Reformation of the Self

  As Muslims, Allah (SWT) has given us remedy to every form of worry, concern and distress that we may face in this stormy journey of life. All we need to do to benefit from this Grace is to take action, believe firmly in the promise of our Lord and above all have patience. For the proof, we shall study an authentic hadith from Imam Bukhari and Muslim which goes thus:  Ibn Abbas reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would say at a time of distress:   “There is no god but Allah, the All-Knowing, the Forbearing. There is no god but Allah, Lord of the Great Throne. There is no god but Allah, Lord of the heavens, the earth, and the Noble Throne.”   Transliteration: Laa illahaa illa laahul Haleem li Adheem. Laa illahaa illalaahu Robbul-Arshil-Adheem. Laa illahaa illa laahu Robbus-samaawaati wa Robbul-ardi wa Rabbul- Arshil- Kareem.   So, any time we are tempted to worry about a distressing situation, let’s suspend the...

    The pleasure of Allah (SWT) is the supreme desire of a true believer. And the main hinderance towards attaining this goal is nothing but our sins. With the infinite mercy of Allah, the Prophet has given us many means of seeking forgiveness from Allah, the best of which is the focus of our study today. In the Sunnah of our Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah (SWT) be upon him), we have his example of engaging in this noble practice numerous times everyday even though, he was the best of mankind. But He did so to teach us what we need to do, if we truly desire the pleasure of Our Lord. Now read the hadith from Al-Bukhari to see the incredible bounty and goodness brought to us by our loving Prophet (SAW). Shaddad bin Aus (May Allah be pleased with him) said: the Prophet Muhammad Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him said: "The best supplication for seeking forgiveness (Syed-ul- Istighfar) is to say:   'Allahumma Anta Rabbi, la ilaha illa An...

    The first part of being a good Muslim is being true to Allah (SWT) and the second part of our Religion has to do with our relationship with the people. And the focus of this article deals with the latter part as shown in an authentic hadeeth found in Muwwata of Imam Maalik (RA): Yahya related to me from Malik that Muadh ibn Jabal said: "The last advice the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave me when I put my foot in the stirrup was that he said: 'Make your character good for the people, Muadh ibn Jabal!' " On this important and broad topic, I want to simplify it by offering three action points we can all use to improve our character for the people. One, we can make our character good for the people by committing to the great virtue of unconditional honesty. Two, we can make our character good for the people by choosing to be a person of value to everyone we come across in life. And three, we can also make our charact...

  Sleep is sometimes seen as a waste of time when we can’t achieve anything because we can’t do anything when we are unconscious. This may be true for someone without knowledge, but for a conscious Muslim armed with knowledge, his sleeping time may bring greater benefits than the waking time of many ignorant or heedless ones. The reason for this is that he can earn great reward of Allah’s forgiveness while he can’t do any harm. Allahu Akbar! Now let’s get down to today’s hadith for an evidence of this incredible truth. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (RA) reports that Rasulullah (SAW) said: “Purify your bodies, Allah will purify you, for verily any person who sleeps in a condition of purity will indeed have an angel spending the night by his side. And whenever he turns over at any moment during the night the angel says: ‘O Allah forgive your servant for verily he has spent the night in the state of purity.”   This is an authentic hadith from Al-Mu’jmaul-Aws...