Bismillah.
This is a dua that I’ve been making a lot recently. I find it so comprehensive and complete. In sha Allah, it’ll be of immense benefit.
And those who say: “Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring the comfort of our eyes (i.e. those who please us immensely), and make us leaders for the pious.”
[AlFurqan:74]
Bismillah.
The Prophet [SAWS] said: “Surely, among the best of your days is Friday; so increase in invoking Allah’s prayer upon me during it, for your invocations for Allah’s prayer upon me will be displayed to me.“
So the companions [RA] asked: “O Messenger of Allah! How will our (invocation for Allah’s) Salaat (upon you) be displayed to you when you have disintegrated (i.e. your body turned to dust in the grave)?”
He replied, “Verily, Allaah azza wa jal has made forbidden for the earth (the consumption of) the bodies of the Prophets - may Allah’s prayer be upon them.”
[Sunan Abi Dawood]
Sending prayers on the Prophet [SAWS] - also known as Salawaat ala Rasool Allah or Durood shareef - is one of the greatest acts of worship. It’s a sign of emaan and an indicator of our love of the Prophet [SAWS]. Thus, It should be done regularly, and on Friday, it should be intensified.
Allah’s prayer is a sending down of blessings.
Such as our statement “Allahumma Salli ‘ala Muhammad“. The literal translation is “O Allah ‘pray’ on Muhammad”, but the meaning is “O Allah, send your peace and blessings on Muhammad”.
Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O you who believe! Send your blessings on him, and salute him with all respect.
[33:56]
None of you believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his son, and all people.
[Bukhari]
Whoever supplicates Allah to send salaat on me once, Allah will send salaat upon him ten times.
[Muslim]
Bismillah.
A truly amazing hadith of our beloved [SAWS].
May Allah [SWT] bless the person who made this video, ameen!
Bismillah.
Is it permissible for someone to show a photograph of a girl (with proper hijab) or a boy to a family for the purpose of marriage? Or is it preferrable to meet up personally?
This issue is intrinsically related to one’s position on photographs (which I’ve already elaborated on in a previous post).
In any case, in my humble opinion it is a very wise move to show a prospective suitor a photo of a girl he is interested in (and vice versa). There is no doubt that looks play a major role in deciding one’s life partner, therefore instead of a prospective couple meeting up and then one of them not liking the way the other looks (which will cause much embarrassment and hurt feelings) it is wiser to show a picture first. If the person wishes to proceed, fine, and if not, then not much damage has been done.
At this stage, I think it is wiser that a sister be wearing hijab in the photo, but as I elaborated in a previous post, it is allowed for her to be w/o hijab in front of prospective suitors.
And Allah knows best…
Yasir.
This is a very relevant issue to many brothers and sisters who are trying to get married. So in sha Allah, I hope this answer will help.
Bismillah.
The Mother of the Believers Aaishah [RA] said: I noticed that the Messenger of Allaah [SAWS] was not there and he had been with me in my bed. I found him prostrating, with his heels together and his toes turned towards the qiblah, and I heard him saying, “I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your forgiveness from Your punishment, and in You from You; I praise you and I cannot praise You enough.”
[Sahih - IslamQA]
Keeping the feet together is a sunnah of the Prophet [SAWS] that is proven from this hadith. So when we go into a sajdah, we should put our feet together while ensuring that the thighs and knees stay apart, like in this picture below:
Bismillah.
Rise and shine everyday by making the dua’ prescribed by Rasool Allah [SAWS] when waking up from sleep.
[Bukhari, Muslim]
Alhamdu lillaahil ladhi
Ahyaana ba’da maa amaatana
Wa ilayhin nushoor
Shukr (thankfulness) is by action. So, let’s be thankful to Allah [SWT] first thing in the morning that he gave us the opportunity to live another day.
Bismillah. I found the following very beneficial.
I wonder what would happen if we treated the Qur’an like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we travelled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go..hmm. Where is my Qur’an?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about the HOLY QUR’AAN being disconnected because ALLAH has already paid the bill well in advance.
Makes you stop and think “Where are my priorities?”
NO REJECTED calls (duas)!
