www.islamreligion.com

useful website to share with non-Muslim to learn about Islam. live chat is available too

www.islamreligion.com

Allah's sacred month of Muharram

Allah's sacred month of Muharram is a blessed and important month. It is the first month of the Hijri calendar and is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so it was ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are sacred. That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein ... " [Al-Qur'an 9:36]

Abu Bakrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:"The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhu'l-Qa'dah, Dhu'l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumada and Sha'ban." [Reported by al-Bukhari]

Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "The best fasting after Ramadhan is fasting Allah's month of Muharram." [Reported by Muslim] ... this hadith is meant to encourage increasing one's fasting during Muharram, without meaning that one should fast for the entire month.

FASTING 'ASHURA WHEN ONE STILL HAS DAYS TO MAKE UP FROM RAMADHAN

The fuqaha' differed concerning the ruling on observing voluntary fasts before a person has made up days that he or she did not fast in Ramadhan.

The Hanafi school said that it is permissible to observe voluntary fasts before making up days from Ramadhan, and it is not makruh to do so, because the missed days do not have to be made up straight away.

The Maliki and Shafi'i schools said that it is permissible but is makruh, because it means that one is delaying something obligatory.

The Hanbali school said that it is haram to observe a voluntary fast before making up any fasts missed in Ramadhan, and that a voluntary fast in such cases does not count, even if there is plenty of time to make up the obligatory fast. So a person must give priority to the obligatory fasts until he has made them up. [Al-Mawsu'ah al-Fiqhiyyah]

Muslims must hasten to make up any missed fasts after Ramadhan, so that they will be able to fast 'Arafah and 'Ashura without any problem. If a person fasts 'Arafah and 'Ashura with the intention from the night before of making up for a missed fast, this will be good enough to make up what he has missed, for the bounty of Allah is great.

BID'AHS COMMON ON 'ASHURA

Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about the things that people do on 'Ashura, such as wearing kohl, taking a bath (ghusl), wearing henna, shaking hands with one another, cooking grains (hubub), showing happiness and so on. Was any of this reported from the Prophet, peace be upon him, in a sahih hadith, or not? If nothing to that effect was reported in a sahih hadith, is doing these things bid'ah, or not? Is there any basis for what the other group do, such as grieving and mourning, going without anything to drink, eulogizing and wailing, reciting in a crazy manner, and rending their garments?

His reply was:

"Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Nothing to that effect has been reported in any sahih hadith from the Prophet, peace be upon him, or from his Companions. None of the Imams of the Muslims encouraged or recommended such things, neither the four imams, nor any others. No reliable scholars have narrated anything like this, neither from the Prophet, peace be upon him, nor from the Companions, nor from those after them; neither in any sahih report or in a da'if (weak) report; neither in the books of Sahih, nor in as-Sunan, nor in the Musnad. No hadith of this nature was known during the best centuries, but some of the later narrators reported ahadith like the one which says, 'Whoever puts kohl in his eyes on the day of 'Ashura will not suffer from eye disease in that year, and whoever takes a bath (does ghusl) on the day of 'Ashura will not get sick in that year,' and so on. They also reported a fabricated hadith that is falsely attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him, which says, 'Whoever is generous to his family on the day of 'Ashura, Allah will be generous to him for the rest of the year.' Reporting all of this from the Prophet, peace be upon him, is tantamount to lying."

Then he discussed in brief the tribulations that had occurred in the early days of this Ummah and the killing of al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, and what the various sects had done because of this. Then he said:

