Participation of the Inner Self When Reading the Qur’an

(Taken from: Way to the Quran.  By: Kurram Murad)

Reading the Qur’an, the tilawah, must involve your whole ‘person’. Only thus will you be able to elevate your encounter with the Qur’an to the level where you can be called a ‘true’ believer in the Qur’an (al-Baqarah 2: 121).

 What is the Heart?

The more important part of your ‘person’ is your inner self. This inner self the Qur’an calls the qalb or the ‘heart’. The heart of the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, was the first recipient of the Qur’anic message:

Truly it has been sent down by the Lord of all the worlds, the Trustworthy Spirit has alighted with it upon your heart [O Prophet], that you may be one of the warners …(al-Shu’ara’ 26: 1924).

You will therefore reap the full joys and blessings of reading the Qur’an when you are able to involve your heart fully in your task.

The ‘heart’, in Qur’anic vocabulary, is not the piece of flesh in your body, but the centre of all your feelings, emotions, motives, drives, aspirations, remembrance and attention. It is the hearts which soften (al-Zumar 39: 23), or harden and become stony (al-Baqarah 2: 74). It is they which go blind and refuse to recognize the truth (al-Hajj 22: 46) for it is their function to reason and understand (al-A’raf 7: 179;al-Hajj 22: 46; Qaf 50: 37). In hearts, lie the roots of all outward diseases (al-Ma’idah 5: 52); they are the seat of all inner ills (al-Baqarah 2: 10); hearts are the abode of Iman (al-Ma’idah 5: 41) and hypocrisy (al-Tawbah 9: 77). It is the hearts, again, which are the centre of every good and bad thing, whether it be contentment and peace (al-Ra’d 13: 28), the strength to face afflictions (al-Taghabun 64: 11), mercy (al-Hadid 57: 27), brotherly love (al-Anfal 8: 63), taqwd (al-Hujurat 49: 3; al-Hajj 22: 32); or, doubt and hesitation (al-Tawbah 9: 45), regrets (Al ‘Imran 3: 156), and anger (al-Tawbah 9: 15). Finally it is, in reality, the ways of the heart for which we shall be accountable, and only the one who brings before his God a sound and whole heart will deserve to be saved.

God will not take you to task for a slip, but He will take you to task for what your hearts have earned (al-Baqarah 2: 225).

The Day when neither wealth nor children shall profit, [and when] only he [will be saved] who comes before God with a sound heart [free of evil] (al-Shu’ara’ 26: 88-9).

You must therefore ensure that so long as you are with the Qur’an, your heart remains with you. The heart not being that piece of flesh but what the Qur’an calls qalb.

This should not prove difficult if you remain conscious of a few things and observe certain actions of heart and body The seven prerequisites described earlier lay the foundation for the fuller participation of your inner self in reading the Qur’an. In addition to these, the taking of a few more steps will greatly increase the intensity and quality of this involvement of the heart.

Dynamic of Inner Participation

You should understand the dynamic of inner participation well. For how is your heart seized by Truth? First, you come to know the truth. Second, you recognize and accept it as the truth and as relevant to your life. Third, you remember the truth, as much and as often as you can. Fourth, you absorb it until it soaks into the deepest recesses of your inner self. The truth thus becomes an ever-alive state of consciousness, an enduring posture of the heart. Once a truth so permeates your inner world, it must pour out in the world of words and deeds.

It is also important to remember here that what you do outwardly, by your tongue and limbs, interacts with what you are inwardly. It is possible that words and deeds may be false witnesses to the state of inner self. But an inner state, like faith, must necessarily find expression in words and deeds, which, in turn, must help in engraving your knowledge in your consciousness and turn it into an abiding condition.

The steps suggested here will be effective if you remain mindful of the above dynamics and follow the above principles.

50 Things You Need To Know About Marital Relationships

(Taken from www.suhaibwebb.com)

Excerpted from Al Maghrib Institute’s “Fiqh of Love” seminar with Shaykh Waleed Basyouni.

