Month: October 2014

Muharram 1436

Posted on by Thurrock Muslim Community

Asalaamu alaykum

In the Name of Allah.

Dear readers, as you know, we entered the new Islamic year about a week ago.

We are now in the first month of Hijri year 1436, Muharram.

moon banner

Muharram is a special month.

It is a month of great virtue. It is of the four sacred months out of twelve months in the Islamic calendar.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allaah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein”

[al-Tawbah 9:36]

 

Allah, The Almighty, has made it a sacred month of great virtue. May He allow us to abstain from sins, to turn to Him in repentance, and to run back to Him with good deeds, for verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds.

And Allah is The Most Generous. Oh Allah we ask for Your peace and blessings upon The final prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Ameen ya Rabb al ‘aalameen.

It is encouraged to fast in Muharram, particularly the 10th (Ashoora’), and the preceding day with it (Tasooaa’). Let us take advantage of these beautiful winter days, in sha Allah.

 

It was proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that the best fasting after Ramadaan is fasting in the month of Muharram.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best fasting after Ramadaan is the month of Allaah Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer at night.” Narrated by Muslim, 1163. 

Regarding the significance of fasting on Ashoora’ :

The reason why the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) fasted on the day of ‘Ashoora’ and urged the people to do likewise is mentioned in the hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari (1865) from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah and saw the Jews fasting on the day of ‘Ashoora’. He said, “What is this?” They said, “This is a good day, this is the day when Allaah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy and Moosa fasted on this day.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “We are closer to Moosa than you.” So he fasted on this day and told the people to fast. 

 

Fasting the day of ‘Ashoora’ does expiate (minor sins) for the past year, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fasting the day of ‘Arafah I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year before it and the year after it, and fasting the day of ‘Ashoora’ I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year that came before it.” Narrated by Muslim, 1162.

 

‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) fasted on the day of ‘Ashoora and told the people to fast, they said, “O Messenger of Allaah, this is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Next year, if Allaah wills, we will fast on the ninth day.” But by the time the following year came, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had passed away.

 Narrated by Muslim, 1916.

 

It is expected that 9th Muharram 1436 will coincide with Sunday 2 November 2014, and thus Monday 3rd November 2014 would be the 10th, or Ashoora’. May Allah grant us the ability to seize the opportunity this Ashoora’ by fasting to gain His reward, love and forgiveness, through implementing the Sunnah of His final messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. ameen

With love for the sake of Allah

 

Thurrock Muslims

Muharram 1436

References: Qur’an, Sunnah, and respected Islamic scholars of ahl-us-sunnah wal jama’ah.

Islam explained (post 1)

Posted on by Thurrock Muslim Community

Thurrock Muslim Community

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Welcome dear curious reader. We’ll be giving you a brief introduction to Islam.

Whether you’re a Muslim or not, it is anticipated that you will learn much from this endeavour.

Sadly, Islam is still largely misunderstood by much of the population.

Thus, we took the initiative to tell you the TRUTH about Islam.

Let’s begin!

1.Allah-The Supreme Creator and Lord of all creation. The One True God worthy of worship. Allah is the Eternal, uncreated Creator.  He is One, Self-sufficient, independent from and separate from His creation. Allah does not have any partners or children. There is nothing like Allah. Allah is the All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, Provider, Cherisher, Sustainer and Originator of the universe. It is essential to affirm the Oneness of Allah in His Lordship, His names and attributes and His exclusive right to be worshipped without partners…

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Knowledge is Light- lesson 1 part 4

Posted on by Thurrock Muslim Community

Bismillah, walhamdulillah, wassaalatu wassalaam alaa Rasoolillah

Asalamu alaykum warahmatullah!

Dear readers,

This is part four of the first lesson in Islamic creed (Aqidah) Lesson. This one is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY pertinent.

There follows the third category of analysis of Tawhid and Islamic Monotheism

 rainbow on a mountain

 

Categories of Analysis of Tawhid continued

3- Tawhid al ‘Ibaadah- (Oneness of Allah in His right to be worshipped alone).

We understand that Allah is the Lord of all that exists, He is the Sustainer, The Protector, The Provider, The Ever-Living, The Self-Subsisting, uncreated Eternal Creator, whose names and attributes are perfect, and there is no similitude to Him.

Once we recognise this, we must ultimately come to the conclusion that The Supreme Creator, Allah, is surely the only One deserving of our worship and devotion.

Undoubtedly, He is the One providing for us and the One who originated us, without any need for us whatsoever. Allah is the Rich, Free of all needs, The Praiseworthy. Allah’s existence does not depend on anything, for He is the Self-Existing and Self-Sustaining. Yet we, as mere created beings, must be cognisant of the fact that we are in need, we are poor, we are powerless. We NEED Allah. We need to worship Him, because this is the purpose for which we were created. And whether we worship Allah or not, this does not add or detract from His Majesty and Might in the least bit, for He is The Self-Sufficient master whom all creatures need.

 

In sha Allah we will mention some proofs from the authentic Islamic texts regarding the content in the previous lessons.

 

Thanks for your attention, our beloveds.

May Allah be Merciful to us all and forgive our numerous sins. ameen.

with love for the sake of Allah,

Thurrock Muslims

EID UL ADHAA 1435

Posted on by Thurrock Muslim Community

Bismillah

Asalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh!

