A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   It is important for a Muslim seeking to learn about Islam to have the proper teachers.   It is also important for them to ensure that any books they have are by verified scholars.   If it is a translation, of a classical work the translator and the publisher have to be verified.   The same applies if it is a commentary.   The following is adapted from “Salafi Tampering of Riyadh asw-Swalihin ” by Dr. Jibril Fu’ad Haddad and Mu’in Shahid, President, Ahlus Sunnah Muslim Association of Sri Lanka.   This is a review of the translation of Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi’s ( r.a. ) Riyadh asw-Swalihin , published in 1999 by Darussalam Publishing House, Riyadh.   A team of unprincipled editors and translators out of a Riyadh publishing house by the name of Darussalam was commissioned to produce a glossy 2-volume English edition of Imam an-Nawawi’s ( r.a. ) Riyadh asw-Swalihin to be distributed for free...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on the 07 th October 2010.   Shaykh Nazhim ( q.s. ) welcomed the arrival of the first night of the holy month of Dzu al-Qa’idah.   Dzu al-Qa’idah is the first of three holy months that appear one after another as Dzu al-Hijjah and Muharram follow Dzu al-Qa’idah.   The reality of our lives is like a huge ice carving standing outdoors under direct sunlight.   As the minutes tick by, the ice-carving begins to melt, and after many hours, it has disappeared.   In each moment that we live, our clock is ticking, our bodies are growing weaker, our battery is running out of energy, and we head closer to our deaths.   Each year, millions of people who go to sleep, pass away while they are sleeping.   They never awaken from their slumber.   Knowing this, how can we be certain that we will awaken the next time we sleep? ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ).   Once, daily, we must listen to our dzikr of the heart.  When we listen, we can hear our heart saying, “Allah, Allah, Allah …”  This is an important wird , more important than the dzikr of the tongue.  This gives concentration to the whole body.  The best time to do this is after midnight, at tahajjud .  First pray, two raka’at , then sit and listen to the dzikr of the heart.  Our concentration will grow from this point to where that dzikr , the remembrance of our Lord, will be with us 24 hours a day.   Shaykh Nazhim ( q.s. ) said we must be grateful, we are not in a war, we are healthy, and we have so many things while so many people are suffering.  They asked Shaykh Nazhim ( q.s. ) how he could provide for so many people visiting and staying at the zawiyah in Lefke every day since he is not working. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following was penned by Dr. Faruq Salim, on Sunday, 16 th September 2012.  The writer is the Pakistani Executive Director of the Centre for Research and Security Studies, a think tank established in 2007 and an Islamabad-based freelance columnist.   “We Muslims must wonder why is it that only Muslim States like Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya are being attacked by the Christian West.  Why do we get pushed around by them with the former President of the US George Bush calling it a crusade?  Why is it that Muslim States often depend on the West for survival, even Saudi Arabia, the epicentre for Islamic fundamentalism, Wahhabism, is dependent on American largesse for their survival?  While they preach Wahhabi Islam all over the world, they allow American bases within a few hundred kilometres from the Holiest Shrines of Islam.   There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asi...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Every year, Muslim holy sites are destroyed at an alarming pace.   What is perhaps more alarming is that some Muslims see no problem with this.   Rather, they may even feel that this is a good thing because an “exaggerated emphasis” is placed on the holiness of such sites.   This overstated emphasis, they fear, could weaken or cloud sound understanding of the Oneness of Allah (s.w.t.) and the reliance solely upon Him.   However, Muslims from the earliest generations have sought blessings, tabarruk , of individuals, objects, places and times.   The swahabah of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) vied with each other for his hairs, sweat, leftover water from wudhu , and objects related to him, as established in rigorously authenticated ahadits .   We see this practice in subsequent generations, too.   Imam Shafi’i ( r.a. ) washed a shirt sent to him by Imam Ahmad and drank the water it was washed in.   This w...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Someone asked Shaykh Bayazid Thayfur ibn ‘Isa al-Bisthami ( q.s. ), “Show me a deed by which I will be able approach my Lord.”   He replied, “Love the friends of Allah ( s.w.t. ) in order that they will love you.  Love His saints until they love you because Allah ( s.w.t. ) Looks into their hearts and He will See that your name is engraved within the hearts of His friends and He will Favour you.”   Shaykh Bayazid ( q.s. ) was the sixth inheritor of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi Order.  Originally called the Path of asw-Swiddiq among the early Muslims, it became known as the Khwajagan Order before it became famous as the Naqshbandiyyah Order in the 14 th century.   The word, “ Naqsh ” means “engraving” and the word, “ Band ” means, “enclosed”.  The name, “Naqshbandi” is mostly translated as “engravings on the heart” like a seal on heart of the lover, a permanent bonding between a seeker with his Lord and His Most Bel...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from “Do Women take Unequal Shares of Inheritance in Islam?” by Shaykh Nur ad-Din Abu ‘Ubadah ‘Ali ibn Juma’ah.   It is commonly stated in contemporary times that Islam oppresses women by making their inheritance half that of men.   As Muslims, we have firm conviction in Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Immutable Attributes and this conviction keeps such claims from affecting our hearts.   We believe that Allah ( s.w.t. ) is a Fair Judge and that His Justice is Absolute: no injustice towards humans or any other creature is found in His Sacred Law.   The Qur’an Says:   سُوۡرَةُ الکهف ... وَلَا يَظۡلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدً۬ا (٤٩)   … and not one will your Lord treat with injustice. (Surah al-Kahf:49)   سُوۡرَةُ الحَجّ ... وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَيۡسَ بِظَلَّـٰمٍ۬ لِّلۡعَبِيدِ (١٠)   … for verily Allah is not unjust to His servants. (Surah al-Haj:10)   سُوۡرَةُ العَنکبوت ... وَمَا ڪَانَ ٱلل...