Depending on Obligatory Deeds

Assalamu Alaikum brothers. I hope you are all well. I have Alhumdullilah the last few weeks been taking a streamlined ulema course. One of the imma that went w/us to hajj is teaching. The 3 subjects this semester are Tafseer-ul-Quran (right now we're doing Surah Yaseen), Aqeedah & An-Nawawi's 40 hadith. We are supposed to memorized the Quran & Hadith in their original Arabic along w/their meanings in English. In addition we are learning to read & write in Arabic. In this spirit I want to pass on the latest hadith we covered. Enjoy.

Depending on Obligatory Deeds: A man asked the Messenger of Allah: Do you think that if I perform the obligatory prayers, fast in Ramadan, treat as lawful that which is lawful & treat as forbidden & do nothing further, I shall enter Paradise? He said: Yes. (Muslim)


-Akhi Shamim

The Dunya will never satisfy us!

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh,

InshaAllah everything is going well with you guys. Same old same old here, alhamdulillah. Little Maryam just turned 6 months this past Tuesday... she sits with support now, mashaAllah, and inshaAllah will soon be sitting independently.

By the way, I will be in New Jersey on March 22 - April 6 (with a brief stopover in Washington DC on March 24-28 for training). Look forward to seeing some of you guys again inshaAllah.

Here is the hadeeth I wanted to share. MashaAllah, it shows that no matter how much we are given in the dunya, things of this dunya will NEVER satisfy us. The true reward lies with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in the aakhira, in seeking His repentance, and thus earning His pleasure. May Allah allow us to understand and implement this hadeeth in our lives. Aameen.

Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If the son of Adam possessed a valley full of gold, he would want to have two valleys, yet his mouth will only be filled by earth. Allah turns towards those who turn in repentance." [Bukhari, Muslim]

wassalaam,
Ahmad

Asalaamu Alaikum

Asalaamu Alaikum brothers,

I'm doing well and looking forward to my brother's visit later today insha' Allah. I think we have to reccognize the minor losses in our lives as just that and from time to time the selfish part of me can blow these things out of proportion. We must remember that our time here is short and if we become distracted by the things that don't matter we may put ourselves at greater loss. This is truly one of my favorite surat because it helps me to bring back into perspective a major loss versus a minor loss. I hope all is well with you brothers and insha' Allah our paths cross soon. Ahmed you are up...

Al-Asr
1. WaalAAasri
1. By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
2. Inna al-insana lafee khusrin
2. Verily Man is in loss,
3. Illa allatheena amanoo waAAamiloo alssalihati watawasaw bialhaqqi watawasaw bialssabri
3. Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

Salam from Nabil

Assalamu Alaikom brothers,

 

Hope all is well. Things are good, alhamullilah. My project in Maine recently swiched to a 100% remote model and I've been working from home for the last month... Its cool, but the work hasn't been the most stimulating. But, alhamdullilah, its been convenient and this schedule will hopefully allow me to gain more of the MBA experience these next two months, inshAllah. My spring semester started last Saturday and looks to be interesting (econ and stats classes).

 

So, I attended a AlMagrib seminar on Manners/Code of Conduct and wanted to share some of my favorite hadith on good manners. SubhanAllah, it was amazing to learn the importance/emphasis and high regard of good manners in our deen. 

 

Lets start thinking and planning for our summer trip, iA. Also, it would be great if everyone reminded the next person in the rotation at the end of our email/posts. So, Gerald, you are up.

 

AbudDarda reported, the Prophet (S) said, "There is nothing heavier than good character put in the scale of a believer on the Day of Resurrection." (Narrated by Abu-Dawud)

 

An-Nawwas bin Sam'an (R) reported: I asked the Messenger of Allah (S) about virtue and sin, and he said, "Virtue is noble behavior, and sin is that which creates dobut and you do no like people to know about it." (Narrated by Muslim)

 

Abu Umamah Al-Bahili (R) reported: Messenger of Allah (S) said, "I guarantee a house in Jannah for one who gives up arguing, even if he is in the right; and I guarantee a home in the middle of Jannah for one who abandons lying even for the sake of fun, and I guarantee a house in the highest part of Jannah for one who has good manners. " (Narrated by Abud Dawood)

Abdullah bin 'Amr reported that Allah's Apostle said, 'The best among you are those who have the best manners and character.'  (Narrated by Bhukari)

Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud: A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you say about a man who loves some people but cannot catch up with their good deeds?" Allah's Apostle said, "Everyone will be with those whom he loves." ( Narrated by Bhukari

 

Be safe and take care, brothers. Talk to you all soon, iA.

