The topic of the signs of the Day of Judgment is a very huge topic, and scholars, such as Imam Qurtubi have written books on it. There are indeed many books dedicated to these signs based on verses in the Quran as well as narrations from the Sunnah. Here, I will focus on some of…
What is haya? One of the main principles of Islam is al-haya. Al-haya is an Arabic term, which has three different translations in English. One is shyness, and we refer to someone shy as hayee. This is one translation. The other translation is modesty, depending on the context, as the translation of the word depends…
The principle of the community, or being together, or togetherness, is called al-Jam’aa in Arabic. It is related to many other topics. First, Allah Almighty created us as an Ummah. We are all go back to Adam and Eve, who are our ‘parents’, and from there we split into different communities and different tribes and…
Today my focus is obedience. Obedience is ta’a in Arabic. In Islam, we have the concept of obedience to Allah Almighty, obedience to His messenger, and obedience to those who are in charge, as Allah Almighty stated in the Quran in many verses. For instance, Allah Almighty says in Surat al Imran: ‘Say “Obey Allah…
Naseeha is sincere advice. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned in the very famous hadith narrated by Tamim al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, عَنْ أَبِي رُقَيَّةَ تَمِيمِ بْنِ أَوْسٍ الدَّارِيِّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: “الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ.” قُلْنَا: لِمَنْ؟…
The name Al-Ba’ith is one of Allah Almighty’s names, although some scholars disagree, they are in a minority. The majority of scholars consider the name Al-Ba’ith as one of Allah Almighty’s names. Al-Ba’ith is the Resurrector, from the verb, “ba’atha”, “yabba’athu”, meaning to resurrect and raise from the dead or from sleep. The One who raises…
The name As-Samad has only been mentioned once in the Quran. Other names of Allah Almighty have been repeated as many as 20, 30 and even 50 times, but interestingly, As-Samad only appears once, in Surat al-Ikhlas, which is among the shortest surahs in the Quran. It begins: قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ١ Say He…
A fresh start Alhamdulillah every day is a new opportunity to excel, a new opportunity to improve ourselves, a new opportunity to rectify what we have done, and certainly we have plenty of shortcomings. We, at the end of the day, are humans so we have weaknesses as Allah Almighty stated in the Quran: وَخُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ…
It’s good to reflect on the names of Allah Almighty and His attributes in order to improve our practice and increase our knowledge and our closeness to Him. Al-Wakeel, from a linguistic point of view, means the Trustee, the One to whom all matters are entrusted. The linguistic root also gives another meaning, which is…
Al-Muqaddim and Al-Mu’akhkhir mean the Promoter and the Postponer. They go together as other pairs, such Al-Awal wal-Akhir, Az-Zaahir wal-Baatin. Not all the names of Allah Almighty are pairs, but in the sunnah, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), mentioned these two names together in the beautiful hadith which Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with…
There’s a confusion in people’s mind about the beautiful names of Allah Almighty. To cut a long story short, in Tirmidhi and others: Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ إِنَّ لِلَّهِ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ اسْمًا…
Every name of Allah has its own unique reflection and divine light. The name Al Latif has been mentioned in the Quran seven times. It has been translated variously as Benevolent, The Kind One and The Subtle One depending on the context. In Surat al Anam, Allah says: لَّا تُدْرِكُهُ ٱلْأَبْصَـٰرُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ ٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ ۖ…
Pairs of names Two of the beautiful names of Allah Almighty are Al-Mu’izz and Al-Mudhill. Al-Mu’izz is the One who gives honour while it’s opposite, Al-Mudhill is the One who humiliates. As we have seen with other names, they sometimes come in pairs such as Ar-Rafi, the One who elevates and Al-Khafid, the One who…
Among the beautiful names of Allah Almighty is Al Khafid, the Abaser, and Ar Rafi’, the Exalter. Literally, khafada in Arabic is to lower something down, while rafa’a is to raise something. The One who abases infidels is Allah Almighty and He is the One who raises up the faithful by salvation, so you can…
It’s a pleasure to reflect upon the names and attributes of Allah Almighty, to delve into the meanings and to try our best to live by His names and attributes and to fulfil our roles and responsibilities as His servants. There is a very famous narration that circulates in some Sufi books which says ‘Emulate…