[Week 13] A Due Reward: Virtues of Surah Ikhlas

Asalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah!

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam 'ala Rasool Allah

SubhanAllah! How fast Ramadan came and how fast it went. It truly saddens my heart to see this blessed month go away, to see it slipping away, to have to say good-bye. In a few days, the shayateen will be let loose and the difficulties will emerge. Ya Rabbi! Give this ummah the strength to fight the shayateen and keep us steadfast in the deen. Ameen.

Many a times we read about the rewards of something without truly understanding the reason behind it. It is for this very reason I chose to present the rewards and virtues of Surah Ikhlas at the end so that when we read the rewards we have a greater understanding of why its worth so much. For example, when we realize saying SubhanAllahi wa bi Hamdi is in essence a negation of shirk (the worst of all deeds, the greatest of transgressions) and an affirmation of tawheed (the greatest of all actions, the basis to enter paradise) we can understand why saying it 100x in the morning and evening will erase our sins (as per the hadith collected by Bukhari).

It Earns the Love of Allah

Ya Salaam! Who doesn't want the Love of Allah? Aisha radhiAllah anha relates in a narration collected by Bukhari, that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam sent a man as a leader of a troupe and he would lead them in prayer as well. However, he would complete every rak'a with the recitation of Surah Ikhlas. When the group returned, they relayed this habit to the Prophet sallalahu alayahi wasalam, to which he told them to ask the man why he does so. When he was asked, he replied:

"Because it is the description of ar-Rahman and I love to recite it"

So, the Prophet of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam said:

"Inform him that Allah loves him"

Gems

• When someone's actions seem to be different from the norm, present the case to someone of knowledge to see if it is correct or incorrect to do
• Do not blindly follow your leaders
• Before pouncing on an individual for an act that seems wrong or incorrect, ask him why he has done it
• It was the intentions of this individual that gained him the love of Allah, not the mere recitation of it. He understood the meaning of the surah and thus loved to recite it.
• To gain Allah's love we should recite this surah with contemplation and understanding

A Way to Paradise

Anas ibn Malik radhilAllah anhu relays a narration collected by Bukhari, that a man from the Ansar used to lead them in prayer and he used to begin all of his recitations with Surah Ikhlas. He would do this in every single unit of prayer. Those with him began to complain about the practise of his and wanted him to stop doing it. To this he replied:

"I will not stop doing this. If you want me to lead the prayers, I will do this, and if you don't like it, I will stop leading you"

They all believed he was the correct person to lead the prayer, so they remained patient with him until the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam visited them one day. And so, they presented the case to Rasool Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam to which he asked the individual why he would not listen to his people. He replied:

"Indeed, I love it"

The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam replied:

"Your love of it will cause you to enter Paradise"

Gems

• There is nothing wrong in taking your concerns to leaders or even parents as long as its done with wisdom
• A difference of opinion should not be the cause of disunity amongst the Muslims
• Ask the person directly when you find his actions to be beyond the norm
• It is permissible to recite more than one surah in a single unit of prayer

One Third of the Qur'an

Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree radhiAllah anhu stated in a narration collected by Bukhari, that on one occasion the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam asked his Companions radhiAllah anhum: "Isn't any of you able to recite a third of the Qur'an in a single night?" They found this difficult, so they responded: "Who amongst us is able to do that O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam replied:

"Allah the Unique, the Self-Sufficient is one third of the Qur'an"

Gems

• When motivating people to do good, begin with the results
• Recite Surah Ikhlas!

For a heart-warming recitation of Surah Ikhlas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II4j4LxIjz4

May Allah azza wa jal bless us with the understanding and implementation of this great surah. May He shower His blessings upon us in these last blessed nights of Ramadan and accept our fasts, our prayers, and our du'as. May He grant us khusoo' in our salat and guide us towards goodness in this life and the Hereafter. Ameen.

Wasalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah

P.S. Check it out: A Journey for those who Dare - Pt. 3

[Week 12] The Completeness of Surah Ikhlas

Asalamu 'alaikum!

