Author Archives: Abd al-Ahad

Why Not Despair? Reflections on Patience

November 6, 2009 – 10:19 am

Why not despair?

The Islamic meaning of sabr is to stop ourselves from despairing and panicking, to stop our tongues from complaining, and to stop our hands from striking our faces and tearing our clothes at times of grief and stress.

To have sabr is to first realize within your own heart that a) there is a god that exists b) that this god is worthy of all my worship c) that this god is indeed characterized by attributes of perfectness and majesty, which can only be ascribed to god and no other.

After having understood this, sabr is then to act upon this belief  and not despair or panic because in your heart you know that there is a god that exists above the heavens and earth characterized by attributes of ultimate and complete mercy, love, care, wisdom, and knowledge (all in a matter that befit his majesty). You understand that this god, the one and only god–Allah–will always be there to help you through the tough times. You understand that anytime you need his aid all you have to do is ask; no need for intermediaries, just your own choice to raise those hands and ask Him. The essence of sabr is to realize this and not despair because you have with you Allah, the one who will never fail you.

Surah Baqarah V.284: To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and whether you disclose what is in your ownselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. Then He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Able to do all things.

Mankind only despairs and panicks at their own inability or the inability of others around them. You may lose a job tomorrow, have a car accident, or find a loved one has passed away and in this you will see reality. We as humans will naturally despair and panick because we recongize our own weaknesses. In that situation we recognize our limited ability to do anything and we see the same in the people around us. In these difficult situations we realize that sustenance was never something we controlled, we realize that we never had the slightest control over the occurances of the world, and we understand that matters of life and deaht are out of our hands. Undersatnding these fundamental, eye-opening, realities lead us to despair and panick because we realize our inability to control these situaions and we lose hope in finding a solution from those around us.

Surah Naml V.62: Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations. Is there any ilah (god) with Allah? Little is that you remember!

However, for the one who believes in god, who understands Allah, they realize that even though they themselves don’t have the control, they can count on the one that has all the control. Thus, the one who secures his faith shows it in sabr. He has no need to despair or panick because he isn’t dealing with incapable creatures, rather he is dealing with the most perfect, the one to whom all power and strength belong, the creator of all the creatures, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.

Surah Ale Imran V.139: So do not become weak, nor be sad, and you will be superior, if you are indeed believers

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The Ins and Outs of Halloween

October 23, 2009 – 2:44 pm

Jack-o-Lantern with a jester face carved out of it.

So who’s down for a party this Saturday? Let’s do it! Meet at the closest masjid near your house at 7:45pm. Forget about these kiddish Halloween parties, be a person of dignity and honour, be amongst the party of Allah.

وَيُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ أُوْلَئِكَ حِزْبُ اللَّهِ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

And We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him – those are the party of Allah . Unquestionably, the party of Allah – they are the successful.

There are many amongst us in this part of the world that take time out of their busy schedules, Muslims (sadly) and non-Muslims, to celebrate a day known as Halloween. Now, I’m sure many of us as kids went out trick or treating in ignorance and many of our parents let us go out in ignorance. However, there are people amongsts us, and sadly the Muslims are included in this, that throw Halloween parties at their houses and dress up in costumes, leaving no trace of the Islamic traditions that were given to us. We have become so engrained within the morals, values, and customs of this part of the world that have we have forgotten the pure traditions that were given to us by Allah azza wa jal. We have lost our identity and thus have resorted to adopting the practices of those around us. However, we should realize this is probably done in ignorance as well; people just know no better. So, it becomes our jobs to educate those Muslims and bring them closer to a better understanding and a better way of living.

Inshallah, this article will serve as an educational tool for the Muslims. I ask Allah to accept it and make it of beenfit to the people. Before I begin, I find it important to lay out some basic prinicples of the religion, thereafter I will talk about the issue of Halloween and the stance of the Muslims on such practices.

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Allah says:

إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ

Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.

The religion that will be accepted by Allah on the Day of Judgement will be al-Islam. Allah has chosen to make Islam the final religion for all of mankind; it is the religion that confirms everything that was revealed before it and it is the final message that was revealed to the final Prophet of Allah, Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wasalam. As Allah says:

نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ

It is He Who has sent down the Book to you with truth, confirming what came before it.

