Count down to Ramadan
Posted on June 19, 2014 Leave a Comment
In the name of Allah.
Asalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
Dr Zakir Naik shares with us some words of wisdom from the Sunnah (teachings and sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him) in preparation for Ramadan. See what he has to say in the video:
(by the way, if you have missed fasts to make up from last Ramadan, be sure to make them up in these few days before this Ramadan starts in sha Allah)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoD2-i-gmK0
May Allah the Most Merciful permit us to take advantage of each moment in Ramadan, and may He forgive us for He is the Perpetual Forgiver, The Oft-Forgiving, The Oft-Pardoning. And may Allah abundantly bless His final prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Ameen
It’s time for Du’aa!
Posted on June 19, 2014 Leave a Comment
Asalamu alaykum all.
With about a week to go till the Month of mercy, Mufti Menk has some awesome advice for us here (see the video!) .
Ready for Ramadan?
Let’s get in the habit of making Dua/supplications!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55eQjyZR_2Q
RAMADAAN
Posted on June 17, 2014 Leave a Comment
In the name of Allah
Asalamu alaykum dear brothers and sisters.
We have ahead of us a very special month in the Islamic calendar. A month of hope, a month of mercy, a month of opportunity. We have before us none other than the month of Ramadaan, the month of fasting.
It is with great joy and anticipation we await this delightful month to commence, and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’alaa (Glorified and exalted is He) to grant us the ability, spiritual, emotional, psychological, physiological and financial strength to serve Him in this month of mercy and beyond.
It is worth mentioning that preparation begins before Ramadaan begins, and it is the help of Allah we seek. Undoubtedly, this is an advice to me before it is you, dear reader.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us revive our relationship with the Noble book of Allah, The Qur’an.
Let us be optimistic and hope to benefit from the remarkable parables, admonitions and promises mentioned in the Qur’an.
My dearest brothers and sisters, if you cannot recall the last time you engaged with the Qur’an, do not despair. There is hope. For today, counting down less than a fortnight till Ramadaan, you can make a difference- right now, in sha Allah.
Be resolute. Make wudu (ablution). Make du’a, ask Allah to facilitate your affairs. Be sincere for Allah. And go and open the mushaf (even if it is an electronic version of the Qur’an). And start to read. Read an ayah. Read two. Five, ten. Increase it as the days go by. Read, Recite. Recite it with tajweed, with accurate and beautiful recitation. Better still, let us endeavour to understand the meaning, the explanation (tafsir) of the ayaat, then let us reflect. And let us watch our lives transform, in sha Allah.
Allaah says (English interpretation of the meaning):
“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’aan, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong). So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan i.e. is present at his home), he must observe Sawm (fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days which one did not observe Sawm (fasts) must be made up] from other days. Allaah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allaah [i.e. to say Takbeer (Allaahu Akbar: Allaah is the Most Great)] for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him.”
[Qur’an, chapter al-Baqarah 2: verse 185]
May Allah allow us to reach Ramadaan prepared, and may He make it a prosperous and accepted Ramadaan. ameen
jazaakumullaahu khairan
Thurrock Muslims Bloggers
Islam Explained (post 2)
Posted on June 9, 2014 5 Comments
Continued…
Previously, we discussed that the fundamental principle in Islam is to affirm the Oneness of Allah, in His Lordship, His names and attributes and His right to be worshipped exclusively. We also discussed belief in the prophets and messengers of God (Allah) , the last of whom was prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as well as the scriptures of the past, and the final revealed book, The Noble Qur’an.
Here follows some more enlightening facts about our Islamic beliefs and principles:
7. Unseen Creation- Muslims believe in the unseen creation, such as the angels and jinns.The angels always obey Allah. Regarding the jinn, there are believers and disbelievers among the them. Satan (man’s biggest enemy) is from among the Jinn creation.
8.Heaven and hell- Muslims believe that there is judgement and an afterlife following this ephemeral worldly existence. We will be held accountable for our actions on the Day of Judgement. We strive to reach paradise, the abode of eternal pleasure, by obediently doing what Allah loves and is pleased with, and by striving to avoid what He forbids and is displeased with.
9.Divine decree and predestination- Allah has absolute control over the universe and there is no power nor strength except with Him. His Wisdom is great. His justice is perfect. And He is All-Knowing, All-Observant and All-aware, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful. He wants good for His servants. He knows exactly why everything that occurs in the universe does so, because He decreed it with infinite wisdom. He knows the past, the present, the future, i.e. what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. We have choice to do good or bad, yet this does not operate outside the comprehensive decree and irresistible will of Allah, The Irresistible, The Mighty Compeller. Good and bad things happen to us in this world, as a test of our faith in God. If we turn to God (Allah) always and have faith, trust, repent and bear patiently, we will get through the trials successfully.
