In ayah 64, He describes these "slaves" by saying:

This is translated as: those who spend the night before their Lord, prostrating (in sujood) and standing.

Tafsir ibn Kathir explains this ayah, and compares it to ayahs 17-18 from Suratuth-Thaariyaat (Surah 51):

Translation: They used to sleep but little by night [invoking their Lord (Allah) and praying, with fear and hope]. And in the hours before dawn, they were (found) asking (Allah) for forgiveness. [Surah Ath-Thaariyaat, verse(s) ] (translated by Muhsin Khan).

Ibn Kathir explains that this is a "good act" that the Muhsinun (good-doers) perform. [1]

According to a footnote in the The Noble Qur'an: English Translation of the meanings and commentary, Tafsir Al-Qurtubi states:

Ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنه‏) said: "Whoever prayed two rak'at or more after the 'Isha (night) prayer, will be considered like those mentioned in this verse [i.e. V.25:64]." And Al-Kalbi said: "Whosoever prayed two rak'at after the Maghrib (evening) prayer, and four rak'at after the 'Isha (night) prayer will be considered like those mentioned in this verse."

SubhanAllah, I imagine most people probably already pray at least two ruk'as after Maghrib and three after 'Isha (two ruk'as sunnah and then one for witr), so all that remains is two more ruk'ah! Just two more ruk'ah to qualify under one of the acts performed by the muhsinoon? Under the criteria presented by Ibn 'Abbas and Al-Kalbi (رضي الله عنهما‏) it seems the answer is YES, wallahu ta’aala a’alem (and Allah, exalted is He, knows best)!

Just two more ruk'ah every night—By the permission of Allah, let’s make it a habit for His sake!

May He make us of the Muhsinun and those with whom He is well pleased. Ameen!

Ibn Kathir. "Tafsir Ibn Kathir." Quran Tafsir. 28 June 2008 <http://qtafsir.com/>.

Khan, Muhsin, trans. "Qur'an." Islamic Network. 28 June 2008 <http://www.searchquran.net>.

Dr. Al-Hilali and Dr. Muhsin Khan. The Noble Qur’an: English Translation of the meanings and commentary.

[1] The "Muhsinun" are identified in ayahs 15-16 of the same surah (Surah 51). The ayahs are translated as: "Verily, the Muttaqun (pious - see V.2:2) will be in the midst of hardens and springs (in Paradise), taking joy in the things which their Lord has given them. Verily, they were before this Muhsinun (good-doers - see V.2:112)."

And the body has a king, too--the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: "There is a piece of flesh in the body; if it is righteous, the whole body is righteous; if it is evil, then the whole body is evil; indeed, it is the heart. Indeed, it is the heart. Indeed, it is the heart." [Saheeh Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim]

And the soldiers of the body are the limbs and the senses. Why do people commit haraam, when they know better? Why do brothers have wandering gazes that look at things they shouldn't? Why do we have tons and tons of music MP3s on our iPods and hard-drives?

The problem is not the eyes, or the ears! It is the heart--the heart, the root of it all.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: "When someone commits a sin, a black spot is placed on his heart; he keeps sinning until his whole heart becomes black." Rust on your heart! Ever notice how, listening to one song makes you more tolerant of music, makes you want to listen to more? Looking at one wrong thing makes it easier to look a the next? Black dots!

But fear not, because he then said: "When someone commits a good deed, a white spot is placed on his heart; he keeps performing good deeds until his whole heart becomes white." [Saheeh Muslim]

A pure, good and white heart, protected from black dots.

And perhaps that is the solution--leave your sins. Whatever they are, make the intention now to leave them, forever, and work for a white heart.

Because that is the only thing that will benefit you on the Day of Judgment--a pure and white heart. Allah does not look at your skin colour, your height, your language, your acne, or your too-small shoes; he looks at your heart.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) grant us all a pure and white heart, protected from fitnah and from evil, ameen ya Controller of Hearts!

• Jum'Ah Khutbah. Ibrahim Hindy. Abu Huraira Center, North York, Ontario. 2008.
• "HADITH Sahih Muslim." IslamTomorrow. 21 June 2008 <http://www.islamtomorrow.com/books/sahih_muslim/Muslim.pdf>.

Translation: And whoever is blinded from remembrance of Ar-Rahman, we appoint for him a qareen, and he is to him a companion. [Surah Az-Zukhruf, verse(s) 36]

Why is this important? You should know that you have an enemy; someone who's always watching you, taking notes on you, recording what you do; his goal is to mislead you and misguide you and drag you into the Hellfire. That's his full-time job, no vacation time and no breaks! Subhanallah! The Prophet says:

Translation: The Messenger of Allah once told his companions: Everyone of you has been assigned a companion from the Jinn. They asked: Even you, O Messenger of Allah! He replied: Yes, except that Allah has helped me against him, fa aslam. Now he only tells me to do good. [Saheeh Muslim]

What does fa aslam mean? Scholars give it two meanings. One meaning is that the Prophet's (صلى الله عليه و سلم) qareen became Muslim. Imam Nawawi and other scholars say, it means the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was protected from his qareen.

Does this mean we, too, can make du'a and give da'wah to our qareen and try to make him or her Muslim? Unfortunately, scholars say it's specific to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

So what's the conclusion? Know you have an enemy. Recognize it. And struggle against it; because the one who has an enemy and struggles and overcomes him is better then one who has no enemy and is just "ok." Think about it! For every waswasa you turn away, you get a hassanah. For every sin you change your mind on, Allah credits you a good deed. For every sin you commit, you can repent, and scholars say the one who sins and repents is better than the one who never sinned.

So brighten up! Allah appointed you a qareen, yes; but this is a great and wonderful opportunity for you to attain mountains of deeds! Allahu akbar!

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) allow us to overcome our qareens and become people of Jannah, ameen!

Waleed Basyouni. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rays of Faith.

[Route 114 Newsletter]

Translation: Narrated 'Abdullah: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: Truthfulness (sidq) leads to righteousness (birr), and righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes and is written as a truthful person (siddeeq). And Falsehood/lying (kithb) leads to Al-Fajoor (wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajoor (wickedness) leads to the Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar (kathaab). [Saheeh Bukhari, Book of Manners, #116]

Birr is from ba-ra-ra and it literally means a vast and open piece a land, with so many types of herbage and fruits. Birr means vastness of good deeds. Someone who is baarun (one who does birr) does all types of good deeds, and these people, al-abraar (plural of baarun), are those who are truly righteous. Next time you read the Qur'an, look for this word "al-abraar" (الابرار)and see which context these people are mentioned.

The hadeeth says that whoever is truthful, they will be lead to do these vast good deeds and then eventually they will be written as a "siddeeq". Notice this word, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) did not say a 'saadiq', but he said 'siddeeq'. A 'siddeeq' is way better than a saadiq. They not only tell the truth, they always speak the truth, and they stand by it and live by it until it becomes their nature. All they do is tell the truth, again and again. Think of Abu Bakr as-siddeeq (رضي الله عنه‏) and how he earned this name.

On the other hand, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said that the man who lies will be lead to "fujoor" and then is written as a kathaab. Al-Fujoor is from fa-jeem-ra and it means to break open, cross, and deviate (significance of words beginning with fa). Fujoor is also intensified and it shows that causing corruption and wickedness is embedded in this person's nature. Their actions are based on it and it is part of their character. Also, the word for liar used is a "kathaab", which is not just a kaathib (a liar), but a huge liar. One who is always lying until it's just second nature for lies to come out of his mouth. All they do is lie, again and again. Think of Musaylimah al-kathaab and how he earned this name.

So the question is, where do we stand with Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)? How are you written with Him? As a siddeeq or a kathaab? This reminder is for myself first and foremost.

Allahumma ijalnaa min as-siddeeqeen, wa la tajalnaa min al-khaathibeen. O Allah, make us among those who are always truthful, and do not make us among those who are liars. Ameen!

The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said:

Translation: Indeed, Allah has 99 names (one hundred minus one); whoever memorizes them will enter Jannah. [Agreed Upon]

This hadith is talking about the elite 99 names of Allah. Although all of Allah's names are husna, some of them stand out above others.

So which names are the elite 99? Virtually every single scholar of Islam has a different opinion on this. And realize that the common version that we know--like the one in this nasheed--is da'eef.

Why is it da'eef? It comes from the same hadith as we stated above--except at, at some point, one narrator added "And this is what I think those names are." So it's someone's opinion.

And realize that most of the names they've mentioned there are ok--but some are definitely negative (which goes against Allah's names being husna), and some are definitely not Allah's names.

But the good thing is, about 80-90% of the names there are ok. And even among the scholars of Islam, they agree on the vast majority of which names are THE elite 99--but they differ in a few names.

And why is this important to know--aside from for tawassul? Because this is your key to jannah! Another wording of this hadith, instead of using hadifha (to memorize, to protect), uses the word "hisaa" (with saad). The root word has something to do with intelligence and intellect; the meaning is that whoever knows and acts upon these names will enter Jannah.

Having said all that--if these 99 names are so important, why didn't Allah just tell us which are His 99 names?

But think about it--if He (سبحانه وتعالى) told us--would anyone bother with the other names? Probably not. Would anyone try to investigate the meanings of and learn the names? Not really--we'd just have a common list of names passed around, and nobody would do more than memorize.

Instead, by not telling us, He (سبحانه وتعالى) has created a situation like Laylatul-Qadr. Nobody knows when Laylatutl-Qadr is, except Allah--so people strive the last ten days of Ramadan, doing extra nawafil acts, in the hopes that it's Laylatul-Qadr.

And these elite 99 names are like that--you have to work hard, and strive above and beyond just learning 99, if you want to know them for sure.

So learn these names--with their meanings! Subhanallah, nothing will increase your eman quite like this will.

To start you off, you can check our List of Allah's Names post, and also check God Names, a site that details 99 names, with a great explanation of meaning.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) help us to learn and memorize and act upon His 99 names, and become those of Jannah by it--ameen ya rabbi!

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

So are these two "lost surahs" of the Qur'an, as they claim, that we don't have anymore?

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

Translation: Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian. [Surah Al-Hijar, verse(s) 9] (And yes, the Arabic has three forms of emphasis in it.)

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has promised that He will protect the Qur'an. And whose promise is greater than His?

So when you search further in the authentic narrations--not surprisingly--what do you find? What were these two mysterious chapters?

Nothing more than du'a--authentically related du'a; one was dua-u-qunoot, for salaatul-witr.

(See how Orientalists twist things and slant things to make them look sinister?)

But this post is not about slamming Orientalists-some of them are good, some of them are neutral, and some of them are evil--just like any other group of people.

Rather, this post is about the mushaf of Ibn Mas'ood (رضي الله عنه‏)--a mushaf which, even when the khalifa ordered him to give it up (as part of the Second Compilation), he refused--for a long time, he refused, until finally, he was convinced.

So why would he (رضي الله عنه‏) write du'a in his mushaf? Why not in another place?

There are a couple of reasons. First, paper (or, rather, parchment and similar materials) were very scarce--as was literacy--in the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). It was very hard to gather writing materials. Having a book was itself significant. So Ibn Mas'ood simply wrote du'a at the end of his mushaf.

But isn't there a chance of confusion? People mixing Qur'an and ahadith together, in Arabic, in one book? No, not at all--companions knew which was Qur'an and which was not! So what was the harm in writing them in one book--especially considering the scarcity of materials?

And that, in a nutshell, is Ibn Mas'ood's (رضي الله عنه‏) mushaf.

For more Orientalist refutations, check out the Islamic Awareness site. It details many Orientalist arguments against Islam, and their refutations.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) protect us from doubts and whispers of Shaytaan and keep us firm in our eman and on our deen, ameen!

Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Route 114: Qur'anic Sciences. University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, March 2008.

Translation: Indeed, Allah prescribed ihsaan in all things. Thus, if you kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters. [Saheeh Muslim]

In this crucial hadith, the Messenger of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) explained to us this concept of ihsaan. What is ihsaan?

Ihsaan is often translated as "excellence." Ihsaan means to do things with excellence--properly, at the highest level. And we can see this in the example the Prophet (سبحانه وتعالى) gave us--if you're performing zahiba, slaughtering a sheep for food, then sharpen the knife! Scholars mention that doing so will make the cut cleaner and less painful for the animal.

And that's the crux of Ihsaan--that you do things properly, and at the highest level of excellence.

And ihsaan is really a way of thinking, a state of being--not something you do now and then; you should strive to do ihsaan in everything you do, thus becoming one of the Muhsineen.

One striking contemporary example of ihsaan that comes to mind is job interviews--if you've ever seen someone who was serious about a job prepare for the interview, you'll know ihsaan--a man migt take an hour to prepare--dress properly, iron his shirt and suit, tie his tie properly, straighten it, even apply polish to his shoes! He'll set his alarm early--even though he doesn't wake up early for Fajr--wake up, eat properly; he might spend hours researching mock interview questions and preparing, making sure he's ready for anything.

And that's ihsaan. When the interview comes, he sails through, smooth and smiling and confident.
And if Allah has willed it, he gets the job.

That's ihsaan.

And Allah says:

Translation: Is there any reward for ihsaan other than ihsaan? [Surah Ar-Rahmaan, verse 60]

With that in mind, what are some examples of ihsaan that we can apply on a daily basis in our lives?

And remember--intentions! If you're doing ihsaan to show off, or for some haraam dunya purpose--like to net a girlfriend--you're wasting your time. The reward with Allah is better and longer-lasting then any fleeting desire you might have right now.

• Cleaning Your Room: don't just clean half of it, or hide everything under the bed and cram it into yours shelves--take the time to put everything into the proper place. Fold your clothes properly and stack them up neatly. Arrange papers into folders. Throw out anything you don't need.
• Be an A+ Student: Study hard, make good notes, and aim to get 110% on the exams. Help out those who need some extra help. Don't bum around, skip class, and aim to just pass your tests and exams. (One side note--you'll find your teachers will like you more--because good teachers need good students.)
• Ihsaanified Blogging: think through your blog. What are you hoping to accomplish through it? Have a strong purpose and vision in mind, a need to fill--yours or others. Pick a pleasing design, and tweak it to your writing. Write regularly--whether daily, weekly, monthly, or whatever your schedule. Review and edit posts for spelling and grammar mistakes, inconsistencies, etc.
• Become an Exemplary Employee: When you get assigned work, don't waste time--jump into it, and get it done. Make sure you do whatever you have to do well. Double check it--if you wrote code, test it. If you tabulated numbers, verify them. If it's a contract you've written, re-read it. If you designed something, re-evaluate it. Then submit it.

Insha'Allah if you have any great examples of ihsaan specific to some task or person, post it in the comments insha'Allah.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) allow us to understand and implement this amazing virtue of ihsaan into all aspects of our lives, and allow us to reap the rewards of it in the Akhira, ameen!

So we've put together a small list of the common faculties, and what they teach you in each. And of course, regardless of which faculty you study in, you will learn the basics of everything--how to pray, recite, etc.

• Faculty of Qur'an: They teach you the ten qira'aat--that's why you must be a hafidh to enter. You will memorize all ten (eventually) and be able to recite them fluently, with the respective tajweed rules. This is typically the smallest faculty, with only a handful of graduates each year.
• Faculty of Hadith: People who graduate are on the road to becoming muhaddith. They are able to look at hadith, and cut them to pieces, analyze the authenticity of each. Aside from learning the science of hadith, you'll also memorize a few thousand ahadith each year (with chains), not to mention the biographies of narrators. This is the second-smallest faculty, typically.
• Faculty of Shari'ah: This is typically the biggest faculty, because there's a huge need in the ummah for fiqh. Typically, you specialize in fiqh and usool-ul-fiqh, the science of deriving fiqh. By the end, you will have a strong grip on the tools of a mujtahid, with some basis of the skills necessary to make fatwa (as dangerous as that is) on new issues; and you should know some of the tools to research and resolve issues.
• Faculty of Aqeedah and Da'wa: Admittedly, we don't know much about this faculty--so if you do, post it in the comments insha'Allah! In Medina University, this is known as the "easiest" faculty--but people who go in come out very strong. In terms of 'aqeedah, you'll specialize--learning the basics (shirk, kufr, nifaaq) to advanced issues relating to Allah's attributes, the day of judgment, the prophets, and even things like t he dividing line between Muslims and Faasiqeen, and what takes a person out of Islam (because an act of shirk does not make a person mushrik necessarily, nor does an act of kufr necessarily make someone kaaifr.)

And that's it! Insha'Allah if you have any first-hand or second-hand knowledge of these faculties, share it with us! Your comments may help shape the decision and direction of someone's future.

Why wasn't it compiled during the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) himself?

• On-Going Revelation: Revelation was still coming down. If you wrote two verses next to each other, and Allah revealed one in the middle--or an extension to the end of a surah--what then? They didn't have staplers to staple pages into the middle!
• No Need: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was still alive, and so were his companions, and they were all there with him. What need was there to compile it? The knowledge was there in the community.
• Arrangement was not Finalized: New verses would come down and be added to the middle of surahs. If it's already written in a book, what do you do? How can you fit it in?
• Abrogation: Although abrogated verses are very few, sometimes a verse would be abrogated--so what if it was written down? What do you do with it?

In any case, in Abu Bakr's time, there was a big battle, where 70 huffadh were martyred. After this one battle, 'Umar convinced Abu Bakr--who was hesitant at first--to compile the Qur'an into one book. Prior to this, it was written down in scraps and fragments; and some of it was only memorized, not written down. And 'Umar feared that the unwritten parts would be lost.

So together, they agreed; and they agreed on who would compile the Qur'an--Zayd ibn Thabit (رضي الله عنه‏).

Why Zayd? He was the main scribe of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم), he was a hafidh himself, and he was known was his piety and knowledge of the Qur'an.

What did Zayd say? He was hesitant too, at first--but then he agreed. They all knew the necessity of it. Zayd said, then: "If they had asked me to move a mountain, I would've found that easier then the task they gave me." [Saheeh Bukhari]

Because of the responsibility--the entire Ummah, for all time, is relying on Zayd.

And he compiled it. Despite being a hafidh, he gathered the sahaba. His condition? He would collect verses that two sahaba heard DIRECTLY from the lips of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم)--nothing less.

And he was a hafidh! He knew the WHOLE Qur'an! Still, he made this his criterion.

And so, bit by bit, over eight months, he collected it.

And there it was--the first mushaf, the first fully compiled end-to-end Qur'an.

Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Route 114: Qur'anic Sciences. University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, March 2008.