It goes without saying that no success comes without planning. The month of Ramadan is upon us and it is the month that the believer must exert his/her utmost to win the ultimate prize of being selected by Allah to be amongst the inhabitants of Jannah. This is an opportunity that might never come again in our lives, so let’s commit to Allah that we will be amongst those who race towards Him, with all the energy that we have. To plan appropriately for this blessed month, I composed a quick list of important things that all of us should strive to do for the entire month of Ramadan insha’Allah:

1. Intention… intention… intention:

Set your intention to worship Allah as best as you can this month. Be specific. Set your goals high. If you make the intention to read the Quran twice, but you couldn’t because of something outside of your control, then insha’Allah you will get the reward of reading it twice. What can beat that?

2. Salah:

• Pray All 5 prayers on time

• Brothers should strive to make all of their Fajr, Isha and Taraweeh prayers in congregation. Try your best to pray in the first row.

• Sisters should strive to attend Taraweeh prayers if they can.

• Pray all Sunnah prayers: 2 before Fajr prayer, 4 before Duhr and 2 after (or vice versa), 2 after Maghrib, and 2 after Isha.

3. Quran:

• Read the Quran at least once this month. Read a 30th of the Quran everyday if able to recite fluently, and 30th of the translation if not conversant in Arabic.

• Set a time each day for reading Quran (e.g. after Fajr, early afternoon, before Iftaar, etc.)

4. Make more dhikr (remembrance of Allah):

• Make dikhr after each obligatory prayer. After each prayer, say: “subhanallah (how perfect and exalted Allah is)” 33 times, “Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah)” 33 times, and “Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater)” 33 times. End this by saying: “There’s no God but Allah, the one without partners, to Him belongs the kingdom and praise, and He’s most capable over everything”. It is narrated that the prophet, peace be upon him, said that the sins of whoever says the above after each prayer will be forgiven even if his/her sins were like the size of the foam of the ocean.

• Make Istighfar ‘(seeking forgiveness from Allah) at least 100 times each day, by repeating the words of: “Astaghfirullah” (I see forgiveness from Allah), as the prophet, peace be upon him, did.

5. Give charity / feed people:

• Be generous to the extent of your resources, as the reward will be more during this month, even if it’s a dime each day of Ramadan. If you can’t, give away some clothes you don’t wear. Just give something for the sake of Allah.

• If you can, sponsor an iftar or invite people to eat iftar with you. The Prophet Muhammad (S) said , ” He who feeds a fasting person will gain the same reward as he will. Without decreasing from the fasting person’s rewards.”

6. Keep good relations with people:

• Do not argue, dispute, or abuse anyone around you.

• Watch your mouth and control it

• Do not backbite, gossip, or curse (one curse word can ruin your fast)

• Be easy, gentle, forgiving, and keep good manners with everyone around you.

• Seek forgiveness from everyone who may have beef with you.

• Pay extra attention to caring about your parents and demonstrate to them, by action and words, that you love them.

7. Make as much dua’ah as possible:

• Make wish list of all things you want to ask Allah for. Make dua’ah to Allah for those things everyday.

• Don’t forget to make dua’ah right before Iftaar. Allah does not turn down the dua’ah of the fasting person when he/she breaks their fast. Also make lots of dua’ah in the last 1/3 of the night.

• Make dua’ah for all Muslims around the world.

8. Make dawah:

• Teach someone something this month about Allah and Islam.

• Push those around you (gently of course) to do their utmost and remind each other about Allah.

• Help everyone who asks for help from you. Relief those who need relief, and make people around you feel good.

• If you go to the masjid, don’t forget about those around you. Make sure you take someone with you. It is narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said that if Allah were to guide someone through you, it is better for you than everything that the sun has set rays upon.

9) Study hard:

• If you are a student, don’t use Ramadan an excuse to neglect your school work. Success in school is an obligation upon you and Allah will reward you immensely for each hard moment you spend to study for His sake. So try your absolute best and rely upon Allah.

10) Do not eat big meals; eat moderately even if invited to a feast.

11) Monitor your time constantly and leave off hanging around your buddies. Read the Quran as much as you can instead.

Symptoms of Weak Imaan

• Sinning – Sinning and commiting acts that are against the teachings of Islam is a sign of weak Imaan.
• Lack of Prayer – The more you pray, the closer you get to Allah, and lack of prayer will pull you away from Him.
• Lack of Ibaadah – Ibaadah – which includes salah – is important and the lack of it will let your iman sink.
• Laziness in Ibaadah – Laziness is from the shaitan and it will eventually cause you to discard your ibaadah all together.

Causes of Weak Imaan

• Staying away and avoiding the Iman-filled areas. (The Masaajid and circles of knowledge)
• Not learning the Deen (Seeking knowledge is mandatory on every Muslim)
• Not reading the Quran (Read the quran on a daily basis, even if for only 5 minutes)
• Not practicing the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
• Living in a sinful environment (This includes having bad companions)

Curing the Imaan

• Contemplate the Quran (Read the Quran in the language that you know best and contemplate its meanings)
• Knowing Allah (studying his names and characteristics – Asmaa’ Allah wa Sifatihi)
• Striving to do good deeds (Follow every bad deed with a good one and it will erace the former)
• Remembering Allah (Dhikr)
• Remembering death (The Prophet called it – Haadim Al-Ladhaat – The destroyer of pleasures)
• Placing your trust in Allah (Tawakkul)

Picture Source

If you truly love somebody, wouldn’t you love to know everything about them?

• Think of Michael Jordan, you know:
  • his jersey number, what team he played for, what cereal he ate (wheaties), what UNDERWEAR he wears! (hanes?)
• So, if you loved the Prophet (SAW), wouldn’t you want to study everything about him?

Why should we study Seerah?

• The Prophet (SAW) came into a society that not much different than ours (in the west):
  • Vices like obscenity, drinking, and disrespect is widespread
  • Islam is misunderstood, and not established here
• So, to deal with those around us now, in our lives, we should observe the best example: our Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

Chapter 1: Makkah, the blessed land

Taken from an awesome study book made by Qabeelat Tayybah.