The Qur’an is truth and everything in it and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam is absolute truth. Allah has made this religion perfect; free of any need to burrow from other cultures/traditions/religions because Allah has completed this religion for us and made it perfect. Allah says:

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلاَمَ دِيناً

This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as your religion.

And it of no surprise that this perfect faith has been granted to all of mankind, because the essence of it carries out the purpose of our life. The essence of Islam is to submit ourselves to the one and only creator of the heavens and the earth and to worship Him alone. Allah says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

And I have not created the jinn nor the human except to worship Me.

And so Islam has been perfected by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Meaning we have no need to add or subtract from this religion; everything that Allah has provided for us (through the Qur’an and the authentic traditions of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam) in this package known as al-Islam is exactly what we need to succeed. And Allah has given us this perfected way of life so that we may carry out the purpose of our creation (i.e to worship Him) with ease.

II. HISTROCIAL INFORMATION REGARDING HALLOWEEN

Background

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain; from the Old Irish samain).The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes regarded as the “Celtic New Year”. Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

History of the Name

The term Halloween is shortened from All Hallows’ Even (both “even” and “eve” are abbreviations of “evening”, but “Halloween” gets its “n” from “even”) as it is the eve of “All Hallows’ Day”, which is now also known as All Saints’ Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints’ Day from May 13 (which had itself been the date of a pagan holiday, the Feast of the Lemures) to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints’ Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar.

Symbols

The carved pumpkin, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween’s most prominent symbols in America, and is commonly called a jack-o’-lantern. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the “head” of the vegetable to frighten off any superstitions. The name jack-o’-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip.

III. WHAT IS SAID REGARDING CELEBRATING OR TAKING PART IN HALLOWEEN AND OTHER SUCH CUSTOMS

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wasalam issued a stern warning:

“Whoever imitates a nation is one of them!”
(Recorded in Abu Da’oud)

Islam has strongly forbidden Muslims to follow the religious or social customs of the non-Muslims, and especially of the idol-worshippers or those who worship the devil. This is because the basis of our religion is to tesfify in the Oneness of Allah, it is to uphold tawheed, it is to give Allah His right of not associating and not acknowledging any partners to Him. Allah is One and Only and the Muslim does not oppress himself by taking part in celebrations/customs of those people who associate partners with Allah azza wa jal. May He be Exalted. Far above is He from that which they associate to Him. Allah says:

وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ

And when Luqman said to his son while he was instructing him, “O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allah . Indeed, association [with him] is great injustice.”

Allah says:

وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَشْهَدُونَ الزُّورَ

“…And those who do not witness falsehood [al-zoor]…” [al-Furqaan 25:72]

Allah describes the believers as “Worshippers of the Most Gracious” , saying: “And those who do not witness falsehood and if they pass by “Laghow” (evil play or evil talk) they pass by it with dignity” (the same verse quoted above). The scholars and interpreters of Al-Quran quoted Mujahed, Ad-Dhahak, Ikrimah and others that Laghow means festivities of the idolaters, ie, “Worshippers of the Most Gracious” do not attend festivities of the idolaters

In regards to the same verse, Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah rahmatulillah alay has said:

In regards to the festivals of the mushrikeen: they combine confusion, physical desires and falsehood, there is nothing in them that is of any religious benefit, and the instant gratification involved in them only ends up in pain. Thus they are falsehood, and witnessing them means attending them.

This aaayah itself praises and commends (those who do not witness falsehood), which has the meaning of urging people to avoid taking part in their festivals and other kinds of falsehood. We understand that it is bad to attend their festivals because they are called al-zoor (falsehood).

Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah sallalahu alayhi wasalam came and they had two days in which they would (relax and) play. He said, “What are these two days?” They said, “We used to play (on these two days) during the days of ignorance.” The Messenger of Allaah sallalahu alayhi wasalam said:

“Allaah has given you something better instead of them:
Yawm al-Duhaa [Eid al-Adha] and Yawm al-Fitr [Eid al-Fitr].”
(Reported by Abu Dawood).