1. Great relationships don’t just happen; they are created. You have to work at it.

2. If your job takes all of your best energy, your marriage will suffer.

3. One of the greatest gifts you can give your spouse is your own happiness.

4. It is possible to love and hate someone at the same time.

5. When you complain about your spouse to your friends, remember that their feedback can be distorted.

6. The only rules in your marriage are those you both choose to agree with.

7. It is not conflict that destroys marriage; it is the cold, smoldering resentment that you hold for a long time.

8. It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with what you have.

9. If you think you are too good for your spouse, think again.

10. Growing up in a happy household doesn’t ensure a happy marriage, or vice versa.

11. It’s never too late to repair damaged trust.

12. The real issue is usually not the one you are arguing about.

13. Love isn’t just a feeling; it is expressed through our actions.

14. Expectations set us up for disappointment and resentment.

15. Arguments cannot be avoided, but destructive arguments can be avoided.

16. One of the greatest gifts you can give your spouse is focused attention.

17. Even people with happy marriages sometimes worry that they married the wrong person.

18. Your spouse cannot rescue you from unhappiness, but they can help you rescue yourself.

19. The cost of a lie is far greater than any advantage you gain from speaking it.

20. Your opinion is not necessarily the truth.

21. Trust takes years to establish and moments to destroy.

22. Guilt-tripping won’t get you what you really want.

23. Don’t neglect your friends.

24. If you think, “You are not the person I married,” you are probably right.

25. Resisting the temptation to prove your point will win you a lot of points.

26. Generosity of spirit is the foundation of a good marriage.

27. If your spouse is being defensive, you might be giving them reasons to be like that.

28. Marriage isn’t 50/50; it’s 100/100.

29. You can pay now or pay later, but the later you pay, the more interest and penalties you acquire.

30. Marriage requires sacrifice, but your benefits outweigh your costs.

31. Forgiveness isn’t a one-time event; it’s a continous process.

32. Accepting the challenges of marriage will shape you into a better person.

33. Creating a marriage is like launching a rocket: once it clears the pull of gravity, it takes much less energy to sustain the flight.

34. A successful marriage has more to do with how you deal with your current reality than with what you’ve experienced in the past.

35. Don’t keep feelings of gratitude to yourself.

36. There is no greater eloquence than the silence of real listening.

37. One of the greatest questions to ask your spouse is “How best can I love you?”

38. Marriage can stay fresh over time.

39. Assumptions are fine as long as you check them before acting upon them.

40. Intention may not be the only thing, but it is the most important thing.

41. Good sex won’t make your marriage, but it’ll help.

42. Privacy won’t hurt your marriage, but secrecy will.

43. Possessiveness and jealousy are born out of fear, not love.

44. Authenticity is contagious and habit-forming.

45. If your spouse thinks something is important, then it is.

46. Marriage never outgrows the need for romance.

47. The sparkle of a new relationship is always temporary.

48. There is violence in silence when it’s used as a weapon.

49. It’s better to focus on what you can do to make things right, then what your partner did to make things wrong.

50. If you think marriage counseling is too expensive, try divorce.

2011 in review – JazakAllah khair to everyone who visits this blog :)

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Islamic Manners: The Art of Listening

Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghudda

Islamic Manners 

(c) 2001 Awakening Publications

If a person starts telling you, whether in private or public, something that you already knew very well, you should pretend as if you do not know it. Do not rush to reveal your knowledge or to interfere with the speech. Instead, show your attention and concentration. The honorable tab’i Imam Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: “A young man would tell me something that I may have heard before he was born. Nevertheless, I would listen to him as if I had never heard it before.”

Khalid ibn Safwan al-Tamimi, who frequented the courts of two Khalifahs: Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and Hisham ibn Abdul Malik, said: “If a person tells you something you have heard before, or news that you already learned, do not interrupt him to exhibit your knowledge to those present. This is rude and ill mannered.” The honorable Imam Abdullah ibn Wahab al-Qurashi al-Masri, a companion of Imam Malik, Al-Laith ibn Sad and Al-Thawri, said: “Sometimes a person would tell me a story that I have heard before his parents had wed. Yet, I listened as if I have never heard it before.” Ibrahim ibn al-Junaid said: “A wise man said to his son: ‘Learn the art of listening as you learn the art of speaking.’” Listening well means maintaining eye contact, allowing the speaker to finish the spech, and restraining your urge to interrupt his speech. Al-Hafiz al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said in a poem:

Never interrupt a talk
Though you know it inside out

Allah’s Pleasure

(Taken from In Pursuit of Allah’s Pleasure)

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (ra) relates that the Prophet said: “Allah, the Lord of Honour and Glory, will call the inmates of Paradise, ‘O Residents of Paradise!’ They will respond, ‘Here we are, our Lord, and all good is in Your Hands. ‘He will ask them: ’Are you now pleased?’ They will answer: ‘Why should we not be pleased, our Lord? When You have bestowed upon us such bounties which You have not bestowed on any of Your other creation. ‘He will then say to them: ‘Shall I not bestow upon you something even better than that?’ The inhabitants of Paradise will inquire: ‘What could be better than that?’ Allah will say, ‘I bestow upon you My Pleasure and shall never thereafter be displeased with you.’” (Bukhari and Muslim)

