Tonights gathering

Bismillaah, assalaamo alaykom!

Just a quick reminder about tonights gathering at 8 pm UK time. The topic will inshaAllaah be tawheed.

Fi ammanillaah

Add umm_haroon or seeker_0f_bliss to yahoo messenger if you want to join and don't know how. BarakAllaaho fikom!

Introduction to Tawheed

Bismillaahirrahmaanirraheem
Alhamdulillaah rabbil 'alameen
Assalaato wasalaamo ala Rasoolullaah sayyidina Muhammad
Wa ala ahlihi washabihi ajma'een

Tawheed litterally means to unify something. To make something one. To attribute or asserting oneness to something. It comes from the word wahhada, that means to unify, unite, consolidate. In our religion, ad-deen, tawheed, (tawheedullaah) it of course does NOT mean that Allaah is three and then we make Him one, it means to acknowledge and maintain the oneness of Allaah and how we relate to it. It means realizing and affirming Allaah’s unity in all of man’s actions which directly or indirectly relate to Him

Because of this principle of tawheed, the Islamic belief in God is uniquely unitarian and Islaam is counted among the world’s monotheistic religions along with Judaism and Christianity. However, according to the Islamic concept of tawheed, Christianity is classified as polytheism and Judaism is considered to be a subtle form of idolatry. Thus, the principle of tawheed is very profound and needs further clarification even among Muslims.

As salamu 3laikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

Just a quick reminder about the gathering tonight at 8 pm London time, topic tawheed.

wsalam

Niqaab, not nifaaq!

Taqwa, it's root and alternatives

Waqa [root: ي ق و]

I waqahu وقاه to preserve (ھsomething) ; to take good of (ھsomething); to be cautious of (something); to safeguard, shield, shelter, preserve, protect, keep ( ھ ه someone from); to guard (ھ ه someone against); to protect, offer or afford protection (ھ against); to prevent, obviate (ھ a danger); to preserve (a thing) against any harm or injury or damage.

VIII ittaqa اتقى to preserve or guard oneself exceedingly or extraordinarily; to put a thing between oneself and another to preserve or guard oneself ; to take as a shield.

وقى waqy protection; safeguard

وقاء waqa, wiqa protection; prevention

وقاية wiqaya(tun) a preservative

واق waaqin preserving; guarding; protecting; preventive; preservative; guardian; protector :

Women's role

Aouthou billah Minn ashshaytani rajeem
Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem

All praise is for Allah; we praise him and seek His assistance and his forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own selves and from our evil actions, Whomsoever Allah guides, then there is no one to misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, then there is no guide for him. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshiped except Allah Alone and I bear witness that Muhammad is his slave and messenger.

Today’s topic is about the women’s role in society and the importance of being active in the community.

What is the women’s role in society?

The role of the woman is different to that of a man, in fact it is more demanding but both genders work for the same goal and in sha Allah that we have a happy, stable, and secure, prosper and healthy society. But this really rest on our shoulders because:

A- We are the mothers of the heroes and the criminals too.
B- We are in greater numbers.

Our role is to seek knowledge, rectify society, to be inspirational, to be upright, to be articulate, to be eloquent, to be wise, to do dawah and to be nurturing. I will be using the template of the ‘women’s role in rectifying society’ by sheikh uthaimeen (ra) and divide the roles in 2 categories, the first is the rectification within the home, Allah (swt) says:
And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance, and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah wishes only to remove Ar-Rijs (evil deeds and sins) from you, O members of the family (of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to purify you with a thorough purification.Surah 33 verse 33

Al- Mathurath morning dhikr

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Reminder for the gathering

As Salamu 3laikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh,

Just a quick reminder of the next gathering tomorrow saturday Oct 17th @ 8 pm London time ( GMT+1) 

the topic will be the role of the women in society in general and the importance of being active within the communities.

If you aren't attending already please add umm_haroon on yahoo messenger.

May ALlah (swt) guide us all to what is nearer to Him ameen.

Definition of Taqwa

‘aouthou billahi mina shaytani rajeem

Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Rahim,
My Lord, forgive me and accept my repentance, You are the Ever-Relenting, the All-Forgiving.

