The ending of Ramadan is marked by festivities and cheers by all. Even those who don’t pray or fast do celebrate Eid. But why do we reserve our smiles and cheers for the end of Ramadan? This is a month of celebration, from beginning to end, and on each and every day. Farah (joy) is the flavor of this month. [click here to listen] (Based upon the editorial from the current Jumuah magazine)
Celebrate Ramadan
Truthfulness- A Modern Casualty
In today’s world, the qualities of truthfulness and honesty have become casualties, and Muslims are no exception. Deception and falsehood are rewarded, while honesty does not get you very far. There are professional institutions thriving- and much money being made, on various schemes of making you seem younger through different means, padding or “enhancing your resumes,” changing your eye color, teaching you how to promote your viewpoints and propaganda irrespective of the truth, political correctness, etc.
One of the most basic teachings Islam promotes is al-Sidq (truthfulness), and gives the promise of a day to come, when the truthful will profit from their truth [5:119]. In this khutbah from Masjid al-Iman, we examine this teaching in some detail. [click to listen]
New Medicine and Supplements Page
The Muslim community remains rightfully vigilant, to a large-extent, with respect to the consumption of food items, but unfortunately, in the realm of medications— particularly supplements and non-essentials, there is far too little awareness of what goes into them. Furthermore, the principle of necessity is often wrongfully invoked in these cases. We intend to post on this page our ongoing research with respect to specific items and brands common in our medical experience. Please visit the page by clicking on the Medicine and Supplements Page to the right.
The Muslim Abraham
An Islamic Look at the Father of the Prophets
Click here for audio
à He is the Grand Patriarch, the Father of the Great Monotheistic Faiths, and represents what is common among the major world religions today
à Thus any serious effort at bringing the people of the world together and building bridges of understanding would revolve around the example of Ibrahim
à Our intent is to take an Islamic look at this great personality Ibrahim
Ibrahim in the Islamic faith
à He is a central figure in Islamic theology whose true significance can not be overstated
à Mentioned about 74 times in the Qur’an in 25 chapters of the Qur’an; and 1 chapter is even named after him [contrast with the Prophet Muhammad who is mentioned by name 4x in the Qur’an]
à Islamic traditions give him various titles of honor- Father of the Prophets [Abul Anbiyā’], Friend of God [Khalīl Allāh], a Solitary Nation [ummah], the Upright One [Haneef]: Many of these titles are popular Muslim names today
à The Qur’an designates him as the true spiritual leader of humanity [2:124]
à He is an essential part of Muslim belief; in fact, one cannot be Muslim without affirming his Prophethood
Say: We believe in God and what is revealed to us, and what is revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the 12 tribes, and what was given to Moses and Jesus and all the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we surrender to God. [2:136]
à He is a significant part of some of the five pillars of Islam
o Part of our five daily prayers is sending peace and blessings upon Ibrahim, the direction of the prayers and the spiritual center of Islam is the place Ibrahim built in Makkah
o The Hajj is retracing the footsteps of Ibrahim
à The civilization established by Ibrahim through his son Ismael in a barren valley of Arabia eventually gave birth to the Prophet Muhammad, who was among their descendents [by 63 generations according to Muslim historians]
à One of the only two holidays in Islam is a commemoration of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son (Eid al-Adha)
Life Synopsis:
à He was a revolutionary of his time, who stood up and challenged the moral and social evils of his time
à Born about 4000 years ago [or 6000 years according to others], in the ancient city of Babylon [about 55miles S of Baghdad], the cradle of civilization, name means “Gateway to the Gods”
à Idolatry in various forms was the religion of the day while tyranny and dictatorship were the ruling order
à Ibrahim’s family were the idol-makers and had obvious economic interests in the religious order
à Ibrahim was extremely intelligent, wise and full of spiritual insight from a young age [see Qur’an 21:51], and recognized the futility of worshiping sticks and stones in childhood
à He would play with his fathers idols, prompting scoldings
à Eventually grew enstranged from his own family
à Then began to preach to the people to leave their idolatry, through various means
à Eventually clashed with all segments of the society, starting with his father and family, then the entire town, and finally the authorities
o Culmination: destroyed the idols in the major temple and placed the axe in front of the largest one
o Brought to trial as a result
o Faced Nimrod the tyrant ruler of Babylon
