Imam Zaid Shakir

The Weightiness of The Trust   

Are you doing your bit?

One of my trusted friends once asked me, “Are you doing you bit?”

I replied, “Bit of what?”

“Your bit; are you doing your bit?”

“Bit of what?”

“Your bit for Islam.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you spreading Islam?”

“I need to learn.”

“You don’t need knowledge to talk. Sometimes I ring up a radio show and talk to people clarify a few things.”

“I need to study.”

“Study and do your bit.”

In whatever capacity you are in you can spread Islam which does not mean forcing people into Islam or talking over them or demeaning them. It means doing what you are able to do within the situation that you are in. Trying to do the best you can to break down barriers in your communities, to help people, to spread knowledge; to basically do something positive. We can all do this and if we all do our bit then it’ll add to a lot.


So now I am asking you, “Are you doing your bit?”

Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad

The Certainty of Death from Haqiqat on Vimeo.

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi

Chess

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi (may Allah protect him) mentioned in a lecture delivered in Burton on Trent (2009, UK) about a philosopher who had made the game of chess. 

The king asked him what his reward should be. He said that he wanted one grain for the first square two grains for the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth and so on, doubling until square 64. 

When they tried to work it out they realised that there was not enough grain in the kingdom! 

In the book Science and Islam Ehsan Masood p.49 (not a book that I recommend) he states that the exact amount was reached by Al-Biruni as 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains or 18.5 million trillion grains!

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi (may Allah protect him) mentioned that this was like our rewards beginning small and ending in an unfathomable amount.

Religion is ease not extremism

Being born a Muslim does not always give you a better insight into being Muslim than outsiders think. Only if you are blessed with religious parents do you realise what a benefit it is to be a Muslim. Then again even being born Muslim into an irreligious family is an unfathomable blessing. How can you understand that Allah (the Exalted) wants you to enter paradise and thus he made you Muslim without any effort on your part?

Many or most people who become Muslim suffer for a period once they become Muslim. They can be affected by all the different groups bashing each other and look on in bemusement about the slogans people chant. It takes time to get the prayer right and it also takes time to get your head around things. In addition to that a person’s family also needs time to get used to it; some families may never be able to accept it all. Others will grow to accept that their child has chosen another religion. To be without the support of the family that supported all your life is not something easy.

When one of the companions led a prayer and made the recitation long. Some of the congregation complained to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) whose face was seen to go red. He admonished the companion who lead the prayer advising him that people have needs and he should make the prayer light.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, “Whoever among you leads the people in prayer should shorten it, for amongst them are the weak, the old, and the one who has business to attend to. And if anyone among you prays alone, he may then prolong it as much as he likes.” (Bukhari).

If the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) heard a child cry when he was leading the prayer, he would shorten the prayer so the child could be attended to. Religion is ease and with ease comes mercy because you can be as hard as like on yourself but you have to be easy with others. Yet at the same time you cannot be so hard on yourself that you take things to extremes. You should be balanced and be in tune to the society that are living amongst.

So when you need to pray during the day you do not get up from your workspace and proclaim the call to prayer then start. You ask for a quiet room, make your ablution without making a mess of the toilet area and pray (in the room!). You do not come back from Jummah walking like you have make a conquest of a country that nobody has heard of. You come in with humility letting people experience the difference in your being. You do not let your beard grow so long that you could trip over it, if you did not pay attention. Nor are you extremely slack that you do not pray or fast and let your days pass by without taking advantage of the blessings of time that you are given.

Imam At-Tahawi in the Tahawiyyan Doctrine point number 104 states, “Islam lies between going to excess and falling short.” These are two extremes, those who are extremely slack and those who are extremely uptight. Why? Because this is the nature of the Nafs/ego it is either very lazy or extremely active and both these are destructive. If you are lazy then you do not do anything that is obvious but being extremely active means that you'll wear yourself out. So by being balanced only then do you get what you want from the deen and dunya.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, “Religion is ease and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that manner. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by offering the prayers in the mornings, afternoons and during the last hours of the nights.” (Bukhari 1/38)

We have people who look at Islam through cultural standpoints causing them to misunderstand Islam then transmit these misunderstandings to non-Muslims. Do we correct them? We do not, instead we defend issues of culture that allows others to attack our religion even though it is not a religious issue!

Islam is not about overburdening people it’s about giving them what they need and allowing them space to grow and make mistakes. It’s not about being harsh and breaking their hearts when they do not what you told them to. We assume that what we are doing is perfect and what everyone else is doing is flawed. One thing that I am learning that different methods need to be used with different people and no one method works with everyone. We realised the flawed method of our teaching when we saw how high the standard we set others and when the could not reach it we scolded them. This type of arrogance must be looked at in the cold light of day. Weren't you once a student and did you not make mistakes? We have learnt the hard way that people need encouragement not debasement, as it is only through encouragement do people grow. Know your audience.


Misunderstanding belief

One of the ways that leads people to extremism in belief is when they take the Quran and Hadith literally which leads to countless misunderstandings. As the Quran uses metaphors and if you translate those literally then you actually leave the meaning of the text and misinterpret the text thus you betray the text you are tying to teach! If you translated the phrase the door is ajar literally is would mean that the door is a like glass jar! But it does not mean that, it means that the door is not closed and open.

So that is why we have passages that we do not take literally and this is a whole science of sound Islamic doctrine. As some have clear meanings other do not, some need to be explained, some need clarification, some are doubtful, some are specific to certain people and others are general. This is the science known as Usul Al-Fiqh and you cannot pluck out a verse and translate it without understanding it correctly. Go to the scholars of Islamic doctrine who say that we believe in all of the Quran and those verses that we do not know the meaning of then we submit the meaning to Allah and we do not interpret, that’s the middle way!

We should be concerned about calling people to Islam and not be concerned with fighting them. As this is the first time in history that people want to kill innocent people and not invite them to Islam. And just because they have had the message does not mean that they can be killed. This has never happened before except in extremist groups. Allah (the Exalted) has given them chance, after chance, after chance to become Muslim what about you? Can’t you give them just one chance?

People who live in the West realise the goodness that they receive from many people here. Yet are we grateful? Suicide is a desperate act and we are not people in desperation we know that the promise of Allah (the Exalted) is true.

Extremist is a term that denotes they are taking something that belongs to the religion to an unacceptable level. This is not true they are leaving the understand of the religious precepts that they are trying to convey.

