Just a note…

Yeah, I am a type of brother who does not like sticking to one environment a lot. So many times you will see me changing the design of my blog…I usually do it like every two months. It is probably for a couple of reasons a) I get bored of the previous designs or b) I am just spoiled, and want everything to be new.

So forgive me, if you keep wondering why it changes all the time. I tested out new widgets etc, just to see what they do. I always wondered how come everybody else has a “sick” (I hate using this word, because it seems too teenage-like, even though I am still a teenager…with a beard), so yeah, I tried my best to spice it up.

Anyways, I am doing something I should not be doing…because I have a test this Tuesday and Friday in university. So I really should be concentrating on that…I am in my first year, and I have to say, I don’t like studying…Calculus…ugh…and Business, ah! But insha’allah, I have to make my intentions for the sake of Allah, and study for His Sake, hoping for a halal job and being able to provide for a family in the future insha’allah…and maybe, just maybe if Allah wills study under a shaykh, if not that, then shuyookh to further my Islamic knowledge…Ok seriously, back to studying.

BTW, Taqaballahu Minna wa Minkum. Remember, Ramadan just ended, but continue on with Islam and do not leave it. Allah has honored you as a Muslim, and be proud of this honor for indeed nothing in this dunya is equal to it. Never sell your deen for the price of misguidance, so stick with it. We were able to have a good state of faith during Ramadan, why should we leave it. Whocares if that guy named Shaytan came back unchained, be a man or a woman, rather than a boy or a girl. Fight your desires insha’allah. This is obviously advice to myself firstly, and I pray not to be a hypocrite.

Was-salaamu ‘Alaykum

Aboo Jadd

October 5, 2008

Recommended Sites

These are the sites I would recommend (there are lectures, advice, question and answers) for Ramadan:

fatwa-online.com / efatwa.com — Has many wonderful fatwa from the previous Saudi ulema, and they have concise articles on how to fasting and what breaks fasting

calltoislam.com — Has wonderful lectures from scholars such as Navaid Aziz and Mutassim al Hameedee

islamtoday.com — A good Q and A site

islamqa.com — Another good Q and A site, this has more questions that were answered

Was-salaamu ‘Alaykum

September 2, 2008

Aboo Noor

Qur’aanic dots

I found this interesting quote from Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, which I thought was very nice to read. It gives you knowledge of the history of the Qur’an somewhat, and I am sure you will enjoy reading about it.

“Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The Sahaabah did not write dots and vowels in the Mus-hafs because they were Arabs who did not make mistakes in pronouncing the words, so they did not need the dots. A single word could be read in two ways, with a ya’ or a ta’, such as ya’maloon (يعملون) and ta’maloon (تعملون), which they would read in only one way because they knew that the other was not correct.

But at the time of the Taabi’een, when it become common for people to mispronounce words, some of the Taabi’een added vowels and dots to the Mus-haf, and they wrote them in red. They wrote the fathah as a red dot above the letter, and the kasrah as a red dot below the letter, and the dammah as a red dot before the letter. Then they expanded the red dots and they denoted the shaddah by writing “shadd” and the maddah by writing “madd”. They made the sign for the hamzah look like the letter ‘ayn, because the hamzah is the sister of the ‘ayn. Then they abbreviated them and made the sign for the shaddah look like the main part of the letter seen, and the sign for the maddah an abbreviated sign, as those who keep records may abbreviate numbers etc, and as the scholars of hadeeth abbreviated words such as akhbarana (he informed us) and haddathana (he narrated to us) by writing the first and last part of the word in the forms ana (أنا)  and thana(ثنا) .

The scholars disputed as to whether it was makrooh or not to add vowels and dots to the Mus-haf and there are two well known views, both of which were narrated from Ahmad, but there was no dispute concerning the fact that if there are vowels and dots in a Mus-haf, they must be respected just as the letters are respected. End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (12/101). “

End Quote

Never Give Up!

