Surah Al-Baqarah: Verse 45

Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says:

Arabic: وَاسْتَعِينُواْ بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَوةِ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلاَّ عَلَى الْخَـشِعِينَ

Translation: And seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer) and truly, it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashi`in.

From the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:

Allah commanded His servants to use patience and prayer to acquire the good of this life and the Hereafter. Muqatil bin Hayan said that this Ayah means, “Utilize patience and the obligatory prayer in seeking the Hereafter. As for patience (here), they say that it means fasting.” There are similar texts reported from Mujahid. Al-Qurtubi and other scholars commented, “This is why Ramadan is called the month of patience,” as is mentioned in the Hadith literature. It was also said that `patience’ in the Ayah means, refraining from evil, and this is why `patience’ was mentioned along with practicing acts of worship, especially and foremost, the prayer. Also, Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that `Umar bin Al-Khattab said, “There are two types of patience: good patience when the disaster strikes, and a better patience while avoiding the prohibitions of Allah.” Ibn Abi Hatim said that Al-Hasan Al-Basri was reported to have said similarly.

Allah then said,

والصَّلَوةِ

(And As-Salah (the prayer).)
The prayer is one of the best means of assistance for firmly adhering to Allah’s orders, just as Allah said;

اتْلُ مَا أُوْحِىَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَـبِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَوةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَوةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَآءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ

(Recite (O Muhammad ) what has been revealed to you of the Book (the Qur’an), and perform As-Salah. Verily, As-Salah (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha’ (i.e. great sins of every kind), and Al-Munkar and the remembrance of (praising) of (you by) Allah is greater indeed) (29:45).
The personal pronoun in the Ayah,

وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ

(And truly, it is extremely heavy and hard) refers to prayer, as Mujahid is reported to have said, and it was also the choice of Ibn Jarir. It is possible that the pronoun might be referring to the advice – to observe patience and the prayer – mentioned in the same Ayah. Similarly, Allah said about Qarun (Korah),

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنْ ءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَـلِحاً وَلاَ يُلَقَّاهَآ إِلاَّ الصَّـبِرُونَ

(But those who had been given (religious) knowledge said: “Woe to you! The reward of Allah (in the Hereafter) is better for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and this, none shall attain except As-Sabirun (the patient).”) (28:80).

Surah Fatir: Verse 15

Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says:

Arabic: يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِىُّ الْحَمِيدُ

Translation: O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.

From the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:

Allah tells us that He has no need of anyone or anything else, but all of creation is in need of Him and is in a position of humility before Him.

(O mankind! you are those in need of Allah.) Meaning, they need Him in all that they do, but He has no need of them at all.

(Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.) Meaning, He is unique in His being Free of all needs, and has no partner or associate, and He is Worthy of all praise in all that He does, says, decrees and legislates.

Surah Muhammad: Verse 17

Asalaamu’alaikum.

Surah Muhammad was revealed during the Medinan times. That is, after the state was first established.

Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says:

Arabic: وَالَّذينَ اهتَدَوا زادَهُم هُدًى وَآتاهُم تَقواهُم

Translation: And those who are guided – He increases them in guidance and gives them their righteousness.

From the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:

This means that those who seek guidance, Allah facilitates it for them; He guides them to it, makes them firm on it, and gives them more of it.

May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) make it easy on us all to attain guidance and implement Islam as Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) wants.

Jazak Allah Khayr.

Knowledge is Power!

Asalaamu’alaikum.

Seeking knowledge is a very important aspect of Islam. Muslims used to see the aspect of increasing one’s knowledge as an act of worship, maybe they still do, but it just doesn’t seem that apparent to me these days personally.

Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says:

“It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah” [Fatir 35:28]

Learning about our history.

Asalaamu’alaikum.

I’ve been doing a bit of reading lately on the history of Islam. Subhan Allah. It’s rich and vibrant and it is something that we should all try and learn about. In Sha Allah.

Eid Mubarak!

Asalaamu’alaikum,

Eid Mubarak folks.

Enjoy and stay safe!

Apologies.

Asalaamu’alaikum.

Sorry for the lack of updates to any readers out there. Just a little busy, In Sha Allah, we get back on it soon.

Deeds towards my beloved!

Asalaamu’alaikum.

A short reminder to do good towards our parents In Sha Allah.

They brought us up, changed us, fed us, bathed us, clothed us, provided shelter for us, gave us education, cared for us, loved us, … I think this could turn out to be a very large list, but you understand what I’m getting at. It’s our job to show the appreciation back, not just for their sake, but mainly for the sake of pleasing Allah (سبحانه و تعالى).

Charitable deeds!

Asalaamu’alaikum.

I thought I’d post about charity as we know, it is a large affair in the lives of Muslims. Whether it’s obligatory (Zakat) or voluntary (Sadaqah), It’s something that we need to understand and do correctly.

This post isn’t really about the technical details of the types of charities, but rather, the methods in which we distribute them and how it affects not only us, but the recipients in which we hope to help.

This article may come as a surprise to you readers as it is very different to what is normally written, but I believe we should all know. Some brothers I was with (May Allah reward them for their hard work) had explained the regulations of giving charity and how, a lot of what we do these days is not really helpful to the giver of charity and the receiver. This is basically a recollection of what they had informed me of.

As we know, our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Central Africa Republic, Burma etc, are on the receiving end of serious hardships. It’s hard for us to imagine what they’re going through unless we’ve been through it, and we seriously need to ask ourselves,

‘Is what I’m doing right now truly helping them?’

De-ed(t)iquettes of Supplications!

Asalaamu’alaikum!

Narrated by Abu Huraira (رضي الله عنه): Allah’s Messenger (سبحانه و تعالى) said, “The invocation of anyone of you is granted (by Allah) if he does not show impatience (by saying, “I invoked Allah but my request has not been granted.”) [Bukhari]

I just though I’d post something very short. It’s about the etiquettes of dua’, that is, when making the invocation, what the correct manner is.

This is something that I haven’t been taught and just happen to learn partly through osmosis but mainly just something I came across when searching for certain invocations. I don’t know if everyone already knows but I know I certainly didn’t. In Sha Allah It’s beneficial to you readers.