Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Wretched Resting Place
Al Baqara (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 206

"When it is said to him, 'Have fear of God', arrogance drives him to take pride in sinful actions. Hell becomes him, a dismal resting place."

Intent on pursuing their vile deeds, these people become immune to advice and reform; if anything, they grow more obstinate and arrogant. They begin to take pride in spreading evil and corruption with no remorse, guilt or fear of God.

Qurtubi records Abdullah Ibn Masud as having said: "It is enough of a sin for a man that his brother should tell him, 'Fear Allah,' and he should reply, 'Look after yourself. Does a man of your sort lecture me?!"

This snobbery, contention and lack of shame are met with a most swift appropriate punishment - Hell. Hell would be more than sufficient retribution. For Hell is the most terrible of all punishments: savage, violent, consuming everything thrown into it. With unmistakable irony, the verse describes Hell as their "resting place".

Compiled From:
"In the Shade of the Quran" - Syed Qutb, Vol. 1, p. 234
"Tafsir Ishraq Al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer, vol. 1, p. 247

From Issue: 649 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Transmission

Our Community has a long history of protecting its prophetic legacy and defending it against being misconstrued, and it considers lying about the Messenger to be something which will take anyone who does it to eternal punishment in Hell because it involves falsification of the deen and forging lies against Allah. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace said, "Lying about me is not like lying about anyone else. Whoever lies about me deliberately will take his seat in Hell." [Bukhari]

Scholars who study the Sunna have laid down five preconditions for the acceptability of hadiths of the Prophet: three concern the isnad (chain of transmission) and two the text itself.

1. The isnad must be comprised of transmitters with good memories who are precise in respect of what they hear and then report it accurately.

2. As well as having an intelligent grasp of the text, they must also have unimpeachable morals and a conscience which fears Allah and refrains from any temptation to adulterate it.

3. These two qualities must be applied to every one of those who make up the chain of transmitters. If any chain is lacking in one transmitter or one of the men in the chain is unsure, then the hadith is less than sound.

When the isnad has been found to be acceptable on this basis, then we examine the text transmitted by it. i.e. the text of the hadith itself.

4. It must not be aberrant.

5. It must not have a fault which renders it unacceptable.

Aberration arises when the text concerned contradicts a reliable transmission from a more reliable transmitter. When those with expertise see such an impairing fault in the hadith, that moves them to reject it.

These preconditions provide an adequate guarantee of the precision of the transmission. Indeed, in the whole history of human culture, there is nothing comparable to this firm establishment and determination of reliability of any other tradition. The important thing is to apply these criteria properly.

Compiled From:
"The Sunna of the Prophet" - Muhammad al-Ghazali

From Issue: 1013 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Seeking Power

Laylat ul-Qadr is the most blessed night. A person who misses it has indeed missed a great amount of good. If a believing person is zealous to obey his Lord and increase the good deeds in his record, he should strive to encounter this night and to pass it in worship and obedience. If this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be forgiven.

There is no consensus of the Ummah over when the night of Qadr occurs. Imam Razi has a few novel points to offer on why that is the case:

Allah concealed its knowledge from His slaves since His rida (approval and pleasure) is concealed in devotions to Him, and in concealment of the night is the cause of increase in devotions. This is following His general method: He concealed His friend (waliyy) among the people in order that all people might be respected; He concealed His response to supplications in order that they might resort to it oftener; He concealed His Great Name (Al-Ism al-A'zam [some scholars believe that Allah is the Ism al-A'zam. YMFN ED]) in order that all of His Names might be revered; He concealed the accepted prayer in order the people pay special attention to every Prayer; He concealed the time of death in order that the people never be oblivious of it.

Again if the night of Qadr been known, the sins of the sinners in that night would have weighed heavily upon them, since, to commit sins on a known blessed occasion is greater in enormity than when committed on the same blessed occasion but without the sinner knowing that it is a blessed occasion.

Three Ways to Seek Laylat ul-Qadr

1. Performing Night Prayer (Qiyam)

It is recommended to make a long night prayer during the nights on which Laylat ul-Qadr could fall. This is indicated in many hadiths, such as the following:

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever stands (in qiyam) in Laylat ul-Qadr [and it is facilitated for him] out of faith and expectation (of Allah's reward), will have all of his previous sins forgiven." [Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad]

2. Making Supplications

It is also recommended to make extensive supplication on this night. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that she asked Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him), "O Messenger of Allah! If I knew which night is Laylat ul-Qadr, what should I say during it?" And he instructed her to say: 'Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fafu annee - O Allah! You are forgiving, and you love to forgive. So forgive me.'" [Recorded by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmithi. Verified to be authentic by Al-Albani]

3. Abandoning Worldly Pleasures for the Sake of Worship

It is further recommended to spend more time in worship during the nights on which Laylat ul-Qadr is likely to be. This calls for abandoning many worldly pleasures in order to secure the time and thoughts solely for worshipping Allah. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: "When the (last) ten started, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would tighten his izaar (i.e. he stayed away from his wives in order to have more time for worship), spend the whole night awake (in prayer), and wake up his family." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Compiled From:
"Tafsir Ishraq al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer
“How to Seek Laylat ul-Qadr” – Muhammad Nasir-ud-Deen al-Albani

From Issue: 647 [Read original issue]