...And life is from Allah alone...

World's Smallest Baby

Subhan'Allah...He gives life to whomsoever He chooses...

Al-Idrisi's Map of the World

Al-Idrisi's Map of the World

According to Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Al-Idrisi, a Muslim cartographer, knowingly drew the map as what we would consider being "upside down" because he refused to have Europe be placed above Makkah. Silly? - Not really, the Europeans picked up on the connotation, too, and refused to let Africa be above them on the map! Interestingly, Shaykh Hamza mentions maps oriented in this way are still readily found in Australia.

Qur'an

Al-Qur'an

Useful..

Islamic Children's Books

Books for Muslim Children by the Islamic Foundation

Go to "Children's Books" > The "Allah gave me..." series and others...

Qur'anic Recitation...

Seeker's Digest: Qari Muhammad Siddiq al-Manshawi - Qura' Al-Qur'an :: qquran.com

Beautiful, Subhan'Allah...

DeenPort: Qasida's and Dhikr

DeenPort

Download beautiful qasidas and dhikr in the MP3.Qasida/Dhikr section.

Sustentance is from Allah...

He does not refuse sustenance to the one who speaks ill of Him. How then could He refuse sustenance to the one whose soul is overflowing with love for Him?

- Rabi'a al-Adawiyya (May Allah have mercy on her), Rabi'a the Mystic

Beyond the Lote Tree

When Ahmad passed beyond the lote tree at the boundary of Paradise, the Angel's frontier, he said, "O Gabriel, come fly with me." But Gabriel replied, "I cannot escort you. My wings beyond that point will be consumed. But the station of the pure before the Most Pure is nothing short of wonderment."

- Mawlana Rumi (may Allah have mercy on him) in his Mathnawi

Expressions of Longing for the Divine

Expressions of Longing for the Divine: The Art of Calligraphy...
Two, masha'Allah, very talented Arabic calligraphers:

Sidi Mohamed Zakariya

Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang

...illustrative of the many-fold beauty and vast expressions of Islam...Subhan'Allah.

Shukr - Islamic Clothing

Shukr Online

Great Islamic clothing.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty.” [Muslim]

And he said (Allah bless him and give him peace),
“Allah loves to see the traces of His blessings on His servants.”
[Tirmidhi]

Imam Zayn al-Din al-Razi (d. 666 AH), author of the famous dictionary Mukhtar al-Sahah, explained the essential rulings of dress in his beautiful work Tuhfat al-Muluk:

“The levels of clothing. Clothing has three levels:
1. Obligatory. This is covering one’s nakedness, and warding off the harms of heat and cold…
2. Recommended. This is wearing beautiful clothing, in order to look good and adorn oneself, displaying the blessings of Allah.
3. Prohibited. This is dressing out of haughtiness and arrogance.”
[Zayn al-Din al-Razi, Tuhftat al-Muluk, 277, Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya ed.]

And Allah alone gives success.

The Burda - Imam al-Busiri

Introducing the Burda of al-Busiri

A documentary on Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's production of Imam al-Busiri's "The Burda" or "The Poem of the Cloak", an incredibly powerful poem that is famous across the world. Includes commentary by Shaykh Hamza, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, and Daniel Abdal Hayy Moore.

Like Rain

Sidi Hakim Archuletta has studied, practiced and taught holistic medicine worldwide for the past 20 years. His practice in North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and Europe earned him the title of hakim (a sage/healer). May Allah preserve him and allow him to continue to help people heal, ameen.

Like Rain

Do we feel for the world?
If the world grieves over
our arrogance while we
project ourselves onto it
are we given then the chance
to voice the sadness of the
sea or the pain of the tree?

Do we sing for the world?

Are we the mouth for the
centuries and the groan
and drum for its years of
war and strife and peace?

Are we the eyes for the stone
the storyteller for the plains
the advocate of the races
are we the tears of the cities?

Do we cry for the world?

As we listen to the song of
the flower the wail of
the wind or the melody of
the dawn and the moon

Do they cry for us?

...read the rest of "Like Rain"...

The Bounty of Allah

Many years ago someone gave me a book for Eid called The Bounty of Allah compiled by Aneela Arshed. The book consists of an ayah and hadith/sayings of awliya for each day of the year. Arshed says she was going through an immensely difficult period in her life, searching for meaning, and each of the quotes in the book were words that moved her and helped her grow closer to Allah Most High - the Source of all peace, during that time.

This tiny book that can easily be overlooked at bookstores helped me make sense of things as a teenager, and was a means of great change for me. I return to it even today, and I never regret opening it... Insha'Allah, I will post sayings I find in the book from time to time. May Allah bless and reward her for this book...ameen.

He created me and guides me, He feeds me and nourishes me, and when I am sick, it is He who restores me to health. He will cause me to die and then will bring me back to life, and, I hope with all sincerity, He will forgive me my sins on the Day of Judgement.
- Qur'an 26:78-82

When a person calls upon the ailing, an angel proclaims, "Blessed be your journey through life, and Paradise be your final abode."
- The Prophet Muhammad, reported by Abu Hurairah, Al-Hadis, 1:286

Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli haal, All Praise is due to Allah, in every condition for His countless blessings upon us: those we are aware of and those hidden from us.

Wassalam,
Salikah

Each of Your Breaths is a Priceless Jewel...

