Worldly Enjoyment for a Muslim?!

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن اهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين

And (commanding you): “Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a specified term, and bestow His abounding Grace to every owner of grace (i.e. the one who helps and serves needy and deserving, physically and with his wealth, and even with good words). But if you turn away, then I fear for you the punishment of a Great Day.

[Surat Hood, 11:3]

~

From Tafseer ibn Katheer:

(And (commanding you): `Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term appointed, and bestow His abounding grace to every owner of grace.)

This means, “I am commanding you to seek forgiveness from previous sins and to turn to Allah from future sins, and thereafter you abide by that.”

(that He may grant you good enjoyment,)

This is in reference to this worldly life.

(for a term appointed, and bestow His abounding grace to every owner of grace.)

This refers to the Hereafter, according to Qatadah. “This is like the statement of Allah,

(Whoever works righteousness — whether male or female — while a true believer, verily to him We will give a good life.) [Surat An-Nahl, 16:97]

Concerning Allah’s statement,

وَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ كَبِيرٍ

 (But if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day.)

This is a severe threat for whoever turns away from the commandments of Allah, the Exalted, and rejects His Messengers. Verily, the punishment will afflict such a person on the Day of Resurrection and there will be no escape from it.

~

Ust. Taymiyyah Zubayr:

وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُواْ رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُواْ

Istighfaar refers to seeking forgiveness for something a person has done in the past. Tawbah refers to repentance from something the person is currently involved, to stop doing it and turning back to Him.

إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُمْ مَّتَاعًا حَسَنًا إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى

This refers to enjoyment in the world, its pleasures. There are certain good deeds for which the reward begins in the dunia itself, of which one is silatur-rahm (making a consistent and regular effort of joining family ties which have been cut off or are weak).

People think that those who become practising, their life will become difficult. However, the reality is that life is going to be difficult for everyone anyway. Nobody’s life is perfect. Challenges are always there. Yet, bearing those challenges and difficulties becomes easier by adopting a righteous lifestyle and turning to Allah SWT (Surat’l Nahl, ayah # 97).

وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِي فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُ

Dhee FaDL is someone who does extra. He/she does more than required.

FaDLaHu refers to:

(i) in addition to the reward given in this world

(ii) more opportunities to do good (and consequently, if a person does the opposite then the doors of Taufeeq to do good are closed upon him)

And Allah SWT knows best.

Surat’l Hujraat Series: In-Depth Beginning with Quraanic Gems – Part II

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن اهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين

In-Depth Introduction, a Clearer Perspective – Part II

[For part I, please click here.]

Background in Perspective

As mentioned before that this Surah was revealed by 9AH, towards the end of the time of the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam. This was after the city of Madinah had been settled and the safety as well as the security, in addition to its sanctity, had been established. Makkah had been conquered and the neighbouring regions had begun to enter Islam. This is why 9AH was also called the year of convoys/caravanas/delegations because tribes came in multitude to pledge allegiance to Rasulalah salalahu ‘alyhi wasalam and left back to their regions to teach their people about Islam. Thus with an increase in the Muslim community members, there was an immediate need to teach Muslims what their conduct  should be amongst each other. Surat’l Hujraat is therefore known as the Surah of Moral Ethics. It can not only be used in a Muslim state but also in big/small Musalahs/masjids/organizations and in my opinion, even in our households inshaa’Allah.

[Quranic Gem # 1] Coherence of the Quraan

One of the miracles of the Quraan is its perfect coherence, ayah to ayah, surah to surah. SubhanAllah! Surat’l Hujraat is Surah # 49 and before it are two Surahs, Surat Muhammad (#47) and Surat’l Fat-H (#48); each placing an emphasis on the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam. Now, who would’ve thought such coherence was maintained especially since the ayaat of different Surahs were revealed at different times from different Surahs?! It can definitely cannot be a work of human! Allahu Akbar.

• Surat Muhammad: describes the qualities of Rasulalah salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam
• Surat’l Fat-H: talks about the loyalty and allegiance Muslims should have to Rasulalah salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam at the time of war. In general, Islamic history had period of war before peace. There was this struggle to establish themselves first and even within this struggle, they were expected to interact in a proper manner with the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam. They were expected to show proper devotion to him even in life-threatening situations.
• Surat’l Hujraat: In Surat’l Fat-H we were told that we are supposed to respect and honor the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam. In Hujraat, we’re told how we’re supposed to respect him salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam. Surat’l Hujraat goes in much more detail to tell us what exactly is expected of us.

