Islamic Information Blog Issue 8

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim

Assalamu Alaikum Brothers and Sisters,

I hope you are all well and that your families and your lives are good too.

Your Heart

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said
"Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart"
Volume 1, Book 2, Number 49: Sahih Bukhari

We must look after our hearts, it maybe a piece of flesh in the body, it might only be to push the blood around the body, but if that heart stops, the whole body stops too. Look around the world follows this religion, Allah will guide their heart. today and see how corrupted the world is becoming. Islam is full of peace, the ones who rightly

Allah says:
"Whoever believes in Allah - He will guide his heart." (Surah At-Taghabun (64:11))

Now I'm not going to say every Muslim is perfect, because we are not and we make mistakes too, but if we follow the Quran and the teachings of the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) we should be able to know right from wrong, what is good and what we should be forbidding.

Allah will question us on many topics on the Day of Judgement, and the heart is one of them as well, Allah says in the Quran:

"Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned"
(Surah Al-Isra (17:36))

We learn all the time

I may scare someone who reads this and my intention is not to scare, but to make you has well as myself realise that our lives are coming to an end when Allah wills and what good deeds have we got to show when we meet Allah? This is no joke and never has been, I used to be a Non-Muslim and if I were to read this back then, I wouldn't of believed any of it, but you read about Islam, you read the Quran, you read the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and you can see the signs of what is happening, though Allah knows best for when everything will come on this planet, but you can see the changes around you to understand that this is not the only life you will live. This life isn't a game where you can go party all night, drinking alcohol, doing drugs, Fear Allah! Fear Allah! Fear Allah!! For what you are doing now, could be worse in the next life.

Don't you just love the fact that this religion never gets boring, what do I mean? Well every single one of us will learn something new nearly every day, there is so much for us Muslims to read and learn, SubhanAllah, for the ones who say they know it all, don't believe them, because that is the talk of Satan, and plus not everything was revealed to us humans, we only know 99 names of Allah, but we don't know what other names Allah has, we may know how to say Alif, Lam, Meem (Surah al-Baqarah (2:1)) or Alif, Lam, Meem, Sad (Surah al-A'raf (7:1)) or Kaf, Ha, Ya, 'Ayn, Sad (Surah Maryam (19:1) in total there are 14 opening letters which come in different formats in 29 Surahs in the Quran, Allah never revealed what theses mean, there are people who say that it means _______ but how do we know it means that when it was never revealed to us? There is so much to learn, but ask yourself, have you read the whole of the Quran before? If you have then alhamdulillah you can read it again and again, if you haven't then alhamdulillah you have to read the whole Quran to understand your religion more, it is no good (has I will point again and again) to just call yourself a Muslim by name, we always have to do what is right and forbid what is wrong, how do we know what is right and wrong? By the word of Allah (Quran) and the teachings of the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Someone was talking in a group which I joined and the brother said that we are all destined for hell, why did the brother say this? How does he know that our lives are destined for hell? Mashallah an Uncle explained to him that no one knows apart from Allah what we are destined for, we can hope to be Muslims but could end up being a Non-Muslim and the same the other way round that a Non-Muslim could revert to Islam. This is a reason why we need to show prove to what we say, its no good to say that this is important or this is the Sunnah, without prove it's the Sunnah or says in the Quran, it could be something you made up and could lead us astray.

Keep your promises!

"O you who believer! Fulfill (all) contracts"
(Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:1))

"O you who believe! Why say you that which you do not? Grievously odious is it in the sight of
Allah that you say that which you do not."
(Surah Al-Saff (61-2-3))

We should never lie to our brothers and sisters has well as never lie to Non-Muslims, just because they do not believe in Islam doesn't mean that what you do to them, the rules do not apply and Allah will allow it, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't steal off our brothers and sisters but we can to Non-Muslims, that is not what Islam teaches, we shouldn't lie to anyone, we shouldn't steal off anyone, we shouldn't do anything that displeases Allah. The true Muslim will keep his promises faithfully. Breaking promises is a horrible sins that Allah (SWT) hates in his believing servants.

