Tazkiyyah

One of the diseases we experience in our culture is cheap talk. People say things all the time, whether they mean it or not. Worse, people lie as easily as they breathe–sometimes, even as often–and sometimes, under the guise of “just kidding!”

But is talk cheap? Let’s look at some evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah.

• Shahada: People enter Islam when they take the shahada–in other words, when they say certain words.
• Kufr: People leave Islam when they say words of disbelief.
• Marriage, Divorce, Slaves: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: Three things are serious if you’re serious, and serious if you’re joking: marriage, divorce, and freeing a slave. (The words matter, even if uttered without intention [1].)
• The Truthful: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, in a longer hadith: Truth leads to birr, and birr leads to Paradise. A person keeps speaking the truth until he is recorded with Allah as one of the truthful. [Bukhari]
• The Liars: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said in that same hadith: Lying leads to vice, and vice leads to Hellfire. A person keeps lying until he is recorded with Allah as a liar. [Bukhari]
• Hellfire: One of the sahaba asked the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم), “Will we be held accountable for what we say?” He said, “May your mother lose you! People will be flung face-down into the Hellfire on account of what their tongues sent before them!” [Tirmidhi]
• Hypocrites: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: the hypocrites have three traits. [One is] when he speaks, he lies. [Bukhari and Muslim] (I.e. words can become a reason for one to become a hypocrite.)

And these are a few small things that you probably already knew, some common ahadith we hear often enough. There are no doubt many, many more proofs.

Once a young man from the Muhajiruwn and a young man from the Ansaar quarreled. So the muhajirun called out for help stating: “O Muhajiruwn!” And the ansaari said: “O Ansaar!” The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) heard this and said: ”Is it with the call off jahiliyyah that you are calling out, and I am present amongst you!” (Bukhari)

Want to earn the love of Allah? Imagine! To be loved by the greatest, the self-sufficient, the lord of the universe! Who doesn’t want that? Read on inshallah and find out how to achieve that lofty goal!

Ibn al-Qaiyim (رحمالله) mentioned ten causes that result in Allah’s (سبحانه وتعالى) love for His slave and the slave’s love for his Lord. [These ten are:]

First, recite the Qur’an while pondering over its meanings and what is meant by it.

The word “du’a” is the verbal noun of the verb “da’a”, which means “to call out, to summon.”

With that said, du’a is a fundamental aspect of Islam, and without it, one’s eman cannot be intact. Allah mentions du’a in the Qur’an to signify many things, such as:

• Worship:

  وَلاَ تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَنْفَعُكَ وَلاَ يَضُرُّكَ

  Translation: “And do not call besides Allah that which will not harm you or benefit you…” [Surah Yunus, 10:106].

• Praise:

  يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ

  Read more…

The following is an excerpt from “Don’t be Sad” by Shaykh Aaidh ibn Abdullah Al-Qarni.

Everything that has gentleness within it is beautified, and whatever lacks it is spoiled. When you meet someone, giving them a bright smile and a kind word, you are displaying a characteristic of the truly successful person, a characteristic that even a bee exhibits. When a bee lands on a flower (doing so for a practical purpose) it does not destroy it, because Allah rewards gentleness with that which He does give for harshness. There are certain people whose personalities are like magnets , attracting everyone who is nearby, simply because they are loved for their gentle talk, their good manners, and their noble deeds.

By night, a city slicker patrols the streets. Seen but not seen, he’s just another face in the crowd, unnoticed with trendy glasses and the slickest new Nike running shoes. He breezes in and out through bars and clubs. He chills with his friends. And if she’s not mad, maybe he’ll call his girlfriend for a date. Just your ordinary homeboy or girl. No hijab, no beard. No one knows he or she is Muslim.

It rained today. And rained. And rained. And as I walked through the rain, I noticed three distinct types of ground: pavement, grass, and flooded grass.

As rain falls on the pavement, it streams off, making the surface slick and slippery, or else pools. Drainage systems handle large amounts of water, but those have their own cost. As for pools, what do they do? They erode away slowly at the pavement. Or, if it’s not winter, they form a mosquito breeding ground. Pavement is obviously a human-made artifact.

Getting further in our discussion on the means to attain the utmost purification in our salaah; one of the best ways is to realize that it may be our last salaah we offer to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). So the question is, how do you wanna go out?

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer.” (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from al-Suyooti that al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hassan)

Concerns of a med student:

Ahmed: I’ve been trying so hard to make it into that post med program.

Friend: Hey, what about meeting with Dr.Muneeb. Just go ask him what you need to get in, he is THE BEST doctor.

Ahmed: You think I havent already? I am practically following ALL his footsteps to the best to my ability … just sometimes I get concerned if I’m still going to make it or not … hope I can achieve all the marks I need before its too late. So I am just doing all the bonus projects as well …

Code of Scholars is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Muhammad Alshareef. The course teaches the basics of the science of Usool ul-Fiqh, derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah. What does haram mean? Who makes laws? What are the different types of fard actions? What Arabic keywords indicate something is haram? Students who succeed gain the ability to analyze contradicting fatawa and determine which are more correct islamically.