Ilm Fruits

Salaah: Relax!

Continuing in our series of purification of salaah, we all need to realize that it's not a race to see who can finish first! Inshallah ta'alla take your time, relax, and comfort your soul with the tranquility of being in communication with Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), your Lord and Creator!

Our beloved Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to move at a measured pace throughout his salaah; so much so that he would allow every bone to return to its place after each movement (classified saheeh by Ibn Kuzaymah and al-Hafiz). On top of that, he would command those who were not offering their prayers properly to do this as well: "None of you have prayed properly until he does this." (Abu Dawood 1/536)

In a hadeeth Narrated by Abu Qutaadah (رضي الله عنه), the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "The worst type of thief is the one who steals from his prayer by not doing rukoo’ and sujood properly." (Ahmad and Al-Haakim 1/229)

In another hadeeth narrated by Abu ‘Abd-Allah al-Ash’ari (رضي الله عنه), the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "The one who does not do rukoo’ properly, and pecks in sujood, is like a starving man who eats only one or two dates; it does not do him any good at all." (classified hassan; Al-Tabarani 4/115)

These are some beneficial points that we should inshallah all try to practice as soon as our next salaah. We don’t want to be up in front of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the Day of Judgement with sooo many prayers, and then we find out that they didn’t count because we didn’t take our time. As the hadeeth states, "...it does not do him ANY good at all", i.e. meaningless. Can you imagine? All these prayers stacked to the max, and all of them amount to NOTHING on The Day where we need them the most, just because of something as small as not taking our time in salaah and doing our rukoo’ and sujood properly. Scary thought!

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) give us all the capability to perform our salaah in the perfect manner taught to us by the best of creations, the saviour of mankind, Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم), ameen!

And remember, you only earn the reward for those parts of your prayer in which you have khushoo! More on that soon, inshallah.

• Relax! Who are you Racing?
• Nice and Slow
• Purification of Salaah
• “As-Salaah! As-Salaah!”
• “If it is sound then the rest of his deeds will be sound…”

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Light of Guidance

Light of Guidance is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Yasir Qadhi. The course focuses on three aspects: shirk, nifaq, and kufr. Dwelve into issues such as the three types of tawhid, the perfection of La Ilaha Illallah, fruits of eman, grave-worship, jinns, magic, atheism, intercession, and more!

• AlMaghrib
• Amplify Your Du'a With Tawassul
• Any Last Words?
• Belief: A Beautiful Tree
• Best Way to Increase Eman?
• Blessings of Knowledge
• Da'wah to Atheists: Five Minutes
• Forgiveness for Shirk?
• 'Ibadah, Natural Actions, Religious Actions
• Increase Your Barakah
• Knowledge, Practice, Da'wah
• Light of Guidance
• Mushrikeen Believed in Allah
• Places that Contain Barakah
• Shirk, the Destroyer
• Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah
• The Barakah of the Ka'bah
• The Fruits of Eman (1)
• The Fruits of Eman (10): Ease and Light Crossing the Sirat
• The Fruits of Eman (2)
• The Fruits of Eman (3)
• The Fruits of Eman (4): A Good Life
• The Fruits of Eman (5): Glad Tidings of Angels Before Death
• The Fruits of Eman (6): Khilafah
• The Fruits of Eman (7): Brotherhood
• The Fruits of Eman (9): Benefit From Advice
• The Mu'min Tree
• Things that Contain Barakah
• Three Aspects of Tawhid
• Times Blessed with Barakah
• What is Barakah?

• Aqeeda

Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light of Guidance. University of Toronto, Toronto. March 2006.

• Light of Eman Session 1
• Light of Eman Session 2
• Light Upon Light
• Increase Your Barakah
• The Mu’min Tree

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Your Last Prayer

Getting further in our discussion on the means to attain the utmost purification in our salaah; one of the best ways is to realize that it may be our last salaah we offer to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). So the question is, how do you wanna go out?

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "Remember death in your prayer, for the man who remembers death during his prayer is bound to pray properly, and pray the prayer of a man who does not think that he will pray any other prayer." (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1421. It was reported from al-Suyooti that al-Haafiz ibn Hajar classed this hadeeth as hassan)

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) also advised Abu Ayyoob (رضي الله عنه): "When you stand up to pray, pray a farewell prayer." (Reported by Ahmad, 5/412; Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 742) -- meaning the prayer of one who thinks that he will not pray another prayer.