This indicates clearly that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam definitely forbade his ummah to celebrate the festivals of the disbelievers. The fact that the religion of the People of the Book is accepted does not mean that their festivals are approved of or should be preserved by the ummah, just as the rest of their acts of disbelief and sins are not approved of. Indeed, the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam went to great lengths to command his ummah to be different from them in many issues that are mubaah (permitted) and in many ways of worship, lest that lead them to be like them in other matters too. This being different was to be a barrier in all aspects, because the more different you are from the people of disbelief the less likely you are to do actions of the people who disbelieve. And this is a true statement because we are a product of our environment.

The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam said:

“The Final Hour will not come until my followers copy the deeds of the previous nations and follow them very closely, span by span, and cubit by cubit (inch by inch).”
(Bukhari).

As mentioned earlier, Islam is a perfect religion revealed by Allah azza wa jal to the Prophet sallalahu alayhiw asalam. When somethign is perfect in its true sense, it has no need to be added to or taken away from.

The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam said:

“You must keep to my Sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly-guided Caliphs;
cling to it firmly. Beware of newly invented matters, for every
new matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misleading.”
(Bukhari)

Ibn Uthaymeen rahmatulillah alay has said:

Muslims are forbidden to imitate the disbelievers by having parties on such occasions, or exchanging gifts, or giving out sweets or food, or taking time off work, etc., because the Prophet sallalahua layhi wasalam said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah said in his book Iqtidaa’ al-siraat al-mustaqeem mukhaalifat ashaab al-jaheem:

Imitating them in some oftheir festivals implies that one is pleased with their false beliefs and practices, and gives them the hope that they may have the opportunity to humiliate and mislead the weak.

Allaah is the One Whom we ask to make the Muslims feel proud of their religion, to help them adhere steadfastly to it, and to make them victorious, for He is the Strong and Omnipotent. (Majmoo’ah Fataawa wa Rasaa’il al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 3/369)

Please forgive me for anything I said that may have offended you. Anything good that comes out of this is from Allah and Him Alone. Anything bad or wrong comes from myself and shaytaan. Jazak Allah Khair.

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A Due Reward: Surah Ikhlas – Pt.5 (Salat 101)

September 27, 2008 – 10:07 am

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah

SubhanAllah! How fast Ramadan came and how fast it went. It truly saddens my heart to see this blessed month go away, to see it slipping away, to have to say good-bye. In a few days, the shayateen will be let loose and the difficulties will emerge. Ya Rabbi! Give this ummah the strength to fight the shayateen and keep us steadfast in the deen. Ameen.

Many a times we read about the rewards of something without truly understanding the reason behind it. It is for this very reason I chose to present the rewards and virtues of Surah Ikhlas at the end so that when we read the rewards we have a greater understanding of why its worth so much. For example, when we realize saying SubhanAllahi wa bi Hamdi is in essence a negation of shirk (the worst of all deeds, the greatest of transgressions) and an affirmation of tawheed (the greatest of all actions, the basis to enter paradise) we can understand why saying it 100x in the morning and evening will erase our sins (as per the hadith collected by Bukhari). 

It Earns the Love of Allah

Ya Salaam! Who doesn’t want the Love of Allah? Aisha radhiAllah anha relates in a narration collected by Bukhari, that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam sent a man as a leader of a troupe and he would lead them in prayer as well. However, he would complete every rak’a with the recitation of Surah Ikhlas. When the group returned, they relayed this habit to the Prophet sallalahu alayahi wasalam, to which he told them to ask the man why he does so. When he was asked, he replied:“Because it is the description of ar-Rahman and I love to recite it.” So, the Prophet of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam said:

“Inform him that Allah loves him”

GEMS

  • When someone’s actions seem to be different from the norm, present the case to someone of knowledge to see if it is correct or incorrect to do
  • Do not blindly follow your leaders
  • Before pouncing on an individual for an act that seems wrong or incorrect, ask him why he has done it
  • It was the intentions of this individual that gained him the love of Allah, not the mere recitation of it. He understood the meaning of the surah and thus loved to recite it. 
  • To gain Allah’s love we should recite this surah with contemplation and understanding