On making the most of our lives...

"Know that no state can be sound in the presence of neglect, and no wealth useful in the presence of heedlessness. For if you abandon yourself to neglect and purposelessness, as the cattle do, and just do anything that may occur to you at any time it happens to occur to you, most of your time will be wasted. Your time is your life, and your life is your capital; it is the basis of your transactions [with God], and the means to attain everlasting felicity, in the proximity of God the Exalted. Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, and when it passes away it never returns"

- from Imam Al-Haddad's The Book of Assistance

Every Breath...In This World...

A few of the Hikam of Ibn 'Ata'illah. Among the most beautiful works we have, and from which I will often post a few lines...

Every breath you breathe emerges according to a preordained decree.

Don't think that worry and sorrow are out of place as long as you are in this world. It only brings forth what its attribute and quality demand.

Affliction is the Salt of Believers...

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, and Compassionate

Subhan'Allah. One of the awliya' said (with an analogy to meat...):

Affliction is the salt of the believer,
when the salt lacks,
the believer becomes rotten.

Oh, Sweet Patience

"Truly, it is by the Remembrance of Allah that hearts find rest."
-Qur'an, 13.28

"Seek comfort in patience and prayer; indeed it is difficult, but not for the devout, who know that they will meet their Lord and that to Him they shall return."
-Qur'an, 2:45-46

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Strange indeed are the affairs of a believer, for all their affairs are good for them. If good occurs to them, they are thankful, and it is good for them. If difficulty befalls them, they are patient, and it is good for them."

May Allah grant patience to all those enduring trials and tribulations, give them tawfiq, and the reward of Jannah, ameen.

Wassalam,
Salikah

O Lord...Give me...

Khwajah 'Abdallah Ansari, said in his Supplications (Munajat):

I live only to do Thy will,
My lips move only in praise of Thee

O Lord, whoever becometh aware of Thee
Casteth out all else other than Thee.

O Lord, give me a heart
That I may pour it out in Thanksgiving

Give me life
That I may spend it
In working for the salvation of the world.

O Lord, give me understanding
That I stray not from the path

Give me light
To avoid pitfalls.

O Lord, give me eyes
Which see nothing but Thy glory.

Give me a mind
That finds delight in Thy service.

Give me a soul
Drunk in the wine of Thy wisdom

SunniPath Academy - Winter Term

Learn the Islamic Sciences at SunniPath Academy

Fresh New Look, 14 Courses to choose from for the Winter Term. Registration is now open!

Courses Include:

• Hanafi Fiqh, Shafii Fiqh, Maliki Fiqh
• Adab of Islamic Law
• Aqidah (Islamic Beliefs)
• Hadith
• Tafsir of the Qur'an
• Fiqh of Marriage
• The Ihya 'Ulum al-Din of Imam al-Ghazali

...and New Services, too...

Music...?

Shaykh Nuh Keller answers a question on musical instruments...its impact on us...
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/qa00004456.aspx

Shaking Hands with the Opposite Gender

An excellent and timely post from Sidi Faraz Rabbani's Blog:

Answer from Shaykh Amjad Rasheed to the common modern fatwa of permissibility.

Audio: Shaking hands with someone of the opposite sex - Part I: The Fiqh
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/QA00004756.aspx

Audio: Shaking hands with someone of the opposite sex - Part II: Textual proofs supporting the prohibition
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/QA00004762.aspx

And Allah alone gives success in following the radiant example of His Beloved Messenger, the Guiding Light of Humanity, may Allah bless him and give him peace.

Listen to the Reed...

Among the most talented and blessed poets of our Ummah...

Mawlana Rumi & His Mathnawi

1. Listen to this reed how it complains:
it is telling a tale of separations.

2. Saying, "Ever since I was parted from the reed-bed,
man and woman have moaned in (unison with) my lament.

3. I want a bosom torn by severance,
that I may unfold (to such a one) the pain of love-desire.

4. Every one who is left far from his source
wishes back the time when he was united with it.

SunniPath Library

...Introducing the SunniPath Library!

Including Hadith, Daily Guidance, Excellent Articles, and Books such as Fear and Hope by Hujjatul Islam, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali...

In Praise of the Chosen One (Allah bless him and give him peace)

How noble a day,
Immortal in Time,
On which he rose forth, shining.

The desert of Makkah glowed like a bride,
With the light of the Prophet* it swelled with pride.

Light filled the Earth,
And the Heavens on High

[*Allah bless him and grant him abundant peace]

On Love Of The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) And Following His Example

Imam al-Ghazali on Time

Making the most of each moment Allah grants us...

Imam al-Ghazali on Time

“You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how to bring out the spiritual blessing (baraka) in each period.

But if you leave yourself adrift, aimlessly wandering as cattle do, not knowing how to occupy yourself at every moment, your time will be lost. It is nothing other than your life, and your life is the capital that you make use of to reach perpetual felicity in the proximity of God the Exalted.

Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like that deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens.

What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, wealth, children and friends stay behind.”

Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah have mercy on him) wrote this in his book: ‘The Beginning of Guidance’

A Start...

Assalamu'alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu,

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful & Compassionate

May Allah's blessings and peace be upon His Beloved Messenger Muhammad, and his folk, companions, and followers.

Insha'Allah a place to share things of benefit to Seekers.

Wassalam,
Salikah