There are certain people you meet who stay with you long after that meeting has passed. There is one such sister I met years ago. Her face is a blurred memory but she crosses my mind often. A few ʿEīds ago, during ʿEīd prayer, she enters the masjid with a throng of children of all sizes but mostly little. A lot of hustle and bustle, a lot of shushing, some little screeches, quite a few giggles… and her whispered threats…
We want to do our best in Ramaḍān. We don’t want to spend a month forgoing food and drink. We want excellence in Ramaḍān. We have a general idea; fasting, praying, reciting Qurʾān. But how can you do this better? Allow me to suggest the following: Be mindful of three golden hours every day. If you guard these, then you’ll come out of the month having spent a solid 90 hours doing what pleases Allāh. The First: Finish prepare fuṭūr…
You can attend Islāmic seminars, talks and conferences regularly but none of it combined will have the same effect as attending a circle of knowledge at the feet of scholars in a house from the houses of Allāh, where the focus is on conveying ʿilm (rather than jokes and light humour with a copious amount of free-mixing *ducks*). You can attend circles of knowledge at the feet of scholars regularly but none of it will have the effect that attending…
The following ḥadīth is pertinent to the blessed season of Ḥajj, particularly for those who are sitting Ḥajj out, “The poor Muhājirīn came to Rasūl Allāh ﷺ and said, “The wealthy ones have taken the highest ranks and lasting bliss.” He ﷺ asked, ❝How is that?❞ They replied, “They offer prayer as we offer it; they fast as we do; and as they are wealthy they perform Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, and go for Jihād, and they spend in charity but…
The Salaf would be happy and optimistic when something of this world became difficult for them. I never quite understood this statement. Were they happy and optimistic because a difficulty meant eventual ease, as is Allāh’s promise? Was it out of anticipation of a fulfilment of a worldly need? Or was there something more to it? Then it occurred to me after many years of returning to this statement that a man who sets out to find work and finds…