"We heal ourselves with Your remembrance, and should we forget, we are in relapse"
“The issue of the heart is not a matter of play, for it can be ruined in an instant but take lifetime to revive and rectify just like the making or rebuilding of a town. We should all strive our hardest to rectify our hearts and make them thriving communities.” –
Rectifying the Heart – Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad
http://www.tasawwuf.org/writings/sermons/khutbat_fivev1.htm
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, mercy to the worlds.
In 2006, Dr Umar visited the UK and delivered a superb lecture on the “Famous Women in Islam” in Birmingham. I was just going through my notesbook today and found some of the notes I made during the lecture, and thought I’d share them here so others can benefit from, and be inspired inshaAllah ta’Ala. (Photo credit: Mas’ud Ahmed Khan)
Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah- Famous Women in Islam- 25th November 2006
* Many greater women were Sufis and they trained men.
* Status of women has changed.
*Many of the stereotypes heard in the west and Muslim world (women’s job is to clean, cook etc) developed in the early modern world.
* The working class women in Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco; who have 1-2 jobs as well as looking after the household needs and children whilst their husbands are in different countries working, are true heroines!
* The prophet SallaAllahu Alayhi Wasalam didn’t hurt women. Women were essential to his life. This started with Khadija RadiAllahu Anhu, she gave the prophet SallaAllahu Alayhi Wasalam Strength to overcome the initial period of revelation.
* Aisha RadiAllahu Anhu was the defender of Islam.
*Islam began in the hands of a women, i.e Sayyida Khadija was the first women to take Shahada.
*The prophet SallaAllahu Alayhi Wasalam gave special timings for teaching women. Even when he SallaAllahu Alayhi Wasalam was ill, near death and didn’t have much strength, Bilal RadiAllahu Anhu held him up so he could counsel women.
* The prophet SallaAllahu Alayhi Wasalam accepted womens influence (his aunts and wives). For example; Umm Salamah advised the Prophet SallaAllahu Alayhi Wasalam to go out and shave his head and slaughter sheep so the companions would follow his example. (*look up story in seerah)
* One maxim of Islamic Law is everything is permissible until proven impermissible and it’s not an easy task to *prove* something.
*Men and women completely equal in Islamic law until proven they are not.
* The army never went out to battle without women. Women were always equal in number.
*Women tend to be more religiously devoted.
* Throughout history, we have come to know about men who had fabricated hadiths, but not one single women fabricated a hadith and there have been thousands of women muhaddiths!
Zubaida Bint Jafir
*Wealthiest and powerful women in her time.
*Generous; gave to the poor, Christians, poets etc
* Her palace sounded like a beehive. She had thousands of maid servants who had hifz the Quran. They would complete the Quran at least 10 times a day.
* Eloquent master of Arabic language, known for her intelligence.
* The people of her time said that she was the women who brought earth to life.
*If you want to affect people and change them, tell stories! Stories affect people greatly, just like when we read stories in the Quran.
* 19/20 century is a very difficult time for us. Tipu Sultan was the last magnificent ruler, everything declined and changed after that.
*Also, never feel disempowered when you are unable to do things or don’t have the means to acquire
May Allah bless and preserve Dr. Umar, Amin!
Please be aware that these are my notes, they are not comprehensive at all but I pray what I do share is of some benefit to the readers. Any mistakes, errors or misinterpretations of words are from me alone, so please do forgive and overlook my shortcomings! You are welcome to share these notes but *please* do not just copy and paste anything without referencing where you got them from as I do not want my notes to be taken out of context or misinterpreted.
Abullah ibn Abi Awfa (Allah be pleased with him) relates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever has a need with Allah, or with any human being, then let them perform ritual ablutions well and then pray two rakats. After that, let them praise Allah and send blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). After this, let them say:
“There there no god but Allah the Clement and Wise. There is no god but Allah the High and Mighty. Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Tremendous Throne. All praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds. I ask you (O Allah) everything that leads to your mercy, and your tremendous forgiveness, enrichment in all good, and freedom from all sin. Do not leave a sin of mine (O Allah), except that you forgive it, nor any concern except that you create for it an opening, nor any need in which there is your good pleasure except that you fulfill it, O Most Merciful!”
