Couple ‘tried to sell baby for £17’

June 25, 2010 at 9:37 pm (Current Affairs, Non-Muslim)
Tags: ,

A California couple face child endangerment charges after police said they tried to sell their six-month-old baby for $25 (£17) outside a Walmart store.

Salinas police spokesman, officer Lalo Villegas, said that Patrick Fousek and Samantha Tomasini were arrested on Wednesday morning, hours after Fousek allegedly approached two women outside Walmart and asked if they would like to purchase his child.

The women initially thought Fousek was joking, but when he became persistent, they became suspicious and reported it to police.

Fousek and Tomasini were arrested at their home.

Leave a Comment

Woe to he who recites it but does not contemplate it…

June 24, 2010 at 6:47 pm (Food for the soul, Quran, Seeking Knowledge, Sunnah, Tawheed)
Tags: , , ,

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْبَابِ

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ

Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.

Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): “Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.

Surah al-Imran: 190-191

The below is extracted from ibn Katheer’s tafseer of the above ayah.

وقال الحسن عن عامر بن عبد قيس، قال: سمعت غير واحد ولا اثنين ولا ثلاثة من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يقولون: إن ضياء الإيمان أو نور الإيمان التفكر

Aamir ibn Abd Qais stated,” I heard more than one, two or three of the Companions of the Prophet (SAW) say, “The lamp of  faith or the light of  faith is al-tafakkur (contemplation and reflection.)

Ibn Marduwyah recorded that `Ata’ said, “I, Ibn `Umar and `Ubayd bin `Umayr went to `A’ishah and entered her room, and there was a screen between us and her. She said, `O `Ubayd! What prevents you from visiting us’

He said, `What the poet said, `Visit every once in a while, and you will be loved more.’ Ibn `Umar said, `Tell us about the most unusual thing you witnessed from the Messenger of Allah .’ She cried and said, `All his matters were amazing. On night, he came close to me until his skin touched my skin and said, `Let me worship my Lord.’ I said, `By Allah I love your being close to me. I also love that you worship your Lord.’ He used the water-skin and performed ablution, but did not use too much water. He then stood up in prayer and cried until his beard became wet. He prostrated and cried until he made the ground wet. He then laid down on his side and cried. When Bilal came to alert the Prophet for the Dawn prayer, he said, `O Messenger of Allah! What makes you cry, while Allah has forgiven you your previous and latter sins’ He said,

«وَيْحَكَ يَا بِلَالُ، وَمَا يَمْنَعُنِي أَنْ أَبْكِيَ، وَقَدْ أُنْزِلَ عَلَيَّ فِي هذِهِ اللَّيْلَة»

(O Bilal! What prevents me from crying, when this night, this Ayah was revealed to me,)

[إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَاخْتِلَـفِ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لاّيَـتٍ لاٌّوْلِى الاٌّلْبَـبِ ]

(Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.)

«وَيْلٌ لِمَنْ قَرَأَهَا وَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرْ فِيهَا»

(Woe to he who recites it but does not contemplate it.).”

May Allah make us from those who contemplate upon his word. Ameen

1 Comment

Beware of rumours at times of crisis

June 22, 2010 at 8:47 am (Seeking Knowledge)
Tags:

There are some writers, especially on the Internet, who spread news without verifying it, which is confusing the Muslims and making them despair, such as the claim that one of the Muslim cities has fallen, or that one of their leaders has been killed, and other reports which lead to despair and weakening of morale… All of that is without any proof or certainty that the news is true… Some of them even write at the end of their articles, “This is what I have heard but I am not sure whether the report is true”!
What is your advice to these people?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Undoubtedly at times of tribulation there is a lot of propaganda and excitement, hence the role of rumours.

It is well known that verifying news is required according to sharee’ah, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! If a Faasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done”

[al-Hujuraat 49:6]

The Lawgiver issued a stern warning against passing on all that one hears. It was narrated that Hafs ibn ‘Aasim said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is enough lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears.” Narrated by Muslim in al-Muqaddimah, 6; Saheeh al-Jaami, 4482.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is enough sin for a man to speak of everything that he hears.” Al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2025.

