Until recently, I had thought that all Muslims follow the Quran as the primary source of knowledge, guidance and information, as well as following the Hadith (traditions or Sunnah) of the Prophet. I then found out about a school of thought called ‘Quranism’ – the followers of this believe that the Quran should be the only source of guidance for Muslims, and disregard all Sunnah and Hadith of the Prophet. Though it might seem to make sense, at the same time it seems to disagree with alot of aspects of the Prophets life and what he taught us.

What are hadith?

Hadith, also referred to as ‘Sunnah’ sometimes, refer to sayings, teachings or advice of the Prophet that he said in his lifetime, and that were then transmitted orally, and written down at a later time.

Are they credible?

The argument is that since they were transmitted orally, it could be ‘chinese whispers’ and people added on and embellished to what was said, or even made up something to suit what they thought and attributed to the Prophet. This was a real problem, that still continues today with alot of ‘weak’ hadith being regarded as true. This is a long topic covered extensively by others, but the main points to note are:

• Only 6 collections are regarded as authentic, 2 of which are Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that are seen as the strongest; any others are disregarded
• The screening process for these hadith was very intense: the sources had to be reliable people, who heard it first hand, and more preferred were hadith that more than one credible person had heard. For instance a hadith by the Prophets companion such as Umar or Ali is regarded as very true, but one relatively unknown person saying they heard the Prophet say  something isn’t enough credibility.
• There were lots of hadith that were filtered down because of this screening process, for instance it is said that Al-Bukhari collected over 300,000 hadith and included only 2,602 traditions in his Sahih collection.

Why follow just the quran

The Quran is the word of Allah speaking directly to us, and Allah has said that he will protect the Quran from being changed (Quran 15:9). So of course it is much more credible to follow the Quran for this reason as well, because as stated hadith can be changed or modified. This, and the fact that the Quran is directly Allah’s word, is seen as enough reason to follow the Quran alone. However, there are other indications and thoughts to look at before disregarding Hadith completely. Below are the reasons that I came up with or found.

#1 Implementing the Quran in our life

To follow the Quran doesn’t mean to simply read it, but to implement it in our daily life. A person could read the Quran and what it says about praying in middle of the night and perhaps think ‘This seems difficult to me; how can I do all of this? Wake up in the middle of the night to pray? It’s not possible for a person!’ and then just leave the religion altogether or to follow the parts they choose and disregard others. By reading Hadith and learning about Prophet Muhammad, we see that he showed us how to live the Quran, by setting an example for us. He would stand up often to pray in the night for long periods, for instance there is a Hadith:

Narrated Aisha: The Prophet used to offer prayer at night (for such a long time) that his feet used to crack. I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Why do you do it since Allah has forgiven you your faults of the past and those to follow?” He said, “Shouldn’t I love to be a thankful slave (of Allah)?’ When he became old, he prayed while sitting, but if he wanted to perform a bowing, he wound get up, recite (some other verses) and then perform the bowing.
Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 360 and 361

This Hadith gives us an insight on how a true Muslim and believer in Allah and the Quran would feel about night prayers, and shows that a human being is capable of doing it if they want to.

#2 Avoiding misinterpretations

As mentioned, the Quran is Allah’s word and comes with a lot of weight. While Allah has sent it using words that people can understand, it is a book with many levels and many lessons to be learnt. In this way, the Prophet can be seen as a teacher for us. Just as you wouldn’t pick up a book about Quantum Physics, read it through and think you understood it, it’s the same way with the Quran. You would need someone, ideally a teacher, to guide you through it and to help you understand what it’s saying and its meanings.

Without this teaching, you are also open to misinterpreting the Quran. I witnessed an example of this recently when a famous Hollywood celebrity died, and people had put up statuses on Facebook saying how sad they were and offering condolences. A person whom I don’t know got upset at this, and commented on my friend’s status that we shouldn’t mourn for this celebrity because they had been a Christian and so a non-believer and we shouldn’t feel sorry for them, citing verses from the Quran which talk about the disbelieving people and Allah’s wrath on them. This sort of narrow-minded interpretation of the Quran is dangerous because it leads to a way of thinking that is intolerant and contrary to the teachings of the Prophet.

A person who would look at Hadiths would learn how tolerant and compassionate our Prophet had been, even to non-Muslims.

Narrated ‘Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila: Sahl bin Hunaif and Qais bin Sad were sitting in the city of Al-Qadisiya. A funeral procession passed in front of them and they stood up. They were told that funeral procession was of one of the inhabitants of the land i.e. of a non-believer, under the protection of Muslims. They said, “A funeral procession passed in front of the Prophet and he stood up. When he was told that it was the coffin of a Jew, he said, “Is it not a living being (soul)?” (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 399)

Hadith like this are essential to understanding the good character a Muslim person has, which upon reading the Quran might be hard to understand for some.

It says in the Quran about itself that there will be those people who will take the words of Allah and use them for their own meanings:

As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah . But those firm in knowledge say, “We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.” And no one will be reminded except those of understanding. (Quran, Surah Ali Imran, Verse 7)

From ‘those of understanding’, who better than Prophet Muhammad to help us understand the Quran.

#3 Why send a Messenger at all?

