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.

Salaat ut Tasbeeh - The Prayer of Forgiveness

From among the statements of the ulama, this prayer has different names. Some call it Salaatut Taubah (repentance), others call it Salaat ut Tasbeeh (praise) and others call it Salaatul Gufraan (the prayer of forgiveness). Whatever the name, one thing which is established is that this prayer is extremely effective in removing the sins of a person. Sheikh Adnan Ali Uroor comments on this prayer by saying, "It is a cleansing for whomsoeever wants to be cleansed and success for whomsoever seeks salvation."

The Ulama of the past also used to hold this prayer with high regards. Hadhrat Abdul Azeez al Azdi rahimahullah would state, "Whoever desires paradise should perform Salaat ut Tasbeeh." and likewise, Abu Uthman Sa'eed ibn Isma'eel an Naysaapoori has stated, "I have not seen anything which is removes calamaties and afflictions like the way Salaat ut Tasbeeh does."

With regards to its authenticity, Ibn Aabideen has stated, "The hadith which in relation to it are reliable because of its many chains and those who consider it to be weak, then it is mere proposition which is unproved. It contains in it a reward which shoul not be left and thus, based on this, some of the Ulama say, 'No-one hears of blessing and leaves it except that he is negligent in regards to his religion."

Thereafter, the great commentator of hadith, Ibn Hajar rahimahullah has stated that the likes of Abdullah ibn Mubarak rahimahullah would pray this prayer and that it has been passed down from the elders.

Abdullah ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu has narrated that he was once informed by Rasulullah, "O Abbas, Should I not present to you? Should I not confer to you? should I not inform you of such an act, which if you practice, Allah will forgive all your sins, whether old or new, intentional or unintentional, minor or major, open or secret. (After describing the method of performing this salaah) Nabi salallahu alayhi wa salam stated, ”If possible, you should offer this salaah once everyday, and if you cannot perform it daily, then offer it on every Friday (weekly), or once a month, or once a year or at least once in your lifetime.” (Abu Dawud Sharif)

The Method

After reciting thanaa and before reciting Surah Fatihah repeat these words (the third Kalimah)

‘Subhanallahi Walhamdulillahi wa laa ilaa ha illallahu wallaahu akbar’ (Glory be to Allah, all praise is to Allah and there is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest).

fifteen times.

Then read Surah Fatihah and another surah, these words (above mentioned) should be repeated ten times before the ruku, ten times during the ruku, ten times after standing up from the ruku, ten times in each sajdah and ten times while sitting between the two sajdahs. All four rakaats should be performed in this manner, thus completing seventy five times (tasbeehs) in each rakaat and 300 times (tasbeehs) in four rakaats.

I have made a little picture chart showing the steps on how to pray this prayer. Please take a look if you get confused. Finally, it should be understood that it is not permissible to count the tasbeehaat with one's fingers! Rather it is permissible according the Ulama to use your fingers to press lightly against your body in order to keep count of your tasbeeh.

Free Time

Alhamdulillah, after stressing for the first part of the semester, we have finally come to the Easter holidays. So this basically means, we've got about 14 days left to go and see as many movies, smoke as many shisha flavours and cram in as much fun as we possibly can. However, is this the intellect we should be keping as Muslims?

Having a fun time is good, enjoying yourself is fantastic aslong as it is within the boundaries set by Allah Ta'ala and His Messenger صلي الله عليه وسلم. For example, its good to play football and keep yourself healthy because it is the Huqooq (right) of your body that you maintain it thus in this there is reward for a person. Then you get some brothers and sisters who play football so much that when it comes to praying, they are too tired and then miss it. This concept is wrong and in it their is sin, we just need to learn to distinguish between good and bad rather then thinking 'Being Muslim means no fun!' This is incorrect, have fun but with moderation.

Likewise we find alot of people moan because they claim that they are too busy to remember Allah; That work, college, uni or individual courses and extra curricular activities get in the way of sincere worship. Yet when the free time inevitably comes our way, we occupy ourselves with Facebook and MSN for hours on end. People will be stuck on MSN Messenger and forums till early in the morning speaking about trivial matters when this time is the best to pray, make Du'a to Allah Ta'ala and beg Him for His forgiveness.