Today’s topic is about Taqwa, In essence the reality of taqwa is obeying Allah (swt) with imaan and ihtisab (hope, or counting on Allah (swt)’s reward) in rewards to his commands and prohibitions.

We will find that Taqwa always implies ‘birr’ for instance in this ayah from Allah (swt) book:

..... Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment. Surah Madiah verse 2.[1]

Birr means, righteousness, virtue, goodness, birr is the excellence sought in an objective. Linguistically, it’s related to the word ‘burr’ which mean wheat and it surpasses all other grains in goodness.
The opposite of birr is ithm which compromises all evils and defects for which a person would be blame worthy.

As salamu 3alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

In sha ALlah, just a quick reminder of the next session.

It will be on Wed Oct 14th 2009 at 8 pm ( London time), topic will be Taqwah.

If you wish to join us please add sis umm_haroon on yahoo messenger, so that you could be invited to the gathering in sha ALlah.

JazzakALlah,

Wasalam

What is required for du'aa?

What is required for us that our du’aa will be answered?

Last time we talked about that du’aa is an act of worship, and with du’aa as with other acts of worship, there are some things that has to be met if the act of worship, if the ‘ibadah, will be accepted.

Ibnul Qayyim said: ”Du’aa and the seeking of protection from Allah are like weapons, but the sharpness of a weapon is not sufficient for it to cause effect, for the person that handles it also plays a role. So whenever the weapon is a perfect one, having no flaw in it, and the forearm is strong, and there are no preventing factors, then it will cause and effect on the enemy. But if any of these three factors are missing, then the effect will also be lessened. So if the du’aa in and of itself is not correct, or the person making the du’aa has not combined between his heart and tongue in the du’aa, or there is a preventing factor, then the desired effect will not occur”

Types of du'aa

Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim
Alhamdulillaahi rabbil alameen
Assalaato wasalaamo ala rasoolullaah sayyidina Mohammad
wa ala ahlihi washabihi ajameen

Last time we had a general introduction to du’aa. We mentioned that du’aa is worship and the importance of du’aa. We also talked about du’aas relation to aqeedah and iman.

Today we are biithnillaah going to talk about the different types of du’aa. And du’aa can be divided up in different ways. It is important to know about this because du’aa is mentioned so many times in the Quraan, so we must know the difference and understand what kind of du’aa Allaah is talking about in different ayaat.

We can see in the Quraan and sunnah that two types of du’aa is mentioned. Du’aa ul-mas’alah, we can call it ‘du’aa of asking’ and du’aa ul-‘ibadah, du’aa of worship.

The Prophet Muhammad ~S~ His Compassion Part 2 of 2

The Prophet Muhammad ~S~ His Compassion Part 1 of 2

99 Names of Allah

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The Attributes of Allah (azza wal jal)

Al-Hakeem (the All-Wise):

He is the One to Whom belongs the highest wisdom, the One Who is All-Wise in His creating and commanding, Who perfected everything He created,

"and Who is better than Allah in judgement for a people who have firm faith?" (5:50)

Therefore He has created nothing out of mere frivolity and He has legislated nothing that is vain and of no use. The One to Whom belongs wisdom in the beginning and the end. He has three areas of ruling which nothing else has a share in: He rules between His servants with respect to His Law, His Decree and His Recompense. Wisdom is to place something in its correct place.

"For those who believe not in the Hereafter is an evil description and for Allah is the highest description. He is the All-Mighty, All-Wise." (16:60)

"It is He Who is the only God worshipped in the heaven and the on the earth. He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing." (43:84).

The Attributes of Allah ( azza wal jal)

The Explanation of the Beautiful and Perfect Names of Allah

by Shaykh 'Abdur-Rahmân ibn Nâsir as-Sa'dî (d. 1383 AH / n/a CE)

Translated by Abu Rumaysah[Taken from Tayseer al-Kareem ar-Rahmaan, Abdur-Rahmaan Naasir as-Sa`dee's Tafseer]

A large number of the Beautiful Names of Allaah are repeated manifold in the Qur`aan as demanded by the occasion and it is necessary to explain their meanings in a succinct way. So we say:

Ar-Rabb (The Lord)

This name has been repeatedly mentioned in many verses. Ar-Rabb is the One Who nurtures and sustains all of His servants through regulating the affairs and granting all types of favours and blessings. More specifically He is the One Who nurtures and sustains his sincere friends by correcting and purifying their hearts, souls and manners. This is why their supplications are frequently made with this Noble Name because they seek this specific nurturing.