Masha’allah, when I need something to inspire or get me motivated I watch this video of our brother and student of knowledge, Said Rageah. He is the imam at Abu Hurairah in Toronto, Ontario. When you watch this video, you would truly feel an “eman rush”. Trust me…you will love this!

Some of the benefits you will derive just by watching this 2-3 minute clip.

* Appreciate who you are

* Never to despair

* Seem like you have a purpose in this life

* Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity

* Allah has honored you to be a Muslim

Was-salaamu ‘Alaykum

September 25, 2008

Aboo Jadd

Sleepless Nights

Imagine, the whole neighborhood is in deep sleep while you amongst other worshippers are standing in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet only to attain the night that Allah has said is better than a 1000 nights. It is truly amazing when you see people who are willing to give up their sleep just to attain the pleasure of Allah. Its amazing what people give just to be amongst those who are forgiven.

Usually when your friend calls your house 3 in the morning to go out somewhere, we are like “are you crazy?”. Only in Ramadan will you see the believers willing to give up their sleep to stand up in prayers on cold nights.

I will be the first to admit that I am having sleep problems because of Qiyaam, and having to go to school the next morning. Nonetheless, these are the moments you truly cherish when you are with your brothers for such a beautiful purpose.

Slowly Ramadan will leave our grasp, and before it even sinks in, the month has left us. I remember myself when I was young highlighting the Ramadan calendar given by the masjid for all the days of fasted. Not because I enjoyed fasting, but because I could not wait for Eid so I could get my gifts and money. Now as you grow older, you wish you can take away those highlights hoping you were able to get those days back and relive those days of fasting.

Al-hamdulillah, I thank Allah for allowing me to live this Ramadan, and I pray to have another next year, just so I can complain about sleep to my friends…but deep down, I am blessed just to be able have a chance to offer 2 rak’ahs on the odd and even nights of the last 10 days. Its funny, how many chances Allah gives us for our sins to be remove.

I pray that by the end of Ramadan, I will be able to replace an evil deed for a good deed and that I will be able to attain Laylatul-Qadr.

May Allah forgive us and shower His Mercy upon us. May He also guide us to the straight path. Surely, whomsoever Allah guides none can take him astray, and whomsoever Allah takes astray, none can guide him.

Lets utilize our last days of this month!…Now I must run to school!

Was-salamu ‘Alaykum

Aboo Jadd

September 25, 2008

Naseehah for the Last 10 Day of Ramadan

Our faith in this month is no different from any other Ramadan we may have experienced. Our eman in this month is known to fluctuate and go through periods of strong eman and weak eman. When the month of Ramadan was approaching, the brothers would run towards good deeds by reciting Qur’an day and night without any sign of tiredness. Then, the 10^th day approaches, and we returned back to our normal state, except the only difference from the tenth day of this month of Ramadan, and tenth day of the month of August, was that we were fasting.

All the doors of hell are shut and chained, and all of the gates of heaven are opened up. This is a month to save yourselves from entering the Hell Fire. The shayateen are kept away from us, and in this month Allah has put one day in the last 10 days that is better than 1000 months.

Many Muslims walked into this month having the highest of expectations of enjoining good… and in the middle… they collapse.

The Prophet climbed upon the mimbar and said: “Aameen, aameen, aameen“. So it was said, “O Messenger of Allah, you climbed upon the mimbar and said: “aameen, aameen, aameen”? So he said:”Jibraa’eel, `alaihi assalam came to me and said, ‘Whoever reaches the month of Ramadan and does not have [his sins] forgiven and so enters Fire, then may Allah distance him, say aameen“. So I said “aameen”.

In this month Allah frees the servant from entering Hell Fire as he repents and seeks forgiveness with sincerity. My brothers, this month is not over and we have time to push ourselves, and take our faiths to the next level. What better time to seek repentance than now, when the night of Qadr is approaching. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa salam said: “Whoever stands (in prayer) in Laylatul-Qadr out of Eman (faith and sincerity) and seeking reward then his previous sins are forgiven”. [Bukhari] Seek this night of Qadr in hopes of entering Jannah. This may be your only opportunity if Allah wills to forgive your previous sins.