If Allah had willed, he could have sent down the Quran directly through the angel Jibrail and given it to the people. Why did he choose to send it through Jibrail to a person, Prophet Muhammad, who was then told to tell it to the people? Allah knows best, but when thinking about this, one of the main reasons is because the Prophet was an exceptional person, unlike normal people. He was called ‘Al-Amin’, the trustworthy one, and people like Abu Bakr converted to Islam instantly upon hearing him because of his reputation of always telling the truth.

A person of strong character such as the Prophet Muhammad was needed to show people how to live the Quran, how to recite it, how to read it, how to understand it and how to live by it. Allah does everything for a reason, and to disregard anything the Prophet said or did seems to oppose Allah’s decision to choose Muhammad from all the people.

#4 Prophets last sermon

Whether you believe in Hadith or not, in his Final Sermon before he passed away he clearly spoke about telling those people who were not there to listen to pass on the message. This is something ‘Quranists’ cannot even deny and so must listen to the words of his Farewell Sermon.

“O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present here today…”

He then went on to say

Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Quran and my example, the Sunnah, and if you follow these you will never go astray.

In various ways, implicitly and explicitly, he highlighted in this sermon the importance of passing on his teaching to whose who could not be there, that his words have importance, the Quran is primary  but then to also follow his Sunnah, his example.

#5 No contradictions

Whatever the Prophet said or did was inspired by Allah and he was given guidance. The Prophet would not give out advice or rulings based on his own thoughts and feelings, but rather what Allah had decreed. It would make sense to deny hadith if they contradicted Quran, for instance the Quran says you can have 4 wives but the Prophet said ‘Well actually you can have 6 if you like’. His life complimented the Quran, and so his Hadith must compliment it, and not contradict it, which they do.

Aisha, his wife, when asked what the Prophet’s characters was like, she answered ‘His character was the Quran’.

#6 Who do we ask for advice?

There are several hadith where people have come and asked the Prophet for advice regarding law or personal affairs, or he disclosed some advice. It seems unfair that only the people who lived at the Prophets time get to benefit from such pearls of wisdom, when it is clear that the advice can benefit all Muslims. One example is this beautiful hadith:

Young man, (the Prophet said to ‘Abdullah ibn al-’Abbas) hear some words of advice; Be mindful of God and God will protect you. Be mindful of God and you will find Him before you. If you seek help, seek Help of God. Know that if all the people were to gather together to give you the benefit of anything, it would be something that God had already prescribed for you, and that if they gathered together to harm you with anything, this would only be as God had already ordained. (At-Tirmidhi)

Although the points mentioned above might be found in the Quran in different places and phrased in different ways, the Prophet put it into perspective for us. I’m sure that though his advice was to Abdullah ibn Al-Abbas, he would have wanted all people to benefit from this advice.

Following the Quran and the Prophet

After looking deeper into the topic, I feel more strongly than ever on following Hadith and Sunnah of the Prophet. He was chosen as the best of human beings from us, and is an ideal role model for all Muslims wishing to follow the Quran truly.

May Allah give us all guidance, help us to love and understand the Quran, make it a part of our daily life, and assist us in being more like our beloved Prophet Muhammad.

The Hawqala is short form of saying la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (Arabic “لا حول ولاقوة إلا بالله”) which is usually translated as “There is no power or strength except with Allah.” This short but powerful statement has many benefits.

Affliction of poverty

These words – ‘There is neither strength nor power save in God’ – have the striking effect of helping one to accomplish difficult work, bear fatigue, and endure fear or dreadful experience. For according to a hadith related by Ibn Abil-Dunya, the Messenger of God said, ‘For whoever says, “There is neither strength nor power save in God” one hundred times, no day shall be afflicted by poverty.”

Giving strength

The first thing that Almighty God had created, when His Throne was upon the waters, was the bearers of the Throne. They said, “Our Lord, wherefore have You created us?” God answered, “To bear My Throne.” “Our Lord, who is strong enough to bear Your Throne, when upon it lay Your greatness, might and honour?” He said, “For that I have created.” And they repeated this several times, until He told them, “Say: There is neither strength nor power save in God.” (lâ hawla wa lâ quwwata illâ bi Allâh) And they bore the Throne.’ (this Hadith is not verified strong or weak)

Treasures of Paradise

The Prophet , said to Abu Moosa Al-Ash‘ari : “Should I guide you to a word which is one of the treasures of Paradise?” He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet , said, “La hawla wala quwwata illa billaah.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

During Adhan

There are many virtues of repeating after the Adhan (call to prayer) what the Muazzin (the person who calls the Adhan says). We repeat everything except when he says:

After both of these, we say the Hawqala.

Nowadays when someone wants to attack Islam, there’s a few theories that will always come up such as Islam oppresses women, Muslims want to kill all the non-believers, and that Islam breeds violence and it’s Prophet Muhammad was a violent person. The following is a commonly misunderstood hadith that people use as ammo to promote their false theories.

The Hadith

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

“The blood of a man who is a Muslim is not lawful (i.e. cannot be lawfully shed), save if he belongs to one of three (classes): a married man who is an adulterer; life for a life (i.e. for murder); one who is a deserter of his religion, abandoning the community.”

