Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

Muslim Youth and Family

Mountains - The Habaib of Yemen

Imam Abu L'Hassan As-Shadhali

Sheikh Abu L'Hassan As-Shadhali was asked,

"Advise me, my beloved."


He said,


"Do not move your feet, except to where you hope for Allah's reward;


do not sit, where you believe that you could become overcome, by disobeying Allah;


and not align yourself, except to he who increases your certainty.


And how few in number they are."




Iyqad al-Himam fi Sharh Al-Hikam by Ibn Ajiba page 114

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

From his recent visit to Morrocco - sorry guys its an Arabic lesson on Purification and its importance delivered in Ramadan.

This was removed before and has been added by someone else.

Annemarie Schimmel

Talks about Sufism parts one and two

Annemarie Schimmel

History of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) Part one and two

Lost history - book review

This is a review of the book called "Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers and Artists" By Michael Hamilton Morgan.


When I saw the title of this book, I was intrigued and I wanted to see what information the book contains. The book reads like a historical narrative, which was something that I did not expect. It trys to explain the current situation or state Muslims find themselves into and then goes back in time to a different age. This did get annoying, after he had done this several times.

Some of the information is new to me, most information is! It's a well written book with one major draw back, there is very little is the way of original sourcing. So it is difficult to quote from a text which cannot back itself up by an original source. Of course, this book does focus on some parts of history and not others. There is a section of the text describing the defeat of the Abdurrahman al-Ghafiqi in France against Charles Martel. He also looks at the loss of Muslim Spain and the final losses of the Ottoman Empire.

There are many personalities mentioned, for example Ibn Firnas, Ahmed Celabi (both poineers in flying), Ibn Sina (his text Al-Qanun used as a medical text for over 900 years), Al-Nafis (builds on Ibn Sinas work and finds how blood cirulates), Zakaria Al-Razi (writes a text on smallpox) and many others.

Here is an interesting quote (which is also unsourced) from David King:

"Virtually all innovations in [astronomical] instrumentation in Europe up to ca. 1550 were either directly or indirectly Islamic in origin or had been conceived previously by some Muslim astronomer somewhere."

The book is worth reading for those interested in the subject and anyone new to the subject.

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

Eid al-Adha Sermon 2008

Students attire

The student should try to wear the best clothes that are available to him. Not that he should have the latest fashion rather he should try to wear clothes that are in good condition.

He should be clean and not wear anything that causes discomfort to anyone. This includes wearing designer labels that are clearly visable or any kind of shirt that could distract others from the lesson.

The clothes need to cover the body as appropriate for each gender.

The student needs to consider the average dress of others. If they are all coming in one type of dress and you choose a different type of dress then you will stand out. This is not a good idea either.

Mobile phone must remain off or on silent unless their is a need for it; like life or death.

Do not show up the teacher by wearing clothes that are the same as them; This is not good manners.

Miracles of the Men of Allah

Sheikh Atabek Shukurov delievered the following Arabic text on Miracles of the Men of Allah and the following is a translation.


Sheikh Ahmed Raf’i

Imam Izzudeen Al-Farooqi states in his book, “Conduct of the Muslims;” “I was informed by Abu Al-Hafiz Muhyiudeen Abu Ishaq related from my father Sheikh Umar Al-Farooqi that he said, “I was with our master, our Sheikh Ahmed Al-Kabir Ar-Raf’i Al-Hussaini (may Allah be pleased with him) during the pilgrimage; this was the year five hundred and fifty five. We had entered Medina on the day the caravans entered it; caravans from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, the Levitate, the lands of the non-Arabs and this was more than nine thousand people. So when we arrived at the enlightened masjid, we dismounted our mount, we walked barefooted into the sacred Muhammadan prescient until we stopped at the aromatic room of Prophethood.



He said, “Peace be upon you dear grandfather.” The Messenger of God (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied, “And upon you peace my dear child.” Everyone present in the sacred Masjid heard his blessed words. Their presence for this great gift was a great blessing. He yearned; he whimpered; he wept and then knelt to his knees and said,


“When afar, I would send my soul,
To kiss the Earth for me as my deputy.
This is the realm of souls come to,
So extent to me your hand, to grace my lips.”