Al-Nawawi said: Usually a person hears truth and lies, so if he speaks of everything that he hears, he is lying by telling of things that did not happen, and lying by speaking of something other than the way it happened; and he does not have to do that deliberately (in order to be regarded as telling lies).

It was narrated that al-Mugheerah ibn Shu’bah said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has forbidden you to disobey your mothers, to bury your daughters alive, to not pay the rights of others and to beg from others. And He dislikes gossip for you, asking too many questions, and wasting money.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2231.

Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said:

With regard to the words ‘and He dislikes gossip [qeela wa qaala – lit. it was said and he said] for you’ al-Muhibb al-Tabari said, there are three points of view as to the meaning of this hadeeth:

1 – That it indicates that it is makrooh (disliked) to speak too much, because it leads to mistakes.

2 – That it refers to wanting to pass on what people say and looking for that in order to tell others of it, so that one can say, “So and so said such and such, and Such and such was said…” The prohibition on this is either a rebuke for doing too much of it or it refers to a particular type of talk, which the person spoken of dislikes to have mentioned.

3 – That it refers to narrating differences of opinion concerning religious matters, such as saying, “This one said such and such and that one said such and such.” The reason why this is disliked is that speaking of such matters may lead to mistakes. This applies especially to those who transmit such views without verifying them, merely imitating those whom they hear without exercising any caution. I say: this is supported by the saheeh hadeeth, “It is enough sin for a man to speak of everything that he hears.” (narrated by Muslim).

It was narrated that Abu Qalaabah said: Abu Mas’ood said to Abu ‘Abd-Allaah, or Abu ‘Abd-Allaah said to Abu Mas’ood: What did you hear the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say about saying “they say…”?

He said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “How bad it is for a man to keep saying, ‘They say…’. ” al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 866.

Al-‘Azeemabaadi said: This means, it is a bad way to reach one’s objective, by saying, ‘they say…’. Saying ‘they say…’ is akin to conjecture, i.e., the worst habit of a man is to use the phrase ‘they say’ to serve his purposes, so he tells of something, merely repeating what others have said without verifying it, and thus he transmits lies … this was the view of al-Manaawi.

Hence our righteous forebears were keen to establish proof and were wary of rumours.

‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Beware of fitnah, for a word at the time of fitnah could be as devastating as the sword.”

History shows us the danger of rumours when they spread among the ummah. There follow some examples of that:

1 – When the Sahaabah migrated from Makkah to Ethiopia, they were safe, but then a rumour spread that the kuffaar of Quraysh in Makkah had become Muslims, so some of the Sahaabah left Ethiopia and travelled until they reached Makkah, where they found that the report was not true, and they met with persecution at the hands of Quraysh. All of that happened because of rumours.

2 – During the Battle of Uhud, when Mus’ab ibn ‘Umayr was killed, there was a rumour that it was the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who had been killed, so the army of Islam withdrew because of a rumour, and some of them fled to Madeenah and some stopped fighting.

3 – There was the rumour of the slander incident (al-ifk), when the pure and innocent ‘Aa’ishah was accused of immoral conduct, which led to the distress felt by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the Muslims with him. All of that was because of rumours.

So what is the proper shar’i method of dealing with news?

There are ways of dealing with news which we will look at in brief:

1 – Deliberation

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Deliberation is from Allaah and haste is from the Shaytaan.” Al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 1795.

The one who deliberates may meet some of his needs whilst the one who is hasty may slip.

2 – Verifying news

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! If a Faasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done”

[al-Hujuraat 49:6]

The reason why this verse was revealed:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent al-Waleed ibn ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’eet to Banu al-Mustaliq, to collect the zakaah from them. When news of that reached them they rejoiced, and they came out to meet the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). When al-Waleed heard that they had come out to meet him, he went back to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, Banu al-Mustaliq have withheld the zakaah.”

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) became very angry at that, and whilst he was thinking of launching a campaign against them, the delegation came to him and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, we were told that your envoy returned after coming only half way, and we were afraid that he came back because he received a message from you saying that you were angry with us. We seek refuge with Allaah from the anger of Allaah and the anger of His Messenger.”