On the authority of Ibn Mas’ud – Sahih Bukhari and Muslim

The reaction upon reading this, by someone who has little understanding of Islam, is ‘OMG Muslims are so evil, they’re so harsh’, but actually there is always wisdom in Allah’s rulings, and this hadith needs to be examined closely.

Understanding hadith and Quran carefully

Too often we find people take one hadith, or one ayah of the Quran, quote it and think that they understand Islam. We really should be careful of this, because as we wouldn’t just pick up a legal contract and assume we understand it without consulting our lawyer, likewise we can’t just pick up the Quran, read a translation, and think we understand it without consulting Islamic scholars and giving it some thought.

Part One: The blood of a Muslim and it’s value

The main message of the hadith should not be a read as a guide to who we can kill, but rather that the blood of a Muslim is something to be valued.

Before Islam, there was alot of unjust killing such as burying newborn girls, killing family over money problems, and so on. Islam was sent as a mercy, to put the fear in people of the consequences of killing another person unjustly. At the same time, the hadith acknowledges that there are certain situations where it is allowed.

The killing of non-Muslims

Also it should be noted that the blood of a non-Muslim is also of value. There are several hadith and parts of the Quran that don’t allow killing of non-Muslims unjustly, and to have mercy on them. I will talk about this in another post, but I just wanted to point out that this hadith doesn’t mean all the blood of non-Muslims is lawful.

Part Two: Killing of a married man who is an adulterer

This seems shocking in a time where adultery is so common, and on TV everyday we see movies and TV shows that show adultery as no big deal. The breakdown of society comes when adultery is prevalent because it can lead to so many bad things; abortions, children being abandoned, families breaking up, divorces and so on. This harsh punishment is to instill fear in a person if they ever get the thought to commit adultery.

Proving adultery

It is not that easy in Islam to prove that someone is an adulterer, unless the person confesses it themself. For instance, now we find men accuse their wives of  adultery and think this is enough to stone her. Even if you see a man and woman come out of a room together and they were alone, you cannot accuse them. You need to have four witnesses who saw the actual sexual act happen between the 2 people, or the accuser needs to have seen the act himself.

This is in Surah Nisa:

24:3
The fornicator does not marry except a [female] fornicator or polytheist, and none marries her except a fornicator or a polytheist, and that has been made unlawful to the believers.

24:4
And those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses – lash them with eighty lashes and do not accept from them testimony ever after. And those are the defiantly disobedient,

24:5
Except for those who repent thereafter and reform, for indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

24:6
And those who accuse their wives [of adultery] and have no witnesses except themselves – then the witness of one of them [shall be] four testimonies [swearing] by Allah that indeed, he is of the truthful.

24:7
And the fifth [oath will be] that the curse of Allah be upon him if he should be among the liars.

24:8
But it will prevent punishment from her if she gives four testimonies [swearing] by Allah that indeed, he is of the liars.

24:9
And the fifth [oath will be] that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he was of the truthful.

Also, the punishment of the fornicator (someone who commits the sexual act while they are not married) is less because the married person has a means to get sexual gratiication (their spouse), and yet they choose to go to someone else, whereas the unmarried person doesn’t.

Part Three: Life for a Life

The death penalty is a very debatable topic nowadays, but Islam has a clear verdict on it. The life for a life refers to someone who kills another Muslim for no just reason, such as money issues or just revenge.

From the three rulings, I think most people can see the fairness in this ruling so I will not discuss it in detail.

Sufficient to say, if someone killed your brother or your mother, you would very likely want them to be killed as well, since they took someone’s life unjustly.

Part Four: The one who deserts his religion

This one is interesting because it comes with a second part, ‘who abandons his community’. This shows that this ruling, like the others,  is to do with having harmoney and peace in the community of Muslims.

Apostasy in the Quran

The concept of apostasy in Islam is mentioned in the Quran, but the punishment is not mentioned explicitly in the Quran, and it focuses more on the fact that Allah will deal with them harshly.

Why is it such a big deal?

Apostasy is seen as a big deal because one of the most unforgivable things to Allah is to associate others with him. An aetheist might still turn to Islam later on in their life, and a Christian or a Jew is still trying to follow the religion in their own way and needs to learn about Muhammad and Islam, and could also convert one day. However, the person who is a Muslim and has read the Quran and taken the Shahada, yet still chooses to leave the religion is like someone who has been given the truth and still rejects it, which is why (I think) this is seen as worse.

Allah is most-Merciful and can forgive many things, but this is something that is deeply angering to Allah, and again this is why the punishment is so harsh; so people think twice before abandoning Islam.

‘Abandoning the community’

The second part of the this is ‘abandoning the community’, which could also imply someone who has left Islam and then perhaps speaks out against Islam to other muslims, thereby causing unrest in the community. For instance, alot of people feel Salman Rushdie should be killed because of the things he’s fabricated about Islam. However, he would still be entitled to a fair trial in court, and this hadith doesn’t mean we can go about killing anyone who has left Islam.

Personally, I feel like since the Quran says that Allah will deal with them, we should leave it to Allah to deal with them. Especially in these difficult times when Muslims don’t even know what Islam is about, our focus should be more on ourselves and making ourselves better Muslims, than going around condemning other people. We should help other Muslims in our community, and as for the ones who leave Islam and it really bothers us, we can pray Allah gives them guidance again.