Strive hard in the last 10 days of Ramadan, and know, that this may be the last Ramadan you may live through, as Allah says: Every soul shall taste death.

Note: This was a short khutbah I had used

Madinah Book 1 Videos

Masha’allah a brother sent this site on this page which I believe could be extremely beneficial for those who want to learn the language of the Quran and Sunnah.

www.lqtoronto.com

Its a wonderful site, and encourage serious brothers and sisters who want to become students of knowledge to check it out. I know one brother who took the course for like six months, and benefitted immensely.

Jazaak Allaahu khair

Was-salaamu ‘Alaykum

A story of an eight-year old

Sometimes it becomes tough to write long articles and I am sure some people find it boring (forgive me for this, and if you have any tips, write in my About Me page), therefore now I am deciding to share stories of the salaf-us-salih and those who stick closely by them.

Its amazing how the generations before us put such an emphasis on Islamic knowledge and I want to share a story of which I heard in a lecture awhile ago, and came across today while reading an article called “Why should I study?” by Muhammad al-Shareef (Ref: http://islamworld.net/docs/why_should_i_study.html).

I copied and pasted this straight from the site I referenced, and I do hope that people will reflect on this story and smile to see the zeal of the people of whom we should learn from insha’allah!

A story of an eight-year old:

“One of the hadith scholars that Imam Bukhari took from, Hisham ibn Ammar narrates a story that happened to him when he was 8 years old. He says, “My father sold a house of his for 20 Deenaars so that I could go for Hajj (and study Islam). When I arrived in Madinah, I went to the circle of Imam Maalik. He was sitting amongst his students like a king. People would ask him questions and he would answer. When I entered the crowd and my turn came up I said, ‘Haddithnee (recite to me)!’ He said, ‘Rather you read.’ I said, ‘No, you haddithnee!’ Imam Maalik said, ‘No you read!’ When I talked back and argued, he got angry and said to another student, go with this boy outside and smack him 15 times!’ That student took me outside and smacked me 15 times with a stick and then brought me back to Imam Maalik. I said, ‘you have Dhulm (wronged) me! My father sold his house so that I could come to you and be honored by listening to your teaching and seek knowledge from you. And you smacked me 15 times without any crime on my part, I shall not forgive you!’ Imam Maalik then said, ‘What is the expiation for this Dhulm (wronging)?’ I said, ‘You have to recite 15 hadiths to me, that is the expiation.’ So Imam Maalik began reciting the hadith to me until he completed 15. When he ended I told him, ‘beat me more and read more hadith to me.” Imam Maalik laughed and said, ‘be off.’ – From the book Ma’rifat Al-Qurraa’ al-Kibaar by Imam Adh-Dhahabi.”

End Quote

Yeah yeah, I am sure you all are saying, IMAAM MALIK ORDERED A STUDENT TO PUNISH AN 8-YEAR OLD! HOW COULD HE! I am sure we all have our opinions on this action of his, and may Allaah have mercy upon him. After all,  Imaam Malik did feel a sort of regret.

Nonetheless, I want you to derive a lesson or two from this man when he was eight years old and look at his passion to attain a hadeeth of the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa salam! Amazing I would say, wouldn’t you? Imagine going to you shaykh and saying “Ya Shaykh! Hit me on the right cheek and left creak so you will be forced to give me a hadeeth!” (Please don’t do this, I don’t want to get a shaykh in trouble if he actually does this).

But anyways, I advise myself firstly, lets all try to be more passionate towards Islaam and gain or maybe even regain the thirst to study Islaam! The westerners like to say “knowledge is money” and I say, like the scholars would say to their students “knowledge is worship”.

Remember this important quote of Imaam Bukhari which I like to throw in, he said “Knowledge precedes speech and action”. So have the intention to learn about the matters of Islaam and do your best to strive to seek the basis of all your actions!

