THAT MOMENT OF QUIET

Bismil Laahir Rahmaanir Raheem

 

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laahi wa barkaatuh brothers and sisters in Islam. Alhamdu lil Laah for the blessing of Islam. Alhamdu lil Laah for the blessing of brotherhood. May Allah azza wa jal sustain us on this path until the end. Aameen.

Our Rubb and our Phones

It is a usual thing; almost a norm now, to hear phones ringing in the Masaajid. We do not care to put them off or on silence in order to interact with His Majesty. Some of us put the phones in front of us with the screen facing us even when we put the phones on silence in order not to miss the one calling us even when we couldn’t pick and I have no idea what advantage we gain from that. First of all, this attitude does not help our khushoo (concentration) in sualaat at all. So, if you are guilty of this; how about you stop that (put the phone off or on silence and away from you in sualaat) from today so that you and I could gain some rewards which we are in dire need of? Jazaakumul Laahu khairan in advance.

Is there a linkage between our phones and what I intend to talk about? Well… Ram Dass says;

‘The quieter you become, the more you can hear.’

We can analyse this saying in various ways and each one of us would probably give it a different meaning. I would look at it in the ‘contemplative sense.’ All of our days seem to be surrounded with so much activity and noise such that we miss that ‘moment of quiet’ which I believe we very much need especially as Muslims. Allah azza wa jal keeps admonishing us in the Qur’an to use our minds: think, ponder, reflect, contemplate, etc. To do this effectively, we need that moment of quiet most of the time. 

Think & Reflect

I guess a lot of people who know me will remember this popular phrase of mine, think & reflect, which I attach to just about everything I post some time ago and sometimes now on social media. As I grow, the importance of thinking and reflection also grows with me. I have always believed that you don’t just hear or see or feel something and brush it off. You need to give it a thought…a deeper thinking. When we read the Qur’an, we realize that everything in it is worth giving a deeper thought. Allah azza wa jal asks us a question;

‘Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon their hearts?’

Surah Muhammad, Chapter 47 ayah 24

From this ayah, we realize that the Qur’an is not just to be read and pushed aside but it is to be pondered upon. Our lack of pondering on the Qur’an goes to liken us with those whose hearts are locked up: blind. This is the more reason why I like to use ‘ayah’ instead of ‘verse’ because ayah conveys the real meaning of what everything in the Qur’an is: ‘signs.’ I do not want to state any specific ayah that demands contemplation because all of the aayaat do. 

Time for yourself

Al-Fudhayl, a scholar said;

‘The speech of the believer is wisdom; his silence is contemplation and his vision is a lesson (for him). If you are like that, then you will not cease being in a state of worship.’ Then he read the verse,

“I have not created Mankind or Jinn except to worship Me.”

Surah al-Dhariyat, the Winnowing Winds, Chapter 51 ayah 56

Let’s see what I derive from this saying.

Worship = Speak (Wisdom) + Quiet (Contemplation (tafakkur)) + Look (Learn)

Since the essence of our lives is worship, everything we do must be directed towards that. When we speak wise things as Muslims, we are worshipping Allah. When we ponder on all that Allah azza wa jal has surrounded us with, we are worshipping Him and when all that we see serve as lessons for us in our worship of Allah, that is also worship. Now we concentrate on ‘contemplation.’

Contemplation

There are so many books on contemplation in Islam and I would recommend one by Sheikh Osman Nuri Tobpas. Contemplation helps us to not take anything we see or hear for granted because Allah azza wa jal created everything for a purpose: to teach man to worship Him solely. We have the land, water, sky, sun, moon, air, diverse nature of humans (their colours, language, stature, etc), the animals, plants; everything, to ponder on. They are signs of Allah azza wa jal that we should not sweep under the carpet. 

To contemplate effectively; we need peace and quiet. It is possible for two or more people to come together and ponder on these things and derive lessons from them. Most of the time however, it is best we contemplate alone as it works on our mind effectively therefore the need for that quiet moment.  

Put off the phone, facebook, whatsapp and all other social media. Put off the TV and the radio and every other noise making gadget. Look for a place where you could be in seclusion and give yourself that moment of bliss without any distractions. Be with only Allah azza wa jal and then talk to Him and study all that He has surrounded you with even if it is for a good ten minutes of your 24 hours a day. You could also intensify your contemplative mind by making everything you see or hear in your day to day activities remind you of Allah azza wa jal which is the purpose any way.

