Major Principles in Islam: Haya (modesty)
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Major Principles in Islam: Haya (modesty)

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…

Major Principles of Islam – The importance of community
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Major Principles of Islam – The importance of community

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…

Major principles of Islam: Obedience and its limits
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Major principles of Islam: Obedience and its limits

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…

Major Principles: Giving sincere advice
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Major Principles: Giving sincere advice

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؟…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Ba’ith
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Ba’ith

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…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: As Samad
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: As Samad

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…

Knowing Allah through His beautiful names Al Wakeel and the nature of tawakkul
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Knowing Allah through His beautiful names Al Wakeel and the nature of tawakkul

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…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al-Muqaddim and Al-Mu’akhkhir
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al-Muqaddim and Al-Mu’akhkhir

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…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Mugheeth
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Mugheeth

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…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Latif
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Latif

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 ۖ…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Mu’izz and Al Mudhil
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Mu’izz and Al Mudhil

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…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Khafid and Ar Rafi’
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Khafid and Ar Rafi’

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…

Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Jameel, Al Jaleel, Al Kareem
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Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Jameel, Al Jaleel, Al Kareem

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…