November 15, 2012

A guidance so few of us appreciate.......

Of late, I have been thinking about the lyrics of the Hindi movie songs, not that I am a Hindi movie freak though. Whatever it is, I find it extremely amazing how in the world do the Bollywood music directors manage to instill shirk in people so masterfully!

I mean, you just take the trouble to look into the lyrics of the songs. They contain direct invitations to shirk in love. They talk about a love affair between a guy and a girl, and how one becomes equal to god to the other!

Well, I don't blame them entirely, given the fact that they do not really know the Greatness of Allah. The concept of god that they have in Hinduism is pretty shallow. It is a god with which, at times, one gets so upset that they reject its authority in and of itself. It is ironical that according to their own admission these gods made of soil and metal do not posses any power to either harm or benefit. It should really need no nuclear science, since they themselves are created by their 'worshipers.'

So what is it really that blinds the logical human being from seeing the truth? Well, it is the blind following of their forefathers, to a certain degree. In other words, they are just not comfortable with the idea of departing from the worship of the lord of their ancestors to any being. However, primarily the problem is the veils of misguidance. Nevertheless, we do see people converting from Hinduism to Islam. How do you explain that?

In the first place, it is Allaah Who guides whosoever He wills. Secondly, Allaah would not guide anyone and everyone. Guidance is a precious gift. Who knows may be the person with the blessing of Islam might have been a very good person in their pre-Islamic period. Probably, Allaah chose to guide them taking their goodness into consideration, Allaah knows best.

Anyhow, our writing and speaking about these people in the public is not the only solution. We have to be the ones guiding them to the way of Allaah, and here I am referring to the guidance in which no divine intervention is present. The divine guidance that lightens the heart comes from Allaah only. You and I cannot say for example, 'I will guide such and such a person to Islam.' It would just be a big fat claim with no substance.

So if we are to make a difference as callers to Allah we have to force ourselves into doing two things. Firstly, we have to give non-Muslims and non-practicing Muslims constant reminders to understanding Islam. Secondly, we have to always keep making du'a for their guidance.

November 03, 2012

Reading the right!

Some people say reading is boring, others might even claim it to be passe. As for me, I do not know of any other activity that is more refreshing and enlightening than reading. Reading influences the way you think. Obviously I am referring to quality reading, not some airport novels that are found in the streets!

Read.Read.Read. More importantly, read good literature. When I am mentioning good literature I am, largely, talking about the classics. Read Dickens, Dickinson, Austen, Bronte sisters, Christie, Katherine Mansfield and the list continues.....

You might say, why would I read novels? Are they not a waste of time?

Well, a Muslim embraces the truth wherever he finds it. So if you learn a lesson from a book that is apparently not calling you to Islam but there is no kufr or shirk attached to it, wont you take it?

I often see people blowing things out of proportion concerning this issue of reading 'not-so-beneficial' books. Sure we have to acquire religious knowledge, but how does one acquire it in one go?

Give the poor brother/sister some time for themselves. You cannot expect everyone to become Imam Nawawi or Imam Malik overnight. It is from the characteristics of a normal human being to long for entertainment. And what better entertainment there is other than reading?

October 30, 2012

Allaah: The Knower of the Unseen

Sometimes I would read a few verses and then I would stop thinking what they meant. Tonight I was doing the same with surat an nahl. And after having read the first 17 verses I started thinking to myself about the fact that we have so many blessings in our life subhan Allah and asked myself the question ' can we really enumerate the blessings of Allaah?'

Lo and Behold! the exact next verse read- " And if you would count the graces of Allâh, never could you be able to count them. Truly! Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (verse-18)

Subhan Allaah He knew what I was thinking of. And obviously He knows everything in the hidden and everything in the apparent. So what do you think the next verse was?


"And Allâh knows what you conceal and what you reveal." (Verse-19)


October 18, 2012

bdnews24.com: News agency or blasphemy corp.?

An opinion on eid-ul azha (Qurbani eid) was posted on bdnews24.com recently. The author wrote some ridiculously blasphemous things which need to be rectified sooner rather than later. I think, we Muslims, should seriously be vocal about these things, otherwise this blasphemy could really take over. It is especially confusing to those of us who are not firmly established in the knowledge of Islam. Hence, we should raise our voice on a wider level. I mean, posting a blog post or a status on facebook is great and definitely nice for a start. But it is not enough.

So how do we go about it? Simple. Either stop reading and warn others about bdnews24.com or raise voice against the news agency.