Forefather of the Prophet (S)

• Ibraheem (AS) and Sarah
  • happily married
• Evil pharaoh, saw Sarah, “who’s that woman?”
  • Ibraheem, “she’s my sister” (to keep king from getting her)
    • the believers are brothers (and sisters)
  • The king tried to get close, but always failed, scared Sarah was supernatural
  • He stopped trying, and out of fear, gave her Hajar (as a slave)
• Ibraheem (AS) and Sarah had no children together, so she offered him to marry Hajar
• Hajar had Isma’eel with Ibraheem
  • Ibraheem happy, Sarah was jealous (FAMILY FEUD)
• So, Allah commanded Ibraheem to take Hajar & Isma’eel to Makkah (a barren desert)
  • He left them there (no food, no internet, no connection), imagine Ibraheem’s iman.
  • Hajar: What’s going on?; Did Allah command you to do this?
    • Ibraheem: “Yes” and walked away
    • That’s all Hajar needed to know. (look at the level of Iman).
  • Then, Ibraheem made a special du’a (Surah Ibraheem, 14:35-37) (to make Makkah a peaceful city, a city where Islam will be established, and make it a town of fruits so people will be thankful).
    • This was answered. (Imagine fruits in a desert, no trees, but there’s still fruits!)
  • Hajar went around looking for water so her son could survive.
    • In a panic, ran between two mountains, Saffa and Marwa, (went up on mountain to look for any caravan, animals, water, etc.) 7 times.
    • Then, she saw the water trickling out from around Isma’eel (AS).
    • Angel Jibra’eel came, struck his wing on the land, and water gushed out.
    • Hajar ran to the water and tried to fill her leatherskin with the water.
    • Jibra’eel: “Do not be afraid, this is the house of Allah”
    • The water kept going and flowing, so she began saying “Zam, Zam” (“stop, stop” in her language).
      • Hadith states that if she had not stopped it, it would have flowed until Judgement Day
  • Then, a caravan came, Jurham, (originally from Yemen), and asked if they could stay there (they needed water).
    • Hajar agreed to let them stay, as long as she (and her family) would be in charge of the water.
      • This allowed her lineage to keep control of the land.
• Later on, Isma’eel married of the Jurham tribe (family ties are the strongest).
• Ibraheem comes years later to visit, and he meets Isma’eel’s wife,
  • she began complaining and speaking of problems, (to a complete stranger to her)
  • Ibraheem said, tell Isma’eel Salaam, and to change his doorstep
  • Isma’eel heard, understood, and divorced his wife (and re-married)
• Ibraheem visited again, and met Isma’eel’s new wife
  • she spoke well and thankfully,
  • Ibraheem said to send his Salaam’s, and for Isma’eel to keep his doorstep.
• Years later, Ibraheem and Isma’eel built the Ka’bah (with the White stone, which came down from Jannah)
  • the stone is the Black Stone today, because of our sins
• Then, Ibraheem made another du’a: Surah Baqarah [2:127-129],
  • Send onto them a messenger from among themselves and:
    1. Make him recite the book
    2. teach the book
    3. teach wisdom (from the scriptures)
    4. and purify
• Allah made it so!

Future study sessions will come InshaAllah!

Abu Dawud and an-Nasaa’i related from a hadeeth of Ubayy Ibn K’ab, who said: “The Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) used to recite in the Witr, “Sabbih-hisma Rabbikal-‘Alaa” (Soorah Al-Alaa) and “Qul yaa ayyuhal-kaafiroon” (Soorah Al-Kaafiroon) and “Qul huwallahu Ahad” (Soorah Al-Ikhlaas), and when he made the salaam (closing of the prayer – trans.) he said “Subhaanal-Malikil-Quddus (Glorified be the Sanctified King) three times”, he would extend his voice the third time and raise it. This is the wording of An-Nasaa’i . Ad-Daruqutni added, “Raabil-malaaikati war Rooh”.

He (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would separate or pause during his recitation but stopping at every aayah (verse) saying “Alhamdu lillaahi Rabbil-’Aalameen ” and stop: “Ar-Rahmaanir-Raheem”, and stop: “Maaliki Yaumid Deen” [and so on – Trans.]

As-Zuhri mentioned that the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was Ayah by Ayah, and this is best, stopping at the beginning of the ayaat even if it was related to the following aayah, and some of the reciters hold to following the meaning and intent (of the ayah), stopping at the end of them (i.e. their complete meaning –trans.), and adherence to the guidance of the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his sunnah is preferable. Among those who mentioned this are Al-Bayhaqi in “Shu’ab al-Eemaan (Branches of Faith)” as did others and he preferred stopping at the head of each aayah even if connected to that which follows it.
He (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) would extend his recitation (tarteel) until it would extend in length beyond that which was longer than it. He would stand with an aayah repeating it until the morning (As-Sabaah ).

People therefore differed as to which was best between extended recitation and less recitation or quick and plentiful recitation . Which is best? There are two main statements.

Ibn Mas’ood and Ibn Abbaas (radiallaahu ‘anhumaa), as well as others were of the position that At-Tarteel (slow extended recitation) and contemplation of their meaning (at-tadabbur) with less recitation (less ayaat) is better than more and rapid recitation. Those who held this position base it on the view that the purpose and aim of recitation is to gain understanding of it [i.e. the Qur’aan] and contemplation of it and understanding rulings related to it and acting accordingly along with reciting it and memorizing as a means of reaching its meaning. As some of the first generation (as-salaf) would say: “The Qur’an came down to be acted upon, so take its recitation as an action (i.e. a commended and rewarded deed),” and such were the People of the Qur’aan (Ahlul-Qur’aan) who are those possessing knowledge of it and those who act upon its contents even if they have not memorized it all by heart.

As for those who memorized it but not understood it nor acted according to it, they are not considered of its ‘people’ even if they recite it accurately.

They said: “Al-Eemaan (deep conviction) is the best of deeds and understanding the Qur’aan and contemplating it is what nurtures eemaan. Whereas recitation for the sake of it without any understanding, this is done by the righteous (al-barr) and the sinful (al-faajir), the believer (al-mumin) and the hypocrite (al-munaafiq).” As the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) stated: “The similitude of the hypocrite who reads the Qur’aan is like the Reehaanah (a type of fruit), its fragrance is sweet and its taste bitter.”

The people are of four categories with regard to this: [First] The People of the Qur’aan and Eemaan, and they are the best of the people. Second, those who possess neither the Qur’an nor eemaan. Third, those who possess the Qur’an but not eemaan. Fourth, those who possess eemaan but not the Qur’aan.

They stated: “Those who possess eeman but not the Qur’aan are better than those who possess the Qur’aan but no eeman and likewise those who come with consideration or contemplation and understanding along with recitation are superior to those who come with a lot of recitation and swiftness in it without contemplation.” They said: “This is the guidance of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). If he would extend recitation of a soorah until it would end up longer than one actually longer than it and stand with an aayah until the morning prayer”.

The followers of Ash-Shaafi (rahimahullah) said: “More recitation of the Qur’aan is better” and they would base their position on the hadeeth of Ibn Mas’ood (radiallahu ‘anhu) who said, “The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “Whoever reads a letter of the Book of Allah he has a hasanah (a good deed to his or her credit), and a hasanah is worth ten like it. I do not say ‘Alif Laam Meem’ is a letter, rather Alif is a letter, and Laam is a letter and Meem is a letter.” Transmitted by At-Tirmidhi who authenticated it. They said: ‘Because ‘Uthmaan ibn Affaan read the Qur’aan in a section (a rakah) of the prayer’ and they mentioned reports of many of the early Muslims (as-salaf) reciting a lot.

