A Tranquil Heart

Standing by the window everyday during Maghrib & Isha Jamaa’ah has brought about a lot of changes in my life. I kept wondering what it was that got me glued to looking down at the Masjid; its a different sight every single day.

What catches my eye is different people coming to the Masjid from all four corners, for some the Masjid is just a few steps away, while some have to walk 3-4 minutes. Little kids as young as 6 years old run towards the Masjid to catch the Jama’ah. Its amazing how people leave their comfort zones and come out to pray. Everytime i watch them, my heart melts and I truly make dua from the bottom of my heart at times that may Allah grant them all Jannah without accountability! What about the 6 year old kids running to catch the prayer? Well hats off to their parents for their amazing upbringing and instilling the importance of Jama’ah Salah in them. Indeed this is “Falaah-Success“

Its not just people who were sitting at home, that come out to pray, the Muslims driving by, stop their cars on hazard light and rush to catch prayer. I am sure they were all heading back home tired or out for some work, but not delaying prayer and giving priority to Jama’ah over everything else is something worth praising.

And the best part of all, for me, since i usually pray at home, is listening to the verses recited, it boosts my Eemaan! And subhanAllah, most of the times the verses recited are apt for my situation, it just feels like Allah is talking to me. Makes my heart content and keeps me grounded. So for the ladies, doesn’t mean that if the men should pray in congregation, so we can easily delay our Salaah’s at home! Please pray on time and focus on the verses being recited for benefit in sha Allah.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “A man’s Salat in congregation is twenty-five times more rewarding than his Salat at home or in his shop, and that is because when he performs his Wudu’ properly and proceeds towards the mosque with the purpose of performing Salat in congregation, he does not take a step without being raised a degree (in rank) for it and having a sin remitted for it, till he enters the mosque. When he is performing Salat, the angels continue to invoke Blessings of Allah on him as long as he is in his place of worship in a state of Wudu’. They say: `O Allah! Have mercy on him! O Allah! Forgive him.’ He is deemed to be engaged in Salat as long as he waits for it.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

May Allah make our hearts steadfast on His deen and may He make us from amongst those who are the first and foremost in His obedience.

Take a U-Turn

Imagine you are driving on a road, and midway you realized that you were on the wrong road.

What made you realize that you were going wrong? Possibilities:

• Signs on the road
• Your intelligence told you
• Someone in your car tells you

What would you do? Possibilities:

• Take a U-turn
• Stop in the middle and stay there regretting

What is the best way to deal with the situation? U-TURN!!!

Similarly, in our lives, when we make mistakes, we should all take a U-Turn and this is known as TAWBAH.

“Allah spreads out His hand at night to accept the repentance of  the one who sinned during the day, and He spreads out His hand by day to accept the repentance of  the one who sinned during the night, (and that will continue) until the sun rises from the west.”  [Muslim, 2759]

If you were never on that road, how would you have taken the turn? “Ever son of Adam sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent.” [Tirmidhi] Tawbah is action based and not merely sitting and uttering “Astaghfirullah.” So how should one make tawbah?

Prerequisites of tawbah

1. Realize that you were wrong
2. Utter words of repentance (e.g astagfirullah, duas of repentance)
3. Detachment from that act (you cant be on that same wrong road driving and repeatedly saying ‘sorry’ ‘sorry’ and keep driving in the same wrong direction)
4. Fix the wrong, reform. You cannot stop the car on that road, need to turn.

“The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance [or carelessness] and then repent soon after. It is those to whom Allah will turn in forgiveness, and Allah is ever Knowing and Wise” [Surah An Nisaa, Ayah 17].

Leaving a particular sin may not be easy for an individual and Allah knows what you go through in that tug of war between right and wrong. But sometimes we need to trip in order to rise above. Allah is full of Hikmah.