The Prophet (Pbuh) said:
"The signs of a hypocrite are three:
when he speaks, he lies;
when he makes a promise, he breaks it;
and when he is entusted with something, he betrays that trust"
Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 32

Who should we fear more?

Who should we fear more? Should we fear the country leaders because they have power? Should we fear gangs because in their numbers they could do so much or should we fear Allah? the differents between Allah and the humans that I talked about is that Allah has no limits and can do anything He pleases whereas humans like the so called leaders of the world have limits and can't do things of what Allah can do, though most humans think they are God, but they are as always all mouth but cant prove it, which clearly shows they are not God. No human should be feared, no matter even in a problem where you could be beaten up and hurt, don't fear them because they can only harm you has much as it's been written down. Allah can give life and cause death, He is the reason to why you are living today, why you have what you have, the clothes, the family, the food and drink, We need Allah to guide us more than Allah needs us, Allah doesn't need anything, has He as the power to do what He pleases. Has it says in the first Surah "It is You we worship, and You we seek for help" We should worship Allah and only Allah, we should love Allah more than anything, and fear Allah more than anything, if you are worried about that one person who could beat you up, I suggest you worry more about what will happen on the Day of Judgement.

Remembering Text

A brother taught me something very useful, and I would like to share with you all inshallah. We all read and sometimes we all forget what we have read, inshallah when you next find something that is useful and possibly could bring up again, write a note in the back of the book, so that inshallah when you need to go back to something inshallah you can read your notes and find the pages, personally that is a good idea, because there are times when I want to quote something, but I forget what book its from, inshallah I will use this idea too.

Allah is able to do all things (Quotes from the Quran)

"Say, "O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honour who You willand You humble whom You will.
In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent. You cause the night to enter the day, and You cause the day to enter the night; and You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give provision to whom You will without account [i.e., limit or measure]""
(Surah Ali 'Imran (3:26-27))

"If He wills, He can do away with you, O people, and bring others [in your place]. And ever is Allah competent to do that."
(Surah an-Nisa (4:133))

"[More precisely], is He [not best] who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you
rain from the sky, causing to grow thereby gardens of joyful beauty which you could not [otherwise] have grown the trees thereof?
Is He [not best] who made the earth a stable ground and placed within rivers and made for it
firmly set mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier?
Is He [not best] who reponds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and
makes you inheritors of the earth?
Is He [not best] who guides you through the darkness of the land and sea and who sends the
winds as good tidings before His Mercy?
Is He [not best] who begins creation and then repeats it and who provides for you from the
heaven and earth?"
Surah an-Naml (27:60-64))

JazakAllah for the support and until the next issue.
My love goes out to the whole Ummah, Your Brother in Islam

Was Salaam

Islamic Information Blog Issue 7

Assalamu Alaikum brothers and sisters of Islam.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

Malik's Muwatta, Book 3, Number 3.1.3
"If people knew what was in the adhan and the first row of the prayer and could only draw lots for it, they would draw lots. And if they knew what was in doing dhuhr early, they would race each other to it. And if they knew what was in ishaa and fajr, they would go to them even if they had to crawl."

Brothers and sisters, why do many of us sit right at the back of the masjid and end up in the last rows during prayers? Even when the masjid is empty why are you at the back? I understand that many have to go back to work, classes, but we are all finishing prayer at the same time aren't we? Like the above Hadith says If you knew the reward for praying in the front row. Well lets see what is the reward is

Muslims are urged to go early to the masjid to attend congregational Prayer and be in the first row in order to get great rewards.
Ibn `Umar quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
"The reward of salah (Prayer) performed in congregation outweighs that of salah performed individually by twenty-seven degrees"

Another mistake I see is that we as Muslims in prayers are doing bowing or prostrating before the Imam does, why are you doing this? Brothers and sisters, the one leading the prayer is the one we follow, you wait until the one at the front leading is it that position then you go into that position

