The Prophet(S)'s Words of Reminder for Ramadan

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

A summary of a khutbah by Prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him - on the Holy Month of Ramdan:

" Oh people! The Month Of Allah The High has come with blessings, mercy and forgiveness. To Allah, this month is the best month. Its days are the best days. Its nights the best of all nights. Its hours the best of all hours. And this is the month which you have been invited to be the guests of Allah and you have become the graced ones by Allah. Your souls in it [month of Ramadan] are glorification [of Allah].
Your sleep in it, is worship. Your deeds in it, are accepted. Your prayers in it, are answered. So ask your Lord with truthful intentions and pure hearts that He would grant you success in fasting and reading His book. For that the unfortunate is the one who forbids Allah's forgiveness in this great month. With your hunger and thirst remember the hunger and thirst of the Day of
Judgment.

Give to your poor and needy. Respect the elder. Have mercy on the younger. Be nice and keep in touch with your relatives. Protect your tongues. Cast down from what is not Halal for your sights to see and what is not halal for your ears to hear. Be compassionate and caring for the orphans of other people, so that your orphans would be taken care of and receive compassion. Repent from your sins. Raise your hands towards Him in dua during the hours of prayers, those hours are the best hours and Allah-azza wa jall- looks at His servants with mercy; answers them if they ask for help; answers their call if they call upon Him; answers their dua if they ask Him. Oh people! Your souls are hostages by your deeds. So let yourselves free by asking Allah's forgiveness.

Your backs are heavy with loads, so make it light by prolonging your sajdas. And know that Allah-jalla zikruh- has vowed to His Dignity that He would not punish those who pray and those who make Sajda. And He would not worry them with Fire on the day which people rise to the Lord of the Universe. Oh people! Whoever feeds a fasting believer during this month, to Allah, it is as if he has freed a slave. And his past sins are forgiven.
Then he, peace be upon him and his family, continued: ".....whoever does one 'fareedha'(a religious deed) during this month it is as if he has accomplished doing 70 good deeds in other months. Whoever increases sending blessings on me, Allah will make his rewards heavy on the day which people's rewards are light. Whoever recites one aya of Qur'an, will receive the reward of finishing the whole Qur'an in other months. Oh people! The doors of Heaven in this month is open, so ask your lord not to close it on you. The doors of Hell are closed, so ask your Lord not to open it for you. The devils are in chains, so ask your Lord that they do not rule you."


(The summary was not compiled nor written by myself; was sent as a forward in an email)

Inconvenience

A rather unfortunate aspect has been let known to me; apparently when you try to become a follower of the blog with Yahoo, it doesn't allow you. A fellow friend let me aware of this.
However, I know for a fact that if you do it with a Google account(Gmail), it will work.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

Continuation of Ramadan Posts

Asalamualikum. Sorry for taking so long to get the next post out. Well, here's the next post on Ramadan:

Ramadan is a very good opportunity to focus on improving your Islam; to focus without distractions.

You can work on ridding of bad habits and developing good ones;
Bad Habits:

1. Impatience
2. Dishonesty
3. High Temper

Good Habits:

1. Tolerance
2. Kindness
3. Generosity

Set goals for Yourself:
Examples:

1. Read at least 5 Pages of the Quran a day
2. Memorize these two surahs before the month is over
3. Visit the masjid at least once a week
4. Pray Taraweeh at least five times a week

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As we know, we fast to sympathize with those around the world who have little or no food and are suffering(Support Islamic Relief!).
In this month, focus attention on strengthening your bond with Allah(SWT), and on increasing our devotion and worship.
Going back to the concept of not eating nor drinking in Ramadan.
Allah(SWT) wants us to practice our self-restraint, so to make sure it is our minds that control our body, not the other way around.
Let us Insha' allah keep the habits and such we develop in Ramadan as part of our character, not just for one month, but for our entire lives.

Asalamualikum, "Members" of the Muslim Ummah!
I apologize profusely for not having posted a topic for these few days; Insha' allah I will get to the next post on Ramadan soon.
I wanted to remind everyone that they can become followers(members) of this blog, and therefore receive updates when I update the blog. Masha' allah, I find I already have 4 followers.
In addition, spread the word of this blog; Insha' allah you will be rewarded for promoting this act of Da'wa.
Last of all, I hope you like the background/color/blinky adjustments and additions I have made to the blog. If you have suggestions and such for this aspect of the blog, let me know by posting a comment.
Salamualikum,

The Night of Bara' ah

Ever heard of the Night of Bara' ah? I didn't, not until today. I am currently attending an Islamic program, and the teacher read from some papers about this night. Thinking of this as a wonderful thing to post, I requested to borrow the papers, but she kindly let me keep them.
Laylatul-bara' ah means the Night of Freedom from Fire. It occurs between the 14th and 15th of Sha'ban, which is tonight, August 5th.

