Event: The Beginning of Guidance

Our dear friend, Maulana Muhammad Husain sahib is delivering a course, please do take some time out to go and benefit. It will most surely be beneficial inshallah. We pray that Allah Ta'ala makes the event a success. Ameen. See poster and details below:

AlMuhsinaat Present
Our 4th Summer Intensive

The Beginning of Guidance

Say, “Allah’s guidance is the guidance, and we have been ordered to submit to the Lord of the worlds, {6:71}

A course teaching a highly motivational manual detailing the fundamentals of acquiring guidance through God-consciousnes (taqwa).

A Summer Weekend Intensive Course to be taught by Shaykh Muhammad Husain Qadhi for brothers only. This course will take brothers through one of Imam Ghazali’s final works – The Beginning of Guidance. A compilation which embodies a lifetime of learning, experience, and spirituality.
This course will help provide brothers with the nourishment they need to tread the path of guidance. Join us for what promises to be a highly unique opportunity, and one that will insha’Allah open the doors to a lifetime of change and transition.

Date: Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July 2012
Time: 9:00AM – 6:00PM
Venue: Euston [Details upon Registration]
Nearest Stations: Euston Square (Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan and Circle lines), Warren Street(Northern and Victoria lines), Euston (Northern and Victoria lines) and Russell Square(Piccadilly line).
Course Instructor: Shaykh Muhammad Husain Qadhi [Imam of Masjid Umer]
Tickets: £15  (including course notes and light refreshments) 10% discount for bookings before 16/06/12
This course is in support of AlMuhsinaat & Ummah Welfare Trust
To enrol, email: mhislamiccourses@gmail. com [Full details given upon enrolment]
Contact For Brothers: 07845 607 972    
‘Imam Ghazali’s Bidayat al-Hidaya is a highly motivational manual detailing the fundamentals of acquiring guidance through God-consciousness (taqwa). Imam Ghazali argues that just as there is an end to this noble objective there is also a beginning to it, which must be made firm for one to achieve success. He then goes on to expound the fundamentals of this “beginning.”
While being concise and to-the-point the manual is laid out in the form of a detailed daily timetable providing the reader strong inspiration and much heart-rending counsel.
The three sections of this book are on obedience, refraining from disobedience, and the etiquette of companionship with the Creator and with creation. One of Imam Ghazali’s final works, it embodies a lifetime of learning, experience, and spirituality and can be taken as an introduction to his larger works.’
White Thread Press, The Beginning of Guidance
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Limited Spaces
An opportunity not to be missed
Enrol ASAP insha'Allah and embark upon a journey that will insha Allah cultivate the change we need in order to acquire Divine Guidance.

Risalatul Awa'il (Al-Awa'ilus Sunbuliyyah)

Assalamu Alaykum,

Turath Publishing are holding an event for Ulama & Mishkat/Bukhari students on 24th June 2012 (10am to 12pm). Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani sahib will be delivering a lesson on the short book, Al-Awa'ilus Sunbuliyya. I understand that many people do not have the actual kitab itself and so I have uploaded a Word and PDF version of it for those who can't get hold of the actual book. Please find the links below and make dua for me

PDF version                       Word version

EVENT FOR SISTERS: Qualities of a Believer

Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal’s advice to his son on his wedding day

From: Tafseer Raheemi

Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal’s advice to his son on his wedding day:

Dear son, you will not attain good fortune in your home except by 10 characteristics which you show to your wife, so remember them and be enthusiastic in acting upon them.

As for the first two; women like attention and they like to be told clearly that they are loved. So don’t be stingy in expressing your love for your wife. If you become limited in expressing your love, you will create a barrier of harshness between you and her, and there will be a decrease in affection.

3. Ladies hate a strict, overcautious man, yet they seek to use the soft vulnerable one. So use each quality appropriately. This will be more appealing for love and it will bring you peace of mind.

4. Ladies like from their husbands what their husbands like from them, i.e. kind words, good looks, clean clothes and a pleasant odour. Therefore, always remain in that state.

5, Indeed, the house is under the sovereignty of the woman. While she remains therein, she feels that she is sitting upon her throne, and that she is the chief of the house . Stay clear of destroying this kingdom of hers and do not ever attempt to dethrone her, otherwise you will be trying to snatch her sovereignty. A king gets most angry at he who tries to strip him of his authority, even if he portrays to show something else.

6. A woman wants to love her husband, but at the same time she does not want to lose her family. So do not put yourself and her family in the same scale, because then her choice will be down to either you or her family. And even if she does choose you over her family, she will remain in anxiety, which will then turn into hatred towards you in your daily life.

