Islamic Learning

The first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:14:02 GMT

Praise be to Allaah Who has created Time and has made some times better than others, some months and days and nights better than others, when rewards are multiplied many times, as a mercy towards His slaves. This encourages them to do more righteous deeds and makes them more eager to worship Him, so that the Muslim renews his efforts to gain a greater share of reward, prepare himself for death and supply himself in readiness for the Day of Judgement.

This season of worship brings many benefits, such as the opportunity to correct one’s faults and make up for any shortcomings or anything that one might have missed. Every one of these special occasions involves some kind of worship through which the slaves may draw closer to Allaah, and some kind of blessing though which Allaah bestows His favour and mercy upon whomsoever He will. The happy person is the one who makes the most of these special months, days and hours and draws nearer to his Lord during these times through acts of worship; he will most likely be touched by the blessing of Allaah and will feel the joy of knowing that he is safe from the flames of Hell. (Ibn Rajab, al-Lataa’if, p.8)

The Muslim must understand the value of his life, increase his worship of Allaah and persist in doing good deeds until the moment of death. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty." [al-Hijr 15:99] The mufassireen (commentators) said: "‘The certainty’ means death."

Among the special seasons of worship are the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, which Allaah has preferred over all the other days of the year. Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these ten days." The people asked, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?" He said, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).

Hajj: its virtues and benefits

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:00:00 GMT

1. When Hajj was prescribed

According to the correct view, Hajj was made obligatory in 9AH, the year of the Delegations (al-Wufood), in which Soorat Aal ‘Imraan was revealed, in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

Udhiyah (sacrifice)

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:00:00 GMT

The word udhiyah means an animal of the ‘an’aam class (i.e., camel, cow, sheep or goat) that is slaughtered during the days of Eid al-Adha because of the Eid and as an act of worship, intending to draw closer to Allaah thereby.

Innovation in Religion

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:00:00 GMT

Innovation in Islam is the invention, creation or addition of any religious matter which was not (originally) found in Islam. Therefore, Islam warns against it and invalidates any religious deed which does not originate from the Quran and the Sunnah. Prophet Mohammad, salla Allahu 'alaihe wasallam, says in this respect: "He who innovates something that is not in agreement with our matter (religion), will have it rejected." [Al-Bukharee and Muslim]

The Sahabah's Attitude towards Innovations

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:00:00 GMT

An outstanding characteristic of the Sahabah is their absolute adherence to the Sunnah of the Prophet, salla Allaahu Alaihe wa sallam, and their absolute disaproval of Bid`ah (innovation). Some Sahabah narrated the following story:

Innovative Excuses

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:00:00 GMT

It is with much thought and debate amongst ourselves that we write this article. We understand the hostile reaction that it may cause, but we feel that there are sufficient, and important reasons for putting pen to paper about this subject. Over the past year or so we have been continually criticised by the local hierarchy, who have accused us of being "Wahabis", "followers of Arabs", "modernist Muslims" and of misleading the youth. It is with this constant criticism in mind that we write this article, in order to set the record straight.

The virtue of the last ten days of Ramadaan and Laylat al-Qadr

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 06:00:00 GMT

Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the Trustworthy Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to strive hard (in worship) during the last ten days of Ramadaan in a way that he did not strive at any other times.

Reality and Obligation in Ramadan

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:00:00 GMT

During this Ramadhan do not let the sweetness of our deeds vansh into the night, leaving only emptiness. When one contemplates the texts on fasting, its wisdom and goals in Shariah, and

Ramadan Month of the Qur'an

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:00:00 GMT

The first part of this is based on an extract from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's Lata'if al-Ma'arif (pp. 179-182), quoted by Fahd bin Sulaiman in Kayf Nastafeed min Ramadan (pp. 48-50). The advice given in this article is all the more important now that we are in the last ten nights of Ramadan. Imam Bukhari reports from 'Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would tighten his waist-cloth (i.e. detach himself from his wives), spend the night in worship and awake his family, during the last ten nights of Ramadan. Ramadan is nearly over, so make the most of this precious opportunity!

Islamic Learning

The first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah

Hajj: its virtues and benefits

1. When Hajj was prescribed

Udhiyah (sacrifice)

Innovation in Religion

The Sahabah's Attitude towards Innovations

Innovative Excuses

The virtue of the last ten days of Ramadaan and Laylat al-Qadr

Reality and Obligation in Ramadan

Ramadan Month of the Qur'an

The Muslim in Ramadan