Then Allaah excused them in His Book and revealed the words (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! If a Faasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done”

[al-Hujuraat 49:6]

See: al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 3085.

What is meant by verifying is making the effort to find out the truth of the matter, so as to establish whether this can be proven or not.

Verifying means making certain of the truth of the report and its circumstances.

Al-Hasan al-Basri said: “The believer reserves judgement until the matter is proven.”

Finally: we advise everyone to verify matters and not to rush to pass on news until they are sure that it is true, even if the news is good news, because if it becomes apparent that the one who passed it on is mistaken, he will lose credibility before the people… and anyone who bears a grudge towards him will use it against him. May Allaah help us all to do that which He loves and which pleases Him.

And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/islamqa/14212/print

Leave a Comment

Seek knowldege and don’t be lazy.

June 19, 2010 at 10:52 pm (Arabic language, Seeking Knowledge)
Tags: ,


اطلب العلم و لا تكسل فماأبعد الخير على أهل الكسل

Seek knowldege and don’t be lazy.

For oh! How far is goodness from the slouthful.

Leave a Comment

“We have heard that half a million children have died….

June 19, 2010 at 4:18 pm (History, Non-Muslim, Quotes)
Tags: , ,

In 1996 then-UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright was asked by 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, in reference to years of U.S.-led economic sanctions against Iraq, “We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?”

To which Ambassador Albright responded, “I think that is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is worth it.”

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0311c.asp

Leave a Comment

When ‘Alee ibn al-Husayn died, they washed him and noticed…

June 17, 2010 at 3:05 pm (Food for the soul, History)
Tags: ,

Ibn Al-Jawzi narrated:

وعن عمرو بن ثابت قال: لما مات علي بن الحسين فغسلوه جعلوا ينظرون إلى آثار سود في ظهره، فقالوا: ما هذا? فقالوا: كان يحمل جرب الدقيق ليلا على ظهره يعطيه فقراء أهل المدينة.

On the authority of ‘Amru ibn Thaabit who said: When ‘Alee ibn al-Husayn died, they washed him and noticed a black mark on his back, so they (some of them) said: “What is this?” So they (the others) said: “He used to carry a sack of flour on his back during the night and used to distribute it to the poor and needy of the people of Madeenah.”

[“Sifat as-Safwah”, 2/96].

http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f40/they-washed-him-noticed-black-mark-his-back-amazinggg-o-36171/#post362394

Leave a Comment

Brushing teeth ‘good for the heart’

June 14, 2010 at 10:13 am (Non-Muslim, Seeking Knowledge, Sunnah)
Tags: , ,

“Abu Hurairah (R) narrates that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: ‘Was it not for my fear of imposing a difficulty on my Ummah I would have ordered that the Miswaak be used for every Salaat’.”

(BUKHARI)


http://www.islam.tc/Miswaak/

LONDON: People who do not brush their teeth twice a day have an increased risk of heart disease, scientists said yesterday, adding scientific weight to 19th century theories about oral health and chronic disease.

British researchers studied nearly 12,000 adults in Scotland and found those with poor oral hygiene had a 70 per cent extra risk of heart disease compared with those who brushed twice a day and who were less likely to have unhealthy gums.

People with gum disease are more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes because inflammation in the body, including in the mouth and gums, plays a role in the build-up of clogged arteries, said Professor Richard Watt of University College London, who led the study.

The 70 per cent extra risk compares to a 135 per cent extra risk of heart disease in those who smoke, he said.

The study, published yesterday in the British Medical Journal, was the first to investigate whether the simple number of times someone brushes his teeth daily has any bearing on the risk of heart disease.

Although the overall risk is low – with a total of 555 heart attacks or other serious coronary problems among 11,869 people – the effect of regular teeth brushing is significant.

‘Compared to things like smoking and poor diet, which are obviously the main risk factors for heart disease, we are not claiming this is in the same league,’ Prof Watt said. ‘But…even after controlling for all those things, there is a still a relationship between this very simple measure of teeth brushing and heart condition.’

