Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Love
Al-Maidah (The Table Spread) - Chapter 5: Verse 54 (partial)

"If any from among you turns back from his Faith, soon will God produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him."

Love is the attachment of the heart, in exclusive fashion, between zeal and intimacy and in giving and withholding.

It is of three levels:

The first level is love that puts an end to suspicions, imbues the service with pleasure and provides comfort in misfortunes.

It is love that buds from observing the Grace, is consolidated by adhering to the Sunnah and grows as a response to poverty.

The second level is love that causes one to favour the True One above anyone else, to persevere in praising His Name and to attach to the heart His Contemplation.

It is love that emerges from observing the Attributes, looking into the Verses and adhering to the Discipline.

The third level is love that captivates and takes the breath away, focuses on the intimation and cannot be limited by descriptions.

This love is the pinnacle in this matter; outside it are loves that tongues proclaim, that mankind claims and that minds prescribe.

Compiled From:
"Stations of the Wayfarers" - Abdullah Al-Ansari, p. 162-164

From Issue: 899 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Silence

A theme which has acquired prominence in the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is the relative value of silence, especially when speech would serve no useful purpose. There are numerous Hadiths on this subject, including the following:

"Whoever believes in God and the Last Day, let him utter what is good or remain silent." [Muslim]

To speak only when there is occasion for speech, or when one has a purpose in doing so, is a sign of piety as the following Hadith declares:

"Part of the beauty of a person's Islam is that they remain silent about that which does not concern them." [Mishkat]

The best form of speech is that in which a little removes the need to say more, and the meaning is self-evident in the words. A person ought to be reserved in speech, and to speak only when there is some benefit to be achieved by it. In the event of there being any doubt about the benefit of talking, one ought to remain silent.

Compiled From:
"Freedom of Expression in Islam" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 127, 128

From Issue: 692 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Seeking Power

Laylat ul-Qadr is the most blessed night. A person who misses it has indeed missed a great amount of good. If a believing person is zealous to obey his Lord and increase the good deeds in his record, he should strive to encounter this night and to pass it in worship and obedience. If this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be forgiven.

There is no consensus of the Ummah over when the night of Qadr occurs. Imam Razi has a few novel points to offer on why that is the case:

Allah concealed its knowledge from His slaves since His rida (approval and pleasure) is concealed in devotions to Him, and in concealment of the night is the cause of increase in devotions. This is following His general method: He concealed His friend (waliyy) among the people in order that all people might be respected; He concealed His response to supplications in order that they might resort to it oftener; He concealed His Great Name (Al-Ism al-A'zam [some scholars believe that Allah is the Ism al-A'zam. YMFN ED]) in order that all of His Names might be revered; He concealed the accepted prayer in order the people pay special attention to every Prayer; He concealed the time of death in order that the people never be oblivious of it.

Again if the night of Qadr been known, the sins of the sinners in that night would have weighed heavily upon them, since, to commit sins on a known blessed occasion is greater in enormity than when committed on the same blessed occasion but without the sinner knowing that it is a blessed occasion.

Three Ways to Seek Laylat ul-Qadr

1. Performing Night Prayer (Qiyam)

It is recommended to make a long night prayer during the nights on which Laylat ul-Qadr could fall. This is indicated in many hadiths, such as the following:

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever stands (in qiyam) in Laylat ul-Qadr [and it is facilitated for him] out of faith and expectation (of Allah's reward), will have all of his previous sins forgiven." [Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad]

2. Making Supplications

It is also recommended to make extensive supplication on this night. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that she asked Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him), "O Messenger of Allah! If I knew which night is Laylat ul-Qadr, what should I say during it?" And he instructed her to say: 'Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fafu annee - O Allah! You are forgiving, and you love to forgive. So forgive me.'" [Recorded by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmithi. Verified to be authentic by Al-Albani]

3. Abandoning Worldly Pleasures for the Sake of Worship

It is further recommended to spend more time in worship during the nights on which Laylat ul-Qadr is likely to be. This calls for abandoning many worldly pleasures in order to secure the time and thoughts solely for worshipping Allah. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: "When the (last) ten started, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would tighten his izaar (i.e. he stayed away from his wives in order to have more time for worship), spend the whole night awake (in prayer), and wake up his family." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Compiled From:
"Tafsir Ishraq al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer
“How to Seek Laylat ul-Qadr” – Muhammad Nasir-ud-Deen al-Albani

From Issue: 647 [Read original issue]