Aboo Jadd

March 24. 2008

Yasir Qadhi Notes on Memorizing the Quran

I haven’t posted in a long time, so indeed I do feel kind of bad. But insha’allah this next one should be interesting since I took a class on Uloom ul Qur’an, Science of the Quran taught by Yasir Qadhi of Al Maghrib Institute. The course was real special because honestly, you learn so much about the Qur’an such as the tafsir, its history, the translations, the ten authentic qir’aat, etc etc. you learn so much. However, one of the things I wanted to share, since I know Muslims always love this, is how to memorize Quran using Yasir Qadhi’s methodology. Remember, these are notes that I took down while I was in the class, so I am vulnerable of making mistakes and may Allaah forgive me, before I spread this knowledge. Also I did add some of my own knowledge into this methodology (meaning I added a few extras for benefit insha’allah).
METHODOLOGY OF MEMORIZING QUR’AN!

1. Niyah for Allaah: This is making a sincere intention of memorizing the Qur’an to only gain the pleasure of Allaah ‘Azza wa Jall. If this is not your intention, then your whole plan of memorizing fails and there will be no barakah in your memorizing.

2. Start practicing Islam to the best of your ability: It is important to keep an Islamic habit and trying to abstain from sinning. Be in the company of good people who will encourage you to do good practices rather than those who take you away from the path of Allaah ‘Azza wa Jall.

Imaam Shafi’ee once complained to his teacher about poor memory, and this was obviously a great concern for the great Imaam of one of the four school of thoughts. Unlike us, we usually complain about the Toronto Raptors or Toronto Maple Leafs losing (I am a Torontonian, so I am using them as an example). The teacher of Imaam Shafi’ee advised him to abstain from sin. So this is indeed a great advice for us to follow as well, since abstaining from sin will eventually make us focus more on the ‘ibaadah (worship) rather than the dunyaa (worldy matters).

3. Learning tajweed from someone who has Ijaaza: This is to learn from a teacher who knows how to pronounce the words and vowels correctly in order to recite the Qur’an in its correct manners.

4. Make a habit to memorize every day: Do bit by bit every day, even if it is little as memorize 5 small ayahs from the Qur’an. Do your best to make this a consistent effort, so that you will not fall back on your goals. If you memorize even a small amount day by day, you will be one step closer to the end of bridge insha’allah.

5. Memorize at the early stage of the day: I know this is difficult for a lot of us, especially for me. I must admit, I love snuggling with my nice comfy pillow, however for those who are really determined in memorizing the Book of Allaah, it is best to memorize right after Fajr/ early in the morning when the mind is fresh and when the beautiful Sun is bright.

6. Recite to somebody on consistent basis: Have a friend, family member or a teacher who you can recite to consistently. This is an amazing tip when it comes to reviewing, because you will have someone catch the small mistakes you wont notice while you are reciting the surah from memory.

7. Compete!!: It is best to have a buddy that you can compete with. At times you may feel unmotivated. This is true for a lot of students and due to this reason you may see people actually quitting on their goal. Thats why a little competition wont hurt. Try finding a friend who you know wants to memorize the Qur’an and knows nearly the same amount as you. Both of you can race towards attaining good deeds and keep each other motivated by sharing how much each of you have memorized at the end of the day and how much you reviewed. And Allah says: So hasten towards all that is good. ( 2:148 )

8. Divide relationship of Qur’an into four categories:

1. New memorization: No matter what, memorize after Fajr, bright and early since this is the best time to do it.
2. Linking last 7 days memorization: What this means is, that everything you learned in the last seven days, revise it completely. This is essential since it is easy to forget your past lessons if you don’t consistently review, and this is believed to be a good methodology for memorizing the Qur’an and keeping up to date with your revision.
3. GO OVER OLD STUFF: I capitalize this, because this is an important advice to myself. Sometimes you will get lazy to review stuff that you learned so long ago. It is easy to forget your old stuff, and this is really the hardest part when it comes to memorizing the Qur’an. Ask yourself, what is the point of memorizing, when you will forget what you learned in the past. Therefore, try to revise your old juz, or ayaat you memorized from before on a consistent basis during any time of the day, and if you can, do your best to keep it to a minimum of 1/4 – 1/2 Juz insha’allah.
   
