Ilm Fruits

Continuing our discussion of barakah, you might ask “so what has barakah in it?”

1. The Qur’an: In many verses, the Qur’an itself is called “mubarak”. There is nothing but good in it–every letter, every verse, every surah, every prohibition, every command. The revelation, the recitation, the understanding, and the memorization, as well, are blessed–because they are the speech of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).
2. The Prophets: All prophets have barakah, especially the last, Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم). In particular:
1. His Teachings: Every statement, hadith, commandment, sunnah, everything he (صلي الله عليه وسلم) did has barakah. To get more barakah in your life, follow the sunnah. The teachings of Islam are all sources of barakah–the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
2. His Actions and Du’as: Whenever he (صلي الله عليه وسلم) prayed, or made du’a, etc. that action is not like our action. Undoubtedly. How can you compare his du’a to ours? No, his has more barakah.
   One year, during a drought in Medina, a bedouin came in for jum’ah, interrupted the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) during the khutba, and said “Ya rasulullah, the animals have died, the children are starving, the fruits aren’t giving crops, so make du’a Allah blesses us with rain.”
   Anas bin Malik (the narrater of the hadith) said: We could see the whites of his armpits (i.e. he (صلي الله عليه وسلم) raised his hands high) and he made du’a. Not a cloud in the sky. Before he lowered his hands, clouds like dark shields came and it poured. It rained for a week straight.
   So the next week, during the same khutba, the same bedouin came in and said “Ya rasulullah, make du’a that the rain stops, the cattle are drowning etc.” and the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) made du’a that it rain around them, not on them. Anas bin Malik says: we never saw the sun for a week until then.
   That’s barakah. May Allah increase us all barakah, ameen.
3. His Person: The body of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) exhuded barakah. There are many occasions when people could not eat or drink enough–like the treaty of Hudaybiyyah. A cupful of water was all they had for the entire army of Muslims. The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) put his hands in the cup, made du’a, and when he removed his hands, water gushed out from between his fingers. The whole army drank plenty and made wudoo and so on. And there are many other occasions like that.
3. Angels: There presence brings barakah. When they leave, there’s no barakah. This is perhaps why angels surround gatherings made for the sake of Allah. Wallahu ‘alim.
4. Pious People: Pious people have barakah in-so-far as their knowledge and teachings and conduct. This is their barakah. The ayah about Prophet ‘Isa (عليه سلام)–”And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be …” (Surah Maryam, verse 31)¹–the scholars of tafseer say he was blessed through his knowledge. So pious people have some barakah (but not in their person itself). When you see people close to Allah, they bring a love of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) into your heart, and you want to be a better person.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) increase the barakah in our lives, in our time, and in our gatherings and families.

Related Posts: What is Barakah?

(1) Muhammad, Pickthall M., trans. “Maryam (Mary).” Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem: Parallel Arabic Text with English Translation. One Ummah Network. 20 Apr. 2006 <http://www.oneummah.net/quran/19.htm>.

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