If one surfs Muslim forums, whether Sunni or otherwise, there is a startling reality: forgotten priorities.
We find armies of ignorant people clashing in the darkness of ignorance about matters they don’t understand, matters that the great imams of Islam differed upon with decorum.
Such argument and dispute is highly reprehensible. The Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“No people went astray after having been given guidance except after they started argumentation.” [Tirmidhi and Ibn Maja, from Abu Umama (Allah be pleased with him)]
Where ignorant armies clash by night
Filed under: Uncategorized , ilm, sunnipath, taqwa
Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu (Allah preserve him) is a contemporary scholar of legal methodology with a number of published works on the subject. I’m currently working on translating one of his short works. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the book that explains how the discipline of usul al-fiqh developed. Enjoy!
An Introduction to the Discipline of Legal Methodology (usul al-fiqh)
Filed under: Uncategorized , ilm, sunnipath, usul
In this lecture titled ” Being a Real Man” ( from the Radical Middle Way website) Shaykh Faraz quotes Ibn Rajab on what made the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon Him) character great. Ibn Rajab listed five matters and said that the Prophet’s ( peace and blessings upon Him) character was great because he:
Full filed the rights of others
Avoided harming people
Acted with people with excellence (i.e. positive, cheerful and with full attention yet was firm as and when required)
Responded to good of others with the good or that which was better (while also appreciating the good others did)
Responded to wrong of others with nothing but the good. (Shaykh Faraz said this is the most difficult of the five).
May we gain the desire of learning and implementing the above. Allahumma Ameen.
Shaykh Faraz: Ibn Rajab on what made Prophet’s (peace and blessings upon Him) character great
Filed under: Uncategorized , sunnah, taqwa
How does one describe the indescribable? How does one form an image of that which cannot be portrayed? That is what the hilye does – it gives parameters to the imagination so that one can think about the Prophet with a mental or spiritual image to hang onto yet not attempt to visualize him or portray him in a painting. The hilye is not an icon in words. As impressive and accurate as the many hilye texts are, they still remain vague, contrary to the claims of literalists, who would reject these texts as being visual portraits. That, of course, would not be acceptable to Muslims.
The Hilye of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
You can get one from here
Filed under: Uncategorized , hilye
Dedicated to our beloved master, Sheikh ‘Abd ar Rahman ash Shagouri, rahimahu Allah ta’ala.
Five years and a split second brought me into Damascus, Syria. Five years of waiting and within a second I was transported there. After one realizes how little one knows about his Lord, and spends some time next to those who know more, something gnaws inside to seek and be around those who have spent most of their lives in that sole pursuit. As Edward Hall, the anthropologist said, “The drive to learn is more basic than the drive to reproduce.” One hopes to either receive some of the knowledge the erudite attained or at least to be in their company for the boon felt beyond the bone in their midst.
This is what led me on the road to Damascus. It was a fortuitous bounty from heaven that the scholar and sage hailing from Syria, Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, frequented my country, my town, my heart. I sought the Sunnah and found it in his country, his town, his heart. As one studies the Sunnah, one prays to implement everything learned and pines to see its traces on the bodies of brethren. After years of such studies, I was aglow to find that the Damascene scholar is drowned in the Sunnah, his walk, his talk, and the way he doles and delivers, with every instance and interaction. One sees a strain of the way of our beloved prophet, peace be upon him, on many a scholar in Syria who has spent years of study, inhaling his hadith and exhaling his aura afterwards. I realized the wonder of sheikh Muhammad’s exhortation for students in the West to plan the best vacation and “visit the ‘ulema of the Muslim world.”
Damascus Breeze1
Filed under: Uncategorized , tasawwuf
Filed under: Uncategorized
An incredible medium for the proclamation of Tawheed of the Almighty Allah and Risaalat of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wassalam, the sound of which constantly echoes around the globe.Amazing though it sounds, but fortunately for the Muslims of the world, it is an established fact. Have a look at a map of the world and you will find Indonesia (an Islaamic country) right on the eastern side of the earth’s central land mass. Indonesia consists of numerous small islands, the principle ones amongst them being Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Celebes, all of which are well known. It is the largest Islaamic country in the world, with 180 million inhabitants. The number of non-Muslims here is negligible.
As soon as dawn breaks on the eastern island of Celebes, at approximately 5:30 am local time, Fajr Azaan begins. Thousands of Mu’azzins in eastern Indonesia commence proclaiming the Tawheed (Oneness) of the Almighty, Omnipotent and Omniscient Allah and Risaalat (Universal Apostleship) of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
The process then continues and advances towards the western islands of Indonesia. The time difference between the eastern and western islands of Indonesia is one and a half hours. Hence, one and a half hours after the Azaan has been completed in Celebes, it echoes in Jakarta on Java island. Sumatra then follows suit and before this auspicious process of calling Azaan ends in Indonesia, it has already begun in Malaysia.
AZAAN AN AMAZING DISCOVERY
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Filed under: Uncategorized
Imam al-Haddâd encouraged his students to read the following intention before studying:
Al-hamdu llilahi rabb il ‘âlamîn wa salallahu ‘ala saydinâ Muhamamdin wa ‘alâ âlihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Nawaytu al-ta’alluma wa talîma wat tadhakkara wa-tadhkîr wa na’fa’ wal ‘intifâ’ wal-ifâdah wa’l istifâdah wal-hath ‘ala_tamassuki bi kitâbillahi wa sunnati rusûlihi wa du’â il al-hudâ wa dalâlata ‘alal khayri wabtighâha waj hillâhi wa mardâtihi wa qurbihi wa thawâbihi subhânahu wa ta’âla.
All praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. And salutations and greetings upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions. I intend to study and teach, take and give a reminder, take and give benefit, take and give advantage, to encourage the holding fast to the book of Allah and the way of His messenger, and calling to guidance and directing towards good, hoping for the countenance of Allah and His pleasure, proximity and reward, transcendent is He.
Allahumma Ameen.
Dua before studying
Filed under: Uncategorized , dua, intention
Filed under: Uncategorized
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