However, this is not as simple an issue as you think. Let's face it, the media is one of the most powerful and dangerous means of communication. And it does not only provide you with information it also affects how you think. Worse yet, a large part of its trash goes into your brain and you start believing in pretty much everything it tries to sell you. The thing doesn't get that bad yet if it stops there. But it gets extremely bad when it starts affecting your religious belief or to say when it tries to teach you religion.

The problem at hand, therefore, is responsible news agencies publishing blasphemous stories to confuse the hell out of the 'confused lot'. Especially, in a 'Muslim' country such as Bangladesh this should, at any rate, not be tolerated and I speak WILL not be tolerated in sha Allah.

In doing so, we need to get, a sort of, conversation going on bdnews24.com page. Therefore, I need you to follow the link to that article and give your comment in sha Allah.


October 16, 2012

A message to B.

Missing someone. My heartbeat, my little boy.

He grew up in front of my very eyes, my little nephew.

He is, kind of, my Heart.

He is, somewhat, the smartest kid there is in my eyes.

I am not jealous of him knowing the fact that his grandmother, my mom, loves him more than me. Why because he is more beloved to me than myself (Of course after Rasulullah(as) )

You know I love you, you know you mean the world to me. I miss you. I haven't seen you in ages, I see you in my dreams and I cry out, wanting, to hug you and take you in my arms. But I know, now you are a big boy, at 12 ma sha Allah. You'd get annoyed saying 'mama I have grown up, please get of off me' :D

I see my youth in you, even though I know, someday, I might become a father in sha Allah (of course it happens after my marriage in sha Allah. Silly!) . But I know myself, hence I can tell you with conviction that none could take your place. I don't care if in the future my offspring, son or daughter, gets jealous of you, even though I believe they'll love you as much as I do; if not more.

My sweet nephew. You know how difficult it is for us without you? You are faraway from us, we cannot see you whenever we want to. Worse still, it is much more painful for us to think that you miss being with us. As you know very well, your happiness is all what we ask for.

Alhamdulillaah for everything and I apologize to my readers if I have upset them.

You know why I posted this? I posted this to let you know how much does this person mean to me. So if you benefit from any of my posts and you love me for that, please know that I'll want you to love him too and keep him in your prayers.

October 10, 2012

I'm a Chomskyan, hence I speak!

Noam Chomsky, the American linguist, has been talking a lot of sense lately. In fact, he has been talking sense for over a decade now, I suppose. I especially like the way he bashes the US policy. His uncompromising attitude is something needed in today’s world.

Time has changed. And with the winds of change, new government has come to power in the states. Namely, Obama administration. However, there has not been a departure from the way Chomsky speaks. In other words, one good thing about him, I find, is he does not change his stance be it Bush or Obama. Truth be told, there is basically no fundamental difference between Obama and Bush. If you really want to find one, you may find it in education.


Chomsky states concerning the US policy on Iran: “the Obama administration announced a readjustment of U.S. anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe. That led to a great deal of commentary and debate, which, as in the past, skilfully evaded the central issue. …The chance of Iran launching a missile attack, nuclear or not, is about at the level of an asteroid hitting the Earth -- unless, of course, the ruling clerics have a fanatic death wish and want to see Iran instantly incinerated.”



The US, if you look, is ready to take every kind of safety measures under the sky to protect their sovereignty. However, this is not referring to ‘physical’ safety measures a state takes for protection. But rather these measures are being taken to continue having the monopoly of the situation under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

Really, it does not take nuclear science to understand that the US does not give monkeys about fighting terrorism. In fact, you would find, by and large, the terrorising is done by the US and they are the primary source terrorism stems from.


Let’s bring in some examples from seerah here, to bring the point closer to home. If you look into history you would always find the hypocrites posing as the absolute model of truth and goodness. Abdullah ibn Salul, for example, was the leader of the hypocrites. Whenever prophet (s.) would stand on the podium he would get up and say ‘pay attention to the messenger of Allah.’ Why would someone do that? Is it not obvious that it is the messenger of Allaah? The irony is that by doing so Abdullah ibn salul had exposed his true nature of hypocrisy, because only a hypocrite would do that. In the same way, the US and its allies (The mastermind being the illegitimate state of Israel) would try to feed you everything, assuming, the rest of the world is a fool. Unfortunately, the rest of the world has been buying all this rubbish sold by the US.


I have worked in the media for a few months and I have practical experience as to how it functions. So I can tell you, with all my honesty, that CNN, BBC, al Jazeera, ABC these are all means of propaganda. And I suppose, I do not even have to give you this information you already know this in your mind but you still listen to their trash. Why because you think you are getting solid information. But the worst of all things is when you believe in something broadcasted in any of these channels, especially when it tells you of a Muslim to be a terrorist and a fanatic.