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam 'ala Rasool Allah,

Continuing in our series of the interpretation of Surah Ikhlas. We now move to the last verse of this beautiful chapter in which Allah says:

وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ

And there is none co-equal to Him

Allah ends this surah in the same manner He began it: making clear His Oneness, His Uniqueness. That there nothing on the face of this earth and beyond that is comparable to Allah azza wa jal in any way, shape or form. Allah is Unique and One in His Lordship, in His rights to be worshipped, and in His Names and Attributes. 

In regards to this verse, Ibn Rajab writes:

"...this chapter contains the genealogy and description of God, the Most-Merciful. It was revealed by Allah to refute beliefs attributed to Him by misguided people concering His similitude, bodily form, origin and offspring. The claims idolaters, Sabians, Christians and Jews, and hypocrites from this nation that Allah gave birth to angels, intelligences, souls, or prophets and others are also included in that"

And so, this surah is a complete affirmation of the single-greatest act man can do: affirming Allah's oneness, tawheed. And it is a negation of the greatest sin that man could ever do: associating partners with Allah, shirk. If truly understand the greatness of tawheed and the futility and dangers of shirk, we will begin to truly understand and appreciate the greatness of this surah. We can only worship Allah, in the manner He deserves, only when we know who He is. Thus, this surah is an explanation of who Allah is; it explains the superiority, glorification, and elevation of God beyond any creations. 

Dr. Bilal Philips writes:

"If God is Unique, nothing can be equal to Him. If nothing is equal to Him, then He alone is Unique. If He alone is Self-Suffiecient and all creation is in need dire need of Him, nothing in creation can be equal to Him. If He does not bear any offspring, nor did anyone or anything give birth to Him, nothing or no one can be equal to Him as every created thing came into existence after a period of non-existence."

May Allah give us the opportunity to increase our khusoo' in salat and better our relationship with our Rabb through our salat. May He make this this information of benefit for all the readers. 

Jazakum Allahu khair,

Wasalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah

P.S. Check it out: A Journey for those who Dare - Pt. 2 - Click Here

[Week 11] The Unborn: Explaining Allah's Existence

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam 'ala Rasool Allah

Asalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu,

First and foremost, Ramadan Kareem! May Allah azza wa jal give us all the opportunity to take advantage of this blessed month and to make it a means of us attaining His Paradise. Ameen.

Due to Ramadan, I've found myself to be quite busy. Nonetheless, I do apologize for not having written anything for the past few makes. Please forgive me for my shortcomings.

The last few posts we were discussing the explanation of Surah Ikhlas. We got through the first two verses and we explained that Allah azza wa jal has the Most Beautiful and Perfect Names. Of these Names that He attributes to Himself is al-Ahad. We mentioned that a concise meaning of this name is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is One and Only and He is Unique in His Lordship, His rights to be worshiped, and His Names and Attributes. Thus, it is the primary goal of the Muslim to make Allah unique in everything He does and to never ascribe partners with Him, Subhana because this would be contradictory to His Name al-Ahad. We also discussed that Allah azza wa jal is as-Samad. He is self-sufficient from any need and that includes our worship towards Him. He is not in need of it rather He is deserving of this worship and beyond that the worship we do towards Him is only of our benefit.

To continue, we will discuss the third verse of this beautiful surah:

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
He does not give birth, nor was He born

This verse is a continuation in explaining the extent to which Allah azza wa jal is al-Ahad. Many religions falsely represent God in human form by either giving Him human characteristics or human form.

(لَمْ يَلِدْ)

Allah does not give birth because there is nothing similar to Him, Subhana. A child made from protions (sperm and ovum) of the bodies of its parents which is why it is similar to its parents in form and characteristics. Now, If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala has rejected offspring from the general perspective that it is not befitting, since that would reduce Him to the status of His creatures. Allah says: were to give birth, there would then be another God besides Him, something which He has already negated for Himself.

