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…
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…
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[09:35, 11/03/2023] Shaykh Haytham Tamim: Keep…
How did the idea of compiling the major principles come about? Every Monday evening I hold an Arabic class, and at the end students ask questions. One of the questions a student put to me was ‘What are the major principles of Islam?’ There are plenty but I could not count them off the top…
True life is after death وَمَا هَٰذِهِ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَآ إِلَّا لَهۡوٞ وَلَعِبٞۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةَ لَهِيَ ٱلۡحَيَوَانُۚ لَوۡ كَانُواْ يَعۡلَمُونَ The present life is nothing but sport and amusement. The true life is in the abode of the Hereafter, if only they knew. [29:64] The ayah is saying that true life is not this life….
Race to goodness In the Qur’an, Allah Almighty mentions the importance of doing good in many verses. In Surat ul Hajj, Allah Almighty says waf’alul-khayr: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ارْكَعُوا وَاسْجُدُوا وَاعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمْ وَافْعَلُوا الْخَيْرَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ۩ O you who believe! Kneel, and prostrate, and worship your Lord, and do good deeds, so that…
In Surah An-Nazi’at, Allah Almighty says: فَإِذَا جَاءَتِ الطَّامَّةُ الْكُبْرَىٰ يَوْمَ يَتَذَكَّرُ الْإِنسَانُ مَا سَعَىٰ وَبُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِيمُ لِمَن يَرَىٰ فَأَمَّا مَن طَغَىٰ وَآثَرَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا فَإِنَّ الْجَحِيمَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ “When the great havoc happens, man will remember what he did. And the…
What is the difference between the hawd (lake) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and al Kawthar? What does bid’ah (innovations in the religion) have to do with them? We have a variety of narrations on the hawd – in Sahih Muslim, Nasa’i and others. Clarification of Al Hawd and Al Kawthar Some people…
Let them play and join in Whenever we play with children, we have an opportunity to enter into their world and see the world through their eyes, (where everything is new, exciting and fascinating). Although this looks like play to us adults, it is actually work for them. It has been said by many psychologists…
Allah Almighty mentioned earthquakes in four places in the Quran, in Surat al Hajj, Surat Al Zalzalah, Surat al Baqarah, and Surat al Ahzab, Allah Almighty describes the shaking of the earth: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ O people, be conscious of your Lord. The quaking of the Hour…
The People of Allah are disconnected from dunya On the topic of remembering death, dhikr al mawt, Ghazali talks about the people of Allah – those with gnosis – their state, their connection with Allah and how they perceive death. Such people have deep knowledge of Allah, and devote their time in the remembrance of…
Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: عن النُّعْمَان بْن بَشِيرٍ، يَقُولُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ إِذَا اشْتَكَى عُضْوًا تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ جَسَدِهِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّى ”. متفق عليه. “The believers in their…
Remembering Death The tenth and final chapter of The Forty Principles of the Faith is about death. Imam Ghazali chose to end his book, which is a summary of the great tome, Ihya Ulum ad-Din, with this topic. He mentions that the previous nine principles are not all on the same level. Some of them…
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that in Rajab, in the year of Tabouk, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) addressed the people, while leaning against his mount, said: عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَامَ تَبُوكَ يَخْطُبُ النَّاسَ وَهُوَ مُسْنِدٌ ظَهْرَهُ إِلَى رَاحِلَتِهِ فَقَالَ …
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked about the deed which will be foremost to lead a man to Jannah. He replied, “Fear of Allah and the good conduct.” Then he was asked about indulgence which will admit a man to Hell (Fire) and he answered,…