The person who is praying will no doubt die, and there is some prayer that will be his last prayer, so let him have khushoo’ in the prayer that he is doing, for he does not know whether this will be his last prayer.

So when you're standing, or in rukoo, or sujood, remember that this may be the last chance you ever get to pray to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Make it count.

• Five Levels of Prayer
• The Prayer, The Prayer …
• Manly Awrah
• Salaah: A Springboard of Eman
• Eh! You Wanna Enter Jannah?

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What Concerns You?

Concerns of a med student:

Ahmed: I've been trying so hard to make it into that post med program.

Friend: Hey, what about meeting with Dr.Muneeb. Just go ask him what you need to get in, he is THE BEST doctor.

Ahmed: You think I havent already? I am practically following ALL his footsteps to the best to my ability ... just sometimes I get concerned if I'm still going to make it or not ... hope I can achieve all the marks I need before its too late. So I am just doing all the bonus projects as well ...

Concerns of a Muslim:

Mu’adh bin Jabal: O Messenger of Allah, inform me of an act which will place me into Paradise and will keep me away from the fire.

He said: You have asked me about a great matter, yet it is, indeed, an easy matter for him to whom Allah Almighty makes it easy. (It is) that you worship Allah without associating anything with Him, that you perform the prayers, that you pay the zakat, that you fast during Ramadan, and that you make the pilgrimage to the House.

Then he said: Shall I not guide you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire; and a man’s prayer in the middle of the night.

Then he recited: Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of that We have bestowed on them. No soul knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do. [Surah al-Sajdah (32): Ayah 16-17]

Then he said: Shall I not also tell you of the peak of the matter, its pillar, and its topmost part?

Muadh said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah.

He said: The peak of the matter is Islam (submission to Allah), the pillar is prayer; and its topmost part is jihad.

Then he said: And shall I not tell you of the controlling of all that?

Muadh said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah.

So he took hold of his tongue and said: Restrain this.

Muadh said: O Prophet of Allah, will we be held accountable for what we say?

He said: May your mother lose you! Is there anything that topples people on their faces into the Hell-fire other than the jests of their tongues?

[Related by Al-Tirmidhi, who said it was a hassan hadith]

• As displayed by the above hadith, companions were anxious to know the key to their goal. They concerned themselves with pleasing Allah, being saved from the Hellfire and getting into paradise! What concerns do most of us have? How much do we try to learn and implement to enter Jannah?
• The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) mentions Muadh's (رضي الله عنه) concern as a great one, and it is only easy by the help of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). How often do we ask Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) for this help and guidance? May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) give us tawfeeq of seeking His help for all good matters, especially in this -ultimate- great one! (Ameen)

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) tells us:

• The key to entering paradise: by fullfilling the five pillars.
• The key to gain great rewards, beyond paradise: by sunnah acts such as voluntary fasts, charity, prayer during late night.
• The main aspect of being saved from Hellfire and entering Paradise: by submission to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). The foundation of submitting to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى): salaah. The peak: jihad.

Beyond that, he (صلي الله عليه وسلم) also warns us of the greatest reason for people to enter Hellfire and how to avoid it: by controlling the tongue.

So, in conclusion, we all know we desire Jannah. We all know we don't want to end up in Hell. We all know of greater rewards existing in Jannah. We all know exactly what to strive for ... and most importantly, we all know how to get there! Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) already spoon-fed us the actions that lead to our goals by His help--just look through the Qur'an and Sunnah. Are we concerned in implementing them? Are we striving for the greatest matter? Are we spending most of our life doing acts that please Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)? Or are we wasting time in gaining the best levels of this duniya while letting our time run out? What concerns us?

Let us strive for the best level in Jannah, al-Firdaus. Let us ask Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) to guide us and help us in each of our prayers. For we are ever in need of our Creator, our Sustainer and Reckoner. May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) make it easy for us to follow the haq and guide us to actions that will lead us to Jannah! (Ameen wajma'een)

• Fantastic Four
• Losers!
• Consultation (Shura): A Fundamental Leadership Technique
• The Prayer, The Prayer …
• Ten Tips for a Happy and Successful Marriage

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Code of Scholars

Code of Scholars is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Muhammad Alshareef. The course teaches the basics of the science of Usool ul-Fiqh, derived from the Qur'an and Sunnah. What does haram mean? Who makes laws? What are the different types of fard actions? What Arabic keywords indicate something is haram? Students who succeed gain the ability to analyze contradicting fatawa and determine which are more correct islamically.