"An ignorant, wrongful group – who were either heretics and hypocrites, or misguided and misled – made a show of allegiance to him and the members of his household, so they took the day of 'Ashura as a day of mourning and wailing, in which they openly displayed the rituals of Jahiliyyah such as slapping their cheeks and rending their garments, grieving in the manner of the Jahiliyyah ... The Shaytan made this attractive to those who are misled, so they took the day of 'Ashura as an occasion of mourning, when they grieve and wail, recite poems of grief and tell stories filled with lies. Whatever truth there may be in these stories serves no purpose other than the renewal of their grief and sectarian feeling, and the stirring up of hatred and hostility among the Muslims, which they do by cursing those who came before them ... The evil and harm that they do to the Muslims cannot be enumerated by any man, no matter how eloquent he is. Some others – either Nasibis who oppose and have enmity towards al-Husayn and his family or ignorant people who try to fight evil with evil, corruption with corruption, lies with lies and bid'ah with bid'ah – opposed them by fabricating reports in favour of making the day of 'Ashura a day of celebration, by wearing kohl and henna, spending money on one's children, cooking special dishes and other things that are done on 'Eid and special occasions. These people took the day of 'Ashura as a festival like 'Eid, whereas the others took it as a day of mourning. Both are wrong, and both go against the Sunnah, even though the other group (those who take it as a day of mourning) are worse in intention and more ignorant and more plainly wrong ... Neither the Prophet, peace be upon him, nor his successors did any of these things on the day of 'Ashura, they neither made it a day of mourning nor a day of celebration ...

As for the other things, such as cooking special dishes with or without grains, or wearing new clothes, or spending money on one's family, or buying the year's supplies on that day, or doing special acts of worship such as special prayers or deliberately slaughtering an animal on that day, or saving some of the meat of the sacrifice to cook with grains, or wearing kohl and henna, or taking a bath (ghusl), or shaking hands with one another, or visiting one another, or visiting the mosques and shrines and so on all of this is reprehensible bid'ah and is wrong. None of it has anything to do with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, or the way of the Khulafa' ar-Rashidun. It was not approved of by any of the imams of the Muslims, not Malik, not at-Thawri, not al-Layth ibn Sa'd, not Abu Hanifah, not al-Awza'i, not al-Shafi'i, not Ahmad ibn Hanbal, not Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, not any of the Imams and Scholars of the Muslims." [Al-Fatawa al-Kubra]

My audio files on the internet (khotab, recitation)

I found a website to upload and save my audio files on it ...

http://www.archive.org

Just type my name "Ayman El-Najjar" to get all he audio files I uploaded

or go try this link http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=ayman%20el-najjar

few Friday's sermons delivered at Richmond mosque, two private lectures, and the recitation of the first two nights of Ramadan 1432

شدة البرد من فيح جهنم

في الصحيحين من حديث ابي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال " اشتكت النار الى ربها , فقالت : يارب اكل بعضي بعضا , فاذن لها بنفسين , نفس في الشتاء، ونفس بالصيف , فاشد ماتجدون من الحر من سموم جهنم , واشد ما تجدون من البرد من زمهرير جهنم "

Ghurbatul-Al-Islam ...

Abû Hurayrah relates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Islam began strange, and it will become strange again just like it was at the beginning, so blessed are the strangers.” Sahîh Muslim

This hadîth tells us that a time will come when you and I would feel strange to be on righteousness in terms of knowledge and deeds, and thus we finds few who agree with us and uphold the same beliefs and deeds but the masses will disagree and even look at us as stranger and make fun of us or ridicule us. People won't listen to us when we calls them to adhere to righteousness as learned from the Book of Allah and from the Sunnah of His Messenger in accordance to the understanding of our Salaf (the pious predecessors)

The Prophet sallallahu alaihi Wassallam gave description of the strangers … he said: “They are righteous people among many evil people ... who disobey them more than those who obey them.” They are Saleheen .. in themselves righteous on the straight path following the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger sallallahu Alaihi wassallam. The second attribute of the stranger is that they are Muslheen ... they command good and forbid evil, they adhere to the Sunnah and protect it from change, and command people to follow it as well. Yet people will not listen and obey to their teaching of the Sunnah!

The Prophet sallallahu Alaihi wassallam said "They are the ones who will make right what people have corrupted of my Sunnah." (At-Tirmithi) ...

To be honest and modest and to do the right things in accordance to Allah’s Command, indeed it has become strange nowadays!

When someone asks me “why do you grow your beard” I ask him back “why do you shave your beard”... I tell him “I follow Allah’s Prophets & Messengers; whom you follow!”

Indeed, nowadays it would be very strange for the Muslim women to uphold the Islamic decency act and adhere to the right dress code (not just putting on a head scarf while wearing beautiful garments and tight and bright clothes that would make her more attractive to men!!)