The hadith’s meaning

Overall, the hadith is actually promoting peace and not violence. Unfortunately in today’s world when in most people’s mind ‘Islam = Violence’, most people will read it and say ‘A-ha! I told you Islam is violent!’.

We as Muslims should not be ashamed of rulings like this because they are from Allah, and Allah knows better than we do. In these turbulent times when Islam is at attack from all angles, we have to stay strong in our beliefs and not make excuses for it.

Christian view on punishment

The idea of a harsh punishment in this life so you can have peace int he next life is also in Christian texts.

Jesus says in Matthew 18:8:
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast [them] from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

Insha’Allah we have been promised victory by Allah, and I’m waiting for the day when Muslims will once again be seen as people to be admired and who are on the right path, than as a violent people..

Other resources:

Explanation of this hadith in Imam Nawawi’s book, the 40 hadith;

Wikipedia article on apostasy in Islam (please note that I don’t take Wikipedia as the ultimate resource on matters!)

This short but powerful speech by Hamza Yusuf covers important points Muslims and non-Muslims should know about Islam and our view on oppression, killing innocents and violence towards other faiths.

Key points covered:

• A handful of extremists do not represent Muslims everywhere, and Muslims needs to unite to condemn these evil actions
• We must reject indiscriminate violence against innocents (such as on events like 9/11); this is something Muslims never believe in nowhere in the Quran or Sunnah is this allowed
• Allah says that anyone who kills a soul without a just cause, it’s as though he killed all of humanity (Surah Al Maidah, Verse 32)
• An eye for an eye will not work; just because they kill Muslim civilians doesn’t make it okay for us to go and kill their civilians
• We have been warned of extremism as Muslims; to be tolerant of others and not be extreme and harsh in our beliefs and how we deal with others
• Extremism is what destroyed nations/people before us
• There are bigger problems in the world such as AIDS, yet the US will spend a huge amount on it’s defense budget whilst ignoring these bigger problems
• Islam is not the only religion that suffers from extremism
• Pat Buchanan said: If this government thinks they can wage war on Islam like we waged on war on fascism etc, they have another thing coming. Islam has been here 1400 years and has proved itself indestructible.
• Islam has given too much to civilization for them to be accused and abused by those who wish nothing but harm for the USA
• Hamza Yusuf believes the Palestinian issue needs recognized as the festering sore on the body of this planet
• Muslims don’t hold ill wishes for Jews since they are from the same Prophetic line as us
• The Quran repeatedly says to show patience since that is better for us
• Prophet Muhammad forbade the killing of women and children
• Muslims with one voice need to reject the evil being done in Islam’s name

Part 1

Part 2

Hijab seems to be quite a controversial topic in today’s world. Whereas a less than a 100 years ago a woman choosing to cover her hair was seen as no big deal, nowadays it seems like it’s the most shocking thing a woman can do – yet wearing revealing clothes is seen as normal! Such are the times we live in, and before I get into why Hijab is important for a muslim woman, I wanted to share my story.

Growing up

In my family, the women don’t wear Hijab per se, though they do dress conservatively (full sleeves, etc). Though I live in a Muslim country, I went to a school where majority of students were non-Muslim (Christian, Atheist or Hindu), which I think was a really good experience for me because I was friends with people who had different thoughts on religion and helped me to have an open mind on people and their beliefs. It was only in university where I made a lot of Muslim friends and became more aware of my religion as well as my culture.

9/11

When 9/11 happened, Islam was thrown into the limelight in a negative way. People wanted to know more about Islam, and for someone like me who was born a Muslim and thought that was enough, I realized how little I knew about my religion when people would ask questions and I would’t know what the answer was.

I felt like 9/11 was a wake up call for me and Muslims everywhere to understand our beautiful religion better, before it was lost it in the hands of some violent extremists and it’s image tarnished further.

Thinking about Hijab

It didn’t seem like an option for me to start Hijab, because I didn’t see how it could fit into my life. None of my friends did it, I hadn’t grown up seeing it in my family, and I thought ‘If I believe in Allah and Prophet Muhammad, I pray and fast and do the 5 pillars, and I try to be a good person, shouldn’t that be enough?’.

Over time though. as I reached my senior year in university, I subconsciously started the process of Hijab without even knowing it. My sleeves became longer, my tops became looser, and my jeans less tight. My university was more of a fashion show for girls to come dressed up to everyday, and I started wondering about what the point was of making an effort to look attractive everyday, to get compliments, have guys look at you (a nice way of saying check you out and to have girls look at you enviously. It didnt feel right for me to be praying inbetween classes, then take off the abaya (a plain black loose dress) provided in the prayer room, and walk out onto campus dressed in tight clothes.

I felt like a total hypocrite; praying to Allah in abaya and loose clothes like He has asked me to, yet in front of the world wearing something else. What I was in front of Allah is what I was supposed to be in the world as well, because Allah sees everything, and it became harder for me to ignore that disconcerting feeling.

Wearing Abaya selectively

I started wearing Abaya selectively in places where I wouldn’t be comfortable at all in tight clothes and I didn’t really care what people there thought; such as the market place (bazaars) and grocery stores. I initially wore the abaya and then the shehla (headscarf) as well, and would immediately feel alot more comfortable being covered up.