“Indeed, Allah is more happy with the repentance of His slave than a man who stops in a barren, desolate land; with him he has his riding animal. He then goes to sleep. When he wakes up, [he realizes that] his mount is gone. He searches for it until he is on the verge of dying. He then says, ‘I will return to the place wherein I lost it, and I will die there.’ He went to that place, and he was then overcome by sleep. When he woke up, his mount was [standing] right beside his head: on it was his food, his drink, his provisions, and the things he needed. Allah is more happy with the repentance of his believing slave than the aforementioned man when he finds his mount and his provisions.” [Al-Bukhari, 6308]

Using Logic in the 21st Century

“Everything is logic based, if its not, then it does not exist.”

What do you think?

Does being older make one better than the younger?

Does being more educated make one better than the less educated?

Does having more money make one better than one who has less?

No, No & No.

Lets go 1400+ years back and see what happened:

“…I am better than he; You created me from Fire and him from Clay.” [Al Araaf, 12]

Ahaa!! Here is Iblees presenting logic to Allah SWT! Who is he trying to have a scientific molecular discussion with?!

Don’t we play such games today too? We try to reason out the commands set by Allah for us, trying to use logic: “I dont get it“, “this is not applicable today…” easily falling into the tricks of Satan.

Or getting sucked into the “I am better than he..” attitude.

Islam came to break the above attitude. In terms of who is better is determined by the level of Eemaan & Taqwa NOT money, status or power SubhanAllah. In terms of logic, Allah knows much much better than we do, so if He commands something, we need to submit.

Allah could have spoken back to Iblees and presented logic too but what was His response?:

“Allah said: “Get down from here”" [Al Araaf, 13] He was thrown OUT of Paradise for the above 2 traits that we are in today.

Anas said that the Prophet (saw) said: “When Allah created Adam, He left him for a while as long as He wanted him to be.  Iblis went around him and when he found him hollow, he knew that he was a creature who could not restrain (itself).”  (Sahih Muslim)

May Allah open our doors to understand this powerful tool of Satan.

Empty pockets vs Loaded pockets

As i sit and wait in my bus daily during the Dhuhr Salaah after class, i notice a change in feeling as I look outside. It is the call, “Hayya alal Falaah…Hayya alal Falaah” magnetically pulling Muslims to the Masjid to offer their Salaah in Jamaa’ah.

The beauty of this “Hayya alal Falaah” is that it brings the rich, the middle class and those who have empty pockets together for one purpose; and that is Falaah-Success!

What startled me recently was watching many labor workers walk to the Masjid in Majority to the call of their Rabb. They have the least in their pockets. So what makes them majority in number to come pray in Jamaa’ah…did u notice? Ponder.

The more we get our pockets loaded, the more we get lost into the enslavement of Dunya and the less time we have for The One who facilitated the entire Universe for us.

If we are not one of those who answer the call of “Hayya alal Falaah” then perhaps we need to sit down and think about where are we heading. If this is not Success, then what is?

‘Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other?’

WE know families that are still fighting over inheritance issues that should have been solved generations ago. What is the problem? If the Quran is in every home, then there should be no problem, right? Sadly, even though most Muslims have multiple copies of the Quran, they may not have the understanding of it. Or if they do, they are too scared to speak up. We don’t realise the consequence of playing around with the laws of Allah. We may not get caught in Dunya for our actions, but the eternal Aakhirah awaits us – may Allah protect us.

It is extremely important for people to know the laws of inheritance: what comes before it and what follows. Islam came and made things easy in order to create a just and fair society. Unfortunately, we have changed things around making life hard for ourselves.

Let us take an example of the five daily prayers. We have to perform the five daily prayers; do we change that? Can we shift their timings or remove one prayer and make it four times daily? Similarly, the laws of inheritance are FIXED; we do NOT have the right to change that.

The amount to be inherited is FIXED by Allah NOT us!

“Study inheritance  and teach it for it is half of knowledge and will be forgotten. It will be the first one to be taken away from my Ummah.” [Ibn Majah:2823]

This article will discuss:

♦ Practice of inheritance in the Jahiliyyah

♦ Islamic laws of Inheritance

♦ The 3 steps, after one dies, that come before inheritance

♦ Wisdom behind Islamic laws on inheritance

♦ Conclusion

♦ The practice of inheritance BEFORE Islam came (Jahiliyyah period) 

1. The inheritance was divided or based on one’s own declaration.
2. It was commonly understood  in society that the inheritance would be distributed to the eldest son.
3. Sometimes the inheritance would go to all the sons and the women would get nothing. The logic behind that was the fact that the men were the ones who had to take risks and protect the tribal system.

