Tag: simple sunnah

  • Why The Hurry, Imam?

    I prayed today behind an Imam that appeared to be in a rush to do something better than leading the congregation. Last I heard, it was supposed to be one of the highest honours to lead the congregation in salaah, but it appears as if such honours are taken for granted when endowed for an extended period of time. Only, this Imam that I followed in salaah today is not the regular Imam, yet he read as if he was late for a more important appointment.

    One of the basic conditions of salaah is that it should be read calmly and unhurriedly. The emphasis on this is so great that there is a hadith that says:

    Sayyiduna Ubada bin Saamit radi Allahu anhu narrates that the Merciful Prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam said, ‘The one who does Wudhu well and then stands for Salaah and completes the ruku’, sujood and recitation, his Salaah says, ‘May ALLAH protect you the way you have protected me’. The Salaah is then elevated to the sky and it sparkles with light. The gates of the skies are opened for it so it reaches the court of ALLAH and then it intercedes for the one who prayed it. But if he does not do ruku’, sujood and recite well then it says, ‘May ALLAH abandon you the way you have ruined me’. That Salaah is then taken to the skies and is shadowed by darkness. The gates of the skies are closed for it. It is then folded up like an old piece of cloth and thrown onto the persons face’. (Kanz-ul-Ummal, V7, P129, Hadith 19049)

    Another condition of salaah that emphasises the above point is that in each posture of salaah, the bones must come to a rest. Therefore, there cannot be any fluid movement without rest between the rukhu and proceeding to sajdah, nor can there be any fluidity of movement between the two sajdahs, etc. 

    So it’s extremely disconcerting to find that when in rukhu, there is barely enough time to recite ‘Subhana Rabbiyul Adheem’ three times, and the same being true for its equivalent in sajdah. At such a blistering pace, how can anyone achieve a state of khushu in salaah? 

    If you have something better to do, please allow someone else with more patience, conviction and presence of mind to lead the salaah so that the enjoyment of salaah is not tainted for the rest of the congregation that actually look forward to achieving a state of composure in the presence of their Lord. 

  • Islamic Wisdom and the Afternoon Nap

    psych-facts:

    Earlier research has found that dreams boost learning, with one study suggesting a 90-minute nap may help lock in long-term memories. But Walker’s research, published this week in the journal Current Biology, finds that another phase of sleep, called nonrapid eye movement (NREM) is most closely linked to the learning boost provided by a nap.

    Walker and his colleagues recruited 44 volunteers — 27 women and 17 men — to come to the sleep lab at noon. First, the volunteers were given a task in which they had to memorize 100 names and faces. Then they were tested for how well they recalled the face-name matches.

    Next, the researchers tucked half of the volunteers in for a nap between 2 p.m. and 3:40 p.m. The scientists measured the napping volunteers’ brain waves as they slept. The other group of participants stayed awake and did daily activities as they normally would. At 6 p.m., both groups memorized another set of 100 faces and names and were tested on their memory. (The experiment was set up so nappers had more than an hour to shake off any remaining fuzziness before the test, Walker said.)

    The first major finding, Walker said, was that learning ability degrades as the day wears on. Volunteers who didn’t nap did about 12 percent worse on the evening test than they did on the morning test. (Walker presented preliminary findings of this effect at a conference in February 2010.) But shut-eye not only reversed those effects, it provided a memory boost: Napping test-takers did about 10 percent better on the evening test than they did on the morning test. In all, the difference in scores between nappers and non-nappers was about 20 percent, Walker said.

    Secondly, the brain-wave monitoring turned up a likely culprit for the memory upgrade: a short, synchronized burst of electrical activity called a sleep spindle. These sleep spindles last about one second and can occur 1,000 times per night during NREM sleep. People who had more of these spindles, especially people who had more over a frontal area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, showed the most refreshment in learning capacity after their nap, Walker said.

    I love it when modern day research confirms the benefits of age old practices. Muslims have known, but mostly abandoned, the practice of sleeping after the midday prayer, even though it is an established tradition of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). Also, because of the ignorance of this in Western culture, most modern day offices don’t allow for such a practice to be maintained. The productivity gains and efficiency benefits could easily outweigh the cost of a 30 – 45 minute downtime in the middle of the day. 

    (Source: http://neurolove.me)

  • Catharsis

    akhirah:

    SubhanAllah, I had a moment at the masjid today that hurt me, but the lesson from it was liberating.

