General

There he stood. A grown man, towering to the sky. Broad shoulders, and so much pain in his eyes. I know it’s impossible, yet I could hear his heart sobbing. In reality though it was just the sound of my own pumping away. I stopped, asked, and what I was about to hear would break my heart in pieces. It’s a painful encounter I’ve heard over and over again of parents who’ve ‘lost’ their children for one reason or another to drugs, alcohol, fame, money, friends, etc.

There he stood. A grown man, towering to the sky. Broad shoulders, and so much pain in his eyes. I know it’s impossible, yet I could hear his heart sobbing. In reality though it was just the sound of my own pumping away. I stopped, asked, and what I was about to hear would break my heart in pieces. It’s a painful encounter I’ve heard over and over again of parents who’ve ‘lost’ their children for one reason or another to drugs, alcohol, fame, money, friends, etc.

Last week, we focus on the sunnah of making ablution and coming out of the washroom. Here is the sunnah for this week:

After the fard salahs:

• After slautation, say Allahu Akbar in loud voice
• Say “Astagfirullah” thrice in low voice
• Recite “Ayat Kursi”
• Read the morning and evening supplications after farjar and asar prayers (Another Link)
• Recite other Adhkars and Supplications
• Pray the two rakahs of ishraq after the fajar prayer (The Messenger of Allah [SAWS] said, “Whoever prays the dawn prayer (fajr) in a group and then sits and does dhikr until the sun rises, then prays two rakas, shall have the like of the reward of a hajj and an umra.”)

Tip of the Week:

Bismillah walhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam ‘ala rasool Allah

Here are ten ways to attain the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, as per Ibn al-Qayyim rahimuhallah:

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

Allah says, the meaning of which is: “Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah , they would have found within it much contradiction” [4:82]

Abu Barzah al-Aslami radi Allahu anhu reported that Allah’s Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “The two feet of the servant will not cease (from standing before Allah) on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about four things: on his life and how he spent it; on his knowledge and what he did with it; on his wealth and where he earned it and how he spent it; and on his body and in what way he utilized it.” [Saheeh, reported by At-Tirmidhi]

We live in a time where it is difficult to truly imagine ourselves being under anyone else’s control, even though we know our every breath, our every step, our every movement is fully controlled by the Creator of the heavens and the Earth. Nonetheless, we still find it difficult to imagine a day where freedom will be taken away, completely. Today, even under these ‘controlled’ environments, Allah has permitted freedom to mankind; we can speak, eat, see, walk, sit, touch, and listen as we please. However, in the Hereafter on the Day of Judgement, the freedom of mankind will indeed be taken away and the supremacy of Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala will be shown. On that Day, Allah will reign King over all the other so-called kings and humans, and He will control His environment in a matter that He wills. On that Day, we will not cease from standing until certain questions are answered.

Why not despair?

The Islamic meaning of sabr is to stop ourselves from despairing and panicking, to stop our tongues from complaining, and to stop our hands from striking our faces and tearing our clothes at times of grief and stress.

To have sabr is to first realize within your own heart that a) there is a god that exists b) that this god is worthy of all my worship c) that this god is indeed characterized by attributes of perfectness and majesty, which can only be ascribed to god and no other.

Asalamu ‘alaikum,

Time comes and goes; some people grow, some people remain exactly same throughout time.

وَالْعَصْرِ

By the Time!

إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ**_

_** Indeed! Mankind is in loss__

Thus, Allah makes clear that by the passing time man is in complete loss. Why? Because they don’t take heed, they don’t learn, they don’t listen, they go on doing what their hearts desire without thinking twice. They (in general) don’t ponder about the real purpose of their life; they (in general) cover reality with their false notions and desires.

Patience is active, not passive.

What does this mean? It mains patience doesn’t just “happen”. You must strive for it. You have to actively remind yourself and make yourself patient.

Also, remember that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tests you with what you are not patient with. If He (سبحانه وتعالى) tested you with things you already succeed at, how could you ever learn and grow?

For a classic example of patience, consult Surah Yusuf. In Yusuf (عليه سلام) is an excellent, excellent example of patience. Every test becomes increasingly more intense, and yet, you see Yusuf (عليه سلام) bearing with patience, through to the end. (I suggest you read it with tafseer from tafsir.com.)

In the first hadith in Sahih Bukhari, the messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.”¹ The majority scholarly opinion is that this hadith applies to all actions, natural or religious (read more about the distinction here).

Imagine that your time is water. Every day, you get 24 liters to use as you wish. You keep it in one giant metal bucket and carry it around with you. The bucket leaks–if you don’t pour your time into buckets and use it effectively, most of it will end up spilled on the ground, lost.

Each day, you pass by some plants, and you have to stop and water them, or they die–the big, thick bush of family. The tall, massive oak tree of Allah. The smaller tree of yourself. Each plant represents obligations you must pay. If you don’t water these plants, they dry up, wilt, and eventually die.