(Sa`id bin Jubayr and Qatadah said, “The idolators used to give adult men a share of inheritance and deprive women and children of it.)

Islam came and broke this mindset. Alhamdulillah!

♦ Islamic laws of Inheritance

1. For Allah, everyone is equal even when inheritance is divided although their shares differ. Shares differ because of their relationship with the deceased and the responsibilities given to them by Allah NOT by what responsibilities they choose to take upon themselves.

2. Inheritance is distributed after death. Once someone dies, there is immediate transformation of the inheritance.

[For example, if a son and a father die in an accident (e.g. car accident), then it is closely checked who dies first and the inheritance laws are applied according to that. The distribution flows according to who died first, even if it’s the difference of just a couple of seconds between the death of the son and father.]

3. Inheritance is given to the HEIRS that are ALIVE.

4. It has to be distributed with documentation in a legal manner for which court lawyers can be hired.

5. It is distributed for all kinds of wealth: valuable or not. Allah says, “…be it little or much – an obligatory share.” [Surah An-Nisaa, ayah 7]

6. No matter how memorable a certain item/thing is to you, it has to go according to the Islamic division.  E.g. “I have memories with this hence I can’t give it away” is not acceptable.
7. Distribution must be done right after death. If one waits too long in the case of properties, then the value of said property changes. This could lead to many problems therefore it’s better to do the distribution there and then. The only clause when it delays is if the wife is pregnant: then it is required to wait and see if the child is male/female.
8. The heirs can buy the share from each other AFTER they CLAIM their legal distribution since the share solely belongs to them now, hence it’s their wish.
9. There is no share for the adopted children. A murderer and a disbeliever cannot inherit.

♦ The 3 steps after one dies that come before inheritance

 

♦ Wisdom behind Islamic laws on inheritance

1.Done as per needs and requirements of individuals in society.

2.The men inherit more due to their responsibilities. Men have to provide, he HAS to work and provide for the sisters/ wife etc. Whereas a woman can keep the inheritance she gets and do anything she wants with it.

Example: a. Woman gets her Mahr(dowry; bridal money) and it goes into her locker.

b. A daughter she gets inheritance, again goes into her locker or savings.

c. If her husband dies, again her share is only for her use.

But when a brother, or a man inherits, he HAS to use that money to take care of the sisters/mothers who he is responsible for.

Thus, nothing is unjust in this division for those women who think it is.

3.Division is done in such a way that the wealth circulates in society. Recession happened all around the world because there was no flow of money.

♦ Conclusion

Reward for obeying:

“These are the limits [set by] Allah , and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be admitted by Him to gardens [in Paradise] under which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein; and that is the great attainment” [Surah An-Nisaa, Ayah 13]

Punishment of disobedience:

“And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits – He will put him into the Fire to abide eternally therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment”[Surah An-Nisaa, Ayah 14]

Please understand and educate the others. Speak up when necessary; remember it should always be the Haqq (truth) over the Baatil (false). Allah says in the Quran,

“Let there arise from among you a band of people who should invite to righteousness, enjoin good and forbid evil; such are the ones, who shall be successful.” [Surah Ale Emraan, Ayah 104]

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Reference: Tafsir Ibn Kathir

First posted for Saudi Life.

Water in the tap

I live in a high rise tower in Sharjah (UAE) and have all sorts of luxuries and a worth-dying-for lifestyle.

Two weeks back, something happened which made me realize the IMPORTANCE of such facilities that we (at least me) don’t count as facilities anymore.

Some maintenance work of my building’s water tanks and pipes was to take place due to which on a weekday water supply was to be discontinued from morning till early evening. By chance, we didn’t read this notice/ announcement in time to make prior arrangements.

Hence, that day my husband woke up on his regular time, took a shower (luckily the water was still coming) and went to office, after which I again went back to sleep… When I woke up around 11:30 am, and started the regular chores, in a while I realized that the pressure of water was decreasing and finally water was gone by 12 pm.

