Islam

Light of Guidance is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Yasir Qadhi. The course focuses on three aspects: shirk, nifaq, and kufr. Dwelve into issues such as the three types of tawhid, the perfection of La Ilaha Illallah, fruits of eman, grave-worship, jinns, magic, atheism, intercession, and more!

• Aqeeda

Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light of Guidance. University of Toronto, Toronto. March 2006.

Getting further in our discussion on the means to attain the utmost purification in our salaah; one of the best ways is to realize that it may be our last salaah we offer to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). So the question is, how do you wanna go out?

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer.” (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from al-Suyooti that al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hassan)

Concerns of a med student:

Ahmed: I’ve been trying so hard to make it into that post med program.

Friend: Hey, what about meeting with Dr.Muneeb. Just go ask him what you need to get in, he is THE BEST doctor.

Ahmed: You think I havent already? I am practically following ALL his footsteps to the best to my ability … just sometimes I get concerned if I’m still going to make it or not … hope I can achieve all the marks I need before its too late. So I am just doing all the bonus projects as well …

Code of Scholars is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Muhammad Alshareef. The course teaches the basics of the science of Usool ul-Fiqh, derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah. What does haram mean? Who makes laws? What are the different types of fard actions? What Arabic keywords indicate something is haram? Students who succeed gain the ability to analyze contradicting fatawa and determine which are more correct islamically.

When someone dies, we say “inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon.” It means, roughly translated, “We belong to Allah and to Him we return.”

Inshallah here, we’ll do a brief (grammatical) dissection of the phrase, so you can understand the words better (and not mix them up / mispronounce them). If you hover your mouse over underlined words, you’ll see the Arabic inshallah.

Inna: Inna is really inna-na. The first part is “very”, the last part is “we”–but Arabs like to simplify, so they just write it as inna (with only two noons). It means “Indeed, we” or “verily, we”.

Continuing our discussion of the purification of salaah, one of the primary ways to gain khushoo’ is to prepare ahead of time! Try these authentic actions from the sunnah:

• Perform wudoo properly; start with bismillah and end with ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illallah wahdahu laa sharee ka lahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abdahu wa rasoolahu.

Rules of Engagement is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Muhammad ibn Faqih. The course teaches and emphasizes ethics, morality, rights, character attributes, and manners–everything from the rights of children before they’re born to the cause for the decline and destruction of socieities to the literally dozens of virtues one earns from sabr! The course focuses a lot on self-development, self-improvement, and dealing with others, as well as improving oneself.

Ok, so you parents have rights upon you while they live. Most of us know that. What about after they’ve left this life? Is it possible they might still have some rights due from you?

The answer is a resounding yes! Their rights, after they die, are:

1. Janaazah: That you (or someone in the community) washes their body, buries them, etc., and you pray their janaazah prayer with the community.
2. Istighfaar: Among the few surprise good deeds a person finds after they die are from a child who prays for them and seeks forgiveness for them. Provided they’re Muslim, of course–in the Qur’an, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) prohibited praying for dead non-Muslims.
3. Oaths: If they made any (halal) pledges or oaths, or if they wrote a will, fulfill it on their behalf.
4. Friends: Honour their friends. Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه), while riding his donkey, saw an old bedouin man walking. He got off his donkey, said salaam, gave the man his turban, his donkey, and his garment! People asked, why? He said, he used to be my father’s friend. Subhanallah! Visit their friends! Bring them gifts sometimes! The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to visit the friends of Khadija (رضي الله عنها), his first wife, after her death.
5. Kinship: Keep the ties of the womb (i.e. kinship) for the sake of our parents.

So fulfill their rights if you outlive them. May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) allow us to be a mercy for our parents and to earn his mercy through them, ameen!

We’ve all been there…You’re just chillin’, chatting on MSN with your buddies, and then you take a look at the time. Its 12:13am and you still haven’t prayed Isha. O mannn! You get off MSN, go make wudoo, and then perform your prayer. However, as we all know, our laziness and tired state takes over us, and this reflects in our prayer.

You finish praying at 12:17am and you find yourself in the same position you were no more than five mins ago, on MSN. This time, something doesn’t feel right. As you’re chatting, you feel your heart cringe, you feel your heart ache, as if you just committed a sin. I prayed Isha, why am I feeling this way? You think to yourself.

One day, the Prophet (peace be upon him) sat with his companions, early in the morning. He asked, “who among you is fasting this day?” Abu Bakr said “I am.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked, “who amongst you followed the funeral bier (i.e. a janaazah) today?” and Abu Bakr said “I have.” Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “who amongst you served food to the needy?” Abu Bakr said “I have.” Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “who amongst you visited a sick person today?” Again, Abu Bakr said “I have.”