Being religious is about taking a balanced middle course thus avoiding harshness to others or by making things difficult for others. We invite people to Islam with mercy and ease but we cannot force people into Islam. We encourage those brothers and sisters who are not praying to the beauty of practice by encouraging them even though they may often fall short we do not give up on them. Many religious people do not realise the harm they do to others with their "my way or the highway" Islam. Islam is Allah's way and he commanded us with mercy and compassion. Any other way is not the ethical standard that is Prophetic way and raising his banner means raising the banner of hope not the banner that my group is the saved sect and yours is not.

Dr Murad Hofmann

A Rational religion

Sheikh Atabek Shukurov

Prostration of Recitation

The Supplication of Jibril

Ibn Abu Dunya reports in Kitab Ad-Dhikr on the authority of Anas ibn Malik that Ubayy ibn Ka’ab entered the masjid to pray and praise Allah (the Exalted) praises that no one praised him by. When they prayed and sat to praise and exalt Allah they heard a loud voice behind them it said,

“O Allah to you belongs all praise; to you belongs all the dominion; you possess all good; to you all matters return; to you all matters return public and secret; truly you have power over all things. Forgive my sins that I have done; protect me from them for the rest of my life; give me pure actions that please you and accept my repentance.”

اللهم لك الحمد كله ولك الملك كله و بيدك الخير كله وإليك يرجع الأمر كله و إليك يرجع الأمر كله علانيته وسره لك الحمد إنك على كل شيء قدير اغفر لي ما مضى من ذنوبي و اعصمني فيما بقي من عمري و ارزقني أعمالا زاكية ترضى بها عني وتب علي

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) came and was told what occurred. He said, “That was Jibril (upon him peace).”

Al-Khasis Al-Kubra
Imam As-Suyuti p.158 Vol 2.

Who made you a Qadi/Judge?

Who made you a Qadi/Judge?

We have a lot of sectarian problems at the moment and these are adding to the confusion of this time. Just imagine that you are an outsider and you see groups of Muslims attacking each other. It’s certainly not a pretty sight nor does it attract one to the religion.

I am criticised a lot for stepping back and not involving myself and sometimes not even voicing my opinion. I simply do not wish to be involved in fighting people or even refuting people unnecessarily. There are times when people need to be refuted because they are causing tribulation. But does that have to be done every time we speak? In every Khutba? Even during Ramadan when we need spiritual advice instead we a treated to a barrage of abuse aimed at particular groups.

I for one agree with the reliable opinion of the Hanafi school and the reliable opinions of the Maturdi and Ashari school of doctrine. (Most people are a mix of these schools of doctrine even thought they claim to be otherwise!) Yet within these schools sectarianism has occurred and I refute those who insult their Prophet whether intentional or not but I do not make it my lives work!

I prefer taking a step back from all this tribulation and refrain from comment. The average person is now repeating the mistakes of their Imams and purposely chasing those people who they think are wrong. It is almost relentless and the zeal in which these average people are chasing scholars for their ‘errors’ is something repugnant. They also attack people who know the scholars and their students. In the most Unislamic way imaginable with swearwords and speech full of hate. Where has their Islamic manners gone?

No one likes to be told that they are doing a bad job or that they do not know what to do. Yet groups of people who do not know their own Aqida correctly are attacking those who know their doctrine much better than them.

Some groups claim that some things are disbelief when they are clearly not and it is only their group who think it is! This is problematic because the Awwam (the average person) should not be doing anything but concentrating on their worship. This basic fact is something they have failed to do. Many do not know what breaks their ablution nor do they know what breaks their prayer but because they are Muslim they think this gives them a divine right to correct scholars.


Who made you a Qadi?

If someone pronounces a word of disbelief then the case is brought before a Qadi/Judge who asks the person if he realises the ramifications of his words. If he does not recant then he is imprisoned a scholar is brought to him to explain the issues and he is given time to reconsider. Only when he does not after a given period is the apostate killed. Just like if someone committed treachery to the Crown who that person be killed if convicted. Now that we do not have judges we have people who do their own vigilante style court in which they apostate who they hate and give excuses to those they love!

So when one of their own imams commits apostasy on the pulpit because he has tried to respect the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) by disrespecting the other Prophets. He is given an excuse but when others do the same, then that person is attacked and hounded. This happens in more instances than you can imagine.

We have misguided loyalties in that we think we are defending Islam but instead we are defending the politics of our group and not Islam at all. We also think that everyone is astray except our group and we claim to be Ahl-Sunna wa Jammah. Well, your group has only been around for a hundred or so years, how can it just be you that are right? So does that mean that there was no Ahl-Sunna until your group came? How can that be right? The Ahl-Sunna wa Jammah was not a specific group of people from a certain place. Rather is it the corpus of rulings and the followers of the scholars from the beginning of Islam until its end. Those that fit into the four schools of Fiqh and the Ashari and Maturdi schools of doctrine.

A popular singer once wrote love is blindness and it truly is when people are not willing to look at their own errors yet jump upon the errors of others like lions after their prey. Our love has made us blind and this misleading others.


What do we do then?

Overlook, like we used to and we refer case or situations to scholars who will correct scholars. When this is done then the scholar who corrected him should not make the discussions public. They should discuss the problem and come to a resolution then put the issue to bed. It is sinful for the average person to be debating about issues of Islamic doctrine, period.

Most of the time it is because the misunderstanding of Islam in the head of the average person and not because the scholar! When you do not know the issue do not speak but because our Naafs does not like to think we do not know anything about the religion that we were born with, we speak, we scream and we shout.

Your job as an ordinary person is to perfect your worship and try to implement Islam into your life as much as you can. Your job is not to post slander on internet sites about scholars. If we have to then speak to someone close to the scholar and do it with the appropriate Islamic manners.

Even if you look at the life of Sheikh Abdulqadir Jilani (may Allah show him mercy) a Christian woman misled him and he left everything. So what was the response of his devoted students? They did not attack him for anything. They could have attacked him for various things that was said to have occurred but instead they kept calling back and they kept supplicating.

