Hope And Mercy

When you commit some sin do not despair of attaining closeness with your Rabb because, perhaps this is the last sin destined for you.

When you commit some sin as a result of human nature, never allow this sin to bring about the slightest change in your determination to remain steadfast on the Deen and do not permit it to slacken your bond with Allah Ta'ala. Do not be deceived by the thought: ‘I am unable to remain steadfast on the Deen, hence my sinning.' Do not think that firmness on the Deen is impossible on account of the sin committed. With this idea, do not become audacious in sin. This idea which you entertain is baseless because a sin committed as a result of the weakness in human nature is not in conflict with firmness on the Deen. Yes, persistence in sins, abstention from taubah and deliberate commission of sin are negatory of firmness (Istiqaamat).

It is quite possible that the sin committed may be the last decreed for you and thereafter such mercy may be directed to you, that you will commit no further sin.

For the heart not to grieve when Taa-aat (acts of obedience) and Ibaadaat (acts of worship) are lost, and not to feel remorse when indulging in sin and evil, is a sign of the death of the heart.

Know that just as the life of the physical body is dependent on food, so too is the life of the (spiritual) heart dependent on Imaan and A'maal-e-Saalihah (Righteous Deeds). In the same way as the physical body would perish if deprived of nourishment, the heart will die if it is without Imaan. Thus, if a man is unconcerned about his neglect of obedience, e.g. Namaaz, Roza (fasting), Jama't Salaat, etc., and he experiences no regret and remorse for the sins he commits, it indicates that his heart is dead, devoid of the impressions of Imaan.

If the heart derives pleasure from acts of obedience and worship, and grieves and feels regret when sins are committed it indicates that the Noor of Imaan is radiating.

There should not be in your mind any sin so grave that it prevents you from holding a good opinion of hope with Allah Ta'ala and causes you to despair of His mercy and grace. He who has recognised his Rabb knows that infront of his Rabb's grace and mercy, his sins are insignificant.

One should not hold one's sins in such a grave light that one loses hope in the grace and mercy of Allah Ta'ala. One should not think: “The gravity of my sin is so great that there is no forgiveness for it, and I have on account of this sin now reached a stage where I am unfit for His grace and mercy.” Such despair is the consequence of unawareness of the attributes of Allah Ta'ala.

One who has recognised his Creator and is aware of His attributes, will be acquainted with His attributes of Forgiveness and Grace. He will thus understand that in the presence of these infinite attributes, his sins are insignificant. He will always have hopes of being forgiven.

While this should be one's attitude, one should not consider sin itself to be insignificant. If the gravity of sin is not in the heart, one will then not resort to taubah nor will there be regret and remorse.

The summary of this discussion is: Neither consider the sin in such grave light that one despairs and loses hope in forgiveness, for this too is kufr, nor regard sin so lightly that one feels no remorse and is deprived of taubah. The hope of forgiveness should be tempered with regret for having sinned, and a firm resolution should be made to refrain from disobedience in future.

Taken from Ikmalus Shiyaam Chapter On Taubah

"...The passing of these days and nights is indeed the passing of your life..."

Love Itself Will Teach You The Etiquettes of Love

Muhabbat (love) cannot be learnt just like that, nor can it be taught just like that. Hazrat Sheikh Muhammad Zakariyya rahmatullahi alayh used to say,

“When I was very young, a child... I used to hear my father (Hazrat Maulana Yahya rahmatullahi alayh) recite poetry. And I used to learn this poetry by heart. I did not understand the deeper meanings of this poetry until when I was older. One of the poems that I had learnt from him were as follows:

محبت ﺗﺟﻬ كو خود ﺁداب محبت سكهاتى ہے

“Love itself will teach you the etiquettes of loving someone.”

Meaning, when a person loves another person to a deep extent, he constantly thinks of ways to show great etiquettes to that special someone. If you search for these etiquettes in a book, you will find some but better than this is true love. If your love for a person is true, it itself will teach you the mannerisms of how to love a person. It was Hazrat Sheikh’s habit to narrate stories during i’tikaaf time in Ramadhan and so in this particular time, he continued to narrate his own experiences in relation to the above poem. He relates that the great ‘Alim Hazrat Maulana Abdul Qadir Raipuri rahmatullahi alayh would travel a lot and on his journeys, he would often stop off at Saharanpur where Hazrat Sheikh used to live. And he would stay there for a short period. Once there was a Tableeghi Ijtima and Hazrat Raipuri was arriving at the same time. As the ijtima finished all the great ulama went to the train station to meet Hazrat Raipuri so that they could be in his service. The first thing that Hazrat Sheikh asked him was,

“What is your plan? (i.e. how long do you intend to stay at my house in Saharanpur?)

