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.

__._,_.___

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--
'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

Surat An-Nur

Salaams all,

InshaAllah, you are all doing well. I've been very busy the last few months with work. I've just completed my 7th month at my current job (at a law firm), and things are finally starting to make sense (you'd think that after 3 years of law school, I would have learned some of this stuff, but really, I didn't). It's been tough, but inshaAllah, it will continue to get better. Unfortunately, I won't be able to meet up with those of you going to chicago (I have to attend a wedding that same weekend that I can't miss). But for those of you who are going - have a great time. I'd like to share a verse with you all from Surat An-Nur, which I thought was very beautiful:

الله نور السماوات والأرض مثل نوره كمشكاة فيها مصباح المصباح في زجاجة الزجاجة كأنها كوكب دري يوقد من شجرة مباركة زيتونة لا شرقية و لا غربية يكاد زيتها يضيء و لو لم تمسسه نار نور على نور يهدي الله لنوره من يشاء و يضرب الله الأمثال للناس و الله بكل شيء عليم

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east (i.e. neither it gets sun-rays only in the morning) nor of the west (i.e. nor it gets sun-rays only in the afternoon, but it is exposed to the sun all day long), whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of everything.

The tafsir on this verse is pretty detailed and you can find it here if you want a better understanding: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ABewley/nur.html
theres also additional commentary here:
http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=659

Azim

Verifying information

Salaams,

Sorry for the late posting, I'm in the middle of a pretty busy family
medicine rotation. And yes, I know family medicine is supposed to be
relaxed...but this guy never stops. But as busy as it's been, I'm
really learning alot and realizing why I actually went to medical
school hahaha. For all those in earlier years...trust me, all that
studying actually does pay off. Unfortunately, I won't be able to
make the latest Chicago trip since I have an exam that Friday, and I
will need to travel on Sunday. I hope all those that go have an
awesome time. I found a verse of the Quran that I liked and would
like to share with the group:

"And follow not (O man i.e., say not, or do not or witness not, etc.)
that of which you have no knowledge. Verily! The hearing, and the
sight, and the heart, of each of those you will be questioned (by
Allah)." 17:36

Take care,
Zain

Akhlaq (etiquettes)

Assalamu Alaikum brothers. I hope you are all doing well and hope to see as many of you as possible in Chicago. My hadith this cycle focuses on akhlaq or ettiquettes.

· Islam & Migration: A true Muslim is the one from whom other Muslims are safe from his tongue & hand & the true immigrant is the one who migrated from what Allah prevented him to do. (Bukhari)

May Allah give us the taufeeq to follow this advise. Ameen.

-Shamim

Fear Allah wherever you may be ...

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh, brothers,

InshaAllah all is well with everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't see more of you guys when I visited NJ/NY/Baltimore a few weeks back, but inshaAllah, we will have an opportunity to meet up in the near future.

As for me, alhamdulillah, I have no complaints. Maryam is progressing, alhamdulillah... she now stands when holding on to something, and, mashaAllah, she said her first word a little over a week ago... it was "baba" =) (alhamdulillah, I was training her to say baba for the last few months, and by the grace of Allah, it worked, mashaAllah). We've been trying to get her to say "Allah" as well, but mashaAllah, I think the "l" sound is a bit more advanced than the b's and m's :). Anyways, below is the hadeeth I would like to share. Please forgive me for being a little late on the post. As always, please keep me and my family in your duas, and please don't hesitate to give any naseehah.

Jazaakumullahu khayran.
-Ahmad

http://fortyhadith.iiu.edu.my/hadith18.htm

Hadith #18 from Imam An-Nawawi's 40 Hadith:

Abu Dhar Jundub bin Junadah and Abu Abdul Rahman Mu’adh bin Jabal, radiyallahu anhuma, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said:

“Fear Allah wherever you may be; follow up an evil deed with a good one which will wipe (the former) out, and behave good-naturedly towards people.”

[Al-Tirmidhi relates it, saying: It is a good (hasan) Tradition. In some copies he says: It is a good and genuine (hasan and sahih) Hadith.]

Assalamu Alaikom

Assalamu Alaiokm brothers,

 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other)). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).

~ Qur'an 49:13

 

Hope all is well with everyone. Things are cool, alhamdullilah. I need to take better care of my classes (please make Dua). I'm still working from home on the Maine project.

 

Family is fine, alhamdullilah. It looks my brother is probably going to Stony Brook. He didn't get into most of the IVs, and got waitlisted at a couple of schools . However, he has a full ride at Stony, alhamdulillah, and this is mashAllah, a nice option. Please keep him and my family in your prayers. May Allah always protect our family members from shaytan's whispers and give them peace of heart in this life and the next. Ameen!.

 

It was nice meeting up with Sam and Shamim last wknd and iA, I'm planning on going to Hopkins for the undergradate graduation (May 22nd). Let me know if anyone is interested in coming as well (hopefully, I'll roll down with Imad).

 

Also, we need to figure out our summer getaway. Any ideas for place/time?

 

Talk to you all soon, iA. Hope your brothers benefit from the ayah and advice below. May Alllah bless us all with righteous, beautiful spouses. Ameen!

 

A man goes to a Sheikh after the birth of his first child, seeking advice on how to raise him properly, and as a good Muslim. The Sheikh's response took him with surprise. He told him, "You are too late." "What do you mean?" the man asked. "My son is just a day old..." The Sheikh replied, "You are too late. Your child has already come into this world. The time to worry about your children is before you get married...when you are out to choose your wife.

 

Peace,

Nabil