‘In a way, it’s really quite an old story. Back in the early 19th century, there was a theory called focal sepsis, and people believed that infections in the mouth caused disease in the whole body,’ he added. ‘As a result, they used to take everyone’s teeth out.’

He said such a response was ‘a bit dramatic’, but his findings did suggest that twice-a-day brushing is a good idea.

Gum or periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues surrounding and supporting the teeth and is more likely to occur in people who do not brush their teeth regularly.

Prof Watt said further studies will be needed to confirm whether the link between oral health and heart disease ‘is in fact causal or merely a risk marker’.

Ms Judy O’Sullivan, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that failure to brush one’s teeth can cause infection and inflammation in the mouth.

‘However, it is complicated by the fact that poor oral hygiene is often associated with other well-known risk factors of heart disease, such as smoking and poor diet,’ she said. ‘If you want to help your heart, you should eat a balanced diet, avoid smoking and take part in regular physical activity.’

Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in Europe, the United States and many other rich nations. With diabetes, it accounted for nearly one-third of all deaths around the world in 2005, according to the World Health Organisation.

http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20100529-219118.html

1 Comment

when ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affaan stood by a grave he would weep…

June 12, 2010 at 5:00 pm (Death, Food for the soul, Sunnah)
Tags: , ,

عن هانئ مولى عثمان بن عفان قال : كان عثمان بن عفان إذا وقف على قبر بكى حتى يبل لحيته فيقال له : قد تَذكر الجنَّةَ والنَّار فلا تبكي وتبكي مِن هذا ؟ فيقول : إن رسول الله  صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : ” إن القبر أول منازل الآخرة فإن نجا منه فما بعده أيسر منه وإن لم ينج منه فما بعده أشد منه “، وقال رسول الله  صلى الله عليه وسلم  : ” ما رأيت منظرا إلا والقبر أفظع منه “

رواه ابن ماجه

It was narrated that Haani’ the freed slave of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan said: when ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affaan stood by a grave he would weep until his beard became wet. It was said to him, “You remember Paradise and Hell and you do not weep, but you weep because of this?” He said, “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The grave is the first of the stages of the Hereafter; whoever is saved from it, whatever comes afterwards will be easier  for him, but if he is not saved from it, what comes afterwards will be worse for him.’” And the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I have never seen any scene but the grave is more frightening than it.”

(Narrated by Ibn Maajah)

Leave a Comment

classical-scholars-spoke-about-madkhalis

June 11, 2010 at 5:03 am (Quotes, Refutations, Seeking Knowledge, Uncategorized)
Tags: , ,

Ash-Sha’bi had said:

لو أصبت تسعة وتسعين وأخطأت واحدة لأخذوا الواحدة وتركوا التسعة والتسعين

“If you were right ninety-nine time and erred once, they would seize the single error and forget the ninety-nine”.

{“Hilyah al-‘Awliyah”, 4/320}.

Ad-Dhahabi had said:

والكمال عزيز ، وإنما يمدح العالم بكثرة ما له من الفضائل ، فلا تدفن المحاسن لورطة
“Completeness is very rare, so a scholar is praised for the may virtues he has, so good qualities are not buried due to a single failing.”

{“As-Siyar”, 16/285}.

Abdullah Ibn Mubarak had said:

إذا غلبت محاسن الرجال على مساوئه لم تذكر المساوئ، وإذا غلبت المساوئ على المحاسن لم تذكر المحاسن
“If the good qualities of a person (greatly) outweigh his bad qualities, then his bad qualities are not mentioned, and if his bad qualities (greatly) outweigh his good qualities, then his good qualities are not mentioned.”

{“As-Siyar”, 8/532}.

Ibn Musayyib had said:

إنه ليس من شريف ولا عالم ولا ذي فضل إلا وفيه عيب ولكن من الناس من لا ينبغي أن تذكر عيوبه: من كان فضله أكثر من نقصه وهب نقصه لفضله
“There is no honourable person, scholar or doer of good except that he has a shortcoming. However, there are some people to whom we should not mention their faults , that is, those whose good deeds exceed their faults”.

