Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Say Good words

Bismillah..

Adi bin Hatim reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Guard yourselves against the Fire (of Hell) even if it be only with half a date fruit (given in charity); and if you cannot afford that, you should at least say a good word."

My take:

1. Give charity as a means to to protect yourself from punishment in the the hereafter

2. Saying good words will serve as a protection for you in hereafter, iA

May our Lord forgive all our sins, guide us on the straight path, and make us among the most generous. Ameen.

Peace-

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Be there for your brother and your Lord will be there for you

Bismillah..

So, it has been a while. Anyhow, I wanted to share a hadith on the benefits/beauty of being there for your brother/sister.

Abu Huraiha (R) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

"He who removes from a believer one of his difficulties of this world, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the day of Resurrection; and he who finds relief for a hard-pressed person, Allah will make things easy for him on the Day of Resurrection; he who covers (the faults and sins) of a Muslim, Allah will cover up (his sins and faults) in this world and the hereafter. Allah supports his slave as long as the slave is supportive of his brother;

and he who treads the path in search of knowledge, Allah make that path easy, leading to Jannah for him. The people who assemble in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah, learning it and teaching, there descends upon them the tranquillity, mercy covers them, the angels flock around them, and Allah mentions him in the presence of those near hm;

and he who lags behind in doing good deeds, his noble noble lineage will not make him go ahead." (Muslim)

My take:

Three major points:
1. Help/honour your brother, and Allah will be there for you in this life and the next. iA
2. Pursue and teach knowledge of the religion, and the path to Jannah will be made easy for you.
3. Perform good deeds, because your family's nobility isn't going to take you to jannah.

May Allah help us be the best source of comfort for ones around us, make our path towards gaining beneficial knowledge easy for us, and help us be consistent in good work. Ameen!!!

Be safe and take care.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Wudu (ablution) + Forgiveness

Bismillah
ablution

Humran related that Uthman ibn Affaan said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever does wudoo as I have done it, then prays two rak’ahs in which he focuses completely on his prayer, his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Muslim)

So, how did the Prophet perform wudu?


In the earlier part of the hadith listed above, Uthman bin Affan called for water to do wudo.’ He washed his hand three times, then he rinsed his mouth and nose, then he washed his face three times, then he washed his right arm up to the elbows, then he washed his right foot up to the ankle three times, and then he washed his left foot likewise. Then he said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) doing wuddo as I have done it. “


My take:
1. Performing proper wudu and completely focusing on prayer is a method to have our previous sins forgive.
2. Wudu and FOCUS on prayer
3. Our Lord has made the religion easy on us and has given us ample opportunity to seek his forgiveness. Are we taking advantage of these opportunities?

May Allah accept our wudu (ablution) and grant us focus on our prayers. Ameen
Just as a side note. Based on Sura Maaidah (5:6), the obligatory actions in wudu are listed below (The following is taken from Al Maghrib’s Purification Act notes)

1. Washing the face completely once, this includes rinsing the mouth and nose.
2. Washing the arms up to the elbows, once
3. Wiping the entire head, including the ears.
4. Washing the feet up to ankles, once. What is meant by once in all above is that the entire part of the body mentioned must be washed thoroughly.
5. This must be done in order, so one washes the face first, then the arms, then wipes the head, then washes the feet, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) did ablution in that order.
6. This must be done continuously, i.e. the part of the body must be washed one after other with no lengthy interruption between washing one part and the next.

The aforementioned are the obligatory parts of ablution which must be done in order for the ablution to be sound.