Ten Days Allah Swore By: The First Ten Days of Dhu’l Hijjah

The first ten days of Dhu’l Hijjah (are blessed days: Allah Most High Himself swore by them in the Qur’an:

“By the Dawn,

and the Ten Nights…â€?

[Qur’an, Surat al-Fajr, 89.1-2]
[read more]

The Company One Keeps – Imam al-Haddad

Source: Knowledge & Wisdom

Imam ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad-may Allah bless his soul-mentioned in his kitab, al-Fusul al-’Ilmiyya wa’l-Usul al-Hikamiyya (Knowledge and Wisdom):

The company one keeps has major effects. It may lead either to benefit and improvement or to harm and corruption, depending on whether the company is that of pure and eminent people or people who are depraved and evil. This effect does not appear suddenly, but is a gradual process that unfolds with time. [read more]

Can one give or accept tips for work?

Can one give or accept tips for work?

Answered by Faraz Rabbani

This answer deals with some important principles, including the importance of dignified restraint, propriety, and following accepted customs and social norms…. [read more]

Source: SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Source: SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

‘Don’t Get Angry’: A Little Fiqh of Anger & Acquiring Good Character
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/qa00003233.aspx

Anger: How do I cleanse myself?
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/qa00003296.aspx

How Do I Deal with Anger?
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/qa00000763.aspx

Important Basics: Intentions, Sustaining them, Prophetic Guidance, Asking, and Learning

Source: SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Ibn Raslan (Allah have mercy on him), author of al-Zubad, a blessed thousand-line poem in Shafi`i fiqh explained some important principles by saying,

1. So correct intentions before actions,

And make them at the beginning of actions.

2. Then, if you sustain your intention until the very last,

You will attain complete reward on the Last Day.

3. Intentions, words, and actions too, are not accepted

If they are not according to Prophetic guidance.

4. Thus, whoever does not know must ask,

And whoever cannot find a teacher must travel.”

Tahajjud – The Night Vigil Prayer

On the virtues and fiqh of the worship of those who long for Allah…

Source: SunniPath Answers

Allah Most High said, “Establish worship at the going down of the sun until the dark of the night, and (the recital of) the Qur’an at dawn. Lo! (the recital of) the Qur’an at dawn is ever witnessed. And some part of the night awake for its recital, as voluntary worship for you. It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praised estate.” [Qur’an, 17: 78-79]

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and companions) said, “The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer.”[Muslim]

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and companions) was asked, “What prayer is most virtuous, after the obligatory prayers?” He said, “Prayer in the depths of the night.” [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah]

Abd Allah ibn Salam (Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and companions) said, “O people! Spread the salams, feed others, maintain family ties, and pray at night when others sleep and you will enter Heaven safely.”[Tirmidhi, Hakim] [read more ]

The legal basis in the Shariah is that one cannot use another’s property without their permission. This permission can be explicit or implicit…. [read more]

Shaykh al-Islam Abu Bakr ibn Salim al-Alawi al-Husayni (Allah be pleased with him) states in Miftah al-Sara’ir wa Kanz al-Dhakha’ir: [p.39]

Know that holding fast to the Prophetic example is the fundamental basis for salvation, and lack of concern for it is the basis for all failure.

The servant of Allah doesn’t reach the reality of faith except through holding fast to the Prophetic example.

Allah Most High tells us,

“If you follow him, you shall be guided.” [Qur'an, Surat al-Nur: 54]

Since long, I had felt the need of a brief English booklet containing basic information on “The Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ( ),” its general features, the nature of its authority and the standard of its authenticity.

I took the opportunity to fulfil this need and wrote on the subject a little more detail than was required in a conference of this type.

The present work is the result of the above endeavor. This book is meant for the general reader who wants to know what the “Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ( )” is, how does it have a binding authority over all the Muslims for all times to come, what status has the Holy Qur’ân given to it and what measures has the Ummah adopted to preserve it for the coming generations. [read more]

	Chapter 1: Sunnah: The Second Source of Islamic Law
	Chapter 2: The Scope of the Prophetic Authority
	Chapter 3: The Authenticity of the Sunnah: Its Historical Aspect
	Conclusion

You should have a wird of reflection in every twenty-four hours, for which you should set aside one or more hours. The best time for reflection is the one in which are the least pre-occupations, worries, and more potential for the heart to be present, such as the depths of the night. Know that the state of one’s religious and worldly affairs depend upon soundness of one’s reflection. Anyone who has a share of it has an abundant share of everything good. It has been said : ‘An hour’s reflection is better than a year’s worship.’ ‘Ali, may God ennoble his face, has said: ‘There is no worship like reflection.’ And one of the gnostics; may God have mercy on them all, said: ‘Reflection is the lamp of the heart; if it departs the heart will have no light….’ [read more ]