وَمَا يَنبَغِي لِلرَّحْمَنِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ وَلَداً
But it is not suitable for (the Majesty of) the Most Beneficent (Allah) that He should beget a son (or offspring or children). [Surah Maryam V.19]

Truly, Allah is able to all things and thus some people may say that He should be able to have a son. However, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has negated it based on the fact that it is not befitting His Majesty, as per the first verse of Surah Ikhlas.

(وَلَمْ يُولَدْ)

Relatively few people in history have believed that God was born, the question God's origin is often raised by skeptics and atheists. But, SubhanAllah, it is within the fitrah of mankind to know that there is a Creator of the Heaven and the Earth; it is this fitrah or innate consciousness that also gives almost all of mankind the certainty that God was not born.

Abu Hurairah radhiAllah anhu reports that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam said: "Satan comes to everyone of you and says, 'who created this and who created that?' until he questions: 'Who created your Lord?' When he comes comes to that, one should seek refuge in Allah and avoid that thought." [Sahih Muslim]

This verse also subtly rejects the notion that Isa (Jesus) alayhi salam was or is God because of the very fact that he was given birth to. For God to be born means He first must have not existed, which contradicts the basic divine attribute of eternal existence.

[Week 10] The Ones in Need: The meaning of Allah's name as-Samad

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam 'ala Rasool Allah

Asalamu 'alaikum!

Continuing in our journey of understanding the 112th chapter of the Qur'an, Allah says:

اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ

Allah, the Self-Sufficient [Surah Ikhlas V.2]

Recall, the greatest name of the Lord of the heavens and the earth is Allah. This is the name that He has chosen to name Himself with, and it is the grand name to which all His other Names and Attributes are attributed to. This is seen in the saying of Allah:

هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ

الْحَكِيمُ

He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor of all things, the Bestower of forms. To Him belong the Best Names . All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise [Surah Hashr V.24]

And so, of the Names which belong to Allah is as-Samad. Ibn 'Abbas radhiAllah anhu is reported to have said in regards to meaning of as-Samad:

“He is the Master [as-Sayyid] who is perfect in His sovereignty, the Most Noble [ash-Shareef] who is perfect in His nobility, the Most Magnificent [al-‘Azeem] who is perfect in His magnificence, the Most Forbearing [al-Haleem] who is perfect in His forbearance, the All-Knowing [al-'Aleem] who is perfect in His knowledge, and the Most Wise [al-Hakeem] who is perfect in His wisdom.”

Since Allah is as-Samad, Self-sufficient, free of any need, it naturally leads to qualities and characteristics which are absolutely perfect. If we ponder about this, we realize that this name of Allah leads us to ponder about the purpose of our life. Allah says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

And I have not created the Jinn and the Human beings except to worship Me.

And so the purpose of our life is clear. However, some could and do argue that if Allah has made the purpose of life to worship Him, that means Allah is in need of our worship. This is completely false for many reasons:

* Allah's name as-Samad makes clear that He is self-sufficient; He does not need us to worship Him
* Our minds are not the final authority in matters of religion, rather it is the Speech of Allah and the sayings of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam. People make up stuff (i.e. Allah needs us to worship Him) and take is authority over the Qur'an and Sunnah which is completely wrong.
* The statement of Allah azza wa jal in the next verse:

مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ

I seek not any provision from them (i.e. provision for themselves or for My creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me.

And thus we come to know that our purpose of life is to worship Allah azza wa jal not because He is in need of it, rather because it is why we were created; we worship Him because He is worthy of it; we worship Him because it only brings benefit to ourselves.

Just in the first two verses of this surah we see the completeness of tawheed. Allah begins by stating and making clear that He is unique in all aspects; in His Lordship, His rights to be worshipped, and His Names and Attributes. There is no comparison to be made with Allah and anything else because Allah is unique, the One and Only. Then Allah says He is self-sufficient, making clear that He is not in need of us. Rather, since He is al-Ahad it also means He is as-Samad and thus has qualities of perfectness which only belong to Him. Since He is al-Ahad and as-Samad it leads one to think about the purpose of life and if one understands that Allah is the One and Only, Unique in all aspects, not in need of creation, characterized by Names and Attributes of Beauty and Perfectness it should lead them to worship Him alone.