Why contemplate?

I believe that contemplation draws us closer to our Creator, gives us a better understanding of situations and also helps us in accepting everything that happens in our lives; good or bad. As we think and reflect on the creation of Allah azza wa jal, His greatness becomes bare in our hearts, minds and eyes even though we can never comprehend His greatness in totality. We tend to appreciate the things around us with all the natural differences and everything that happens only strengthens our faith and awe in Allah azza wa jal. 

Contemplation provides us with a calm, peaceful and serene heart as we become more aware of Allah azza wa jal and understand issues best. In a hadith qudsi, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa says;

"If someone draws near to me a hand span, I draw near to that person a forearm’s length. If he draws near to Me a forearm’s length, I draw near to him the span of two outstretched arms. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him at speed."

Bukhari and Muslim

What more could we ask for? Let us endeavour to go to Allah, ar-Rahmaan, ar-Raheem, running and hopping at top speed hoping that we would get something a lot better from Him. Ramadaan is almost here, what better time to enhance our contemplative minds if Allah azza wa jal makes us live to see it? Remember me in your du’a always. I hope I was able to tell you something beneficial. May Allah azza wa jal forgive me for my mistakes and accept from us. Aameen. I love you fiisabi lil Laah and may Allah, ash-Shaheed, be a witness to this love. Aameen.

Jazaakumul Laahu khair always!

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laah!

RMRS; www.mmahajia.blogspot.com

A GIFT OF LOVE

Bismil Laahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laahi wa barkaatuh brothers and sisters in Islam. Allah is the Gafuurur Raheem; the All Forgiving and Merciful. We pray that Allah azza wa jal favours us with the blessing of His forgiveness whiles we live this life, in our death and on the Day that we would stand before Him to give accounts of our lives; which is a surety. Aameen.

On this Day of Accounts which has been given various names worth pondering upon, we are told by the noble Prophet Muhammad suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam that Allah azza wa jal will ask us a question. This is related by Abu Huraira radiyal Laahu anhu who reports that the Prophet said;

‘Allah will ask on the Day of Judgment: ‘Where are those who loved each other for the sake of My glory? Today, a day when there is no shade but mine, I shall shade them with My shade.’

Saheeh Muslim

I need and want so badly to have this favour on this Day and I pray that all of us are blessed with this favour in shaa Allah. There are ahaadith that talk about the favour of Allah azza wa jal upon those who love one another truly and solely for His sake but the one that blows my mind most is found in Sunan Abu Dawood which states;

The Prophet suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Among Allah’s servants are people who are neither Prophets nor martyrs, but whom the Prophets and martyrs will deem fortunate because of their high status with Allah.”

They asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Inform us of who they are.”

He said: “They are people who loved each other for Allah’s sake, without being related to one another or being tied to one another by the exchange of wealth. By Allah, their faces will be luminous and they will be upon light. They will feel no fear when the people will be feeling fear and they will feel no grief when the people will be grieving.”

Then he read the ayah: “Behold, on the friends of Allah there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Surah Yunus, Chapter 10 ayah 62)

Now, that is just enough motivation for you and I to start loving as much as we could others (without being related to one another or being tied to one another by the exchange of wealth) fiisabi lil Laah. If you are doing so already, then keep the fire burning. If you are not, then this could be the time.

There are a thousand and one ways to show love to a brother or sister fiisabi lil Laah and this show of love should be directed towards one goal: enjoining that which is right and discouraging from that which is wrong. In this article, I want to look at one aspect of ‘love fiisabi lil Laah’ that I believe we should intensify among us.

We are in an era where we are challenged with lots of external (outside of the Muslims) problems and then internal ones (within the Muslims) as well. In this era, it is getting a lot tougher to genuinely show your love for a brother or a sister fiisabi lil Laah because even sometimes those people put question marks to your show of love. Think deeply about that. That should not discourage us anyway since our sole purpose is to attain that status that Allah azza wa jal talks about. The Prophet suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“A Muslim’s supplication for his brother in secret is answered. At his head an angel is appointed, and whenever he supplicates for his brother with something good, the angel appointed to him says: ‘Amîn, and likewise for you’.”