What is correct in the matter is as follows: The reward of slow, extended recitation and contemplation is of more value (ajall ) and of higher worth or significance (qadran), while the reward of more recitation is more in number. The first is like someone who gives a wonderful jewel as charity or frees a slave of great value while the second is like someone who gives in charity many dirhams (i.e. a lot of money in small denominations – Trans.) or who frees a number of slaves of lesser value. In Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, it is reported that Qatada said, “I asked Anas about the recitation of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and he replied, “It was extended and lengthened.”

Shu’bah said: Abu Hamzah told us, “I said to Ibn Abbaas, ‘I am a man who recites quickly, and I may recite the (entire) Qur’aan once or twice in a night,’ so Ibn Abbaas responded, ‘To read a single soorah is more pleasing to me than to do that which you do, but if you must do so, recite in a manner that your ears hear and your heart absorbs it’.”

Ibraheem said: “Alqamah read upon Ibn Mas’ood and he had a beautiful voice so he said: ‘Read slowly – may my father and mother be ransomed for you – for indeed it is beautification of the Qur’aan!’”
Ibn Ma’sood said: “Do not say the Qur’an in a rushed (or incoherent) manner as you rush in reciting poetry and do not scatter it about as you would scatter dates. Stop upon its wondrous passages, agitate the hearts with it, and don’t let your greatest concern be [reaching] the end of the soorah.”

Abdullah also said, “If you hear Allah saying, ‘Oh you who believe…’ perk up your ears for indeed there will be good ordered within or some evil to get away from.”

Abdur-Rahman Ibn Abi Layla said, “A woman entered upon me as I was reciting Soorah Hud and she said: ‘Oh Abdur-Rahman, is this how you read Soorah Hud!? By Allah I have read it for six months and I have not finished it.”

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) would silently recite in the night prayer at times and aloud sometimes and stand a long time sometimes and make it light sometimes and he would make Witr at the end of the night –as he would most of the time – and he would pray it early at times and sometimes in the middle [of the night].

~End of Excerpt~

May Allah make us of those who follow the best of guidance, that of His Messenger Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), and not of those whose recitation of the Qur’aan is mere exercise for the tongue, nor those who do not heed its guidance, aameen. – Trans.

Abdul-Qaadir Abdul-Khaaliq
Rockville, Maryland, USA
26 Ramadhan 1430

Please notify the translator of any errors or shortcomings you may find in this translation so that they may be corrected and may Allah reward you in advance, Aameen.

Islam is a very strong advocate of marriage. We view marriage as the foundation of society, family, and life because through marriage, families are established. Furthermore, the families are the fundamental unit of our society. In the Qur’an and the Sunnah, marriage is the only Halal and legitimate way in indulging in intimacy with another spouse. Allah calls marriage مِّيثَاقًا غَلِيظًا – a strong covenant.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says in Surah Rum:

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً

And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy.

Mawadda (مَّوَدَّةً) is interpreted by Ibn Abbas, Ibn Katheer, and others to mean Mahabbah, the Arabic word for Love. Now, why is love mentioned before mercy? The need of love in its general meaning is vital for the continuation of a marital life. When couples first get married, they’re constantly on the phone with each other at work. A few months later, they’re talking every few hours. A few months, they call each other once a day. Sometimes, they stop calling each other altogether! Does that mean their love has disappeared? No, because the initial passionate love transitioned and evolved into Rahma (رَحْمَةً), or mercy.

To explain love, let’s use the analogy of a boat. The captain is the husband. The captain needs someone who can navigate and that is the wife. Sometimes, the ship has to go through rocky waters and at other times, calm waters. This is a summary of the martial life. The husband must learn to treat his wives in a kind manner. Once, some women came to the Prophet, complaining about their husbands’ treatment of them. The Prophet replied and said, “”The best of you are the best to their wives; and I am the best to my wives.”

Shaykh Riad once read a book called “Why men don’t listen and why women can’t read maps”, which is a book that goes through the physiology and psychology of men and women; they are so different, and many of us don’t understand this. It took my 14-15 years to actually realize that there are differences. The brain of a man is made of different boxes – one for work, one for money, one for family. What women don’t understand is that these boxes are not always connected. A man takes a box, talks about it, and puts it back. A women’s brain is made of circuits and are somehow all connected – she can cook, take care of the children, and talk on the phone at the same time.

An example would be the bathroom; a man goes for a specific purpose. However, women go there for also socializing and getting to know others. When I was in Dubai as a company senior executive, I used to make Wudu’ in a bathroom and then go to the Masjid. Every single time I would go in the bathroom, I would always hear the same woman always in there talking – she really seemed to always be there. Seriously, the bathroom should be renamed and called a lounge…A woman criticizes a man for not being sensitive, for not caring, for not listening, for not talking enough, and for not giving or showing enough love. A man criticizes women for not being able to drive, not being able to read maps, talking without giving a point, etc. The fundamental point is that men and women are different.

There are twenty things that one should keep in mind to increase love:

1. Patience – The most important and crucial thing is to have patience in the family. As a marriage counselor, I notice that the most divorces happen in the first year. There is no patience; one woman wanted to actually divorce her husband because he snored too much.
2. Exchanging Gifts – It really helps to increase love, as reported by the Prophet when he said, “Give gifts to each other, as this will make you love one another” (narrated by Muslim). Give flowers or at least a smile to your spouse. But don’t make this mistake: one brother in Toronto told Shaykh Riad that he brought his wives flowers and then said, “Here are some flowers for you. They were on sale!”
3. Allocate time to sit and talk with each other – We have very busy schedules, but we need to make the time to sit with our spouses instead of watching television.
4. Warm Greetings – Give the Salaam as soon as you enter home. The Prophet used to say, once entering the home, “Assalamu Alaikum. How are you?” (Any language – could even be ‘Kya haal he?’). The Prophet said, as reported in Sahih Bukhari, “You will not enter the Garden until you believe and you will not believe until you love one another.  Shall I show you something that make you love one another?’  They said, ‘Yes, Messenger of Allah’.  The Prophet said, ‘Spread the greeting among yourselves”. The best would be if it is coupled with a hug. Psychologists say that for a woman to truly feel secure, she must be touched at least thirty times per day.
5. Praise Each Other – “I’m so happy you’re my wife”, etc.
6. Don’t compare your spouse to others – When you compare your spouse to someone else, then he/she says, “Why don’t you go and just marry him/her?” They hate it and it’s a killer. Give each one their right.
7. Pamper each other – Cherish each other. A man also needs some little pampering too. Tell one another: “You look so beautiful today. This ‘Itr makes you smell so good. I didn’t like this dress before, but when you put it on, it looks very beautiful!”, etc.
8. Chores – Participate in the chores at home together. Aishah, when asked about the Prophet, she said, “He used to keep busy serving and helping members of the household.” The best chef is a man. Homework for all the husbands – you must cook with yourselves. If you’re not married, go cook for yourself.
9. Charity – Say a kind word or at least give her a smile. But make sure to do it with wisdom: once a farmer had a donkey that had passed away. The wife said, “Don’t worry. You’re better than a hundred donkeys.” Once, Ibn Abbas was combing his hair before meeting his wife and was asked by others for the proof of this. SubhanAllah, Ibn Abbas was given a true understanding of the Qur’an and showed this when he uttered the verses from Surah Nisa:
   

   وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ

   “And they (women) have rights (over their husbands as regards living expenses, etc.) similar (to those of their husbands) over them (as regards obedience and respect, etc.) to what is reasonable.”

   ~Give each other a hug~

10. Spend some time out together – Just go out with your spouse and spend some time with each other. Does it have to be an outing, like eating out at a restaurant? It’s better if you do, but you should, at the very least, take her to somewhere beautiful. The trees here remember me of Canada.
11. Peaceful Gathering – Sit down with your kids in a circle and talk to them instead of sitting on the couch and watching television.
12. Show your support and care – For the brothers, be there for your wife especially if she is sick. If you’re not there, she will never forget. She left her family and her small teddy bear… for the big bear. A husband must be five things:
    1. A Husband – Protection
    2. A Father – Naseeha
    3. A Brother – Support
    4. A Friend – Conversation
    5. A Son – Cherishment
13. Break the routine – Does this mean that when everything is beautiful, we need to make a fight? No, that’s not what this means. Rather, it is when the routine gets dull. To stop this, surprise your husband when he comes home. He opens his drawer and sees flowers. She opens her drawers and finds a love note. When things would get dull, some of the Ahl-al-Salaf (pious predecessors) would go away for three days. During this time, the wives would start missing them and then they would return.
14. Be honest – Don’t hide your feelings. Talk about your problems, but not in front of your children. Problems and these little things are the spice of the marriage. It is related that Aishah said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to me, ‘I know when you are pleased with me and when you are angry with me.’ I asked, ‘How do you recognize that?’ He said, ‘When you are pleased with me, you say, “No, by the Lord of Muhammad.” When you are angry with me, you say, “No, by the Lord of Ibrahim.”‘ I said, ‘Yes, by Allah, Messenger of Allah. I only leave your name.’ For the sisters, don’t just pick up the phone and call your parents on every small thing. Try to work it out first. If not, then have someone you trust as the mediator. If that doesn’t work, then the very very last resort is to engage your parents.
15. Call each other with the most beautiful names – The Prophet used to call the Aishah, “Ya Aa’ish and Ya Humaira (the one with rosy cheeks)”. If your wife likes to be called honey, call her honey. Vinegar? Then call her Vinegar!
16. Don’t talk about your problems at the time of when going to bed – The problem with many women is that they bring in the bills and begin complaining at this time. That shouldn’t be the case because the bedroom is a place for relaxation. The most investment shouldn’t be at the living room because we don’t receive daily guest, but they should rather be in the bedroom because we spend so many hours in there.
17. Thank each other – This is different than praising each other. Ex. “You work so hard. BarakAllahu Feek.”
18. Apologize after making a mistake – Especially for the husbands, if they make, a mistake, then say sorry and say: “I really didn’t mean it.” One woman’s husband would beat and oppress her. Because of this, she was once crying and her parents happened to come at that time. When they asked her why she was crying, she said that I remembered you and I began to cry. She then brought her family in and treated them with refreshments whilst never mentioning that she was just beat. Her family was very happy, but the man felt great remorse at his action and felt like nothing. After they left, he bought her a big gift, gave it to her, and thanked her for teaching him a lesson.
19. Respect – A marriage without respect will never last. There must be mutual respect for one another. What’s worth that phone call you gave her? What’s worth the flower that you gave her? What’s worth the ring you gave her? What are all those worth if you don’t show respect? Without respect, the marriage becomes a failure.
20. Don’t be stubborn – Be his slave and he will be your slave. Be her sky and she will be your earth. The Prophet told the Sahabah, “Don’t you want me to tell you about a woman of Jannah? It’s a woman whose man has transgressed her and she cried, and before going to sleep, she went to him. She held his hand and said, “I will not go to sleep until you are pleased with me. This woman is from the women of Jannah.” However, don’t make your wife go through an ordeal, for Jannah is not cheap.

Abu Said Al-Khudri reported that the Prophet said, “The men have rights over the women. Even if the man had a wound and the wife, in order to prevent the man from feeling pain, licked the wound, she would still not be fulfilling the man’s right”. The same holds also true for the man: he must also treat his wife with love and respect. Once, Aishah went to the Prophet and asked, “What is the worst hardship you had ever gone through? The Prophet started talking about Ta’if and his various hardships. After talking, he brings a cup of milk and asks Aishah to please drink first. She politely declines and tells him to drink first. The Prophet also declined and asked her to drink. This time, she said yes, took the cup, and began to drink. After her, the Prophet took the cup, turned it, and then drank from the exact place that she had just drunk from…”

If you can put these twenty things that increase love into practice, then you will find your marital life to be beneficial. If you’re not married, then get ready to put these into practice!

In the brief Khutbah today, as you all know, it’s the final farewell Friday sermon of the month of Ramadan, the month of the Qur’an. I figured it would be appropriate to share some realities in regards to the Book of Allah, and our times, and the attitudes that Muslims and Non-Muslims have towards Allah’s Book, and what needs to be done about it Insha’Allahu ta’ala.  First and foremost, I want to share with you something you already know: we live in a religiously pluralistic society; a society in which many different people follow many different religions. You have people of different faiths at your work, people of different faiths at your school, at your college, at your university, in your neighborhood, pretty much everybody else. It’s a diversified society in terms of religion.