Verily, our Lord, Your Pleasure is more exalted and precious than any felicity. We put Your pleasure above and before all else. By doing so we follow in the footsteps of our Prophet who sought Your pleasure before asking for Paradise in his supplications: “O Allah, I ask You for Your Pleasure and Paradise.”Allah (SWT) is indeed more precious to us than anything else, and He is Greater than all else. His pleasure is also more valuable than any other objective: ”But the greatest bliss is the good Pleasure of Allah: that is the supreme success.” [Surah At-Taubah (9), Ayah 72.]

Expecting the Best From Allah

By Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi

“The Messenger of Allah (salallahu alaihi wa sallam ) narrated from his Lord that He Said: “I am as my slave expects Me to be.” (al-Bukhari (7405) and Muslim (2675))

an-Nawawi also said: “al-Qadi ‘Iyad said that this means He will Forgive him if he seeks such, will accept his repentance if he repents, will answer him if he supplicates, and will suffice him if he asks for something. It is also said that it refers to having hope and longing for relief, and this is more correct.”"

“In accordance with how good your expectations of and hope in Allah are and how truthful your reliance and trust are in Him, Allah will not betray your hopes in the least, as He does not betray the hopes of those who hope and does not cause any efforts to go to waste.”

The Excellence of Knowledge and Teaching

(taken from “The Purification of the Soul” – Compiled from the works of Al-Hanbali, Ibn Al Qayyim, and Al-Ghazali)

There are many proofs in the Quran concerning the excellence of knowledge and its transmission.  Allah, the Mighty and Glorious, says:

“Allah will raise up to high ranks those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge” (58:11).

And also:

“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” (39:9)

Also, in the hadith, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, “When Allah desires good for someone, He gives him understanding of the deen.” (Al Bukhari and Muslim).  He also said, “Allah makes the way to the Garden easy for whoever treads a path in search of knowledge.” (Muslim 21/17).

Travelling on the path to knowledge refers both to walking along an actual pathway, such as going on foot to the assemblies of the ulama’, as well as to following a metaphysical road, such as studying and memorizing.

The above saying of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam probably means that Allah makes learning the useful knowledge that is sought after easier for the seeker clearing the way for him and smoothing his journey.  Some of our predecessors used to say: “Is there anyone seeking knowledge, so that we can assist him in finding it?”

This hadith also alludes to the road leading to the Garden on the Day of Judgement, which is the straight path – and to what precedes it and what comes after it.

Knowledge is also the shortest path to Allah.  Whoever travels the road of knowledge reaches Allah and the Garden by the shortest route.  Knowledge also clears the way out of darkness, ignorance, doubt and skepticism.  It is why Allah called His Book, “Light”.

Al Bukhari and Muslim have reported on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said: “Truly, Allah will not take away knowledge by snatching it away from people, but by taking away the lives of the people of knowledge one by one until none of them survive.  Then the people will adopt ignorant ones as their leaders.  They will be asked to deliver judgements and they will give them without knowledge, with the result that they will go astray and lead others astray”.

When ‘Ubadah ibn as-Samit was asked about this hadith he said: “If you want, I will tell you what the highest knowledge is, which raises people in rank: it is humility.”

He said this because there are two types of knowledge.  The first produces its fruit in the heart.  It is knowledge of Allah, the Exalted – His Names, His Attributes, and His Acts – which commands fear, respect, exaltation, love, supplication and reliance on Him.  This is the beneficial type of knowledge.  As ibn Mas’ud said: “They will recite the Quran, but it will not go beyond their throats.  The Quran is only beneficial when it reaches the heart and is firmly planted in it”.

Al-Hasan said: “There are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of the tongue, which can be a case against the son of Adam, as is mentioned in the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam: ‘The Quran is either a case for you or a case against you’ (Muslim, Kitab at Tahara, 3/99); and knowledge of the heart, which is beneficial knowledge.  The second kind is the beneficial kind which is absorbed by the heart and puts it right.  The knowledge that is on the tongue is taken lightly by people: neither those who possess it, not anyone else, act upon it, and then it vanishes when its owners vanish on the Day of Judgement, when creation will be brought to account.”