Inshallah we will go a bit deeper into this concept next week. May Allah azza wa jal give us the ability to comprehend what we have read and to inshallah make it a means of attaining greater concentration and closeness to Allah during our salat.

[Week 9] A Command Like No Other

Asalamu 'alaikum!

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam 'ala Rasool Allah

Alhamdolilah. We started this initiative to bring people closer to their salat and by the grace of Allah azza wa jal the numbers are increasing and so are the results. May Allah continue to shower His Mercy into this project and make our hearts humble towards Him.

This week and inshallah for the coming weeks we will concentrate our efforts in attempting to understand the surahs we often recite in the salat (i.e mainly surahs from the 30th juz of the Qur'an). Allah azza wa jal, the Most Wise, the Most Knowledgeable knew that these would be the most memorized surahs and thus made them short and easy. However, SubhanAllah...within these small and shorter surahs there is so much benefit that we can derive from them...its just amazing!

Lets begin with the 112th surah of the Qur'an entitled Surat al-Ikhlas.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

Say: "He is Allah, One and Only (or Unique)"

(قُلْ)

Allah tells the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam to convey to the people of Quraysh, "He is Allah..." It is a command from Allah and it is a response to the question posed by the pagans, "What is the lineage of your God?"

Ibn al-Qayyim rahmatullilah alay has said that [qul] also afirms the fact that the Prophet sallalalhu alayhi wasalam was nothing more than a Messenger, he was one who conveyed the word of Allah to the people, and he did not speak from his own desires. Rather he only spoke that which was revealed to him.

(هُوَ)

Allah is genderless. The pronoun "it" does not exist in the arabic language and everything, living or non-living, is referred to using male or female pronouns and adjectives. So, the term [huwa] does not imply gender in any sense in the arabic language and we should understand it as the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam and the Sahabas radhiAllah anhum understood it.

(اللَّهُ)

Allah is the name of the Lord of the heavens and the earth. It is the name our Lord has chosen to call himself and it is said to be His Greatest Name.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ الْمُؤْمِنُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ الْعَزِيزُ الْجَبَّارُ الْمُتَكَبِّرُ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

"He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him"

Allah uses the name 'Allah' when describing His Names and Attributes. It is a proper name denoting the true God who exists neccessarily, by Himself, comprising all the attributes of perfection.

(أَحَدٌ)

al-Ahad is one of the infinate Names of Beauty which belong to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This name implies uniqueness, independence, singularity, and indivisibility. Allah is al-Ahad; He who has no other to share in His Lordship, in His rights to be worshipped, or in His Names and Attributes. This is a perfection of tawheed, which is the basis of our life, the basis of our testimony of faith, and the greatest reason for us to enter into Paradise. For an amazing lecture series on this topic, please click here.

Another Name of Allah which is similar to ahad is waahid. They both basically mean, "one", however there is a subtle difference between the two in usage and meaning. For example, when one says: maa fil bayti ahadun (there is no one in the house) it absolutely negates the possibility of anyone else being in the house. However, if we say: maa fil bayti waahidun (there is not one in the house) it leaves open the possibility of their being more than one person in the house; it does not negate absolutely. Thus, the name al-Ahad makes clear that there is nothing like Allah, He is the One and Only, He is Unique. It absolutely negates the possibility of their being any other 'God' besides Allah, the Most High; it negates the possibility of there being any other thing or person that is comparable to Allah -- in His Lordship, in His rights to be worshipped, and in His Names and Attributes.

I ask Allah azza wa jal to place a love for this surah in our hearts. I ask Allah to give us comprehension of this ayat of the Qur'an and I ask Him, Subhana to bless us with the opportunity to increase the quality of our salat as we recite this beautiful surah.

*if this was beneficial please forward to your friends and family*

[Week 8] A Praising of Beauty

Asalamu 'alaikum,

Bismillah walhamdolilah wasalatu wasalam 'ala Rasool Allah.