"And your Lord is Most Forgiving, Owner of Mercy. Were He to call them to account for what they had earned then surely He would have hastened on their punishment. But they have their appointed time beyond which they will find no escape." (18:58)

Du3a ( Part two)

Du’aa is also the best way for us to strengthen our iman. This is due to many factors. One is that it makes us very aware of the fact that we have absolutely no control over our destiny, Alhamdulillah rabbil ‘alameen. It shows how much we need our Lord, our Rabb. And by making du’aa sincerely we confirm that Allaah hears our du’aa and that He answers our du’aa. The more we realise we are nothing but poor servants to Allaah, the more will our iman increase. And the more we know and understand and appreciate Allah’s perfect names and attributes, the more will our iman increase. The inner nature of iman and to be a true servant of Allaah is to know and understand that we are in a dire need of Allaah and to know and understand the perfect nature of Allaah. By making du’aa we show that we believe in Allaah and that only Allaah subhano wata’ala can listen to our prayer and only Allaah can answer our prayers. No one else!

Allaah says in soorah al-Jinn, ayah 20:

قُلۡ إِنَّمَآ أَدۡعُواْ رَبِّى وَلَآ أُشۡرِكُ بِهِۦۤ أَحَدً۬ا

Say: "I do no more than invoke my Lord, and I join not with Him any (false god)." (72:20)

To make du’aa to someone other than Allaah is nothing but shirk! It is shirk, because making du’aa to someone or something other than Allaah means that we attribute this person, thing, something that Allaah created, with attributes that only Allaah has. I mean, a person that makes du’aa to a person, living or dead, a stone, rock, yes whatever it can be, except Allaah, is in fact saying that this person whether it is living or dead, or that this object actually can hear you, and can respond to your prayer. That this created object has power to change our destiny, the power to see what state he is in, or what is in his heart. And has the power to grant him what he asks for. May Allaah protect us from such belief. The only one that can do this and can do this perfect is Allaah, azza WA jall. Allaah says in soorah Faatir, ayah 14:

إِن تَدۡعُوهُمۡ لَا يَسۡمَعُواْ دُعَآءَكُمۡ وَلَوۡ سَمِعُواْ مَا ٱسۡتَجَابُواْ لَكُمۡۖ وَيَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ يَكۡفُرُونَ بِشِرۡڪِكُمۡۚ وَلَا يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثۡلُ خَبِيرٍ۬

If you invoke (or call upon) them, they hear not your call, and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not grant it (your request) to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them. And none can inform you (O Muhammad SAW) like Him Who the All Knower (of everything) is. (35:14)

And this shows clearly that the object you would call on, won’t hear you. And even if they could, they won’t be able to respond to you, to your call. In soorah al-Hajj, ayah 12-13, Allaah describes these objects that some people call out to, make du’aa to.

يَدۡعُواْ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُ ۥ وَمَا لَا يَنفَعُهُ ۥ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ هُوَ ٱلضَّلَـٰلُ ٱلۡبَعِيدُ

يَدۡعُواْ لَمَن ضَرُّهُ ۥۤ أَقۡرَبُ مِن نَّفۡعِهِۦ‌ۚ لَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡمَوۡلَىٰ وَلَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡعَشِيرُ

life not benefit them nor harm them. They can’t help them. They can’t give them anything. And they can’t hurt them. In this life. But by calling on them instead of or besides Allaah, will cause a person great harm if he or she doesn’t repent from such evil ways. Because this is as we already said, shirk. And shirk is the only sin Allaah doesn’t forgive.