And when people live in such a society, there are certain ideas that aren’t even said, but they creep into the thought process of the people, and this is something that creeps into the thought process of the Christian, the Jew, the Hindu, the agnostic, whoever, and even sometimes the Muslim. And this idea of, you know, part of getting along with everybody, and part of, sort of, respecting everybody else, one of the ideas that is pumped into a pluralistic society is that all these religions – people follow these different religions because they come from different backgrounds. They come from different cultures. You’re from Morocco, and you’re from Spain, and you’re from, you know, Egypt, or you’re from Bangladesh or something, that’s why you’re Muslim. You know, I’m from the Philippines, I’m from Sri Lanka, or wherever else, and that’s why I’m a Buddhist, or that’s why I’m a Hindu, or that’s why I’m a Catholic, or that’s why I’m a Protestant, etc.  So really, we’ve just learned to accept religious differences almost as though they are cultural differences, right? So this idea is presented that religious differences; there’s no distinction between them – it’s just, you could think of it like another cultural difference. So the fact that you fast, in the month of Ramadan, and your neighbors know that you fast, they think that it’s such a cool thing to do in their culture. The first thing that comes in their minds isn’t religion; the first thing that comes in their minds is these Eastern people, these brown people, these yellow people, these colored people, they fast: it’s a thing they do out there, right? That’s what it is. And you know sometimes the Muslims themselves, especially the youth, start thinking like that: “Yeah, we are Muslim because we were born in a Muslim family” or “that’s our heritage; that’s how we are. These are the kinds of things we do because we’re from that background.” And the idea and the conviction that we are Muslim because it is the truth; it has nothing to do where we come from or what our parents are. The fact that the Deen of Allah, Islam, is the truth – that idea becomes diluted. It gets reduced to just a culture, gets reduced to just a religious heritage – that’s all it is. And when you lose sight of the fact that this is the truth, then you don’t feel the urgency to want to share the truth with others. You’re okay with the fact that somebody else is whatever other religion, and you are this religion; it’s just traditional differences. You know, these are differences of heritage. But when you’re convinced this is the truth, and then when you’re convinced of that, you know everybody else – what they have is falsehood – then you feel a sense of urgency to want to share the truth with others.

If there is a building on fire and you’re the only one who knows it’s on fire, it’s only decency that you would want to let other people know: “Listen, we need to get out of here; it’s on fire.” There’s a sense of urgency that creeps up into you. But this sense of urgency is gone; it’s gone because we don’t associate the Deen of Allah, the Book of Allah, the legacy of His Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) as being the ultimate truth that demands to be shared with humanity. That’s one problem: a change of attitude needs to take place. Here’s another change of attitude that I want to talk to you about. Those of us who do work in the field of Da’wah, or organizations, groups, writers, websites, etc., dedicating to spreading and, you know, enlightening the people of Islam in whatever capacity – may Allah help all the efforts of Da’wah, big and small, local and national. May Allah help all of them and put Barakah in their work and accept the work from them, and may Allah make all of us contributors to the work of Dawah in all lands, including this one. Now, having said all of that, the work of Da’wah, of sharing the message of Islam with the larger society – let’s just talk about it in the American context briefly. This work has a few obstacles in front of it, and this work has right now been reorganized, and it’s been shaped not according to our liking or according to the principles of our Book in our legacy, but according to a different agenda. And this is what I wanted to bring before you. You know, in the Prophet’s time (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam), the Qur’an was the main vehicle of Dawah. The Messenger (alayhis salaatu wa salaam) was commanded, “وَاتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِن كِتَابِ رَبِّكَ- Read what has been revealed to you from the Book.” Read it onto the people. Recite it onto them. “فَذَكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَن يَخَافُ وَعِيدِ. Remind by means of the Qur’an.” Makkan Surah, right? Who are you reminding by Qur’an? Whoever fears the promise; even if a disbeliever has some fear of the promise, they will be reminded by the Qur’an. The Qur’an was a means by which the message of Allah was delivered to people. You know, when this message was delivered, some people didn’t want to hear it; some people wanted to distract this conversation. They didn’t want to have this conversation that’s the central message of the Book. So they started this tactic, you can call it irrelevant questions, they started asking the Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) questions that are almost tangents so that he would be so busy answering those questions, he never gets to talk about what he wants to talk about. So they would say to him, “We will believe in what you have to say, but just answer this: who sends you revelation? Which angel? What’s his name? If you just tell us that, we’ll believe”. So the Ayaat come down and he answers properly and he says, “Jibreel”, and they say, “Well, we don’t like him actually. Let’s ask you another question. How about this: who are the people of the cave? If you just answer that, we’re going to believe.” So the Qur’an answers, “أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ”, right? We recite this in Surah Kahf. So now, when that answer was given: “Well no, we have another question actually: what is the Ruh? Where does it come from? Who’s Dhul-Qarnain?”

Are these central questions? You have to understand the central idea was believe in this Messenger, the central concept was ‘La Ilaha Ill Allah”, the central concept was don’t change with your tongue the book that Allah had revealed to you – don’t hide what Allah had sent to you; that was the message. They don’t want to accept that message, so what’s the easiest tactic? Change the conversation by changing the questions. It’s a very clever tactic, it’s very clever, and you know, it’s even used today; you go on a TV – it’s a TV interview – and the host, the guy who’s hosting the show, and there’s an expert, some scholar, whatever area. Maybe it’s a historian, maybe it’s a political scientist, whatever. That historian will never get to say what he wants to say because the host keeps on changing the question; he controls the entire conversation. What I’m trying to get across is that whoever controls the questions controls the conversations. This is true in media, this is true in Da’wah; this is true in discourse in general. Whoever controls the questions controls the conversation. The thing in the Qur’an is that Allah did address some of their questions and then He stopped. Then Allah started asking questions himself because Allah (Azza wa Jal) himself takes control of the conversation – “أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ? Why don’t you think?” “أَمْ لَكُمْ كِتَابٌ فِيهِ تَدْرُسُونَ? Do you have a book that you study from? هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ Bring it forward!” Asking questions and making demands from the people who disbelieve.

However, now we’re living in times when we are not the ones – the Muslims are not the ones, the Da’ees are not the ones asking the questions. Questions are being asked of us. “Hey, how come Islam condones terrorism?” “How come you people hate women so much?” “How come you do this? How come you do that?” and we’re put in a position that we’re constantly telling people, “No, No, No. Islam is not this. No, Islam is not that. No, Islam is not that either. And it’s not this either. And no, this is not what the Qur’an actually says. And this is not the Sunnah.” So we’re so busy telling the people what Islam is not, that we don’t get to tell them what Islam is. We never get a chance to speak because the questions are not in our control.