At that point I went out and checked whether there was some notice, which was there, hanging in front of me, smiling wickedly at me =) and gave me a shock that I should not expect water in the taps till 3/ 3:30 pm!!!

Since I moved to Sharjah 1 year back (previously I lived in Pakistan where electricity failures and water shortages are a routine), I haven’t gone through such situations much so every time such a thing happens, it is an awkward (if not bad) experience, hence, to stay with no free-flowing water for ONLY three to three and a half hours seemed like a big challenge…

Hence, I started to use “mineral water” to do unavoidable tasks like finishing half-way-through dish-washing, going to rest room, doing wudu for prayers etc., but felt very uneasy, unhygienic and uncomfortable, nevertheless the basic water-related activities were taking frustratingly long long time to finish…

It stuck to me during all this that how ungrateful and uncompromising I am as I have always thought of myself as a very grateful and humble person, but a tiny & unexpected hassle made me realize how rusted my seemingly-polished heart is…

I realized that day that there are so so many blessings which we take for granted (as we always had these and think that we always will have these), a few examples could be sunshine, water, air, food, health, money, clothes, family and friends, and what not (Alhumdulillah)! Unimaginable to us is a situation where we don’t have a single edible item in our home (kitchen and fridge) and then, right now, just this second, there are many many people out there who have to beg EVEN for a few crumbs!!! We can’t even THINK that we can survive a single night without electricity in our homes and there are people out there who are SLEEPING on the streets and in mosques as they don’t have money to get a place to stay on rent… WHAT A CONTRAST!!!

We can go on forever and ever discussing and pondering over our attitudes towards blessings and how thankful we should be for all these, but the BOTTOMLINE is that we must acknowledge even the tiniest gift of Allah SWT, make optimal use of it AND develop the sense of sharing and giving in our ever-unthankful and possessive hearts…

We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts), of Hearing and Sight. We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will). (Al-Insan, 2-3)

May Allah guide us to become the best of this ummah, Aameen…

The Annonymous writer

Practical tips worth a million for this Ramadan

Well, Ramadan has started and insha Allah we shall make most of this beautiful month by doing a lot of ibadah and good deeds!

 

Thought of sharing the below with you: these are some easy-to-follow and quick tips for gaining ajar this Ramadan (do not take any deed of yours lightly, remember, every good deed gains 70 points in Ramadan rather than the regular 1, so heads up…)

 

Here you go:

 

1. A Little Is A Lot: Whenever you shop for your groceries during Ramadan, buy some additional stuff & store for your maid, watchman, a poor neighbour or a needy relative, etc.. If you buy in portions, it won’t feel much on your pocket and after some days, you’ll have a lot to make a package and give away. Big department stores usually have “buy 1 get 1 free” or “15/20 % discount” offers during this season, lets make use of that…

 

2. Help the Birdies: Put a utensil filled with water in your balcony, at window sill, in your garden or wherever you think would be easy for birds to locate/ view. If you have expired/ stale bread, stale biscuits or crisps, rather than throwing in dustbin, throw a party for the birdies, they’ll enjoy…

 

3. 2 rides for 1 ticket: As you go for Taraveeh in mosque, take cartons of water cups with you (available for discounted rates in Ramadan) for your brothers and sisters, you’ll get two sorts of ajar here; 1. providing water to someone thirsty and 2. serving the servants of Allah while they are in mosque for prayers.      

 

4. Send the yummies around: Try to share the yummies that you prepare for iftar with your neighbours, watchman and other staff of your apartments/ communities, relatives etc.. Send the food to your non-muslim neighbours too and at the same time explain the concept of saum (roza) and Ramadan to them, a step towards dawah for you!

 

5. Dhikr (ZIKR): Well, no matter what you do, your daily chores will be consuming your time during Ramadan (sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh), still you can gain ajar during that time. Glorify Allah, recite Duas, Surahs of Quran, and adhkaar (azkaar – various supplications) while cooking, cleaning, doing dishes, FRYING, etc. etc.,

 

6. Money Box MISSION: Remember good old childhood days, when we used to save pocket money for toys or candies by keeping a money box. Well, now too we should do it, but for aakhirah. Keep a money box at a common place in your house and tell all family members about it, try to put some cash (or coins) each day in it and encourage family members to do the same. During last ashra’a, take all the money out of the box and mutually decide where to spend it. 