In the working world

After university I started working full time and wore the abaya to work, with the headscarf draped around my neck as an accessory. This helped me to transition to being covered up from the neck downwards, yet I didnt feel like it was too big a jump for me. I felt like university life was different from when you are working in terms of your interaction with men; at work you have all kinds of people around and a lot of men you might have to interact with frequently, and it was better to draw that line to say ‘Im not interested’.

Covering up socially

I also changed my dressing to absolute full sleeves, loose fitting and long lengths in my western outfits as well as my shalwar kameez (luckily the fashion was of long flared shirts anyways!), and my clothes were appropriate and the only thing left was to cover up my hair.

What motivated me to finally put on the Hijab (headscarf)

A better understanding of Islam and Hijab

The main motivation was just getting closer to Islam. As I prayed more regularly, read the Quran, listened to Islam lecturers such as Hamza Yusuf and Yusuf Estes (I will put up links to their lectures on Hijab in seperate blog post), I Alhamdulilah felt a closer connection to Allah and the teachings of the Prophet. When that happens, the feeling of modesty is an automatic effect of actively trying to get closer to Allah. I felt like covering my hair was the right thing to do, and I realized that my world was going to need to adopt the Hijab and accept it, rather than Hijab trying to get into my world.

I was going to have to change my life to let Hijab in, rather than I change Hijab to fit into my current life.

Learning how to wear the headscarf in a nice way

I also had a close friend start Hijab and she wore the scarf very well. I could never wear it in a simple way (some women would say you have to wear only black but I’ve never seen a Hadith or Quran quote that affirms that) and I saw that by wearing a scarf you can still look decent yet stylish (I don’t agree with those overdone styles of big poofy camel humps fyi).

I felt it was important to look stylish not because I was trying to impress anyone or look *cool*, but the fact is that it is not something to oppress us and we are young and have the freedom to try out new things, have fun with our dressing in some ways, and since I just got married recently, I didn’t want to look boring to my husband when I was out with him Some good resources to learn how to wear the hijab are MakeupAdikt on youtube and Pearl Daisy.

The final decision

There was no ‘Eureka’ moment for me when I made the decision, but just a gradual build up to it. I discussed it with my husband and he was supportive as I had known he would be, as were my family and friends. Then one day I headed out to the market, bought all the cute pins and matching scarves, prayed 2 Nafl Salah to ask Allah to help me find peace with my Hijab and let it be a source of reward for me since I am doing this for Akhira (the Hereafter) and not Dunya (the world), and started wearing it from that day on.

The reaction

Most people were supportive, and all of the important people like my family, in-laws, and friends were proud of the step I had taken. I was surprised how so many girls I wouldn’t have thought would be thinking about Hijab told me they wanted to start as well and asked how did I get inspired etc (which shows you we shouldn’t judge people on appearances!).

There were some people of course who didn’t care for it too much, or who still think it’s a temporary phase I’m going through, but that’s just from a lack of understanding on their part. A lot of people can’t believe a woman would choose to cover her hair when she has no external pressures (like how some girls are forced to wear it because of their families or their husbands), and I find it hard to tell them how amazingly liberating it is to wear the headscarf, and the opposite of oppressive (the topic of oppression is too long and I’ll cover in another blog post).

I hope insha’Allah my story can benefit you or someone you know, and that all of us Muslim women stay proud to wear our Hijab and let the world know we are Muslim, and we are not afraid to show it, even if it’s to disapproving eyes – we are not going to take it off to make the West more comfortable with us, since it is our identity and our liberation that they, sadly, fail to understand.

People are very quick to form judgements on others, and mostly without looking at themselves first. Being quick to criticize someone, a muslim or a non-muslim, is something to be avoided because we do not know a persons intention, and they may be far better than us.

A person’s outward actions

Right now, all we see are the actions that the person has done so far in their life. We do not know later on what they will be doing, or that in secret they might be giving away lots of charity (for instance) which pleases Allah, and maybe they will be much better than us.

Hadith #4 of Imam Nawawi

Prophet Muhammad said:

[...] I swear by Allah – there is no God but He – one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is naught but an arm’s length between him and it, when that which has been written will outstrip him so that he performs the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire; one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire, till there is naught but an arm’s length between him and it, when that which has been written will overtake him so that he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters therein.”

[Al-Bukhari & Muslim, Narrated by Abu 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud]

Read the full hadith here

The lesson to be taken

We may see someone not acting in accordance with Allah’s actions and judge them to be a bad person. Only Allah knows their Niyyah (Intention) and later on in life they may be more succesful than us. We should focus on sharpening ourselves and strengthening ur good deeds rather than bickering with other people about details of their life.

Make 70 excuses

Hamdun al-Qassar, one of the great early Muslims, said:

“If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves [ibid]“

And the words of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq

“If you find see something you don’t like in a brother, try to find 1-70 excuses for him. And if you can’t find an excuse, say ‘There might be an excuse, but I don’t know it.’ “

This is a very solid rule to live by when you see someone doing something wrong, because you won’t waste time worrying about them or trying to change them – one of the 70 excuses could be that maybe their Niyyah is not to do something wrong, or they do not know, or they will realize later and try to correct their mistake.