وَمَنۡ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدۡعُواْ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَن لَّا يَسۡتَجِيبُ لَهُ ۥۤ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ وَهُمۡ عَن دُعَآٮِٕهِمۡ غَـٰفِلُونَ

And who is more astray than one who calls on (invokes) besides Allah, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls (invocations) to them? (46:5)

Subhanaka allahomma wa bihamdik
ashhado anla ilaha illa ant
wastaghfirooka waatoobo ilayk

Ibnul Qayyim said:” Du’a and the seeking of protection from Allah are like weapons, but the sharpness of a weapon is not sufficient for it to cause effect, for the person that handles it also plays a role. So whenever the weapon is a perfect one, having no flaw in it, and the forearm is strong, and there are no preventing factors, then it will cause and effect on the enemy…”

Du3a ( Part one)

Alhamdulillaahi rabbil alameen

Assalaato wasalaamo ala rasoolullaah sayyidina Mohammad

wa ala ahlihi washabihi ajameen

In the Quran, Allah says:

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ

And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone). (51:56)

So clearly we are all here for one purpose and one purpose only. And that is to worship Allaah, and Allaah alone. One of the greatest and most noble forms of worship is du’aa. What is du’aa?  It is a call from the heart of the believer directed to The Hearer of all things, the Knower of all secrets, Allaah. By making du’aa we believers confess that we are nothing but weak and helpless and that what we need is Allaah and that we can’t do anything without His will, help and permission. It is also an affirmation of the perfect names and attributes of Allaah, asmaa wa sifaat. Because it affirms that Allaah is al-Khaliq (the Creator), al-Muqeet (the Sustainer), al-Mudhaabeer (the Controller of all affairs), al-‘Aleem (the All-Knowing), as-Sami’ (the All-Hearer), al-Baseer (the All-Seer), Ar-Rahmaan (the Most Merciful), al-Kareem (the Most Generous), al-Ghaffoor (the Most Forgiving) and so on. Linguistically du’aa means to call out, to cry, and to say something out loud. In shari’ah, du’aa means to ask Allaah, to ask Allaah about something that will be of benefit for us in this life and in next, or to ask that something evil will be removed or prevented from coming to us. In it self, du’aa is an act of worship. Du’aa is ibadah. Allaah says in soorah al-Gahfir, ayah 60.

وَقَالَ رَبُّڪُمُ ٱدۡعُونِىٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِى سَيَدۡخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ 

And your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): But those who are too arrogant to worship Me will surely find themselves in Hell in humiliation!" (40:60)

Allah says make du’aa to me. And then He says “I will respond to you”. Then He continues saying, but those who are too arrogant to worship Me, (yastakbiroona ‘an ‘ibaadatee). Allah first mentions to make du’aa to Him, and then mentions those who are too arrogant to worship Him, they will be in Hell. So those who do not ask Him, who do not make du’aa to Him, Allah counts them as those who are too arrogant to worship Him, and this shows that du’aa is worship, Du’aa is the essence of worship. To not make du’aa, means to leave worship, ibadah. And this is why the Messenger of Allah, aleyhi salato wasalaam, said:

Du’a is worship!

Allah created us to worship Him, which means we should and we must make du’aa. Of course there are many other ways of making ibadah, of worshipping Allah, and of course we should think of that in every aspect in our lives.

How can it be that du’aa is ibadah and that it is such an important part of our lives? By making du’aa to Allaah, azza WA jall, we are able to draw closer to Him. It means that we completely submit to Allaah, we confirm that only He has the right to be worshipped and we assure that we are nothing but a poor servant to Allaah, subhano wata’ala. A created thing, that has neither power nor any control over things. Rather it is we who are controlled. By making du’aa we also confirm that we are in need of Allaah, in every part of our lives, but that Allaah doesn’t need anything from us. Just as it says in soorah adh-Dhaariyat. First Allaah says, as we already mentioned, that He created man and jinn except that they should worship Him. Then He continues by saying: I seek not any provision from them (i.e. provision for themselves or for my creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me (i.e. feed themselves or my creatures). Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong. (51:57-58)

In another ayah, Allaah also mentions du’aa (well he mentions this in many ayaat of course) but in this specific ayah, Allaah calls du’aa deen. This is in soorah al-Ghafir, ayah 65

هُوَ ٱلۡحَىُّ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَٱدۡعُوهُ مُخۡلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَۗ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ

He is the Ever living (al-Hayy), none has the right to be worshipped but He, so make du’aa to Him, and to Him is the deen. (40:65)

OR

He is the Ever Living, Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), so invoke Him making your worship pure for Him Alone (by worshipping Him Alone, and none else, and by doing righteous deeds sincerely for Allah’s sake only, and not to show off, and not to setting up rivals with Him in worship). All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists) (40:65)

Du’aa is the only thing, the only act that ever has been equated to the entire deen, or connected to the entire concept of worship.