NO FLAT EMAN BATTERY!!!! Always an Eman Rush!
Bismillah.
Why doesn’t the Qur’an affect me?
Why don’t I fear the punishment of hell-fire?
Why don’t I get scared after listening to the stories of the perished nations?
Why don’t I feel dismay at disobeying Allah?
Why does the Qur’an sound so distant, irrelevant and unpalatable to me?
Nay, but their hearts were covered over by what (sins) they earned.
[Al-Mutaffifeen: 14]
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, “It is because of doing one sin after another, until the heart becomes blind and dies.”
Qataadah also said, “It is because of doing one sin after another, one sin after another, until the heart dies and becomes black.”
Ibn Zayd said, “Their sins overcome their hearts until no good can get through to them.”
Mujaahid explained, “They used to consider the heart like a hand: when a person sins, his heart starts to scrunch up,” and he folded his little finger, “and when he does another sin,” he folded the next finger and continued until he had his fist clenched. “Then a seal is placed over it, and they used to say that this is the ‘covering’.”
Al-Bukhaari narrated from Abu Humayd al-Saa’idi (may Allaah be pleased with him), a description of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in which he said: “And when he sat in the final rak’ah, he put his left foot forward and held the other foot upright, and sat on his behind.”
Sitting mutawarrikan means sitting in the tashahhud as described above in the hadith found in Bukhari. For the visual learners:
So, sitting mutawarrikan is sitting in tashahhud as described above in the last rak’ah of prayer. This is the same for both genders. Unlike the normal method of sitting, the butt of the musalli (person who is praying) is on the ground and his/her left foot is snugged under his/her right shin.
This should be done in the final tashahhud if there are two tashahhuds in the prayer. But if the prayer has only one tashahhud, such as Fajr prayer or Sunnah prayers that are offered two by two, then one should sit muftarishan (i.e. the normal way).
So, in conclusion:
Fajr - Normal | Dhuhr/Zuhr - Mutawarrikan | Asr - Mutawarrikan |
Maghrib - Mutawarrikan | Isha - Mutawarrikan |
The sunnahs offered two-by-two (e.g. sunnah of Maghrib) - Normal
Bismillah.
For those striving to memorize the Qur’an, here is a great resource: VerseByVerseQuran.com.
It has MP3 files of many of the prominent Qur’ra of Qur’an, including Mishari ibn Rashid AlAfasy, Sh. AbdulBasit Abdul Samad, Sh. Ahmed ibn Ali AlAjmi, Imamul Qur’ra (and my personal favourite) Sh. Mohammad Khalil AlHusary amongst others!
All of there recitations of Qur’an are split ayah by ayah, so Surah Baqarah ayah 10 is 002010.mp3! Amazing!
Bismillah.
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
Allah! There is no ilah except Him, and thus in Allah should the believers put their trust.
[Taghabun:13]
Why should I trust Allah?
Thus, the believer (one who is certain of Allah’s exclusivity of worship) places his/her trust in Allah [SWT] and appoints Him [SWT] as his/her power of attorney.
So what should we do to develop trust in Allah [SWT]?
Bismillah
No time? Gotta run?
The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said in an authentic hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim, Al-Mufarridoon have surpassed all.
“Who are al-mufarridoon ya Rasul Allah?”, the companions asked.
He said [SAWS]: “Men who remember Allah much and women who mention Allah.”
Bismillah. We know that thanking Allah (shukr) is through action. So what are some actions that we can do to thank Allah [SWT]?
Narrated Abu Hurayrah [RA]
The Prophet [SAWS] said: He who does not thank Allah does not thank people.
[Abu Dawud]
In other words, whosoever does not thank people, has not thanked Allah.
Suppose someone did you a favor. Either you:
In the first three cases, you haven’t thanked Allah! Shukr is thanking Allah and then also thanking the person who helped you! This is because it was Allah [SWT] who made that person a means to facilitate whatever task you were doing. So, just say THANK YOU 
And if the person is Muslim, then you can take it a step further:
Bismillah.