If we think they do not know what they are doing is wrong we should try to tell them in a gentle way. Pointing fingers and calling a muslim ‘Kaafir!’ is highly unlikely to be productive!

Prophet Musa and A;-Khidr

In Surah Al Kahf from ayah 60 till 82, is the story of Prophet Musa and Khidr. To sum up the story briefly, Prophet Musa followed a learned man called Al-Khidr to get guidance. He kept seeing Al-Khidr do actions that to Musa seemed wrong and Musa would speak up and point out that they were wrong. At the end, it turned out that Al-Khidrs intention had been good all along and though his actions seemed wrong he was actually doing them to benefit the people. This shows us that there are things of which we have no knowledge and should not think that we do.

Being harsh to non-Muslims

We will undoubtedly see non-Muslims behaving in ways that are not in accordance to our beliefs (obviously, because they are non-Muslims and don’t have the same lifestyle as a Muslim). Before we judge them and call them ‘Kufaar’ (a harsh term that is translated as ‘Infidels’ but really means someone who hides or covers, in this case, tey are covering up the truth from their Lord by denying it), we should think about the fact that all the people at the Prophet’s time were converts to Islam. They might have done actions that before were wrong but they converted to Islam and corrected their ways.

Ibn Umar, one of the closest companions of the Prophet, was on his way to kill the Prophet when he then converted (read his full story here, it’s very interesting). Now if someone saw him on his way to kill the Prophet and said ‘Kaafir! Infidel!’, they would be wrong in that judgement because he went on to become one of the strongest Muslims and leaders of our Ummah.

Calling muslims Kaafir

We should not call fellow muslims Kaafir, (which is a very common thing these days).

Prophet Muhammad said:

“If a man addresses his brother as, ‘O’ Disbeliever’ (Kaafir) it returns to one of them; either it is as he said or it returns to him.”

Sahih Bukhari 10/427 and Sahih Muslim 60, Narrated by Ibn Umar

This means that if a Muslim calls a Muslim a Kaafir, then one of them is a Kaafir but it is not the one who is being accused but rather the one who is making the judgement.

Standing united

We need to stand united as an Ummah, now more than ever when outside forces are trying to divide us all (divide and conquer!). We may not always agree wth each other but we need to focus on what we do agree on; that Allah is One and Muhammad is his Messenger. Anything after that is between us and Allah. Abu Bakr and Umar had different ways of ruling when they were Caliphs, and they never called each other Kaafir or quarreled extensively over their small differences. This is because we can only work with the knowledge we have to the best of our abilities and understandings. If someone doesn’t agree with us it’s okay; you’re never going to meet someone who agrees with you 100% on everything.

All judgement belongs to Allah

The Youm-Al Qiyaam, the Day of Judgement, is called that for a reason. Allah is the best of all judges and on that day everyone will be judged acording to their actions. We are merely human beings who have little understanding of these matters, so we should focus on ourselves so that we are not judged harshly by Allah on that day, rather than spending our energy on judging others.

Insha’Allah Allah will give us all guidance, and help us to help others.

An Atheist who converted to Christianity and ultimately Islam, is one of the most knowledgeable people who can compare Prophet Isa (Jesus)’s teachings to how they have been twisted into something else. He also discusses how Muslims follow his original message more than modern Christians, and how he and his real disciples knew there would be another Prophet after him.

Prophet Isa (Jesus) and his real message

What he did say

- He was the son of man
- He was just a prophet

- There is one God and to worship him alone
- There would be another Prophet after him (this can be seen in the story of John the Baptist)

 What he didn’t say

- That he was the son of God
- Anything about a holy spirit
- Anything about the holy trinity
-  That he was taking all their sins

So how did his message get deviated?

The main problem, from what I have heard in these lectures, is that there was someone called Paul who falsified alot of his teachings and alot of Jesus’ companions like James didn’t agree with Paul. Yet, most Christians nowadays follow Paul’s teachings, therfore not following Jesus’.

These lectures are eye opening for Muslims to understand the Christian beliefs and how to talk to Christians about Prophet Isa, and for Christians to see how their books and testaments have been changed since Dr. Laurence Brown quotes directly from them, and that they have contradictory information, and cannot be taken as reliable sources.

Insha’Allah Christians will see how Islam will actually bring them closer to Jesus’ teachings than Christianity can.

The Interfaith Series

A great starting point, if you have any Christian friends you would like to explain Islam to, I would recommend they watch this series:

Dr. Brown on the Deen Show

Dr. Brown’s Websites

The Eighth Scroll

Level Truth

For most people, the hardest Salah (prayer) to pray on time is the Fajr prayer, since it’s just before sunrise when most people are asleep. It also comes with huge benefits, so we should try our best to wake up on time to pray it. Insha’Allah it will become part of our routine like our other prayers.

Benefits of Fajr

Fard prayer

It is a Fard (compulsory) prayer, and really, that should be enough for us to pray it! However, like in everything Allah asks us to do, there is alot of benefit in it as well.

