Do Good Deeds Now

Asalamu'alaikum Brothers!

Alhumdulilah we are in the month of Ramadhan. It has been a busy time for me. Last Sunday I had the opportunity to give an informative speech at a church, during the time when they would usually have their Sermon. I of course did some al maghrib research beforehand and listned to the Fiqh of Dawah course CDs. Alhumdulilah, after my speech many people came up to me and said that they do not believe that Jesus is God and they agree that he is just a prophet (pbuh), while others just said thank you for being clear about what Islam is. Basically, as the Figh of Dawah course pointed out, I avoided the message that we are all the same but made clear that Islam is the completion of the true message of all the prophets before Muhummad (pbuh)...These following two Sundays there will be discussion sessions to follow up with the members of this Church, inshallah...

I have also launched my new business, http://www.PeaceWand.com , so please make du'a that it is a success and that the business will succeed in collecting $100k for Islamic Relief (if you haven't bought a PeaceWand yet, you are missing out...spreading the world would also help:)

I would like to share the following hadith, which basically stresses the doing of good deeds right now, while you still can...after all this life is about collecting good deeds so that we can all enter the highest level of Jannah, inshallah...everyday we should reflect on what good deeds have I done today and ensure that for every day that passes we are doing more and more good deeds and staying away from things that don't benefit us, like T.V....may Allah enable me and us all to follow this advice.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Hasten to do good deeds before you are overtaken by one of the seven afflictions.'' Then (giving a warning) he said, "Are you waiting for such poverty which will make you unmindful of devotion; or prosperity which will make you corrupt, or disease as will disable you, or such senility as will make you mentally unstable, or sudden death, or Ad-Dajjal who is the worst expected absent, or the Hour, and the Hour will be most grievous and most bitter".[At-Tirmidhi].

-Usman

Ramadan Iftar Dua!

Assalamu alaikum my brothers!

I hope you guys had a blessed start this Ramadan...
Lately I've been reminiscing about the blessed times we had at JHU, man I miss seeing you guys!

This past summer I finally got a chance to visit my grandparents and relatives (from my mom's side) in India.
It's been 7 years since I last went, so alhamdulillah, it has been a memorable experience!

When I got back from India, Allah blessed me with the chance to go to Houston for a 2 week Islamic program.
While there I got to finally meet baby Maryam Zamanian and her wonderful father, Sam Ahmad :)
Subhan Allah it's almost been 2 years since I last saw him!

Since then I have started back up with my 2nd year of Med school, with a short break this past weekend for ISNA in my hometown, Columbus, Ohio.

Now that Ramadan has started, I found this dua to be very relevant to help us make the best use of our time:

The prophet (SAW) declared, 'Three men whose dua is never rejected (by Allah) are: when a fasting person breaks fast (in another narration, the fasting person until he breaks his fast), the just ruler and the one who is oppressed.'[Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi - Hasan]

So next time we are anxiously waiting to break our fast, let focus on making dua :)

Check out this video to learn about how to best apply this hadith: http://www.halaltube.com/towards-an-outstanding-ramadan

Salam,
-Safi

ISNA blood donor

ISNA Blood donation info

all friday 3-9pm

50 donors

currently 9-10 donors

10 minutes
15

30 minutes total time for donating

The Month is approaching!

Salaams all! InshaAllah, everyone is doing well. I have been doing well myself, alhumdulillah. Still working, am closing in on my one year anniversary at the law firm (and as some of you may know, I didn't think I was going to make it this long). As I am sure you all know, that most blessed month of Ramadan is fast approaching. I am definitly looking forward to it!

In Surat al-Baqara, Allah proclaims the following about the month of Ramadan:

“You who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you—so that hopefully you will have taqwa”(Surat al-Baqara: 183) and

“That you should fast is better for you, if you only knew.” (Surat al-Baqara: 184)

"The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’an was sent down as guidance for mankind, with Clear Signs containing guidance and discrimination. Any of you who are resident for the month should fast it. But any of you who are ill or on a journey should fast a number of other days. Allah desires ease for you; He does not desire difficulty for you. You should complete the number of days and proclaim Allah’s greatness for the guidance He has given you so that hopefully you will be thankful."(Surat al-Baqara: 185).