Saheeh Muslim  

    

So the aspect of loving fiisabi lil Laah that I want to emphasize on is in the hadith above: ‘Supplicating for one another.’ For me, this is one of the best ways for us to show love for one another for Allah’s sake and it is the easiest as well. This type of love could be given to the poor by the rich and the rich to the poor. Du’a is the best form of love for Muslims who know or don’t know one another (and might never know one another until the end).

We face diverse problems in our lives. We have various needs and fears and our greatest weapon in dealing with these things is du’a (seeking Allah’s aid). Allah azza wa jal tells us;

‘And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you...’

Surah Ghafir, the Forgiver, Chapter 40 ayah 60

Allah, al-Mujeeb, has assured us that He is ever ready for ‘our call,’ ‘our du’a.’ He again says beautifully that;

‘And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 186

Alhamdu lil Laah! Alhamdu lil Laah! Alhamdu lil Laah! Feel it! Say it! Act it because most definitely we are blessed to be Muslims. May Allah sustain us on this beauty. Aameen. This is how much Allah, al-Mujeeb, is ready to listen to us. It will be unfortunate on our part to let the opportunity of Allah hearing us pass us by. It is even more loving, per my understanding, if we call on Allah azza wa jal to tell Him about the needs of a brother or a sister or simply ask Allah to bless them with His guidance and love and all the goody goodies.

Sometimes we know the specific problems that some of our brothers and sisters face so we can seek specific things for them from our Rubb. Where we don’t know of their challenges in life (and everyone has a challenge unless the person does not know), then we give them general du’a.

We could also cultivate the habit of doing du’a for others just about any time when the need arises and not necessarily after our sualaat or tahajjud prayers. Imagine we made seeking the guidance of Allah our core du’a for people we see doing things that are against the Deen as we try to talk them out of it; that will be awesome. That is not to say that we should think they need the guidance more than us; we all need it. 

The hadith above makes the whole situation of making it a habit to do du’a for others even more rewarding. That is because for every good that you ask Allah to do for a brother or a sister, an angel seeks the same from Allah for you. That is enough motivation to keep it up if we are already doing that or to start if we aren’t.

So I make an appeal to you by this article to remember others in your du’a always (they don’t need to know or ask you for it or thank you for it). Do this with the hope that on that Day, Allah azza wa jal may bless you with His shade and the Prophets and martyrs will deem you fortunate. But of course, please do not forget me in your du’a and I pray that Allah azza wa jal does for you an uncountable number of whatever you ask Him for me. Aameen.

We are still warming up for Ramadaan; you could do this best during this holy month provided you are alive to witness it. Alhamdu lil Laah for everything. I love you fiisabi lil Laah and may Allah, ash-Shaheed, be a witness to this love. Aameen.

Jazaakumul Laahu khair always!

Love fiisabi lil Laah always!

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laah!

RMRS; www.mmahajia.blogspot.com

Warming up for R

WARMING UP FOR R

Bismil Laahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laahi wa barkaatuh brothers and sisters in Islam. Alhamdu lil Laah for everything that Allah azza wa jal has blessed us with and for everything that He has deprived us of. May we pass all of the tests and trials He put in our way until our end. Aameen.

I am going to be doing a Ramadaan series in shaa Allah and before Ramadaan, I’d like us to be pondering on some few issues and this article discusses one such issues.

Ramadaan, the Month of al-Qur’an

Allah azza wa jal tells us that He revealed the Qur’an in Ramadaan as a guidance and a criterion for judging between right and wrong for mankind. He says;

‘The month of Ramadaan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion between right and wrong...’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 185

In the month of Ramadaan therefore, we should all endeavour to take a journey through the Qur’an in order to know what Allah’s guidance is for us and then we learn to live by that guidance as much as possible.

A Scholar’s Analysis on Guidance

I once read a commentary of Surah al-Fatihah and the commentator said something that got me thinking real deep. He said that; when we recite Surah al-Fatihah, we are seeking guidance onto the path of righteous from the Creator of the Universe and all that it contains, Allah. Allah, al-Alim, teaches us to say;

‘You alone we worship and from You alone do we ask for help. Guide us to the Straight Path. The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not the path of those who earned Your anger nor of those who went astray.’

