♥For the love of the messenger (saw)

In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficial, The Most Merciful.

The things we do for the people dear to us, the sacrifices we make for our loved ones, are indeed plenty. In love stories and songs, we hear things like (though exaggerated of course) ‘one will even cross the seven seas, or runaway & leave everything behind etc implying that anything can be done when love exist.

As muslims, we owe this type of love to only Allah (swt) and His messenger (saw), and as the topic implies, we’ll be limiting ourselves here to the prophet (saw).

Allah (swt) says about him (saw):
“It may be that you will kill yourself with grieve that they do not become believers. (26:3). Yes, that is who he was (saw)! He cared too much about
his ummah becoming muslims, in order to protect them from a bad end (hell fire) & its the fruits of His labour that we are enjoying today, with approximately 1.9 billion muslims all over the world, and the freedom to practice islam in almost everywhere
around the globe. See also 31:23, 36:76, 10:65.

On that day of Qiyamah, when everyone will be too occupied with his troubles to be bothered about others, a day when a mother will refuse her helpless child just one good deed of hers! On such a day, the rasulullah (saw) will be on his knees, making sujud to Allah, crying out to Allah to save his ummah.

Anas radi Allahu ‘anhu (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said,
“None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all of mankind.” (Bukhari).

This love of the prophet (saw) manifests in our actions because the more you love a person, the more you do things like him and obeying him becomes natural. Will we claim to love someone and do the exact opposite of what he commands? And Allah (swt) has said:
“And whoever obeys the messenger has indeed obeyed Allah” [4:80]

“Indeed in the messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow” [33:21]

Our love for him (saw) should drive us to do things against our desires, making sacrifices as we do for our parents, children & other people we love. Indeed, our love for him will reach such a level only by going an extra-mile to learn about him; his relationships, his character, his worship of Allah etc. So please let’s try not to regard his actions as just sunnah (something by the way that is not obligatory) but rather as ‘The Sunnah’ (that which is the ultimate).

And as we already know, nothing we do in islam of good will be of waste:
“Whoever revives an aspect of my Sunnah that is forgotten after my death, he will have a reward equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.” (Tirmidhi- a hasan hadeeth).

May Allah (swt) help us on this mission of ours, ameen.

Recommendations
1. Books of manners by Fu’ad Ibn Abdul Azeez Ash-shulhoob
2. The man they loved (an audio lecture) by Mohammed El-shinawy.

Re-connect with the Qur’an this Dhul Hijjah

In the name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Most Beneficent.
RE-CONNECT WITH THE QUR’AN THIS DHUL HAJJ

•He (Allah) will say: “What number of years did you stay on earth?”
•They will say: “We stayed a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep account.”
•He (Allah) will say: “You stayed not but a little, if you had only known!
•Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us? [23:112-115]

Every time I come across these verses, I am left astonished. To think all the number of days we spent on this earth, the pleasures/sadness, the striving hard to get what we want, all that would mean nothing to us except ‘a day or part of a day’.
Subhanallah.

How would life be if only everyone took it for what it really is: “very short”. No fighting or holding grudges, no lies, no indecency, no oppression or stealing of gov’t money…. because we know the reality of this world, & the home of the hereafter, is indeed the life [29:64] “You stayed not but a little, if you had only known!” [23:115]

And by thus, the Qur’an serves as a guide book shaping our lives and making us become better people & greater in the sight of Allah. And likewise it is also one of our greatest source of ajr:

Ibn Mas’ud reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.” [At-Tirmidhi]

Therefore, for these 2 reasons, let’s strive to make the qur’an our closest companion in these blessed days of dhul hajj, a time when such deeds are most beloved to Allah. May Allah (swt) grant us the ability to do such, ameen.

✧ Best 10 days of the year

In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficial, The Most Merciful.

THE BEST TEN DAYS OF THE YEAR
The month of dhul hijjah is fast approaching and with it comes a great blessing. Allah (swt) blessed us with 10 days in dhul hijjah that are superior to all other days of the year, even the days of ramadan.

Ibn `Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ) said, “There are no days during which the righteous action is so pleasing to Allah than these days (i.e., the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah).” He was asked: “O Messenger of Allah, not even Jihad in the Cause of Allah?” He (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ) replied, “Not even Jihad in the Cause of Allah, except in case one goes forth with his life and his property and does not return with either of it.”[Al-Bukhari].

According to the Timing chapter of the Society for the propagation of islam, Nigeria, the 10 days will be from 25th sept- 4th october.

Like we do for everything that is special, let’s begin to prepare for these great days that are around the corner so as to invest as much as we can (in good deeds), and make them the best 10 days of our lives, so far.

Wealth & children are adornments of the worldly life, but the righteous good deeds that last (deeds of Allahs obedience, nice good talk, remembering Allah) are better with Your Lord in for rewards and better in respect of hope. (18:46)

May Allah (swt) grant us the ability to do as much righteous good deeds in those days as possible. Ameen.

*Where piety resides…

Reported by Wabisah bin Ma’bad (RA): I went to the Messenger of Allah (sas) and he asked me “Have you come to inquire about piety?” I replied in the affirmative. Then he said, “Ask your heart regarding it. Piety is that which contents the soul and comforts the heart, and sin is that which causes doubts and disturbs the heart, even if people pronounce it lawful and give you verdicts on such matters again & again.
[Ahmad & Ad-darmi]

A lot of times, we will realise that our minds and hearts are not in harmony regarding certain decisions we take or actions we do. Our minds (brain) create many reasons why such an action/decision is the right thing to do and persuades the heart to agree, but we find out that the heart only partially agrees, and we are left with a shadow of doubt in our hearts, even though we might try to fight it.

We should learn to listen to our hearts all the time, for indeed, that’s where piety resides.