Al-Hikam Al-'ata'iyya: The Book of Wisdom (Islamica)

Islamic Magazime continues with its "Al-Hikam Al-'ata'iyya: The Book of Wisdom" section by Shaykh Nuh Keller.

This issue deals with his explanation of:

APHORISM 4: Relieve yourself of planning: what Another has already done for you do not do yourself.

and

APHORISM 5: Your striving for what is ensured to you and neglect of what is sought from you show the blindness of your spiritual insight.

Praying for the Deceased (SunniPath)

In light of my last post, the following excerpt seems fitting:

Who can pray for the deceased? - SunniPath

Imam Ghazali mentions the following story: “Said Bashshar ibn Ghalib al-Najrani, ‘I once saw Rabi`a al-`Adawiya, the worshipper [al-`abida] in my sleep, it having been my custom to pray for her abundantly. ‘Oh Bashshar ibn Ghalib,’ she told me. ‘Your gifts come to me covered with silken cloths upon salvers of light.’ ‘How should that be?’ I asked, and she replied, ‘Thus are the prayers of the living believers: when they offer a prayer for the deceased and are granted a response, that prayer is set upon salvers of light and covered with silken cloths, after which it is brought to the one who has died with the words, ‘This is So-and-so’s gift to you.’’”

Imam Ghazali continues, ‘The Emissary of God (May God bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘The dead man in his grave is like a drowning man shouting for help, as he waits for a prayer to come to him from his father, his brother or his friend. When it comes it is more beloved to him than the world and all it contains. Indeed, the gifts of the living to the dead are prayer and the petitioning of God for His forgiveness.’ This should serve to remind us of two things. Firstly, that while we are alive and thus not as a drowning man depending on the prayers of another, we should embrace Islam in every facet of life, for in our graves we will be alone with nothing but our deeds. Secondly, we should remember to pray for our deceased ancestors, teachers, friends, martyrs, and all Muslims and pray that the same is done for us one day.

Rabi`a once said, “You are but a set of numbered days. When one day goes, a part of you goes as well. And with the disappearance of the parts, the whole is nearly lost as well.”

See the link for other related links...


Wassalam.

Dedicated to the Memory of Brother Daulat Shah, a Recital of the 30th Juz by Shaykh Ali Hani (SunniPath)

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.

We are Allah's and to Him we return.

This recording of the 30^th Part of the Qur'an, recited by Shaykh Ali Hani, is dedicated to the memory of Brother Daulat Shah, the husband of Sister Huma Shah, a key member of the SunniPath Team.

May Allah Most High grant Brother Daulat the highest of Paradise, and grant his family and loved one's patience and strength in dealing with this loss.

And Allah alone gives success, and to Him belongs all praise.

AHM: Spiritual Life in Ottoman Turkey and Contentions 9 (Mas'ud Khan)

Sidi Mas'ud Khan has put up two new articles by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (May Allah preserve him and continue to benefit by him):

Spiritual Life in Ottoman Turkey and

Contentions 9

Some especially beautiful contentions of this new set:

• Our patience is the awaiting of delights for us. His patience is the awaiting of delights for us.
• Be a good Muslim and you won't want to lie. Be a very good Muslim and you won't need to lie.
• We have not grown out of the Shari‘a, we have shrunk out of it.
• Religion desires to change the age. The age desires to change religion.
• The reading of Scripture is sufficient; but we are not sufficient readers.
• Incarnation: the finite can contain the Infinite.
• To know the saint is to know the age.
• They are not the solution; God is the solution.
• Each gender was created only that the other might give thanks.
• We can curse, or we can be discursive.
• A man who would marry a feminist is not worth obeying.
• Praying through someone is not praying to someone. Praying because someone is praying is praying to someone.
• Your property belongs to you if you belong to God. If you belong to Satan you belong to your property.
• Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is not Israel.
• The cause of modern panic is non-referentiality.
• ‘Progress and catastrophe are two sides of the same coin'. (Hannah Arendt)
• Fun is serious.
• The Alone wishes to save us from loneliness. ‘Come to the prayer!'
• Those that are wedded to the science of this generation may be orphaned in the next.
• Islam liberates because it is rooted in our natures.
• Which is the bigger prison: Islam in the eyes of modernity, or modernity in the eyes of Islam?

Subhan'Allah, Shaykh Murad is so awesome! Masha'Allah. May Allah fill his year long sabbatical in Turkey with much, much barakah and tawfiq. Amin.

Depend on Allah

Whoever remains observant of Allah shall find Allah creating for him a way out from every difficulty and providing for him from sources unimaginable. Anyone who depends on Allah shall find the Lord to be sufficient for him; for Allah's decrees decidedly come to pass. Allah has set a measure for all things. - Qur'an 65:3

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

Seek Forgiveness

Your Mercy, O Lord!

