A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   On the authority of Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ), Rasulullah ( s.a.w. ) said, “Allah ( s.w.t. ) has Created three hundred people, whose hearts are like that of Adam, and He Created forty people whose hearts are like Moses.   He also Created seven people whose hearts are like that of Abraham, and he Created five people with a heart like that of Gabriel, and three people with a heart like that of Mika’il and only one person with a heart like that of Rafa’il.   When such a person dies, Allah ( s.w.t. ) will Replace him with one of the three.   When one of such three dies, Allah ( s.w.t. ) will Replace him with one of the five.   When one of the seven dies, Allah ( s.w.t. ) will Replace him with one of the forty, and when one of the forty dies, He will Replace him with one of the three hundred and when one of the three hundred elite dies, Allah ( s.w.t. ) will Replace him with someone He Chooses...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy ( r.a. ) wrote, in Thib ar-Ruhani , “Lying is one of the contingencies that hawa’ calls to.   This is because the human being, with his love of leadership and authority, prefers to be the informant and the teacher because he knows the excellence of the informant over the informed. The cure of this disease is to know Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Punishment for a liar and to be certain that when a person continuously lies, he will eventually be exposed one day, then he will be disrespected in such a way that cannot be averted; his shame will increase, earn people’s disrespect to the extent that they will not believe him even when he is truthful, and their distrust will exceed beyond what he lied about. ‘Abdullah ( r.a. ) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.w. ) said, ‘A man keeps telling lies and endeavours in telling them until he is Written a liar with Allah ( s.w.t. ).’ ibn Mas...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “You are in a time when men of understanding are many and Qur ’ an reciters are few, when the limits of behaviour defined in the Qur’an are guarded, and its letters are not lost, when few people ask and many give, when they make the prayer long and the sermon short, and put their actions before their desires.   A time will come upon men when their men of understanding are few but their Qur’an reciters are many, when the letters of the Qur’an are guarded carefully but its limits are lost, when many ask but few give, when they make the sermon long but the prayer short, and put their desires before their actions.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ) wrote, in Kitab at-Tibyan , “‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, ‘The one who memorises the Qur’an must be known by the nights when people are sleeping; by his days when people are eating; by his sadness when people are rejoicing; by his weeping when people are laughing; by his silence when people are indulged in vain talk; and by his humility when people are boasting.’”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “Do not scatter the Qur’an out like the scattering of sand, and do not rush through it like the hasty recitation of poetry.   Stop at its amazing parts, and make your heart move with it.   None of you should let his concern be to reach the end of the chapter.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Muhammad Amin ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abidin ( r.a. ) said, “ Fiqh was planted by ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, irrigated by ‘Alqamah, harvested by Ibrahim an-Nakha’i, threshed by Hammad, milled by Abu Hanifah, kneaded by Abu Yusuf, and baked by Muhammad ash-Shaybani.   As a result, the Muslims are nourished by this bread.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “It is more preferable to me to bite onto a red coal until it cools, than for me to say about something that Allah ( s.w.t. ) has Decreed, ‘If only it did not happen.’”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “Speech, by itself is worthless, unless it is followed by action.   Speech and action, by themselves, are worthless, unless they have the right intention.   And speech, action, and the right intention, are worthless unless they agree with the sunnah .”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “The believer sees his sins as if he is sitting at the foot of a mountain, fearing that it might fall on him; while the sinner sees his sins as a fly that lands on his nose, and he just waves it away.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “Everyone speaks of good things.   It is those whose words and deeds match, who have acquired their share.   Those whose words and deeds do not match, have only reproached themselves.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “Restrain your tongue, and shed tears of regret regarding past sins you committed knowingly.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “There is no comfort or rest for the believer until he meets Allah ( s.w.t. ).”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “Do not learn knowledge for three: to amaze and confound the foolish, to argue with the learned. and to make people’s faces turn towards you.  Seek what is with Allah   ( s.w.t. )  with your hearts and actions, since only that will remain and whatever is besides it will go.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ayyub ath-Thabarani ( r.a. ) recorded, in al-Mu’jam al-Kabir , that Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) narrated that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “When you lose your means of transport in a jungle, you should call, ‘O creatures of Allah!  Help me, recover my transport!  O creatures of Allah!  Help me, recover my transport!’  There are many of Allah’s creatures on this earth.  They will help you recover it.”   This is also recorded by Imam Abu Ya’la Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Mawswili ( r.a. ), in his Musnad ; Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Dinwari ibn as-Sunni ( r.a. ), in ‘Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah ; Imam Nur ad-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haytsami ( r.a. ), in Majma‘ az-Zawa’id wa Manba’ al-Fawa’id ; and Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ), in al-Mathalib al-‘Aliyah in al-‘Alam al-Alihi .

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Tafsir , or the interpretation, of the Qur’an was not recorded in the time of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) as an independent field of study, but statements of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) which bore on the interpretation of the verses of the Qur’an were transmitted from him, just as ahadits were transmitted from him.  The era of the companions continued like this, without tafsir being recorded independently.  Then came the time of the successors, who took their knowledge of the Qur’an and sunnah from the companions.  Each group of successors received knowledge directly from the companions.  So, they collected everything that was transmitted by the companions from the Prophet ( s.a.w.) as ahadits , and they heard from the companions what concerned the interpretation of the verses of the Qur’an.  So, the scholars of each region collected what their predecessors knew, as the people of Makkah did with regard to the tafsir of Sayyidina...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Ustadz Fakhr ad-Din Uwaysi al-Madani wrote, remembering the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) birthday is an act that all the ‘ulama of the Muslim world accept and still accept.   This means that Allah ( s.w.t. ) Accepts it, according to the saying of Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ), related in Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal’s ( r.a. ) Musnad , with a sound chain, “Whatever the majority of Muslims see as right, then this is good to Allah ( s.w.t. ), and whatever is seen by the majority of Muslims as wrong, it is wrong to Allah ( s.w.t. ).”   There is no valid reason to reject the Mawlid .   The ummah is to celebrate our Prophet ( s.a.w. ) with pride and joy, and not go into dispute about matters that create fitnah and confusion.   We cannot prevent others from celebrating, leave everyone to their heart, and let us unify ourselves by keeping Allah's ( s.w.t. ) Command:   سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان وَٱعۡت...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is recorded, by Imam Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash’ats al-Azdi as-Sijistani ( r.a. ), in his Sunan , that Sayyidina ‘Anas ibn Malik ( r.a. ) said, that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) migrated to the city of Madina and saw the people celebrating two days of festivities.   He asked, “What are these two days?” The people replied, “They were days of festivities in the Jahiliyya h .” Then he said, “Verily, Allah has Replaced these two days with what is better for you - the day of Adhha and the day of Fithr .”   The ‘Iydayn are ’Iyd al-Fithr , on the 1 st Shawwal, following Ramadhan; and ‘Iyd al-Adhha , the 10 th Dzu al-Hijjah, following the Yawm al-Arafat .   The three days following ‘Iyd al-Adhha are known as the days of tashriq , the 11 th , 12 th , and 13 th Dzu al-Hijjah. ‘Iyd al-Fithr and ‘Iyd al-Adhha both mark the remembrance of a major act of ‘ibadah .   ‘Iyd al-Fithr commemorates the end of fasting...