In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet صلي الله عليه وسلم says,

"Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, inquiring: 'Who will call on Me so that I may respond to him? Who is asking something of Me so I may give it to him? Who is asking for My forgiveness so I may forgive him?"

Allah Ta'ala is literally looking for excuses to forgive us...

So lets not waste our holidays with trivial matters and day to day 'gupshup' about who is dating who. Do no let these days pass with regret overshadowing our hearts due to the deficiency in our worship. I am not saying, "Don't have fun!" I am saying, "Have fun but with moderation." If you go to the gym you will know that after a few exercises one has to rest his body otherwise it will get strained. In the same way when havin fun, one has to stop and remember Allah Ta'ala or his heart will become strained and rusty.

A beautiful parable that comes to my mind...

Ali (May Allah be pleased with him), stood with one of his companions near a grave one day and asked him,

"If he could come back to this Dunya, what do you think he would do?"

His companion replied,

"He would do nothing but good deeds."

Thereupon Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) remarked,

"If it is not going to be him, then let it be you!"

True Success - Nothing Comes Easy

With the name of ALLAH the All Merciful, the Very Merciful,

What is real success? How do you define real success? When the prophet Muhammad (PEACE BE UPON HIM) started his work of dawaah, his first message was, "Say there is no god but ALLAH and you shall succeed." My brothers and sisters this life is only for a few days and we must realise this fact as soon as possible. Why? Because ALLAH says in the Quran ,"Every soul shall taste death". We don't know when we will breathe our last breath,we are getting so invloved in the wordly matters that we are forgetting about our death, we hear people nowadays saying, "We have one life only so lets enjoy it!" but we should know the real purpose of this life which is to worship our lord ALLAH. If we want to be amongst those who will get the glad tidings of Jannah then the change has to come now. Obey your Lord and follow His commandss. Of course we can have our inspiration of being a doctor , lawyer etc but the real goal is to worship ALLAH.

On the day of Qiyamah when ALLAH will ask us, "I gave you this life, what did you do with it?" "hat will be our answer? Well my brothers and sisters if we lived our life obeying ALLAH's rules and we followed the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) then by ALLAH's mercy on us we will be given the glad tidings of Jannah, this is the real success - attaining Jannah. But unfortunatetly we see nowadays that we are forgetting where the real success lies and the beauty of this world has made us blind. In reality this world is nothing to compare to the beauty of the Paradise.

We should fight our nafs and fight shaytaan! We should know that nothing comes easy, we can't expect to get rewarded by just sitting down, we should work hard , go through trials in order to attain succes. We can see from the story of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and the Sahabas (May ALLAH be pleased with them) they went through a lot of trials. We can see from the story of the family of Yassir (May ALLAH be pleased with them) that they went through a lot and when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) saw the persecution that the family of Yassir (May ALLAH be pleased with them.)was going through he said to them" Be patient O family of Yassir! For you have an appointment in Jannah." The wife of Yassir , Summaiya(May ALLAH be please with her) was the first woman to die for the cause of ISLAM. People gave their life for this deen , they knew that this life is nothing compare to the life of the hereafter, they understood, that true success lies in the obedience of ALLAH and following the sunnah of the Prophet(Peace be upon him). Today we see that there are lot of facilities to learn about this beautiful deen of Islam, we should grab these opportunities and learn about Islam. Islam has come to us on a plate, we didnt have to shed blood for this deen.

My brothers and sisters know that one day we will meet our Lord, we need to prepare for our meeting with ALLAH. This life is a test, if we pass this test then Inshallah by ALLAH's mercy on us we will get the best reward which is Jannah. Indeed we will have to face trials in order to enter Jannah and by having full trust in ALLAH in times of difficulties and knowing that only ALLAH can help us is a great method to succeed. ALLAH says in the QURAN,"And surely Paradise- it is the goal" (an-Naziat 79:41 ), "Indeed the next abode-it is truly the life"(al-Ankabut 29:64). We see from the two verses that our goal should be attaining Jannah and that the real life is the life of the hereafter. ALLAH also testifies in Surah Asr,"By the time, Verily! Man is in loss, Except for those who believe(Islamic monotheism) and do righteous deeds, and recomend one another to the truth and recomend one another to patience".

