Lessons in sincerity from the story of Maryam and Zakariyya – Tarawih reflections 14
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Lessons in sincerity from the story of Maryam and Zakariyya – Tarawih reflections 14

Surat Ale ‘Imran is the story of the family of Imran, the father of Maryam (peace be upon them). He was a dedicated rabbi in his community, and his wife was very pious, so both were at the top of their community in terms of religion. The provision of Maryam Imran’s wife, Hannah, made dua…

Lessons from Badr – Tarawih reflections 13
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Lessons from Badr – Tarawih reflections 13

Source of protection: Surat al-Baqarah and Surat Ale ‘Imran ‘Recite the two bright ones, al-Baqarah and Surat Ale ‘Imran, for on the Day of Resurrection they will come as two clouds or two shades.’ [Muslim] In this hadith, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ referred to Surat al-Baqarah and Surat Ale Imran as the zahrawan, two bright…

Riba – riches or ruin? – Tarawih reflections 12

Riba – riches or ruin? – Tarawih reflections 12

Charity – expect your reward from Allah alone In Surat al Baqarah, Allah talks about infaq – spending, giving for Allah’s sake. When you give in charity, you only expect reward from Allah. Giving for Allah’s sake means you give for free – you don’t give because you are expecting anything back. When you give…

Etiquettes of charity – Tarawih reflections 11
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Etiquettes of charity – Tarawih reflections 11

Allah dedicates two and a half pages of Surat al-Baqarah to the verses of infaaq, spending, ayahs 261-274. In fact, in the whole Quran, there are more ayahs encouraging people to spend in the way of Allah than commanding people to pray. This is because it’s very difficult for people to give away their money….

Protect your salah – Tarawih reflections 10
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Protect your salah – Tarawih reflections 10

‘Take due care of all the prayers, and the middle prayer), and stand before Allah in total devotion.’ [2:238] Salah was revealed gradually In this ayah, Allah is teaching the believers how to pray. Of course, the angel Jibril came down and taught the conditions, and the timings. Each salah was taught over two days:…

Divorce rulings in Islam – Tarawih reflections 9
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Divorce rulings in Islam – Tarawih reflections 9

Limits on divorce Three pages of Surat al-Baqarah are devoted to the rules of divorce, or talaq. In Jahiliyya times, divorce was very common, but it was misused a lot, because there were no limits. Islam came to set boundaries, hudood. In Islam, divorce is permissible but it has conditions to prevent it being misused…

Faith and action- Tarawih reflections 7
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Faith and action- Tarawih reflections 7

Righteousness is not in turning your faces towards the East or the West. Rather, the righteous are those who believe in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Books, and the prophets; who give wealth, despite (their) love for it, to relatives, orphans, the poor, travellers, those who ask (for help), and for freeing captives;…

Don’t make the dunya your priority – Tarawih reflections 4
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Don’t make the dunya your priority – Tarawih reflections 4

Allah challenges Bani Israil In ayah 94 of Surat al-Baqarah, Allah challenges Bani Israil, after they repeatedly betrayed their Messenger, Musa (peace be upon him) and reneged on their covenants with Him. Feeling a sense of superiority, they claim that Jannah is exclusively for them, and Allah asks them, ‘If the Home of the Hereafter…