A Way to Paradise

Anas ibn Malik radhilAllah anhu relays a narration collected by Bukhari, that a man from the Ansar used to lead them in prayer and he used to begin all of his recitations with Surah Ikhlas. He would do this in every single unit of prayer. Those with him began to complain about the practise of his and wanted him to stop doing it. To this he replied:“I will not stop doing this. If you want me to lead the prayers, I will do this, and if you don’t like it, I will stop leading you”

They all believed he was the correct person to lead the prayer, so they remained patient with him until the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam visited them one day. And so, they presented the case to Rasool Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam to which he asked the individual why he would not listen to his people. He replied:“Indeed, I love it.” The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam replied:

“Your love of it will cause you to enter Paradise”

GEMS

  • There is nothing wrong in taking your concerns to leaders or even parents as long as its done with wisdom
  • A difference of opinion should not be the cause of disunity amongst the Muslims
  • Ask the person directly when you find his actions to be beyond the norm
  • It is permissible to recite more than one surah in a single unit of prayer

One Third of the Qur’an

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree radhiAllah anhu stated in a narration collected by Bukhari, that on one occasion the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam asked his Companions radhiAllah anhum: “Isn’t any of you able to recite a third of the Qur’an in a single night?” They found this difficult, so they responded: “Who amongst us is able to do that O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam replied:

“Allah the Unique, the Self-Sufficient is one third of the Qur’an”

GEMS

  • When motivating people to do good, begin with the results
  • Recite Surah Ikhlas!

May Allah azza wa jal bless us with the understanding and implementation of this great surah. May He shower His blessings upon us in these last blessed nights of Ramadan and accept our fasts, our prayers, and our du’as. May He grant us khusoo’ in our salat and guide us towards goodness in this life and the Hereafter. Ameen.

Wasalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah
Posted in Ibadah, Islam, Qur'an, Salaah, Tafseer | Comments (2)

The Complete: Surah Ikhlas – Pt.4 (Salat 101)

September 25, 2008 – 10:57 am

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah,

Continuing in our series of the interpretation of Surah Ikhlas. We now move to the last verse of this beautiful chapter in which Allah says:

 

وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ

And there is none co-equal to Him

Allah ends this surah in the same manner He began it: making clear His Oneness, His Uniqueness. That there nothing on the face of this earth and beyond that is comparable to Allah azza wa jal in any way, shape or form. Allah is Unique and One in His Lordship, in His rights to be worshipped, and in His Names and Attributes. 

In regards to this verse, Ibn Rajab writes:

“…this chapter contains the genealogy and description of God, the Most-Merciful. It was revealed by Allah to refute beliefs attributed to Him by misguided people concering His similitude, bodily form, origin and offspring. The claims idolaters, Sabians, Christians and Jews, and hypocrites from this nation that Allah gave birth to angels, intelligences, souls, or prophets and others are also included in that”

And so, this surah is a complete affirmation of the single-greatest act man can do: affirming Allah’s oneness, tawheed. And it is a negation of the greatest sin that man could ever do: associating partners with Allah, shirk. If truly understand the greatness of tawheed and the futility and dangers of shirk, we will begin to truly understand and appreciate the greatness of this surah. We can only worship Allah, in the manner He deserves, only when we know who He is. Thus, this surah is an explanation of who Allah is; it explains the superiority, glorification, and elevation of God beyond any creations. 

Dr. Bilal Philips writes:

“If God is Unique, nothing can be equal to Him. If nothing is equal to Him, then He alone is Unique. If He alone is Self-Suffiecient and all creation is in need dire need of Him, nothing in creation can be equal to Him. If He does not bear any offspring, nor did anyone or anything give birth to Him, nothing or no one can be equal to Him as every created thing came into existence after a period of non-existence.”

May Allah give us the opportunity to increase our khusoo’ in salat and better our relationship with our Rabb through our salat. May He make this this information of benefit for all the readers. 