• AlMaghrib
• Code of Scholars
• Five Categories of Everything
• Sincerity and Conformity
• Sofa Fard, Bucket-Seat Fard
• Who is the Law Maker?

• Usool ul-Fiqh
• Self-Development

Muhammad Alshareef. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Code of Scholars. University of Toronto, Toronto. August 2005.

• Sofa Fard, Bucket-Seat Fard
• AlMaghrib
• Five Categories of Everything
• Qareen
• Chain of Command

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Death Du’a Dissected

When someone dies, we say "inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon." It means, roughly translated, "We belong to Allah and to Him we return."

Inshallah here, we'll do a brief (grammatical) dissection of the phrase, so you can understand the words better (and not mix them up / mispronounce them). If you hover your mouse over underlined words, you'll see the Arabic inshallah.

Inna: Inna is really inna-na. The first part is "very", the last part is "we"--but Arabs like to simplify, so they just write it as inna (with only two noons). It means "Indeed, we" or "verily, we".

Li-llahi: Li is a harfu jarr (preposition) meaning "to" or "is for." We use it as a kind of possessive case. "a laka akhun" (the la is really the same as li) means "is for you a brother?" or "do you have a brother?" So here, "lillahi" means "belong to Allah" or "are for Allah". (It's also because of the li that Allah takes kasra.)

Wa: Wa means "and".

Ilay-hi: This is two parts, it means "to him". Ilay is actually a form of ila (a preposition), which means "to". We say things like, "thahabtu ila masjidin" -- I went to a masjid. "Hi" is actually "hu", the third-person possessive pronoun ("his"). (It takes kasra because of ila.) So the overall translation is "to him".

Rajioon: This is some form of the verb "to return", not sure on the details--people usually translate it as "we will return." It is plural (so refers to 3+ people).

So taken together, we get a translation of "indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to him we return."

Wallahu 'alim.

• Any Last Words?
• Islamic Phrases for Daily Use
• Your Last Prayer
• 500 Years of Worship
• Light of Eman Session 3

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Salaah: Preperation is KEY!

Continuing our discussion of the purification of salaah, one of the primary ways to gain khushoo’ is to prepare ahead of time! Try these authentic actions from the sunnah:

• Perform wudoo properly; start with bismillah and end with ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illallah wahdahu laa sharee ka lahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abdahu wa rasoolahu.
  Umar bin Al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "Whoever of you performs wudoo thoroughly then says: 'I testify that there is no god but Allah, with Whom there is no associate, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger,' the eight gates of Paradise will be opened to him to enter from whichever he wants." [Muslim #234, abu Dawud #162, Ahmad, an-Nasa'i]
• Use miswak to cleanse and perfume the mouth, as the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) always used miswak before prayer.
• Repeat the words of the adhaan, except for "hayya alas-salah" and "hayyan al-falah", here you should say: laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billah (There is no might and no power except by Allah سبحانه وتعالى) [Al-Bukhari 1/152, Muslim 1/288; Fortress of the Muslim]
• Recite du’a for after hearing the adhaan: Allaahummah Rabba haadhihi’l-da’wati’l-taammah wa’-salaati’l-qaa’imah, aati Muhammadan il-waseelata wa’l-fadeelah, wab’ath-hu’l-maqaam al-mahmood alladhi wa’adtah (O Allaah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer to be offered, grant Muhammad the privilege (of interceding) and also the eminence, and resurrect him to the praised position that You have promised)
• Make du’a between the adhaan and the iqamah, as it is a beneficial time to do so, and the possibility of the du’a being accepted is higher.
  Anas (رضي الله عنه) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “A supplication made between the Adhan and Iqama is not rejected.” [Ahmad, abu Dawud #521, at-Tirmidhi #212, Sahih al-Jami #3408, an-Nasai and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (sound)]

• “As-Salaah! As-Salaah!”
• Nice and Slow
• Purification of Salaah
• Relax! Who are you Racing?
• “If it is sound then the rest of his deeds will be sound…”

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Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Muhammad ibn Faqih. The course teaches and emphasizes ethics, morality, rights, character attributes, and manners--everything from the rights of children before they're born to the cause for the decline and destruction of socieities to the literally dozens of virtues one earns from sabr! The course focuses a lot on self-development, self-improvement, and dealing with others, as well as improving oneself.

• AlMaghrib
• Any Last Words?
• Post-Mortem Parental Rights
• QMajd Issue 1: Rules of Engagement
• Rules of Engagement
• Victory Comes With Patience

• Akhlaaq
• Self-Development

Muhammad ibn Faqih. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rules of Engagement. University of Toronto, Toronto. September 2006.

• QMajd Issue 1: Rules of Engagement
• Post-Mortem Parental Rights
• Victory Comes With Patience
• Productive Meetings: Two Cents and Two Sentences
• Possessive Case / Mudaf & Mudaf Ilayh

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Post-Mortem Parental Rights

Ok, so you parents have rights upon you while they live. Most of us know that. What about after they've left this life? Is it possible they might still have some rights due from you?

The answer is a resounding yes! Their rights, after they die, are:

1. Janaazah: That you (or someone in the community) washes their body, buries them, etc., and you pray their janaazah prayer with the community.
2. Istighfaar: Among the few surprise good deeds a person finds after they die are from a child who prays for them and seeks forgiveness for them. Provided they're Muslim, of course--in the Qur'an, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) prohibited praying for dead non-Muslims.
3. Oaths: If they made any (halal) pledges or oaths, or if they wrote a will, fulfill it on their behalf.
4. Friends: Honour their friends. Abdullah ibn 'Umar (رضي الله عنه), while riding his donkey, saw an old bedouin man walking. He got off his donkey, said salaam, gave the man his turban, his donkey, and his garment! People asked, why? He said, he used to be my father's friend. Subhanallah! Visit their friends! Bring them gifts sometimes! The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to visit the friends of Khadija (رضي الله عنها), his first wife, after her death.
5. Kinship: Keep the ties of the womb (i.e. kinship) for the sake of our parents.

So fulfill their rights if you outlive them. May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) allow us to be a mercy for our parents and to earn his mercy through them, ameen!

Muhammad ibn Faqih. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rules of Engagement. University of Toronto, Toronto. September 2006.

• Any Last Words?
• Pre-Emptive Parental Kindness
• Rules of Engagement
• THE Purpose of Creation
• Parental Appreciation 101

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Purification of Salaah

We’ve all been there…You’re just chillin’, chatting on MSN with your buddies, and then you take a look at the time. Its 12:13am and you still haven’t prayed Isha. O mannn! You get off MSN, go make wudoo, and then perform your prayer. However, as we all know, our laziness and tired state takes over us, and this reflects in our prayer.

You finish praying at 12:17am and you find yourself in the same position you were no more than five mins ago, on MSN. This time, something doesn’t feel right. As you're chatting, you feel your heart cringe, you feel your heart ache, as if you just committed a sin. I prayed Isha, why am I feeling this way? You think to yourself.

And then you realize ... you realize that there was no khushoo’ in your salaah. DING! DING! DING!

But now, what is khushoo'?

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says in the Qu’ran: “Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer their salaah (prayers) with khuthoo' [all solemnity and full submissiveness].” [al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2].

In specific, this ayat refers to those that fear Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and do so in a calm manner. And so, In general the term khusoo’ means calmness, serenity, tranquility, dignity and humility.

To attain this, Ibn Katheer states that one must have the fear of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and the sense that He is always watching, a sense of God-conciousness (Daar al-Sha’b edn., 6/414).

So now, where do we seek out khushoo? The answer to that is: our heart. The unique thing about the heart is that its effects are manifested in the physical body. So if the heart is corrupted, you can be sure that the corruption will pour out of the various faculties of body and be open for all to see.

After taking a quick peak into khusoo’, we realize that it has considerable importance in our daily lives, and also in the life to come. With that said, over the next little while, I will take you all on a journey in which I will list out the means of developing khushoo’ which inshallah will benefit us all.

But in the meanwhile take a look at the list below, and see what's in store.

1. Preparing for Salah: Wudoo? Du'a?
2. Relax! No need to rush.
3. Remember the innevitable.

• The Purification Act
• Your Last Prayer
• Salaah: Relax!
• Salaah: A Conversation with Allah
• “As-Salaah! As-Salaah!”

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