4. Read what you will memorizing the next day before you go to sleep: I am currently a hifdh student, and this something I added. Personally, I find it easier to memorize when you read what you are going to be memorizing the next day, the night before. I just think it helps because you will have some words and phrases stuck in your mind which helps you to learn the lesson faster.

9. Brain Food and Health: “A daily run, a diet rich in almonds and other healthful foods and a stimulating environment — all may keep aging brain cells in shape, according to research out Monday.” (Kathleen Fackelmann, USA TODAY) To increase your memorization capacity, I guess its advisable to eat some almonds and be a little more active (Shoot, I actually have to get off the couch to memorize!!).

But anyways, insha’allaah I will try to blog more beneficial notes and I pray that you benefit from this methodology towards your beautiful goal of coming closer to Allaah and attaining the amazing river in Jannah and trees insha’allaah!!!

And lastly I would like to say, these are tips I want to implement too insha’allaah and pray that you and I will one day become amongst the Huffadh with the understanding of the Qur’an who act upon what they learn insha’allaah!

Zaadak Allaah ‘Ilmaan (May Allaah increase you in knowledge)

Jazaak Allaahu Khair, Was-Salaamu ‘Alaykum

Aboo Jadd

Learn Arabic Through Madinah Books

Want to learn Arabic? Well here is some aid insha’allaah! These are the books that are used in the Al-Jaameatul-Islamiyah bil Madeenatil-Munawarah (don’t ask me why I had to write in Arabic)—but in translation, the Islamic University of Madeenah. Al-hamdulillah, many brothers have used these books as a tool for self-study, because its hard or costly to find good Arabic teachers in the community. For some reason, the Arabic language doesn’t carry that much importance for the people even though that is the language the Qur’aan was revealed in and the language Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa salam spoke with his people.

Nonetheless, this is not a post for those who don’t desire to learn the Arabic language, rather this is for those who aspire to be students of knowledge and wanting to understand the Book of Allaah, the books of hadeeth, the books of our beloved scholars, AND FINALLY those who actually want to understand what they listen to during that LONG 2 HOURS OF RECITATION DURING RAMADAN (I mean Taraweeh of course).

While seeking the pleasure of Allaah, I ask Allaah to bless the brothers who seek to help the people with the beneficial knowledge.

But khair, I want to post some links I found insha’allah concerning the topic of learning Arabic and Insha’allah I will post up sites where you can buy books (if you decide its easier to study with a book in front of you rather than staring at a screen). By the way, there are 3 books in the Madinah set, but insha’allah it gets fun as you start going from lesson to lesson.

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Madeenah Books Online

Go to www.fatwa-online.com —-> Others—->Downloads—-> Arabic Language

On efatwa.com you can download all three books from the Islamic University, and these are actual books that are taught to students who don’t know Arabic at all.

http://www.madinaharabic.com/ (this one only has book 1 posted)

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Madeenah Books (If you want to buy)

http://islamicbookstore.com/b6067.html

There are other sites you can buy it off of, and a lot of islamic book stores sell these. I just picked a random link, and posted it.

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Great Amazing Audio to go along with your studies

http://www.muhammadnur.com/medinabook1.html (This one covers all 3 books I am pretty sure)

http://www.matari.com/Arabic_Lessons/ (This one only covers like the first book, and parts of the second)

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These are just motivation forums that may inspire you to learn more arabic (though I do not advise you to vist these forums often)

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29115

http://www.gawaher.com/index.php?showtopic=6603

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Other Arabic Info in case you need more:

http://www.islamicity.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7908&PN=1

http://ibnayyub.wordpress.com/2007/10/20/good-books-to-help-you-learn-arabic/

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UPDATE MARCH 21, 2008!

I found a wonderful site which has audio and more for the madinah books al-hamdulillaah!!!!!!!

http://madeenah-arabic-books.com/ GREAT SITE MASHA’ALLAH!