Space: a black, velvety landscape. It stretches infinitely in every direction, a perfect paradox, an unconquered unknown. Stars, hundreds of thousands of stars—their light usually dimmed by the effects of pollution, electric lights, and daylight—glimmer like a quilt of fireflies, shimmering and twinkling. Even the space itself shimmers and dances with colour—here, a blue nebulae with ghostly-transparent particles. There, a shimmering cascade of yellows and browns and pinks and reds that dance and weave their way through space.

In the eight year after Hijrah (8AH), the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) and his companions conquered Mecca–without a single sword-swing. 10,000 Muslim warriors arrived at the gates, and the inhabitants of Mecca raised their arms in surrender. The norm during those days was that when a land is conquered, ALL its people are killed, and its women and children are taken as slaves and property. So when the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) conquered Mecca, the Meccans became frightened.

Death. It’s inevitable. It’s one of the certainties of life. No one denies it and no one can escape it. And once you’re dead, your good deeds stop. Except in the following ways: Abu Hurayrah (رضالله عنه) reported that Allah’s Messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “When a human being dies, all of his deeds are TERMINATED, except for three types: An ongoing charity (aka sadaqah jariyah) A knowledge (of Islam) from which others benefit,

During the 23 years of revelation, the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) had many supporters and opponents, including his two uncles–Abu Talib (the father of Ali (رضالله عنه)), and Abdul ‘Uzza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, aka Abu Lahab. Subhanallah, even within two uncles of the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم), we see great differences. Compare and constrast them: Abu Talib: Extended his protection to his nephew, the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم), even though the Quresh wanted to kill him Wrote strong, emotional poetry during the boycott of Mecca in order to move people towards nullifying it Commanded his sons to sleep in the Prophet’s (صلي الله عليه وسلم) bed at night, so that if any assassins came, the sons would die instead of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) The Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said regarding him: because of me, he will be in the lightest part of the Hellfire.

Many years ago in Uzbekistan, a baby boy was born blind. His Mother, the strong mu’minah that she was, did not lose sight of He who had the Power to cure him. She prayed and prayed for her son’s sight. And within a few years, the boy regained his eyes. She was widowed, the boy orphaned. She traveled with him to Makkah so that he could receive an Islamic education. She arranged for him to attend the circles of the scholars, and in those circles, he excelled in the science of hadith.

From a lecture given at MIST Nationals 2006 by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi Friday July 21st, 2006 Knowledge and Studying your Deen “I am here in front of you today, and if I were to choose again, I would go back and do the same thing and do religious studies. I can’t even remember what courses I took when I was at UH. My main motivation for choosing to do Islamic studies was that I realized I needed to do something for the ummah.

Umar Ibn Hubayra Al-Fazari was the governor of Iraq in the period of the Khilafa of Yazid Ibn Abdul-Malik of the Bani Umayyah. Hassan Ibn Yasar Al-Basri once came to the court of Umar Ibn Hubayra and said to him: “O Ibn Hubayra! Fear Allah when you obey Yazid, and do not fear Yazid when you obey Allah. Know that Allah will protect you from Yazid, but Yazid can not protect you from Allah (سبحانه وتعال)

Some points to ponder about Salah, Namaz, Prayer… Our purpose in life is to worship Allah. Prayer (Salah) is the manifestation of that. Without it, we have nothing. Prayer: Is the only commandment in Islam that came from Allah (سبحانه وتعال) to Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم) directly, without any angel in-between, in the journey of Isra Wal Miraj[1] Was originally legislated at 50 times per day (That just shows how important it is)[1] One of the last concerns of the dying Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم)[2] Time after time, mentioned in the Quran as the first requirement right after Faith in Allah (سبحانه وتعال) [3] Quran described as guidance for the ones who pray (right at the beginning of the book in Surah Baqarah) [4] Agreement between us and the Prophet, without prayer, is kufr[5] A person’s feet will not move on the Day of Judgement until he is questioned about the prayer.

The hypocrisy of Western Modern culture is amazing! We need to realize that Islam began as something strange, and will end as something strange, so we need not worry what people think of us; rather, we need to be people that respect and fear Allah (سبحانه وتعال), and the creation of Allah (the people) come second. Legal marriage age is 16? 18? but: It’s okay for 14-year-old teens to have sex , and their parents having no idea about it, and it’s with someone they may not approve of, and the person may not have their son or daughter’s best interest at heart.

For any action to be accepted by Allah (سبحانه وتعال), it has to meet two requirements: sincerity and conformity. Sincerity means that the action must be done purely to earn the pleasure of Allah, and not for other reasons (such as “because it’s cool” or “because my friends are doing it” or “so the community will love me”). Conformity means that the action must be done in conformity with Shari’ah, the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم).