Ilm Fruits

Ahlul Sunnah Wal Jam’aah

We hear this phrase thrown around a lot these days--"ahlul sunnah wal jam'aah" (literally, "the people of the sunnah and the jam'ah/group"). But what does it really mean, and who are the people who are TRULY ahlul sunnah wal jam'aah?

To find out the answer, we must ask those who defined those terms. Not your friendly neighborhood shaykh or imam; not your mom, your dad, your grandfather, or his grandfather; not even the tabi'oon, or the companions. Rather, Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) was the first person to define this term.

In one hadith, the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "After my death, you will see many differences (in Islam); so I command you to follow my sunnah and the sunnah of the khulafa rashideen (Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali, (رضالله عنهم)) [Abu Dawud]

So, that defines ahlul sunnah, the people of the sunnah; what about the people of the jam'aah?

In one hadith, the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "My ummah will split into 73 groups, and all will guide to Hellfire, EXCEPT one." The companions asked, who is that one group? He (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "The Jam'aah." [Ibn Majah]

So put it together--sunnah + jam'aah = ahlul sunnah wal jam'aah!

Because the first group to deviate, deviated after the death of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم)--the ones who killed 'Uthman (رضالله عنه). The companions, the BEST generation of humankind, called that group the Khawarij, and called themselves Ahlul Sunnah.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) make us among that ONE group of Muslims that enters Jannah, ameen ya rabbal 'alameen!

Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light Upon Light: Fundamentals of Faith 102. Metro Toronto Convention Center, July 2007.

• The Status of the Sunnah
• Tafseer by the Sunnah: Uloom ul-Quran
• Conquest: History of the Khulafa
• Following vs. Obeying
• Chain of Command

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Three Guarantees of Paradise

"I guarantee a house in Jannah (Paradise) for one who gives up arguing, even if he is in the right; and I guarantee a house in the middle of Jannah for one who abandons lying even when joking / for the sake of fun; and I guarantee a house in the highest part of Jannah for one who has good manners." [Prophet Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم) - reported by Imam Abu Dawud]

Lessons:

1. When in the middle of a heated argument over anything, just remember: Rasoolullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) has promised YOU a house in Paradise if you give up this argument. What's better: winning an argument and feeling tough and strong (while in the process, maybe hurting others and maybe disrespecting the Islamic adaab), or a house in Jannah?
2. "I'm not lying, I'm only kidding, yo!" Nuh uh, a lie is a lie - even if it's meant to be a joke. Making jokes is cool, but only if they are truthful and don't hurt others. When making a joke that is not true, ask yourself: is picking up a big sin better just to amuse others and make myself look cool, or is a house in the middle of Jannah better?
3. Subhan Allah, I notice that with ahadith relating to adaab (etiquettes, manners), the incentive mentioned in a hadith is mostly Jannah. In this case, it's the highest part of Jannah!! It's almost as if good adaab are a stairway to Jannah. Why? Our adaab mostly affect those around us, and thus good adaab benefit those around us and bad adaab hurt those around us. Wallahu alim. One awesome way to improve our adaab can be found here.

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to perfect our manners and conduct, and may He enter us into the highest part of Jannah, ameen.

Source: Three Guarantees of Paradise - True and Good Words

• Keys to Paradise
• Fantastic Four
• Umm Sulaym and the Death of her Son
• Keys to Paradise
• 500 Years of Worship

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The Magnificent Three

In our last post, we looked at one of the dhikars taught to us by Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) We noted that by being smart, we can earn lots of hasanats much more quickly.

The dhikhar was:

Subhaan Allaah wa bi hamdih, 'adada khalqihi, wa ridaa nafsihi, wazinata 'arshihi, wa midaada kalimaatihi (Glory and praise be to Allaah, as much as the number of His creation, as much as pleases Him, as much as the weight of His Throne and as much as the ink of His words) [Shaheeh Muslim: Book 35, Number 6575]

When I first heard this hadith, I just loved it. One of the reasons is that I love maths and logic, and I said to myself, "Subhanallah, this is amazing!" Why?

Let us look at each phrase and you will see what I mean:

• "As much as the number of His creation"
  • Think about the creation of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Think about the Earth's population (6 -7 billion!), the animals, the Jinns, the angels, the trees, the rivers, the mountains ... and much, much more.
• "As much as the weight of His Throne"
  • Ibn Jarrir narrates "Seven heavens are as small as seven Dirhams moulded in a warrior's shield in comparison to the Kursi (Allah's Footstool) of Allah," and
  • "The Kursi compared to the Throne is nothing but like a ring of iron thrown in a vast desert" [Kitab At-Tawhid chapter 67]
  • Subhanallah, just ponder about the vastness of His throne. Look up towards the sky and you would think it's so huge. Now think about how these seven heavens are in comparison to the Throne of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Nothing! What would the weight of this throne be like? Only Allah knows.
  • Assignment: Find out how many angels would be carrying the throne of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the Day of Judgment, and their description.
• "As much as the ink of His words"

Translation: And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Aziz and Hakim [Surah Luqmaan, verse 27]

Subhanallah, three quarters of the Earth is covered by oceans. Just think of how much water would be contained in them! As an exercise, try closing your eyes and imagine--or use your past memories of--when you were by a seaside and lake. How much water do you see? But still this is not sufficient to write the words of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Only He knows the amount of ink that would be required to write His words.

Subhanallah, only a true prophet, divinely inspired from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), could have said such beautiful words!

Now, can you glorify, praise, and declare Allah's oneness all together in one small sentence? Stay tuned for the next post in this series! And in the meantime, don't forget to recite and ponder over these beautiful words!

And don't forget the assignment:--find out how many angels (and their description) carry the throne of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the Day of Judgment. You must cite proof--whether an ayah of the Qur'an, or an authentic hadith of the Prophet, a statement of a scholar, or something else.

• No related posts

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Umm Sulaym and the Death of her Son

Remember the story of the companion Umm Sulaym (رضي الله عنها), what an amazing thing about how a wife is with her husband. Her husband, Talha, was out working, and it so happened that day that their son, 10 years old, died.

She had a decision to make: when he comes home should she tell him right away, or should she just bear it and make him happy first and then when he is comfortable and settled in, then tell him? She thought to herself that she's going to take the weight of this tragedy upon herself. And she's not gonna tell him, and she didn't want him to spend the entire night crying because that would really be hurtful to her, she could not bear the fact that her husband would be crying all night because of their son.

So Talha (رضي الله عنه) comes in and asks his wife Umm Sulaym about his son, how's he doing? She said, "He's relaxed, he's at peace." Talha didn't think anything of it, thought he probably went to sleep, he's ok. She then beautified herself, and they spent the entire night together.

After Talha was relaxed, she said to him, "O Abu Talha, imagine if we had some neighbors, that they had some trust that they had placed with us, should I return the trust to them?" Talha didn't suspect anything, so he said "sure, if there's some trust you took, you should return it." So she said, "We have a trust, this trust has been with us for 10 years"--look at how smart she is, using metaphors about her son--and Abu Talha said, "10 years? That should be returned sooner, that has more of right to be returned immediately."

So she says, "Allah has now taken back His trust, so seek your reward from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) by being patient about your son's death." Abu Talha was livid, he got very upset, he thought, she waited the entire night to tell me? until Fajr came.

Without saying a word to her, he raced to Rasoolullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) at the time of Fajr and complained to him – "look, this is what my wife did, look at how mean this was and how …" Rasoolullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم)--after he was finished--smiled and said "Is this the one who's footsteps I hear in Paradise?" – Is this the woman who's footsteps I hear in Paradise? Meaning that what she had done was the right thing, to please her husband despite the tragedy that had happened.

And for that he heard her footsteps in Paradise.

May Allah make us all among the sabireen, the ones who are patient and attain Paradise through it, ameen!

• Your Last Prayer
• Any Last Words?
• 500 Years of Worship
• Light of Eman Session 3
• Ahlul Sunnah Wal Jam’aah

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Five Points From Marriage 101

Safi Khan, in his "Marriage 101" lecture CD (available from here), mentions many points; of the best, he mentions the following:

1. For Brothers: use extreme compassion and mercy towards your wives! Almost all relationships could benefit from more mercy and compassion.
2. For Sisters: struggle not to complain! Once complaints start, they only get worse, and in the end, they can spoil your marriage.
3. For Both:
1. have a common goal--to serve Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), to worship Him, and to enter Jannah together, without reckoning.
2. close the doors of fitnah – shut them off from your marriage. Keep each other's secrets, don't share them. Throw out your TV. Travel together on long trips.
3. worship Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) together – choose some activity that you use, that you do together. Go to Islamic lectures. Read tafseer together. Start an Islamic project. Memorize Qur'an together.

• Eman: Belief
• The Love of Your Life
• Talk Ain’t Cheap
• Business Tactic: The Trench Rush
• About

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Protect Your Dignity

With the Facebook craze that has struck us all in the past months, we have forgotten about a very serious matter that our beloved Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسل) talked about, and that matter being exposing of ones sins. We post messages on peoples walls, we post up pictures and what not, and its all exposing our sins to the public. We should be very cautious of the environment and inshallah try our best to protect our own dignity but also the dignity and respect of our brothers and sisters. This is not only apparent through the Facebook craze but also through general interactions of Muslims today.

My brothers and sisters, I love you for the sake of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and I only write this as sincere advice to myself and to you all. The following hadith will put things in to focus for us all:

The Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "My entire nation is safe, except al-Mujahirin (those who boast of their sins). Among the Mujaharah is that a man commits an (evil) act, and wakes up in the morning while Allah has kept his (sin) a secret, he says: "O so-and-so! Last night I did this and that." He goes to sleep while Allah has kept his (sin) a secret but he wakes up in the morning and uncovers what Allah has kept a secret!" [Saheeh al-Bukhari]

Abdullah Ibn Masoud (رضي الله عنه) related, "A man came to the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! I have mingled with a woman in the far side of al-Medina, and I fulfilled my desire short of actually having sexual intercourse with her. So, here am I, judge me according to what you decide.' Umar Ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) then said: 'Allah had kept your secret, why did not you keep your secret?" [Sharh Muslim]

May Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) give us the ability to understand and obey.

• Where’s Our Dignity?
• Money, Power, Respect
• Gems From Hassan Al-Basri
• Descriptions of the Believers
• Purification of Salaah

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Typical

Typ‧i‧cal: Conforming to a particular type. For someone to be "typical", he/she would be one who conforms to his society and behaves much like his environment.

Typical in the 21st century: clubbing, flirting, sex, drugs, alcohol, stealing, cheating, swearing, injustice, premarital relations, immodesty, and the list goes on and on.

So who's typical? Is it the one who refrains from all the above, or the one indulges in it? Is it the one who's perceived weird when he speaks out against someone swearing? Or is it the one who joins the people in their evil?

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: "Islam initiated as something strange, and it would revert to its (old position) of being strange, so glad tidings for the strangers." [Saheeh Muslim, Book 1, Chapter 66, #270]

Alhamdolilah!

So whats it gonna be? Stranger? or Typical?

• Charity - Where to Give

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Recipe for Being Worry-Free

Translation: Nay, but whoever submits his face (himself) to Allah and he is a Muhsin then his reward is with his Lord (Allah), on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. [Suratul Baqarah, verse 112]

1. Submit to Allah = fulfill the faraidh and abandon the haram

2. Be a Muhsin = do ibadah as if you see Allah, treat parents outstandingly, fulfill the rights of others outstandingly…basically, do good at every opportunity and whatever you do, try to be outstanding in it.

1 + 2 = Reward is with Allah AND no worries in life (no fear nor any grief).

Why? Because you KNOW you did your best in the most outstanding way (ihsan, point 2), and you KNOW you are doing it for Allah (submission, point 1). So, no worries!

Recipe for Being Worry-Free - True and Good Words

• Keys to Paradise
• The Fruits of Eman (5): Glad Tidings of Angels Before Death
• Sex in Western Culture
• Arabic Word Gender
• Charity - Where to Give

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Be Smart

What if you were asked to praise Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) in the best possible way, using the best possible words? What words would you pick? Subhanallah, look at the words of our beloved prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم):

Juwairiya (رضي الله عنها) reported that Allah's Messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم) came out from her apartment in the morning as she was busy in observing her Fajr prayer in her place of worship. He came back in the forenoon and she was still sitting there. He (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said to her: You have been in the same seat since I left you. She said: Yes. Thereupon Allah's Apostle (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said:

I recited four kalimaat three times after I left you, and if these are to be weighed against what you have recited since morning these would outweigh them and (these words) are:

Subhaan Allaah wa bi hamdih, 'adada khalqihi, wa ridaa nafsihi, wazinata 'arshihi, wa midaada kalimaatihi (Glory and praise be to Allaah, as much as the number of His creation, as much as pleases Him, as much as the weight of His Throne and as much as the ink of His words) [Shaheeh Muslim: Book 35, Number 6575]

What are some of the lessons that we can learn from this hadith? Devotion of Juwairiya (رضي الله عنها) after converting to Islam, importance and manners of giving nasiha, how the ummah benefitted from wives of the prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم). The main lesson that we want to focus on today is:

Sometimes we just have to be smart instead of working hard! You can earn lots of hasanats in a short time by just being smart. Subhanallah the ahdkars taught to us by Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) are very small, don't take much time and don't cost you anything! No matter how busy we get, we can always spare few minutes for these adkhars.

To get the maximum benefit out of these adhkars and to make it into a habith, we would Inshallah focus on one zikhar every week. While you are reciting this dikhar this week, pay close attention to the meaning of each phrase. Inshallah we will look at some of these phrases in future posts.

Do not forget to recite these beautiful words whenever you get a chance this week? Will You?

• Earn MAXIMUM Profit This Ramadan
• The Magnificent Three
• Umm Sulaym and the Death of her Son
• Signing on Behalf of Allah

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Keys to Paradise

"Whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire (of Hell) and enter the garden (of Paradise) should die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and should treat the people as he wishes to be treated by them."
[Muhammad - Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) as recorded in Sahih Muslim]

1. Make a list of people you deal with:

• Parents
• Friends
• Co-workers

2. Write how you would want to be treated in each of those roles:

• I’d like to be respected and obeyed as a parent, and shown unconditional love by my kids
• I’d like to be held in honor amongst my friends, I’d like them to listen to me, to respect me, to complement me on my good, to ignore my shortcomings and to give me sincere advice
• I’d like to be heard, I’d like to be listened to and I’d like to be respected for my work

Viola! There is your to-do list from now onwards on how to deal with people! The recipe is simple: put yourself in the other's shoes, and then ask: how would I want to be treated if I was that person? Then, treat them that way and in sha Allah, this is how you'll be treated by them in response!

This is the way one can PERFECT their adaab. Whoever does this, and has complete iman in Allah (in statements and actions), then without a doubt Jannah will be their abode, in sha Allah.

I pray that Allah gives us all the tawfeeq to have complete Iman in Allah and to perfect our adaab by following the advise of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) as stated in the afore-mentioned hadith, ameen.

Source: Keys to Paradise - True and Good Words

• Keys to Paradise
• Three Guarantees of Paradise
• Fantastic Four
• Umm Sulaym and the Death of her Son
• 500 Years of Worship

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