"When one of you loves his brother, he should tell him so..."

The following is an extract from the Jumm'ah Bayaan at London Metropolitan University:

And so we begin today. What I want to talk about today is love for one another because sometimes I see friction in the prayer room. Maybe this is because we think, “He doesn’t look like me, he isn’t doing things that I follow. Why does he do this? Why not like this?” And then these very same people may perhaps show bad characteristics towards one another. This truly creates really bad feelings towards one another. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam said,

“When one of you loves his brother, he should tell him so.”

He should tell him! He should not keep it inside that, “I am a big man! I am hard! I don’t want to tell anybody I love them as it may decrease from my manhood! I want to be macho! I don’t want to show any softness inside of me, this must be only directed towards my wife.” No, this is completely wrong! Bringing an aura of love is from the characteristics of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam! When he would see the Sahabah radiallahu anhum, he would show them huge amounts of compassion. Today my brothers and sisters, we have gone far away from this. We feel love is only dependant on those people whom we can share intimacy with and not those people who we are brothers with, and this is why the Muslim Ummat is suffering right now because we don’t understand that we should love one another.

Now how should we love one another? By smiling at one another, by passing the salaam to one another, by meeting one another with an embrace and by this love will increase as you will always remember a person who shows these characteristics towards you! Maybe a person continually sees another Muslim and he continually passes salaam, maybe one day they will actually sit and talk and create a great friendship with each other. This has happened in the past. And if we are to act upon the hadith we are discussing right now, then we should tell each other, “I love you for the sake of Allah Ta’ala.” This is also hugely beneficial and we really disregard it. Just by saying this statement, it can remove a lot of bitterness which we direct to other people.

Mujahid rahimahullah who was a very big scholar mentions that he met some of the companions of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam. And one sahabi tapped him from behind on his shoulder and said, “I love you for the sake of Allah Ta’ala!” and Mujahid said, “May the One for whom you love me, love you too.” And this Sahabi said, “Had I not heard the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam say, “when you love your brother you should tell him so” I would not have told you this.” And because of this Mujahid rahimahullah became happy and he too showed izhaar of his gratitude.

Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam said, “No two people love each other but the better of those people is the one who is more in his love for his friend.” For example, I love our brother Ilyas for the sake of Allah Ta’ala but he might love me more, this means he is better than me. This is what the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam showed to the people, a lot of love and mercy. It is mentioned by Hazrat Anas radiallahu anhu,

“The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam was the most beautiful of the people, the most generous of the people, the most courageous of the people.”

And there is a reason to this, once in Madina late at night the people heard a big sound. They got scared as they thought the enemies of Islam were preparing a surprise attack at night while they were not prepared. In a state of huge terror, they made their way to the sound to see what had happened. But when they arrived, they had found that Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam was already there on his horse with a sword in his hand! Subhanallah! What a sight this was to behold. He was prepared to take an entire army with by himself for his people! And he ushered them back to their homes telling them not to worry as he had checked the area! Allahu Akbar! How many of us have this type of aura around us that we give comfort to those people whom we socialise with? My brothers, rather than dispelling the worries of our brothers, we like to instil fear into them. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam was a person who called everyone towards him, he did not push anyone away. Hazrat Amr ibn al-Aas radiallahu anhu relates,

“The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam gave attention, spoke and showed love to the worst person of a nation so that, the person may feel he is being given special attention. He used to give me such attentions and spoke to me also in a manner that I began to feel that I was the best among the community.”

One hadith that I will speak of very quickly,

“When a person loves his brother for the sake of Allah Ta’ala and he says, “I love you for the sake of Allah Ta’ala.” Then Allah Ta’ala enters both of them into Jannah. The person who loves his brother for the sake of Allah Ta’ala, Allah Ta’ala elevates that persons rank.”

So you should tell your brothers that you love them for the sake of Allah Ta’ala. I’ll be the first to open up and drop the macho look! I love you all for the sake of Allah Ta’ala!

Importance of Keeping Good Company

ASSALAMUALAIKUM,

All praise is to ALLAH. May ALLAH shower his blessings and mercy on the seal of the prophets salallahu alayhi wa salam and muslim ummah who follow in his blessed footsteps.

The common problem amongst the youth of the current society is that they dont keep good company. It is very important that we keep good company. Ive seen personally the importance of keeping good friends, the effects of keeping good company will have a positive impact on your life. The hadith is on the authority of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari radiallahu anhu, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam
said:
A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace. (Bukhari)
　
Brothers and sisters we can see from the hadith that the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa salam showed the importance of keeping good friends and also the effect of it. We can see this for oursleves if we stay with some one for a long period of time, after some time, the quality of that person that we are with will be reflected in ourself.

Today alhumdullilah I am writting this article by ALLAH's will and mercy upon me because alhumdullilah I have been lucky enough to have the companionship of friends that have reminded me of what this world is about, they have helped me by ALLAH's mercy to show me what really needs to be done in order to achieve success in this world and the hereafter.