[Quranic Gem # 2] Interesting Link between Surat’l Fat-H and Surat’l Hujuraat

Surat’l Fat-H ends with ‘…وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا…’ in ayah # 29 as highlighted below with Allah SWT promising those who believe with forgiveness and a great reward. Surat’l Hujraat begins with ‘… الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا…’ and the believers have been addressed (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا) five times. Since in the previous Surah Allah SWT has already told us what the reward will be, a true Muslim will then have the eagerness to find out as to what is that I should do to become eligible for such an amazing reward. SubhanAllah. Who knows the human being better than Allah SWT? Guess what? Allah SWT has gifted us with Surat’l Hujraat to answer this question precisely that occurs in a believer’s mind for this Surah does exactly that; it expounds on what the يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا category people should do. As a result, a very frequent direct address of five times in this Surah. Who said this Deen was confusing? All the answers are in the Quraan!

[Quranic Gem # 3] Another Link: The Mention of Reward

Also, to further cement and confirm the notion that there is a link and reward, Allah SWT has used the same words: at the end of Surat’l Fat-H and in ayah # 3 of Surat’l Hujraat (how amazing is that! Allahu akbar!) :

Recurring Phrases

• Surat’l Hujraat is 18 verses long with 5 times Allah SWT directly addressing the believers as يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا. This is the most frequent address if one compares the no. of verses to the no. of times يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا mentioned ratio of other Surahs. The 6th address is يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ.
• Each time Allah SWT says يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا, a major topic is addressed. Therefore, there are 5 major topics or guidelines which are addressed.
• This is a Surah outlining social conduct. Taqwa or God-consciousness has been closely and explicitly linked to eeman (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا) indicating to us that those who have eeman have a special dignified way of conducting themselves socially and that brings about Taqwa. This dispels the myth that many Muslims have in which they believe that their social conduct has nothing to do with their Deen.

Structure of the Surah

•  5 topics are addressed as follows:
  1. How we should deal with our religion. How do I behave with my Deen?
  2. How should we behave with Rasulalah salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam? This is applicable to when he was alive and even today.
  3. How should we deal with the circulating information in our community?
  4. How should we deal with believers when face-to-face?
  5. How should we deal with the Muslims in their absence>
• The Surah talks about the collective responsibility of the Muslim community at the time of difficulty and internal conflicts.
• It also talks about the Muslim community’s interaction with the outside world for obviously, we are not the only ones on this planet.
• The key issues revolve around eeman.

And Allah SWT knows best. Next part coming soon inshaa’Allah.

***

[From: My notes on Sh. AbdulNasir Jangda's series on Surat'l Hujraat. I have finally decided to use them as a companion to Dr. Bilal Philip's book inshaa'Allah. For part I, please click here.]

Motivational Lesson from the Seerah: لا عيش إلا عيش الآخره

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن اهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين

They were progressing even when there were all possible reasons to limit their patience. Afterall, weren’t they too humans like us and had needs just like us? Yet, they had optimism and it is only optimism founded on certainty which helps a believer sail through turbulent times.

Whenever patience, motivation, physical/spiritual strength is running low in the face of adversity, temptations, worldly blessings, dryness of efforts required in work of the Deen/knowledge, challenges in Qadr, don’t forget:

There’s no comfort/real living except the comfort/real living of Akhirah!

 !لا عيش إلا عيش الآخره

Use the following beautiful ahaadith as motivational reminders in your daily life inshaa’Allah:

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 :حدثنا عبد الله بن محمد حدثنا معاوية بن عمرو حدثنا أبو إسحاق عن حميد قال سمعت أنسا رضي الله عنه يقول 

خرج رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى الخندق فإذا المهاجرون والأنصار يحفرون في غداة باردة

فلم يكن لهم عبيد يعملون ذلك لهم فلما رأى ما بهم من النصب والجوع قال

اللهم إن العيش عيش الآخره فاغفر للأنصار والمهاجره

فقالوا مجيبين له

نحن الذين بايعوا محمدا على الجهاد ما بقينا أبدا

[ صحيح البخاري ,باب التحريض على القتال وقوله تعالى حرض المؤمنين على القتال,#2679 ]

~

Narrated Anas:

Allah’s Apostle went towards the Khandaq (i.e. trench) and saw the Emigrants and the Ansar digging in a very cold morning as they did not have slaves to do that for them. When he noticed their fatigue and hunger he said,

“O Allah! The real life is that of the Here-after, (so please) forgive the Ansar and the Emigrants.”

