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Tag: MOT


09
Feb 2025
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 on the context in which it has been used in Arabic. The third translation is bashfulness. As you can see, they are all in the same orbit. We will explore the concept of haya in the Sunnah......

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26
Dec 2024
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 languages. As Allah Almighty stated in the Quran, in Surat Hujarat: يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٖ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبٗا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٞ O mankind, indeed We have created......

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05
Oct 2024
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 and the Messenger.”’  (3:32) The combination of ‘obey Allah and the Messenger’ appears at least five times. On another occasion, Allah Almighty says in Surat an-Nisa: O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger......

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18
Aug 2024
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؟ قَالَ: “لِلَّهِ، وَلِكِتَابِهِ، “The religion is naseehah (sincerity).” We said, “To whom?” He (peace be upon him) said, “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk. This......

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02
Jun 2024
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 the people from death is Allah Almighty, so that is why He is Al-Ba’ith. In the Quran, the verb “ba’atha” has been repeated in many surahs, probably around 40 times, in particular, we see it mentioned in......

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07
Mar 2024
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 is Allah the One and Only, the Eternal ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ ٢ Allah—the Sustainer ˹needed by all˺. What does the name As-Samad mean?  From an Arabic point of view, there are multiple meanings. Linguistically, ‘Samada’ means to......

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15
Feb 2024
How to edit your Book of Deeds

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 ضَعِيفًۭا For humankind was created weak. (4:28) As humans, we are inherently weak and liable to make mistakes. These weaknesses may sometimes lead us down paths we had not intended, failed projects, regrets or unfulfilled endeavours, and......

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30
Jan 2024
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 the One who is looking after you and on whom you rely. Where is al-Wakeel mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah? When you open the Quran and use the search engine to find al-Wakeel, it appears......

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26
Dec 2023
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 him) reported: The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to recite the following du`a: وعن أبي موسى، رضي الله عنه، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، أنه كان يدعو بهذا الدعاء‏:‏ ‏ “‏اللهم اغفر لي خطيئتي وجهلي،......

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04
Dec 2023
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 مِائَةً إِلاَّ وَاحِدًا، مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ ‏”‏‏.‏ ‏{‏أَحْصَيْنَاهُ‏}‏ حَفِظْنَاهُ‏.‏ “Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorised them all by heart will enter Paradise.” To count something means to know it by heart.......

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07
Nov 2023
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 ۖ وَهُوَ ٱللَّطِيفُ ٱلْخَبِيرُ ١٠٣ No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision. For He is the Most Subtle, All-Aware. In Surat Yusuf, Allah says: ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى لَطِيفٌۭ لِّمَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ......

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01
Oct 2023
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 debases, and puts things down after they have been raised. And Al Sami’ the One who hears and Al-Baseer, the one who Sees. Though Imam Ghazali didn’t elaborate that much on these two names, I will elaborate......

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29
Sep 2023
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 see the reflection of His name in the dunya and you can see definitely the reflection of His name in the Akhirah. In the Quran Allah Almighty says: يَرۡفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمۡ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡعِلۡمَ دَرَجَٰتٖۚ......

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18
Sep 2023
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 the attributes of Allah Almighty’. The meaning of this is very true, but it’s not an authentic hadith. For the sake of accuracy, if you come across it, be aware that though this is a good thing......

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17
Sep 2023
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names - Al Hafidh

Allah’s names bring us close to Him Just as you need do an MOT for your car every year, you need an MOT for your understanding of Allah so you can be safe and roadworthy in your journey through life. You need to know the basics of Islam in your relationship with Allah Almighty or your relationships with people around you, ranging from your parents to your spouse, your siblings to your friends. You need to be aware of what is halal or haram when it comes to how you earn your......

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