An Exposition of the Signs of Good Character

Imam Ghazali, from his Ihya’ `Ulum al-Din

Know that every man is [at first] ignorant of the faults which lie in his soul. When he comes to struggle with it, even in the least degree, until he has abandoned the grosser transgressions, he may think to himself that he has refined his soul and made good his character, and may now dispense with any further struggle. It is therefore essential to explain what are the signs of good character, since good character is equivalent to faith, and bad character to hypocrisy, God (Exalted is He!) has in His Book made mention of the traits which characterise believers and hypocrites, which are all the fruits of good or bad character. We shall now set forth some of the texts so that you may come to know the sign by which good character is to be recognised… [read more]

A book that may well be of interest is Sufism and Good Character [Imam Zafar Ahmad Usmani, tr. Faraz Rabbani, White Thread Press] Available through Amazon.com

Certain inward attitudes and duties are incumbent on those who seek, through the payment of Zakat, that which leads to good in the Hereafter… [read on]

Imam Ghazali: On the Nature of Repentance and its Definition [pdf e-text]

from his Ihya’ `Ulum al-Din  

Explication of Repentance and its Definition

Repentance is a concept consisting of three successive and joined elements: knowledge,state [of remorse] and action. Knowledge is first, awareness second and action third. The first necessitates the second, and the second necessitates the third, in accord with the continuity of the divine regimen in matters temporal and spiritual.

As for knowledge, it is the realization of the magnitude of the sin’s harm and its being a barrier between man and the divine. If he realizes this with utter and decisive certainty, overwhelming his heart, this reali­zation will stir a heartache on account of the Beloved eluding him. For the heart, whenever itperceives the withdrawal of the Beloved, is pained. If the withdrawal be through man’s own action, he is regretful of that alienating behaviour. Such grief of the heart over behavior alienating the Beloved is called Regret.

When this anguish becomes overpowering, another inner state is induced, termed volition and aspiration towards [new] behaviour con­nected with the present,the past, and the future. Its connection with the present consists of the repudiation of the sin with which he was entwined. For the future, it involves the determination to abandon forever the sin which causes alienation from the Beloved. With regard to the past, it entails correction of what was omitted by[doing] good and performing [the omitted act], if it is susceptible to [such]restoration.

Thus, knowledge is prerequisite and is the starting point of these bless­ings. By this knowledge I mean faith, and certitude. To have faith is to accept as true that Sins are adeadly poison. Certitude consists of the assurance of the acceptance of this truth, the removal of all doubt about it and finally its mastery over the heart,so that whenever the illumina­tion of this Faith shines upon the heart it produces the fire of Regret. It, in turn, will bring forth anguish as the heart perceives, through this illumination of the light of the faith, that it has become veiled from its Beloved. As one who was in darkness and on the verge of ruin, and, with the dispersal of clouds and the rending of a veil, the illumination of the sun shone and radiated upon him,²²³ and he saw his Beloved. Then the flames of love burn in his heart and these flames flare up in his will to rise to correct his ways.

Knowledge,Regret, and the intent connected with abandonment [of sin] in the present andfuture, and correction of the [sin perpetrated in the] past are three successive concepts within this process. The term Penitence (tawba)refers to this totality. Frequently, the term Penitence is used for the concept of Regret alone, as if making knowledge a precon­dition, and abandonment a result and later consequence. It is in this sense that the Prophet said: ‘Regret is Repentance,’ for Regret is void of knowledgewhich [4] necessitates and evokes it, and of determination which follows it.  Regret is surrounded at both ends, by its result and its cause.

In this sense it is said, about Repentance as such that it is the melting of the entrails as a result of previous offense for this exposes to sheer agony. It is therefore said: /It is a fire raging in the heart, a fissure within that does not heal/. With respect to the meaning of Abandonment as an element of Repentance, it is related: It is the casting off of alienation and the start of fidelity.

Sahl ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Tustari has said: Repentance is the change from reprehensible acts to commendable acts. This can be accomplished only in solitude and silence, eating from that which is allowed [i.e., earn­ing an honest livelihood]. He seems to have pointed to the third element of Repentance.

The sayings about Repentance are innumerable. Yet, if you have understood these three aspects in their junction and sequence you will know that all that has been said regarding it falls short of encompassing all its aspects. The search for the knowledge of the true essence is more important than the pursuit of mere verbalizations. [pdf e-text]

Biography: Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi

Al-Qushayri relates from al-Junayd the following definitions of tasawwuf:

* “Not the profusion of prayer and fasting, but wholeness of the breast and selflessness.”1

* “Tasawwuf means that Allah causes you to die to your self and gives you life in Him.”

