This is a heart with life in it, as well as illness. The former sustains it at one moment, the latter at another, and it follows whichever one of the two manages to dominate it. It has love for Allah, faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and reliance upon Him, and these are what give it life. It also has a craving for lust and pleasure, and prefers them and strives to experience them. It is full of self-admiration, which can lead to its own destruction. It listens to two callers: one calling it to Allah and His Prophet salallaahu ‘Alaihi wa salaam and the akhira; and the other calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world. It responds to whichever one of the two happens to have most influence over it at the time. – By Ibn Qayyim
Please use the above URL from now on as it is the address for our new blog site!!!!
www.nurayn.com
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله وحده
و الصلاة و السلام على من لا نبي بعده
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Always All Merciful.
All Praise is for Allah Alone.
And may the peace and blessings be upon him whom there is no prophet after.
Sitting in a halaqah–in a khutbah–in an AlMaghrib class, learning about the deen of Allah– the emanrush, your heart just flutters with tranquility. With satisfaction. With humility. With peace.
Why do we only feel this way in these gatherings?
Allah azza wa jal provides the answer:
He says in Surah Ra’d ayah 28:
الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوب
Those who have believed and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, it is the remembrance of Allah which provides tranquility to hearts.
The true believers are those who find peace in the remembrance of Allah. Their hearts find rest. Their hearts are still. Their hearts find satisfaction. When dhikr (the mention of Allah) is made in their presence, their hearts find assurance and security. Dhikr, in this verse, can be the Qur’an or any deed that includes the remembrance of Allah. The Qur’an is the most effective dhikr because it is a shifaa’, a cure, for any illness in our chests.
The believers in this verse are those who remember Allah, recognize His ayaat, and are conscious of their emaan. Their hearts are the ones that find peace and security in the remembrance of Allah.
Why do their hearts find rest?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله وحده
و الصلاة و السلام على من لا نبي بعده
What am I talking about here? Am I talking about the 8 cylinder motor in your Cadillac? It’s a riddle, one of my favorite things. Because I don’t like using a lot of real estate, let me get to the point.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
من سلك طريقا يلتمس فيه علما، سهل الله له طريقا إلى الجنة
“Whoever embarks on a path to seek knowledge, Allah facilitates for him the path to Jannah.”
How’s that for motivation? The feeling you get when you’re on the road, traveling on the black asphalt, with the wind blowing in your face…………(okay okay, I’ll stop) 🙂 For real though, there really is a sense of peace that Allah puts in your heart when you are on the road to seek knowledge. Leaving your worldly priorities behind and dropping them for your journey to knowledge.
One big chunk of the traveling experience is the group of friends or acquaintances you travel with. You actually begin to learn about who they are deep down inside and what bothers them. But in all honesty, it really is a bonding experience between all the people in the ride. You share some laughs, and you discuss some controversial issues, and just have a good time worshiping Allah together. This fact reminds me of and makes me appreciate the wisdom of Umar ibn al Khattab, who considered traveling with somebody one of the three definitive ways to really get to know who a person is. You want to know what the other two are, dont ya? Well, the other two are: 2. Doing business with a person, and 3. Being a long time companion of a person.
Probably though, the worst part of traveling with some friends to seek knowledge is at the end of the trip, when everyone is being dropped off at their houses or cars, and say their goodbyes. So sappy, so corny it is, but yet, how true it is.
Bismillah, Was Salaatu Was Salaam ala Rasool Allah,
During this past Heavenly Hues class, Shaykh Yaser Birjas (may Allah preserve him) held a special session after lunch for about half an hour with all of the volunteers. In it, he described his time growing up and how he became serious about practicing Islam. One of the brothers/sisters on the forums posted an transcript of Shaykh Yaser’s speech to their class at Qabeelah Haadi which is much more detailed, but somewhat similar to what he told us as well. For the benefit of everyone who was unable to attend that session, I am pasting the post below.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Shaykh Yasir Qadhi had a special question to Shaykh Yaser Birjas, which was broadcasted in our Heavenly Hues class:
“Fellow Haadians, I welcome you all to this beautiful class being taught by our beloved Sheikh and brother, Sheikh Yaser Birjas.
Believe me, it gives me great jealousy that you are attending this class right now, I wish that I could be sitting in your seat right here and now to benefit from the prose and wisdom that our dearly beloved Sheikh and brother in Islam, Sh. Yaser Birjas is giving all of you.
My question to you my dear Sheikh is: can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and about your path and journey to Islam, and how you ended up studying Islam and going to the University of Medina? What are the major scholars you studied with and your favorite subject that you took, some of the anecdotes of your personal life, especially the time you spent with our dear Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al Uthaymeen, do you have any stories that truly inspires you?
