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......
Read More
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......
Read More
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......
Read More
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......
Read More
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......
Read More
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,......
Read More
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......
Read More
20
Mar 2023
You can pray audibly for Fajr, Maghrib and Isha, but not Dhur and Asr which are not vocalised. Shaykh Haytham Tamim...
Read More
20
Mar 2023
Munazarat an Nafs – debating with yourself The Forty Principles of the Faith ends with a debate between Ghazali and himself, and he recommends that we do this as well – rather than debating with others, try to convince yourself of the truth, as you try to convince your opponent. Scholars of tasawwuf (self purification) used to do this regularly. Ghazali says that having read all the preceding chapters, we should be able to reap the fruits of the lessons now. However there are steps we have to take, for instance......
Read More
17
Mar 2023
Allah Almighty said in the Quran that fasting is an obligation in this famous ayah, but when was this ayah revealed and when was fasting made an obligation? يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become righteous. Though we think of Islam as the five pillars, they were not revealed at the same time. The first pillar was tawheed, coming straight after the......
Read More
17
Mar 2023
The first obligation of every human being is to know his Creator. Some people accepted this invitation from Allah Almighty to find out about Him and truly knowing Him can only lead to gratitude towards Him. Allah called them to His message through different prophets and messengers, and a variety of means, yet unfortunately some people decide they are not interested to know Him, and ignore His call. This is a personal choice. No one can force faith on anyone, even one’s closest family members – son, daughter, husband, wife or parent.......
Read More
15
Mar 2023
The major principles of Islam (kulliyaat al Kubra) are the main principles which we cannot live without. The first main principle is to know Allah Almighty, but it is hard to do justice to this topic because Allah Almighty is beyond our comprehension. What we know about Him is from the Quran and what we learnt from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Allah Almighty mentioned in the Quran: فَٱعْلَمْ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ You should know there is no God but Allah Almighty. Ibn Raslaan, a Palestinian Shafi’i......
Read More
14
Mar 2023
Desire is a natural part of the human system زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ Adorned for the people is the love of desires, such as women, and children, and piles upon piles of gold and silver, and branded horses, and livestock, and fields. These are the conveniences of the worldly life, but with God lies the finest resort. There are three verses in the Quran which talk about following shahawat......
Read More
11
Mar 2023
Acute regret Imagine you are in a dark cave filled with stones, and your friends urge you to pick up the stones and carry them back with you to the exit. You think they are foolish. Why would you want to burden yourself with heavy stones? You don’t want to waste your time and energy carrying these stones and you think your friends are foolish trying to carry heavy stones with them. You feel free and you have fun, laughing and chatting and making fun of them. Then light enters the cave......
Read More
10
Mar 2023
In the Quran Allah Almighty mentioned in many verses the signs of tribulations and trials (fitan). At that time, only the worst will be left, but we are not in this situation yet, alhamdulilah. Nevertheless we have fitan so we need to get our priorities right. Ourselves, our families first Shaykh Haytham Tamim: Keep monitoring yourself and check your Amanah and your covenants and your Taqwa عن عَبْد اللَّهِ بْن عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ رضِيَ اللهُ تعالى عَنه، قَالَ بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ حَوْلَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذْ ذَكَرَ الْفِتْنَةَ فَقَالَ......
Read More