The prayer of need is very simple: It is essentially to raise one’s need to Allah Most High, by performing ritual ablution (wudu), praying 2 rakats (or four), and then making whole-hearted dua to Allah. If one uses the above mentioned Prophetic supplication, or other similar supplications transmitted from the Beloved Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), it is best. [Ibrahim al-Halabi, Sharh Munyat al-Musalli; al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
The inward manners of supplication is exhibiting our neediness and absolute slavehood to Allah, consigning one’s matters to Allah, and knowing that the only one who gives or benefits is Allah Most High. With this, one should be certain that Allah Most High answers our duas, but in the way He knows is best for us.
When circumstances do not permit us to pray 2 rakats, one should still turn to Allah in supplication, raising one’s needs to Him, for He answers our supplications and loves being asked.
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani
Taken from SunniPath: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?id=1117
A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy
book.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.
He began to search his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…PAID IN FULL.
How many times do we miss God’s blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?
Source: Unknown
Words have the power to either make or break us so we should always mean what we say and don’t say what we don’t mean. The trouble is when we have people who think that just because they mean what they say and keep their promises, they think other people are just like that and mean what they say and will keep their promises.
The deeper the wound, the longer it takes to heal. Time is a great healer but Allah is the Greatest Healer. What doesn’t kill us, always makes us stronger, we just have to continue on in our journeys and know that nothing happens without a reason and for some greater wisdom which we may or may never understand.
Hearts that have been shattered but rebuilt with Allah will always be stronger inshaAllah. The love and mercy Allah provides for His servants, no one else can; the trust and dignity Allah provides, no one else can; the hope and courage Allah gives, no one else can. People will always let us down, make promises they cannot keep, utter words which they do not mean but Allah is Al-Wadud, the All Loving, His love is pure and He never breaks His promises. There really is no greater comfort in life other than knowing Allah is aware of how we feel. He is the All-Aware, the Provider, the Healer, the Caretaker of us all.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, mercy to the worlds.
As-salamu’alaykum!
Alhumdulilah, I was able to attend part 2 of the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah subhananhu wa’tala course over the weekend with Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi (May Allah elevate his rank and protect him). I thought I’d post some of the gems the Shaykh shared during the course. Please be aware that these are my notes, they are not comprehensive at all but I pray what I do share is of some benefit to the readers. Any mistakes, errors or misinterpretations of words are from me alone and not the Shaykh, so please do forgive and overlook my shortcomings! You are welcome to share these notes but *please* do not just copy and paste anything without referencing where you got them from as I do not want my notes to be taken out of context or misinterpreted.
May Allah reward all those at Sacred Knowledge who assisted in organising and facilitating this blessed course. We look forward to Shaykh Muhammad coming back for part 3 of the course very soon inshaAllah!
Al- Lateef
Al- Khabeer
Al- Haleem
Al- Azeem
Al-Ghafoor
Ash-Shakoor
Al-Hafeez
Al-Muqeet
Al-Haseeb
Al- Jaleel
Al- Kareem
Ar-Raqeeb
Al- Mujeeb
Al- Hakeem——————————————————————————————
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Subhana Rabbika Rabbi l’izzati amma yasifun, wa salamun ala l’mursalin, wal-humdulillahi Rabbi l’alamin.
A beautiful prophetic supplication (dua):
Transliteration: Yā Hayyu ya Qayyūmu bi rahmatika astaghīthu, aslih lī sha’nī kullahū wa lā takilnī ilā nafsī tarfati ‘aynin.
Translation: O You the Everlasting and All-Sustainer I fervently call upon Your mercy so that You may set right all my affairs and may not leave me to myself for the blink of an eye
( Al-Mustadrak)
Actions always speak louder than words, and with one small gesture we can change a person’s life, as the story below tells us…..
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.” I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend the following afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him, and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye.
I handed him his glasses and said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives.
He looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. It turned out he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before coming to this school.
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “Damn boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!”. He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day arrived – I saw Kyle and he looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him!
Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!”
He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach… but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”
I stared at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.
“Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”
The ButterflyA man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared.
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
We could never fly!
Healing Hearts 
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