A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following are examples of istighatsa’ , using intermediaries and intercessors, by means of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) during his life.   Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) said, “My life is a great good for you; you will relate about me and it will be related to you.   And my death is a great good for you; your actions will be presented to me,” meaning that it will be presented to him in his grave, “and if I see goodness, I will praise Allah, and if see other than that, I will ask Forgiveness of him.”   This hadits is cited by Qadhi Abu al-Fadhl ‘Iyadh ibn ‘Amr al-Yahsubi ( r.a. ) in his ash-Shifa’ bi Ta’rif Huquq al-Muswthafa .   Imam Abu al-Fadhl ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuthi ( q.s. ) wrote in his Manahil asw-Swafa fi Takhrij Ahadits ash-Shifa’ , “ibn Abu ‘Usamah cites it in his Musnad from the hadits of Bakr ibn ‘Abdullah al-Mazni, and al-Bazzar from the hadits of ibn Mas`ud with a swahih ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ), on the 01 st January 1997.   When is a person going to find peace within himself?   That is the question.   Rivers run until they reach the ocean, struggling all the way; and then, it is over, finished.   Whoever seeks peace within himself must also reach an ocean, but everyone is moving and struggling.   Everyone is running here and there, every day; they are struggling and running to and fro, from morning to night and from night to morning.   There are two ways in which a person may find rest.   One of them is through natural death.   Until death, a person struggles.   When he dies, his arms and legs are spread out and he is laid to rest, and there is no more struggling.   According to his station, he has reached peace.   Yet, his peace by natural death may only be for his physical body...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is adapted from “Refutations of Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah’s ( r.a. ) Two Doctrines of Tawhid ” by Ustadz Abu Hamid ibn Marzuq.   Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ), the imam of the madzhab of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ), never said that tawhid consisted in two parts: tawhid ar-rububiyyah and tawhid al-uluhiyyah .   Imam Ahmad ( r.a. ) also never said, “Whoever does not know tawhid al-uluhiyyah , then his knowledge of tawhid ar-rububiyyah is not taken into account because the idolaters also had such knowledge.”   This is not part of Imam ibn Hanbal’s ( r.a. ) doctrine of ‘aqidah , and is not found in the compilations of his followers such as Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy’s ( r.a. ) Manaqib Ahmad ibn Hanbal , and other books.   This innovated doctrine of Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) is not found in the works and teachings of any of ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from Signs on the Horizons by Shaykh Harun Michael Sugich.  Here, he speaks about his shaykh , Habib Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad ( q.s. ).   “In Jeddah, he met his disciples and visitors in a small anteroom off the entrance to the large family home his eldest son, ‘Ali built in the early 1980s in the Bani Malek district.  The room was lined with books and furnished unpretentiously with Belgian carpets and plush floor cushions and bolsters.   He would descend from his living quarters in the morning and sit with visitors until the noon prayers, after which he would share the noonday meal, ghada’ , with whoever was present and retire for an afternoon rest, qaylulah .  He would return for the afternoon prayer and sit with visitors through the sunset and night prayers and the evening meal, ‘asha’ , after which he would retire.  He kept to this taxing schedule into his late 80s, until his health...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from Dogs in the Islamic Tradition & Nature , by Shaykh Khalid Abu al-Fadhl.   Islamic discourses on the nature, and function of dogs are representative of a range of tensions regarding the roles of history, mythology, rationality, and modernity in Islam.  In fact, the debates surrounding the avowed impurity of dogs, and the lawfulness of possessing or living with these animals were one of the main issues symbolising the challenging dynamic between the Revealed religious law, and the state of Creation or nature.  In addition, certain aspects of these debates pertained to the power dynamics of patriarchy, and more generally, the construction of social attitudes towards marginal elements in society.   In a fashion similar to European medieval folklore, black dogs, in particular, were viewed ominously in the Islamic tradition. According to one tradition attributed to Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ), bl...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq ibn ‘Abd al-Hakim al-Qadri ( q.s. ) was one of the scholars who always came to Singapore.   He travelled around the world promoting Islam, peace and love of humanity.   He also built one of the mosques Singapore, Masjid Abdul Aleem Siddique, at Lorong K, Telok Kurau.   Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiqi ( q.s. ) was born in Ramadhan, on the 03 rd April 1892; 15 th Ramadhan 1310; in Meerut, India.   He was raised in a family that was pious.   He was a direct descendant of Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq ( r.a. ), the first caliph of Islam. From a young age, his father, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abd al-Hakim ( r.a. ) and his mother, were his inspiration and source of guidance and education in the teachings of Islam.   He was an exceptionally intelligent child, and possessed an intellectual capacity beyond his years.   He committed the Qur’an to memory when he wa...