Islam explained (post 1)
Posted on June 4, 2014 4 Comments
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 or associates.
You can find a superb description of Allah in chapter 112 of the Qur’an:
2. Islam– Means submission to the will of the One Supreme Creator of the universe known as ‘Allah’ or The One True God.
3. Muslim- One who submits his/her will to the Will of Allah. The purpose in life is to worship Allah, not because He needs us (remember He is Self-Sufficient, Self-Subsisting) but because we need Him. It is in everyone’s natural disposition to recognise Allah’s Lordship and His right to be worshipped exclusively.
4.Messengers and prophets– Allah did not leave creation without guidance. He sent prophets and messengers, who were human beings, to warn their nations and remind them to worship Allah alone. We believe in Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus among others, peace be upon them all. Incidentally, we believe Jesus was born from the virgin Mary, miraculously without a father. Jesus is not the son of God, because God (Allah) is One, without partners, associates or children. Humans and created beings have children, and God is unlike His creation! Therefore, we respect and believe in Jesus peace be upon him as a messenger of God who never claimed divinity, but rather, he called to the worship of The One True God (Allah) alone without partners.
5. Scriptures and revealed books– Allah sent the messengers with scriptures to guide the people to come back to the worship of One True God alone. We believe in the original scriptures, such as the Torah, Psalms and Gospel (the current day versions have been altered by man over time and are thus no longer in the original form). All the messengers and prophets (peace be upon them all) professed Islamic Monotheism. The previous messengers were sent with revelations for their people at their times. Thereafter, Allah sent a final messenger to guide,remind and warn us.
6. The Final prophet and messenger and final book of revelation– Allah sent the final prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the last messenger after whom no new messenger will be sent to mankind. Allah revealed the final book of revelation,The Qur’an, to the prophet Muhammad, who conveyed this to his people. The Qur’an is the verbatim words of Allah.
The miracle is that the Qur’an has been preserved from change since its revelation over 1400 years ago, as Allah guaranteed to guard it from corruption.
Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’an) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption) .
[Qur’an, 15:9- English interpretation]
The message Muhammad was sent with and the final revealed book (The Qur’an) abrogates all other books and laws before it. Muhammad peace be upon him also called to the Oneness of God and called people to worship Allah alone without partners (Islamic Monotheism), the same message of the previous prophets. The prophet Muhammad came with Islam, and the Qur’an, and this is the message all nations after him are to follow, as commanded by Allah. Indeed, it is through obeying God (Allah) that we hope to attain eternal bliss in the afterlife.
To be continued…
WELCOME MESSAGE
Posted on June 3, 2014 Leave a Comment
Asalamu ‘alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam and Thurrock residents, welcome to Thurrock Muslims blog!
This is your space- Your place to learn about Islam from the authentic sources of the Islamic deen (religion/way of life). In sha Allah, we will endeavour to inspire you with reminders from the Noble book of Allah, Al-Qur’an, and from the Sunnah (practices and teachings of Allah’s final Messenger and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.)
With Ramadaan approaching fast, we would like to remind ourselves and you to remember our purpose in life:
Allah The Exalted said in surah Az-zariyaat (English interpretation):
“And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship me (alone).”
[Qur’an, chapter 51 verse 56]
This is our noble purpose in life, to worship Allah alone. Therefore, let us serve the Ever-Living Creator of the universe, Allah. We need to worship Him and He doesn’t need us. Through obeying Allah we can attain happiness, for ultimately, we are preparing for the meeting with Him on the day of Judgement.
Let us strive for Allah’s pleasure, for the everlasting bliss in paradise, in sha Allah.
Moreover, the Final messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said:
“Actions are but by intentions, and each person will have but that which he intended.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
Therefore dear brothers and sisters, let us strive to keep our intentions purely and sincerely for the sake of Allah alone, seeking reward from Him. Let us also perform the actions according to the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, for Allah commands us to obey him.
So, when we fast- we fast for the sake of Allah, when we pray- we pray for the sake of Allah, when we spend in charity, it is for His sake alone, and in accordance with the Sunnah.
May Allah bless you and us all with a prosperous Ramadaan and may He make us of those who sincerely submit to Him alone, in accordance with the Qur’an and Sunnah. May Allah abundantly bless His final prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Aameen.
We leave with you a powerful reminder from surah Al-Asr (Chapter 103 of Al-Qur’an):
jazaakumAllaahu khairan!
Thurrock Muslims Blog team
[Sha’ban 1435]
