To a Dead Heart

The servant is not afflicted with a punishment greater in severity than the hardening of the heart and its being distant from Allaah. The Fire was created to melt the hardened heart, this heart which is the most distant of hearts from Allaah. If the heart becomes hardened the eye becomes dry [and finds no joy or tranquillity].

There are four matters, when the limits are transgressed with regards to them, which harden the heart: food, sleep, speech and sexual intercourse. A body afflicted by disease does not derive nourishment from food and water and similarly a diseased heart does not benefit from admonishment or exhortation.

Whosoever desires to purify his heart then let him give preference to Allaah over his base desires.

The heart that clings to its base desires is veiled from Allaah in accordance to the strength of its attachment to them. The hearts are the vessels of Allaah upon His earth, hence the most beloved of them to Him are those that are most tender, pure and resistant to deviation.

[A reference to the hadeeth, "Truly, Allaah has vessels from amongst the people of the earth, and the vessels of your Lord are the hearts of his righteous slaves, and the most beloved of them to Him are the softest and most tender ones" and it is hasan. Refer to as-Saheehah (no. 1691)]

The transgressors preoccupied their hearts with the pursuit of this world. If only they had preoccupied them with Allaah and seeking the Hereafter then they would have instead reflected upon the meaning of His Words and His Signs that are witnessed in creation. Their hearts would have returned to their owners (in whose chests they reside) bestowing upon them marvellous wisdom and pearls of benefit.

When the heart is nourished with dhikr, its thirst quenched with contemplation and cleansed from corruption, it shall witness remarkable and wondrous matters and be inspired with wisdom.

Not every individual who is endowed with knowledge and wisdom and dons its robe is from among its people. Rather the People of Knowledge and Wisdom are those who have infused life into their hearts by slaughtering their desires. As for the one who has destroyed his heart and given precedence to his desires then knowledge and wisdom are deprived from his tongue.

The destruction of the heart occurs through possessing a sense of security and negligence. The heart is fortified through fear of Allaah and dhikr. If the heart renounces the pleasures of this world then it will be directed towards pursuing the bliss of the Hereafter and it will be amongst those who call to it. Should the heart become content with the pleasures of this world the bliss of the Hereafter ceases to be pursued.

Yearning for Allaah and meeting Him is like a gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, blowing away the blazing desire for this world. Whosoever causes his heart to settle with his Lord shall find himself in a calm and tranquil condition and whosoever sends it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed. This is because the love of Allaah can never enter the heart which contains love of this world until the camel passes through they eye of a needle.

Therefore the most beloved servant to Allaah is the one who He places in His servitude, who He selects for His Love, who He causes to purify his worship for Him, who dedicates his life to Him, his tongue to His dhikr and his limbs to His service.

The heart becomes sick as the body becomes sick and its cure lies in repentance and seeking protection from evil.

It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty and it is polished through dhikr.

It becomes naked as the body becomes naked and its adornment comes about through taqwaa.

It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry and thirsty and its hunger and thirst is satiated through knowledge, love, reliance, repentance and servitude to Allaah.

Al-Fawaa`id [pp. 111-112] of ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, may Allaah have mercy upon him.[The translation is taken from ‘An Explanation of Riyaadh as-Saaliheen’ Vol. 1, Trans. Abu Sulaymaan and modified.]

Will You Let it Go?!

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:

"The example of a man who has memorised the Qur'an is like that of a hobbled camel. If he remained vigilant, he would be able to retain it (with him), and if he loosened the hobbled camel it would escape".

~Sahih Muslim-Book 4, Number 1722 ~

Meaning, the Quraan is lost from the memory very quick if it is not taken care of by keeping it on our tongues and in our heart, reviewing and reciting it everyday some part of it in every prayer so to never let it go. Just like an animal escapes when you let it to be on its own, and then imagine the effort u would have to make to get that lost animal back.

Similarly, Quraan once escaped from the memory and mind and heart, it is very stressful to bring it back to ur mind like it was before. (I am experiencing this too, i realize its a lot to handle for me now, now that i have many chapters in my memory Alhamdulilah, thats why i am here writing all this for myself).

And ofcourse this is not just with the memory of the words of the quraan, its understanding would also be lost if we dont stick to it and dont impart to others what we understood of it.

Why would anyone knowing what a treasure it is, ever let it go?

Here is the test. When my heart is attached to the Quraan, and I read it regularly and feel at peace, as compared to when i recite it only when i m to memorize, that makes the difference. Allah SWT could have made me have it memorized it once and never ever forget it, but I m to stick to it, keep it tied tight with my own struggle, have its blessings all the time by reciting its words. Getting a new meaning that relates to me myself everytime i read the verses, finding more wisdom in them ... and so much more, which i would miss otherwise.

May Allah help retain Quraan in our memories and hearts, as much as we know of it, and increase us in its knowledge and make it a witness in our favour on the Last Day, Aameen!

