EVENT: Youth Programme - 1st APRIL 2012

Picture of the Month: March 2012

Give up the cigarettes for the miswak! The miswak is a great sunnah of our Rasul salallahu alayhi wasallam. In one hadith he has stated, "If it were not for the fact that it may be burdensome upon my Ummah, I would have made the (use of) miswak compulsory upon them." From this we can understand how ardently Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam desired for his ummah to take up this practice. In fact, when Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam was close to passing away, Abdur Rahman ibn Abi Bakr radiallahu anhu came in to his room; when Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam noticed that he had a miswak with him, he made some indication which Aishah radiallahu anha immediately understood. She thus asked Abdur Rahman (her brother) to give the siwak which he did and Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam even in his last illness, maintained the usage of the miswak.

It is great to use it before you pray. According to Imam Abu Hanifa rahimahullah, it is the sunnah of wudhu but according to Imam Shafi' rahimahullah, it is the sunnah for salah. Mufti Saeed Ahmad (DB) mentions in his Tuhfatul Al'ma'ee that a person can join both opinions together by performing wudhu just before he prays. Thus, he has acted upon both opinions i.e. he has done miswaak at the time of wudhu and just before prayer aswell. The wisdom for using it before prayer is obvious; this prevents the mouth from smelling. I think many brothers have found themselves in the situation where they have had a monster kebab roll with tons of onions only to feel embarrassed when they are standing in jamaat. Furthermore, the scent of cigarettes etc brings extreme discomfort and this is not only to other brothers but to the angels aswell. Thus we should try keeping our mouth clean.

Those who are married should also try to clean their mouths before they come home to their wives. This too, is a sunnah of our leader, Muhammad alayhis salaatu wa afadalut tasleem.

Snooze!

The term, “You snooze, you lose!” is incredibly true! The greatest thing a person can lose by his snoozing is the reward of his Fajr salaah. An issue that I want to discuss is that of our alarm clocks; many of us happily keep the adhan as our alarm sound for the morning or perhaps a nice nasheed and there is no problem with that but when the time comes for “qumoo lillahi qaaniteen (and stand before Allah in total devotion)” our finger, slowly runs up the side of our bed, stealthily squeezes under the pillow, tickles along the bedsheet and trigger happily fires the ‘snooze’ button! *dushoom*
 

Indeed, Fajr can become incredibly hard to pray if a person is not in the habit of it. Sometimes, a person can be in the habit of reading Fajr for months without end but one day, he misses it due to some occurrence and as a result, his performance of Fajr in the coming few months is nonexistent!

To be short and sweet, we must not always rely on one plan to wake us up. Shaytaan khabees has billions of ploys which he has trialled and tested on believers from the beginning of time! It doesn’t make sense to rely on one plan which is fatally flawed (with a snooze button). Rather, one should match fire with fire! If shaytaan has a number of ploys then you should prepare to meet them. Move your phone from your bed or get others in the household to wake you up. Ponder over your Fajr like an army general who sits over a map, pinpointing his every move.

Think about why you can’t wake up for Fajr; the core reason as to why you find yourself waking up two hours after fatigued and upset. Is it because you sleep late? Is it because you are a movie addict? Is it because you are speaking to friends online? Find out what the reason is and put a snooze on it!

May Allah Ta’ala give us all the ability to be punctual on our Salaah and may He, out of His kindness, make us an example of the verse, “and stand before Allah in total devotion...”. Ameen Ya Rabbal Aalameen.

Increase the Length of Your Life: Be Good to Your Parents

 Taken from Inter Islam

“And your lord has ordered that you worship none but him, and that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them a word but address them in terms of honour.” 

“And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: “My lord! Bestow on them your mercy as they did bring me up when I was young.” (Part 15: Surah 17 Al-Isra) 

The most striking opening of an ayat, which starts with the obedience of Allah Taa'la and thereafter to be dutiful to your parents. This verse is clearly indicating towards the importance of obedience to the parents and fulfilling the orders laid by the lord of the universe himself. 

