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.

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) Allah loves Muhajiruwn and Ansaar. Allah states (interpretation of the meaning) : “And [those Allah grants mercy on includes] the first to embrace Islam from the Muhajiruwn and the Ansaar, and those who followed them in goodness, beliefs and actions.

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! Love of Allah 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.

For those of you who regularly write Arabic (and, incidentally, you can generalize this to any language inshallah), you might look at your writing and say, “man, that is ugggggleeeeeee!” So how do you go about beautifying it? The key here is that you can recognize nice Arabic writing when you see it–and I don’t mean calligraphy. The solution is surprisingly simple. Grab a mushaf (or, if you have them, one of the three Medinah University Arabic books), Apply your observational skills, and you can easily inshallah detect a few clues on how to improve (or even how to write them!

This is the fourth part of our discussion on ways to achieving purification of our salaah. The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has said: ‘I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave, into two halves, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.’ “When the slave says “Ar-Rehman-nir-Raheem“, Allaah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, “My slave has extolled me.” “When the slave says, “Malikee Yawma Ddin“, Allaah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, “My slave has glorified me” or “My servant has related all matters to Me.

In Arabic, masculine plurals generally follow a couple of different patterns. Sometimes they acquire a waw-noon at the end (eg. muslim becomes muslimuwna)–these are called “sound plurals” (because the original word is still intact). Some acquire letters inside their form (eg. qalam becomes aqlaam)–these are called “broken plurals”. Feminine words, Allahu ‘alim, they also have sound and broken forms. One example of a sound feminine plural is muslimaat (plural of muslimah).

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].

The following is an excerpt from “Don’t be Sad” by Shaykh Aaidh ibn Abdullah Al-Qarni. Extract the Honey, but do not break the Hive 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.

Inshallah what follows is a small gem from the Qur’an about Maryam (عليها سلام), mother of ‘Isa (عليه سلام). At the end of Surah Tahrim, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says: وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ Translation: And Mary the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the Qanitiyn [Surah Tahrim, 66:12]

Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمالله) said: And mankind, with regard to their performance of prayer are in five levels: The First: The level of the one who is negligent and wrongs his soul: He is the one who falls short in performing wudoo properly, performing the prayer upon its time and within its specified limits, and in fulfilling its essential pillars. The Second: The one who guards his prayers upon their proper times and within their specified limits, fulfills their essential pillars and performs his wudoo with care.