My people! Seek forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him repentant. He will cause the sky to rain abundance on you and will add to your strength. Do not go back to transgression! - Qur'an 11:52

A man went back to transgressing after he had sincerely asked forgiveness of God and swore never to sin again. "How will God forgive me this time?" he asked in despair.

A heavenly voice responded, "You obeyed Me and I made amends for you, then you abandoned Me and I indulged you, and now that you returned to Me I shall receive you." - Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub

Contraction and Expansion (Spiritual Tendencies)

Contraction and Expansion

Seldom is the servant free from these two states that come on us alternately as the succession of night and day, and God requires of you an attitude of servitude with respect to both....

[Click on the link to read it all]

Hanafi and Maliki Fiqh of Ramadan

I might be a little late on this, but those who don't already know, Zaytuna Institute has put up Hanafi and Maliki Fiqh of Ramadan.

Maliki Fiqh of Ramadan with Sidi Rami Nsour: Part 1 and Part 2

Hanafi Fiqh of Ramadan with Imam Tahir Anwar: Part 1 and Part 2

Shaykh Nuh Live This Saturday

On Saturday October 15th, 2005, tune into www.radioawaz.com or 107.2fm (if you're in Glasgow) between 10pm-12am (That's 5pm-7pm EST). You should be able to listen to Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller's naseeha, recording LIVE in Glasgow.

Also, Sidi Mustafa Shaheed Davis from the Emirates will give an in depth look what guidance media is about.

Others shaykhs that could be on this Saturday is Imam Zaid Shakir (TBC)
and Sidi Usama Canon (outreach worker at zaytuna)(TBC).

Future Speakers Include:
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf,
Shaykh Muhammad Ninowy,
Shaykh Ahmad Ba bikir
Azhur Usman
Muhammad Shareef
Shaykh Abdullah al Kadi
and many more....

Kalam and Islam - Shaykh Nuh Keller (Islamica)

Kalam and Islam - Shaykh Nuh Keller (Islamica)

Most of us have met dedicated and otherwise intelligent Muslims who have made themselves “‘aqida police” to confront the rest of us with their issues in tenets of faith. We are told that this group, or that group, or most Muslims, or we ourselves are kafirs or “non-Muslims” on grounds that are less than familiar, but found in some manual of Islamic creed. Before going to hell on a trick question, or sending someone else there, many Muslims today would do well to cast a glance at the history of traditional Islamic theology (kalam), and the real creedal reasons that make one a Muslim or non-Muslim. Nuh Keller examines them in the following address given at the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan

Found via Seeker's Digest

Knowledge...

Mu'aadh ibn Jabal (radi'Allaahu'anhu) said:

"Knowledge is a comforting friend in times of loneliness, it is the best companion during travels, and it is the inner friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is the discerning proof of what is right and what is wrong, and it is the positive force that will help you surmount the trials of comfort, as well as those of hardships. Knowledge is your most powerful sword against your enemy, and finally, it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close companions."

Mawlana Rumi: Do Not Lose Hope

"One must not despair of God, for hope is the first step on the
road to salvation. Even if you do not travel the road, at least
keep the road open. Do not say that you have gone astray.
Take the straight way, and there will be no crookedness.
Straightness is the quality of Moses' staff; the kinks are in the
staves of the sorcerers: when straightness comes it devours all
the others. If you have done evil you have done it to yourself.
How could the evil you have done ever reach Him? When a bird
perches on a mountaintop and then flies away, what has the
mountain gained or lost? When you straighten yourself out,
nothing else remains. Do not abandon hope."

-Jalal al-Din Rumi, "Signs of the Unseen", trans. Wheeler Thackston, pp. 9-10.

Islamic Relief - South Asia Earthquake Appeal (Seeker's Digest)

Islamic Relief - South Asia Earthquake Appeal (Seeker's Digest)

South Asian Earthquake

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
Peace and Blessings be Upon our Master Muhammad, His Family, Companions
and all those who follow him until the Day of Judgement

Assalamu'alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu,

"An earthquake measuring at least 7.6 on the Richter scale caused massive devastation across a swathe of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan."

I spoke to relatives who said nothing could be heard during the quake, but the recitation of the shahadah by school children, workers, and elders alike. Subhan'Allah. May Allah have Mercy on all those who passed from this world during this month of Ramadan, most of whom were likely fasting.

This is one of many disasters that have occured this year. La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. We could easily be among the victims. Let us make the most of each moment Allah grants us. Give priority to 'ibaadah over work, school....

Please recite Fatiha for all those who have felt the impact of the quake.

The South Asian Earthquake:

World, Muslim Countries Offer Help to Quake-hit Asia

Diary: S Asia quake aid worker

Ulfa Aid have launched a live Emergency Appeal for the South Asia Earthquake Victims

Reminders to us all:

When the Generous appears with the Name Avenger

From Some: Wisdom...

