Today’s reminder is about the five signs before the Day of Judgement. Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (peace be on him) said: عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يُقْبَضَ الْعِلْمُ، وَتَكْثُرَ الزَّلاَزِلُ، وَيَتَقَارَبَ الزَّمَانُ، وَتَظْهَرَ الْفِتَنُ، وَيَكْثُرَ الْهَرْجُ ـ وَهْوَ الْقَتْلُ الْقَتْلُ ـ حَتَّى…
Let there be a group among you who call ˹others˺ to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful. (3:104) The believers, both men and women, are guardians of one another. They encourage good and forbid evil, establish prayer and pay alms-tax, and obey Allah and His…
Todays reminder is about unity and not returning to the habits of pre-Islamic (Jahiliyya) times. In Surat al Imran, Allah Almighty says: ﴿١٠٣﴾ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا ۚ وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ…
There is common misconception that one may not greet non-Muslims with the salam. Or that you should only reply to them with ‘walaikum‘ not ‘walaikum asalam‘. This opinion is based on the hadith narrated by Suhayl bin Abi Salih, from his father, Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be please with them) narrated that the…
Brotherhood – To take a friend as a brother for Allah’s sake. Al-Okhuwwah is ‘taking brothers’ for Allah’s sake. This is a very interesting topic and scholars talk about it a great deal. In Imam Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, his last section on how to deal with…
Today’s reflection is about the Hijra (the migration of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him to Madinah) and Muharram. Every year people celebrate the New Islamic Year. The conflation of Muharram with the Hijra was introduced later, as in fact the migration took place in Rabbi al-Awal not Muharram. The date of Hijrah The…
In Imam Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, he explores how to deal with different people. In this section we will look at how to treat relatives. Blood ties are special ‘Abdu’r-Rahman ibn ‘Awf heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ،…
In Imam Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, he explores how to deal with different people. In this section we will look at how to treat neighbours. Neighbours have extensive rights Ghazali quotes a hadith that the first disputants on the Day of Judgement will be neighbours with a…
Seeking authentic knowledge is an obligation for every Muslim Today’s topic is the imposters – those people who claim that they have knowledge and lead people with ignorance. The Prophet (peace be on him) mentioned in different narrations the importance of seeking knowledge and before all of this, the first verse which was revealed by…
The loss of a dear scholar Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As narrated: حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ أَبِي أُوَيْسٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مَالِكٌ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ “ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا، يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ الْعِبَادِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ…
Rule 19: Stay away from those who do not benefit your deen Distance yourself from people of ghaflah (heedlessness). People of ghaflah will impact your level of imaan. Their ghaflah will be reflected by you. The heart which is occupied with dunya casts shadows around it. It will blot out the light of your heart….
Rules 16-20 for dealing with people Rule 16: Supporting your brother or sister in their absence In Imam al Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, the 40 Principles in Religion, he sketches the the 20 rules for dealing with people in chapter 8. The sixteenth rule is to support others even in their absence. The…
And when you have performed your holy rites remember God, as you remember your fathers or yet more devoutly. Now some men there are who say, ‘Our Lord, give to us in this world’; such men shall have no part in the world to come. (2:200) Celebrate Allah’s name and glorify Him Allah Almighty made…
Allah Almighty mentioned in the Quran that Hajj is ‘a well-known month’, ashurhum malumaat: “Remember Allah (God) during the well-known days.” (2:197) There are three months which are considered holy, because they are months of hajj. It used to take 1-2 months to travel to reach Makkah, therefore hajjis had to leave for hajj long…
In general do not shake hands with the opposite sex The default position is that you should not shake hands with non Mahrams of the opposite sex. Overall, there is no agreed on 100% prohibition, but it is disliked. All the narrations which talk about the prohibition of not shaking hands are weak, though some…