Eventually, Sheikh Abdulqadir saw the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) in a dream who had interceded for him then advised him to return to his teachings. Which he did and the Christian woman, when she realised that he had left her, went after him and became Muslim. Note that his students did not attack him but rather they accepted the situation and tried to help him. (See secret of the secrets). This is a true murid but I wonder what people now would do? Would they attack him? Deliver speeches against him? Write books against him? The Awliya sometimes do things that we cannot understand and we should refrain from reacting until we know all the facts.

They said about Imam As-Shafi that he used to perfect his ablution and he was one of the great scholars of this nation, so do you think that you are better than him? Are you even present in your ablution? Are you even doing it right? Is it merely the movement of water over the skin?

If there are scholars who keep making the same ‘mistakes’ then leave them to it; that is better for you than attacking them. Some people are from the family of the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) and they should be advised in the most polite manner possible, and if you cannot do this then refrain.

The disrespect that we have witnessed and experienced from those overzealous brothers is unimaginable, if I did not know better I would accuse those brothers of hating the Ahl Al-Bayt and this claim would be far from unfounded. We have many issues that are not dealt with because of this issue such as community problems.

We have women leaving their Muslim husbands to live with non-Muslim males because he treats her better. We have couples who have problems with their marriages and there are very little support systems available to them, apart from government organisations. The illegal use of alcohol and drugs is rampant amongst our youth, yet who is doing anything about it? We have men abusing their wives and people are absolutely silent. Is it any wonder that people are not flooding into Islam when they see people like us?

I would dearly love to see the conditions of Muslims improve in this country because we have so much potential. We have so many opportunities that we have clearly wasted. Why don’t we have big open event about love for the Prophet and invite non-Muslims to it?

We have a responsibility to call to Islam, whether they accept is another matter but we should be calling. So the average person should be busy calling to Islam and not calling scholars names. We are not judges we are just ordinary people and just by being a Muslim does not make you an authority on Islam, no one can claim that.


If you think it is permissible to call someone a Kafir then read the following
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2010/01/calling-someone-disbelieverkafir.html

Sheikh Muhammad Al -Yaqoubi

Lecture notes to the event in December 2009.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54557787/99-Beautiful-Names-of-Allah-by-Sheikh-Muhammmad-Al-Yaqoubi

The Wisdom of the red light

Why are you sad that you have been stopped at a red light?

Are you the only the person who this has occurred to?

Have you ever travelled as a passenger in a car?

You have?

Well have you noticed that when you are travelling anywhere you have parts of the journey that you can go fast and other parts when you have to stop. Sometimes the traffic is bad and you have stop. But sooner or later things clear up and you can continue.

When you come to a red light do you become despondent?

No, you don’t, you wait for the green light and then you continue. There is no journey that you’ll take using the car, bus, train even plane without having to stop at a red light. What should your reaction be?

Be patient and keep going your journey is not over.

You might be stuck at the red light now but you won’t be stuck forever.

Keep going.

Imam Zaid Shakir

The Meaning of Worship

Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad

In defence of the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him)

Imam Zaid Shakir

Discipling the Soul parts one to four












  

Follow the Sunna the Imam shouts...

At the top of his voice to a crowd of the faithful. They look on as the abstract concept is left in the air without being clarified or explained, it is not the simple case of shouting out a term, it needs to be elucidated upon.

Only then can it be understood and practiced.


What is the Sunna?

The Sunnah is confirmation of every praiseworthy attribute or characteristic and negation of every blameworthy characteristic. Got that? Then lets begin...


Characteristics

Two of the known characteristics of the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) before Islam was that he was truthful and trustworthy. As-Sadiq Al-Amin. Sadiq comes from the word truth and Amin comes from the word be faithful or honest which itself comes from a root word to mean secure. If you know a person you can trust then you can feel secure with them and you can give them anything secure in the knowledge that they will return it. Imana is something that you give to someone for safekeeping. Iman means faith.

So these two characteristics are what indicated to what he was going to be given. The last book of Allah and the manifestation of monotheism.

Now if we claim to be one of the followers of his nation then it behoves us that we be truthful and we become trustworthy. Yet if we take a look at believers many do not warrant being given a trust. Many people who you give something to borrow will then lend it to someone else who will then lend it to someone else who will then lose it. So when you ask for that item back the long winded response is that it has been lost. Where is the trust?

When we are asked to tell people the truth we do not; instead we twist things and finish off our sentences with a pack of lies. Where is the truth?

We have lost two the characteristics that our Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) was known for. Then how can we claim to follow him if we do not do what he did? It’s like me claiming to a fan of Manchester United but you never see me in their stadium but you see in me in Manchester city’s stadium. Would you think that I am a City fan or a United fan? The answer is obvious!

This is your starting point be truthful and be trustworthy, both characteristics are linked. If you are truthful then you will become trustworthy. Please if someone lends you something bring it back to them. One of my friends lost something that I lent him and then he brought a replacement, this is being trustworthy.


Does it make perfect?

Well not quite but can attain a level of proficiency by repetition. We can never perfect but we can die trying. Always measure your characteristics against the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) and this will mean you will always keep trying.

Look at the Prophet’s (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) characteristic and try to force yourself to have the same characteristic. Look at his truthfulness and ask yourself are you truthful? Look at his trustworthiness and ask yourself are your trustworthy? Look at his patience and look at yourself and ask are you patient? Or is it all just a farce or charade so the people think you are very good but really you are not good at all. Listen to hadith and pick out the characteristics and then apply it to yourself. Religion is about correcting yourself and not just about correcting others because you cannot always correct others but you can always correct yourself.

The changes that you make inside the heart can make such a drastic effect on you and your environment.

One of the most interesting statements that I read in the Tao Te ching was, “Everyone knows but no one practices.” That says it all,doesn’t it? We all know what we need to do but is anyone doing it? Only the few are and how few they are!

To make statements such as follow the Sunna can be problematic as someone who is new to the subject cannot understand this. It might make sense to those who had read the Sirah but not to those who haven’t; which makes it very difficult to understand. Reading hadith can help, read the forty hadith of Imam Nawawi and the Riyadh As-Saliheen by the same complier.

Most of all you need to see it practiced before you and that can only be done by witnessing someone who follows the Sunna. The way of the scholars is a way that explains the Sunna to us, in ways that books cannot begin to understand. Some scholars are books personified and this can be humbling to see.