Exams are here! Argh. Here’s something I’ve been trying recently to study for exams: studying for exams at the Masjid. Grab one of those small tables and a cushion to sit on, and you’re good to go. There are numerous benefits of studying at the Masjid over studying at the library or at home:
“The dua said between the adhan and the iqamah is not refused, therefore offer your duas at this time. “
[Ahmad, Abu Dawud]
That’s all I can think of. It’s a very interesting experiment, try it if you are a student. In sha Allah, it brings much benefit to the affairs of the dunya and the akhira.
…this family did:
On the evening of Monday March 31st a Somali family in Ottawa, Ontario lost their home in a fire. There were 7 children in the family, and as the mother tried to round them up to escape, the youngest became confused and ran in the opposite direction. He did not make it out of the fire, he was 2 and a half years old (named Khalid). The father was at work, checked in on his family half an hour before the fire, and came home to find his house burned to the ground.
It was an electrical fire and was not caused by any mistake on the family’s part. Everything in the house was lost!
Subhan Allah, most of us cannot even fathom what this family is going through right now. If reading about this family does not make your heart ache and does not force you into action, then there is a problem in your heart. Please:
وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ
The believing men and women are aulia (heart-felt supporters, close-knit friends, strong allies) of each other…
[AlTawbah:71]
“Whoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the Day of Judgment”
[Saheeh Muslim]
Bismillah.
‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported:
When Allah’s Messenger [SAWS] occupied himself in the prayer at night, he observed it with such a extended qiyam (posture of standing) until his feet were swollen.
‘A’ishah said: “Allah’s Messenger, you do this in spite of the fact that your earlier and latter sins have been forgiven for you?”
He [SAWS] replied: “‘A’ishah, should I not prove myself to be a thankful servant of Allah?”
[Muslim]
One of the lessons that we derive from this hadith is that shukr is by action. The Prophet [SAWS] stood up in prayer to show his thankfulness (shukr) to Allah [SWT]. He did an action (the prayer) to show his gratitude towards Allah.
Being thankful to Allah is not easy. It’s very easy to be heedless (ghafil), but very hard to be thankful. A dua to help us be thankful is:
[Abu Dawud]
(Hover your mouse over each line to see the translation) (more…)
Bismillah.
Are you looking to get closer to that special someone at the masjid or school, but just don’t know how to do it? Want to become closer to your teacher or mentor, but words just aren’t enough? Looking to make your parents’, siblings’ or spouse’s day? Do it the sunnah way:
The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, تهادوا، تحابوا, exchange gifts, as that will lead to increasing your love to one another.
[Bukhari]
A’ishah radi Allahu anha narrated that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam used to accept gifts and reward people for giving them.
[Bukhari]
Giving gifts is one way that we can become closer to our fellow muslims, and strengthen the bond between us. It is a great sunnah that we can revive, inshaAllah.
If someone does give you a gift, how should you respond?
The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, Whoever has a favour done for him and says ‘Jazaak Allahu khayran‘ has done his utmost to thank him.
[At-Tirmithi]
Bismillah.
One of the most beautiful set of verses in the Qur’an are the last 10 verses of Surah Al-e-Imran (surah no. 3). In these verses, Allah ta’ala discusses the qualities of Ulul Albaab, the people who possess understanding. It is also a sunnah of the Prophet [SAWS] to recite these verses when he would wake up from his sleep.
Ibn Abbas radi Allahu anhu narrates:
One night I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maymoonah, and said to myself, “I will watch the prayer of Allah’s Apostle.” My aunt placed a cushion for Allah’s Apostle and he slept on it in its length-wise direction and woke-up rubbing the traces of sleep off his face and then he recited the last ten verses of Surah Al-e-Imran till he finished it. Then he went to a hanging water skin and took it, performed the ablution and then stood up to offer the prayer.
[Full hadith found in saheeh Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
To listen and read the verses with translation, click here.
Bismillah.
This is just an amazing video. Makes me realize the power of the kalimah, a true emanrush. It’s amazing how Allah [SWT] opens up the hearts of those who seek Islam sincerely.
Bismillah.
“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that will make for greater purity for them. Indeed Allah is totally acquainted with all the crafty ways that they construct to disobey Allah.”
[An-Noor 24:30]