It is, indeed, your duty to verify the news given to you by the evildoer. How in the world do you accept news on face value? Of all things, newspapers and news channels are not the sources you blindly believe, because these sources are by their very nature infidels!

SO I leave you with your sense of judgment to take what you think best and leave what you think worst.

October 09, 2012

A little dawaah conversation on the road!

Even though my MA class was postponed tonight and at the beginning, I was exasperatingly annoyed with the fact, at the end I did manage to make the best use of my free time alhamdulillah. Not bragging here but I actually realized something very important tonight while I was talking to my non-Muslim classmate on our way back home. That is we often tend to let our 'preconceived notion' about a person come in the way of our dawaah. This is especially wrong because when you are having, say, a biased idea about a person you ignore a lot of things which if you were not biased you would have considered. Now, what if the person is everything you did not think them to be?

Simple yet a safe way to go about it is, just stop getting ideas. Start from the scratch and for sure you do not start with anything more important than the concept of oneness, not just any concept of oneness but the unique Islamic concept of oneness and monotheism. And why does it make sense? Why does Allaah get angry when we ascribe partners to Him? Everything. From the very beginning of it till the very end, explain the matter. Even though it is a very good ploy to start with Tawheed, a lot of times it is better to establish credibility before anything else. Because if you look into the life of the prophet(s.) you would see that when he actually started giving dawaah he already had his credibility firmly established.

I was saying I met this non-Muslim classmate tonight, you know these days I do not have to beat around the bush I just straight start talking about Islam or start giving him dawaah, that is to say. Why because I was able to establish a good foundation. Thus, our relationship became such that we could now talk about everything under the sky, so to speak.


Alhamdulillaah it was a positive conversation tonight and now let me see where it ends up in sha Allah! Please make du'a for him.

Allah Knows and I do not!

It so happens sometimes that you convince yourself into thinking you are not having high hopes concerning a matter. However, if you were really honest to yourself you would see that you were simply deceiving yourself. Because, when you do not get the thing you want you are upset and distraught. If your heart didn't long for the thing in the first place why would you be so upset? That is, because, deep down inside you wanted it badly. But when you do not find it coming your way, you are frustrated. Why am I saying all this? Why because I have been going through this in the last couple of days. At the beginning, I tell myself that I am not going to have high hopes this time as I have bitter experiences for doing so. Thus having this mindset I approach, and after things do not turn out as I want them to, I am miserable! I ASK Allah to give me patience and I ask Him to make me accept His qadr, even though at the beginning it always seems a bit difficult with practice it is possible in sha Allah. For Allaah does not give a burden to anyone beyond their ability.

October 06, 2012

The myth that the Great Wall of China Can be seen from space originated in 1754

And despite the fact that space travel wasn’t even considered a possibility yet, everyone believed the myth. But then again, it isn’t too hard to believe if you don’t think about it too much; the Great Wall of China is an overwhelmingly large structure that doesn’t have a lot of problems standing out from the surrounding greenery. It is 21,196 km long, and has been around since 7th century BC. The myth that the Wall’s magnificence can be seen from outer space is thought to have been created by the English antiquary William Stukekey in 1754. In a letter, Stuckeley wrote that, “This mightly wall of four score miles (Hadrian’s Wall) is only exceeded by the Chinese Wall, which makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe and may be discerned at the moon.” Through the years, many innocent fun-fact enthusiasts have uttered this myth with confidence. In fact, it even appeared in a 1932 Ripley’s Believe it or Not Strip. However, actual space exploration has confirmed that outer space isn’t the place to go if you want to see the Great Wall (my apologies to all the disappointed astronauts and aliens). Source: http://www.omg-facts.com/Other/The-myth-that-the-Great-Wall-of-China-ca/53625?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=first

Lessons from the short story 'After a Shadow' -TS Arthur

I just finished reading this short story by TS Arthur ‘After a Shadow’. And something in it hit me, real hard! You see, even though the story is somewhat subtle, it is yet profound in addressing this thing we have inside of us all. The self-deluded,that we are, into thinking we are smart enough and we can do everything for ourselves, we do not need a supreme power to have any kind of authority over our lives.

Anyhow, the story commences by portraying a scene on a bright June morning involving a little boy and his parents. So what happens in the scene is, the boy Arty runs after his shadow, confused, as to what it was that didn’t seem to leave his company. The boy was terribly scared with this fact and asked his father to look at it. The father obviously laughed it away and told his baby boy that it was only his shadow and it was nothing significant, everyone had a shadow and it was a commonplace.