Try to find a teacher or a scholar who embodies such characteristics and then try to pick up as much as you can from him. Also note that you may also find secrets with practicing Arabs who understand the way better than many non-Arabs. If you see them act in a way that pleases you then try to pick it up and practice it. When one of my friends meets a two people and he is going to shake their hands, he shakes the hand of the person on the right side with his right hand and hold the left arm of the other person, before shaking his hand. This is something he does so the person who he shook hands with secondly does not feel left out. This is very subtle and it needs to be seen as my explanation may not prove my point.


Entertainment

In this time religion is like the movies. We attend lectures where people do not learn anything they are amused by stories that are illogical but seem interested. The speaker gets excited and attacks every group on the planet, because they are the saved group. How did you not know this? They
are the saved group!!? There is more an emphasis on upholding the culture than the religion and as a result we have folkloric Islam that is a mishmash of Hindu culture and Islam. Confusing so many people and further distancing those who want to see a type of Islam that is attractive.

This is one reason why people become Wahabi’s because they reject the nature of culture of some Sunni’s and see Wahabism as a pure form of Islam. Even though the Wahabi’s have a point, their way is against the majority in many cases, so even thought that way seems attractive it’s ending is not bright. This really affects women because many Sunni’s bar women from learning the religion as classes (if there are any!) are held in masjids are just for men. So what else is she to do except become a Wahabi because they hold the doors wipe open for them. Sometimes I think that some people consider religiousness is just for men and not women. This is another negative manifestation of the culture that needs to be erased. There are so many negative aspects of the culture that go against Islam but nobody seems to realise.

We need to rid ourselves of the negative aspects of the cultural Islam and move to a purer form of practice that excludes those negative aspects and highlights the positives. Speakers must attempt to understand the culture that they are in. Coming off a plane and speaking at a conference without knowing the problems and challenges people face is foolish.

Also those speakers living in the UK or US must learn English. Allah sent every Prophet with the ability to speak the language of the people. Zaid ibn Thabit was ordered by the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him) to learn Hebrew. So can learning English to spread Islam be something that is shunned on by so many of those who come from the Indo-pak countires. It is a real shame that only a few speakers can speak English despite spending decades in the West.

We really should not be able to speak Urdu in our Masjids because the majority of people should be Muslims of European and not Asian stock. Dawah is another thing that we have failed to and anyone who is interested on reading more then please see our article on this subject.


Failure of Dawah

One of the core reasons why Dawah has failed is because people see religious people as the exact opposite of what they should be. This distances them from Islam. We hear of horror stories of poor defensive less women who are treated like slaves and when their use has expired then they are stabbed or burnt alive. This is against all the teachings of the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) all of them, he never spoke to a woman harshly never mind strike her!

Women will have their revenge on those who did this to them on the day of judgement. Our treatment of women needs to be addressed but who will risk their job by speaking about it? Some have been removed from their positions. So do we blame the English press for our own bad press when we set the fires burning in many cases? Then they see other Asians dealing drugs, how do these two facts make the Muslims be seen by the public?

This adds to the demonization of Islam and Muslim in the media. We are adding to this by our own heedless actions, may Allah forgive the muslims.

True followers of the Prophetic way put their feelings down and lowly; and then raise the flag of the standard of the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) high. Where are those people? Where have they gone? Have they all died out? Well you can be one of them, if you want,
start by telling the truth and then take it from there. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) called the Prophets (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him) character the Quran.

He never lied, cheated, stole, beat people, mocked people, backbited, gossiped or harmed people.

What about you? Most of us do all these things and call ourselves followers. How can we be true?


Keeping the practice alive

Keeping the practice alive keeps the religion alive. Practicing the Sunna means that you have something more valuable than the relics of the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) you have his action. Copying anyone shows them respect and to show them respect is to honour them. Keeping the practices alive means that you can pass them on to preceding generations and by not performing them we are letting the Sunna die out.

The main method of keeping the Sunna alive is by supporting teachers and scholars, as they are people who have an understanding the religion.

Do we really care about the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) if we let his Sunna die out? Then what is the point of the screaming Iman?

The Disputations

Part Three


1. Knowledge is not attitude.


2. If you have attitude and no knowledge then you have nothing.


3. Take advantage of delays but know that some delays do not run on time.


4. Sympathy is unwelcome sometimes.


5. Satan only whispers to your heart what you wish was true but you know all too well that it is not.




6. You’ll never get what you truly desire until you don’t desire it anymore.


7. No candle burns forever sooner or later it goes out.


8. Don’t be sad because things can change in a moment.


9. It’s really easy to get caught up in the emotion so try not to react based purely upon emotion.


10. Nothing brings the old back to life like kids.


11. Delaying a good action is like not doing it all.


12. What are you doing with your life if you aren't preparing for your afterlife?


13. There is a good reason why things DON'T happen; so be calm!


14. The Arabic word تكلم/to speak, has another root meaning كلم which means to wound.How many people have we wounded with our words?


15. We don’t remember the how it started but we remember how it ended.


16. Some journeys don’t seem to end.


17. Don’t believe the words people say until you see it and when you see it question his sincerity, and when you question his sincerity know that you might not get the answer that you expected.


18. It’s better to admit that you cannot do something then try and look foolish.


19. There is a lot of wisdom in road rulings, slow down!


20. If you concern yourself with other people’s problems;  it will take up all your time and you won’t be able to change a thing. Be concerned about your own problems because that concern you can do something about!

Selefi/Wahabi feet

http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2010/09/feet-feelers-beware.html

Habib Ali Al-Jifri

As-Sayyid Al-Habib ‘Ali Al-Jifry
An Address on the 20th of Ramadan 1422
Tarim, Yemen

Translation Edited by: Khalil Abu Asmaa

All praise belongs to Allah, for the blessing of gathering us upon the service of His deen and the seeking of His pleasure. I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah; a witnessing through which Allah makes firm in our hearts the light of certainty. And I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His slave and Messenger; a witnessing through which we are tied to his presence—a tying that will prepare us for his service and victory. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family, companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness until the last day.

As for what proceeds (wa ba’ad):

I sincerely thank Allah, for you and for myself, that He has blessed us to reach this sacred month, and that He has allowed us to reach the beginning of the last 10 days, all the while we are upon the belief of “La Ilaha Ila-Allah, Muhammad Rasul-Allah”.