In its reply the Emigrants and the Ansar said,

“We are those who have given a pledge of allegiance to Muhammad that we will carry on Jihad as long as we live.”

[Sahih al Bukhari; Book #52,Hadith #87]

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: حدثنا محمد بن بشار حدثنا غندر حدثنا شعبة عن معاوية بن قرة عن أنس عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال

اللهم لا عيش إلا عيش الآخره فأصلح الأنصار والمهاجره

[ صحيح البخاري ,باب لا عيش إلا عيش الآخرة,#6050 ]

~

Narrated Anas:

The Prophet said, “O Allah! There is no life worth living except the life of the Hereafter, so (please) make righteous the Ansar and the Emigrants.”

[Sahih al Bukhari; Book # 76, # 422]

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  حدثنا حفص بن عمر حدثنا شعبة عن أبي إسحاق عن البراء رضي [ ص: 1044 ] الله عنه قال رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يوم الأحزاب ينقل التراب وقد وارى التراب بياض بطنه وهو يقول

لولا أنت ما اهتدينا ولا تصدقنا ولا صلينا

فأنزلن سكينة علينا

وثبت الأقدام إن لاقينا إن الألى قد بغوا علينا

إذا أرادوا فتنة أبينا

[صحيح البخاري , كتاب الجهاد والسير, باب حفر الخندق # 2682]

~

Narrated Al-Bara:

On the day (of the battle) of Al-Ahzab (i.e. clans) I saw the Prophet carrying earth, and the earth was covering the whiteness of his abdomen. And he was saying,

“Without You (O Allah!) we would have got no guidance, nor given in charity, nor prayed.

So please bless us with tranquility

and make firm our feet when we meet our enemies.

Indeed (these) people have rebelled against (oppressed) us but never shall we yield if they try to bring affliction upon us.”

 [Sahih al Bukhari; Book #52,Hadith #90]

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Attn: Muslim-Wife Series on New Blog

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن اهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين

Asalamo’alaykum warahmatullah,

Quick Announcement: Alhamdolilah I have begun a new series of posts on the possible ways of becoming a more God-fearing Muslim wife on my new women-only blog. Some people know how to be a ‘good’ wife but it is very different from being a God-fearing wife (having Taqwa). Details will follow up in my upcoming posts there. Should you be interested or know any sisters who are as well, please follow these directions so that you are notified of the blog posts in future inshaa’Allah. As mentioned before, in addition to being a sister, you will require special access to that blog because it has been marked ‘private’. If for some odd reason you have still not been added despite your request, please let me know again inshaa’Allah.

JazakummAllahu khayran,

-Umm S.

“…for what you seek will be facilitated by…”

Ibrahim bin Abdulwahid advised al-Maqdisi when he wanted to travel for knowledge:

“Increase your recitation of the Qur’an and do not leave it;

for what you seek will be facilitated to you by the amount you read.”

[Dhail Tabaqat Al-Hanabilah, Ibn Rajab, 3/205]

Surat’l Hujraat Series: From Guidelines in Organizational Psychology to Household Rules, A Brief Beginning

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن اهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين

Brief Introduction – Part I

Surah’s Name

• Hujraat is the plural of hujrah which literally means room. It refers to one-room houses of the Prophet’s wives.
• Hujraat is mentioned only once in the Quraan – ayah # 4 of this Surah.

Surah’s Place & Order of Revelation

• Revealed in Madinah in 9 AH – reports collected by Ibn Mardawayh (R) and al Bayhaqi (R) from Ibn ‘Abbass and Ibn az-Zubayr radiaAllahu ‘anhum.
• It is Surah # 49 in the Quraan and is placed after Surah al-FatH. However, it was revealed after Surat’l Mujaadalah which is Surah # 58.
• There is a strong relationship between Surahs # 47, 48 and 49 which are Surahs Muhammad, al-FatH and al-Hujraat; respectively. All focus on respecting the Rasulalah salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam; former two during battles and the latter during non-battle times. [This was taken from a lecture, not Dr. Bilal Philip's book and was added for interest purposes so that it can be used as a memory aid in future. More on this later inshaa'Allah.]