Hazrat Raipuri said,

“I will stay for today and tomorrow. The third day is up to you, whatever you want me to do, I will do.”

Despite being senior to Hazrat Sheikh and also a man of great ‘ilm, Hazrat Sheikh refused him the request and said,

“No. Not one, two or three days... leave tomorrow. And not just (any time) tomorrow but as soon as the Fajr Adhan goes, you read your Jamaat with your own people and leave. You do not have permission to stay at my house any longer than that.”

Hazrat Raipuri was absolutely bewildered and shocked at this response! He said,

“Give me permission, I have been travelling for so long! I need rest!”

And Hazrat Sheikh said,

“No. Infact, you cannot stay half an hour after the Fajr Adhan, you must leave. You have no permission from me. I will prepare your breakfast and tea and then you go.”

So this is what had happened and when it was Hazrat Maulana Abdul Qadir Raipuri’s time to depart and go back to Raipur, Hazrat Sheikh came to him. He explained his actions and said,

“The reason I done such is because my house is no luxurious place. I live a very simple life. You are travelling and you are going to find no luxury or rest here because my house cannot provide it. You are better off going back to Raipur. And my intention behind this all is so that you get rest. And of course I want you to stay but this is what I was thinking and I could not let you stay any longer than that one night.”

Then when Hazrat Raipuri went back to Raipur, he called all of his close companions and then he said,

“This is the intention that Hazrat Zakariyya has sent me back with...”

and then he began to make many, many dua’as for him before continuing to say,

“This was such a good intention that now I see the benefit.”

Thereafter, he made a huge number of Du’aas for Hazrat Sheikh and continued to do so. Hazrat Sheikh says,

“Whenever I remember this story it makes me very happy because it seems very harsh but it is because the love I had for him taught me these etiquettes.”

Similarly, there is an incident recorded of Sheikhul Islam, Hazrat Sayed Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani Sahib. Once his teacher, Hazrat Sheikhul Hind Maulana Mahmoodul Hasan Sahib received many guests. There was only one toilet in the house and the visitors were to stay for several days. Every night Hazrat Madani used to clean the toilet and the visitors would find the toilet clean the next morning. Once again, it was not books that taught him this but love itself. His love was so true and sincere for his beloved teacher that it gave him the strength to do even the most impossible of works. Finally, we look into the life of our beloved Rasul e Paak salallahu alayhi wa salam .

Our beloved Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam had a deep and intense love for Hazrat Aishah radiallahu anha. He would show her enormous affection right up to the day he left this world. His love for her was so much that he would not let an opportunity slip in which he could show Hazrat Aishah radiallahu anha her special place in his heart. When she would sip water from a glass, he would turn that glass and drink from the exact same place where Hazrat Aishah radiallahu anha had placed her lips. He was a very caring and loving husband. He would go out with Aishah radiallahu anha, Sahabahs are with him, he would say to the Sahabah – once it so happened, he said to the Sahabah to go ahead and that he would come with Aishah radiallahu anha. The Sahabah then went forward on that journey that they were travelling and then he says to Aishah,

“Aishah! Come on! Let’s race!”

And they start racing and Aishah radiallahu anha wins the race and Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam is left behind. After a few months or years, similarly, the same incident happens and they have a race again. This time, Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam wins and so she was left behind and Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam won and he said,

“I have taken my revenge .”

So finally I conclude. True love is the basis of teaching how to love a person. Whether those people or that person is from our families, spouses, friends or teachers etc. A person who nourishes his hearts hunger with haraam love will always be void of conentment and this special connection. True love will teach one etiquettes on how to show compassion, care and happiness. Making one another smile will come without thought and exchanging gifts with one another, cheering one another up, keeping eachother away from harm will be a 'doddle' (inshallah). I love you all for the sake of Allah's pleasure and so I have made the above 'user friendly' and 'easy on the eyes' so that you may enjoy reading it inshallah.