The father, Mr. Mayflower then narrates that the ‘shadow lesson’ was soon forgotten by the time he reached the store, and thought entered business with its usual ardour. One of his clerks, then, comes to him and tells him of a Mr. B, who wants to make a bill of a thousand dollars. And even this interruption disturbs Mr. Mayflower and he thinks to himself ‘what were a new customer and a bill of a thousand dollars to me at that moment of time? I saw tens of thousands in prospective!’

Now, let’s stop here for a bit. What do we get from this attitude of Mr. Mayflower? We get nothing better than an arrogant little trader whose destruction was to come sooner rather than later or to say it was just around the corner. Wait a little to see how Allah destroys people who are so full of themselves.So as Mr. B… didn’t have much success with Mr. Mayflower he turns to another company for sending off his goods. Mr. Mayflower’s clerk informs him about it and he arrogantly says let him have whatever he wants and that he should not mind if any other company sells their service to him. Later that day, Mr. Mayflower asks one of his clerks whether the goods were sold to that new customer from Arton. The clerk replied in the affirmative. Then Mr. Mayflower asks about the amount of bill that was made by the customer. To his amazement and shock, the clerk replies – ‘Seventeen hundred dollars!’ To this, Mr. Mayflower, distraught, says to his clerk that he thought the customer was to buy only to the amount of a thousand dollars. The clerk says, ‘you went so easy on him that I encouraged him to buy; and the bill ran up more heavily than I was aware until the footing gave exact figures.’ After all this drama, the father, Mr. Mayflower keeps on reprimanding himself to the fact that he didn’t learn the lesson from his son, in the morning. He then goes,
I grow philosophic sometimes. Thought will, now and then, take up a passing incident, and extract the moral. But how little the wiser are we for moralizing! we look into the mirror of truth, and see ourselves--then turn away, and forget what manner of men we are. Better for us if it were not so; if we remembered the image that held our vision
I suppose, I should stop here and let you do the thinking. For value judgment, I reckon, is an individual thing. Every person is different and perceives things in a unique way. So, if you could provide me with your own interpretation of the story, please do!

September 17, 2012

Allaah is there, you just choose to believe or disbelieve in Him

It often occurs to me that the reality of this life, at the end of the day, is that there is nobody, who would really stay forever. Think about your loved ones, for example. Do you think they would be with you forever? You are a fool if you think so! They wouldn't. They would either expire or would just leave. This reminds us of an extremely important point which Allaah reiterates in the Qur'an, all the time. Yes, Allaah tells you that when there is no refuge, you'll get refuge under His shade. What does it teach us? It simply teaches us that no matter how smart and arrogant we have become we must rectify our heart and go back to Him before it is too late. Because you know my beloved, on the day of judgment your closest friend in this dunya will not be beside you to help you and take you out of your difficulty. He will be too busy with his own account and he will be too overwhelmed thinking how can he come out of this terrible situation. It is,truly,what I call a predicament. It is mentioned that a person will be ready to give the entire world in an attempt to avoid hellfire, but it will not be accepted from him. Allaah is now calling us to success, the door of repentance is open. However, if we are not taking this opportunity then we should really prepare for a grievous punishment.

July 30, 2012

Avoid overeating in Ramadan in sha Allah!

Assalamualaykum wa rahmatullaahi wb!!!!!!!!!!

:D

How are you doing everyone? How's your Ramadan been coming along in sha Allaah? Alhamdulillaah mine is okay. Gotta work a lot harder in sha Allah :*(

Anyway, I just thought I should remind you of the purpose of fasting. There are many but one of them is to fast. What do I mean? Yes, FAST!

What do we always do when we reach the sunset? We exhaust our stomach in iftar and in effect start dozing off in taraweeh salaah. Some scholar said there are two jihaad in Ramadan. One is when you fast in the day and the other is when you struggle to pray the night prayer. If we do not manage to win the former we'll definitely going to fail miserably in the latter.

April 30, 2012

BPL! Please do not humiliate us no more!

BANGLADESH! In the month of March this year, our country had organized a t20 tournament under the name of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Even though it came under the umbrella of entertainment it was done solely with the purpose of business. Thus, the amount of money wasted in the event was just insane!

On top of all that, we read in the newspapers that the overseas players as well as the local players who played in the tournament have not yet been given their total payment. How, on earth would they be able to establish credibility for a tournament such as this one if they do not even make the payment properly? such a disgrace!