We have to understand the Ayah I recited before you from Surah Anbiya is a very powerful Ayah. In this Ayah, He depicts the message of this Deen and the book of Allah and this truth, this La Ilaha Ill Allah, this Muhammadar Rasulullah (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) that is running in our blood. This truth. Allah gives it an image – sometimes in the Qur’an, a lesson is taught by means of drawing a picture in your mind. Allah says, “بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ” – “We spear the truth against the falsehood”. The image being drawn is that the Truth, Islam, is like a spear. Truth is like a weapon, and its being hurled, its being launched against falsehood, who is a guy running away from the spear obviously. So who’s on the offensive? The spear! And who’s running away? The falsehood! Compare that to our times; who’s actually running after who? It’s like the guy is running after the spear; it’s the other way around. We’re on the run. We’re not the one asking the questions. The tables have been turned. Then Allah describes, “فَيَدْمَغُهُ – Then the spear dashes the skull of falsehood in.” Now, this is a very graphic image in the Ayah; Allah doesn’t just say, “Truth defeats falsehood.” Truth kills falsehood; it bashes its skull in; its brains get bashed up. In other words, what we’re learning is that truth has no tolerance for falsehood. Islam has no tolerance for ideas that are contrary to the truth. We’re not saying we’re intolerant of Non-Muslims – that’s not what we’re saying. We are saying truth cannot stand falsehood. Truth has no tolerance; no, it cannot stand next to it and be okay. If it sees it, it has to bash its skull in it. That’s what it has to do. That’s what it must do by definition. In other words, truth is incredibly offended by the existence of falsehood. It’s offended by the existence of falsehood. And we are in a time now that falsehood is offended by the existence of Islam. It’s offended by the existence of the truth.

This is one problem that I wanted to share with you. But add to this one more thing. The elders among us, those of us that come from the Muslim countries especially – maybe they were attending Halaqaat when they were younger. They were in the company of scholars when they were younger. They built this love and affection for the Deen as they were growing up. So they have this غيرة for Islam, they have this chivalry towards Islam. They have courage and this confidence for the Deen. But that confidence does not exist today amongst their own children. It does not exist today among our youth. Our youth are only at the Masjid because we drag them here. They’re only at Sunday school because you left without them. They’re not here. They’re not at the Halaqaat; the Halaqaat are filled with people with grey beards and white beards. They’re not being attended by the sixteen-year-olds and the fourteen-year-olds and you know what? When they go to school, they are learning that ‘Izlam’ worships the moon-god; that is what they are learning in public school. I was listening to a preacher – you know, I live in Texas, and there’s a lot of Christian talk radio shows. And now, there are actually talk radio shows dedicated to the Muslim audience; they want to talk to Muslims, want to bring them from darkness to light and they want to bring them to Jesus. They’re talking to Muslims and they’re inviting them to call in. They actually have a supposedly Qur’an expert on the radio show: “We want to share our faith with you. We understand you think, you know, that believing that Jesus is the Son of God is Shirk, and they know these terminologies, and they can quotes Ayaat from the Qur’an.

They’re actually out there to give the message of Christianity to Muslims, right? And I’m listening and their evidences are almost, WAllahi, laughable. They are laughable, but you know, I also got very scared when I was listening. I called in to see just what happens and they hanged up on me, but I was very scared – you know why? What’s the biggest weapon these people have? What’s the biggest weapon those who call to falsehood and instead of falsehood being on the run, now it’s attacking the truth, right? What’s the biggest weapon they have? The biggest weapon they have is the ignorance of the Muslims. The biggest weapon they have is that we don’t know our Deen. Our kids don’t know their Deen; they don’t have the confidence that this is the truth. Instead, and this is the point that I want to actually conclude with because this is the heart of the matter, what I want to share with you. I don’t just want to bring the problem before you; I want to share with you how do we get to a solution. How do we start fixing things too?

Look, in our times, if you want to learn something about the Qur’an, of course you ask the ultimate Shaykh…Google, right? You put in ‘Qur’an’ or whatever, and you want to learn something about the Qur’an and a bunch of hits come up. You know, on the internet, in the media, on YouTube, whatever else, there is far more literature, and media, and content available against the Qur’an and attacking the Qur’an. There’s far more against the Qur’an and very little in comparison available in defense of the Qur’an or pro-the-book-of-Allah. The criticisms far outweigh the appreciation of the Book of Allah. I want to share something else with you: for a millennium and a half, this Ummah and its scholars that span every continent, every continent, they have been obsessed with the miraculous power of this Book. They have been obsessed with the Qur’an’s incredible majesty and how it can’t possibly be the words of a human being. Thousands upon thousands of scholars have given their entire lives studying the miracle of the Qur’an in the Muslim tradition. And then, for the last three to four hundred years, the Christian tradition (move up Insha’Allahu wa ta’ala; the crowd is filling up, so move as much as you can). In the Christian World and the European World, the Qur’an started being studied formally about four hundred years ago; they started studying Islam. Why did they start studying Islam? So that they can defeat the new enemy, that was the idea, right? So they have been writing critical works against the Qur’an for about four hundred years now in the Christian World basically, ok?

If you try to, say, we’re not even talking about the non-Muslim, let’s just talk about the Muslim – if the Muslim wants to learn something about the Qur’an, do they have today, more access to what has been written by our own scholars about the Qur’an, or do they have easier access to what is the attacks on the Qur’an? They have easier access to the attacks on the Qur’an. Even the Muslim today says, “How come this Ayah says, “One day is equal to fifty thousand” and that Ayah says, “One day is equal to one thousand”? How come He says over here this, how come he says over here that? The Muslim is asking these questions. The Muslim is saying how come this doesn’t make any sense, about the Quran. We have reached that point. We have reached that point. Here we were, supposed to poke questions to others, and now our own are asking questions about their own Book. That is the reality in which we live. How do we counter this reality? How do we produce youth, especially youth, young men and women, that we are so scared, so defensive, right? One of the things before I conclude this Khutbah is the impact of this mentality. This mentality that we have to constantly answer and defend ourselves, right? Instead of Islam being on the ideological offensive, it’s on the defensive constantly. What is the consequence of that? We have the idea that we have to protect our children from the Fitna of the outside world, right? This is Haraam, and that’s Haraam, and how are we going to raise our children when we’re scared to death about what’s going to happen to our kids – isn’t that the case?

You know, if we were really producing children of Islam, if we were producing members of this Ummah, carriers of this message, then the entire high school would be scared. “Man, my kid’s Christianity’s going to go away because there’s a Muslim kid in the school.” They would have that kind of confidence. We wouldn’t shake because of what’s around us; everything around us would shake because we are there. That’s the kind of confidence Islam puts into someone when they understand what they believe, when they have the Book of Allah empowering them, right? I know of a case of a brother I know actually that when he was in high school, he had memorized Qur’an before he studied his Deen, and he went into public school. And his parents were told, “Don’t put him in public school. Keep him in an Islamic school, or keep him in a Madrassa” and this and that, but he said, “No, I want to go to a public school”. Ask him why he wants to go to a public school: “Those people need the message” – that’s what he said. That’s a fifteen-year-old kid. And he goes – by the time he graduates from high school, eighteen kids become Muslim in that high school. This is confidence in your Deen. This is what we’re supposed to produce.