May Allah Ta'ala give us all the ability to love one another in the correct manner. Ameen

Crossword 1: Sahabah radiallahu anhum

Assalamu Alaykum,

I have made a crossword for you to do in your free time! I understand that sometimes it is boring just reading and reading. So now you can interact too! The answers are at the bottom, no cheating or peeping until you give up. Jazakallah

Note: Do not use a marker on your computer screen! If you do, then write bewaqoof on your kopri (forehead) too!

The Sahabah radiallahu anhum

Now it is your job to go and find out the sacrifices these great people made.

Testing Times... literally!

Source: LSC blog

As we dawn closer towards our exams and we begin to get those butterflies in our stomach, we must realise, that the results we recieve can be amended over time. We should recognise the simple fact that if we fail in these tests we can re-take them as many times as we want in different colleges, institutions and places of education. However we should not be like those people who are so immersed in their exams and tests of the dunya that they forget the one major exam that they will not be able to take again.

Let us not be like those people who spend huge amounts of time with their heads stuck in many revision books but neglect the one book that will intercede for them on The Day of Qiyamah, The Qur'an. These exams we take are extremely important, a Muslim should be the best in everything he does...but they are not everything. One should always try his best and then call upon Allaah. And what if we fail and we have no grades and we feel completely low inside? Then we must remember the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam in which he says, "Remember Allaah in times of ease and He will remember you in times of distress. What hit you, could not have missed you and what missed you could not have hit you."

And if we do fail, it is most imperative, that we remember another hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam that has been narrated in Ahmad and Mishkaat Sharif. "When a person's sins increase, and his deeds are not such that they can wipe out the sins, then the Almighty Allah puts him in sadness and troubles, through which his sins get wiped out."

Allah is only looking for ways to excuse us so we should not keep that gut feeling and keep repeating "If only I did this.." or "Why did Allah do this to me?" This isn't the character of a Muslim, this is not from the character of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam and this is not the perception one should morally keep. If we ultimately do think this, it lets Shaytaan enter while we are drowning in sadness for ourselves and opens the doors for him to place doubts and grudges in our hearts against the One who created us.

So my brothers and sisters in Islaam, let us be strong in our Imaan and let us focus on the real exam which could end any time. In this sentence of life let shaytaan be a comma but never let him be the full stop. A beautiful quote comes to mind, "The shortest distance one has to travel in order to find the solution to his problems is the distance between his knees and the floor. He who kneels before Allaah can stand upto anything."

Do dua'a for all your brothers and sisters, for the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam mentions in Sahih Muslim, "The dua of a Muslim for his brother (in Islam) in his absence is readily accepted, an angel is appointed to his side, whenever he makes a beneficial dua for his brother the appointed angel says "ameen and may you also be blessed with the same."

One final naseehat i wish to give is this that, we should not limit ourselves to knowledge of the dunya. Islam holds oceans of knowledge for people to jump into and grasp. This knowledge is one that will remain with you and benefit you in this world an in the hereafter, so my brothers and sisters, become Hafiz's and Hafiza's and become Alim's and Alimaah's. Use your mind, abilities and attributes wherever necessary and what could be better, than pleasing Allah with what he has given you? One final hadith I wish to mention. A hadith related to us by Abu Dardha radiallahu anhu . in which he narrates: I heard Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam saying: "Whoever travels on a path in search of knowledge, Allah will enable him to travel on a path to paradise. And verily, the angels spread their wings with pleasure for one who seeks knowledge. Indeed the inhabitants of the skies and the earth and the fish in the depths of water, all supplicate forgiveness for the Aalim (Islamic Scholar). Verily, the eminence of an Aalim over a devout worshipper is that of the full moon over the stars. And indeed, the Ulama are the heirs of the prophets. And verily, the prophets did not leave behind as inheritance any Dinar or Dirham (worldly wealth), they leave behind Ilm as inheritance. So, whoever aquired this, received an abdundant portion." (Abu Dawud).

The Gaza Fundraiser

Assalamu Alaykum,

Respected brothers and sisters, Alhamdulillah by the grace of Allah the Exalted, we have been able to raise £1,035.48 in Leyton Sixth Form college. This all took place during one week and it is not our achievement but you are deserved of this great accolade. This is your efforts, your money and your reward. We pray to Allah the Most High that He accepts our efforts. Ameen. Here are the certificate that we were sent. I wish to thank all those brothers who had helped collecting, may Allah reward you all. Ameen.