Now, It might sound as if I'm a big fan of cricket, well not a big fan but a fan nonetheless. But I exclusively watch the games that involve Bangladesh in em. However, I'm not a fan of wasting money. The way Bangladesh Premier League started pleased many of us, now we have to really consider what have we gained from it? Did the pathetic situation of the country change?

There is no rule of law in the country and here we are wasting our money and time over foul play and overseas cricketers. The entire country is confused as to where they are headed in the future. The government is consistently failing to meet the needs of the people hence the effort to cover up its failure by feeding us BPL-like tournaments considering, of course, how cricket crazy a nation we are!

How funny it is to say that India started IPL therefore we also have to start BPL without considering what situation the majority of the people in Bangladesh are in. Pretty much the entire country goes hungry while in the capital millions of dollars are wasted only to serve a handful of the rich. Worse yet, local currency is going out with those hired overseas players only to increase the plight of the rural majority.

I'm in no way saying the game of cricket is haraam or something. But if this....is what you call a healthy alternative of an entertainment to stay away from falling into haraam then that's an irony.


It is an irony, you ignore your own people while prioritize others who were never your own. It is an irony, you say you hate India and yet take their way of life to be 'modern'. It is an irony, your tv channels are not shown on Indian channels and yet Hindi serials are your life and they are all you live for! It is an irony, you say you are 'Muslim' and yet enjoy seeing your 'Muslim' sisters as cheerleaders. Whats wrong with you oh people? Have you no sense of morality and judgment?

April 19, 2012

Reminders....

Today is my birthday, 20th April. It's another reminder to myself that I'm one step closer to death subhan Allaah! I can't even start to imagine how many years have I wasted in my life, oh Allaah please forgive me for I was ignorant, ameen.

It truly amazes me when I think about the reality of a human being. Subhan Allaah the example of this life is like a droplet of water in the vast ocean. We live for a very small period in this world and then we start for our journey to the hereafter.

The true life is in the hereafter, which has a beginning but no end. We all will meet at a place where the angels will slaughter death in the shape of a ram. From that point onwards, there will be no death. It is either eternal doom in the hellfire or eternal bliss in Paradise.

How, then, could we be so heedless of the reality?

Who will not die? Everyone of us shall die. There are no two opinions about the matter, even the atheists have imaan in the reality of death. Will you stil not prepare for it?

There is this famous story related to the topic. It's a story in the time of Muslim Caliph Harun ar Rasheed. He was looking for the biggest fool in the kingdom and decided that he would give a stick to that person as a reward. Anyway, the person named as the biggest fool was someone by the name of Bahlul.

Some years passed, the caliph was on his death bed. Bahlul arrived with his stick and asked the caliph as to where is he headed. The caliph said I'm going to the other life. So Bahlul said, "Oh Caliph. what have you prepared for it?" The caliph in reply said,"Nothing." Then Bahlul said, "Oh Amirul Mu'minin, when will you come back?" The caliph said, " Ya Bahlul, no one comes back from that world." Bahlul then said, "Oh Amirul Mu'minin, you take preparations for years into going for expeditions with your huge army which usually last for a day or two and now you are saying you'll go to the other world without any preparations?" Then Bahlul said something which should be written in the letters of gold. He said, "Ya Amirul Mu'minin, you are the biggest fool I have ever seen and you are most worthy of this stick so here you go take it from me!"

Truly, it is a story of great wisdom subhan Allaah. What have we prepared for the next life? We would not need to build huge mansion, wealth or a big army for that matter, we would just need to have righteous good deeds (in e.g. Salaah, zakah)and a proper belief. Do we have that? If not, then how will we save ourselves from the torment of Allaah?

One of the reasons for an evil end and then punishment in the grave is having a corrupt belief. So let us now in sha Allaah rectify our belief for the better.

On the 13th and 14th of this month I'd attended the course entitled 'The Final Rites' by Ustadh Bilal Ismail. Subhan Allaah it was a beautiful reminder of the reality of death. How we all will pass away one day and the way our shrouds will be washed, prayed over and finally buried. We all know this in our minds for a fact but we still runaway from it as we human beings are forgetful creatures like our Father Adam (as).

March 02, 2012

Hamza and the Lion of Allah

By Aber Kawas

There have been pictures and videos circulating for these past few nights of a boy whose face had been cut off in the unrelenting onslaught of Syrian violence. The despairing images of his jawless grimace, dripping with blood and his eyes full of pain have brought awareness, disgust, and outrage against the Syrian oppressors who have been mercilessly killing their people in an act of intimidation. Rivers of blood are running in the streets of Syria to quench Bashar Al Assad’s regime and their insatiable thirst for power.

