Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Day of Aashoora (10th day of Muharram)

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.



Virtues of Muharram 

Muharram is the best month of the year to fast after Ramadhan.
The best salah offered after Fard salah is Tahajjud salah. 

Abdullah Ibn Abbasرضى الله عنهما relates that when Rasulullahصلى الله عليه وسلم
entered Madina, he saw the Jews fasting on the day of Aashoora,
then Rasulullahصلى الله عليه وسلم asked," Why is this?"  they replied,
' It is a virtuous day. On this day Allah saved Bani Israel from the
enemy. Musaعليه السلام fasted on this day to thank Allah. Heصلى الله عليه وسلم
said : I have more rights to Musaعليه السلامthan you Jews. Rasulullahصلى الله عليه وسلم
fasted on that day and commanded others to fast on that day.
                                                                                      (Bukhari

Abdullah Ibn Abbasرضى الله عنهما says that Rasulullahصلى الله عليه وسلم himself
observed he fast on the Day of Aashoora (Tenth day of Muharram), and
he exhorted others to fast on that day.
                                                                                (Bukhari and Muslim)


Abu Qatadahرضى الله عنه relates that Rasulullahصلى الله عليه وسلم was asked about
fasting on the Day of Aashoora. Heصلى الله عليه وسلم answered : It atones for
the sins of the preceding year.
                                                                                         (Muslim)


Ibn Abbasرضى الله عنهما relates that Rasulullahصلى الله عليه وسلم said : If I survive
till the next year, I shall fast on the ninth day (of Muharram).
                                                                                           (Muslim)

Note : You can either fast the 9th and 10th of Muharram or fast
the 10th and 11th of Muharram. 


Click here to read more

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

8 Duties

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.



The Ulama has set aside these 8 duties for women to perform daily
in their homes. If we do and act upon these duties, InshaAllah it will
be equivalent to 70 amals of the Sahabahs. 


These 8 duties are also know as 'Amal Nurani' which will lighten our
hearts with the light (Noor) of Deen. Our homes will become like
Madarasahs, when we practice these Nurani Amals.

When our homes have this kind of surrounding and atmosphere, then
our children will grow up in an atmosphere of Deen. In this way, Deen
can easily penetrate their hearts and gradually will grow up to become
good children. Iman and Amal will become an everyday way of life.
When Iman and Amal exists in a house then - Barakah, Rahmah, Sakinah
and understanding will emerge.

With these 8 duties a woman can guard her Iman from getting weak.

The 8 Duties are :-
1. Awal Namazi ( perform salah at its first time)
2.Reading the Qur'an
3.Zikr
4.Home Taleem
5.Obedience to Husband
6.Mujahaddah
7.Simple life
8.Bringing up children in an Islamic way    

1. Awal Namazi :-

When we recite the kalimah, we must have full yaqeen in Allah Ta'ala,
that Allah Ta'ala has the absolute power over all His creation and the
Greatness of Allah Ta'ala must always be in our hearts.

Therefore in order to show our obedience to Allah Ta'ala, the First
submission to Allah Ta'ala - is Salah i.e. Awal Nawaz. Our duty is to
check our daily 5 times salah. Set aside a timetable so that our house-
hold chores will be completed by the time of Salah, or better still, 10-
15 mins before Salah. Try to increase our Nafl Salah everyday. When
performing our fard Salah we must try to improve the quality of our
Salah constantly - this requires some effort and concentration. We
must be aware of our Salah time everyday. Try not to miss these nafl
Salahs of Israq, Dhuha, Awwarbeen, Thahajjud and Witr.

We must also be aware and see that our Muhrims performs their fard
Salah in the Masjid in Jammah. If our husbands perform their Salah
in the Masjid with Isthiqamah, we too will get the same rewards as
our husbands.

2. Reading the Qur'an (with Isthiqamah)

Qur'an is the Kalam of Allah Ta'ala. It is a perfect Kitab(book) sent by
Allah Ta'ala. It is no ordinary book, it is the Words of Allah Ta'ala and
the Words of Allah Ta'ala is above all words. Therefore the first words
we should teach are children are the words of Allah Ta'ala. We must
read the Qur'an everyday, as much as we can, because the Nur of the
Qur'an will soften our hearts, and thereby making it easy for us to
learn and obey the commandments of Allah Ta'ala. The houses where
Al-Qur'an are being read, will shine brightly like the stars at night.

The Haq (right) of Al-Qur'an that we must fulfill, is to complete
reading it, at least, twice in a year (i.e. once in Ramadhan and once
rest of the year).