Sadly, in this era of Ghurbah you find people advocating the dilution of our Islamic identity to follow the non-Muslims in their way of living in everything! Let men shave their beards, let women dress up freely without wearing hijab or covering their beauties, let people buy houses using interest-bearing loans, etc ... weakness and love of this life had become part of today’s Muslim characters.

We should follow our deen and be proud of our obedience to Allah’s Command. Why fearing others! Why hiding ourselves by copying others’ identity and losing our own!

Let’s always remember the golden words of Omar ibnul Alkhattab radaia Allahu anh when he said to Abu Obaidah as they were approaching Jeruslem to meet its people and to take its keys .. he said “Allah Azza wajjal has honoured us by Al-Islam, and if we were to seek honor in anything other than Al-Islam, Allah will humiliate us”

All that I would say to my fellow Muslims, adhere to the book of Allah and to the Sunnah of His Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi wassallam, pride yourself on being one of the strangers who are on the right path that will lead you to salvation in this life and in the second life. And always remember the glad tiding of Rasulullah sallallahu Alaihi wassallam "Toobah (Good news) is for the strangers"(Muslim)

Our victory as Ummah will materialize when we achieve victory at individual level by upholding the teaching of our religion and live by Allah's Command without any fear of the masses around us! We should have victory over our own shaitan and our own lusts and our own fear ...

Allah has honored us by Al-Islam فأعزنا الله بالإسلام

روى الحاكم في المستدرك عن طارق بن شهاب قال :

خرج عمر بن الخطاب إلى الشام و معنا أبو عبيدة بن الجراح فأتوا على مخاضة و عمر على ناقة له فنزل عنها و خلع خفيه فوضعهما على عاتقه و أخذ بزمام ناقته فخاض بها المخاضة فقال أبو عبيدة : يا أمير المؤمنين أنت تفعل هذا تخلع خفيك و تضعهما على عاتقك و تأخذ بزمام ناقتك و تخوض بها المخاضة ما يسرني أن أهل البلد استشرفوك.

فقال عمر : أوه! لو يقل ذا غيرك أبا عبيدة جعلته نكالا لأمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، أنا كنا أذل قوم فأعزنا الله بالإسلام فمهما نطلب العز بغير ما أعزنا الله به أذلنا الله

قال الذهبي في التلخيص هذا حديث صحيح على شرط الشيخين

This story is reported in almustadrak for Alhakem and the chain is accepted

“When Omar Ibn Alkhattab Radai Allahu anh as the Caliph came to Al-Sham (i.e. Palestine now) and he was accompanied by Abu Obaidah. They came across a pond so Omar took off his shoes and put them on his shoulders to hold the rope of the camel to cross the water. Upon seeing this, Abu Obaidah expressed his fear that the people of Jerusalem would see Omar in this status which might seem unbefitting. Omar Radai Allahu anh said these golden words that every Muslim should.. he said that Allah has honored us by Al-Islam, and if we were to seek honor in other than Al-Islam Allah will dishonor us!!

Allahu Akbar! Wallahi this feeling of honor and distinction of being Muslim is what many of today’s Muslims are missing especially those of us who are living or have grown up in the west. What is wrong with us! Why do we feel the need to blend in and become like the disbelievers so hardly one can distinguish us from them!!! Why do many constantly seek to please the non-believers hoping to be accepted by them!!

Tonight I was invited to attend a gathering held by the Muslim Business Association in BC. I felt sorry to see the free intermingling between men and women, the exaulting of non-believers! The function in its totality didn’t seem Islamic! So, why do they call attach the word “Muslim” to such association! This is distortion of the word Islam!

What I have witnessed tonight proves that we lack proper understanding of our deen and moreover shows the dire need for a humongous dosage of feeling the honor and pride as Muslims by learning and implementing the regulations of Al-Islam in every aspect in our lives even when doing business … I was struck to see most of those Muslim leaders are in the business of insurance, mortgage, currency exchange, etc.! What is going on here! I am just wondering have they studied the Islamic ruling about these choices of businesses! I am not here judging people but expressing my astonishments and sad feelings towards what I have observed!

Allahu Almusta’an!

May Allah Grant us guidance to remain steadfast

a beautiful story about Istighfaar ... but not authentic!

Subhana Allah, there is a beautiful story about Istighfaar I was always amused by it. Today I came to know that it is not authentic!