* “It means that you be solely with Allah with no attachments.”

* “It is a war in which there is no peace.”

* “It is supplication together with inward concentration, ecstasy together with attentive hearing, and action combined with compliance [with the Sunna].”

* “It is the upholding of every high manner and the repudiation of every low one.”

Biography: Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi

The great Indian mujaddid, faqih, sufi, and hadith master, Shah Wali Allah al-Dahlawi (Allah have mercy on him) mentions the wisdom behind the legislation of supererogatory (nafl) prayers in his Hujjat Allah al-Baligha, arguably the greatest work written on the wisdom of the rulings of the Shariah,

“Worldly concerns lead to forgetting the remembrance of Allah Most High and …attaining the fruits of devotion perpetuating the animal aspect of human nature and confounding his angelic aspect.

It was therefore necessary to legislate something to polish [his heart] before the obligatory prayers so that they could be entered into with a purity of heart and concentration of spiritual ambition.

How often it is that a person does not pray such that he attains unto the benefits of the prayer. This is what was indicated by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) when he said, ‘How many a worshipper has no share from his prayer except a half of it, or a third of it, or a quarter of it.’. 

It was therefore necessary to legislate prayers after it as well to complete the purpose. [Dahlawi, Hujjat Allah al-Baligha, 2:28, Dar al-Ma’rifa]

What follows is an explanation of the confirmed and non-confirmed sunna prayers along with relevant hadiths and fiqh details….

The sunnas associated with the obligatory prayers

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) related from Allah Most High that He said,

“… And my servant continues to draw closer to me by voluntary actions until I love him…” [Bukhari]

There are ten main voluntary prayers not directly related to the obligatory prayers….

The Invocation of Blessings and Peace upon the Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace.)

Translated by Khalid Williams from ‘Abwab al-Faraj’ by the esteemed Sheikh Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki al-Hassani, may Allah forgive and be pleased with him, who died in Makkah in Ramadan, 2004

Among the greatest means of obtaining ease in times of hardship is invocating blessings and peace upon the Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace), which the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) himself clarified for us how in a tradition narrated by Ubai bin Ka’ab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said; ‘I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I supplicate often, so how much of my supplication should I devote to you?’ He replied, ‘as you desire’. I said, ‘a quarter of it?’ He said ‘as you desire, but if you were to increase upon this, it would be better for you.’ I said, ‘half of it?’ He said, ‘as you desire, but if you were to increase upon this, it would be better for you.’ I said, ‘two-thirds of it?’ He said again, ‘as you desire, but if you were to increase upon this, it would be better for you.’ Finally I said, ‘and if I dedicate my supplication in its entirety to you?’ He said, ‘then your needs will be satisfied, and your sins forgiven.’ [read more]

SunniPath Answers: A Reader on Sufism

The following are a collection of links on Sufism sorted by topic. Articles are from Sidi Masud Khan’s Excellent Site: http://www.masud.co.uk/ and Q&A links are from the archives at www.sunnipath.com

What is Sufism, is it an innovation? – What is its Place in Islam?

The Place of Tasawwuf in Traditional Islam Sh. Nuh Keller

How would you respond to the Claim that Sufism is bid’a? Sh. Nuh Keller

Islamic Spirituality: the forgotten revolution Sh. Abdal Hakim Murad

What is this “Sufism” that some love and other people hate?

Imam Ghazali on Sufism and the Reality of Spiritual Inspiration

The Meaning of Tasawwuf Sh. Shahidullah Faridi (r.a.)

Is Sufism a ‘Gross Innovation? What is the Reality of Sufism?

Dhikr by Word and by Action

Rumi: True and False Sufis

Jihad al-Nafs (Striving Against One’s Lower Self)

Taking a Shaykh in the Spiritual Path (Tariqa)

Taking a Spiritual guide: Is there something wrong with it?

Taking Bay’a with a Shaykh?

Is taking a shaykh on the spiritual path an innovation?

Meeting with Reality: My Road to Tasawwuf – Qais Arthur

Books

What are good writings on the soul, the stages it goes through, and man’s place in this world?

Sufism and the Shariah

Sufism and Shariah

Tasawwuf and Sharia – Shafiq ur-Rahman

http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/shafiqur.htm

Also Related

The Concept of Bid’a in the Islamic Shariah Sh. Nuh Keller

Spiritual Meaning of Prayers (Worship) Performance of the daily prayers (Salbt)

Calling to Allah: from the best of spiritual works

Have you seen a Faqih? Reason and Knowledge in Islam

Source: SunniPath Answers