Tag: Quran

  • Still The Distracted Ummah

    The sad reality of this Ummah is that it is prone to being divisive while crying for unity. We find it so simple to speak disparagingly about the personal perspectives that some adopt, and choose to openly mock them in their absence, thinking that not mentioning names is sufficient to free us of the hypocrisy of that action.

    We find it easier to highlight the shortcomings of every sect, every community, every sub-culture, or any person, but find it extremely difficult to celebrate the common ground, to build on the positive aspects that we share, or to jointly pursue beneficial programs that will contribute towards the unity of the Ummah rather than constantly hammering down on that wedge that sectarianism has created.

    A strong and united Ummah doesn’t happen on its own, nor does it miraculously form through dua. Dua unaccompanied by action is fruitless, hence the very plain instruction that guides us to tie our camel AND trust in Allah, not just trust in Allah blindly without any action.

    A united Ummah is a result of a united society. A united society is not possible without united communities. United communities will never be established if we have internal bickering and political agendas that make the American government look saintly. Unsurprisingly, united communities require united families to establish its foundations. A united family is not possible without committed individuals striving for harmony and understanding within the family unit. Finding the required common ground on which to build this entire structure that we all so achingly yearn for requires individuals committed to these holistic goals before they find reason to commit to selfish objectives that undermine these goals.

    The simple truth is that it starts with us as individuals before it becomes a global problem. Every global problem is a result of a critical mass of idiots that contribute towards the universality of the issues that result in said problem. We need to stop pacifying ourselves against the shortcomings of others. We need to stop being creative in introducing western concepts and western agendas into Islam under the guise of progressiveness, liberation, feminism, or similar such euphemisms that belie the true nature of the courses being pursued.

    Political correctness has no place in this Ummah. It has no place in Islam either. Political correctness breeds insincerity, and insincerity is at the heart of hypocrisy and disunity. If we’re forever prone towards counting our troubles and taking for granted our blessings, it’s hardly likely that our generation will see the Ummah progressing towards the noble status that we inherited from Rasulullah (SAW) and subsequently destroyed because of nothing more than infighting and selfish pursuits.

    Talking about the need for a reawakening is only a distraction from actually doing it. The time to talk about the strategies is long gone. We have strategists and intellectuals crawling out of the woodwork in droves, but very few who are willing to put into practice the knowledge that they so fervently seek to acquire.

    I’m often reminded of the prophecy that says that a time will come when the Ulama will be despised, and I realise that the basic assumption is that this will be so because people will despise the religious teachings that the Ulama try to establish. However, it is also entirely possible that the Ulama will be despised in the same way that unprincipled leaders are despised by their subjects. We have factories churning out Ulama by the dozens, online universities making the acquisition of Islamic knowledge easy and convenient, western institutions offering degrees in Islamic studies, and of course we have access to entire collections of ahadith and Qur’anic commentary through mediums that allow a layman to develop a critical and informed opinion on almost any aspect of Islam without leaving their favourite arm chair. Despite this massive and unfettered access to information, including students and scholars alike that have years of studies applied to acquiring this knowledge, the Ummah is in a state so despicable that we are impotent in the face of blatant persecution and abuse throughout the world, not least of which includes the so-called Muslim lands.

    Yet we still have time to point out the errors of our brothers and sisters, and we also still have the presence of mind to judge who is deviant, who is kafir, and who is damned to hell, while Muslims are starving themselves to death to get us to notice that there is a bigger issue that the Ummah needs to deal with beyond the pettiness of liberalist agendas and personal preferences. May Allah have mercy on us for our distracted state, and may He guide us towards a path of conviction in the beauty that we all profess to hold in our hearts. That is the beauty of Imaan. Ameen.

  • The conversation between Allah SWT and a muslim when reciting Al-Fatihah

    Muslim: Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds.

    Allah SWT: My servant has praised Me.

    Muslim: The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

    Allah SWT: My servant has extolled Me. (praised enthusiastically)

    Muslim: The Master of the Day of Judgement.

    Allah SWT: My servant has glorified Me – and submitted to My Power.

    Muslim: You alone we worship and from You alone we seek help.

    Allah SWT: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked for.

    Muslim: Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favoured, not of those upon whom is your anger, nor of those who are astray.

    Allah SWT: This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked for.

  • Beautiful Recitation, Haunting Irony

    memonite:

    Beautiful Tajweed by a man in Hamra street (Beirut, Lebanon).