Background of Surah

After the bloodless conquest of Makkah in the 8th year after the Hijrah, many desert tribes began sending emissaries to make oaths of allegiance to the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam and to accept Islam on behalf of their tribes. Because of this phenomenon, the 9th year became known as “The Year of the Delegations”. However, the Bedouin ambassadors were often very crude and coarse in their dealings with the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam due to their desert manners. Their loud and disrespectful conversations with the Prophet salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam were displeasing to Allah SWT, therefore, He revealed this Surah in order to reprimand them and to lay down a general code of behaviour and a set of moral ideals for Muslims as well as all mankind. This code represents the foundation essential for the formation of any true Muslim community or the establishment of any Muslim movement for social change. [Tafseer Soorah Al-Hujurat by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, pp.68.]

Lens with which to look at this Surah & Personal Targets

Each of us has a responsibility to fulfill and if we still do not have those responsibilities yet, we cannot run away for we are one day going to be entrusted with them inshaa’Allah:

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock. The ruler of the people is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. A man is the shepherd of his household and is responsible for his flock. A woman is the shepherd of her husband’s house and children and is responsible for her flock. The slave is the shepherd of his master’s wealth and is responsible for it. Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari (853) and Muslim (1829).]

When you are made responsible by Allah SWT for individuals whether inside of your household or outside, certain principles are necessary and must be implemented. Without these principles, one is very likely to commit injustice whether that’s to volunteers working under you in a Dawah organization or your family members (spouse, children etc.). You could be made incharge of your project at work/Dawah or could be made incharge by being the older sibling or the only sibling who is interested in Islam. You could be a blogger and have x-number of individuals (subscribers) whose Eeman you could be indirectly be responsible for! Allah SWT has His ways of giving leadership through knowledge, relationship and lineage.  In other words, each one of us has a duty to fulfill and one is given charge, then the accountability begins. Therefore, the guidelines in Surat’l Hujraat and our implementation of them after learning about them are paramount to our salvation in Akhirah and inshaa’Allah success as big or small organizational units in this dunia for who knows us, humans, better than the Creator? In addition, this learning and implementation will in turn help create a ripple-effect in our communities and boomerang-effect in our personal lives. Isn’t it true that whatever khayr you send out, it eventually is gifted back to you by Allah SWT in different forms in both worlds in a manner most magnanimous?   Walilahil Hamdan katheeran tayyibban.

Using this lens on my mind’s eye and thus awareness of personal responsibility, I would like to point out a few personal targets for this study no matter how cursory this study might be:

• Try to notice the link between Taqwa and human behaviour
• Keep a tab on what negative behaviour makes one’s Eeman deficient and how many times Allah SWT has addressed aladheena aamanu
• Extract mannerisms; extend it from Rasulalah salalahu ‘alayhi wasalam to those who are given authority over us through His Commands, in our lives
• Come up with daily examples of how if these principles would be applied, social harmony would occur
• Use the ayaat to develop calmness whenever the negative emotions arouse a turbulent reaction within us
• Look at the details and add it to the bigger picture of personal understanding of Islam, justice and organizational psychology

O Allah SWT, cause this small post to bring massive worldly and Akhira-related benefit to me, my families, and to the entire Ummah of today and tomorrow. Guide us to the path of those whom You are pleased with and make not Quraan a hujjah against us on the day of Judgement. Ya Mu’ti, grant us beneficial knowledge which beautifies our character and grants us a palace near You. Ameen!

And Allah SWT knows best.

“…you will be to me like Haroon to Musa?…”

Narrated Sa’d RA:

Allah’s Apostle set out for Tabuk appointing ‘Ali as his deputy (in Medina).

‘Ali said, “Do you want to leave me with the children and women?”

The Prophet said, “Will you not be pleased that you will be to me like Aaron (Haroon) to Moses? But there will be no prophet after me.”

[Sahih al Bukhari; Book #59, Hadith #700]