 

7. TWEETS, FB, WHATSAPP: Well, no matter how religious and pious we might think we have become, social media is a killer of time for all of us sometimes (read: most of the times), generally too, we should try to spend as little time on these as possible and specifically in Ramadan, we should try to stay away from these as much as possible, we cannot afford to lose time in this month (trust me, our parents and their parents did not have social media to be in touch with their friends and family still they were more connected)!

 

8. Connected with 7: Since you have inshaAllah decided to implement point 7, you will have a lot of saved time, please channelize this time for becoming a better, productive and sharing muslim (muslimah). Always have faith in your potential (you are the chosen people/ nation by Allah)!!!       

 

9. Tajweed/ HIFZ: Well, lets admit that we seriously do not give time to improve our tajweed (recitation of Quran) and neither do we make efforts to start hifz e Quran. Why not keep the foundation stone for this project this year! 

 

Every day, listen to 1 or more surahs’ recitation by a Qari of your choice and while listening have Quran in front of you to identify your mistakes, then mark those mistakes, and read out the surahs loudly to yourself, practice it and inshaAllah you’ll see a difference in your recitation during prayers (and generally) in less than a week. 

 

For HIFZ, you don’t need a GRAND START. You can even start from the shortest surahs of 30 Para (JUZ), go from shortest to shorter to short to long to longer and then longest. Even if it takes years to finish the whole Quran, its worth it!!!

 

10. INVEST in BONDS: You might have relatives who you don’t like to mingle with due to different mind-sets, fine that you can’t become buddies with them immediately, but at least give them a call or send a nice text message to them NOW, inshaAllah your relationship with them will improve for the good, remember Allah SWT loves those who are good and humble towards their relatives. 

 

11. MOMMA lemme HELP: Your mom has been feeding you delicious iftars since you were a baby, now is the time to pay back!!! If you can’t make complete iftars on your own, at least help her in the kitchen to get it ready. 

 

12. PRESENTS time: Ramadan and EId are those beautiful times of the year where everyone is happy and in a nice mood (well after iftar in Ramadan), why not double the happiness, if you haven’t ever given presents to your mom, dad and siblings in Ramadan/ on Eid, surprise them this year by giving presents…

 

13. Buy less, pay more: You might be thinking that the title is wrong, one should buy more and pay less to ‘seal the deal’, let me explain… I am not talking about brands (like paying 200 dirhams for a 100 dirhams item), NO… I am talking about 1, 5 or 10 dirhams items that you buy from small grocery stores or cafeteria down the street or from the hawkers, when you buy these, pay a bit over and above. It is a really easy way to make those people happy who are generally ignored and belittled in the society. Imagine how wonderful it would be, if from the small additional amount that you gave to a poor guy, he is able to buy fresh fruits or candies for his little children

 

Readers, I hope that above mentioned tips were not tooooooooooo long for you to read and you aren’t feeling sleepy!!! Give your feedback for me to improve and YES, add the hundreds and thousands of tips in comments that I have missed here…  

 

In the end, Ramadan Mubarak) to all of you, may this Ramadan bring happiness and tranquility not only for us but for everyone in our Ummah…

 

Regards,

 

Annonymous sister in Islam

Lethal Combination

Friends,

May you be reading this piece in the best state of eemaan and health, aameen…

This is my first piece of writing for you and I will try my best not to present my thoughts in a boring manner, so please read it out… Try not to collapse, plz…

First let me ask you some questions, think honestly and clearly…

How often do you make a dress for a wedding or for your university’s farewell/ reunion dinner & don’t want it to be a ‘killing’ combination? Not a chance; you want to look your best! Right?

When you are doing a complete make over of your house, what would you be looking for; the most IN theme and the ‘coolest’ possible color combination! Right?