In one of his sayings our Prophet (pbuh) emphasizes the importance of Ramadan as follows:

"Oh people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month... month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time... It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased..." (narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah).

InshaAllah we can all use these ayats and hadith as inspiration and do our best to make the most of this blessed month.

Azim

Obtaining happiness

Salaams all,

I hope everyone is doing well with their lives. Alhamdulillah, I've
finished two full blocks of my third year of med school and starting a
new one tomorrow. I'm still clueless as to what I want to do with my
life, but third year has definitely been a lot of fun so far and
waaaay better than the first two years of med school (for all those
currently in or going into your first two years of med school...trust
me, its all worth it in the end). I just recently moved into a new
apartment and am also busy with everything that goes with that.

Here's a hadith I found on obtaining happiness, which, according to
this hadith, is a lot easier than we make it out to be:

"Happiness is granted to he who deals with his own defects and leaves
the defects of others, spends in alms the surplus of his goods,
retains from futile words and satisfies himself with the sunnah."

Take care.

--Zain Syed

checking our intentions

Assalamu Alaikum. I apologize for the delay in posting the reminder. This is a hadith all of us know and is important for those of us seeking knowledge to check our intentions:

On the authority of Omar bin Al-Khattab, who said : I heared the messenger of Allah salla Allah u alihi wa sallam say :

"Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated."

related by Bukhari and Muslim

-Shamim

The Seriousness of Debt

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh, my dear brothers,

InshaAllah I hope everyone is doing well, and is the best of health and eman. On my end, everything is going well, walhamdulillah. Over the July 4 weekend, my family and I went to the NYC/NJ area, and then to the ICNA conference in Hartford, where, mashaAllah, I was able to meet up with Usman and Nabil. The rest of you brothers were greatly missed... may Allah reunite us in this life and the next (in Jannah). Aameen.

No other real updates... my family is with my mother-in-law in Jersey for a few weeks, so I am living the bachelor's life again... I need to learn how to cook again! :) As for little Maryam bint Ahmad, she is progressing smoothly, mashaAllah... almost standing up all by herself inshaAllah.

For the reminder, I wanted to share a few ahadeeth on the seriousness and severity of being in debt... primarily as a reminder to myself, as I probably need it the most, and also to share with my brothers. May Allah help us all out of debt. Ameen.

The first hadeeth is found in Sunan an-Nasaa'i:

Al-Nasaa’i (4605) narrated that Muhammad ibn Jahsh (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:

We were sitting with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he raised his head towards the sky, then he put his palm on his forehead and said: "Subhaan Allaah! What a strict issue has been revealed to me!” We remained silent and were afraid. The following morning I asked him, “O Messenger of Allaah, what is this strict issue that has been revealed?” He said, “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if a man were killed in battle for the sake of Allaah, then brought back to life, then killed and brought back to life again, then killed, and he owed a debt, he would not enter Paradise until his debt was paid off.” Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, 4367.

The second narration is not a Prophet hadeeth, but rather a saying from a companion, which is found in Musannaf ‘Abd al-Razzaaq (3/57), where it says:

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:

O Humraan, fear Allaah and do not die in debt, lest it be taken from your good deeds when there will be no dinars and no dirhams.

The scholars of Islam warn us that if we die with a debt, and we did not settle it in this life, then on the Day of Judgment, our good deeds will be given to the debtor in order to pay for this debt, and if we have no good deeds left, then the bad deeds of the debtor will be unloaded unto us, until the debt is settled. May Allah protect us from such a situation. This doesn't just apply to monetary debts, but, as I understand, it could also occur if we did or said something against someone. Allah knows best.

I found both of these hadeeth in the following article on IslamQA.com, which discusses in even greater depth the seriousness of debt:
IslamQA - The Seriousness of Debt

I pray that Allah allows all of us to benefit from this and free us from all debt. May Allah enter us into Jannah without Hisaab. Aameen!

