In the pursuit of knowledge

Assalamu alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I seek the help of Allah and ask for His forgiveness for any sins I have committed, will comit in the course of writing this blog and afterwards inshaallah. I hope you are all doing well. Just been reflecting a little bit and what I discovered even though I was certain of it, is that the promise of Allah (SWT) is true. If we all reflect enough we would find evidence for this promise in our lives. How often have we done something for the pleasure of Allah (SWT) e.g. given to charity and something happens afterwards (perhaps not on the same day or week) wereby Allah has given us more than we initially gave to charity. Even if we think there is no physical evidence that Allah has given us something greater for it in this world we have a feeling of joy and contentment which we want to continue. Also be rest assured that inshallah it has been written for us and it might be what tips the balance in our favour on a day when we all need the m

Assalam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I hope this email meets you in the best of health and eeman. I have been clearing up the contact list on my phone. Over the years you accumulate numbers aplenty. Some numbers you don't remember who owns them or what circumstance you came to meet them. Others you discover you haven't spoken to in two, three or more years. Your mind get drawn to the memories and shared adventures. You wonder what they are up to. So I began by emailing one such sister who I haven't been in touch with since 2006 at most. Subhanallah I received a reply immediately, she remembered me and my heart filled with joy that she was ok. She informed me of her lucky escape when the building she worked in was destroyed. Subhanallah. When I started uni as an undergrad (2002) I met a family at jumuah prayers on my very first day. They welcomed me and promised my mum to look after me. I was usually invited to their house for dinner and struck up a strong friendship

Assalam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, Subhanallah we are already in mid November, the year has flown by so so quickly. A lot has happened both in our little world and the world at large. I am sure we have all experienced times of joy, excitement and dissapointment. Hope we have all been able to dig deep into our pool of eeman at all times of changing situations and emotions. During the times of joy and success we remembered to thank Allah for His kindness and mercy on us. We remembered that we would have to account to Him alone on how we used all the things we have been blessed with. When dissapointments strike we are assured that Allah would see us through, we turn our faces towards Him and seek His help through dua and patience. We keep our tongues moist with His remembrance and we look at those who are in a worse position so that we remain grateful and not sinful. What does the year ahead hold? No one knows except Allah (subhannallah watahala). We plan, we pray and we h

Assalamu alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I hope you have all been in the best of eeman and health. I cannot belief the last time I blogged was before ramadhan. How time flies? I hope you all had a successful ramadhan, filled with the reading of the Qur'an, reduction in gossip and back biting and performing lots of tahajjud. May Allah accept from us all our acts of ibadah. Ameen. So have we all come down from our ramadhan high? When we worked hard to try to be so close to our Lord our eeman was high or have we tried inshaallah to keep our eeman at that level. The eeman naturally increases and decreases but what we have to ensure is that it does not dip below a level which would take us away from the fold of Islam. So we keep our five daily salah, and keep our tongues moist with the remembrance of Allah (subhanallah watahala). We try to remember the favours Allah (subhanallah watahala) bestowed upon us and this should inshaallah help to increase our eeman. Also try to plea

Assalam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I pray that you are all in the best of health and eeman. Sorry it has been a while. Alhamdulilah. I attended a programme recently entitled "Are you well fed?" It was about being a well rounded muslimah who strives to achieve a balance in all aspects of her life, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. While at this programme I discovered that i really was in need of eeman topup (stole that expression from my sister). Following on from this programme I spoke to another sister friend of mine (the first time we met was at an islamic course) and we both chastised ourselves for neglecting our islamic education, sisterhood and eeman topup. Although we all strive to keep up with our 5 daily salah we need reminders which refreshes our knowledge of our Lord, Allah (subhanallah watahalah) and the deen of islam, thereby focusing our minds on the aakirah and make sure we do not get swept away in the sea of the dunya. So if we

Assalam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I pray this email meets you in the best of health and eeman. I pray Allah (subhanallah watahala) continues to assist us all in our affairs and make our path easy for us. Ameen.  O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded. (Q66vs6). The path to protecting yourself and your family does not always run smoothly but it is a constant struggle. A nd those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good. (Q29vs69) The acts of ibadah which we have been obligated to perform is for our own self as stated in the Quran: ...And whatever good you put forward for yourselves (i.e. salah, sadaqah, zakat, fasting and hajj) - you will find it with Allah . It is better and greater in reward. And seek f

Assalam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I pray this post meets you in the best of health and eeman. I am reading a book at the moment called " Be Steadfast". In it there are a list of conditions of La ilaaha illa Allah. Inshaallah I will try to summarise oner of the conditions which I think is very important. Al-Yakeen (certainty) Certainty is the absence of doubt or uncertainty. We have to be certain of the shahadah we make as Muslims and any doubt with regards to Islam can be equivalent to disbelief. The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then doubt not but strive with their properties and their lives in the cause of Allah . It is those who are the truthful.  Q49 vs 15 "No one meets Allah with the testimony that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah, and he has no doubt about that statement, except that he will enter Paradise." (Muslim) The absence of Yakeen (therefore the

Salam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I pray this email meets you in the best of health and eeman. The news recently has been filled with very terrible things, mainly the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I pray Allah (subhanallah watahala) forgives us our sins and continues to protect us all. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “How wonderful is the situation of the believer, for all his affairs are good. If something good happens to him, he gives thanks for it and that is good for him; if something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience, and that is good for him.” Narrated by Muslim (2999). 