    So beautiful, but so sad at the same time. The Youtube comments sum it up the best: “Prophet pbuh said Islam will return to this state. It will become “ghereeb” (strange). Islam started strange and it will end strange…” and “Is this what our ummah has come down to? A poor man reciting Qur’an on the side of a street for money, while everybody walks pass him?”

    This is beautifully recited, but it reminded me of the following hadith from Bukhari:

    Narrated Abu Huraira: Once while I was in a state of fatigue (because of severe hunger), I met ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab, so I asked him to recite a verse from Allah’s Book to me. He entered his house and interpreted it to me. (Then I went out and) after walking for a short distance, I fell on my face because of fatigue and severe hunger. Suddenly I saw Allah’s Apostle standing by my head. He said, “O Abu Huraira!” I replied, “Labbaik, O Allah’s Apostle, and Sadaik!” Then he held me by the hand, and made me get up. Then he came to know what I was suffering from. He took me to his house, and ordered a big bowl of milk for me. I drank thereof and he said, “Drink more, O Abu Hirr!” So I drank again, whereupon he again said, “Drink more.” So I drank more till my belly became full and looked like a bowl. Afterwards I met ‘Umar and mentioned to him what had happened to me, and said to him, “Somebody, who had more right than you, O ‘Umar, took over the case. By Allah, I asked you to recite a Verse to me while I knew it better than you.” On that Umar said to me, “By Allah, if I admitted and entertained you, it would have been dearer to me than having nice red camels.

    The condition of Muslims was dire even during the time of Rasulullah (SAW). For me, the good in this is that his recitation was still appreciated by many that passed him and many that even stopped to greet and assist him. His choice of Surah is also very touching, since Surah Duha has a profound meaning for someone in his condition:

    By the forenoon (after sunrise).

    By the night when it darkens (and stand still).

    Your Lord (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) has neither forsaken you nor hates you.

    And indeed the Hereafter is better for you than the present (life of this world).

    And verily, your Lord will give you (all good) so that you shall be well-pleased.

    Did He not find you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) an orphan and gave you a refuge?

    And He found you unaware (of the Qur’an, its laws, and Prophethood) and guided you?

    And He found you poor and made you rich (self-sufficient with self-contentment)?

    Therefore, treat not the orphan with oppression.

    And repulse not the beggar.

    And proclaim the Grace of your Lord (i.e. the Prophethood and all other Graces).

    ~ Muhsin Khan Translation

    (Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

  • These are the words of someone who fully understood singing and its effects, for no one regularly sings or listens to song except that his heart falls into (nifaq) Hypocrisy without him realizing. If such a person understood the reality of nifaq and its end he would see it in his own heart. Never do the love of song and the love of Qur`an come together in a person’s heart except that one expels the other. I and others have witnessed how heavy the Qur`an feels to singers and song-listeners; how they coil when it is recited and how they get angry with a reciter when he recites too long for them (in prayer etc); and how their hearts do not benefit from what he recites: they are not moved to do anything by it. But when the Qur`an of Shaytân comes, la ilaha illallah! How they lower their voices and settle down! How their hearts feel at peace and how the crying and emotions start, how moved they are inwardly and outwardly and spend on clothing and perfume and staying up hoping for a long night ahead. If this is not nifaq then it is certainly the way to it and its foundation.

    Ibn Al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) [Madaarij Al-Saalikeen] (via byyourmercyallah)

  • Mishary Alafasi – Ash-Sharh

    al-muminun:

    Surat Ash-Sharĥ (The Relief) – سورة الشرح

    1.    Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast?

    2.  And We removed from you your burden

    3.  Which had weighed upon your back

    4.  And raised high for you your repute.

    5.  For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.

    6.  Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.

    7.   So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship].

    8.  And to your Lord direct [your] longing.

  • The Gift of Children

    partytilfajr:

    “and children as [love’s] witnesses,” [74:13] Muhammad Asad

    I was reading The Qur’an yesterday, and as I was taking notes, on the issue of how The Qur’an explains who God guides to Faith, but it was this seemingly innocuous ayah, one that follows one of the most important ayahs in The Qur’an, that truly caught my attention.