Jazakum Allahu khair,

Wasalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah

P.S. Check it out: A Journey for those who Dare – Pt. 1&2 – Click Here

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The Unborn: Surah Ikhlas – Pt. 3 (Salat 101)

September 23, 2008 – 10:12 am

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah

Asalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu,

First and foremost, Ramadan Kareem! May Allah azza wa jal give us all the opportunity to take advantage of this blessed month and to make it a means of us attaining His Paradise. Ameen.

Due to Ramadan, I’ve found myself to be quite busy. Nonetheless, I do apologize for not having written anything for the past few makes. Please forgive me for my shortcomings.

The last few posts we were discussing the explanation of Surah Ikhlas. We got through the first two verses and we explained that Allah azza wa jal has the Most Beautiful and Perfect Names. Of these Names that He attributes to Himself is al-Ahad. We mentioned that a concise meaning of this name is that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is One and Only and He is Unique in His Lordship, His rights to be worshiped, and His Names and Attributes. Thus, it is the primary goal of the Muslim to make Allah unique in everything He does and to never ascribe partners with Him, Subhana because this would be contradictory to His Name al-Ahad. We also discussed that Allah azza wa jal is as-Samad. He is self-sufficient from any need and that includes our worship towards Him. He is not in need of it rather He is deserving of this worship and beyond that the worship we do towards Him is only of our benefit.

To continue, we will discuss the third verse of this beautiful surah:

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
He does not give birth, nor was He born

This verse is a continuation in explaining the extent to which Allah azza wa jal is al-Ahad. Many religions falsely represent God in human form by either giving Him human characteristics or human form.

(لَمْ يَلِدْ)

Allah does not give birth because there is nothing similar to Him, Subhana. A child made from protions (sperm and ovum) of the bodies of its parents which is why it is similar to its parents in form and characteristics. Now, If Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala

Allah tabaraka wa ta’ala has rejected offspring from the general perspective that it is not befitting, since that would reduce Him to the status of His creatures. Allah says: were to give birth, there would then be another God besides Him, something which He has already negated for Himself.

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ وَمَا يَنبَغِي لِلرَّحْمَنِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ وَلَداً
But it is not suitable for (the Majesty of) the Most Beneficent (Allah) that He should beget a son (or offspring or children). [Surah Maryam V.19]

Truly, Allah is able to all things and thus some people may say that He should be able to have a son. However, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has negated it based on the fact that it is not befitting His Majesty, as per the first verse of Surah Ikhlas.

(وَلَمْ يُولَدْ)

Relatively few people in history have believed that God was born, the question of God’s origin is often raised by skeptics and atheists. But, SubhanAllah, it is within the fitrah of mankind to know that there is a Creator of the Heaven and the Earth; it is this fitrah or innate consciousness that also gives almost all of mankind the certainty that God was not born. Abu Hurairah radhiAllah anhu reports that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam said:

“Satan comes to everyone of you and says, ‘who created this and who created that?’ until he questions: ‘Who created your Lord?’ When he comes comes to that, one should seek refuge in Allah and avoid that thought.” [Sahih Muslim]

This verse also subtly rejects the notion that Isa (Jesus) alayhi salam was or is God because of the very fact that he was given birth to. For God to be born means He first must have not existed, which contradicts the basic divine attribute of eternal existence.

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The Ones in Need: Surah Ikhlas – Pt. 2 (Salat 101)

September 21, 2008 – 10:48 am

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah

Asalamu ‘alaikum!

Continuing in our journey of understanding the 112th chapter of the Qur’an, Allah says:

اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ

Allah, the Self-Sufficient [Surah Ikhlas V.2]

Recall, the greatest name of the Lord of the heavens and the earth is Allah. This is the name that He has chosen to name Himself with, and it is the grand name to which all His other Names and Attributes are attributed to. This is seen in the saying of Allah:

هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ

الْحَكِيمُ

He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor of all things, the Bestower of forms. To Him belong the Best Names . All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise [Surah Hashr V.24]

And so, of the Names which belong to Allah is as-Samad. Ibn ‘Abbas radhiAllah anhu is reported to have said in regards to meaning of as-Samad:

“He is the Master [as-Sayyid] who is perfect in His sovereignty, the Most Noble [ash-Shareef] who is perfect in His nobility, the Most Magnificent [al-‘Azeem] who is perfect in His magnificence, the Most Forbearing [al-Haleem] who is perfect in His forbearance, the All-Knowing [al-'Aleem] who is perfect in His knowledge, and the Most Wise [al-Hakeem] who is perfect in His wisdom.”

Since Allah is as-Samad, Self-sufficient, free of any need, it naturally leads to qualities and characteristics which are absolutely perfect. If we ponder about this, we realize that this name of Allah leads us to ponder about the purpose of our life. Allah says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

And I have not created the Jinn and the Human beings except to worship Me [Surah Dhzariyat V.56]

And so the purpose of our life is clear. However, some could and do argue that if Allah has made the purpose of life to worship Him, that means Allah is in need of our worship. This is completely false for many reasons:

  • Allah’s name as-Samad makes clear that He is self-sufficient; He does not need us to worship Him
  • Our minds are not the final authority in matters of religion, rather it is the Speech of Allah and the sayings of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam. People make up stuff (i.e. Allah needs us to worship Him) and take is authority over the Qur’an and Sunnah which is completely wrong.
  • The statement of Allah azza wa jal in the next verse:

مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ

I seek not any provision from them (i.e. provision for themselves or for My creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me [Surah Dhariyat V.57]

And thus we come to know that our purpose of life is to worship Allah azza wa jal not because He is in need of it, rather because it is why we were created; we worship Him because He is worthy of it; we worship Him because it only brings benefit to ourselves.

Just in the first two verses of this surah we see the completeness of tawheed. Allah begins by stating and making clear that He is unique in all aspects; in His Lordship, His rights to be worshipped, and His Names and Attributes. There is no comparison to be made with Allah and anything else because Allah is unique, the One and Only. Then Allah says He is self-sufficient, making clear that He is not in need of us. Rather, since He is al-Ahad it also means He is as-Samad and thus has qualities of perfectness which only belong to Him. Since He is al-Ahad and as-Samad it leads one to think about the purpose of life and if one understands that Allah is the One and Only, Unique in all aspects, not in need of creation, characterized by Names and Attributes of Beauty and Perfectness it should lead them to worship Him alone.

Inshallah we will go a bit deeper into this concept next week. May Allah azza wa jal give us the ability to comprehend what we have read and to inshallah make it a means of attaining greater concentration and closeness to Allah during our salat.

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A Command Like No Other: Surah Ikhlas – Pt.1 (Salat 101)

September 19, 2008 – 10:29 am

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah

Alhamdolilah. We started this initiative to bring people closer to their salat and by the grace of Allah azza wa jal the numbers are increasing and so are the results. May Allah continue to shower His Mercy into this project and make our hearts humble towards Him.

This week and inshallah for the coming weeks we will concentrate our efforts in attempting to understand the surahs we often recite in the salat (i.e mainly surahs from the 30th juz of the Qur’an). Allah azza wa jal, the Most Wise, the Most Knowledgeable knew that these would be the most memorized surahs and thus made them short and easy. However, SubhanAllah…within these small and shorter surahs there is so much benefit that we can derive from them…its just amazing!

Lets begin with the 112th surah of the Qur’an entitled Surat al-Ikhlas. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:


قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

Say: “He is Allah, One and Only (or Unique)”

(قُلْ)

Allah tells the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam to convey to the people of Quraysh, “He is Allah…” It is a command from Allah and it is a response to the question posed by the pagans, “What is the lineage of your God?”

Ibn al-Qayyim rahmatullilah alay has said that [qul] also afirms the fact that the Prophet sallalalhu alayhi wasalam was nothing more than a Messenger, he was one who conveyed the word of Allah to the people, and he did not speak from his own desires. Rather he only spoke that which was revealed to him.

(هُوَ)

Allah is genderless. The pronoun “it” does not exist in the arabic language and everything, living or non-living, is referred to using male or female pronouns and adjectives. So, the term [huwa] does not imply gender in any sense in the arabic language and we should understand it as the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam and the Sahabas radhiAllah anhum understood it.