    After tarawih I was speaking to a good friend & another acquaintance  of mine when another woman I know came and hugged both of my friends and turned away from me. I refrained from judging the situation too quickly, however the circumstance just stunk of the cliquish attitudes that people adopt. My face fell and I tried not to be offended that this woman was purposefully ignoring my existence yet standing in front of me talking to the people I was just speaking to. I continued to listen to the conversation and nodded my head, feeling a bit embarrassed and not sure why. Finally, I said salaams to all of them and left the masjid, wondering what I could have done to make this woman dislike me. As I pondered it over, it occurred to me that I was blaming myself for this possible error of judgment or this woman’s problem with me, when I was given no inclination as to how I could fix it. 

    It became clear to me that we can blame ourselves so much for how people treat us, but it can sometimes be people who exact the worst kind of revenge: the one where they don’t tell you what is wrong or why they have a problem with you. Then you live in ‘community x’ dealing with people ‘y’ who may consistently give you a negative attitude without ever speaking to you like a decent human being. This situation is juvenile and immature, but I’m afraid it’s all too common in our ummah. At the heart of it, it’s a lack of adab across the board that eats away at the potential we have to be a family, a big huge Muslim family. So many little issues amount to widespread negativity… 

    People afraid to say salaams to others, but stalking the hell out of their facebooks or twitters. 

    People standing shoulder to shoulder to Tarawih, but stepping on each other’s feet to get the free kulfi at the masjid dinner.

    People engaging in the culture/color wars over what country you’re from and what color you are.

    Or worst of all, entering a masjid full of unsmiling faces, just because they don’t know you personally. I feel hurt the most for the visitors who, looking for warmth & unity, find nothing but hostility or even worse: silence. 

    So what do you do?

    Do you sit around and become bitter? Do you accept that people hold grudges in their heart?

    No, you free yourself from it all.

    How?

    Be that person you’ve been looking for all this time. No matter what.

    -Smile at every single person you see & give them that beautiful salutation of As Salaamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

    -If someone doesn’t treat you right, show them how it’s done and treat them right. Ask Allah to correct their behavior and if the opportunity avails itself, remind them gently.

    -Look for someone to help and help them with a humble attitude and no expectation for anything in return.

    At the end of the day, you have the potential to promote positive change by leading by example. Take that opportunity and be good with reckless abandon, throwing your smiles at people and helping everyone without hesitation. If you’re already a beacon of light, keep it up my friend. If not, let yourself shine and follow the example of the most merciful human being to ever walk this Earth, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi was’sallam. 

    SubhanAllah, what a beautiful example. The prophet was a man who would treat everyone he met with such deep compassion and care that they would think that they were the most important person in the room when he, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam spoke to them. 

    His enemies became Muslim when they witnessed his beautiful akhlaaq and yet we, who call ourselves Muslim reject our own and lose each other in negativity. 

    Wherever you are, if you are reading this, plead sincerely with our Lord to fortify us as one and bless us with harmony, in the smallest as well as the largest of gatherings. 

    Finally, I’m soothed most by one thing in particular:

    no matter how badly someone may hurt you or reject your good will, it was never for them anyway.

    I wish I could say that I never experienced the above type of behaviour from Muslims as well. It’s a shame really. Vying for attention at the expense of our humility and sincerity.

  • Is there really only one ONE straight path?

    More often than not, references to this ‘straight path’ is made in arrogant and condescending tones denoting that only a single interpretation of Islam is possibly acceptable and that everyone else are misguided deviants. This is like saying that there is only black and white and every colour in between doesn’t exist. I’ve seen this and many other similar sentiments appear on Tumblr, and the only emotions it stirs in me is the same frustration I experience when I sit in the masjid and listen to the condescension and rhetoric flowing thick and fast from the tongues of so many self-righteous imams that barely represent the sunnah in their physique, manner or disposition. 

    Islam is not a monolithic structure with a hierarchy that has only a single route to the top. There is only One Allah. This is indisputable and is also the only unforgivable sin. There are a million ways to achieve Allah’s pleasure and mercy, so assuming that there is only one interpretation or practice of what ‘THE straight path’ is, is a fallacy most often grounded in self-indulgent piety.

    This same inflexible thinking is what gives rise to sects and madhabs and so many other deviations that are hardly ever the teachings of the true pious scholars but instead are excessive interpretations by their over zealous followers. Those sects that were formed through the self-proclamation of its founders are blatantly misguided, and those that were formed through the proclamations of its followers have always been questionable. 

    The lazy ones insist on labels. The arrogant ones judge without true knowledge. The fools pronounce takfir on others without concern for their own standing with Allah. The same way that there is a million ways to give charity, and each way earns Allah’s pleasure, there is a million ways to be a Muslim without deviating from the principles that Islam has established through the example set by Rasulullah (SAW). Anyone that insists otherwise is at risk of judging others from a position of religious arrogance rather than true concern. 

    Sahih Bukhari ~ Vol 3, Book 49. Peacemaking. Hadith 861.

