Tazkiyyah

Whether you travel by foot or by bike, by bus or by car, by train or by plane, you should recite the du’a the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) taught us — because du’as are always for our protection.

This du’a, in particular, comes in handy these days, since so many people have to commute to school or work.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

Translation: In order that you may mount firmly on their backs, and then may remember the Favour of your Lord when you mount thereon, and say: “Glory to Him who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts). And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return!” [Surah Zukhruf, verse 13-14]

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:

1. An ongoing charity (aka sadaqah jariyah)

2. 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.

Abu Lahab:

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. He traveled to distant villages in search of the most authentic sayings of Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم). He would pray two raka’at before accepting a hadith. His mother named him Muhammad ibn Isma’il. And many of us know him today by the book he compiled, the book that stands after the Qur’an in authenticity: Saheeh Al-Imam Al-Bukhari!

From a lecture given at MIST Nationals 2006 by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi

Friday July 21st, 2006

“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. As we speak, we have a crisis going through our ummah. We all know, we don’t need to talk more about it, it is all over the news and everything. I know some of you won’t leave what you are doing, and I don’t expect you to, and I don’t want you to. This ummah needs the doctors, engineers, and lawyers. Not everyone in this ummah needs to be an ‘alim or scholar. And Allah (سبحانه وتعال) definitely doesn’t ask everyone to be a scholar. If you are not going to be a scholar, then you should at least know your religion. To me, I was ashamed that I knew so much about physics, chemistry, and mathematics compared to what I knew about my religion.

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)

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). Anything outside of this is invalid (and most likely involves falling into haram).

Allah (سبحانه وتعال) says in the Qur’an:

Translation: “So for him who gives in charity, fears Allah, and testifies to goodness, We shall facilitate for him the Path of good. As for him who is stingy and considers himself independent of Allah and rejects the goodness, We shall facilitate for him the Path to evil. What benefit will he get from his wealth, if he himself is doomed. Surely, it is for Us to give guidance, and surely, to Us belong the end and the beginning.” [92: 5-13]

We go through our entire lives looking for that perfect investment; whether it be our education, our jobs or our wealth. We put in so much time to gather information and to make sure that our investment will yield a satisfying return. In the end though, there is no certainty of the return on investment that we will gain, it could be 5%, 10%, or even -10%. We never know whether we will gain or lose from the investment that we make.

Why is interest evil?

Allah says in the Qur’an:

Translation: Those who devour usury will not stand except as stand one whom the Evil one by his touch Hath driven to madness. That is because they say: “Trade is like usury,” but Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. [Surah Baqarah, 2:275]