Ask people of knowledge – ignorance can kill The Prophet (peace be upon him) encouraged questions in the right context and would sometimes start his circle by posing a question. Do you know who this is? Do you know the meaning of this? it’s not true that in the religious context you are not allowed…
Ghazali lived in 5th century Hijri and his book, Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, ‘The Forty Principles of the Religion,’ which he wrote before his death, is a summary of Ihya Ulumuddin (Revival of the Sciences of the Religion), and his life’s works and thoughts. In the last ten principles of the forty, he looks…
Death is a reality that we find hard to comprehend The passing of the Queen, even at the age of 96, who it almost seemed would live forever, but came suddenly and unexpectedly just two days after she met the new Prime Minister, shows that none of us will live forever and reminds us that…
The offer Rabi’ah bin Ka‘b said: عن رَبِيعَةَ بْن كَعْبٍ الْأَسْلَمِيّ قَالَ : كُنْتُ أَبِيتُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَأَتَيْتُهُ بِوَضُوئِهِ وَحَاجَتِهِ، فَقَالَ لِي : ” سَلْ “. فَقُلْتُ : أَسْأَلُكَ مُرَافَقَتَكَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ. قَالَ : ” أَوَغَيْرَ ذَلِكَ ؟ ” قُلْتُ : هُوَ ذَاكَ. قَالَ : ” فَأَعِنِّي عَلَى نَفْسِكَ بِكَثْرَةِ…
The art of questioning To ask a question is actually an art. To answer the question requires experience, understanding and knowledge. Not everybody can answer the right question, not everybody can ask the right question. This is why we have the etiquette (adab) of questioning (suwal) known as adab suwal in Arabic, which are the…
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بن مَسْعُودٍ رضي الله تعالى عنه قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : ” إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَسَمَ بَيْنَكُمْ أَخْلَاقَكُمْ، كَمَا قَسَمَ بَيْنَكُمْ أَرْزَاقَكُمْ، وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُعْطِي الدُّنْيَا مَنْ يُحِبُّ، وَمَنْ لَا يُحِبُّ، وَلَا…
What can Islam offer us today? Connect people to God You could talk for volumes on this question, but let me summarise. Firstly, we must understand that Islam is a divine revelation, so the first thing the revelation does is to connect people with God. Continuity of the divine message since time began From the…
Should the menopause be taboo or not? The topic of menopause has been taboo for centuries and particularly within culture, it is not a topic that one likes to discuss publicly. Yet the Quran never shies away from uncomfortable or embarrassing topics, rather it broaches them in a positive way. We certainly need more awareness…
We are living in uncertain times. We have witnessed huge losses of life worldwide, through the pandemic and world disasters, and personally we have all experienced the death of close family and friends. None of us knows how long we have therefore we need to be prepared for the eventuality we will all inevitably face…
Man is created with the innate disposition to tell the truth. Over time and through one’s environment, one can fall into the habit of telling little white lies, or gradually giant porky pies, lies. One lie often takes more lies to cover up. Eventually one is likely to be tangled in a web of deceit….
The argumentative one Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, ‘The most detested of people[i] to Allah is the obstinate argumentative (person).’ [Imam Muslim] Setting the social code of behaviour This one-line hadith is a very comprehensive hadith. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is highlighting…
As temperatures soar, breaking records, the parched earth thirsts for water, and wildfires burn, smoke and smoulder in multiple countries around the world, we are reminded of the unrelenting blazing fire of hell. May Allah protect us all from hellfire. The Prophet (peace be on him) taught the Ummah the recipe for how to protect…
Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: ‘Avoid sitting by the roadside.’ They (the Sahaba) asked, ‘O Allah’s Messenger, we cannot do without those meeting places in which we converse,’ so he said, ‘Well, if you insist (on that) give the road its dues?’…
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: ‘Avoid (you people) suspicion for indeed suspicion is the worst form of false speech.’ [Agreed upon – narrated by Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim] Avoiding suspicion is part of having good character, while being suspicious of other’s motives…
Continual struggle The Prophet (peace be on him) had given dawah (invited people to Islam) tirelessly for 13 years until 610 CE, and withstood escalating torture and persecution and threats during this time. Only a very tiny minority had accepted the divine message he had brought. We do not have accurate statistics, but we estimate…