Assalam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I hope you are all in the best of eeman and health. Alhamdulilah for all of the gifts which Allah (subhanallah watahala) has bestowed upon us. This morning I was just thinking of some of the books that I haven't read in a while or haven't touched at all since I purchased them. When we are trying to get to know a subject or to know it better we start borrowing or buying the necessary books. After sometime the books become redundant. We don't go back to it to refresh our memories or knowledge. With regards to religious books some of the main reasons we buy them is to improve in our deen or to make sure our children can have a reference point for their deen and answers to the questions which they may ask. If we as parents, aunts and uncles don't read or refresh our memory (or knowledge) from these books how are we to encourage the little ones to pick up the books which would provide them with knowledge of their creator, prop

As salam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I hope you are all doing well. Alhamdulilah we just completed the tafsir of suratul Baqarah and I was going through my notes and came across a little section of patience. Insha’Allah I want to share what I learnt with you. O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. (Q2vs153) Patience can be divided into two main parts: 1.       Patience of evil A person does evil knowing that it will bring the punishment of Allah (subhanallah watahala) but he still carries on with it. T hose are the ones who have exchanged guidance for error and forgiveness for punishment. How patient they are in pursuit of the Fire! (Q2vs175) 2.       Patience on what is beneficial This can be subcategorised into the following: i)         Patience on al Ma’ruf i.e. being patient on what Allah (subhanallah watahala) has commanded us. Despite the difficulty associated with maintaining the five daily salah, fasting,

Salam alaykum waramatullah wabarakatuhu, I pray this post meets you in the best of health and eeman. Alhamdulilah there were very good contributions made to the last post. I pray Allah continues to increase us in eeman and knowledge. Ameen. One of the pillars of eeman is to believe in Allah, which requires belief in the Names and attributes of Allah (subhanallah watahala). This requires having a good understanding of the names not just the direct translations. Al Haleem is a Name of Allah (subhanallah watahala) which is usually translated as "the forbearing". It is from the word "Hulum" which means tolerance and al Haleem means "the one who delays the punishment". Perhaps it can be understood with this statement: Allah (subhanallah watahala) gave life to man, nourishes him, gave him all he needs to grow and develop. Man disobeys. Allah (subhanallah watahala) sent messengers and books to guide him and he still denies the existence of God. Inste

Salam alaykum, It has been a little while. I hope this post meets you in the best of health and eeman. I have been thinking of what to write in a while. I started a topic on humility but I haven't gotten round to completing it. If you have anything on that or any other thing please do post your ideas and comments.  I settled on hope and change. You might be thinking that how is hope related to change but here goes my thinking. Change is unavoidable, we see it everyday, month or year as we look at ourselves in the mirror, hear of a birth, a death or marriage. Change is also visible with the change in the seasons. We are both excited and fearful of change. We hope the change brings something of joy with it. We worry that we might not be able to handle the change or the consequences of it. This is were hope comes into its own. We hope and pray that it is for the best and we are patient on that. As we grow old and become responsible and accountable for our deeds, we try to do

Salam alaykum, We are all fearful and sometimes we don't know what we are scared of. Some of us are fearful of spiders, being unpopular, failure or poverty. Sometimes fear is not a bad thing, it could be used as a positive energy to achieve what was thought impossible. In the present economic climate most people are fearful of loosing their jobs and the consequence of that. If we think a bit deeper about fear we might realise that fear illustrates how powerless we are as human beings because if we know it all or are powerful surely we should be able to fix things to ensure that there are no surprises therefore nothing to fear. Uncertainty and fear should inshaallah draw us closer to our lord due to our complete trust in Him, knowing that whatever surprises lurk around the corner inshaallah with the help of Allah (subhanallah watahala) we will pull through and overcome. I pray Allah eases our worries and our fears and let us be of those who remember Him always. Ameen. Jazaka

Salam alaykum, People have blogs for a variety of reasons but I think it could also be a source of learning. I greatly admire people who write because I find it difficult to sometimes put what is on my mind to paper. I am not a scholar (obviously) therefore the blog cannot be about teaching but as a student perhaps this blog could be about learning, enjoining each other to what is good and assisting each other to refrain from what Allah (subhanallah watahalah) prohibited.   Perhaps in researching a topic to blog about I might be able to learn parts of the Qur'an and pick up a few hadiths on the way inshaallah. So please get involved and lets learn inshaallah. May Allah make it easy and may Allah give us the strength to practice what we learn. Ameen.