It may be that you are from amongst those who taste this blessing and bounty the most, because there are from among you those who were blessed with Islam after having experienced what it means to be outside of Islam. And there are amongst you those who grew up and were raised between those who don’t know Islam. Therefore, since Allah has prepared you to be able to taste Islam (after not knowing it) it is necessary that when you come to the land of the Muslims, and find that those who are around you are living without this taste of Islam, then you should not let this affair (your Islam) become “habitual” for you, just as it has become habitual for them.

This is why it is incumbent upon you to be a means towards reminding them of the blessings of Islam—for they have been afflicted with the disease of becoming familiar with and complacent concerning these blessings. As the Arabs say, “Familiarity is blessing’s disease.” Thus it is obligatory that you remind yourself of this each and every day, saying, “All praise is due to Allah for the blessing of Islam, and sufficient is it as a blessing.”

The second issue pertains to the approach of the last ten days of this blessed month of Ramadan; the days in which your Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to roll up his sleeves, worship by night, and wake up his family for prayer. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that you increase your aspiration to draw nearer to Allah in these last ten days, because Allah, the Mighty, the Sublime, has hidden in these days some of His special divine gifts, which necessitates that you should desire that Allah blesses you with a great portion of these gifts. If one is sincere in drawing closer to his Lord, he will be prepared in these ten days to reap the lasting benefits of Ramadan until the next year, and then for the rest of his life.

Multiply your daily recitation of the Qur’an, whilst trying to ponder its meanings. However, if you are not able to truly ponder it’s meanings, due to a linguistic deficiency, then ponder the essential meaning, which is the magnificence of being able to recite the words of your Lord. For indeed, if you approach the Qur’an in this manner and from this doorway, subtle meanings will become apparent to you; meanings that even scholars of the Arabic language, even those who profess excellence in it, have been deprived of due to the fact that they have not entered upon the Qur’an from this blessed doorway. You should seek in your recitation of the Qur’an for what it means to be in the company of your great Lord. And if your hearts get acquainted with and taste this meaning, then the world that encompasses you will no longer have an impact on your hearts, rather, you will become of those who impact the world.

It is human nature to esteem and honor those who sit in the company of kings and rulers. It is also the nature of this world, nay, the whole of existence, whether it perceives it or not, to be naturally disposed and compelled to esteem and honor those deeply attached to being in the company of their Creator. The meaning of “esteem” here is to benefit from and through them. This is the type of relationship and connection that we must now establish between us and this world, all in preparation for the affair that is dawning upon the Ummah.

We are people with a mission in this existence. We weren’t created in vain. Nor were we blessed with Islam in vain. Nor have we been put in touch with the great scholars in vain. Nor were you brought to this illustrious land (Tarim, Yemen) which has in it a great secret from amongst the secrets of inheritance from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in vain. Nor were you tied to the connected chain leading back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in serving the Ummah, in vain. Rather, Allah has given all this to you and has prepared all this for you so that you may become ready to take on the mission that is approaching you in this world.

And when people hear talk about “a mission that is approaching” the intellects are distracted into thinking only about the outward affairs that are taking place around us now. And this is not what is exclusively intended. It is necessary that the affairs that are encompassing us now in the world (those that bring happiness, those that bring sadness, the painful and difficult matters) should have no place of magnitude in your hearts. It is inappropriate for those who have been chosen by Allah for the rectification of the world, to praise and magnify the world (‘alam), rather, their magnification and esteem should be directed to the Omniscient (Al-‘Aleem) Knower (Al-‘Alim), the Mighty, the Sublime.

We feel pain for what has befallen the Ummah, we beg Allah, we weep to Allah, we turn to Allah, we repent to Allah, and we seek His forgiveness, in order that we aren’t held accountable as being a cause for what has befallen the Ummah. We beg Allah in our supplications that He rectifies the Ummah, at the same time we struggle in using the means that assist in this rectification by using what Allah has given us. With this in mind, we must never be distracted from the root and essence of our mission.

You must constantly remember that there is a foundational purpose to your creation: “And We have not created the Jinn and Mankind except that they should worship Me.” Allah created us solely for His worship. If a negation ( “And We have NOT created…”) is followed by an exception (“EXCEPT for My worship”), then that is one of the strongest ways of affirming and restricting (hasr) something in the Arabic language. So Allah, the Mighty, the Sublime, affirms that the sole purpose of our creation is His worship. That is why there should be no greater mission for us in our existence than this mission. This is the foundation…

This foundation branches off into our interaction with the creation surrounding us. “Our Lord! You created us to worship You ONLY… However, You haven’t created each one of us in a separate place to worship you, rather, You have surrounded us with Your creation. So what is the reason behind this our Lord?” Allah, the Almighty, said, “I am placing on the earth a vicegerent (khalifah).” So our goal on this earth is to establish what Allah, azza wa jall, wanted to be established on this earth. And from this is seeking knowledge, calling to Allah, and jihad in the way of Allah.

Please note that jihad is not translated as “fighting,” for fighting is only one manifestation of jihad. Jihad comes from the root word “al-jahd” (meaning exertion or struggle). It means that one fully exerts himself and struggles with himself to serve his Lord, as well as to perfect his interaction with others. This is the general and comprehensive meaning of jihad, which we must understand. We must also clearly understand that fighting is only one of its manifestations and only one of its meanings.

All of our interactions with the creation, from seeking knowledge, to calling to Allah, to jihad in the way of Allah, are but branches originating from the foundation, which is establishing the worship of Allah. Hence, this is why it is of the utmost importance that as we do these things we don’t get preoccupied by them and forget the purpose for which they were established. The scholars of the heart say that it is from the greatest obstacles that befall a person traveling to Allah that his means become his goals.

Seeking Sacred Knowledge

From amongst the means to the goal is seeking sacred knowledge. You are now in this state. Your understanding of the meanings behind seeking knowledge should be to establish the worship of Allah. So, therefore, your esteem (ta’theem) for the seeking of knowledge is commensurate with establishing the worship of Allah.

From this esteem (ta’theem) come many benefits:

Having high adab (courtesy and moral character) in seeking knowledge.

Honoring your time, so that not one moment is spent in other than that which you came here for.

That you fully understand what you are being taught, while having full confidence in those teaching you. (I say this because a student of knowledge may become confused as to what he is really seeking during his initial quest for knowledge).

That you preserve, through your knowledge, those elements that will protect for you the “light” of knowledge. This is done primarily by guarding your heart and limbs from falling into the disobedience of Allah.