"And We have indeed made the Qur’ân easy to understand and remember"

(An-Najm 54:17)

Sins Snatch our Knowledge

Ibn Mas’ood (RA) said,

“I feel that indeed someone will forget knowledge they had a acquired because of sins they commit.”

A man asked Maalik ibn Anas, ‘O Abu ‘Abd-Allaah! Is there anything that will improve my memory?’ Maalik ibn Anas, rahimahullah, replied, ‘If anything will improve it, it is giving up sin.”

Bishr Alhaafee, rahimahullah, said "A servant commits a sin, and is deprived [thereby] of performing tahajjud."

See how important it is to stop disobeying Allah SWT so we can keep His words in our heart, otherwise they are taken away.

And i think all that struggle to concentrate, listening repeatedly, intake of special foods to increase memory and all that wont help in memorizing and having it memorized for ever, unless we are very careful about not commiting any acts of disobedience to Allah SWT.

The Endless Sea

[photos: "Blue Quraan-10th century"]

Lately, there has been no mention of my lessons of the Quraan, because I havent started any new lessons yet. I will be revising all the chapters that i have already learnt till the Ramadan starts inshaaAllah. And then i will do one more juz during that month.

But even though it is revision (i am on Al-baqarah, done till ruku 6), which means i had read those parts only few days ago in order to memorize. But its amazing how i get new understanding and all new feelings reciting them again this time. How can this be! its truely a miracle.

To tell u how, why do i still feel the words Alif, Laam, Meem (even though the meaning of these no one knows) ? havent i read them thousands times before as well? and then, the verses about believers, non-believers, hypocrites and how Allah SWT talks about them. It is simply because it is Allah SWT talking, and its all about me myself, and my fellow humans, and its the most true speech ever. And because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that the Quraan will never ever get old, and its wonders will never end.

Each verse in itself seems enough, while each of them having a deep connection with the next and the previous.

"O Mankind! Worship your Lord WHO created you and those before you, that you may guard against evil". [2: 21]

.. Does mankind need more than this?

Next, Allah challenges mankind to produce one chapter similar to that of the Quraan, in case they doubt it.

The story of our begining, Allah, angels, Adam/Eve and Satan. And how Allah promises that He will forgive and show His mercy if we keep following His guidance on the Earth & keep returning to Him after making mistakes.

Angel's saying 'No knowledge have we except what You have taught us', so similar to the fact that Adam repents and ask Allah to forgive using the very same prayer that Allah Himself taught him. Absolute Mercy of Allah SWT.

[The images at the top are of the famous 'Blue Quraan' from the early 10th century. Placed now at a museum in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. This is so pretty to look at, golden writting on blue parchment (i.e. vellum, which was kind of hand made 'paper' made from calfskin). its in Kufi script].

The one below here is showing surah al-baqarah verses 197-201

EXQUISITE!

An Energizer

For today's post, i have a few points from an article i read elsewhere.

"If a sick person doesn’t realize that she is sick, the doctor will never be able to cure her. So realizing that there is a spiritual sickness is a sign that your faith is strong.

It is natural, we all go thru being weak spiritualy at times, and it happens many times. But it renews our souls if we are to do something about it, and not let it be the way it is.

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Faith wears out in the heart of any one of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allaah to renew the faith in your hearts.” (Reported by al-Haakim)

This Hadith tells us that our faith will become weak but we will have to strengthen it with various actions and different good deeds."

Next, the article suggests some actions for strengthening our faith and once again bringing it to full life.

One is to attend Islamic gathering or even join an Islamic course taking some time out from ur work or studies. As it is understood that the company of good ppl around us is going to have its effect on us. Also they bring you back to ur good state, helping you out of ur slackness.

And then indeed the most important is to stick to the Quraan, reading some portion of it everyday. And remembering Allah in heart and tongue all the time. Here i would like to direct you to an excellent post on another blog. A True Friend!!

Then comes, reading the hadith. And the best would be to read it in a gathering.

Repenting from our past sins. It says "Islam will prevent us from sins....or sins will prevent us from Islam". we must make it a habit to repent, just the way we keep committing sins.

Remember DEATH.

Try to say ur obligatory prayers very properly, and as it is in my previous post, this is actually a way to reach out to Allah to help u be strong in spirit.

All this laziness and low feelings must not make us commit haram or neglect our duties.

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Every deed has energy and strength, and then this energy and strength is followed by a slackening, so who’s slackening is in accordance to my Sunnah he will be fine, and who’s slackening is to other than that [i.e., doing unlawful or forbidden deeds] he will be doomed.” (Reported by Ahmad)

Plead to Allah to bring u to great heights of faith, to make u feel the sweetness of it and to make u completely submit to Him. Because we cant, unless Allah grants us the ability to do.

