In Imam Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, he examines the concept of commanding what is good and reprimanding others from doing what is wrong, amr bil marouf wa al nahil anil munkar. Condition 1: Gentleness vs the whip The one who commands good and forbids evil, is called…
In the Quran, we read many verses on the topic of actions and deeds. In many verses Allah is commanding humanity to do good. Are your actions acceptable? In Surat Tawbah, Allah Almighty tells us that He is aware of what you are doing: ﴿١٠٥﴾ وَقُلِ اعْمَلُوا فَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۖ وَسَتُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ…
In the summary of Imam Ghazali’s Ihya, titled Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, he talks about the concept of commanding what is good and forbidding what is evil, Al-amr bil marouf wa al nahiy anil munkar which is also known as hisbah. This command is a safety plug for…
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…
Friday is a special day for the Ummah. Allah Almighty put barakah in it for our ummah. Many people like to wish each other Jumu’ah Mubarak. Is there anything wrong with this? It is simply a du’a asking Allah Almighty to make someone’s Jumu’ah blessed. It is no different from saying ‘Have a blessed day/night/week’….
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…
Question: Generally one expects that one will grow up and have a certain life, one will get married and will have children. When those things don’t happen then you’re left with a sense of unfairness that ‘I don’t have something that other people have’. You can try to say to yourself that you are happy…
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 Rabi’ al-Awwal 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…
Many people find the idea of their spiritual journey being fast-tracked by joining a tariqa (Sufi path) appealing. They think that their connection with Allah will be strengthened, and accelerated and that showing obedience to their shaykh, who is already well-advanced on that journey, will be the shortcut to Jannah. The most renowned Sufi shaykh…