Tazkiyyah

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to make a du’a: اللّهُمَّ إنِّي أعُوذُبِكَ مِن العَجزِ وَ الكَسلٍTransliteration: Allahumma inniy a’oothubika min al-ajzi wal-kasli Translation: O Allah, I seek refuge in you from incapability and laziness. Why is this du’a important? For two reasons: Laziness is an attribute of munafiqeen. If this wasn’t bad enough, being lazy leads to procrastination, which leads to its own set of problems.

There’s a beautiful du’a that Allah mentions near the end of Surah Baqarah: وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا Translation: So do ‘affuw on us. And forgive us. And have mercy on us. [Surah Baqarah, verse 286] Allah mentions three things, in order: ‘Affuw ‘annaa: Affuw linguistically means to erase something; to obliterate something; to completely destroy something and leave no traces of it whatsoever. This du’a is saying: make affuw of our sins.

How would you like to give sadaqa? You might say “sure, I’d like to do it–but I have no money!” What if I told you there’s a way to give sadaqa that doesn’t require money? That, in fact, you could even out-class the rich people in their sadaqa! All it takes is a little time and effort! Would you be interested? One of the things the companions used to do is compete with each other in good deeds.

In a report by Abdullah bin `Amr bin `Aas (radiallahu ‘anhu), he related that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah with her daughter. On the daughter’s wrist were two heavy gold bracelets. The Messenger asked her, “Do you pay Zakaat on this?” She replied, “No.” The Messenger said: “Would it please you that Allah will encircle you with two bracelets of fire?” The reporter commented that she took them off and threw them down in front of the Messenger, and said: “They are for Allah and his Messenger.

Bismillah. We all know that we should pray tahajjud, aka qiyaam-ul-layl. It’s well established in the deen that this is a very, very rewarding thing to do (but it’s not fard, so don’t sweat it if you’re not doing it). Some motivational factors for this include: The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) used to pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl until his legs swelled. When asked why–since Allah has forgiven all his past and future sins, he said: Should I not be a grateful slave?

Below is some naseeha from our brother, Sa’ad Gaya. Sa’ad was one of those 18 individuals thrown in jail as part of the “Toronto 18 terrorist plot.” Despite evidence that the entire plot was spurred by a CSIS mole, despite an increasing lack of any credible evidence, several of these 18 brothers are still languishing in a jail cell. My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I write these words not as one who has any superiority over you , whether in knowledge or deeds.

Bismillah. Why did Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) create seasons? All of this–snow, leaves changing, hot summer days and freezing winter nights. In some countries–like Canada, and the US–you have places where Isha time starts around 11pm, or 12am (midnight), and Fajr starts arond 2-3am! You also have days where Isha starts at 6pm, and Fajr starts around 7am. What can we learn from this? The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) gives this away when he narrates: “Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) made the night short so you can pray, and the day short so you can fast.

The news is out. Its a BIG one. Media won’t broadcast it. People wouldn’t talk about it. The most deadly serial killer is out after a month of imprisonment. He is back to take the revenge. He could in in your neighbourhood right now. To make it worse, he could be in your house with you eating and drinking right now! He is very dedicated, clever, motivated and doesn’t leave behind any traces!

Zaid: As-Salamu ‘Alykum Abdur-Rahmaan: Wa-Alykum As-salam…..how was your volunteer experience at the seminar? Zaid: Alhumdullilah. But…. I worked so hard for this event but no one came to me and said any thanks or any words of appreciation! Abdur-Rahmaan: Perhaps if you niyyah was correct, you wouldn’t be thinking like that. If only you were doing it sincerely for the sake of Allah and expecting reward only from Him. I think you need to see a heart specialist and get some x-rays!

Bismillah. Alhamdulillah, we now know what hamd means, let’s move on to tasbeeh! Tasbeeh means to say subhanAllah just as tahmeed means to say alhamdulillah. Tasbeeh is comprised of two words: Subhan and Allah: سبحان الله Subhan which is derived from tasbeeh is from seen-ba-ha (س-ب-ح) and it means to glorify, praise, magnify, extol Allah, by tongue or by heart. It includes: 1-To say He has no flaw in His Perfection Far above any imperfection