My request to my fellow Haadians is, beacuse I won’t be there to take the answer from our Sh. Yaser Birjas, can you please post the answers on the forums so that all of us can benefit from what he has to say.
Lastly, I advise all of you to “milk” as much as you can out of Sh. Yaser Birjas and benefit from his wisdom. Really and truly, he is one of the greatest source of inspiration and blessings that I, personnaly, have in this country.
May Allah azza wa jal increase him and all of us in their benefit, barakah and knowledge.”
Below is a quick transcription of what he said… please forgive me for the mistakes and for what I couldn’t take down.
We ask Allah ‘Azza wa Jal to accept from our scholars.
Read the rest of this entry »
The paper was written by our own Sr. Erum on the topic of Good vs. Evil:
An Examination of Good and Evil in the Glorious Qur’an
Questioning the nature of good and evil is part of human nature. We find people of all creeds, races, and eras seeking to understand good and evil through works of literature, poetry, theatre, art, and more. While an examination of these collective works can provide insight into man’s struggle between good and evil and his understanding of it, such an examination will not provide man with the definition of what good and evil are nor with a prescription for achieving good and prohibiting evil in his life. Only the One who created us, our Lord, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala can provide us with such knowledge and guidance. In this paper, we will examine the words of Allah azza wa jal to offer a definition of good and evil and a way to achieving good and preventing evil in this life and the next.
Yeah you heard right, Shaykh Suhaib Webb AND Shaykh Yasir Qadhi are going to be here from July 11th-13th, insha’Allah. Details are still coming in and we’ll keep everyone posted. Stay tuned.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Alhamdullilah, wa salaatu wa salaamu ‘ala Rasool’Allah
Part II of II Click here to See Part I
The Nation of Islam, Then and Now
As the night and speech was coming to a close, Imam Siraj shed more light on the Nation of Islam, then and now.
After the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975, his son Wallace Muhammad was appointed as leader.
Wallace introduced the Nation of Islam to Sunni Islam, and the first thing he taught was that W.D. Fard was not God, and that his father Elijah Muhammad was not a messenger of Allah, and that Prophet Muhammad, sal’Allahu alahi wa salam, is the Last Messenger of Allah. Wallace brought so many people out of absolute shirk and pointed them in the direction of Allah. Wallace did that as a Sunni Muslim, and while wearing a Nation of Islam Fruit of Islam uniform.
After the death of Elijah Muhammad, from 1975 to 1977, Minister Louis Farrakhan, in fact, taught orthodox Islam. In 1977, Farrakhan again started the movement of the Nation of Islam.
During 1975, Shaykh Jafar Idris came and taught twenty-five ministers of the Nation of Islam, Imam Siraj Wahaj being one of them.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Alhamdullilah, wa salaatu wa salaamu ‘alaa Rasool’Allah
Part I of II
Sunday night of Ilm Fest began with a video of Shaykh Muhammad Alshareef giving a special keynote address about Leaving a Legacy, in which he spoke about performing deeds that give on-going returns. Of them are knowledge that continues to benefit, a continuous charity which people take from, and a pious child who prays for the parents.
He ended by saying that when he was being interviewed for Madinah University and was asked who it was who had inspired him, he mentioned Imam Siraj Wahaj. Muhammad Alshareef finished by thanking Imam Siraj for being such an influence in his life, and praying that Imam Siraj gets the reward for the work AlMaghrib has done.
Next, Shaykhs Yasir Qadhi and Muhammad Ibn Faqih went up stage with Imam Siraj, and both felt it incumbent to take time before Imam Siraj’s speech to say a few words to thank him, appreciate him, and show their love and respect for the great things he has done for the Muslim American community and the American community at large, and for the positive effect he has had on so many people. Read the rest of this entry »
Bismillah, wasalatu wasalamu ala Rasoolilah, ama ba’d.
Wise scholar once said… “If your brother can’t reach into your pocket and take what he needs without permission, then this is not brotherhood” or something very similar to this. Now please don’t misunderstand me, not everyone’s supposed to have their hand in your pocket, but it’s a pretty bad sign when no one does.
When was the last time we walked up to someone and said “I love you for the sake of Allah”? Probably yesterday or even today right? Alhamdulilah, we got the lip service part down, but when was the last time we extended our pockets? Now I understand our dilemma, most of us are students and school has probably emptied out our pockets, but the last time I checked (and trust me, I checked) our cell phone address books are still full as ever. So the next time you have 5 minutes of free time, call a brotha (or sista) up and check up on them. You never know, you might actually ‘enjoy’ talking to that person.
JazakAllahu khairan for reading. May Allah accept from us our good deeds and pardon our sins. Ameen!
qabeelatnurayn.wordpress.com 