    Narrated By ‘Aisha : Allah’s Apostle said, “If somebody innovates something which is not in harmony with the principles of our religion, that thing is rejected.”

    Principles, not traditions. Far too often we confuse the two and end up hopelessly refuting people on the basis of arrogant affiliations rather than true contradictions or innovations that violate the principles of Islam. May Allah protect us all from such ignorance and arrogance, the combination of which is fatal to our iman.

  • May Allah guide us and make us of those on the straight path, who also don’t rush to wrongly accuse others of deviance without proper investigation.

    leenabaleena:

    by Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
    Source: Lecture “Alaykum Bissunnah”*

    From his [the Prophet] sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s statement,

    “Whoever lives amongst you will see much differing, so adhere to my Sunnah”,

    It can be learnt that if parties (ahzaab) within the ummah emerge in increasing numbers then one should not affiliate himself to a party (hizb). In the past, many groups have appeared; Khwaarij, Mu’tazilah, Jahmiyyah, Shee’ah, even Raafidah. Then there appeared, later on Ikhwanis, Salafis, Tablighis, and all those like them. Put all of them to one side and take [the path] ahead. Which is what the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallaam guided to, “Adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs.” No doubt, it is obligatory for all Muslims to adopt the way of the salaf as their madhhab, not affiliation to a specific party (hizb) named, “The Salafis”. It is obligatory for the Islamic Ummah to adopt the way of the salaf as-salih as their madhhab, not bigotry to those called “the salafis”. Pay attention to the difference: There is the way of the salaf, and there is a party (hizb) called “the salafis”.

    What is the objective? Following the Salaf. Why? The salafi brothers are the closest sect to that which is right, no doubt, but their problem is the same as others, that some of these sects declare others as being misguided, they declare them to be innovators and as being sinners. We don’t censure this, if they deserve it, but we censure handling this bid’ah in this way. It is obligatory for the leaders of these sects to get together and say, “Between us is the book of Allah, and the Sunnah of His messenger, so lets us judge by them and not according to desires, opinions and not according to personalities. Everyone makes mistakes and achieves correctness no matter what he has reached with regards to knowledge and worship. Infallibility is [only] in the religion of Islam.”

    In this hadeeth the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallaam guided to the way in which a person secures himself. He doesn’t affiliate him to any sect, only the way of the salaf as-salih, to the Sunnah of our Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallaam and the rightly guided caliphs. 

    Footnotes:

    *The tape is part of his Sharh of An-Nawawi’s 40 hadeeth, in the sharh of the hadeeth of Irbaad ibn Saariyah (no.28).

    I couldn’t agree more.

  • Belittling Others

    pearlsfromislam:

    I ask you to not belittle nor attack any of your brothers and sisters because of what they preach. I ask you to avoid swearing. I ask you to control your anger. I ask you to approach people in a peaceful manner. I ask you to not discredit the intellect of any of your brothers and sisters because God only knows what is in the hearts of His servants. I ask you to leave aside what does not concern you. Finally, I ask you to pay attention to every single words in the following verse:

    But as for those who strive hard in Our cause – We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead unto Us: for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good. (29:69)

    There is no unique way to reach Islam and I want you to respect that. If someone found Islam through a speaker who preached peace but whose speech demonstrated an affiliation with a specific party then leave him alone; his personal experience will ultimately shape his understanding of the religion. Also, do not dictate lessons from what you have lived for everyone is fighting different battles. Thank you.

    I couldn’t agree with this more. People that find it easy to be disparaging towards others have a selective memory. Recently I’ve often been reminded of how I behaved earlier in life. I recall some of the grave errors of judgement on my part, and I recall indulging in actions that make me cringe with shame at the thought of it. Reading this, and again watching the usual drivel on Tumblr about whose sect is more correct and whose sheikhs are more authentic, it reminds me that such sentiments are indicative of arrogance and elitism and has nothing to do with sincere advice.

    Sincere advice cannot be based on insults, dismissiveness, or condescension. The only exception I would make to this rule would be the use of arrogance against one who is arrogant. And then also, assuming that a measured and humble approach didn’t work in the first place.

    The point is simple, if you believe you’re sinless, and if you believe that your iman and your knowledge is pristinely pure, then go ahead and treat others as if you’re superior. But if you’re true to yourself, and sincere in your interactions, you’ll quickly realise that taking such a harsh and abrupt tone with anyone under the self-deception of hating for the sake of Allah is in fact making a mockery of what Allah has commanded of us, let alone making a mockery of the Sunnah that we profess to be upholding.

    The internet is certainly not a place I turn to for Islamic inspiration blindly…there are very few blogs that have a deliberate Islamic focus that I would consider as a reasonable source for obtaining some advice or comfort about my journey as a Muslim. The vast majority are unfortunately disappointing examples of bad da’wah.