How often do you invite people over for dinner and are not worried about the menu? Never… you want to have a making-sense and well thought ‘selection’ of appetizers, main course, deserts and beverages! Right?

It is hence proven from the above examples that we are always in search of combinations, themes and selections of items which will not only makes perfect sense but also shows our ‘style’ and understanding about the concerned subject…

So, guys when we kneel down before our sustainer and want Allah to not only listen to our prayers but grant our wishes instantly, why don’t we try a method which pleases Him most and increases the probability of our prayers to be answered soon???

Well, whenever you are praying, make sure to ‘use’ the ‘combination’ of istighfaar/ Glorify Him and durood on Holy Prophet SAW, trust me its a ‘killing’ and ‘lethal’ combination. Just think logically, you are asking for forgiveness from Allah SWT / glorifying Him and praising Allah’s most beloved representative on earth TOGETHER…

Try it out, inshaAllah it will work… Make sure you share your success-stories with us, afterwards! Happy Praying…

Your sister [Annonymous]

How to Attain Highest Levels of Piety (Birr)

…righteousness is that one believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the Prophets, and gives wealth, despite its love (or out of His love) , to relatives, and to orphans, the helpless, the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and (spends) in (freeing) slaves and observes the prayers and pays the Zakah; and those who fulfil their promise when they promise, the patient in hardships and sufferings and when in battle! Those are the ones who are true and those are the God-fearing.” [Qur'an, 2:177]

1. “…righteousness is that one believes in Allah…”

Without the element of Birr (piety) AND imaan in Allah, no matter how good the deed is, it is a wasted deed. Deed has to be for Allah and not to show off to anyone else.

2. “…righteousness is that one believes in…the Last Day…”

The reward for believing in Allah comes here.

Examples of 1 & 2:

If we give something to our neighbors out of piety, if they don’t thank us or give us something in return, we shouldn’t be bothered. If we are then our act was not of piety.

If someone says something negative to you, and you remain silent- that is an act of piety. BUT if you stay quiet because your friends, family or teacher was around, then that is not piety. Your compliments from people is worthless if you didn’t remain silent for the sake of Allah.

Be careful…

Piety should only be for Allah. If the shaytan comes and tries to play with your intentions, then immediately seek refuge from him. Shaytan will be after the valuable things and the thing that is most valuable to him is your good deeds.

Tip:

For example, when cooking, start with Bismillah and with the intention that the food will make the children/family healthy. If they love the food, know that Allah taught you how to do it well. If they dislike it, say something like: it’s okay, I must have made some mistake, lets just finish it. Your response should be with the intention: “O Allah forgive me for my faults.”

3. “…righteousness is that one believes in…the angels…”

One should have iman in their existence, the fact that they have duties and responsibilities. One should also be conscious that two angels are writing our good and bad deeds down.

4. “…righteousness is that one believes in…the Book…”

These are the teachings of the Quran which tells us what to do and how it is done. When one leaves the book, their inbuilt system that wants to do good starts inventing new matters into the religion away from the Sunnah.

5. “…righteousness is that one believes in…the Prophets…”

We come to know about what Birr is through the mention of the Prophets in the Qur’an as they have acted it out.

6. “…righteousness is that one…gives wealth, despite its love (or out of His love), to…”

Giving of wealth because Allah loves it and giving from the wealth that you love. Allah here openly declares that we love wealth, so upon the love of that wealth, give it. It is not even considered piety until you give of that which you love!

Example: When giving clothes to charity, we normally give the clothes and items that we don’t want or would never wear. Do we give the clothes that we love? You should give what you would love to receive. If it is sadaqah for the sake of Allah, it will come back to you when you need it.

If we cannot part with our material, how will we give anything for our ummah? This Ummah has to be an ummah of giving and receiving from Allah in the Aakhirah. How will Allah use us for His deen if we are just stuck with clothes?

Give to:

Relatives: 4 generations up and down. Should be given to parents if required.

Orphans: a child without a father till puberty.

The helpless (Miskeen): A person whose income has stopped and cannot support the family and they do not beg. [Where to find such people? Be on the lookout…be constantly conscious…the believers are more concerned about their good deeds.]