~may Allah make us all strong in our faith. Aameen!

Patience & Prayer

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اسْتَعِينُواْ بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلوةِ إِنَّ اللّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ

"O you who believe! Seek help in patience and prayer. Truly! Allah is with the patient". [Al-baqarah:153]

Two best means told by Allah SWT to get His help, which I so badly need because of the spiritual state i am in. My prayers and my good deeds are without a soul. And i feel so low, i havent read the Quran in so many days (as i used to). Haven't memorized anything from it in the whole past week.

I pray and pray about it, and inshaaAllah it will be alright soon because Allah listens and is Kind, but its pathetic right now.

I try to concentrate while praying, but my mind strays, and thats the very first thing i need to focus and work on. Because this is the link between me and Allah.

It is mentioned in the Sahih Hadith that “Whenever something happened to the prophet (pbuh), he would pray”

So that means other than the obligatory prayers, some more prayers should be added as well to invoke Allah's mercy. I did start the Ishraaq prayer (the prayer after sunrise), and that was really helpful, i will continue with it again inshaaAllah.

As for patience inshaAllah i plan to fast for a few days in this month of Shabaan. Please make prayers for me, i really need them at this time.

Verily, man is in loss, except those who believe and do good deeds and encourage one another towards truth and encourge one another towards patience. (104:2-3)

I just found a beautiful writing about Prayer, it mentions a hadith Qudsi that would sure help me in concentrating in prayer inshaa Allah.

"I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant into two parts, and My servant will have what he asks for.

So when the servant says: ‘Al-Hamdulillaahi Rabb-il-‘Alameen’, Allaah says: ‘My servant has praised Me.’

And when he says: ‘Ar-Rahmaan-ir-Raheem’, Allaah says: ‘My servant has extolled Me.’

And when he says: ‘Maaliki-yawm-id-Deen’, Allaah says: ‘My servant has honored Me.’

And when he says: ‘Iyyaaka Na’bdu wa Iyyaaka Nasta’een’, Allaah says: ‘This is between Me and My servant and My servant will have what he asks for.’

And when he says: ‘Ihdinaas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem. Siraat-aladheena an’amta ‘alaihim. Ghairil-Maghdoobi ‘alaihim wa lad-Daalleen’, Allaah says: ‘This is for My servant and for My servant will be what he asks for.’" [Reported by Muslim]

Good read>>> Virtues of Prayer

Who To Be Like?

Sahih-al-Bukhari: Volume 6, Book 61, Number 579:

Narrated Abu Musa:

The Prophet (pbuh) said,

• "The example of a believer who recites the Qur'an and acts on it, like a citron which tastes nice and smells nice.

• And the example of a believer who does not recite the Qur'an but acts on it, is like a date which tastes good but has no smell.

• And the example of a hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is like a Raihana (sweet basil) which smells good but tastes bitter.

• And the example of a hypocrite who does not recite the Quran is like a colocynth which tastes bitter and has a bad smell".

And ofcourse we rule out the last three and try to be like a citron, both good smelling and good tasting. Prophet pbuh has given such a beautiful metaphor for a believing person who recites the Quraan, from his heart and is not like the one who recites but it doesnt go deeper than his throat. Allah listens to him reciting it. It gives beauty to his soul, and as he acts on it too, others around him taste the goodness of his attitude and his good morals and of everything that he does.

He is loved by Allah and people. Though the second one is good as well for acting upon the Quraan, but the first one has a higher rank with Allah. WE must strive to be like that sweet and fragrant believer.

Holy Quran Digital Book

This is one of so many ways u can listen to the Quran when on the move, and memorize. This is in relation to my previous post about memorizing by listening. So this is something excellent that i have found (for those who would like to buy it, its £90).

The best thing is that you can read the Quran in Arabic (plus the translations in English and French) on the screen as the recitation goes on, and the recitation speed can also be controlled.

There are a lot many other features, you can read and order HERE

Listen & Memorize

Listening to the Quran greatly helps when memorizing it.

It can be done by repeatedly listening to one verse till it gets memorized, or listening to a group of verses, and keeping in mind the theme of the verses, making a connection between them by understanding them first. And then memorizing them fully by repeatedly listening to each of them separately.

There can be many ways according to what suits you, but i think understanding their meaning before starting listening is the key.

My most favourite recitor is Shaikh Abd-ur Rahman As-Sudais. His recitation has the most effect on me while listening. Its simply beautiful and very spiritual.

You can download the whole Quran in his voice, here at
AUDIO QURAN

There you can choose from other recitors too.

ALLAH

Truly in the heart there is a void that can not be removed except with the company of Allah. And in it there is a sadness that can not be removed except with the happiness of knowing Allah and being true to Him. And in it there is an emptiness that can not be filled except with love for Him and by turning to Him and always remembering Him And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it would not fill this emptiness.

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya