A Concise Du’a for Guidance

November 25, 2008 – 4:54 pm

Bismillah.

One of the things I decided to blog about is my own personal du’a–it’s not lifted straight from the pages of the Qur’an or Sunnah, but it draws from them. My goal was to have a du’a that:

  • Is short, so I can recite it in sujood every rakah or every salah
  • Is encompassing–covers every aspect (in this case, of the akhirah)
  • Is easy to remember, so I can remember it as needed!
  • Is easy, not full of hard-to-pronounce or hard-to-remember words.

The du’a is:

اللهمَّ إجعَلنِي مِن المَقَرِّبِينَ وَ مِن المُخلِصِينَ وَ مِن الصِدِّقِينَ وَ مِن المُحسِنِين

Allahumma ij’alnee min al-muqarribeen, wa min al-mukhliseen, wa min al-muhsineen, wa min as-siddiqeen.

What does this du’a mean? It means, “O Allah, make me from among the muaqarribeen, and the mukhliseen, and the muhsineen, and the siddiqeen.” Let’s break down these four groups to see who they are:

  1. Al-Muqarribeen: Linguistically, it means something like “those who are close.” Islamically, it means those closest to Allah in the hereafter. There is no reward greater than seeing Allah’s Face, and no people will see it more than the muqarribeen. (Search the Qur’an, there are lots of references to them.)
  2. Al-Mukhliseen: These are the sincere ones–because your years
    of salah, or sawm, of Qur’an, mean nothing if you are insincere. Also, Shaytan promises that he will misguide every last human–except the mukhliseen.
  3. Al-Muhsineen: These are the ones who do ihsaan, excellence, in every aspect. They are praised in many places of the Qur’an. It’s a great quality to have.
  4. As-Siddiqeen: Of the four levels mentioned in the Qur’an (prophets, siddiqeen, and two others), this is the highest level that we, today, can theoretically reach.

Obviously, you’re free to use (or not use) this du’a, or mix it up and make your own; I find it useful because it’s concise, it covers a lot of traits, and it’s pretty easy to remember.

Wallahu ta’ala ‘alim.

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Du'a, Islam | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

Ihsaan

May 17, 2008 – 3:04 pm

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said:

عـن أبي يعـلى شـداد بـن اوس رضي الله عـنه ، عـن الـرسـول صلى الله عـليه وسلم قـال : إن الله كتب الإحـسـان عـلى كــل شيء ، فـإذا قـتـلـتم فـأحسـنوا القـتـلة ، وإذا ذبـحـتم فـأحسنوا الذبحة ، وليحد أحـدكم شـفـرتـه ، ولـيـرح ذبـيـحـته .
رواه مسلم

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 (صلى الله عليه و سلم) 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 (صلى الله عليه و سلم) 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:

هَلْ جَزَاء الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانُ

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!

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Islam, Tazkiyyah | Tagged , | Comments (9)

Five Minute Dawa Speech

April 20, 2008 – 10:24 am

If you live in a western society, such as Canada, America, England, and so on, be aware that some scholars have said that, for people living in these societies, da’wa is fard ‘ayn–an obligation on each and every Muslim. But don’t be scared–because the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “By Allah, if Allah were to guide one man through you, it would be better for you than a red camel.” [Saheeh Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim] Better then a shiny red Ferrari!

And, in these societies, what do people think of Muslims? By and far, they think we’re backward, oppressed, terrorists. Many of them know less about Islam then what you’d learn at one halaqah.

So what can you do about it? Be prepared. Prepare a five minute basic da’wa speech, and practice it.

Why? Because whether you go to school, work, to the mall, to the restaurant, you’ll engage with non-Muslims.

And they’ll ask you questions. Questions like why you grow a beard, wear the hijab, don’t shake hands with women, pray five times a day, eat with your right hand. All kinds of questions.

And if they do, this is your golden opportunity to explain about Islam! And you should explain tawheed, because all of Islam springs from that. And some of these people, this might be the only chance they have to learn about Islam. Take advantage of that, and explain it to them!

Your da’wa speech should go something like this:

“Well, let me tell you about Islam. We’re the purest monotheistic religion. We believe in one God, who sent many Prophets, from Abraham and Moses and Jesus to Muhammad, the last. Our book is called the Qur’an …”

Add to it, remove to it, as necessary. If they’re asking a fiqh question, you might want to mention that Allah is the law-maker, and that everything the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said or did, we take as proof–because Allah authorized him, when He said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلا

Translation: O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result. [Surah An-Nisaa, verse 59]

THEN you can dive into the specific details of their question–but keep it brief, and conclude it with something tawheed based.

Why is this important? In a couple of minutes, you’ve likely given them more knowledge of Islam than they’ve learned in years. You gave them the core–tawheed, belief in Allah, and following the Prophet–and also answered their question. Who can argue with that!

And don’t feel bad if they ignore your speech and focus on their question. That’s natural. But don’t worry–they heard, and the knowledge is there, lurking in their minds, until Allah makes them remember.

What other things are important to put into (or leave out of) the five-minute da’wa speech? What are some of your experiences with this? Post them in the comments insha’Allah and share the ‘ilm!

References:
Fiqh of Da’wa, by Muhammad Alshareef.

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Da'wah, Islam, Tazkiyyah | Tagged , , | Comments (10)