Rifa'ah ibn Rafi' said: We were praying behind the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam and when he raised his head at the end of the rak'ah he said:

"Allah listens to him who praises Him"

A man behind him said:

"O our Lord! To You belongs all praise, abundant good praise, inherently blessed"

When he finished he asked, "Who was the speaker just now?" The man replied, "I was." He, sallalahu alayhi wasalam said, "I saw over thirty angels racing one another to be the first to record it." (Bukhari)

For clearer text of the arabic, please click here.

This adhkar that has been accepted by the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam, thus which is a part of his sunnah (for more information on the details of sunnah click here) is of great importance on many different levels.

We've already talked about the concept of hamd -- the absolute height and perfection of praise which is reserved for no one except for Allah, the one who is deserving of all praise. To Allah belongs praise, an abundant praise because of who He is, because of the fact that He is the King of all Kings, The Most Forgiving, The Most Just, the Majestic, the Most Merciful, the Most High, and all the other beautiful names and attributes which befit His Majesty. All goodness we ascribe to Allah (alhamdolilah) and we reject all evil from Allah (subhanallah).

We see the importance of this remembrance because the Prophet of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam tells us that the Angels, the creation of Allah, ran in numbers to record it. The Angels are a creation of Allah that have been created for the sole purpose to worship Him, subhana. There is not a hand span of four fingers in the sky where there is not an Angel in worship of Allah. These Angels will rise up from a life-time of prostration to Allah and will say, "Glory be to You! We have not worshiped you like you deserve" (for more details about the amazing creation known as Angels click here). And it is the same creation of Allah, the sinless Angels, who raced for the honor of recording this specific remembrance. Make note of this importance, because you don't hear the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam informing us about the Angels acting in a similar manner to other remembrances uttered.

May Allah azza wa jal give us the ability to put these small remembrances into our practice and give us greater concentration in our salat.

[Week 7] Building a Relationship: Varying Supplications in Salat

Asalamu 'alaikum!

Bismillah wa'lhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam 'ala Rasool Allah sallalahu alayhi wasalam

For the most part, or at least from my personal experience, from childhood salat was always made to seem very rigid; one way of doing it, no variation, very systematic. And since we were never taught these variations, salat just ended up becoming a thoughtless set of actions, repeating the same things over and over again. However, as I grew older I realized that there is a lot of variation in salat, a lot that we can do to really build that relationship Allah throughout our salat.

The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam would commence his recitation with many kinds of supplications in which he would praise Allaah the Exalted, and glorify and extol Him. He in fact ordered "the man who prayed badly" to do so, saying to him: No person's prayer is complete unless he says takbeer, praises Allaah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Qur'aan what is easy for him ...

From this we gather that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam would start his salat with a variety of different supplications...not just one!

The most common supplication that is recited is the following:

Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika wa tabaraka'smuka
wa ta'ala jadduka wa la ilaha ghayruka

You are Glorified, O Allaah, and Praised; Your Name is Blessed;
Your Majesty is Exalted, and none has the right to worshipped but You

However, do you know there are other supplications that can be made? Using different supplications will allow you to build a closer relationship with Allah and it will definitely make salat more enjoyable for the believers.

Try some of these other supplications from the traditions of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam:

Allahu akbaru kabeera walhamdolilahi katheera wa subhanallahi bukrtann wa asiya

Allaah is the Greatest, very great. Praise be to Allaah, again and again. Glorified is Allaah morning and evening

One of the Companions commenced with this, to which the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: Wonderful for it is that the doors of the heavens were opened for it (Muslim)

Alhamdolilahi hamdann katheeran tayyiban mubarakann fee

Praise be to Allaah, many, pure, blessed praises.

Another man commenced with this, to which he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: I saw twelve angels competing as to which of them would take it up (Muslim)

And there are many more supplications which can be found in traditions of our beloved Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam. I recommend memorizing a few and inshallah switch up the use of them so you can take your prayers out of the same monotonous routine.

All of these supplications are taken from Shaykh Albani's book entitled, "The Prophets Prayer Described" which can be viewed by clicking here.

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to understand, implement, and teach others.