7. Surely woman has been created from a curved rib, and this is the secret of her beauty, and the secret of the attraction towards her. And this is no defect in her, because ‘the eyebrows look beautiful due to them being curved’. So if she errs, do not rebuke her in a manner in which there is no gentleness, attempting to straighten her; otherwise you will simply break her and her breaking, is her divorce. At the same time do not let her off upon that mistake, otherwise her crookedness will increase and she will become arrogant with her ego. Thereafter, she will never soften for you and she won’t listen to you, so stay in between the two.

8. It is in the women’s nature to be ungrateful towards their husbands and to deny favours. If you were to be nice to her for her whole life but you grieved her once, she will say, “I have never seen any good from you”. So don’t let this attitude of her make you dislike her or to run away from her. If you dislike this feature of hers, you will be pleased with some other good habits within her, so create a balance.

9. Surely there are times when a woman goes through some conditions of bodily weakness and fatigue of the mind. Such that Allah has relieved her of some of her compulsory worships during that period; Allah has totally pardoned her from praying, and has postponed the days of fasting for her within this break to a later date until she regains her health and becomes normal in her temperament once more. Thus, during these days, treat her in a godly manner. Just as Allah has relieved her of the duties, you should also lessen your demands and instructions from her during those days.

10. Last but not least, know that a woman is like a captive with you. Therefore, have mercy upon her.

Translated by Hazrat Maulana Abdul Rahim
Edited by Abdus Subhan

Vanity & Its Harms

You know you have a problem when you can’t stop looking at yourself in the reflection of car windows! When it comes to those people who are beautiful to some degree; people are of perhaps two types. The first type of people are those who are quite simply not bothered by their beauty. They don’t spend hours in front of the mirror grooming themselves; they are happy enough to roll out of bed and go to the shops to pick up a pint of milk. Then there is the second type; those people who cannot leave the house without making sure every inch of their body looks attractive. He/she constantly feels the need to look in the mirror every minute (literally).

The reality is, it is not a bad thing to look good. Rather, it is something that we should give some degree of importance too. As Muslims we are given the example of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam who would always look good and presentable. He would make sure that his blessed body is well fragranced, that his blessed teeth are clean, that his clothes are sparkling and the examples are many.

However, a problem can arise in a person when he becomes obsessed with his/her own looks. Keeping oneself represent able is a good thing but when a person becomes incredibly vain and over taken by one’s own features, it is not something which is lauded. Rather, it can give rise to many negative traits within one’s own self. Vanity can give rise to arrogance; when a person feels he/she is too pretty, they may begin to feel superior to anybody else. This can be seen at the time of marriage; a person might get a proposal from a nice, good looking girl but the boy (who considers himself handsome) will reject her simply because she is not as ‘beautiful’ as he is. When Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam was asked, “What is pride/arrogance?” He replied, “It is to turn away from the truth and to look down on people (i.e. belittle them).” (Bukhari).  Thus, vanity can lead a person to think much in regards to himself and as a result, his ego inflates like a balloon. And just like a balloon, his feet do not remain on the ground.

Secondly, it could cause envy within oneself and within others which doesn’t do one any favours. For example, when a handsome person sees someone who is even more beautiful than he is, he gets jealous and envious. Take the example of a person who is considered beautiful by his community and is constantly praised by the other gender, if another person entered that same community and stole the attention, the vain person would become extremely envious. When a person becomes envious, he may do anything to destroy the other person. Similarly, if a person is regularly trying to look good, he could at times get the wrong attention from the wrong people which could in effect, give him problems. i.e. the entire situation could be reversed and someone may get jealous on him.

Vanity could also bring anger within a person. There are many people who buy rare garments etc and they believe it to be exclusive to themselves. However, one day, they bump in to another person who has the exact same garments and as a result, they become extremely angry. They feel that that particular piece of clothing was meant to be exclusive and as a result, they go ballistic! 

Finally, vanity brings love for this world into the hearts of people.  Once, Malik ibn Dinar rahimahullah asked, "In what lies the corruption of the people?" Hasan al Basi rahimahullah replied, “In the death of the heart." Malik ibn Dinar rahimahullah said, "What is the death of the heart?" Hasan: "The love of the world.” When a person becomes too engaged in materialistic goods he becomes a chamcha for the worldly life, thus, a person loses characteristics of abstinence in his life and the transition from this life to the hereafter becomes harder.

So what can a person do to take vanity out of himself?

1. One should spend very little time in front of the mirror. Literally, force oneself to limit this time.
2. One should leave one’s house without applying makeup/gel etc etc
3. One should try to avoid wearing brand name clothing.
4. Hang around with those people who aren’t vain.

May Allah Ta’ala give us the ability to rectify ourselves. Ameen.