We’re supposed to – you know, they say in sports, the best defense is offense, right? The best preservation of our youth is the production of Da’ees. You produce people that carry this message, and deliver this message, and are content with this message, and are deeply confident with this message. You produce that and you don’t have to worry about them, you know, they’re not going to end up at the nightclub, and they’re not going to do alcohol, and they’re not going to have a girlfriend. You’re not going to worry about these things because they have a higher mission in life then. You have empowered them with something greater. When there’s a void of a higher purpose in life, then you have these problems. Then they look for other things to fulfill that void. But our Deen give us purpose. WAllahi, it empowers youth and it puts them on a different scale. It puts them on a different platform than anybody else. You know, we’ve become a people that want to protect ourselves, cut ourselves off from the rest of society. The only justification ‘Ulama have told for you decades now, I’m not the first one to tell you this, the only justification for Muslims living in this land is Da’wah. That’s the only real justification. Before all this hiding away and saying, “Oh my God”, if we’re like that, then there’s a serious problem. If we don’t know how to handle somebody who walks into the Masjid, a Jehovah’s witness, or a preacher, or a guy with tattoos all over his body, walks into the Masjid and we don’t know how to handle it; that’s our problem, not his problem. That’s our problem; we don’t know how to deal with them. We don’t know how to deal with the larger society. And we were here to deliver this message, to carry this message in our speech and our actions. In the four or five minutes that I have left, I want to share with you a couple of things, Bi’idhnIllah, that are hopefully food for thought for you and your family Insha’Allahu wa ta’ala. First and foremost, there are two things about the Qur’an that, at least in the Qur’anic studies, not in the larger Islamic studies, just in the Qur’anic studies, that all families should be aware of. This book is something we should understand, but it’s at the same time something that we should also appreciate. The Qur’an is not something just to be understood, but it is also something to be appreciated. What does that mean? We have to appreciate the fact that this is actually from Allah. We have to appreciate the fact that a human being couldn’t possibly produce this. It couldn’t possibly be from a human – it’s impossible. That cannot be.

Now, how do you come to that appreciation until you become a student of its power and its majesty, until even for the English speaker – you know, the vast majority of Muslims today are not Arabs or Arabic speakers, the vast majority of Muslims. But if you ask the question what is the amazing power of the Qur’an, what makes it so perfect, what makes it so flawless, what makes it so inimitable (it can’t be reproduced), the answer will always be its pristine Arabic. It’s Arabic is so perfect that it cannot be reproduced. Isn’t this the answer that you always get? Now, for the majority of Muslims who don’t know Arabic, are they ever going to benefit from that answer? No. So do we stop there and say well, the natural knowledgeable person comes in and says, “I want to know why the Qur’an’s a miracle” and the Shaykh tells him it has amazing Arabic and it couldn’t be by a human being. The poets couldn’t come up with anything like it. He says, “Well, I want to know how that works. That’s not enough for me. How is it better than Shakespeare? How is it better than any other literature? I want to know more.”

“Well, you have to know Arabic?” “Uhh, I don’t have time to learn Arabic.” “Well, too bad for you.” We can’t do that. We can’t do that, just because we’re living in a time, this Da’wah, this miracle, this beauty of this book. Yes, all the Balagha of the Qur’an cannot be shared with people in any other language. But a lot of it can be. A lot of the beauty and the power and the majesty of this Book can be shared. A lot of the questions can be answered. You know, when the average Muslim is even asking, “How come the Qur’an repeats itself so much? How come it says the same thing over and over and over again? How come a little bit of the story here, a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit there? And why are they placed so sporadically, right? Muslims are asking these questions. WAllahi, Muslims are asking these questions. “How come for example in the Qur’an, there’s a Makki Surah, there’s a Madani Surah, there’s a Makki Surah – it’s all chronologically all over the place. How come “اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ”, the first revelation, is not in the beginning – it’s all the way at the end, right? All these kinds of questions, Muslims are asking today, and they have answers, but we have to sit and seek them. We have to sit and actually explore this. And when you do explore this, you will come to the conclusion that this Book, this Book, is superior in terms of its beauty. You will appreciate it – it is superior than any literature ever known to man. You will come to that conclusion yourself. And when you come to that conclusion yourself, then you have the confidence in this Deen that cannot be shaken. You have to have confidence in this Book first. I wanted to share with you in the beginning, I’ll do this in the conclusion now, the Ayahs from Surah Ankabut, “وَقَالُوا لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ” The Kuffar said, “How come no miracle comes to him? How come he just has words? How come the sky doesn’t crack open, water coming out of the ground, or maybe gold being delivered from the sand? Some miracle – show us something! The previous Prophets, you know, a dead guy come back to life, a river parted, some pretty cool stuff happened. How come he doesn’t show us a miraculous sign? Allah says, “قُلْ إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَإِنَّمَا أَنَا نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ. Allah tells the Messenger to say, “The miraculous signs belong to Allah. And I am only here to clearly warn. I am a clear warner to you.” That’s it. The next Ayah says, “أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِهِمْ أَنَّا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ – Isn’t it enough for them that we have sent the Book to be read to them? We have sent the Book onto you to be read to them?” They asked for a miracle and Allah said, “Isn’t the Book enough?”

Allah said, “Isn’t the Book enough”, right? They wanted to be convinced, they wanted to see something super natural, they wanted to see something that couldn’t be human, and Allah says, “Isn’t the Book enough?” If Allah said the Book is enough then, then it’s true even now and it’s still enough. We’re not studying it. We’re not spending the time. We are not appreciating its miracle. The Book is still enough. “أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِهِمْ أَنَّا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ” SubhanAllah, it’s such a powerful message, this Book is such an empowering message, but we have to stop being apologetic, we have to stop being defensive. We have to learn to equip ourselves what that spear, the spear of knowledge of this Deen, of confidence of this Deen, of really standing up and saying, “Yes, we have the truth. We’re not just another religion and please just accept us as another acceptable religion in society.” They’re okay with Chinese Americans, they’re okay with Sri Lankan Americans, and they’re okay with Hispanic Americans, and they should be okay with Muslim Americans then too. They should be, but we’re here for more than that. We’re not just here so that people are okay with us – we’re not just here for that, we’re here for a higher purpose. We’re here to deliver a message, and, you know, in the history of the Prophets, whenever a Prophet got up to deliver the message, they got in trouble. They suffered because they delivered a message – every one of them. So if you are thinking you should be okay here, then think again. If we’re going to do Da’wah and if we don’t do Da’wah, then Allah’s punishment will come. If we don’t do our job, Allah’s punishment will come, and if we do our job, then Allah will test us definitely. He will definitely test us. May Allah (Azza wa Jal) make us capable and strong, to withstand that test. May Allah make us an Ummah that carries the message of Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) with confidence. May Allah (Azza wa Jal) infuse into our youth especially, the ones that are surrounded by Kufr and surrounded by Shirk and surrounded by doubt; they’re surrounded by these things, may Allah make them carriers of this message with great confidence. May Allah (Azza wa Jal) infuse into ourselves and our families a love of the Sunnah of the Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and a love of learning, and reciting, and remembering Allah by means of His Book.