We should pray that ALLAH provides us with friends who want us to be amongst the dwellers of Jannah. So my brothers and sisters, I would like to remind you that a real friend is the one that wants you to be successful . We should choose who we make friends with, find people in whom you see the attributes of the sahabas radiallahu anhum. And know, It is better to remain alone than to be in bad companionship

My brothers and sisters, as Imam Shafi rahimahullah said, "this world is for a moment, so make that moment a moment of obedience." Human being always need to be reminded of what our purpose is in this world for ALLAH says in the Quran "I HAVE CREATED MANKIND AND JINNS ONLY TO WORSHIP ME", this ayah of the Quran shows us clearly what we must do in order to achieve Jannah. This is why it is very important to be in the company of the people that reminds us of our aim in this world. Brothers and sisters we need to make dua that ALLAH the Most Merciful bestowes His blessings on us by allowing us to be in the company of those people that are in His worships and that will remind us of what needs to be done in order to achieve success in this world and the hereafter.

I make dua that ALLAH gives jannah to that person who gave the opportunity to write this article and may ALLAH guide each and every one of us on the right path and may ALLAH give us friends that will help us to become good and pious muslims. AMEEEN

RAMADHAN MUBARAK brothers and sisters and do remember me in your duas Inshallah.

Zann

Zann lexically means 'to suspect, to accuse (of), assumption, suspicion'. This is something we see so rife on a daily basis. Our hearts have become so darkened and hateful that everybody is fixed upon making nasty assumptions about others.

The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam has spoken at length about this and there are many chapters in the books of ahadith that speak of zann. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam said,

“Keep yourself away from suspicion for it is the worst of false things. Do not pry into the affairs of other people. Do not compete with one another (to gain worldly possessions and hurt one another in the process). Do not turn your backs to fellow men. Do not be jealous of other people and do not despise anyone. But, live as salves of Allah, one brother to another brother.”

These words of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam must be taken into deep consideration. Many people are fixated with keeping the worst views about everybody else. There are many people in society who love to take a ‘pop’ at others and try to knock the self esteem out of them. These people are fools of the highest order. Some people are such that they cannot take another person surpassing them in affairs of religion and thus vilify them in order to taint the reputation of a person. Some people have these type of characteristics and it is something very worrying to keep in ones heart. It can destroy people’s lives and the life of the one who bears it in his heart.

Sayyidna Abdullah radiallahu anhu used to say,

“When theft is committed of a person’s possession, he goes on assuming and presuming (so much) that he surpasses the thief himself”

Meaning, he begins to think about all the possible thieves and in doing so, he applies his suspicion to people who are not even in the wrong! Instead of being intent on one thief, he creates many possible thieves and wrongdoers. Accordingly, his sins exceed the sin of the real thief due to his suspicion about which the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam clearly said, “Avoid suspicion.”

It is a very dirty and filthy characteristic to possess. We should regularly check our hearts and keep them free for this. How can we check our hearts? The next time we are in a situation that perhaps warrants our thoughts of a person, we should immediately turn away from all negativity and entertain positive thoughts. Rumours spread by bad people, saying bad things. Avoid yourself from being like this, even if is done to you. Hazrat Aishah radiallahu anha said,

“The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam was not rude, nor did he pretend to be rude. Nor did he shout in the market places. He did not repay evil with evil, rather, he forgave and overlooked.”

These are the characteristics that we must place into our life. Always think the best of people, no matter what they have allegedly done. Even if people around you are maintaining such views, you do not need to keep them too. Rather, you can be the person that thinks the best about people and in return, Allah Ta’ala will think best of you. Unfortunately, there are many dim-witted fools who like to force their nasty opinions down the throats of others. We must all look to the good in people.

Allah Ta’ala give us all the ability to act on what has been said. Ameen

Cover the Sins of Your Brother

It is alarming the amount of times a person can exploit his brother in a majlis. This is something I witnessed today and realised that it is a core problem to society today. A conversation would begin about things which are 'Haraam' and suddenly, good friends would jeer one another indicating that the other commits the sin. An example would be:

"Alcohol is Haraam."

"You hear that? Its Haraam so stop drinking!"

All of a sudden, there is one person in the congregation whose sin has been discovered due to a sarcastic, over emphasised remark. The ears now boil, the cheeks turn red and the sin doesn't taste so sweet all of a sudden when there is a hiss of 'Astagfirullah'. He is looking down on the floor like a complete and utter bewaqoof. We should not exploit the sins of our brothers and sisters but we should help them in their leaving their sins. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam said,

"A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. So he should not oppress him nor should he hand him over to (his shaytaan or to his self which is inclined to evil). Whoever fulfills the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever removes the troubles of his brother, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever covers up the fault of a Muslim, Allah will cover up his fault on the Day of Resurrection".

May Allah Ta'ala give us all the ability to bring what has been said into our lives. Ameen.