Surah al-Fatihah, the Opening, Chapter 1 ayah 5-7

The commentator links these last aayaat of Surah al-Fatihah to the beginning aayaat of Surah al-Baqarah, which is the next chapter after Surah al-Fatihah where He says that Allah azza wa jal answers our questions directly. Allah says;

‘Alif Laam Meem! This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaquun (the people of taqwa (those who are conscious of Allah)).’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 1-2

That to me was an amazing linkage he did. What about you?

The Essence of Ramadaan

The fasting of Ramadaan has a purpose that Allah azza wa jal outlines clearly to us. He says;

‘O you who believe! Observing the fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become Al-Muttaquun (explained above).’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 183

From this ayah, we see that at the end of the day fasting could make us ‘al-Muttaquun.’

Who are the al-Muttaquun?

They are the people of ‘Taqwa.’ Taqwa has been defined as ‘the state of being conscious of Allah.’ Meaning at any point in time, the Muttaquun have Allah and His interests in their minds and they work towards pleasing Him solely. Allah azza wa jal tells us explicitly who the Muttaquun are. He says;

‘Those who believe in the unseen and perform as-Sualaat, and spend out of what We have provided for them. And who believe in that which has been sent down to you and in that which was sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. They are on true guidance from their Lord and they are the successful.’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 3-5

Do you have all or any of these qualities? We must all ponder and strive towards worshiping Allah to the best of our abilities.

The people of Taqwa, Allah tells us, are the best of people. He says;

‘O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that believer who has Taqwa (the most pious of you). Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.’

Surah Al-Hujuraat, the Dwellings, Chapter 49 ayah 13

It is only wise that all of us will yearn to be among the best of people to Allah azza wa jal Who alone is worthy of our worship and praise.

From all that has been said above, I could deduce something beautiful. 

1.      Allah sent us the Qur’an (our guidance) in the month of Ramadaan

2.      When we fast during this month seeking this guidance, we attain Taqwa

3.      Attaining Taqwa makes us the best of people before Allah

So, this thing is like a training session for us. It is like wanting to turn a cup of maize grains into dough. You take it through a number of processes to achieve this and that is exactly what Allah azza wa jal does with us. To turn us into the best of people, He takes us through these beautiful steps. Indeed, He is ‘Merciful’ and His Mercy truly surpasses His Wrath.

If we are able to go through the month of Ramadaan whilst fasting it with this kind of understanding, then bi iznil Laah, we grow from strength to strength with each Ramadaan that Allah in His infinite Wisdom allows us to witness. May Allah favour us with a blessing of His taqwa. Aameen.

What Does Taqwa Do to You?

Taqwa as we understood it above is ‘the state of being conscious of Allah at all times.’ We could say that it is the ‘Remembrance of Allah azza wa jal always’ which is termed as dhikrul Laah. Allah tells us how dhikr of Him benefits us even in this world. He says;

‘…verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.’

Surah Ar-Ra’d, the Thunder, Chapter 13 ayah 28

Rest as used here means a lot of things to me: ‘Peace,’ ‘Tranquility,’ ‘Calm,’ ‘Serenity.’ So I have grown to appreciate so much ‘inner peace, calm, serenity, tranquility’ which I will equate to ‘inner rest’ ‘heart at rest.’ 

Amir Mukhtaar who was known as Loon before his reversion to Islam was a top time international musician who confesses how he had yearned for inner peace whilst he wasn’t Muslim. Among his strategies for wanting inner peace was buying the latest and nicest of everything yet he still felt that void deep within. Alhamdu lil Laah, he found that in Islam.

Allah azza wa jal also describes the people of taqwa as successful. He says; 

‘They are on true guidance from their Lord and they are the successful.’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 5

What kind of success do you think Allah azza wa jal is talking about? Is it that they are the wealthiest in terms of material possessions or that they have contentment or both? I will leave you to ponder on that. 

May Allah azza wa jal make us among the Muttaquun who are the best in His sight and who attain ‘rest at heart’ and are the ‘successful.’ Aameen. I love you fiisabi lil Laah and may Allah be a witness to this love. 

Jazaakumul Laahu khair always!

Islam forever in shaa Allah!

Rubaba Mmahajia Rahma Sabtiu

www.mmahajia.blogspot.com