My brother and sister we should realise that true success lies in the obedience of ALLAH and following the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). We should grab every small opportunity we get to do good deeds. Why? Because on the Day of Qiyamah only your good deeds will be able to help you, your family, your wealth and your status amongst mankind won't come to avail on this day - the day when there is no shelter and good deeds are your only helper. We need to ask ALLAH to guide on the path of Imaan and make us realise as soon as possible where true success lies .


May ALLAH guide all of us along the straight path and make us amongst the dwellers of Jannah.

AMEEN

Remember me in your duas

My Holiday Ibadat Chart

The following is a ibadat chart that we made to help you through the holidays. Insha Allah print it off, stick it on the wall and tick away! Try your best to tick all the boxes for a special prize... Jannah!

Tips - Waking up for Fajr

Today a common problem for many people is the issue of getting up for Fajr and praying Isha. The many Ahadith state, "The most burdensome prayers for the hypocrites are Isha and Fajr…" Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar radiallahu anhuma used to say, "If we did not see a person at Fajr and Isha prayers, we would think badly of him." The most beloved thing at this point no longer remains our Mussala (prayer mat) but our warm, comfy beds. This prayer holds immense virtues just like the rest but is one of the most neglected prayers. For one, “Whoever prays Fajr is under the protection of Allah." However, here are a few tips that you could adhere to perhaps if you are struggling from waking up for Fajr.

• To make a very strong intention is really necessary. It will be really hard to wake up for Fajr when your heart does not even fully want to. It is a necessity that one clenches his fists and makes it clear to his nafs (desires) and shaytaan that he will wake up for Fajr no matter what.

• To make Dua'a in abundance the night before. One should really try his best to make Dua'a from his heart and beg Allah Ta'ala to make the struggle of waking up for Fajr easy. This will give the heart contentment too that your intention is not half hearted but a sincere plea to Allah Ta'ala. The intention and Dua'a together are like the brick and cement of a house, the building will fail to establish itself with both of them.

• Many people fail to realise that what they do the night before contributes to whether they wake up in the morning or not. It is very difficult for a person to wake up for Fajr if he spends the night watching TV, speaking to the opposite gender on the phone, MSN or indulging in other Haraam. This will intoxicate his mind with other things besides Allah Ta'ala. However, if Allah Ta'ala was the last thing we went to sleep thinking about then most assuredly (inshallah) He will be the first thing we think about in the morning. This too will help wake us up inshallah.

• One should keep an alarm on his phone or clock. Many phones have the ability to have five alarms, one should set all these alarms as perhaps one them may get you out of bed. It is also an idea to keep the phone away from your bed so that you do not press 'snooze' or 'off'.

• Get friends who are steadfast or who also have a desire to pray Fajr and ring one another in the morning. Leave your phone on loud so that it wakes you up.

• Sleep early the night before, avoid getting into a scheme where you sleep extremely late and are not able to wake up for Fajr. Some from among us may have insomnia and in situations like this it is really important to keep someone close who can wake you up with care and love.

• Once you get into the habit of reading Fajr, it doesn't matter how late you sleep, your eyes will automatically wake up at the time of Fajr and soon you will find it firm in your life (inshallah). One should continually make Dua'a and seek the help of Allah Ta'ala.

• After waking up, it is quite hard to sleep. One should make Dhikr, Istigfaar and send Durood Sharif in this time. Those who have permission for Dhikr bil Jahr should fix this time to do so. Also, those who are Talaba should use this time to do Mutala of their kitabs and to make Dua'a that Bari Ta'ala maintains and increases their memory.

• Ponder over the words Hazrat Umar radiallahu anhu proclaimed a short while before his death. "There is no Islam for the one who leaves his prayer."

Much more can be said but I fear Shaytaan may cause your wonderful eyes to close before you finish this article. May Allah Ta'ala give me and you all the ability to protect each one of our prayers. May He make it easy for us and create a deep love for prayer in our hearts. Ameen