The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) extended his illumined, blessed hand from his bright grave, so he kissed it whilst the people looked on.



There was thousands present in the sacred precinct, when his pure hand was extended. Major scholars of the time were present; Hayat ibn Qais Al-Harni, Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, Sheikh A’qeel ibn Al-Mubaji. They grabbed his clothes and in that time they refused to follow a spiritual teacher. There was Sheikh Ahmed Al-Azhari Al-Ansari, Sheikh Sharifudeen ibn Abdussmai’i Al-Hashami Al-Abbasi present. All of creation was blessed and honoured by vision of the Muhammadan hand (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). They all swore allegiance to him, as did every scholar present, and may Allah mercy on those who did.








Sheikh Hakim At-Tirmidhi


Sheikh Yusuf Al-Nabahani relates, in the biography of Muhammad ibn Ali At-Tirmidhi, from Al-Manwi that one of his miracles was when he presented his contemporaries with all the books he wrote, they called him a disbeliever; so he threw them all into the sea. A fish swallowed them then spat then out after a few years and even now people benefit from them. He said, “Do not deny the miracles of the men of Allah, those who do not Love other than Allah (the exalted), as it is only a manifestation of truth.”


As-Sharani states in “the Answers of the ill” that Sheikh Abu Abdullah Al-Hakim At-Tirmidhi came out of one the valleys of Balkh with two books, one was the seal of the men of Allah. They denied him because of these books. They said to him, “You claim people prefer the men of Allah over the Prophets,” they were harsh because of these words. He gathered his books and put them into a chest and threw it into the Tigris. During the pangs of death, he brought out his hands from the water and brought out the chest. He said, “The owner of the sea told me that they have preserved my books until the hour. As the sacred law was revived and by teaching it.”


Imam Ghazali


One of the miracles of Muhammad ibn Muhammad At-Tusi, Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, which was narrated by Al-Yafa’i from Ibn Al-Milqa from Al-Arshi from Al-Mursi, from As-Shadhali that Sheikh Ibn Hazim came to his companions with a book.

“Do you know it?” He said.
They said, “This is the Revival.” (Revival of religious sciences)

The Sheikh, mentioned, would curse Al-Ghazali and forbid reading this book. He uncovered his body and it showed signs of lashing. He said, “Al-Ghazali came to me in a dream and called me to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). When we stopped directly in front of him, he said, “O’ Messenger of Allah, he claims that I said about you, that what I did not say.” I was ordered to be beaten and I was beaten.”

Teachers pet

Everyone wants to have the teacher think that they are the best student and that they are the most important student in the lesson. I would even go so far as say even outside the lesson. You may also wish to distingush yourself in your teachers lessons. You want the teacher to look at you and you alone; You want to answer all the questions; You want to get all the answers right; you want to be the focus of the class.

This is an obsticle to your learning and you have to be careful because this can cause real harm. You see now you are searching for the pleasure of the teacher not the pleasure of Allah subhanu wa ta'ala. There is nothing wrong with trying to earn the teachers respect and supplications but the whole point of learning is to do it soley for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and not so your teacher thinks he is a good student. If you are after this aim then you are going astray and your intention has to be renewed.

Distance yourself from this and do not let your heart accept this. Whenever you get an answer right do not think that you are a good student because you may not get next question right!

We are not saying disrespect your teacher no, we are saying have your intention clear and try not to let yourself be distracted. As this is a major distraction for any student, the line is very fine and it is necessary to be careful.

Focus on the lesson and ignore the fact that you may be the teachers pet or you may not be. Sometimes a student will want the teacher to look at him - avoid this. Do not move excessively or use any other way to attract the teachers attention. Just study in the lesson and do not let this effect you.

Do not even think about becoming the teachers pet - focus on the lesson and do not let anything distract you from understanding the lesson.