Malik said, concerning someone who forgot and raised his head before the imam in ruku or sujud,

Malik's Muwatta, Book 3, Number 3.15.61
"The sunnah of that is to return to bowing or prostrating and not to wait for the imam to come up. What he has done is a mistake, because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The imam is appointed to be followed as a leader, so do not oppose him.' Abu Hurayra said, 'The one who raises his head and lowers it before the imam - his forelock is in
the hand of a shaytan.' "

Brothers and Sisters we should Praise Allah for giving you what you have, Praise Allah that you are on the straight path and inshallah working your way through life, doing good deeds and inshallah returning to Allah knowing that Allah will be pleased with the way you passed the tests you were given by Him, doing what is right and forbidding what is wrong. When was the last time you gave thanks to Allah for everything He has given you, what has He given you? Well look around you right now, your home, your family, the food and drink, the clothes you are wearing, the technology around you. Without Allah none of this would exist…not even you!

Even give Charity to the ones who need it, does it really hurt us to give 1 pound/1 euro/1 dollar a day to charity? Charity brings peace to our hearts knowing that the money we give will go to someone who really needs it - Alhamdulillah

"And the likeness of those who spend their wealth seeking Allah's Pleasure while they in their ownselves are sure and certain that Allah will reward them [for their spending in His Cause], is the likeness of a garden on a height; heavy rain falls on it and it doubles its yield of harvest. And if it does not receive heavy rain, light rain suffices it" (Quran 2:265)

Spend for the sake of Allah, remember doing this Allah will double it, if people knew the reward for spending in the sake of Allah, we would rush to do this more often has it says in the Quran

"If you lend to Allah a goodly loan [i.e. spend in Allah's Cause] He will double it for you, and will forgive you" (Quran 64:17)

Brothers and sisters there are so many ways to get rewards from Allah, so many! But how many
of us are really do this?

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 534
The Prophet said to his companions, "Is it difficult for any of you to recite one third of the Qur'an in one night?" This suggestion was difficult for them so they said, "Who among us has the power to do so, O Allah's Apostle?" Allah Apostle replied: " Allah (the) One, the Self-Sufficient Master Whom all creatures need.' (Surah Al-Ikhlas 112.1--to the End) is equal to one third of the Qur'an."

Read that again, one third of the Quran, Surah 112, do you know how lines there are for that surah? Let us read it now inshallah

Surah Al-Ikhlaas (The Sincerity) #112
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

1. Qul huwAllaahu Ahud,
Say He is Allah, the One and Only

2. Allaahus-Samad,
Allah the Eternal Refuge

3. Lam yalid, wa lam yuulad,
He neither begets nor is born

4. Walam yakunl-la-Huu kufu-wan ahad.
Nor is there to Him any equivalent

Brothers and sisters, that was known as one third of the Quran, subhanallah

Do lots and lots of Nafil prayers or any prayers that are not fard salah,

Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (pbuh) said:
"The first thing that the people will be called to account for on the Day of Resurrection will be the prayers. Our Lord will say to the angels although He knows better: 'Look into the salah of my servant to see if he observed it perfectly or been negligent in it. So if he observed it perfectly it will be recorded to his credit, but if he had been negligent in it in any way, Allah would say: See if My servant has any supererogatory prayers. Then if he has any supererogatory prayers, Allah would say: Make up the deficiency in My servant's obligatory prayer with his supererogatory prayers.' Thereafter all his actions will be examined in like manner" (Abu Dawud).

Still pray Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Ishaa no matter what, because theses are more important and as said above will be accounted for first on the Day of Resurrection, but doing theses extra prayers, wouldn't you want to be on the safe side? I will say again and again, this life is no joke and what we do and say are being recorded this very moment, nothing will get pass Allah, as Allah is All-Knowing.

Thank you for your support.

Your Brother in Islam

Was Salaam