The boy whose face has been seen by us all—his name is Hamza. He is my brother in Islam.

The name Hamza means ‘the one who is strong and steadfast’. It is the name of the Prophet’s ﷺ (peace be upon him) uncle radi allahu `anhu (may God be please with him) whose conversion brought strength, dignity, and most importantly safety to the Muslim ummah (community) during a time of oppression brought on by the Quraysh.

Hamza ibn Abd Al Muttalib was a fearless warrior, a man of integrity who fought vehemently against the makers of injustice, against those who used violence as intimidation against the Muslims for power centuries ago, just as today. His death and martyrdom brought peace to the Muslim nation; for the gruesome manner in which the Quraysh had dismantled his body when killed in the battle of Uhud, inspired a Qur’anic revelation to the Prophet ﷺ.

“Call mankind to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and sound advice, and reason with them in a well-mannered way. Indeed your Lord is well aware of those who have gone astray from His way, and He is well aware of those who are guided. And if you retaliate, let your retaliation be to the extent that you were afflicted, but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient; and be patient, yet your patience is only with the help of GOD, and do not sorrow for them, not distress yourself at what they devise. Indeed God is with those who are pious and those who are doers of good,” (Qur’an 16:125-128).

This ayah (verse, revelation) taught the Muslims to handle violence with mercy and patience, to never treat any human being, not even their enemies, with inhumanity no matter the circumstance—even in times of war. This is a lesson that the aggressors of today have ignored, as they continue to behave in a despicable manner against innocent civilians of their own lands.

Just as we felt our stomachs drop and could barely stand watching the images of Hamza sitting on a hospital bed helplessly and painfully waiting to die, upon seeing the corpse of Hamza on the battlefield of Uhud, the Prophet ﷺ also winced and could not stand the sight of his beloved uncle’s mutilated body.

Both the Hamza dominating our newsfeeds today, and the Hamza who has dominated the great stories of our past have been slaughtered in an appalling manner demonstrating the evil measures of their oppressors. However just as Hamza ibn Abd Al Muttalib’s death inspired peace and raised his rank and honor, we must do the same for our brother Hamza from today, who has also died in a fight for Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) a fight for freedom and justice, a fight for peace.

We must not let his death be in vain; we must speak out against the violence that he and his countrymen have endured, we must pray for their safety, and we must not ignore their cries.

May all of our brothers and sisters who have died in Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, and everywhere else while fighting for peace against oppression, find their peace in Jannah. May the blood that has charred their faces today turn into light on the day when the faces of their oppressors will be dark as ash. May Allah (swt) grant them victory and bring the nations they fought for to peace.

May our martyr Hamza one day meet his counterpart ‘The Chief of the Martyrs’ Hamza ibn Abd Al Muttalib. May they walk into Jannah together hand in hand, as our leaders, as the ones most deserving of al Firdous (the highest rank). For it is only fitting that they share this name, that this great martyr of our ummah today has been honored with the association of the greatest martyr of our history and past.

Bashar may be named Al Assad (the lion), but the young boy he brutally murdered is named after the Lion of Allah (swt)! May he be rewarded for the strength and steadfastness that his name upholds.

Verily it is to Allah (swt) that we belong, and to Him we will all return.


Source: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/society/international/hamza-and-the-lion-of-allah/

March 01, 2012

The Story Of Prophet Lut (as) in Our Time


By Hamda Adaweh

Bismillah

The story that I am going to share with you inshAllah relates to our time. In the western society, the Muslim youth are constantly exposed to haram relationships with the opposite gender. The characteristics of shame and modesty are barely encouraged in our society. Nowadays, the Muslim youth are also exposed to the idea of homosexuality. It has become so serious that even some states in America are considering same sex marriages. We as Muslims must learn from the lessons of the past in order to work towards a beautiful future, inshAllah.

Allah Subhaana wa Ta’alaa has sent us the Quraan that describes nations that came before us in order for mankind to reflect. In Surah Qamar ayahs 32-34, Allah Subhaana wa Ta’alaa says

And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember? The people of Lot denied the warning. Indeed, We sent upon them a storm of stones, except the family of Lot - We saved them before dawn. (Surah Al-Qamar 54:32-34)


We as Muslims must think about the nations that came before us. The stories of the Prophets should make us reflect. It gives us infinite wisdom and knowledge. Most importantly, it gives us better understanding of this beautiful deen.