Wassalaam,
Ahmad

Fwd: A Letter for My Brother in Islam

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bushra <no0r.a1a.qalbii@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 1:04 PM
Subject: Fwd: A Letter for My Brother in Islam
To: Atif Ali <atif611@gmail.com>, "Mr. Asif M Siddiqui" <asif.siddiqui99@stjohns.edu>, LI - Muslims Against Hunger <muslimsagainsthunger.li@gmail.com>, Nabil Rab <nabilrab@gmail.com>, abulmasakeen@yahoo.com, MarieRose Bhuiyan <mrab9@msn.com>, shariqfarooqi@hotmail.com, shariqhinnah@hotmail.com, "aymun@msn.com" <aymun@msn.com>, baseer <baseer518@gmail.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Memoona Syed <m_syed813@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Subject: [InstituteAtIcna_2008] A Letter for My Brother in Islam
To: InstituteAtIcna_2008@yahoogroups.com

Assalaamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh, I hope you are all in the best of Iman and Health. Here is a message that was emailed to me. I thought it was extremely beneficial and profound. So Read, Enjoy and most importantly Benefit. For all the sisters, pass it on to your brothers :) wassalaamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Letter for My Brother in Islam: Be a Man!       My dear Muslim brother,   Be a Man! Be courageous and faithful. Be strict but kind and wise. Follow the way of our beloved prophet - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him - and the way of his companions.   Be a Muslim. Care for your family, brothers and sisters in Islam. Help the elders of the community and show everyone the true spirit of Islam. Be like the prophet (peace be upon him) – "His manners were the Quran." Make dawa and talk to people about Islam. Be a messenger of the messenger of Allah. The prophet (Salallaahu' alahiwasalam) said:  "balligho anny wa law aya" – "tell people something about me, even if 't were one verse".  Help people see and follow the right path. Be a sign that speaks about Islam without even saying a word. Let your actions speak. The Quran says:  "Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to Allah and works righteousness and says I am one of those who bow down in Islam" (Quran: 41, 33)   Be a son. Be a son who is kind and merciful to his parents. Be a son who is patient, understanding and grateful for his parents' endless care and love. Be a son who deserves a parent's du'a for guidance, forgiveness and blessings.   Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala said: Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. (Quran: 17, 23)   Furthermore, Abu Huraira reported that a person came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Who among the people is most deserving of a fine treatment from my hand? He said: Your mother. He again said: Then who (is the next one)? He said: Again it is your mother (who deserves the best treatment from you). He said: Then who (is the next one)? He (the Holy Prophet) said: Again, it is your mother. He (again) said: Then who? Thereupon he said: Then it is your father.   Our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) said in another Hadith: the most actions beloved to Allah are:   1. Salah on time 2. Being good and dutiful to one's parents and 3. Jihad fee sabeel Allah   Be a brother. Be a loving brother; care for your sisters. Drive them instead of letting them walk or use the subway... accompany them instead of letting them go alone. Be a "mixture" of kindness, love, and understanding. Be the one a sister looks up to for advice or help. Be the one she confides in. Teach her and help her be the best Muslimah she can be, but be careful not to scold her or be angry at her, for this way you push her away. The Prophet (Salallaahu' alahiwasalam) said: "La tagdab wa laka al Jannah" - "Do not be angry and you will have the Jannah." So don't be angry when she mistakes, she is a human being.   Be a husband. Love your wife. Teach her and help her. Educate her and appreciate her efforts and work.  Be her teacher and advisor, for Allah will hold you accountable for her. Treat her with respect and love as an equal for the prophet (Salallaahu' alahiwasalam) ) continuously urged you: "Be kind (nice) to women."   And lastly...Be a father. Be a role model for your sons and daughters. Be the hero they look up to. Be the one who "shows" instead of "tells" them what is right or wrong. Be the model that your daughter will look up to when seeking a husband. Be the man your son will want to be.   Be a Muslim and be all that. Be the one to take your loved ones with you onto the path of Allah. Be the guardian and soldier who will protect your loved ones, your home and the Ummah from the tricks of the evil Satan.   Be a Man.  Be a man with all the qualities and meanings that are encompensated within the word 'Man'.   In one of his khutbas, my beloved syaikh said that "the criteria for determining manliness are not only in terms of material well-being, like good looks, physical agility, material success, but also in terms of excellent virtues and good conduct expressed in good deeds."   So Be a Man. I asked for Wisdom......... And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar

MARKETPLACE

---

Yahoo! Groups users, check out this limited time offer from Blockbuster! Rent DVDs free for a month!

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

Visit Your Group

Yahoo! Groups

Home Improvement

Learn and share

do-it-yourself tips.