The Angels go up to the heavens

Abu Hurairah stated that Muhammad had said, “There are angels who take turns in visiting you by night and by day, and they all assemble at the dawn (Fajr) and the afternoon (`Asr) prayers. Those who have spent the night with you, ascend to the heaven and their Rubb, Who Knows better about them, Asks: ‘In what condition did you leave My slaves?’ They reply: ‘We left them while they were performing Salat and we went to them while they were performing Salat.’ ”
From Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Allah is closest to us in the late part of the night

{Those who seek forgiveness before dawn (at late night).} (Quran, 3:17)

Separates the hypocrites

Abu Hurairah (Raa) Narrated : The Prophet peace be upon him said :
“No Salat (prayer) is heavier (harder) for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the Isha prayers,
but if they knew the reward of these Salat (prayers) at their respective times, they would
certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they have to crawl.”
Sahih Bukhari Vol 1 Hadith no 626 

Health benefits

Ideally, we would wake up for Fajr and stay awake after praying it as well. There are alot of benefits to this as mentioned in this Zen Habits article, mainly having a calm morning and not rushing to work/errands, having time to reflect when the whole world is at peace, finding the time to exercise and watching the sunrise.

A good feeling

Overall, you will feel like your whole day has gone better because you woke up for Fajr – just try it! I always find that I feel so much calmer in the morning.

Importance of Fajr

Prophet Muhammad stressed the importance

Abu Huraira reports that Muhammad said: “Do not leave the two rak’ahs of Fajr, even if you are being attacked by cavalry.” This is confirmed by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Al-Bahaiqi and at Tahawi.

The 2 Sunnah rakah’s with Fajr are very important

The Sunnah rakah’s are the prayers the Prophet would pray after every Fard (compulsory) prayer, and they are seen as being highly recommended for each prayer. To read about the number for each prayer, click here.

These hadith stress the importance of the Fajr ones:

Aishah relates that Muhammad said about the two rakahs before Fajr, “They are dearer to me than the whole world.” This is related by Muslim, Ahmad and Tirmidhi.

Ahmad and Muslim record that Aishah said, “I have never seen him (Muhammad) more in haste to do a good deed than he was to perform the two rakahs before the morning (prayer).”

Aishah reports that Muhammad said, “The two (sunnah) rakahs of Fajr are better than this world and all it contains.” This is reported by Ahmad, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Nasa’i.

How to wake up for Fajr

Traditionally people would hear the Adhan (call to prayer) from their nearby mosque and get up. Now, due to the fact that alot of people live in apartments in buildings, or they have no mosques nearby their house, we don’t hear the Adhan to wake us up.

Sleep early

If you sleep late, like 1am, by the time it’s Fajr (e.g. 5am) you will be in deep stage of sleep (REM) and it will be much harder for you to wake up. If you sleep 5 or 6 hours before Fajr it is much easier to get up.

Make Niyyah (intention)

Go to bed thinking ‘I will wake up for Fajr’, and not ‘I hope I wake up, let’s hope for the best’. Even make a du’a to Allah to wake you up. You’ll be surprised how much this helps.

Set your alarm

The most obvious thing to do is to find out the Islamic prayer times in your city, see the Fajr time and set your alarm accordingly. The drawback of this method is that you can hit the snooze button and fall back asleep.

Computer Adhan software

This method works the best for me. You can download softwares that will be on your computer, you set your city in them, and at every prayer time the Adhan plays. This is useful for all Salah’s but especially for Fajr, because when you hear the Muazzin say ‘الصلاة خير من النوم’ As-salatu khayru min an-nawm “Prayer is better than sleep”, and declaring Allah is one, it’s hard to go back to sleep!

Of course you need to check that you keep your desktop/laptop in your room, set the volume on loud before sleeping, and check the software is running. Also make sure your computer is far away from you so you can’t mute it easily

Here are some softwares you can install:

Guided Ways – PC

Guidance - Mac OS X (I use this one – you can choose from 5 Adhans, I like the Yusuf Islam one You can also see how much time is left till the next Adhan in your control bar at the top next to the clock)

Ask someone to wake you up

If you are a very deep sleeper, then you can ask a loved one to wake you up.

Jump out of bed

Once you’ve heard your alarm/adhan/loved one, instead of lying in bed and being lazy, thinking that ‘I’ll get up in 1 minute’ just get up immediately – even jump out! This is because this is the ideal time for Shaytaan (the Devil) to come and whisper in your ear that you are sleepy, you are tired, Allah will understand – and his whisperings will mislead you. Don’t let him win!

Insha’Allah if you can pray Fajr, Allah will make your day go well for you, and reward you in the Dunia and the Akhira. Jazak Allah Khair.

Although I grew up in an Arab country, I never really became fluent in Arabic. I always read the Quran translation in English and thought it was enough. I have now realized the value of learning Arabic, how beautiful it is in it’s depth and meanings, and that any translation will never be able to give justice to the real Quran.

(Mistakenly) thinking a translation is enough

If someone told me that we should read the Quran in Arabic, I would always argue that I can’t read something I don’t understand; I knew the Quran words were divine and I could read it but since I didn’t know Arabic and I wanted to understand what I was reading, English would be enough for me.

What changed my mind?

The first thing was when I started listening to Yusuf Estes, Hamza Yusuf and other knowledgeable people on Islam. I was struck by the fact that they grew up having little or no exposure to Arabic, yet they were able to understand Arabic words easily, speak it and always quoted the Quran in Arabic.