    As you know, yesterday, alhamdulilah, my family welcomed a new member, and this ayah jumped out at me. This portion of this Surah is talking about how God has bestowed upon us countless gifts, limitless potential, and yet there are those who discount those and “greedily desires that I [God] give yet more!” [74:15]

    What struck me was that children are not described as gifts, as they are in other parts of The Qur’an (most notably how The Qur’an describes daughters as something to be very happy about) but that in this instance, the children are given a very different role: as witnesses to our appreciation of what God has bestowed upon us.

    I am not a parent, but, I have been trying to make sense of this formulation. Muhammad Asad injects the word “love” as a implied construct to the witnessing, which I more-or-less agree with, yet there remains a deeper element, one that I think is linked towards our judgment by God.

    I have come to this conclusion because of the context of the Surah in question, Surah Al-Muddaththir, which covers the concept of afterlife and how we get there. I think this because, while we joke about marriage as a process in which we “complete half of our deen,” I feel like children (and our spouse) are the major reason for that formulation. These are the people who will be in your direct care, who will experience your character, your emotions, your actions, more than any other group of people.

    Your spouse may be able to divorce you, but your children, no matter what happens, will always reflect your actions in this world because of how you introduce them to it. Whether you abandon them, give them up for adoption, nurture them, whatever it is you do, they are the ultimate reflection of you, and thus this innocuous phrase, placing children as “witnesses” makes sense to me, when I look at it this way.

    I may have been drawn to this ayah because of being in a maternity ward, but I look at it now as one of the major proofs of how The Qur’an puts an immense premium on our actions and dealings with others, and I am saddened (especially every time there is a tumblr “flare up”) because I have been so impressed by the dedication and faithfulness to Islam by the Tumblr Muslim Ummah, that to watch us forget our akhlaq, our manners, with each other, over things we could debate (properly) if only we remembered what The Book we debate over commands us to do.

    This ayah also underlined how we must readjust ourselves, our mindset, and our hearts when approaching having children of our own. I have heard those who bemoan their children, as if they are infringements upon their freedom; those children did not ask to be brought into this world, you did. The world that these innocents will be brought into, their entire approach will be directed by you, and I hope that as Muslims, we can take this message to heart, and to illustrate to the world, through our actions and our children (insha Allah) that Islam is not just a belief, but a true way of life.

    It is our children that will reflect us the most, and while we may be great people, and nice to our friends, it is how we treat and deal with the ultimate trust, our children, that reflects our character more than anything. What we do, on a daily basis is what defines us, maybe not to our friends and co-workers, but to God and those who matter most: our children. It is our children that display the bifurcation between the person who is conscious of their Islam personally and those who are conscious of Islam completely.

    Finally, this ayah underlines something that many times Muslim youth struggle with: adhering to their parents. Many times we are just being bratty, but other times, I am sure there are cases where the parents are not upholding their duties, which must be horrible. Thus, it is this ayah that underlines to us that in order to expect obedience from our children, we must fulfill their trust in us as their parents. If the simple fact that these children are from you cannot motivate you, I hope that God’s command does.

    I pray for the children who do not have their parents, and for those of us who do that we appreciate that fact; I pray for those of us who have misunderstandings with our parents to overcome them and realize what is more important in life; I pray for those who are or who will become parents to have the patience and fortitude to care and nurture their children; I pray for the Muslim youth, to realize their potential, to rise to action, to forsake rhetoric for deeds, and to show this world that Islam is not just in our hearts, not just on our tongues, but in the good that we will tirelessly work towards; insha Allah, I pray that we can fulfill the commands of Almighty God with sincerity, ya Rabb.

    Ameen.

  • Beautiful Recitation of Surah Qasas

    Here’s a recording of a man inspired by Sheikh Abdul Basit. This reciter is from a suburb called Surrey Estate (if my memory serves me correctly) in the Western Cape, South Africa. I once heard that he was invited to the home of Sheikh Abdul Basit to recite for his family because of the striking similarity in recitation style. The entire family is reputed to have been reduced to tears at the sound of his recitation.

    His voice and breath control is amazing, Masha-Allah. He really immerses himself into this recitation around 03:40 in this recording. Subhanallah.

    (Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

  • I’ve been waking up the last few days with this part of this specific ayat in my head. The full text of the ayat reads:

    [Jacob] said, “Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. Perhaps Allah will bring them to me all together. Indeed it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.” ` Sahih International

    Photo: (c) Cynically Jaded

    N3 Highway heading towards Johannesburg, South Africa, December 2010