Quickly acting upon that which you are taught.

That you esteem all that is associated with knowledge; your books, the authors of those books, your teachers who are teaching with a connected chain of transmission back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the place that you study in, and even the clothes that you wear during study.

Esteeming and respecting what was mentioned will have a great impact on your actual benefit from the realities of knowledge. So don’t become preoccupied with the outward of knowledge in exclusion to the reality of knowledge, all the while doing your utmost to perfect the outward seeking of knowledge and it’s sciences.

Calling to Allah (Da’wah)

The proper way to obtain the real rank of calling to Allah is to not specify a time for da’wah, by saying, “Now I will begin da’wah,” or “Now I will stop doing da’wah.” Your calling to Allah began the moment you said, “I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.” The end of your outward calling to Allah is when your soul leaves your body. Therefore, the time for da’wah is from the first time you say the Shahadah, to the last time you can possibly say it. The only difference is that in every phase that you move through you will use different means and methods.

The phase that you are in right now (the actual seeking of knowledge, acting upon this knowledge, and rectifying your character and inner state) is da’wah. Not one week should pass by except that you weep to Allah, either by night or by day, that Allah alleviates what has befallen the Ummah, and that Allah guides the Ummah back to the best of paths. You must establish amongst yourselves the sunnah of consultation and advice. You must train yourselves so that it is not heavy on your hearts to advise a brother with gentleness and love, if he needs advise and guidance. You should also train yourselves how to readily accept advice from others without the slightest agitation in your hearts, if you are mistaken. Indeed, finding it difficult to advise others and to accept advice is a sign that there is a deficiency in your sincerity in seeking knowledge and drawing closer to Allah.

You must establish with every type of person around you a relationship based on da’wah, regardless whether he is the salesman in the market, the taxi driver on the street, the janitor of the building, or the one who sits next to you in the mosque. Your concern for calling them to Allah MUST be greater than your desire to receive any benefit from them. Then, if the time comes for you go back to your respective countries, or if you go out for da’wah in the local villages, the meanings and methods of da’wah will open ever wider for you. However, the one who is not calling to Allah in this phase will never be a true caller to Allah in the next phase. This is so because if the heart is able to delay the concern for da’wah now, then the heart is empty from the reality of da’wah in the first place, this reality being a deep concern. And this deep concern is an action of the heart, and actions of the heart can never be delayed. It is possible to delay buying a piece of clothing, delay reading a book, delay having lunch till dinner time, and delay the Dhuhr payer until ‘Asr time (for the traveler). Hence, the outward affairs of the world (like buying and selling) and the afterlife (i.e. prayer) can be delayed, under certain circumstances. However, the acts of the heart, whether they are worldly or of the afterlife, can never be delayed. It is not possible for a person who loves someone, to say, “I will delay my love for you.” Likewise, da’wah is a deep concern, and is an act of the heart. So if you are able to delay the da’wah, then you were capable of delaying this deep concern, and if you are able to delay this, then you are not a true person of da’wah, you only have the outward form of a da’i (a person of da’wah).

From amongst the innovations of the Arabs was that if a person died, the women of the household would be heard wailing, lamenting, and mourning. If the women of the household were few in number, women would be hired to assist in the wailing and lamenting (nawwahah in Arabic). One time, three of these women were hired and brought to the house of the deceased. When they arrived they began their wailing and crying, and the people of the house told them to delay their wailing until the funeral procession passed in front of their house. So when the funeral procession passed by they were told to begin. This was so because they were hired, however, the mother of the one who passed away can never be told to delay her lamenting and crying, because her crying began the moment her son passed away. This is why the Arabs say, “The one rented to wail and lament is not like the one whose only son perished in her lap.” This is why it is necessary that the one calling to Allah must be more concerned, and cry about the deen more intensely, than the mother whose only child perished in her lap. Without this, you will never become a true da’i (caller to Allah).

Our societies and the communities of the Muslims in the West are not lacking people who can give speeches and admonitions. In every masjid you will find those who can give the Khutbah and public speeches, yet we do not find the desired results. Societies are not transformed through these admonitions and speeches, because most of these speeches are like the nawwahah (lamentation of the aforementioned hired women), and very, very, very, very few in the Ummah can speak like the mother whose only son perished in her lap. So do not accept to delay the da’wah. This does not mean to neglect your studies, rather, make your studies from your da’wah.

Jihad and the Middle Way

Anyone who makes the claim that he wants to serve the Deen yet is not thinking about jihad in the way of Allah, either has no understanding or he is not a truthful and sincere person. However, concerning the issue of jihad, people have gone to two extremes, both of which are mistaken. One group understood from the concept of jihad that it is necessary to view all the kuffar as those whom we must raise the sword or rifle to kill. The other group understands from the concept of jihad that we must be gentle, affectionate, and love all of them, and by doing such we would be “struggling” (i.e. making “jihad”) with them to bring them back to Allah and His Deen. Obviously, both groups have fallen into error. In reality, we are not a people whose mission is to kill the kuffar, nor are we a people who love the kuffar unrestrictedly. When it is time for fighting, we do not fight except those who, by doing so, we would be serving Allah alone (not our passions or personal agendas).

Sayyidina Ali (may Allah honor his face) was fighting a kafir in one of the battles. During the battle Sayyidna Ali knocked him down and raised his sword to kill him. As soon as the kafir knew that he was going to be killed he spat in Sayyidna Ali’s face, so immediately Sayyidna Ali left him and went on his way. He was later asked, “Why did you leave him when Allah clearly gave you power over him?!” Sayyidna Ali replied, “I was fighting him for the sake of Allah, and when he spat in my face I feared that if I killed him it would have been out of personal revenge and spite.”

From this we understand that it is obligatory that we differentiate between fighting people who are our own personal enemies and others whom we fight because they are the enemies of Allah. If a believer is forced to fight a kafir, he fights him not because the kafir hates him, because the kafir is conspiring against him, because the kafir wants to overcome him, rather, he fights him only because he is an enemy to Allah, the time to fight has come, and the command from Allah has been given.

On the other hand, we have those who say, “We must love the kuffar, be kind with them, and esteem them. They are nice people and they have a lot of good in them.” People who say this have mixed truth with falsehood, just as those who say they want to kill all the kuffar, without understanding or differentiation, have also mixed truth with falsehood.

It is impossible for a true believer to love a kafir: “You will not find people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having love for anyone who opposes Allah and His Messenger” (Qur’an 58-21). With this said, we do love goodness for them. There is a clear difference between loving them and loving goodness for them. If you say you love them then you are claiming that you love their essence (thaat) that you interact with in front of you, yet the believer doesn’t love any essence except the essence of Allah (Thaatul-llah), the Mighty and Majestic. If you love the good qualities in them while desiring that the possessor of these qualities is saved from the fire, and uses them in the service of Allah, while looking at them with the eye of mercy and the eye of desiring salvation for them, because you know that this pleases Allah, then in this case you have understood how to interact with them.

So we view all the kuffar as being, firstly, the creation of Allah. And as Muslims, we love Allah’s creation. Therefore, we do not love the kafir, rather, we love Allah’s creation (suna’ Allah). We view them as being a means for our spiritual transaction with Allah; a means for our drawing nearer to Allah. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “For Allah to guide one person (to Islam) through you is greater than the whole world and all that is in it.”

Hence, through this balance do we interact with them upon the foundation of having mercy for them, compassion for them, and a desire to try to save them from the fire. This is the only way we should view our interaction with them. We do not esteem the influential one amongst them because he can benefit us in our da’wah (as a kafir), nor are we generous with the needy amongst them because we love them in themselves, rather, we deal with the influential, the poor, the sick, and the young amongst them with mercy, and through mercy, because this is the way that Allah loves.

The way we enter discourse with them should be in ways that their intellects can understand, using means that they like and are familiar with, as long as it is not prohibited in the Sacred Law. This is not because those means are the only means, but rather, because they are means that Allah loves. So if the time comes that it is more pleasing to Allah that we use another type of means, with some of them, then we do not hesitate for even one second to abandon the old method and to use the new method. The principle is that we are expansive and inclusive of everyone, merciful with everyone, loving and wanting goodness for everyone, from societies to leaders, from Muslims to kafirs. Then if a situation arose that calls us to deal with sternness, even if it reached the level of fighting, then we do not allow our previous ways of mercy and gentleness to delay that which Allah has commanded.

One of the sons of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, did not become a Muslim while they were in Mecca, and as you know, the affection of a father to his son is much greater then the affection of a son to his father. In Mecca, Sayyidina Abu Bakr tried with love and gentleness to convince his son as to the veracity of Islam. He used the best and loftiest means to try to bring him over to Islam, yet Allah had not decreed for him to become a Muslim just yet. Sayyidina Abu Bakr made Hijrah and later went to fight in the battle of Badr. This son of his also went out on the day of Badr, yet he was with the kuffar. The son was trying his best to avoid his father so they would not have to fight each other. Later, when his son accepted Islam, he said to his father, “Oh my father, on the day of Badr (when I was a kafir) I was avoiding you so we wouldn’t have to fight.” Sayyidina Abu Bakr replied to him, “As for me, if I met you on that day I would have killed you.”

What is the reason behind this? This intricate point is necessary for us to understand. When the action of the son wasn’t based on servitude to Allah, but rather, was based on compassion (for his father), and his going out to battle was only for glory, honor, and nationalistic goals, this was how he acted. His actions were a slave to his emotions. On the other hand, the actions of Sayyidina Abu Bakr (in Mecca) and his love and compassion were not for himself, but for the sake of his Lord. So when the time came that he had to serve Allah by fighting against his son, he didn’t waiver, even if it meant his own son’s death. We are in need of this criterion in establishing the correct concept of jihad with the kuffar.

Therefore, the understanding of jihad is to establish the means for the guidance and salvation of the kuffar, not merely to just fight them. Fighting them happens in a few cases, and the goal behind it is to save others from the oppression of the ones who are preventing the guidance from spreading. We do not fight out of revenge and spite. The Muslim doesn’t fight because the kafir is my (personal) enemy, because the kafir is conspiring against me, because the kafir has killed and slaughtered other Muslims. The Muslim fights the kafir because he has prevented and has become a barrier for the guidance to reach others. Again, the Muslim doesn’t fight out of revenge and only because the enemy has killed other Muslims. Think about what is being said deeply!

The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when he entered Mecca, didn’t avenge for the killings of the Muslims on the day of Uhud., even though Allah established him over the kuffar on that day of the great Conquest (the Fath). These disbelievers in Mecca were the same ones who killed his companions and members of his own family! These were the same people who barred the guidance from reaching others. These were the same people who ripped open the chest and stomach of Sayyidina Hamza (the uncle and companion of the Blessed Prophet, peace be upon him). These were the same people who ate from the liver of Sayyidina Hamza, may Allah be blessed with him. And what is more amazing is that those who actually conspired to kill Hamza (Hind and Wahshi), their Islam was accepted by the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, and he didn’t kill either of them even after their accepting of the faith.

If we were to understand that the purpose of fighting against the kuffar is to avenge for spilt Muslim blood then it would have been befitting for the Prophet, peace be upon him, to command the killing of Wahshi and Hind right when he entered Mecca. But the issue with the Muslims is not one of revenge, it is an issue of guidance and the spreading of its light. The Muslim is the “letter of guidance” sent to humanity from Allah (al-Muslim bareed hidayat-illah ila al-khalq). So when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw that there was hope in them being guided he said, “Go, for verily you are free.” And this is how our interaction must be. The day I meet with an enemy soldier off the battle field, who killed Muslims in Afghanistan, and I sense that he may want guidance, then I will treat him with the utmost of mercy. This is what we MUST understand. So our ultimate and primary mission in jihad is their guidance, even while we might be (physically) fighting them!

All this is clearly understood in the beautiful story where our Blessed Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, got upset with Usamah ibn Zaid, the beloved, the son of the beloved (he was named this because the Prophet, peace be upon him, loved him greatly). Usamah was out on the battle field fighting the enemy. During the heat of the battle one of the enemies slipped and fell, so Usamah lifted his sword to strike him. Immediately the enemy shouted out “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul-lullah,” yet, Usamah struck and killed the man anyway. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, heard of this and began to greatly blame and censure Usamah saying, “Did you kill him after he said it (the Shahadah)!?” Usamah replied, “Oh Messenger of Allah, he only said it our of fear of the sword.” “Did you look into his heart?! Oh Usamah,” replied the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him.