Du’aa is strongly connected to aqeedah and tawheed. By making du’aa we acknowledge that there is a God, that Allaah exists and that there is only one Creator, one Lord. We acknowledge that Allaah has the all the power and He is controlling everything. Otherwise, what would be the point in turning to Him? Allaah is the only one that can hear our du’aa and can answer our du’aa. By making du’aa we also acknowledge that only Allaah, azza WA jall, deserves our worship. Because if He is the one and only God, the one and only Creator, and the one that controls the world and the entire creation, the surely he is the only one that deserves our worship. By making du’aa we also acknowledge that Allaah subhano wata’ala, has the most perfect names and attributes, for only He can hear the du’aa from His servants no matter where we are, no matter how quiet or loud we call upon Him. And only Allaah knows what’s in our hearts and knows completely what situation we are in. He has knowledge about all things. This proves that du’aa affirms all three aspects of tawheed.

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Tawbah part 3

We have now been going through two of the benefits of repentance. It wipes away our sins and it admits us to Paradise. The third benefit is that it renews our faith, our iman. You know, the Prophet, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, he said that our iman wears out just like clothes wears out, so we should renew our iman. And if we are sincere about our tawbah we will see and feel how our hearts will start to thaw, to become soft again. Our hearts will be alive again. When we reflect to ourselves about what we did, or didn’t do, we will begin to feel the wounds from that disobedience. It can be minor sins, or major sins, or a small sin that we are constantly doing. The sins we do are in level with our iman. If our iman is low, we don’t care much about what we do, we might even like the sins we do and don’t refrain or regret doing them. Or we do them openly. Our iman and our sins are in a direct relationship. Every time we commit a sin, our iman diminishes, it gets lower. When we leave the sins, leave the things that displeases Allaah subhano wata’ala, our iman will rise. There are many ayat, verses in the Koran about this and also ahadeeth. For example the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, said, "The one who commits illegal sexual intercourse is not a believer at the time of committing illegal sexual intercourse, and a thief is not a believer at the time of committing theft, and a drinker of alcoholic drink is not a believer at the time of drinking. Yet, (the gate of) repentance is open thereafter" (Al-Bukhari 8, 801). At the time we are doing these actions, our iman isn’t completely cancelled, but it in such a low level that we are able to commit these wrong actions, these sins. When our iman is high, we do not commit these mistakes or these sins. In an another hadeeth, the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, says: “When an adulturer commits adultery, the iman leaves him.”

Tawbah part 2

Tawbah to the believer is more important than air is to a human being. Imagine that. How can we live without air? It’s impossible, right. So how can we not do tawbah? We must strive to do tawbah regularly. And as being one of those who regularly repents, we can gain it’s benefits. Because you know, there are several benefits from doing tawbah.

The first one is that Allaah subhano wata’ala wipes away our sins! I already mentioned the hadeeth where the Prophet, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, says that the one who repents from sin is like the one without sin. It could be a specific sin or more in general, the way we lead our life before that was not according to islam.

Tawbah part 1

The word Tawbah litterally means ’to return’. For us muslims it means to leave that what Allaah, subhanu wa ta’ala, has forbidden and to return to Him and to what He has commanded. To return to Allaah, to make tawbah, is a very important part of our islam, our submission to Allaah. In soorah al-Baqarah it says:

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٲبِينَ
“Truly, Allâh loves those who turn unto Him in repentance” (2:222)

and this tawbah, is so important, because our destination in the hereafter is dependant on it, just as Allaah says in soorah An-Noor:

وَتُوبُوٓاْ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُفۡلِحُونَ
“And all of you beg Allâh to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” (24:31)