The wayfarer (traveler): Can be of three types:

1. a guest
2. people on transit
3. A person who wishes to travel but does not have the means to (e.g. ones parents are abroad and sick and the son does not have money to travel or someone wants to travel for umrah: provide them with financial assistance.

To those who ask: If someone asks, give them money. No one should leave from you empty handed. They maybe lying about their situation but that is between them and Allah. This can be given to Muslim and non Muslims.

(spends) in (freeing) slaves: In those days, slaves existed. Today it would mean bailing someone out of prison or paying the debt of a person. Should be a lump some amount.

7. “…righteousness is that one…observes the prayers…”

Notice that salaah (prayers) comes at number 7, this shows us clearly that imaan is extremely important first and foremost. What good will salaah bring if imaan is not there? Salaah is the whole state of mind and not a ritual to be performed. It is our meeting with the Creator. In the Quran Allah says: Iqamatus Salaah: Establish Prayer. How? By praying on time, on the pattern of Prophet (sallala hu alaihi wa sallam) and have khushoo (humbleness and sincerity) along with consistency..

8. “…righteousness is that one…pays the Zakah…”

If giving Zakah comes at number 8, what were we giving until now? That was charity and this clearly shows the importance and necessity of giving charity. Zakah is a specific amount of 2.5% and it is the haqq of a Muslim. This can be given ONLY to Muslims before the year ends. Many Muslims prefer to do this during Ramadan because of the immense rewards of deeds done in Ramadan.

9. “…righteousness is that one…who fulfills their promise when they promise…”

These are the promises, responsibilities and commands given to the believers and those they make. These could also include promise made with Allah (our covenant with Him) and also promises we make to people around us; parents, children, friends, contracts etc.

10. “righteousness is that one…patient in…”

Hardships: such as poverty, one should not complain.

Sufferings: such as any calamity that occurs (tangible or intangible). Allah says: “And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient.” [2:155]

When in battle: patience (control) is required in this situation, behaving as Allah wants us to, nothing that would displease Allah should come out of the mouth.

Those are the ones who are true and those are the God-fearing.

THIS is BIRR.

What was your definition of piety before reading this article?

These are the ones that are Saadiq (truthful); a testification of their imaan. So taqwa is linked with being Saadiq and being Saadiq is by demonstration of your Birr. This makes one a Muttaqee.

Also posted in: SaudiLife

A Prophet, Leader, and a Mercy for all Humanity

 Loved by his followers and compassionate towards his foes

With an unmatched ability to forgive insults and criticisms by those who’d oppose,

Showing concern for humanity like none else preceded

In capturing the hearts of men, he succeeded

Cherished by his acquaintances for his cheerful and gentle disposition

Exhibiting human nobility in total summation,

A balanced personality he possessed of firmness and understanding

Accompanied with moral conduct presented at a level outstanding

A morale unshakable did he maintain

Guided by the Book of Allah did he sustain,

He practiced what he preached

His moral principles not once did he breach

The same standards he set for himself as he set for the rest

With the same chivalry shown to the strong he treated the oppressed,

All men and women he considered them to be one and the same

As potential recipients of the call he did proclaim

Financial, personal, and domestic losses he bore

That Allah’s words be mocked at no more,

A simple life he led for everyone else to emulate

For salvation in the Hereafter he did inculcate

He never sought revenge if he was disgraced

Except if Allah’s commandments were debased,

Thoughts and deeds not governed by self-esteem or vanity

With the aim of spreading Islam to all of humanity

In convincing his followers with his mission in life he succeeded

A reward promised by Allah in the Hereafter for those who heeded,

A leader who commanded neither worldly stature nor gain

Building on his inner strength he surmounted every obstacle NOR DID complain

With courage and valor he shouldered responsibility

In battles his companions sought his refuge from hostility,

Easy at reach for his people when they approached

At the service of his people, though Him they reproached

            Allah says: “Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow for him who hopes for (the meeting with) Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much” [ Qur’an 33:21]

Author: A Sri Lankan born, brought up in the Middle East with a BA in Mgt from AUS. She enjoys writing in her past time.]