(اللَّهُ)

Allah is the name of the Lord of the heavens and the earth. It is the name our Lord has chosen to call himself and it is said to be His Greatest Name.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ الْمُؤْمِنُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ الْعَزِيزُ الْجَبَّارُ الْمُتَكَبِّرُ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

“He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him”

Allah uses the name ‘Allah’ when describing His Names and Attributes. It is a proper name denoting the true God who exists neccessarily, by Himself, comprising all the attributes of perfection.

(أَحَدٌ)

al-Ahad is one of the infinate Names of Beauty which belong to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. This name implies uniqueness, independence, singularity, and indivisibility. Allah is al-Ahad; He who has no other to share in His Lordship, in His rights to be worshipped, or in His Names and Attributes. This is a perfection of tawheed, which is the basis of our life, the basis of our testimony of faith, and the greatest reason for us to enter into Paradise. For an amazing lecture series on this topic, please click here.

Another Name of Allah which is similar to ahad is waahid. They both basically mean, “one”, however there is a subtle difference between the two in usage and meaning. For example, when one says: maa fil bayti ahadun (there is no one in the house) it absolutely negates the possibility of anyone else being in the house. However, if we say: maa fil bayti waahidun (there is not one in the house) it leaves open the possibility of their being more than one person in the house; it does not negate absolutely. Thus, the name al-Ahad makes clear that there is nothing like Allah, He is the One and Only, He is Unique. It absolutely negates the possibility of their being any other ‘God’ besides Allah, the Most High; it negates the possibility of there being any other thing or person that is comparable to Allah — in His Lordship, in His rights to be worshipped, and in His Names and Attributes.

I ask Allah azza wa jal to place a love for this surah in our hearts. I ask Allah to give us comprehension of this ayat of the Qur’an and I ask Him, Subhana to bless us with the opportunity to increase the quality of our salat as we recite this beautiful surah.

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Praise of Beauty (Salat 101)

September 17, 2008 – 10:09 am

Asalamu ‘alaikum,

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam ‘ala Rasool Allah.

Rifa’ah ibn Rafi’ said: We were praying behind the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam and when he raised his head at the end of the rak’ah he said:

“Allah listens to him who praises Him”

A man behind him said:

“O our Lord! To You belongs all praise, abundant good praise, inherently blessed”


When he finished he asked, “Who was the speaker just now?” The man replied, “I was.” He, sallalahu alayhi wasalam said, “I saw over thirty angels racing one another to be the first to record it.” (Bukhari)

For clearer text of the arabic, please click here.

This adhkar that has been accepted by the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam, thus it is a part of his sunnah (for more information on the details of sunnah click here).

We’ve already talked about the concept of hamd — the absolute height and perfection of praise which is reserved for no one except for Allah, the one who is deserving of all praise. To Allah belongs praise, an abundant praise because of who He is, because of the fact that He is the King of all Kings, The Most Forgiving, The Most Just, the Majestic, the Most Merciful, the Most High, and all the other beautiful names and attributes which befit His Majesty. All goodness we ascribe to Allah (alhamdolilah) and we reject all evil from Allah (subhanallah).

We see the importance of this remembrance because the Prophet of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam tells us that the Angels, the creation of Allah, ran in numbers to record it. The Angels are a creation of Allah that have been created for the sole purpose to worship Him, subhana. There is not a hand span of four fingers in the sky where there is not an Angel in worship of Allah. These Angels will rise up from a life-time of prostration to Allah and will say, “Glory be to You! We have not worshiped you like you deserve” (for more details about the amazing creation known as Angels click here). And it is the same creation of Allah, the sinless Angels, who raced for the honor of recording this specific remembrance. Make note of this importance, because you don’t hear the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam informing us about the Angels acting in a similar manner to other remembrances uttered.

May Allah azza wa jal give us the ability to put these small remembrances into our practice and give us greater concentration in our salat

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Varying the Supplications (Salat 101)

September 15, 2008 – 10:08 am

Bismillah wa’lhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam ‘ala Rasool Allah

For the most part, or at least from my personal experience, from childhood salat was always made to seem very rigid; one way of doing it, no variation, very systematic. And since we were never taught these variations, salat just ended up becoming a thoughtless set of actions, repeating the same things over and over again. However, as I grew older I realized that there is a lot of variation in salat, a lot that we can do to really build that relationship Allah throughout our salat.