 

Peace,

Nabil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yusuf''s post: "Allah's Will (be done). There is no power but with Allah."

Assalamu alaikum brothers,
I hope everyone is doing well. For those brothers in medical school Ican tell you that it gets much better after second year so hang inthere, Insha Allah. The recent news and pictures of the tornadoesreminded me of the following passage from the Quran. Sometimes it'shard to remember how fragile our everyday comforts really are.
Al-KahfSet forth to them the parable of two men: for one of them We providedtwo gardens of grapevines and surrounded them with date-palms: inbetween the two We placed corn-fields. (32) Each of those gardensbrought forth its produce, and failed not in the least therein: in themidst of them We caused a river to flow. (33) (Abundant) was theproduce this man had: he said to his companion, in the course of amutual argument: "More wealth have I than you, and more honour andpower in (my following of) men." (34) He went into his garden in astate (of mind) unjust to his soul: He said "I deem not that this willever perish. (35) "Nor do I deem that the Hour (of Judgment) will(ever) come: even if I am brought back to my Lord I shall surely find(there) something better in exchange." (36) His companion said to him,in the course of the argument with him: "Dost thou deny Him Whocreated thee out of dust then out of a sperm-drop, then fashioned theeinto a man? (37) "But (I think) for my part that he is Allah, my Lord,and none shall I associate with my Lord. (38) "Why didst thou not, asthou wentest into thy garden, say: `Allah's Will (be done)! There isno power but with Allah!' If thou dost see me less than thee in wealthand sons (39) "It may be that my Lord will give me something betterthan thy garden, and that He will send on thy garden thunderbolts (byway of reckoning) from heaven, making it (but) slippery sand!― (40)"Or the water of the garden will run off underground so that thou wiltnever be able to find it." (41) So his fruits (and enjoyment) wereencompassed (with ruin), and he remained twisting and turning hishands over what he had spent on his property, which had (now) tumbledto pieces to its very foundations, and he could only say "Woe is me!would I had never ascribed partners to my Lord and Cherisher!" (42)Nor had he numbers to help him against Allah, nor was he able todeliver himself. (43) There, the (only) protection comes from Allah,the True One. He is the Best to reward and the Best to give success.(44)

Suppressing anger and forgiving others

Asalamu'alikum Bros,

Alhumdulilah I am doing welland inshallah all of you are too. These days I am busy with work, Masjid (I am on the exec committee) or planning my next business venture (please make dua that my next business venture is successful as well as beneficial to others). The hadith that Imad posted is perfect for solving many disputes that occur in Masajids and for that matter between Muslims all over...The part about "avoid quarelling even if you are in the right" is especially relevant. My local Masjid had many such problems, but alhumdulilah with the new board things are turning around.

I would like to share the folowing ayat:
“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden, as wide as the heavens and the earth; it is prepared for those who keep their duty, those who spend (in charity) in ease as well as in adversity and those who suppress anger and pardon people. And Allah loves the doers of good to others.” — 3:133–134

-Usman

Everyday things to think about.

AA guys,

I'm doing well, Alhumdulilah, and I hope you all are, too. I plugging away at school, trying to not let anatomy get the best of me. I'm finding it really tough. For that reason, I have no other updates since I've been relatively one-track minded. Though, I'm continuing to enjoy the Muslim presence here. We all don't hang out (b/c there isn't a lot of time for that), but it's just nice praying together inbetween classes and see each other during the day.

Well, here are the goods...

Narrated AbuUmamah:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: I guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who avoids quarrelling even if he were in the right, a house in the middle of Paradise for a man who avoids lying even if he were joking, and a house in the upper part of Paradise for a man who made his character good.