We are still witnessing the best 10 days of the year, Alhamdulillah. Allah, The Most Generous, has honoured us with Islam, and before us we have a magnificent festival, Eid-ul-Adha, The festival of Sacrifice, on the 10th day of this sacred month of Dhul-Hijjah 1435. Let us congratulate one another on this joyous occasion.

May Allah accept (good deeds) from us and from you. ameen photo.PNG-2 Please take a few moments for the sake of Allah to discover the obligations, sunnahs and etiquettes of Eid-ul-adhaa:

The etiquettes of Eid, the takbeer etc.

Udhiyah- animal of an’aam class (either sheep,camel, cow etc.) offered as a sacrifice as an act of worship to Allah, The Self-Sufficient Provider.

Some top tips (see above links for references from Qur’an and sunnah):

 

1- Do make an arrangement immediately to offer the udhiyah, if you have not done so already. You can do it for as little as £35 or more with various Islamic charities in the UK, in sha Allah. Let us offer sacrificial animals in obedience to Allah, following the way of His final prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Let’s share this bounty with our brothers and sisters around the world, in sha Allah!

2- Keep pronouncing the Takbeer, this is a great Sunnah! Remind each other! (starts on 1st Dhul Hijjah until sunset on the last of the days of Tashreeq, i.e. 13th Dhul Hijjah.)

The Takbeer is:

Allahu Akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu Akbar, laa ilaha illAllah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillaahilHamd. (Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, There is no true god worthy of worship, except Allah. Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great and all praise be to Allah.)

3-Have ghusl in the morning before going out to pray

4- If possible, make an effort to delay eating until after the Eid salah and eat from the udhiyah if you offered a sacrifice.

5- Men should go out wearing their finest clothes, perfume etc.When going out or in the presence of non-mahram men, women should avoid perfume. Women can wear their fine clothes so long as it is concealed by a full and complete, unadorned Hijab. When in female only environments, or among their mahram relatives, women may adorn themselves appropriately. My dear readers, let us remind ourselves that obedience to Allah takes precedence over all else.

6- Pray the Eid prayer in congregation

7- Congratulate one another! Taqabbal Allahu minnaa wa minkum (May Allah accept (the fast and worship) from us and from you)

8- Go out to pray one route, and return by another. Check out the links above for more!

Pray for us and share for the sake of Allah!

May Allah forgive us, for He is the Perpetual Forgiver.

Thurrock Muslims

Does Islam encourage Terrorism?

Posted on by Thurrock Muslim Community

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

Peace be upon you  respected readers!

So, you’ve been watching the news, and hearing things, and seeing things, and subsequently believing things.

And sure enough, Islam and Muslims are, once again, under the spotlight.

Now, irrespective of who you are, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you will approach this objectively, with an open mind, and a willingness to genuinely ascertain the truth.

I sympathise with you, that in this day and age, we are constantly being told, this, that and the other, and the result is, we don’t know who to believe. We’re confused, frustrated, perhaps even angry and resentful.

As a Muslim, I want you to know that Islam is not what many sections of the media and certain individuals are portraying it be to the masses. Islam is NOT about unjustly killing people!

If you believe that it does advocate unjust killing and oppression, then I am afraid you have fallen prey to the slander and lies of the ignorant and hate-mongerers.

It’s about time, we stopped being so naive, and believing everything we’re told, by some stranger on TV.

It’s about time, we thought twice before accepting the deductions made by columnists and editors of various newspapers.

It’s about time, we open our eyes, get back our dignity and start to do some research for ourselves, and stop believing everything we’re told without valid proof!

 

As a Muslim, I believe I have a right to tell you what Islam is really about, since I follow it.

to educate

Firstly, I need you to forget everything you’ve been told about Islam, any judgements, stereotypes and preconceptions you may have. Just cast them aside for a moment.

Now, any intelligent person would agree with me, that if you want to know about a matter, you start with its basic principles, the foundations, its building blocks. So let’s go back to square one.

Islam means, submission to the will of the Almighty, Supreme, uncreated Creator of the universe and all within it, Whom you may know as The Lord or God.

A Muslim is one who submits to the Supreme Creator. Muslims worship The One True God, referred to in Arabic as ‘Allah‘.

The most important principle in Islam is to uphold Islamic Monotheism, that is to attribute complete Oneness to Allah as He deserves, in His Lordship, His names and attributes and His right to be worshipped exclusively and alone. Allah has no partners, no rivals, no children, no son. He is Self-Sufficient, The All-Powerful, The Ever-Living, The One Who sustains all that exists, The Lord of all creation. There is no similitude to Allah.

This is the purity of the message of Islam.

Please do not be diverted from it by what you see, hear and read on the TV, or the Radio or the newspapers.

We appreciate your willingness to engage in a positive dialogue, as it’s about time we broke those barriers.

Please do check out the following pages for a better understanding:

Read the Qur’an for yourself! Click Here

Islam Explained, in simple terms: part 1

Islam Explained part 2

May The One True God, Allah The Almighty, The Majestic, guides us all to the straight path that He is pleased with. Ameen.

We thank you for reading and for being fair-minded.

Peace, with smiles!

Thurrock Muslims