A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “If people gave freely of what Allah ( s.w.t. ) has Bestowed on them, there would be no hunger, no poverty and no homelessness on earth.   Do we not fear the Day when we will stand before Allah ( s.w.t. ), and He will Question us about the riches that He Bestowed upon us?   What is the point of having $100 billion in the bank?   Do we not remember the story of Qarun in the Qur’an?   He was Given so much wealth and treasure, yet he was stingy and proud.   He incurred Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Wrath, and Allah ( s.w.t. ) Caused him to be swallowed by the Earth.   Each day, an angel descends upon his grave, and says to him, ‘O Qarun, you should be ashamed of yourself; you were Given so much by Allah ( s.w.t. ), but you never helped those in need.   You never followed the path of Musa ( a.s. ).’   An infant is born into this world, with his hands clenched. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Can swalah al-witr be performed without du’a qunut ? ”   Yes.   Swalah al-witr is a sunnah al-mu’akkadah , an emphasised obligatory practice.   It is considered better to recite the du’a qunut , if you are able, but the du’a is not a condition of the swalah being complete.   If you are unable to recite du’a qunut , you may substitute it with any du’a of your preference, or even say any dzikr , such as “Ya Rabbi”.   The religion is meant to be easy.   We fulfill it according to our capacity.   Those who have the ability, can try to do it as the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was known to have done it.   Those who are unable, or are still learning, may avail themselves to something simpler.   Ultimately, what matters most is the sincere intent to please Allah ( s.w.t. ).

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Within Sunni Islam, both Ash’ari and Maturidi, the position is identical, in that we have no say in the act.   That is Divine Will.   That is why we are Judged on our intentions.   For example, since Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Omniscient, it cannot be that He has to await our supplication to Grant us something.   Rather our being moved to ask for it is, in reality, His Desire to Grant it.   If Allah ( s.w.t. ) chose not to Grant something, we would not even have the ability to ask for it.   The seeming incongruency is when people say they have supplicated for something, but it was not granted.   That cannot be true because it would contradict the verse of the Qur’an, that Allah ( s.w.t. ) Answers all supplications.   What people have failed to understand is that Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Sovereign.   The timing of the Answer, the nature of the Answer, and the means of the Answer is His Prerogative.   W...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Brother James Harris asked, on The Sharing Group, on the 18 th October 2014: “If somebody asked you, ‘Where is Allah ( s.w.t. )’, how would you reply?”   Brother Eddie He Rnandez: Allah ( s.w.t. ) is defined by neither time nor space; both parameters of His Creation, just as cell phone towers are things of human creation.   You do not see people limited, in their face to face conversations, by proximity to a cell phone tower.   Likewise, Allah ( s.w.t. ) is not limited or defined by His Own Creation.   Sister Notrumi Embun: Where is “where”?   Brother Yahya Birt: I would quote my sheikh who says, “If you want to know where you are with Allah ( s.w.t. ), see where Allah is with you ( s.w.t. ).”   This is not quite the credal answer the questioner is seeking, but it is the vital reorientation that we all need.   We need to stop trying to define God with human concepts, and try to figure out if we are gett...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from the work of Dr. Jibril Fu’ad Haddad.   He was Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Utsman ibn Shafi’ ibn asw-Swa’ib ibn ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Abd al-Yazad ibn Hashim ibn al-Muththalib ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Qusay ash-Shafi’i al-Hijazi al-Makki al-Azdi al-Qurayshi al Hashimi al-Muththalibi ( r.a. ).   Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) said, of him, “He was like the Sun over the world and good health for people – do these two have replacements or successors?”   This was recorded in Imam Abu ‘Umar Yusuf ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Barr’s ( r.a. ) al-Intiqa’ fî Fadha’il ats-Tsalatsat al-A’immat al-Fuqaha’ Malik wa ash-Shafi’î wa Abi Hanifah .   He was a relative of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ), descended from al-Muththalib ibn ‘Abd al-Manaf, who is the brother of Hashim, Sayyidina ‘Abd al-Muththalib’s ( r.a. ) father.   Both his great-great-grandfather, Sayyidina Shafi’ ibn asw-...