Popular Y! Groups

Is your group one?

Check it out and

see.

Y! Groups blog

The place to go

to stay informed

on Groups news!

.

__,_._,___

--
'Umar bin 'Abd Al- 'Aziz said: "None can reach the state of taqwa until he possesses neither actions nor words that can be exposed to his embarrassment, either in this world or the Hereafter," and he was once asked: "When does the worshipper reach the peak of taqwa?" So he replied,: "If he puts all the thoughts and desires in his heart on a plate and then wandered around in the market, he should not feel ashamed of anything there." [Min Akhlaq As-Salaf; p 56]

updated rotation

Jhu brothers are trying to share knowledge with each other and also stay connected to each other through this blog, inshallah. Nabil-->Gerald-->Omair-->Sam-->Sameer-->Abad-->Shamim-->Ibraheem-->Moktar-->Bilal-->Zain-->Javed-->Azim-->Safi--> Imad-->Usman-->Nurain-->Arif-->Yusuf-->Nabil-->REPEAT

Salam from Nabil

Assalamu Alaikom brothers,

 

Hope all is well. Sorry for the delay. I'm missing you brothers. Chicago was a lot of fun, alhamdulliah. From rowing to IV ping pong, Chicago was too much fun. Imad, thanks for hosting us, bro. May Allah reward you and your family for your hospitality and  generosity. Ameen!  I'm looking forward to our next trip, iA.

 

I wanted to welcome our new JHUMA alumuni to our group, Moktar, Omair, Javed, Arif, and Abad. It will be nice to hear from you in the upcoming weeks. Please see the end of the email for the rotation schedule.

 

School-wise, I'm not taking any classes this month and will resume in July, iA.  In terms of work, I've been coming up to Boston for the last couple of weeks and will be working here till the end of this month, iA. It has been a lot of grunt work, but alhamdullilah, the work has given me different perspectives. Family-wise, a lot of my extended family (from New Zealand, Kuwait, Cali, etc) have been visiting our home and is been nice spending time with them.  Besides that, its been same ol. 

 

Please keep me in your prayers and iA, I will do the same. May Allah protect us from Shaitan's whispers and always give us peace of heart in this life and the next. Ameen!

 

The following hadith gives me a lot of hope and comfort. May Allah help us become closer servants. Ameen!

Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said:

"Allah the Almighty has said: 'Whosoever acts with enmity towards a closer servant of Mine (wali), I will indeed declare war against him. Nothing endears My servant to Me than doing of what I have made obligatory upon him to do. And My servant continues to draw nearer to Me with supererogatory (nawafil) prayers so that I shall love him. When I love him, I shall be his hearing with which he shall hear, his sight with which he shall see, his hands with which he shall hold, and his feet with which he shall walk. And if he asks (something) of Me, I shall surely give it to him, and if he takes refuge in Me, I shall certainly grant him it.'"

[Al-Bukhari]

 

 Be safe and take care of yourselves. Gerald, you are up on the blog.

Peace,

Nabil

 

P.S. For more info on the hadith: http://fortyhadith.iiu.edu.my/hadith38.htm

 

Muslim is a Brother of a Muslim

Asalamu'alaikum,

Alhumdulilah, I finally got a little more challenging tasks to do at work to keep me occupied. It has been extremely hot, in the 90's this weekend, even up here in Vermont...Just toe let you know that it does get hot up here...

The following hadith narrated in both Bukhari and Muslim explain some ways of dealing with fellow Muslims that have a huge reward both in this life and the next:

"A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim - he does not wrong him nor does he forsake him when he is in need; whosoever is fulfilling the needs of his brother, Allah is fulfilling his needs; whosoever removes distress from a believer, Allah removes from him a distress from a distressful aspect of the Day of Resurrection; and whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults on the Day of Resurrection."

How should Muslims Eat?

Assalamu alaikum,

I'm taking my final exams for 1st year med school this week, alhamdulillah!

So for all you guys, I'll share with you a video I recently made on "The Muslim Smile Diet",
which goes over How Muslims should eat.

Based primarily on 1 Ayah, and 1 Hadith:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBfL25WKMy8

It should take about 10 minutes to watch the video, so Enjoy!

Salam,
-Safi