The story goes like this ...

During his old age, while Imam Ahmed was travelling he stopped by a town. After the prayers, he wanted to stay for the night in the masjid yard because he didn’t know anyone in the town. Owing to his humility, he hadn't introduced himself to anyone thinking that if he did, he would be welcomed by many people.

Failing to recognize Ahmed bin Hanbal, the caretaker of the mosque refused to let him stay in the mosque. As Imam Ahmed was quite old, the caretaker had to drag him out of the mosque. On seeing this, a baker from a nearby place felt pity for this man (Imam Ahmed) and offered to be the host to him for the night. During his stay with the baker, Imam Ahmed observed that the baker would constantly recite Istighfar (seek forgiveness from Allah). Imam Ahmed asked the baker if the constant practice of saying Istighfar had any effect on him. The baker responded by telling Imam Ahmed that Allah had accepted all of his duas (supplications), except one. When he asked him what dua was it that hadn’t been accepted, the baker replied that he had been asking Allah to provide him the privilege to meet the famous scholar Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal.

On this, Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal said that Allah had not only listened to his dua but had dragged him onto his (the baker’s) doorsteps. [Summarized from Al Jumuah magazine, vol 19, issue 7]

This story seems to be fabricated as commented by a number of scholars although it is circulated in the internet and repeatedly mentioned by preachers, I used to be one of them.

Since it is not authentic, I won’t use it any more. Alhamdullilah, we have abundanc of authentic narrations and stories that show the significance and superiority of Istighfaar.

Let’s accustom ourselves to speak and relate only truthfulness and authentic materials.

في تتبع رخص المجتهدين

قال ابن كثير -رحمه الله-

"ما من عالم إلا ويُردُّ عليه في مسائل اختارها إما عن رأي، أو عن ضعف حجة وهم معذورون قبل إيضاح المحجة بدلائلها ولو تتبع الناس شذوذات المجتهدين ورخصهم لخرجوا عن دين الإسلام إلى دين آخر."

تفسير ابن كثير

Who is "Salaf"?

The manhaj (methodology) of the Salaf is to adhere to the Qur'aan and the authentic Sunnah as understood by the Salaf as-Saalih.

The word Salaf is a shortened version of the word 'Salaf as-Saalih', which means the 'Righteous Predecessors'.

It refers specifically to the first three generations of Islaam in which the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) described as being the best generations of Muslims. The first, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Sahaabah (companions). The second, the Taabi'een (the followers of the companions). The third, the Tabaa'at-Taabi'een (the followers of the followers of the companions).

Generally, this term refers to all those pious predecessors who followed the way of the Salaf and who have preceded us in time. This is the true manhaj of Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamaa'ah.

May Allah Almighty Guide us to follow and adhere to the right way

sincerity

Ibnul Qayyim –(rahimahullaah) – said,

"Deeds without sincerity are like a traveler who carries in his water-jug dirt. The carrying of it burdens him and it brings no benefit."

The Fasting of the Tenth Day of Muarram (i.e. Tuesday Dec 6, 2011)

This year, the tenth day of Muharram will correspond to Dec 6th, 2011. It's highly recommended to fast it.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to be very keen to make sure he fasted on the day of ‘Ashoora’ because of its great status. It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) so keen to make sure he fasted any day and preferring it over another except this day, the day of ‘Ashoora’, and this month – meaning Ramadaan. Narrated by al-Bukhaari

Fasting the day of ‘Ashoora’ expiates for the past year, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fasting the day of ‘Arafah I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year before it and the year after it, and fasting the day of ‘Ashoora’ I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year that came before it.” Narrated by Muslim, 1162. This is by the bounty that Allaah bestows upon us, whereby fasting one day expiates for the sins of a whole year. And Allaah is the Owner of great bounty.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The expiation of purification, prayer, and fasting Ramadaan, ‘Arafah and ‘Ashoora’ applies to minor sins only.

Moreover, it is recommended to fast the ninth along with it (i.e. Monday Dec 5th) for the hadith:

‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) fasted on the day of ‘Ashoora and told the people to fast, they said, “O Messenger of Allaah, this is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Next year, if Allaah wills, we will fast on the ninth day.” But by the time the following year came, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had passed away.) Narrated by Muslim