Ramadhan advice - video (Sh. Hamza Y.)

Please note: This is a re-post of a previous post to serve as a refresher for myself and others. 


Bismillah.



Salam alaik & Greetings to all !

So I'm sure everyone is aware that Ramadhan is just around the corner and here is a very nice and touching video I'd like to share with all so that it's not only me who benefits from such a wonderful talk by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. (Thanks to a dear friend of mine who's so kind to share it with me.) Note: The beginning might not be that appealing but bear with the intro cos the talk gets more and more interesting. Trust me! HIS MESSAGE IS AWESOME!

Do listen to it. It's just ~12 mins. I'm sure you can spare 12 minutes even if you're the most busy person in the world, be it president of the States, busy studying for exam, etc. Seriously, if you don't make time, you'll forever be the I-don't-have-time person. Time and tide waits for no man. Remember, make time for Him and He'll make time for you in return. =) You never know when He'll strip you off your life. Life is fragile.

P/s: Love your God more than any other thing/creation in this Dunya. Live your life as best as you can in this temporary world, for Him and for Jannah aka Paradise! =)

WAllahua'lam.

Ramadhan 2012 (AQ mentions fasting)

Note: This is a re-post of a previous post to serve as a reminder for myself and others.

Bismillah.

Just to wish all my brothers and sisters ramadhan al-Mubarak and happy fasting. May we all make the most out of this month of mercy, barakah(blessings&rewards), opportunities, etc.

(Al-Baqarah,2:183-186)

[183] O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous - 

[184] (Fasting for) a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey (during them) - then an equal number of days (are to be made up). And upon those who are able (to fast, but with hardship) - a ransom/fidyah (as substitute) of feeding a poor person (each day). And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew. 

[185] The month of Ramadhan (is that) in which was revealed in the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights (the new moon of) the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and (wants) for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that (to) which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. 

[186] And when My servants ask you, (O Muhammad), concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation(prayers/du'as) of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me (by obedience) and believe in Me that they may be (rightly) guided.

WAllahua'lam.

Time management

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum & Greetings!

Alhamdulillah. Praise be to Allah SWT for such a wonderful day.

I have to say that I am very happy for today's opportunity to go for Friday prayers as I have not gone for it in such a long time. Yes, it is unfortunate but I don't have much of a choice either. Attending it this afternoon definitely brought joy to me and enriched my soul all over again. Seeing so many brothers and sisters, all of us walking towards prayer in congregation. MASHALLAH, what a blessing it is for me to witness this! As if "refueling" the spirit of my Imaan. It also reminded me of why I love Islam so very much, how I fell in love with it. Alhamdulillah. Such rejuvenation and  refreshing feeling, ahh, THANK YOU GOD! =)

Thus, I would like to share the main point of today's khutbah regarding time management.

Always remind ourselves and others to NOT WASTE our:

TIME
ENERGY
RESOURCES
BOUNTY
ETC.

Manage time wisely with beneficial stuff. Support it with our tongue and actions. Ask yourself, do you spend too much time online? And if you do, what kind of stuff are you browsing or doing? Keeping up with world news, scientific discoveries, finance updates, philosophical ebook/articles, iQuran, etc.? Or is it more of social networking, blogging, gaming, movies, drama, etc.? Do you spend too much time in front of TV or doing sports/gym/outdoors? Remember, everything must be done in moderation. Too much of ANYTHING is usually unhealthy for anybody. BALANCE IS THE KEY - one of my favourite phrase.

(And yes, you CAN be your own judge. Are you happy with your answers? You get the drift =))

Keep in mind a majority of those who spend a lot of their time in the remembrance of Allah (SWT) are usually the ones with most peaceful and sound heart.

Nobody's asking you to sacrifice your career or interests to do this. You just got to plan and prioritise well. You will inshaAllah be able to spend time for Him and also have time for your work and other hobbies.

Well, that's in a nutshell of the khutbah. I enjoyed the jemaah prayers. Feels so good!! *Happy*

WAllahua'lam


P/s: Those interested in a planner (taskinator from productive muslim site), you can download it from the folder found at the top of this blog page. Hope it helps some of you out there to better organise your events.

Every soul shall taste death.. perhaps tomorrow?

Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your full compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So whoever is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, it is indeed he who has succeeded. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.

(3:1)

World's coming to an end

Bismillah.

The Hour is coming, I almost keep it from the knowledge of others so that every self can be repaid for its efforts. (Surah Ta-Ha, 20: 15)

Yusuf Ali (I quite like this version as it's more direct and simpler to comprehend for a majority of readers.)

"Verily the Hour is coming - My design is to keep it hidden - for every soul to receive its reward by the measure of its Endeavour.