3. Zikr ( Remembrance of Allah)

We must at all times and situations moistened our tongue with Zikrullah.
Salah and Qur'an alone is not enough, because by making Zikr we will be
closer to Allah Ta'ala and Zikr keeps away the shaitan and weakens his
strength. It produces joy and happiness in the heart. If one remembers
Allah Ta'ala in happiness, almighty Allah remembers him in afflictions.
It  saves the tongue from indulging in backbiting, loose talk, lies and
abuses. It is common experience that a man whose tongue remains
engaged in Zikr does not commit these absurdities. On the other hand,
the tongue that is not used in Zikr, falls an easy prey to all kinds of
useless talk. When we make Zikr our hearts soften and the greatness
of Allah Ta'ala will enter our hearts and it will make it easy for us to
take out the greatness of the dunia (world) from our hearts.

In the morning and evening say :-
100 times  ''Laa ilaaha illallaah
100 times  ''Durood''
100 times  ''Isthiqfar''

After we become isthiqamah (constant) in the above, we can increase it
with the masnoon duas and the other Zikrs.

4. Home Taleem

Virtues of doing Taleem is so great and to have Taleem in the house is
very important. This is the duty of the woman, to make sure that Taleem
is done everyday, at the same time and place without fail. Even when no
one else is present, it must be done because in this way, Allah Ta'ala will
send His Blessings and Mercy (Barakah and Rahmah). The Barakah and
Rahmah not only falls on our house, but also to 40 houses around us. The
source of Hidayat comes from the houses that have Taleem. The First
impression on a person entering a house wherein Taleem is being held
will be the atmosphere of peace and tranquility (Sakinah) and a sense of
Islamic surrounding. This can only exist by having Taleem and the mutual
Fikr (worry) of Deen by both the husband and wife of that household.

5. Obedience to the Husband

Obey your husband with a willing heart and feel pleasure and satisfaction
in being faithful to him. This is what Allah Ta'ala commands a wife to do
and the believing woman who acts according to the will of Allah Ta'ala
wins His favour. The Holy Qur'an affirms:

''The pious wives are those who show obedience to their husbands.''

The Prophet of Allahصلى الله عليه وسلمhas affirmed :
 ''If a woman offers prayers five times a day, protects her honour and 
chastity, remains faithful to her husband, she may enter Paradise by
whichever gate she likes.''
 
The Prophet of Allahصلى الله عليه وسلمhas affirmed :
''The woman who dies in such a state that her husband was entirely
satisfied and in concord with her, will certainly enter Paradise.''
                                                                                              (Tirmizi)

We extend our khidmat to our husbands according to the commands
of Allah Ta'ala and to seek His pleasure, then all these will be considered
as Ibadat and will earn rewards from Allah Ta'ala.

Give him all the encouragement and moral support. Have mashwarah
with him everyday regarding mutual work and household duties. Only
by this way the relationship between the husband and wife together with
the family will obtain peace and barakah.

6. Mujahadah

Only when we send our men in the Path of Allah Ta'ala, we will have the
strength to practice these 8 duties, because, men as head of the family
have Deen within them, and as a result, InshaAllah the whole family can
accept Deen easily.

By encouraging our Muhrim in the Path of Allah Ta'ala, Allah Ta'ala will
grant us with great Niymat and rewards in the Akhirah....

7. Simple Life

The beauty of Islam is in its Simplicity. There are wonderful Blessings
(Barakah) in simplicity. In order to achieve success in this world and
the hereafter, we must follow the lifestyle which was shown to us by
Our beloved Nabiصلى الله عليه وسلم . There is no other alternative way
that will lead us to success. If we love dunia, then we cannot get
Akhirah. We have to follow the sunnah of Nabiصلى الله عليه وسلم, then
we will reach our aim i.e. Paradise (Jannah).

In our everyday lives, we must live as simply as possible. Do not make
demands on our husbands to acquire worldly things which they cannot
afford. Avoid becoming the slave of Dunia. Always look upon those
who are less fortunate, then only we will feel grateful (Shukar) to
Allah Ta'ala for what He has given us.

When we lead a simple lifestyle, a lot of time and effort can be saved
in order to concentrate on our Ibadat and other good deeds, especially
the said 8 duties.

8. Bringing up Children in an Islamic way

We must fulfill our rights towards our children by teaching them Deen
and bringing them up according to the Sunnah of Nabiصلى الله عليه وسلم.
Children are an Amaanat(trust) from Allah Ta'ala. They are born pure
and clean, so it is our duty to keep them so. If our lives and our houses
have an Islamic surrounding, then we can easily teach Deen to our
children. It is our duty as mothers to shape our children according
to Sunnah.

We must train our children to be true Muslims, so that the 6 points
become a way of life. InshaAllah if only the mothers have this Fikr
(worry) in their hearts, the next generation will be a better generation
and Islam will be a upgrading Religion.