Everyone who is taken by death asks for more time, while everyone who still has time makes excuses for procrastination.
[Ali radi Allah anhu]

Wassalam,
Salikah

One Day Left! SunniPath Fall Registration Ends Sunday October 9th!

SunniPath is an excellent means of attaining Sacred Knowledge from the comfort of your home/office, at the time best for you. If you haven't already registered, you have one day left! Another means of great reward this Ramadan.

SunniPath Fall Registration Ends Sunday October 9th!

SP Rocks

We have a distant journey ahead of us and few provisions...

From Ibn Rajab's Lata'if al-Ma`arif (p342) to help with our nightly vigils...

The wife of Habib Abu Muhammad a student of al-Hasn al-Basri would say to him at night:

The night has departed. We have a distant journey ahead of us and few provisions. The caravans of the Righteous have traveled before us while we remained behind:

O, you who sleep at night: how long do you slumber?
Arise my love, the appointment has approached.
Take part of the night and of its duration
[for] worship so long as the slumberers have not dozed. Whoever slept til his night has ended
has not reached the camp nor endeavored.
Tell those with minds, endowed with god-fearing,
for you the heavy weight of examination is appointed.

[From the SunniPath Archives]

Canadian Muslims Against Terrorism

Brother Sheik of Spiritual Tendencies created this...and the Canadian in me could not help but post it on my blog...


Barak Allahu fi kum.

Ramadan Mubarak

Assalamu'alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu Readers,

Now that it's officially Maghrib in my corner of Allah's beautiful earth, I would like to wish you all...

Ramadan Mubarak

May Allah make this month a means of much good for our eternal states, drawing us closer to our Creator, Mighty and Majestic is He, and showering us with blessings unabound. Amin.

Please remember this needy servant in your blessed du'as.

Wassalam,
Salikah

Free SunniPath Course: The Legal and Spiritual Dimensions of Fasting

SunniPath Academy is again offering its *excellent* FREE course on the Fiqh of Fasting:

The Legal and Spiritual Dimensions of Fasting

I highly recommend people take advantage of this wonderful offer by the brothers and sisters at SunniPath - May Allah reward them and bless this endeavour to spread Sacred Knowledge.

Note: To log in all that is required is a SunniPath email address.

30 Ramadan Thoughts (Tranquil Zone)

Tranquil Zone: 30 Ramadan Thoughts

Beautifully done. Masha'Allah.

Reciting Qur’an: Benefits & Fiqh (SunniPath)

Reciting Qur’an: Benefits & Fiqh

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, and Compassionate
May Peace and Blessings be upon the Blessed Messenger of Allah,
His Folk, Companions, and Followers Until the Day of Judgment

Realization that the Arabic Qur’an is Allah's Book, a blessing by which He guides hearts and souls, brings about the desire to want to read it. As Shaykh Faraz Rabbani says in the link below, 'there is great reward in reciting the Arabic, even if one does not understand its meanings, for these are the Words of Allah, and their aural majesty makes hearts submit reverentially.'

The Zaytuna Institute has an *excellent* section on Ramadan – full of excellent audio lessons and articles on Moon Sighting, Approaching Ramadan!

Also, Etiquette with the Quran by Sidi Musa Furber (with a Foreword by Shaykh Nuh Keller)

Please also see the following links from the SunniPath Archives:

How does reciting the Holy Quran help one? What benefit does it bring one?

Manners of handling the Holy Quran

Listening to Quran while working and taking care of children

I have a desire to memorise the Holy Quran - can you tell me benefits of doing this

When is the best time(s) to read the Qur’an each day?

Listening to Quran while studying

Prophetic Guidance Regarding the Excellence of Reciting the Qur'an (from Imam Nawawi's Gardens of the Righteous)

As an aside, A.J. Arberry's English translation is an excellent one. Finally, listening to the Qur’an whenever possible is also a means for much good, insha’Allah, and should be done as much as possible during Ramadan – for instance, when commuting or going about daily tasks.

Wassalam,
SunniPath Fiqh Team

Dala’il al-Khayrat

Dala’il al-Khayrat

Dala’il al-Khayrat, the most celebrated manual of Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in history, was composed by the Sufi, wali, Muslim scholar of prophetic descent, and baraka of Marrakesh Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 870/1465).

The Story of the Dala'il al-Khayrat

The New Definitive Edition of the Dala'il al-Khayrat

Shaykh Nuh's edition of the Dala’il al-Khayrat breathtakingly beautiful -- it's the most beautiful book I own, and has been wonderful company to me through some of the most difficult moments of my life since I came to own it. I highly recommend it.

Dala’il al-Khayrat