This same kafir may have killed many Muslims on that day, and he was in the act of fighting against the Muslims, yet, as soon as he said the Shahadah, even if it was in hypocrisy, and Usamah didn’t refrain himself and killed him, the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, became very upset. The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, continued to blame Usamah about what he did for the rest of the day, until Usamah said, “I wish that I became a Muslim after this day” (meaning that he wished that the event never even happened and that he could have a fresh start in Islam).

This incident is not mentioned to put blame on Sayyidina Usamah, may Allah be pleased with him. Rather, there is an important principle that we must understand here. The mishaps of the individual companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, are looked at as a further perfection in the society of the companions. This is so because the goal behind the community of the companions is that we may emulate them, so if no mishaps occurred by individual companions, then we would not know how to deal with a person who falls into error in our time and the times to come. Therefore, the mishap of one of the companions is in reality a perfection on the societal level. All this was so that the realities of what it really means to learn may fully manifest themselves for us.

In this incident, the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, made firm in our hearts the understanding that even while fighting, our goal is their guidance. So if the enemy shows the signs of being guided, then the fighting between us and them ceases, even if it was an outward form without any true reality. That is why the meaning of the statement, “Did you kill him after he said it, Oh Usamah?!” is that we should not let our drive to fight blind us from the real cause of fighting, which is their guidance.

This is why they mention about our master Al-Hussein, the son of Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both), when his army met the army of the mistaken and fugitive Muslims who wanted to kill him, he looked at them and began to weep. The number of Al-Hussein’s men, including the women (non-combatants), did not exceed 80, while the number of the opposition was greater then 3,000. Remember, Al-Hussein is the son of the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessing be upon him, the beautiful scent of the Messenger (rayhanat Rasulillah, a title given to him by the Messenger himself, peace be upon him), the master of the youth of paradise, the one whom the Messenger made supplication to Allah for saying, “Oh Allah, love the one who loves him (Al-Hussein).”

The army had risen against Al-Hussein after pledging allegiance to him. They gathered 17,000 signatures from the people of their land and called Al-Hussein out to them saying “come and lead us to goodness.” So when he went to them they met him with an army of 3,000 men wanting to kill him, most of them being from amongst those who signed the allegiance. These were people who wanted to commit one of the greatest crimes on the face of the earth: killing a member of the family of the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him!

As Al-Hussein stood looking at his deceptive opponents he began to weep. His sister, Zaiynab, saw him weeping so she asked him, “What is it that makes you weep, Oh Hussein? Are you afraid of death? For verily you are heading for your martyred brother Al-Hasan, your martyred father Ali, your mother Fatima, and your grandfather the Messenger of Allah!” Al-Hussein turned to her and said “Woe to you, Oh Zaynab! Al-Hussein is not one to be afraid of death!” “Then what is this that I see upon your face?” she asked. He replied, “Oh Zaynab, I looked at these men who were treacherous to the covenant of Allah that we made, and I see that they will kill me and enter the fire if they have no right for doing so, while I wish that they will go to paradise instead.”

This is the meaning that is incumbent upon you to understand concerning jihad. If you understand this while removing from your hearts the delusional power of “physical means,” and “people of means” (ahlul-asbab), while adding to this the realities of da’wah and seeking sacred knowledge, and you take these as means to the foundational purpose of your creation, which is your worship of Allah, you will be from amongst those chosen and elevated by Allah, to the levels of closeness, in this age that we live in. And this is the mission that you came for, if you but understood. This is what you must ask Allah for in these days that end Ramadan, and for the rest of your lives.

The Prophetic Inhertance is being lost

روى الطبراني عن أبي هريرة رضي الله تعالى عنه أنّه مرَّ بسوق المدينة فوقف عليها فقال : يا أهل السوق ما أعجزكم ؟ قالوا و ما ذاك ؟ قال : ذاك ميراث محمد صلى الله عليه و سلم يُقسَم و أنتم هنا ألا تذهبون فتأخذون نصيبكم منه ! قالوا : و أين هو ؟ قال : في المسجد . فخرجوا سراعاً، و وقف أبو هريرة لهم حتى رجعوا، فقال لهم : ما لكم ؟ فقالوا : يا أبا هريرة لقد أتينا المسجد فدخلنا فلم نرَ فيه شيئاً يُقسَم ! فقال لهم أبو هريرة : و ما رأيتم في المسجد أحداً ؟ قالوا : بلى رأينا قوماً يصلّون و قوماً يقرؤون القرآن و قوماً يتذاكرون الحلال و الحرام . فقال لهم أبو هريرة : ويحكم ! فذاك ميراث محمد صلى الله عليه و سلم !!!

Al-Tabarani narrates from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he passed by the markets of Medinah then stopped and proclaimed, “O people of the markets, how incapable you are!”

They asked, “About what?”

He replied, “About the inheritance of Muhammad (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) is being distributed and you are here?! Will you not go and take your share?”

They asked, “Where is it?”

He replied, “In the Masjid.” They left and hastened there whilst Abu Hurayrah waited for them. When they came back he asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

They replied, “O Abu Hurayrah we went into the Masjid and did not find anything being distributed.”

“Did you see anyone in the Masjid?” he asked.

They said, “Yes, we saw people praying, people reciting the Quran and people learning the prohibited and the lawful.”

Abu Hurayrah said, “Woe betide you! That is the inheritance of Muhammad (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him)."

The inhertance of the Prophets (upon them peace) is knowledge and this knowledge is being lost in our time. Great scholars are dying and there is no one is taking their place. We are losing knowledge from all over the place.

Yet, if someone hears about the relics of the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) they will travel for miles to see it but who will sit in a class of fiqh or tajweed? This is the real knowledge and this is being lost, as we live in a time in which people follow their passions and they have long since left imiatating the only one worthy of imitation.


While you are on this planet you still have time to change your communites. Read this about the Importance of knowledge.
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2009/06/importance-and-search-for-knowledge.html

If you are on masjid committe read this.
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2010/04/role-that-masjidsmosques-committees.html

If this still does not make sense then read this.
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2009/11/do-we-know-how-to-live-in-west.html

Sheikh Atabek Shukurov Nasafi

Naseyha

Naseeha - The most important thing in duniyah Pt1 from Afiyah on Vimeo.


Naseeha - The most important thing in duniyah Pt2 from Afiyah on Vimeo.