There is a hadith in which the Prophet(S) said that during the night of the half of Sha'ban Allah (SWT) looks upon us(humans: slaves of Allah(SWT)) and forgives those who seek forgiveness as well as mercy, yet does not forgive them until they relieve any malice they may have against another Muslim. (I'm paraphrasing the hadith here).
There are other hadiths mentioning the rewards of this night, and though this article mentions the chain of narrators of some of these suffer some minor technical defects, all clarify this night to be one beneficial to observe.

In this night, one should stay awake as much as possible. If you cannot spend the entire night in prayer and worship, select a portion of the night, preferably the second half of it, and it would be advisable to:
-Perform Salah, preferably no less than 8 Rak'at. Each part of the Salah(like ruku) should be longer than normal. The longest surahs you have memorized should be recited in the Salah. If you cannot remember any long surahs, you can recite several short ones in one rakah.
-Recite as much of the Holy Quran as you can.
-Dhikr(recitation of the name of Allah). In particular, on the Prophet(S), one should recite "Sal-Allahu alayhi wa sallam" as many times as possible.
-Dua. Inshallah it will be accepted, and it alone is ibadah, which will be rewarded. And these prayers and supplications also strengthen our connection with Allah(SWT); a main reason we perform all these acts of worship.
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On the day immediately following the Night of Bara' ah, the 15th of Sha'aban, it is advisable to keep fast. It is mentioned that the Prophet(S) used to fast most of days in Sha'ban, and that the fasts of the first half of Sha'ban have special merits.
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Inshallah I hope this post has enlightened everyone to this blessed night, and encouraged everyone to pay special attention and worship more tonight, and fast tomorrow.
Salamualikum.
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P.S.
I thought it would be neat to know how many people actually fasted tomorrow. So I have replaced the Candy Voting Poll with one that will show me how many actually fasted. Inshallah we'll get good numbers. Salamualikum!!

"I'm Traveling. Do I Have To Fast(In Ramadan)?

(Surat Al-Baqara), Verse (Ayah) 185: “Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down The Qur’an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you and perchance ye shall be grateful”.

Crushes and How to Deal with Them

Salamualikum. Thanks to Anonymous for this topic and I hope this helps your situation, Inshallah. Let me know if you have further questions, or if it helped you.


You may feel you are being attracted to the opposite gender; but it is not the question of having one, it is the question of how you deal with it.


The wrong way to deal with it is to start purposefully daydreaming about him/her, to begin chatting about your crush to your friends, keeping the idea as a play-thing. Some people may even go to their crush and tell them that they like him/her.

Try to avoid occupying your mind with your crush; try to distract yourself by reading Quran, listening to a nice Nasheed, reading an appropriate book. If you find it difficult, seek help from Allah(SWT).

I hope, Anonymous, that this post answered your concern, and I compliment your seeking knowledge to better your Islam. If you have any further questions relating to your situation, let me know. And to everyone, if you have any other questions and such relating to this topic, feel free to leave a comment.



(Thanks to everyone who complimented/viewed my blog so far)

Ramadan

Salamualikum wa Rahma tullahi wa barakatuhuh[hope I spelled it right back there :)]
Ramadan, Inshallah, is due to arrive soon.
How many feel,"Aww, "no food time"?
How many feel, "Yes! The blessed month of opportunity?"
By the end of this topic(which will be in multiple posts), I hope Inshallah we all will end up sincerely feeling the second choice.
As we all should know, Fasting(in Ramadan) is an obligatory act, and is one of the five pillars of Islam.
"...whoever witnesses the Month of Ramadan should fast through it..." Q(2:185)

In this blessed month, Allah(SWT) is even more generous with his bestowment of good deeds.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) addressed his companions on the last day of Sha`ban, saying, "Oh people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month; a month in which is a night better than a thousand months; month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all." [Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah]

Narrated Abu Huraira(r.a): The Prophet said:"... whoever fasts during Ramadan out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven." (Sahih Al-Bukhari).

Wow. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Subhanallah. One of the many things to reflect upon in Ramadan is the mercy of Allah(SWT). See all these opportunities, all these chances to be forgiven, all these chances to gain more good deeds?