Through the light of the Hadith, we will learn the importance of being righteous and obedience to our parents and the punishments of disobeying the command of Allah Taa'la. 

The Final Prophet: Muhammad has said: 

“The pleasure of the lord is the pleasure of a parent, and the wrath of the lord is the wrath of a parent.”
It is clear from this Hadith that to keep Allah Taa'la happy, it is necessary that our parents are happy with us. 

SPEAKING GENTLY WITH ONE'S PARENTS.
In a Hadith, which I will quote briefly: 

Taysalah ibn Mayyas said, “I did certain things that I can only consider as major sins. When I mentioned this to ibn Umar, he asked me what I had done, and he said that those are not major sins. Rather, he said “The major sins which are nine in number”. One of the nine that ibn Umar mentioned was causing ones parents to shed tears because of ones disobedience. Then ibn Umar said to Taysalah ibn Mayyas, “Do you fear the fire and desire to go to paradise?” Taysalah ibn Mayyas replied, “Yes, by Allah Taa'la!” he said. “Are your parents still alive?” I replied “Only my mother.” He replied, “By Allah, if you speak with her gently and give her food to eat, you will surely enter paradise if you avoid these major sins.” 

BEING GOOD TO ONES PARENTS
Abu Huraira reported that once the Prophet was asked to whom one should be good to. He replied, “Your mother.” He was asked the same question a second time, and he replied, “Your mother.” He was asked the same question a third time and he replied,” Your mother.” He was asked the same question a fourth time and he replied,” Your father.” 

DOING GOOD TO ONES PARENTS EVEN IF THEY ARE UNJUST .
Ibn Abbas said, “Any Muslim whose father and mother are Muslims and who wakes every morning with the intention of doing right by them will have two doors opened for him/her in paradise by Allah Taa'la. If only one parent is alive, then one door (will be opened). If he/she angers a parent, Allah Taa'la will not be pleased with him/her. Then the Prophet was asked, “What if one's parents are unjust to him/her?” He answered, “Even if they are unjust (one must act good to please ones parents)”. 

THE REWARD FOR PARENTS
Abdullah ibn Amr said, “A man went to the Prophet to pledge his allegiance to him for the coming (from Makkah to Madinah). However, he left his parents crying. The Prophet told him “Go back to them and make them as happy as you have made them sad”. 

This man had come to the Prophet to take an oath of allegiance on him on migrating; his intentions were auspicious and virtuous deeds. However, his parents did not agree to his separation, as migrating was not compulsory at that time. They became restless on the prospect of his journey and wept in sadness. When the Prophet learnt of this, he instructed the man to return to his parents and make them laugh just as he had made them weep. 

This indicates the merit and significance of kindness to love ones parents and being a sin to do something which causes sadness to parents and makes them weep. It is virtuous and rewarding to do what makes them happy and laugh. 

Hazarat Mu'adh reported that the prophet said “good news to those who are good to their parents, good will increase the length of their lives “. 

THE PRAYERS OF PARENTS 
 Abu Ja'far heard Abu Huraira say that the Prophet said, “There is no doubt that three kinds of prayers will be answered, the prayer of the oppressed, the prayer of the traveller, and the prayers of the parents for their children”. 

Prayers of parents for their children will be accepted immediately whether it is a prayer in the favour of the children or against the children, so we must do our up most best to keep our parents happy.
Certain people have included among whose supplication is definitely granted are those who treat their parents kindly. 

Sayyidina Uwais al Qarni (Rahmatullahi Alayhi) was a resident of Yemen . The Holy Prophet called him the best of Tabieen (successors) and he said, “Get him to pray for your forgiveness”. He had embraced Islam at the time of the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam but he could not present himself before the Prophet because he looked after his mother and thus remained deprived of the honour of companionship. It is clear from the conduct of Sayyidina Uwais Qarni, that to be good and mindful to parents is a very high ranking deed. 

The Prophet said, “Uwais has his mother. He has treated her kindly. If Uwais claims (anything) on Allah Taa'la then Allah Taa'la will surely let him have what he claims”.