The story of Prophet Lut alayhi saalam starts in the town of Sodom and he is the nephew of Prophet Ibrahim alayhi saalam. It is located in present day Jordan. The people of Sodom were very wealthy and they enjoyed the countless bounties that Allah subhaana wa ta’alaa decreed on them. However, they did not use these blessings in the way that Allah subhaanu wa ta’alaa would like. These people practiced homosexuality openly without any shame. They neglected their wives for the enjoyment of other men.

Allah Subhaana wa ta’alaa sent down Prophet Lut alayhi saalam to spread the message of Islam to his people and to advise them to abandon homosexuality. However, these men were blinded by desire and passion. They did not want to give up their desires. Instead, they mocked and ridiculed Prophet Lut alayhi saalam.

Just like the Prophets and messengers before him, Prophet Lut alayhi saalam patiently continued to advise his people and spread the message of Islam. No one listened to him.This saddened Prophet Lut alayhi saalam and he prayed that Allah Subhanaa wa Ta’alaa gives him victory against his people. In Surah Ankaboot Ayah 29, Allah subhanaa wa ta’alaa says

Indeed, you approach men and obstruct the road and commit in your meetings [every] evil. And the answer of his people was not but they said, "Bring us the punishment of Allah , if you should be of the truthful.” (Al-Ankabut 29:29)


One day, there were two travelers that needed a place to stay. These travelers happened to come to the town of Prophet Lut alayhi saalam. The first to see these travelers was one of Prophet Lut alayhi saalam’s daughters. She saw how beautiful these young men were. She immediately called her father and told him about the handsome looking travelers that came to town. Prophet Lut alayhi saalam tried to hint at the travelers to leave the town, but they refused. Prophet Lut alayhi saalam finally decided to let them come inside his home. Prophet Lut alayhi saalam’s wife sneaked out of the house in order to inform the people of the handsome travelers. Prophet Lut alayhi saalam’s wife was also a matchmaker for the men. It says in Surah Tahrim ayah 10, Allah Subhanaa wa ta’alaa says

Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said, "Enter the Fire with those who enter.” (Surah At-Tahrim 66:10)


The men of the town came to Prophet Lut alayhi saalam’s house and they started banging on the front door. They demanded to come and see the travelers. Imagine the situation that Prophet Lut alayhi saalam was going through?

He pleaded with his people by telling them to leave the visitors alone and to fear the punishment of Allah subhanaa wa ta’alaa. He even advised them seek sexual fulfillment with their wives because it is what Allah subhaana wa ta’alaa made lawful for them. Blinded by passion, they laughed at Prophet Lut alayhi saalam.

Seeing that Prophet Lut alayhi saalam was helpless, one of the travelers informed Prophet Lut alayhi saalam by saying “Do not be anxious or frightened, Lut for we are angels, and these people will not harm you."

Then, Angel Jibril threw some dust at the men. It caused them to become blind. The angels warned Prophet Lut to leave the town before sunrise without turning back. Prophet Lut alayhi saalam and his daughters left the town of Sodom and his wife was left behind.

Allah subhanaa wa ta’alaa had decreed that the town of Sodom should perish. Angel Jibril lifted the town of Sodom and raised it to the heavens. The town was literally flipped upside down. Everything and everybody was destroyed. This area is currently the Dead Sea.

My advice to the Muslims that are reading this article:

The concept of hijab is not just for women. The hijab goes for both genders. It means modesty and shyness. Dress modestly inside and outside your houses. Be always aware of covering your awrah in front of others. Shyness is one of the beautiful qualities a believer can have. It is extremely hard to find nowadays. We should always check ourselves and not let the shaytaan trick you. Homosexuality is not a sickness. It is a disease of the heart and May Allah subhanaa wa ta’alaa protect all of us from falling into the traps of shaytaan. Ameen.

I'd love to hear your views on this topic. Please post in the comments section below! :)

Source: http://www.habibihalaqas.org/2012/03/story-of-prophet-lut-as-in-our-time.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HabibiHalaqas+%28~*+Habibi+Halaqas+*~%29

February 23, 2012

An example of Brotherhood

Assalamualaykum wa rahmatullaahi wb my dear brothers & sisters in Islaam, I haven’t posted anything for a while. Partly because I didn’t have anything worth sharing with you, however; tonight I’m going to share with you something very important from the Medinan period of the life of our beloved prophet (sallalahu’alahywassalam).