o Sentenced to execution by being thrown into a fire
à Attempted to build the largest bonfire ever made, all citizens ordered to gather firewood [some Biblical accounts- firewood gathered for 4 years], threw Ibrhaim into it via catapult, he perservered and eventually emerged unscathed while the onlookers filled with smoke and ashes
à That was the end of his stay in his native land, and he was forced to leave forever [According to Muslim teachings he was the first to emigrate (hijrah) for religious reasons]
à Traveled the world preaching monotheism along with his wife Sarah and nephew Lut
à In Egypt, had an encounter with a tyrant, and received Hajirah as a servant, whom he later married and she bore him his first son Ismaeel
à God had a plan for a new civilization: ordered him to travel to a barren valley in the middle of the Arabian desert and leave Hagar and Ismaeel
o This incident is a model of devotion and trust in God from both Abraham and Hagar
o The Angel Jibreel (Gabirel) descended to rediscover the ancient well of Zamzam
o Hagar and Ismael feed from the blessed water of that well, and eventually the water attracted animals and vegetation and other tribes to the region
o A new vibrant civilization emerges
o Ibrahim periodically visits them, builds God’s House in one of those visits, and ordered to sacrifice Ismael on another visit
o From their descendents, 63 generations later, came the Prophet Muhammad of Arabia
The Sacrifice [see Qur’an 37: 99-113]
à At one point of his life, God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his first-born son Ishmael
à His son submitted to God’s command in servitude
à At the verge of the sacrifice, God intervenes and absolves them of the deed and announces that they fulfilled his test
à In that place, Abraham ordered to sacrifice a ram in place of his son
o That sacrifice was commemorated annually by them and then by the subsequent generations in that region, making this one of the oldest continually observed traditions in the world
o It was being observed by the pagan Quraysh in the time of the Prophet Muhammad, and Islam preserved that tradition in the form of the Hajj rite and the festival of Eid al-Adha, and it continues to be practiced today
o Authentic Islamic traditions affirm that the horns from the very ram sacrificed by Abraham were preserved inside the Ka’bah until well after the death of the Prophet; some Companions affirmed that they saw the horns with very eyes, until they were destroyed along with the destruction of the Ka’bah in the era of Hajjaj bin Yusuf [see Maududi’s tafseer to 37:99-113]
à Today, we commemorate that great deed with one of our 2 holidays, and sacrifice an animal
à Beautiful lessons from the sacrifice
o It’s not about the blood nor the slaughter, but the devotion to God and the sincerity
[Al- Hajj 22:37] It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah. it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right.
o All deeds and acts of worship in Islam are judged by the sincerity and intent behind them
o Animals are slaughtered for food purposes and not for mere killing, Islamic rules for slaughter are very humane
o God is a merciful deity, doesn’t want suffering and trials for sufferings sake but to elevate human beings and make them stronger
o Take home lessons for us: Sincerity and Devotion to God, the willingness to sacrifice for His sake, and recognizing the merciful nature of God.
Ramadan Lessons Day 1: Engross Yourself in the Qur’an
We were honored today with the arrival of our sage and scholar from India Shaykh Yusuf Islahi, may Allah preserve him. Shaykh Islahi has a tradition of delivering nightly lectures during Ramadan that are highly beneficial and inspiring, full of profound insight and reflections from a lifetime of scholarship and devotion. Though they are recorded every year, their reach has been limited since they are in the Urdu language.
It is our intention to present, for the first time in the English language, here at StudentofIslam.com, a summary of the notes of his daily lectures.
Since there are oral lectures and time is limited, it is not possible to provide exact references for the verses and narrations. I will endeavor to post these notes every night, and try to modify these posts as I find references and additional materials. If any reader knows a reference, or sees an error, please post them in the comments. The audio is available here, courtesy of our brother Farrukh Raza: [-----]
DAY 1: ENGROSS YOURSELF IN THE QUR’AN
· One day, a man was fervently supplicating in the Prophet’s Masjid, “O Allah, make me among those who are your select few.” Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was the Khalifah at the time, happened to overhear him and reproached him for making a supplication not found in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The man, who happened to be a Companion, replied to Umar, “You should read the Qur’an O Umar. Haven’t you read the verse, And few indeed are those who are thankful.” I recalled this narration seeing the few people left in the masjid before me.