So a couple of days back, Sunday at the break of dawn, if I'm not mistaken, I heard some intensely horrible news on CBC channel, really struck me and my thoughts traveled at lightning speed (hm, maybe a tad much of a drama queen here) right to the moment where I was seated at RIS Knowledge Retreat during one of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's slot; the time he played slides of images of things and events which are signs of End of the Day. One of it being plane crashes that will occur without even the slightest idea of how it could have happened or what caused it, etc.

"A commercial airliner crashed into a densely populated neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest city on Sunday, killing all 153 people on board and others on the ground in the worst air disaster in nearly two decades for the troubled nation.

The cause of the Dana Air crash in Lagos remained unknown Sunday night,..."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/06/03/nigeria-plane-crash.html

Inna lillahi wa ina ilaihi raji un. So many people lost their lives. These are loved ones of some people out there. ='( 

What Shaykh HY pointed out is right. We should realise that Signs have been sent unto us since a long time ago with disasters taking place literally everywhere and sometimes at locations that doesn't even make sense.  (As in, geographically speaking, certain phenomena just ain't suppose to occur at some places YET it does happen) SubhanAllah, such is His Power!! Heed it, men.

What are they awaiting but for the Hour to come upon them suddenly? Its Signs have already come. What good will their Reminder be to them when it does arrive?  (Surah Muhammad: 18)

WAllahua'lam

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's Poetry for the Prophet

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum w.b.t. and Greetings to all,

Here's something I came across on a friend's FB profile that I'd like to share with all as it is very beautifully written and structured. Oh-so-touching and mashaAllah, it's definitely worth your precious time, iAllah.

Part 2/2: Ever wondered what's in store after death?

Bismillah.

The following is continuation to the previous post. Sorry for the delay, been going through some hectic and troubled times and haven't been online much lately. Hope you guys benefit from this post. Oh, and please  constantly take care of your health, never take it for granted. Thank Him always for the good health He's given unto you.

_______________________________________________________________

Q: If during the barzakh dah mula (begins) punishments and kesenangan (ease/comfort) for the non-righteous and righteous respectively, does this indicate that they've sort of been "pre-judged" even before judgment day comes? If that's the case, during barzakh, this ppl has been determined as a believer/non-believer? Hm, and they still need to go through judgment day later?


A: Before I answer your question… (NOTE THAT PRINCIPLE III & IV IS MOST IMPORTANT TO OUR DISCUSSION, but I would like to walk through all four principles)

A few basic principles about judgement:  

PRINCIPLE I: God is just and you will be judged according to your own deeds

In Islam, the concept of judgement is very simple, clear, and logical. Just like in your exam, you start with a blank answer sheet, you’ve answered (you lived), you’ve submitted your paper (i.e. technically you die, but you will see later how death is not your ‘final answer’), you will be marked only for your own paper (your own deeds). This is what you will expect from a just examiner right? You aren’t going to be asked about Adam’s paper that starts with -100 mark suddenly (original sin in Christianity), or Muhammad, Jesus, your classmate needs to sacrifice himself to give you extra bonus mark or anything like that.

Firstly, the most basic principle is:

God is not unjust to His slaves. 22:10

So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it. 99:7

And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it. 99:8

That no burdened person (with sins) shall bear the burden (sins) of another, and that man can have nothing but what he does (good or bad)  53:39

God burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned 2:286

So the very basic principle is God will judge us justly (If He isn’t just, He isn’t God)  according to our deed, the only thing we worry about is our own deed, not if God screws up, because He won’t.

PRINCIPLE II: No one enters Paradise by his deeds alone

Principle I sounds great, everything is just and straightforward. But.. But.. this world is not objective, human life is complex, it’s not like this one deed = one pahala (reward) for everyone, different circumstances may make one deed harder for a person but easier for another person etc etc. So while God is just, and will never be unjust to His slave, this concept of just is not a mathematical objective scale of marking, but rather a holistic marking that considers all aspects of human life’s complexity and our relationship with Him:

The Prophet (salAllahu `alaihi wa sallam) said: "No one of you will enter Paradise by his deeds alone."

They asked, "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?"

He said, "Not even me, unless Allah covers me with His Grace and Mercy"

We will judged by all our deeds very justly, but He knows our life is more complex than just good deeds and bad deeds, and He will take that into account. For example in the hadith:

In the narration of Al-Bukhari, the Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said

"Once a dog was going round the well and was about to die out of thirst. A prostitute of Banu Israel happened to see it. So she took off her leather sock and lowered it into the well. She drew out some water and gave the dog to drink. She was forgiven on account of her action".

It is understood that the prostitute is forgiven and admitted to jannah (not sure if another narration explicitly stated enter jannah). So life is complex, God is merciful, we strive to be the best.