I actually had attended an Al Kauthar course titled ‘The Victorious One’ on the Medina period of the prophet’s life ( peace be upon him) from January 29 to January 30 this year. It was really an enlightening experience indeed Al hamdulillah. Being able to learn the leadership qualities of our beloved prophet & his da’waah techniques have really benefitted me a great deal. I ask Allaah to bless myself & my brothers & sisters in it so that we can implement what we’ve learned from the course, amin.

It is always of benefit to test yourself on what you learn. Hence, any al Kauthar course you take, they assign you an exam after a few weeks of the course. So I just got assigned to take the exam recently via email. Hence I was preparing for the exam through listening to the audio lectures given by Sheikh Alaa elSayeed.

We get thousands of lessons throughout the life of the prophet (s.a.w). But alas how many of us really try & implement a single of those lessons? Worse yet, how many of us really know what lessons are hidden in the bio of the prophet?

As I listen to the lectures & at the same time read the notes I see a mountain filled with morals & wisdoms subhan Allaah. And I know it is an obligation for a Muslim to pass on the knowledge, even if it be a single verse as taught by our beloved prophet (s.a.w). Hence, I just wish I could share with you every bit of knowledge I learned in one go; if only it was possible!

However, I can in sha Allah promise you that I’ll try my best to convey the message as much as I can in this article. In addition, I’ll be coming up with more articles on this topic if required in sha Allah.

I now start seeking help from Allah(s.a.w) & I ask Him to accept it, amin.

Brotherhood


Brotherhood is something lost in our society; the last person you care about today is your brother. To make it worse, now you see brother killing his own brother into getting his property subhan Allaah! We definitely are living in a terrible time.

Whereas, look at the seerah & see how the Ansari men treated their Muhajirun brothers. The brotherhood established between these pairs was not idle talk. For example, Sa’ad bin Ar-Rabi’, an Ansaar, said to his fellow brother ‘Abdur Rahman ibn Awf, “ I’m the richest man among the Ansar. I am glad to share my property half and half with you. I have two wives, I am ready to divorce one & after the expiry of her iddah, you may marry her.”

But Abdur Rahman bin Awf was not prepared to accept anything; neither property nor home. So he blessed his brother & said: “Kindly direct me to the market so that I may make my fortune with my own hands,” And he did prosper & got married very shortly by his own labor.

Allahu Akbar! See how selfless these men were? An Ansar man could sacrifice everything for his paired Muhajir brother for the sake of Allaah & vice versa.

We get to learn several things from this hadith Al hamdulillaah. Firstly, we see how eager Sa’ad was to sacrifice his property & home for his brother, he even went to the extent of divorcing his wife so that ibn Awf could marry her after the completion of iddah.

And what does ibn Awf reply? Does he say ‘oh my brother, you are so nice & all.’? Or does he go to the other extreme of rebuking him by saying ‘how dare you insult me’? No wallahi! We are talking about the people of ithar (selflessness), people that lived with the prophet (s.a.w) & were graduates of the prophet’s mosque.

So what does he do? He blesses his brother with the best of manners & says ‘Barak’Allahu feeka ya akhi’(May Allaah bless you, my brother). And he asks Sa’ad to guide him to the marketplace so that he can make a fortune from his own hand.

Thus, we learn that it is in no way, shape or form acceptable to be a parasite, regardless how willing your brother is to provide for you.

And here the rubbish that we are, we stay at our brother’s place for hours after hours without even considering that he has his family to spend time with. On top of all that, we often are guilty of harming our brothers with our tongue.

It is reported in Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 10:

Narrated Abu Musa:
Some people asked Allah's Apostle (s.a.w), "Whose Islam is the best? i.e. (Who is a very good Muslim)?" He replied, "One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands."

January 30, 2012

Madeenah period of the life of Rasulullaah (s.a.w) Al Kauthar course 'The Victorious One'

Assalamualaykum wa rahmatullah my dear friends!

Haven't written for quite a long while now! How you all been doing in sha Allaah? I hope all of you are doing well & are in the best of your imaan by the grace of Almighty Allaah.

I actually didn't feel the need to write anything in all these days. However, only recently I attended this course 'The Victorious One' taught by Al Kauthar, the Madeenah period of the Prophet (s.a.w)'s life.

And al Hamdulillaah I got to learn quite a lot of stuff from the course. I only ask Allaah to accept it from me, ameen.


Today I wont be able to share a lot with you as I've very few minutes left before I run for maghrib salaah.

So let's just share with you some of the pears of wisdom I learned from the course in sha Allaah!

*Islam always wins but Muslims win or lose
* Never depend on the numbers of your soldiers but rather depend on the power of Allaah to give you victory.