· Let me remind you that this is the month of the Noble Qur’an. Ramadan is the month in which the Qur’an was revealed. We should read it, but remember that any book is not considered to be read unless we understand it. We should read the Qur’an in the same spirit we would read a very special and personal letter from a very special person.
· Remember that the Noble Qur’an has 4 rights upon us: reciting it, understanding it, implementing it and propagating it. Anything less than that would not be giving the Qur’an what it deserves.
· There is a beatiful Hadith Qudsi, where the Prophet informed us that Allah the Exalted says, “Whoever from my servants is engrossed in my Book, to the point that he does not find time to supplicate to me for his needs, I will give him more than I would give a person that calls upon me with his needs.”
· So realize that engrossing yourself with the Qur’an (which means to study and ponder over it) will fulfill your needs without your asking.
· The fasting of Ramadan is essentially training to make us into people of the Qur’an.
· There are 2 basic ways that fasting trains us:
- It develops our belief in Allah with a certainty that no other type of worship can do, for one abstains from food and drink for an entire day with the realization that he/she is doing it for Allah and that Allah is watching.
- No human being is complete in his humanity unless he has concern for his fellow man, and the hunger and thrist of fasting in a very concrete way connects us with our fellow human beings who are less fortunate than us.
· The rights of human beings are so great, that Allah will become their spokesman on the Day of Judgement. He will call upon a person and demand, “I was hungry and you didn’t feed me, thirsty and you didn’t provide me water, naked and you didn’t clothe me.” The person will ask, “O Allah how can that be so?” Allah will reply, “Didn’t such and such person come to you and you turned him away?”
· Abu Hurayra narrates from the Prophet that Allah informs us that every deed of a human being will be rewarded 10 to 700 times over, save fasting, for that is exclusively for me (Allah) and I will reward it as I please. [Bukhari, Muslim] According to some commentators, Allah means that the reward for fasting is Himself, meaning that those who fast will get their Lord, and can there be any honor greater than that?
Shaykh Yusuf Islahi,
Muslim Center of Middlesex County, NJ
Sep 9, 2008
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Are you ready for Ramadan? It’s just around the corner. It is so true what they say: Failing to plan is planning to fail. A month as intense and as important as this one deserves thorough thorough planning and preparation.
With that in mind, I am scheduling workshops on Ramadan review and planning. The first is scheduled for the Islamic Center of Boonton, 110 Harrison St, Boonton, NJ 07005, on Tuesday August 26, 2008 at 6:00pm.
The next is on Friday Aug 29 in Masjid Tawheed, Jersey City, Maghrib to Isha.
Download the worksheet planner here: [ramadan-planner-208]
With less than week left, if you would like to arrange a workshop near you, email me at obeyd@hotmail.com
Resource Materials for Serious Students of Islam
This site is dedicated to all those travelers on the road to religious knowledge. Those who, tasting from its copious wells are satiated with nothing else in the world. It is mostly a collection of my personal notes and essays, in my own humble quest for knowledge over the years. Remember that knowledge is the inheritance of the Prophets and the only road to those lush gardens of Paradise we all dream of. As Imam Zamakhsari said:
Knowledge is for the Beneficent One, Exalted be His Magnificence
While All Else Plunges Into the Depths of its Own Ignorance.
I implore Allah to reward and bless my parents, grandparents and all of my teachers, including the late Shaykh Al-Phaheem Jobe, Shaikh Abu Ishaq, Shaykh Ramadan El-Sabbagh,Shaykh Khidr Lawrence, Khalifah Abdul-Wali, Shaykh Walid Atif, Shaykh Muhammad Alshareef, Shaykh Yasser Birjas, Shaykh Abdul-Bari Yahya, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, Ustadh Muhammad Faqih, Ustadh Abdul-Rahman Saleh, Abu Reehan and others.
