31
Mar 2023
The first ten days of Ramadan have whizzed by and we await the next tens days and then the final ten. Alhamdulillah we have fasted and the most important thing is that Allah has accepted it from us. United Ramadan is a special month which Allah has given us and fasting was prescribed to believers before us, but they were never commanded to fast for a whole month. It is exclusive to Muslims. One of the beautiful lessons of Ramadan is unity. Despite all our divisions and factions, sects and politics and......
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31
Mar 2023
Verses of healing Among the verses in Surah Fussilat, Allah Almighty describes the Quran, ‘It is a guidance and a healing for those who believe.’ Allah is saying that the Quran is a book of guidance for the heart and mind, as well as a book of shifa – healing and cure. Scholars have collected six verses from the Quran that have the word shifa, which they call the Verses of Shifa. If you have any ailments – any headaches or pains – you should recite Surat al-Fatiha, Ayat al-Kursi, the......
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31
Mar 2023
In Surah Fussilat we have the stories of Ad and Thamud, two Arab tribes who were demolished. This is a Makki surah, and it shows the struggle to penetrate a community as it always entrenched in its existing customs, cultures, and idol worshipping. Allah is telling us this story of previous nation as a reminder. Don’t be overwhelmed by your own power Allah gave Ad very great power, and they used to boast about this and say: ‘Who is stronger than us?’ This is very similar to today’s big players on......
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29
Mar 2023
The widespread exclusion of women from mosques There is a very strong and prevalent view that a woman’s place is in the home, and also by extension that her place to pray is in the home. Consequently, women are barred from entering many mosques in UK and in other parts of the world. Quite often a lack of space is cited as the reason. There is also the notion that if women are allowed in a mosque, they must have their own designated space which must be partitioned by walls and screens.......
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28
Mar 2023
27
Mar 2023
The first principle of Islam is monotheism – to know Allah Almighty, His attributes, His beautiful names and so on and to this end we have been getting acquainted with Allah Almighty through His attributes from a chapter in the book, Shajarat al Maarif by Imam Al-Izz bin Abdus Salam. He talks about how we can emulate these names in our lives and daily interactions. It’s a beautiful book (may Allah Almighty have mercy on him). Al Ghani – the Bountiful One of the names is Al Ghani, which has different translations,......
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27
Mar 2023
Surat Ghafir contains part of the story of Musa and Firaun. This is the most repeated story in the Quran, and when you read it over and over again, from different angles in different surahs, you start to notice a pattern. Truth vs falsehood Allah has repeated this story for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it represents the fight between truth and falsehood. Firaun represents falsehood and Musa represents the truth. We’ve all heard the story many times: when Musa came with the truth, Firaun gathered all his power......
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27
Mar 2023
One of the ayahs in Surat Az-Zumar is: ‘Every soul will be rewarded according to their actions.’ Nothing is wasted, everything is written and recorded. The surah also says: ‘The best reward is for those who work hard.’ Notice however, that in the hadith, the Prophet (peace be on him) said: …None of you will enter Jannah by your own actions.” The companions asked, “Not even you, O Rasulullah?” He replied, “Not even me unless Allah includes me in His forgiveness and mercy.”’ Why do good deeds?......
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27
Mar 2023
The word Zumar, from Surat Az-Zumar means ‘the crowds’, because Allah Almighty talks about two groups in this surah. ‘Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in crowds… And those who were mindful of their Lord will be led to Paradise in crowds.’ Who are the righteous people? In another of the verses which we recited, Allah says: ‘The one who came with the truth and the one who embraced it—it is they who are the righteous.’ This is the group of Jannah. In the books of tafseer, the......
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25
Mar 2023
In Surat Az-Zumar, Allah Almighty talks about those who do qiyam (voluntary night prayers) and supplicate to Allah, and how they are not equal to those who deny Allah and reject the akhirah, and are only concerned with the dunya. Makki vs Madani surahs This is a Makki surah. Like other, similar surahs, it addresses basic issues of reality, and deals with the way people think, and the way they challenged the Prophet (peace be on him), accused him, called him names, etc. In the Makki revelations we also see that the......
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25
Mar 2023
The aim of fasting is to achieve righteousness Allah Almighty said in Surat al Baqarah: يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۡ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous – Alhamdulillah, we are fortunate to witness another Ramadan. Many did not get this chance and left us before Ramadan, however Allah granted us the favour to live to witness another Ramadan. It is a great gift that He......
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25
Mar 2023
They ask you… My reflection today is on a very beautiful ayah among the 5 verses on fasting in the Quran which are found in Surat al-Baqarah (183-187). Allah Almighty says: وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ If my servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls on me, so let them answer me and have faith in me that they may be rightly guided. This ayah is......
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23
Mar 2023
In the story of Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him), Allah is highlighting the scene from his life, when two people came to him wanting a judge for their dispute. The first one came forward and presented his case, and Dawud gave his verdict without even listening to the second part of the story. So Allah scolded Dawud that he should have listened to the other side of the story, instead of being hasty in his judgement. Dawud realised his mistake, and he fell down on his knees and prostrated and repented......
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23
Mar 2023
Tonight we continued with Surat as-Saffat, and we recited many stories in this surah. One of these is part of the story of Ibrahim. About one quarter of the Quran involves stories which Allah has told us of different nations and prophets and messengers, to teach us different lessons. In this surah we are talking about the muhsineen, when Allah talks about Ibrahim, Ilyaas, Musa, Haroon, (peace be upon them) etc. We all know the story of Ibrahim’s big test. He was very old and had no children, then he married Hajar,......
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23
Mar 2023
Alhamdulillah we are lucky enough to witness another Ramadan. May Allah have mercy on those whom we have lost, who can’t witness Ramadan with us. This is the circle of life: we receive newcomers, and we pay our respects to those who have left us. And we ask Allah to make our ending happy, Ya Rabb al-‘Aalameen. Today we recited from Surah as-Saffat. The most striking verses from what we read deal with oppressors, when they will stand before Allah Almighty. Allah says, ‘Gather ˹all˺ the wrongdoers along with their peers, and......
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