki. Aisa kia gunah kia?"
3- It allows humans referring their affairs to their Lord Allah. Because humans know that everything is according to Allah's destiy. They will turn to Him in times of difficulty to repel and remove it from them (by making dua), and they will attribute their times of good to Allah and know that it is a favor from Him. Hence knowing their status at all times and not to complain and be ungrateful in hard times and not to be proud when they do good.
4- Calamities become easier to deal with when humans know that they are ultimately from Allah as a test.
5- Attribution of worldly pleasures like wealth etc, to their true source prevents their attribution to their immediate providers. Hence one only bows to Allah, not to their bosses or masters.
6- Humans come to know their Lord and attain His nearness and come to know His wisdom through belief in Qadr. If they reflect on the creation and the incredible things occuring in it, they become aquainted with Allah's wisdom.

THE CHARACTER THAT BELIEF IN DIVINE DECREE (QADR) BUILDS:

1- A patient personality
Proper knowledge that whatever happens is by Allah's decree gives one the ability to patiently bear the most difficult of times. When things do not happen as planned, the person with strong aqeedah accepts that there must be Allah's wisdom in that and this thought saves him/her from so many depressions and diseases. There are so many cases in the west when one person loses a job or wealth or doesn't get married to a girl (especially Hindu foolish culture), they commit suicide.

2- A contended personality
Knowledge that whatever wealth is gathered was already written gives the individual a sense of contentment when he or she fails in their effort to gain more. The person with strong aqeedah is hence encouraged to strive to attain the best of the afterworld. Because he/she is in a contended state.

3- A stable personality
Belief in destiny also keeps one from falling into despair or from being consumed with regrets and daydreams about what might have been. It also makes a person stable in the sense that he/she will remain free from extremes of happiness that cause one to forget Allah and the extremes of sadness that cause the ignorant to lose hope and blame Allah.

So imagine my brothers & sisters, what person we will become if we get proper knowledge of aqeedah and about Allah and what is our reality. All our problems can be overcome if we become the personality mentioned above. Are u still not convinced we should build our aqeedah more and more strong?

Another Important point is Belief in destiny and having a strong aqeedah will also save us going from sooth sayers and peers and magicians and astrologers etc. Because we Know the Sift of Allah Almighty with firm heart. And that Sift (attribute) is "AL HAKEEM" (THE MOST WISE). So we know whatever Allah has decided for us has immense wisdom and we don't have to worry about what will happen or what shouldn't have happened. We just need to turn to Allah Almighty, the One in whose Hands all affairs are.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

There is a difference of opinion among scholars about the recitation of Fateha in funeral prayer...! In Makkah the appointed Imams are big scholars and they adopt opinion on the basis of their research and comparison of several evidences given by Salaf in the issues of discrepancy...! For example, Sheikh Sudais is a Ph.d Doctor in in Islamic Culture, similarly Sheikh Shuraim is also a big scholar, etc. They do not follow any Imam like Imam Abu Hanifa or anyone, they do Ijtehaad. by following I mean Taqleed. Therefore, which ever opinion they think to be the strongest, they accept it and follow it on the basis of Ijtehaad...!

Now lets see what is the diversity and which opinion is more closest to Quran and Hadith...!

Sheikh Saleh Al-Munajjid (H.A) stated:

Praise be to Allaah.

This report is of the highest degree of soundness. Imam Maalik narrated it in al-Muwatta’ (535) from Naafi’ from ‘Ibn ‘Umar, and this is what some of the scholars called al-silsilah al-dhahabiyyah (the golden chain), which is the soundest, or one of the soundest, of isnaads.

The wording is: It was narrated from Naafi’ that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar did not recite in the funeral prayer.

The meaning of the phrase “did not recite” is that he did not recite the Opening of the Book (al-Faatihah) or anything else. This is one of the well-known topics of dispute among the scholars. Some of them are of the view that it is a pillar or essential part of the funeral prayer, and others are of the view that it is not a pillar or even mustahabb. Others adopt a middle view and say that it is mustahabb but not obligatory.

This is the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) who said:

The scholars differed concerning recitation of Qur’aan in the funeral prayer. There are three views. It was said that it is not mustahabb under any circumstances, as is the view of Abu Haneefah and Maalik. And it was that it is obligatory to recite al-Faatihah, as is the view of some of the companions of al-Shaafa’i and Ahmad. And it was said that reciting al-Faatihah in the funeral prayer is Sunnah, but not reciting it and saying du’aa’ without reciting is permissible. This is the correct view. End quote.

Al-Fataawa al-Kubra’, 2/121

It seems – and true knowledge belongs to Allaah – that reciting al-Faatihah is a pillar or essential part of the funeral prayer. This comes under the general meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 714; Muslim, 595. Perhaps because Ibn ‘Umar held this view, Ibn ‘Abbaas used to recite it out loud sometimes, although the Sunnah is to recite it quietly, in order to demonstrate that it should be recited in the funeral prayer. He was asked about that and he said: “So that you will know that it is Sunnah.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1249.

His saying that it is Sunnah does not mean that it is mustahabb, rather what he means is that it was the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), i.e., the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite it.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Al-Faatihah is a pillar or essential part of the funeral prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book,” and the funeral prayer is a prayer, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies” [al-Tawbah 9:84]. So Allaah calls it a prayer (salaah). And Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) recited al-Faatihah in the funeral prayer, and said: “So that you will know that it is Sunnah.”

Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 5/401

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:

What is the ruling on reciting al-Faatihah in the funeral prayer?

He replied:

It is obligatory, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Pray as you have seen me praying.” And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.” Saheeh – agreed upon.

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 13/143

And Allaah knows best.

END QUOTES

In the light of this research presented by Sheikh Saleh Al-Munajjid, the opinion Ahlul-Hadith is closest to Quran & Sunnah, however, other opinions arent baseless either...!

And Allah knows best...!

I remember a scholar, his name was Mohammad Gondalwi. He belonged to Pakistan and was the teacher of Great Scholar Allama Ihsan Ilahi Zaheer Shaheed (R.A) what I wanted to say is, Allah had given him such a powerful memory that he used to say I do not read newspaper because when I do, all of it bears in my mind and is learnt by heart, so why should not I record something more beneficial which is Hadith of the Prophet [SAW]... So he stopped reading newspaper and put all his efforts in Hadith.... That is why some of the people also call him Imam...!

We must be knowing and learning more of Quran and Hadith than any other crap i.e. actors, movies, etc...!

May Allah show us the right path...! ameen!

by Br. Mugheerah Luqman