{“Sifat as-Safwah”, 2/81}.

http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f17/classical-scholars-spoke-about-madkhalis-33118/#post331665

Leave a Comment

What The Prophet did in Sajdah

June 8, 2010 at 10:18 am (Food for the soul, Seeking Knowledge, Sunnah)
Tags: , ,


What The Prophet did in Sajdah

Abdul Malik Mujahid

“I happened to pray one night with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet started reciting al-Baqarah chapter of the Quran and I thought he would stop after 100 verses.

But when he went beyond it I thought that he may want to recite the whole chapter in one Rakah.

When he finished al-Baqarah I thought he would do Ruku but then he immediately started reciting al-Imran and when he finished he started reciting an-Nisa.

The Prophet was reciting very slowly with enough pauses and would do Tasbih (praising God) and Dua (supplication) according to the subject being discussed in the relevant Ayah.

After that the Prophet did Ruku (bowing). In Ruku he stayed as long as he did when he was in Qiyam (standing in prayer). After Ruku he stood up for almost same time and then he performed Sajdah (prostration) and stayed there as long as he recited Quran while doing Qiyam”.

(Hudaifa, may God be pleased with him, narrated this hadith as in Sahih al Muslim, Nasai)

Of course, not all the Prayers of the Prophet were this long. In public he would pray for a shorter period of time and ask other imams to do the same. The Prophet use to make dua in Sajdah not just tasbeeh as we do in obligatory prayers. He used to cry in Sajdah. He would spend an extended amount of his time in Sajdah whenever he was praying on his own.

Many times, however, Muslims would join him when they found him praying alone.
Aisha, may God be pleased with her, mentions that: the Prophet one night stood up for Salah and he stayed in it for so long that I thought the Prophet had passed away or died. When I felt that way I stood up shook his toe and I felt the movement then I laid down again and I heard the Prophet saying in Sajdah “I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your pardon from Your punishment, and in You from You. I cannot enumerate Your praises as You praise Yourself.”
(Transliteration: Audhu bi ridaka min sakhatika, wa bi muafatika min uqubatika wa bika minka, la uhsiy thana’an alayka, anta kama athnayta ala nafsika).

When he stood up from the Sajdah he asked Aisha, “do you think God’s Prophet has betrayed you?” Aisha responded “No Prophet of God, because of the long Sajdah I thought you had died.”
(hadith from Baihaqi but Dua wording from Muwatta Imam Malik)

One of the Prophet’s companion, Abdullah ibn Zubayr, would pray with such concentration that when he was in Sajdah the sparrows would come flying and sit on his back. In a separate narration, Abdullah ibn Abbas, another companion, said if you want to see how the Prophet of God used to pray, you should copy how Abdullah ibn Zubayr used to pray.

And consider these two Hadiths from the Sahih Muslim:

Ma’dan b. Talha reported: I met Thauban, the freed slave of God’s Messenger, and asked him to tell me about an act for which, if I do it, God will admit me to Paradise, or I asked about the act which was loved most by God. He gave no reply. I again asked and he gave no reply. I asked him for the third time, and he said: I asked God’s Messenger about that and he said: Make frequent prostrations before God, for you will not make one prostration without raising you a degree because of it, and removing a sin from you, because of it. Ma’dan said that then he met Abu al-Darda’ and when he asked him, he received a reply similar to that given by Thauban.

In the second Hadith, Rabi’a b. Ka’b said: I was with God’s Messenger one night and I brought him water and what he required. He said to me: Ask (anything you like). I said: I ask your company in Paradise. He (the Prophet) said: Or anything else besides it. I said: That is all (what I require). He said: Then help me to achieve this for you by devoting yourself often to prostration.

Sajdah is truly a humbling experience. We can beg for God’s forgiveness and cry by thinking about our misdeeds, as well as seek refuge in God from the Hellfire. We are in one of the most submissive physical positions when in Sajdah. It is one of the best occasions to ask God for forgiveness, guidance, and all that we want. It is one of the best positions in which to talk to God. Seeking God’s pleasure and forgiveness need to be given top priority.

Leave a Comment

« Older entries