{Book 41, Number 4782 : Sunan Abu Dawud}

Take care and salaams,
imad

With difficulty there is goodness

Assalamu alaikum my brothers:

Here is a hadith that has kept me going:

It is narrated that the prophet (SAS) said: "Whoever Allah wishes good for, he afflicts them with trials."
-Narrated in Bukhari and Muslim


Salam,
-Safi

Value of Truthfulness

Assalamu Alaikum everyone, inshallah, you and your families are all doing well. things have been going well for me. as some of you may know, i started working for a lawfirm in baltimore last fall. work has been very busy, and very challenging. my focus is in corporate law, specifically venture capital. because i deal with various types of business tranasactions everyday, i thought i'd share the following Hadith:

Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, said: A man mentioned to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) that he is often deceived in business transactions, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: When you enter into a transaction, say: There should be no attempt to deceive. So whenever he entered into a transaction, he used to say: There should be no attempt to deceive.

No matter what field you practice, i think this Hadith brings up an important point - the value of truthfulness. as a lawyer, i have seen the consequences of not telling the truth. Often, the deception may not even be purposeful, and that is why it is important to ask for Allah's (swt) help.

Seeking forgiveness

Salaams bros,

I hope everyone is doing well these days. My workload is seriously
building up now that I'm coming closer to my boards in the spring so
please keep me in your prayers and dua, and Inshallah I will get
through them okay. My family is good; my niece Lena is nearly 10
months old and doing great, Alhamdulillah. My older brother Saif
(whom some of you might have met) is also expecting a child, so please
pray for him and his wife that all goes well.

I saw this hadith on an online forum and it took me a couple of reads
to really understand it:

"If you did not commit sins and turn to Allah, seeking His
forgiveness, He would have replaced you with another people who would
sin, ask Allah's forgiveness and He would forgive them."
Sahih Muslim, reported by Aboo Ayyoob al-Ansaaree

I think this hadith has two important messages within it. First of
all, it clearly states that none of us are perfect; no matter how much
good we may do and no matter how much bad we may stay away from, we
are bound to sin at some point. But the more important point of the
hadith is the emphasis on asking for Allah's forgiveness. We should
ALWAYS ask for Allah's forgiveness when we sin and we should ALWAYS
expect to be forgiven if we are sincere in our repentance. It should
be part of our nature to ask for Allah's forgiveness from time to
time.

Reward for Sitting after Fajr

Assalamu Alaykum

From Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, said: 'Whoever prays the morning prayer in congregation then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two units of prayer has the reward like that of Hajj and `Umrah.'" He said, "Allah's Messenger, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, said: 'Complete, complete, complete (i.e. reward).' [Tirmidhi]

One of the Sheikhs was speaking about this hadith and he was saying basically if we pray Fajr in the masjid and then we just do dhikr or read some Quran sitting in our place of fajr until Duha-time (about twenty minutes post-fajr) and then we pray 2 rakat of Duha (some people call this prayer Ishraq also), then insh'Allah we will have the reward of a full Hajj AND Umrah (though our obligation to perform Hajj is not lifted). Subhan'Allah, we can achieve soooo much reward soooo easily everyday. This is by the bounty that Allah bestows upon us. And Allah is the Owner of great bounty.

insha'Allah everyone is doing well.
wa assalamu alaykum,
bilal

A Reminder

The other day I came across two brothers arguing about some pretty detailed issues of fiqh and I was reminded of the following Hadith:

Ibn Luhay'ah narrates on the authority of 'Abdullaah ibn Ja'far that the Messenger of Allaah (Peace and Blessings be upon him) said:

The one who is most prepared to give fatwa, is the one who is most prepared for the Fire.

-Mabaahith fee Ahkaam al-Fatwa - Page 37

Hopefully this Hadith with give us all a littlle inspiration to be careful about what we say.

I make dua that Allah protect us all from speaking without knowledge, and that he places humility in our hearts, and that he makes us from amongst those that value the position of the scholars of Al Islaam...Ameen

Your Brother,
Ibraheem