Losing our identity

Hamza Yusuf pointed out that so many people of this new generation can speak English better than they can speak their own native tongue (I would be in this category), and that this is not a good thing, it’s actually something to be ashamed about. We are losing our heritage, our culture, and our traditions by adopting the Western culture so quickly and dismissing our own as ‘backward’.

While it is important to know English, if it comes at the cost of losing our own language, then we need to assess that.

An Arabic Quran

Allah in the Quran repeatedly says he sent down an Arabic Quran. Arabic is a language so deep that one word can have 5 different meanings. As Nouman Ali Khan points out in the video below, the Arabic words ‘Nafs’ and ‘Rouh’ are used in the Quran, but most translations will translate them both as ‘soul’. This is how limited English is, and how the Arabic language has so much depth to it. He also points out both words have slightly meanings and if Allah meant to say ‘soul’ both places in the Quran he would have used the same word for both, but He didn’t.

As Hamza Yusuf eloquently put it, ‘Why would you want to learn the Queen’s English when you can learn the King’s Arabic?’

How can we learn Arabic?

Keeping in mind that the Quran is classical Arabic, not every modern Arab person is necessarily speaking the Quranic Arabic.

There are many ways to do start learning Arabic; it will take time but the rewards are huge. To be able to read the Quran and understand it, to listen to the Khutbah and understand it, to say Duas and know what you are saying, and when praying Salah to be able to speak from your heart because you understand the words, for me are the main benefits.

Tajweed

This is the study of the Quran. Depending on where you live, you can find out if there are any classes near you.

Study online

This is way that I am going to start learning Arabic now insha’Allah, due to my busy schedule it will be easier for me to study at home in the evenings.

Kalamullah.com has this section with different e-books, audio CD’s and videos

My chosen Arabic course

I have chosen the Madinah Arabic course since it comes with Videos as well as books that you can print and follow along. I find having a teacher in front of me really helps! This is the first one on the Kalamullah link.

Why and How to Learn Arabic for Comprehension of the Quran – Nouman Ali Khan

I hope insha’Allah I am able to learn Arabic, and I will be updating on my progress! If you decide to start learning Arabic, I hope insha’Allah you find it easy and beneficial for you. Jazak Allah Khair.

One of the things that always amazes me is that the teachings of our Prophet are not just belief in Allah but are also life lessons that everyone can benefit from.

The advice

‎”Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: 
your youth before you become old; 
your health before you fall sick; 
your wealth before you become poor; 
your free time before you become busy; 
your life before your death.” 
- Prophet Muhammad
(source: Narrated by ibn Abbas [from Musnad Imam Ahmad])

The lesson in it

We all know that everything we have is temporary; our wealth, our health; our life. It’s very easy to forget this on a daily basis since we get so caught up in Dunia (the worldly matters); every morning we wake up so we take it for granted not realisizing that there will be a morning where we won’t wake up.

I’m going to extract the lesson I personally learnt from each part of this hadith.

“Your youth before you become old…”

The energy and the capacity to learn when we are young gets less as we age. Our youth is the time where we can increase our knowledge, get out there and make a difference. Any habits we form in our youth will carry with us when we are old; so it’s important we spend our youth in always trying to be a better person and increasing our knowledge and our imaan.

“Your health before you fall sick…”

Everytime I get sick, even down with a cold, it’s amazing how the most simple things become difficult.I recently got back from Umrah and came down with a very bad cold and fever that lasted a week. At one point I couldn’t even complete sentences because my head was hurting so much I couldn’t get my thoughts straight.

When we go back to being healthy, we think it’s so easy to do everything and all seems right; but if our health isn’t okay then nothing appeals to us, not even our money or possessions that we trivially pursue when we are healthy.

“Your wealth before you become poor…”

It’s so easy to take for granted all the blessings Allah has given us. As the recession of 2008 showed the world, we are never secure or safe from losing our money, and anything can happen.

It’s important while we have our money that we spend it in the right way or just save it, rather than going out and buying things just for the sake of shopping. (I definitely need to learn this lesson!)

“Your free time before you become busy…”

The phrase “I’m just killing time” is very interesting. As Hamza Yusuf said, “TIme is the most precious things we have and it’s the easiest thing to lose.”

Alot of people believe in ‘killing time’ which if you think about it, is the worst thing you can do with your life. This time is never going to come back and we need to spend every moment of it pursuing something to make ourselves a better person. If you have a half hour lunch break, instead of sitting at your desk mindlessly surfing the web, you can look up some hadith, read up on something meaningful, or even go take a walk and get some air. This “free time” we get is a gift, not something to kill until we get back to being busy.

“Your life before your death.”

The perfect ending to this beautiful hadith. It sums up everything mentioned above and much more. As muslims, we are supposed to live keeping in mind that we can die at any moment. This is not a thought to depress but actually to liberate you. A person thinking about death will  not care about the trite things so many people get caught up about of this world; having big fancy cars, worrying about money all the time, taking family and loved ones for granted, and forgetting all their blessings in pursuit of material gains.

A person mindful of death will live each moment to the full; and this is common advice not just in Islam but all the Western self-help books and life advice websites; “live each moment as thought it’s your last” etc.

A full interpretation

This is just my personal interpretation of this hadith and how I could relate it to my own life.

For a full understanding, please click on this link to Khutbah.com