The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam would commence his recitation with many kinds of supplications in which he would praise Allaah the Exalted, and glorify and extol Him. He in fact ordered “the man who prayed badly” to do so, saying to him: No person’s prayer is complete unless he says takbeer, praises Allaah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Qur’aan what is easy for him …

From this we gather that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam would start his salat with a variety of different supplications…not just one!

The most common supplication that is recited is the following:

You are Glorified, O Allaah, and Praised; Your Name is Blessed;
Your Majesty is Exalted, and none has the right to worshipped but You

However, do you know there are other supplications that can be made? Using different supplications will allow you to build a closer relationship with Allah and it will definitely make salat more enjoyable for the believers.

Try some of these other supplications from the traditions of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam:

Allaah is the Greatest, very great. Praise be to Allaah, again and again. Glorified is Allaah morning and evening

One of the Companions commenced with this, to which the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: Wonderful for it is that the doors of the heavens were opened for it (Muslim)

Praise be to Allaah, many, pure, blessed praises. Alhamdolilahi hamdann katheeran tayyiban mubarakann fee

Another man commenced with this, to which he (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: I saw twelve angels competing as to which of them would take it up (Muslim)

And there are many more supplications which can be found in traditions of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam. I recommend memorizing a few and inshallah switch up the use of them so you can take your prayers out of the same monotonous routine.

All of these supplications are taken from Shaykh Albani’s book entitled, “The Prophets Prayer Described” which can be viewed by clicking here.

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to understand, implement, and teach others.

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SubhanAllah: A Pure Negation (Salat 101)

September 13, 2008 – 10:50 am

Bismillah walhamdolilah was-salatu was-salam ‘ala Rasool Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam

Continuing in our discussion of the oft-repeated words and phrases in our salat, this week inshallah we will focus on looking at: SubhanAllah

This is another word that is very common in the Muslim’s vocabulary. We all have heard the word, we all say it in our prayers daily (inshallah), yet how many of us truly understand its meaning?

Commonly this word is translated as, “Glory be to Allah” or “All Glory is to Allah”. I’m not going to say these definitions are wrong but I do think there is a lot depth associated with saying SubhanAllah which is not captured in the above translations. A better translation or meaning of the word would be, “far above is Allah from that which they associate to Him”

وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ
And (remember) when Luqman said unto his son, when he was exhorting him: O my dear son! Ascribe no partners unto Allah. Lo! to ascribe partners (unto Him) is a tremendous wrong [31:13]

And so the greatest transgression, the great act of disbelief, the greatest act of disrespect, the greatest of all sins, the most disgusting of all acts one could do is to associate partners with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.

And so saying SubhanAllah implies the following:

  • All Glory is due to Allah
  • Allah is the One who is far above the partners people associate with Him
  • This phrase is a negation of shirk (associating partners with Allah; to learn more click here)
  • It encompasses the greatest act of goodness (negating any partners to Allah)
  • The negation of shirk leads you to affirm His Oneness (tawheed; to learn more click here)
  • Forgiveness for our sins

Allah said: “…O son of Adam! If you bring forth the earth full of errors, then you meet Me while you do not associate anything (or anyone) with Me, I will bring forth for you its full of forgiveness.” [At-Tirmidhee (Shaikh Albanee rendered it as Hasan)]

Allah’s Apostle sallalahu alayhi wasalam said, “Whoever says, ‘Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi,’ one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea.” [Sahih Bukhari]

How is it that just by saying a simple phrase like SubhanAllahi wa bihamdi we can have all our sins forgiven? Because in it is a negation of shirk (the worst of all acts), which leads to the affirmation of pure tawheed (the greatest of all acts).

My dearest brothers and sisters, next time you’re in sajood and you say Subhana Rabbi al-’ala or Subhana Rabbi al-adzeem let yourself ponder about its meanings…let yourself taste the sweetness of salat by pondering over that which you say and recite.

May Allah make us amongst those who establish our prayers with full submissiveness and concentration.

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