Allah says, in Surah Al-An’aam:

Translation: And it is He Who produces gardens trellised and untrellised, and date­palms, and crops of different shape and taste (its fruits and its seeds) and olives, and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and different (in taste). Eat of their fruit when they ripen, but pay the due thereof (i.e. zakaah) on the day of its harvest, and waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not Al-Musrifun (those who waste by extravagance), [Surah Al-An’aam, verse 141]¹

The following is an explaination on zakaah as it applies to business. In short, it’s 2.5% of marketable items.

Narrated Samurah ibn Jundub: The Mesenger of Allah used to order us to pay the sadaqah (zakaah) on what (goods) we prepared for trade. [Abu Dawud 9/1557]¹

“Goods from what we prepared for trade” means business inventory. So if someone owns a clothing store full of leather jackets, they pay zakaah on all the jackets not sold after a year.

The following is a beautiful little speech by Shaykh Abdullah Adhami, entitled “A Wife”. Read it inshallah ta’ala and benefit from it. Props to Beautiful Islam for the original.

By getting married you are not just getting a wife, you are getting your whole world. From now until the rest of your days your wife will be your partner, your companion, and your best friend.She will share your moments, your days, and your years. She will share your joys and sorrows, your successes and failures, your dreams and your fears. When you are ill, she will take the best care of you; when you need help, she will do all she can for you.When you have a secret, she will keep it. When you need advice, she will give you the best advice. She will always be with you: when you wake up in the morning the first thing your eyes will see will be hers; during the day, she will be with you, if for a moment she is not with you by her physical body, she will be thinking of you, praying for you with all her heart, mind, and soul; when you go to sleep at night, the last thing your eyes will see will be her; and when you are asleep you will still see her in your dreams. In short, she will be your whole world and you will be her whole world.The best description that I personally have ever read describing the closeness of the spouses to each other is the Qur’anic verse which says: “they are your garments and you are their garments” [Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 187]¹.

Zakaah is paid on assets–things that bring in money. This is important, because it means zakaah is not on things you use–like your only car, or your house. More on that next post inshallah ta’ala.

There are three requirements before zakaah becomes due:

1. Islam: The person has to be Muslim. (Non-Muslims don’t pay zakaah.) We deduce this from the hadith of Mu’ad ibn Jabal (رضي الله عنه), who the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) sent to Yemen. He (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said to Mu’ad: “Invite the people to shahada, and if they accept it, tell them Allah has enjoined on them five daily prayers, and if they accept it, tell them he has enjoined Sadaqah (the word used in the Qur’an and Sunnah for zakaah) on their assets.” [Bukhari 2/24/573]¹
2. Nisaab: The asset in question–whether cash, land, cows, iPods, etc. has to reach a certain threshold, called nisaab.

Nisaab works like this: if you have a glass with a capacity of 500ml of water, you can fill it with 300ml, 400ml, 499ml of water, and nothing happens. But once you hit 500ml, it spills over. Like that, once you reach the nisaab, zakaah is due–but not before that.

3. Hawl: Hawl means a (lunar) year has passed. The person must have the assets for one year, and for the entire year. If the amount ever dips below the threshold, then the hawl restarts from when it reaches nisaab again.

So if hawl was hypothetically $1500, and you had it for eight months, then bought a $300 couch and dropped your savings to $1200, then cashed your paycheque two days later and brought it back up past $1500, the hawl would be due one year from the date you cashed the cheque. (Note: it is the Shafi’ee madhab specifically that states that the nisaab must be maintained throughout the year and restarts if it drops below the nisaab. Allah knows best about other opinions.)

(Note that there are two exceptions to the hawl:

1. Crops: Zakaah on crops is due at harvest time.
2. Buried Treasure: Zakaah is due immediately.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) give us a proper understanding of this pivotal second pillar of Islam. I suggest you read (and memorize) that hadith, it’s key to multiple aspects of zakaah fiqh.

While FIFA World Cup blares over TV, reports on the radio, articles in the paper, we see our friends, our family, our co-workers, all of them glued to this new world.

Here are eleven reasons to unglue them (and yourself!) inshallah ta’ala:

1. I will be questioned on the Day of Judgement about how I squandered and wasted my time.
2. Who are those guys running around like headless chickens kicking that ball? Why should they matter to me?
3. I still need to memorize the Qur’an or learn how to pray properly, so why am I watching FIFA instead?
4. I veg on the couch and consume large quantities of junk food during matches–but imagine how much exercise I could get if I played soccer half that much!
5. There are better ways to make the best use of our limited time, like sitting with family, discussing with friends, going for a walk, learning something new and useful, etc.
6. It keeps me distracted from the bigger things in life — getting rid of injustice oppressers have instilled, spreading the message of Islam (especially in light of the 17 arrests in Canada), etc.
7. I can start a business or an exciting new da’wa project and get as much fun (and more benefit!) out of that!
8. The time I spend watching is preventing me from giving others their due rights–like my parents.
9. I could be watching something beneficial (and minus the partly-dressed women during commercial breaks) like Foundations of Islamic Studies instead!
10. Death can strike at any moment, would I want to die with a bag of chips in one hand and “viva Portgual!” on my lips?
11. It promotes nationalism. (Pop quiz: what did the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) say about nationalism?)

And this applies to time-management (or mis-mangement) in general, and not just World Cup specifically.

Ilm Fruits is under heavy construction. (Hence the lack of posts.) Inshallah when it’s finished, it’ll be better then ever!In the mean-time, if you notice anything out of order–any broken links, broken images, anything like that, please drop a comment and let me know. Similarly, if you have any suggestions for improvement, drop a comment and let me know inshallah. That includes suggestions for upcoming content or awesome articles!

May Allah reward all your efforts and make the transition smooth and easy for us all. Don’t forget to make du’a for us inshallah!

What is Tawassul? Linguistically, it means that which brings you closer to an object. The Arabic is tawassul (توسّل) or wasiylah (وسيلة). Islamically, it means any good deed that brings you closer to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)–so every single good deed can be called tawassul–though scholars use it specifically to mean things that increase our chances of having our du’a accepted.

The Qur’an and Sunnah only sanction four types of tawassal (with a difference of opinion on the fifth). These are the only acceptable types of tawassul. They are:

Now that you know what barakah is, you might ask, how can one increase the barakah in his or her life? Aside from visiting the places with barakah, and making use of times with barakah, what else can you do?

The answer is very simple. If you want Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) to bless you, then do anything for the sake of Allah, upon the sunnah (methodology) of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم).

Thus every act can become a candidate for more barakah. Even things like going to work and shopping for food–properly done, with the right intention, can become something blessed. You’ll be more productive at work. The food you buy feeds you for a longer time. And so on.

Most of the ayat in the Qur’an that are directed to non-Muslims, are directed to mushrikeen–those who commit shirk. In fact, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) spells out, in painful detail, just how dangerous shirk is. Read and remember.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, in Surah Nisaa:

Translation: Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin. (Surah Nisaa, verse 48)¹

Scholars say: there are no major sins with tawbah, and there are no minor sins with repetiton.

What does that mean? The one who commits major sins and performs tawbah is forgiven; and the one who commits minor sins repeatedly is overcome by them, and they reach the level of major sins.

Ibn Mas’ud (رضي الله عنه) said: A believer treats a sin as if it is a mountain over his head that may fall on him any moment; whereas a dissolute person looks at it as a fly that hovers around his nose and he waves it away with his hand.¹