During the Prophet’s time, there was a man and an orphan that both had gardens next to each other. They’d both loved their gardens, but there was a problem. There was a tree between the gardens and there was a debate on whose tree it was. The orphan loved that tree and wanted it. They went to the Prophet (SAW) to rule on it. After all the measurements and such were made, it was ruled that the tree actually was part of the man’s garden.

The orphan was so sad as he’d loved that tree. The Prophet (S) had a moment of sympathy and told the man that if he would give that little orphan the tree, then he would make du’a to Allah to give the man a garden in Jannah.

In the moment, the man wanted the tree so much, in his  arrogance he refused the offer and kept the tree.

While this was happening, another companion, Abu Darda (R) overheard this and immediately began seeking that garden in Jannah. He asked the prophet (S) if that offer was still up, if he could get that tree for the orphan, would he have that du’a for the garden in Jannah? The prophet said yes.

Abu Darda immediately seized that opportunity and asked the man that if he gave him his own garden, filled with date palm trees and such, would give him possession of that one tree? The man agreed and said he didn’t need that tree, and an extra garden is what he’d rather have.

Abu Darda came home to his garden, where his child was eating dates from the tree and he came frantic saying to drop everything, this isn’t our garden, I’VE SOLD IT TO ALLAH! I’VE SOLD IT TO ALLAH!

That man who’d lost out on the opportunity chose a garden on Earth over a garden in Jannah. Subhanallah, if you noticed, he’s “the man” while the person that seized that opportunity is who refer to as “Abu Darda”. The man’s name wasn’t recorded or remembered, though we remember Abu Darda. This is because he was the one who’d tried to take every opportunity he could to get to Jannah. Are you seizing all of your opportunities?

NOTE: This was only one story of the khutbah, the rest of it was about being thankful to Allah for Ramadan and generally taking a more deep interest in our deen.

SOURCE FOR THE STORY (as referenced by the speaker).

The brother was visiting from an Islamic institute in Chicago.

Imagine a large and wide room. It’s filled with a whole set of desks. And sitting at each of those desks are students. And in front of those students are papers. And in each of their hands, are pencils. And they are writing on the paper with a great fury and focus. They are all taking a test. This test is of such a great magnitude that it will determine each of their futures and the rest of their lives.

Now imagine yourself as one of those students. And all that you can muster to write down is your name. After that, you can’t understand any of the questions at all. And you’re stuck, alone.

And all of a sudden, you feel a hand on your shoulder, and you hear the voice of a person who says that they will help you. They will not only help you, but they will give you the correct answers. Not only that but this person says they’ll make sure that you will succeed even after this test. Would you refuse this person’s help?

Many ‘Ulamah classify this test as, the Dunyah (world). And the person coming to your aid is none other than the Nabi (prophet) of Allah, salallahu ‘alayhi wasallam (peace and blessings be upon him). He has received the answers straight from Allah and provides it to you with his sunnah. Will you refuse this answer key to life? Will you neglect it and fail your test? Allahu ‘Alam.

Tafseer Talk before Isha on September 13, 2009 at Masjid Jama’at Al-Mu’mineen. Notes were taken on an iPod touch =D

When Quraish’s youth came to kill the Prophet (S) in Makkah, and they surrounded his home, with ‘Ali (R), he picked up a handful of dirt (or dust), then recited the first few ayaat of Surah Yaseen, and then blew the dust into the air. Those particles of dust went in the eyes of the attackers, and temporarily blinded them allowing Muhammad (S) to walk right past them without them seeing him. Those verses protected the Prophet (S) from death and allowed him to escape to Madinah.

What do you think?

[Update: the source for this story is in Ibn Hisham, Vol. Pp. 480-83]

Video can be found here

Who is exempt from fasting? Once we ask this question, we have to realize that the default is that everyone must fast unless they are among the following type of people:

• Mentally incapable

• Children – They have to be adults and in Islam, an adult is one who has reached puberty and is between the ages of 11-14.

• Women who are in their monthly cycles and who are still suffering from the bleedings from childbirth – Unlike children who are allowed to fast and they and their parents get rewarded for it, these women are not allowed to fast; it is actually forbidden for them to do so. They need to make it up after their period is over and that obligation takes place as soon as they have the discharge that finishes their period.

• The travelers – What is travel? It is whatever your culture considers travel, so commuting to work doesn’t mean travel, but rather if you’re going to another town, city, state, or country, etc. If the travel is easy, that doesn’t mean you have to fast; Allah made this religion easy and you can do whatever’s easy for you. Just realize it’s not extra piety for you to fast while traveling, as the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) stated in a Hadith.

Suppose you have a flight at 5 and the Iftar is at 6 – you have to fast while you’re still in the city until 5 and since you have only an hour until you have to break the fast, then it is better for u to fast. If u have a difficult travel, then it’s better for you not to fast and to make it when u get home.

• Sickness – By sickness, it means the type that if you fast, the sickness get worse. The sickness doesn’t have to be life-threatening or severe, but just one that would be impacted by the fast. There are two categories of sickness:

• Temporary sickness – This includes sicknesses such as fever and such. They don’t have to feed the poor but they have to make up the fast when once they feel fine.

• Permanent sickness – This includes diabetes, cancer, and other types of sicknesses that remain permanently. A permanent sickness can also mean one who is very old and weak. For these people, they should give food to a poor person per day. They can give a meal per day or they can calculate all the 29/30 meals and give them all out on day. It is also permissible to feed one person 30 meals and it’d be ok. The best thing to give is food and the type of food that should be given is what is regular according to your culture; If chicken and rice are a normal meal, then that is what you should give. However, if that is considered a luxury in that culture, then that definitely is not what you have to give. You should basically give staple food – in some cultures, its chicken and rice and for others, its lentils and bread. As there is no end to these sicknesses, these people do not have to make up the fast.

• Pregnant women and breastfeeding women – Muslim sisters, realize firstly that just because you’re pregnant or breastfeeding doesn’t get you off the hook. Only if you feel that the fast will make it difficult on you or that a Muslim reputable doctor tells you that the fast will have adverse consequences on you or your child, then you’re exempt from the fasting. There is difference of opinion on whether they should feed someone or if they should make it up for that missed fast – my personal opinion is that they should make it up.