A Ramadan Reminder

Nine Lessons from Surah Hujurat

"When a glass breaks, the sound of breaking disappears immediately, whereas the glass pieces are scattered all over, hurting whoever walks over it".

Similarly, "When you say something that hurts someone's emotions and feelings, your words disappear, but in the heart remains the pain for long."

Therefore, don't say anything except good and always remember the nine advises and prohibitions that Allah has given in Surah Hujurat (The Surah of manners) before you say anything to anyone:

1.-فتبينوا:
"Fa Tabayyanu": Investigate: whenever you receive an information, lest you harm people out of ignorance.

2.-فأصلحوا:
"Fa Aslihu": Make settlement: between your brothers as believers are brothers.

3.-وأقسطوا:
"Wa Aqsitu": Act justly: whenever there is a dispute try for settlement and act justly among both parties as Allah loves those who act justly.

4.-لا يسخر:
"La Yaskhar": Don't ridicule people, perhaps they may be better than you to Allah.

5.-ولا تلمزوا:
"Wa La Talmizu": Don't insult one another.

6.-ولا تنابزوا:
"Wa La Tanabazu": Don't call each other with offensive nicknames.

7.-اجتنبو كثيرا من الظن:
"Ijtanibu Kathiiran min Aldhan": Avoid negative assumptions, indeed some of the assumptions are sins.

8.-ولا تجسسوا:
"Wa La Tajassasu": Don't spy on each other.

9.-ولا يغتب بعضكم بعضا:
"Wa La Yaghtab": Don't backbite  about each other. It's a major sin equivalent to eating your dead brother's flesh.

Lastly, Allah says in the Qur'an "Remind, because the reminder benefits believers".

A beautiful reminder, first and foremost for myself.
Don't let yourself leave this ramadhan without bettering yourself, InsyaaAllah.

Satan's EGM

Received this from my brother Azman who's in Lahore, Pakistan. Thanks for the reminder Bang!
(Read even if you're busy) 

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, 


'We can't keep Muslims from going to Masjid.' 


'We can't keep them from reading their Quran and knowing the truth.' 



'We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their Allah and his messenger Muhammad.' 

'So, let them go to their Masjids; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Allah and his messenger Muhammad.' 


'This is what I want you to do,' said the devil: 'Distract them from gaining hold of their Allah and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!' 



'How shall we do this?' his demons shouted. 
'Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,' he answered. 


'Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow.' 


'Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.' 


'Keep them from spending time with their children.' 'As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!' 


'Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice.' 


'Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive.' 


'To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly.' 

'This will jam their minds and break that union with Allah and his messenger Muhammad.' 

'Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.' 'Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day.' 'Invade their driving moments with billboards.' 

'Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.' 

'Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and 

TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. 'Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night.' 

(Eee jahatnya setan ni!!)

'Give them headaches too!' 

'If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere.

'That will fragment their families quickly!' 


'Give them story books to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Salat.' 


'Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on Allah's creation. 


'Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead.' 'Keep them busy, busy, busy!' 

'And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences. ' 

'Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Allah.' 'Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause.' 

'It will work!' 
'It will work!' 

It was quite a plan! 

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Muslims everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there. 


Having little time for their Allah or their families. 

Having no time to tell others about the power of Allah and his messenger Muhammad to change lives. 

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes? 

You be the judge!!!!! 


Does 'BUSY' mean: 


B-eing 
U-nder 
S-atan's 
Y-oke? 

My Ramadhan Gift for Kak Shahariah

In the name of Allah Most Compassionate and Most Merciful

I was so touched when Kak Shahariah made a plea with us in a particular WhatsApp group chat to share the knowledge from a class we were going to attend. She is at home recuperating after a major surgery so she would have to miss the class. The class was to be held in Kak Mashita's beautiful home in Shah Alam, which she organises on a monthly basis. (May Allah shower her with blessings for her generosity and effort). And the teacher is none other than our beloved Dato' Dr. Fatma Az-Zahra.

Picture taken from Kak Mashita's Facebook without her permission ;-p

My vision is very limited now due to cataracts that developed from over-wxposure to UV light since working on the farm. But I thought I had better make full use of whatever vision I have left for only good things; I have learnt that misusing what Allah Azza wa Jalla has blessed us with is known as kufur ni'mat and I vouch to avoid that na'uzubillah.

So this is it. Kak Shahariah, in a nutshell, this is what I got from the class:

The Quran and the Knowledge is our Nur in dunya and it will ascertain our standing (darjat) in Akhirah.

Allah swt berfirman (sorry I didn't get the surah) "Aku angkat darjat tinggi orang yang beriman dan berilmu."

We often plan in advance our trips overseas, but fail to plan for our trip to the Akhirah.

Preparing for the coming Ramadhan

The doa' which we read during Ramadhan which contains the kalimah " 'afuw" - it is a big difference with "ghafur". In the former, all our sins are forgiven and forgotten, completely deleted from our Book. Whereas "ghafur" means we have already taubat but we will still be questioned about the solah that we may have missed before.

We need to pasang all our niat now before Ramadhan starts because we don't know if we can even live till then. 

1. MUHASABAH 

Sit down and write all the vice we may still be committing, weaknesses and sins. Make a conscious intention to ris of these. Hisab ourselvelves before Allah does it. If we don't survive till Ramadhan, we will at least get the pahala for sincerely wanting to improve ourselves.

Review our habluminAllah and hablumminnas. If you have stopped talking to someone over an argument, patch the relationship. Do not be arrogant and stubborn. Maaf-maafan should be done now too, not just before the Eid.  

2. MURAKABAH

Believing and living by "I don't see Allah but He sees me." and "I don't hear Alla but He hears me. Doing something or saying something wrong then takut dengan manusia, it's wrong.  We should akut dengan Allah. If we are afraid of what people might say towards our behaviou, it shows our aqidah is longgar, and that we are not true believers.

This is related to the tafsir of the surah that we were about to do - Surah Al-Maa'uun which Allah swt forbids us to ill-treat orphans and encourages us to feed the hungry. Akhlak, good deeds and habluminannas come before ibadah and silaturrahim is of extreme importance.

3. MUJAHADAH 

 Start fasting in Syaaban, this is the month Rasulullah SAW did most of his sunat fasting.Increase and escalate all other amalan too lite taubah and sadaqah.

4. MUTABA'AH

Follow-up on all our deeds after Ramadha. Do the puasa 6 and the puasa sunat on Mondays and Thursdays as well as on the 13th, 14th and 15th of each hijrah month. 

Hope you benefit from this dear Kak Shahariah and all myr Car Pool Gang sisters, and may Allah ease your difficulties. Love you all very much. 

 

Prostration - The Ultimate Symbol of Submission to Allah

In the Name Of Allah Most Merciful and Most Beneficient

This is a recap of the tafseeer class conducted by Ustazah Dato' Dr. Fatma Az-Zahra held at Yayasan Nuh last Friday, the 15th of January 2015.

Prostration, or sujud is the absolute act of total subservience to Allah swt. When we go down on our knees and bow until the highest part of the human form, the head, goes down to the lowest level which is the ground, or earth (which is what we're made of), we admit to our inferiority, our weaknesses and submit ourselves to Him in totality, in all humility.

There are fifteen surah in the Al-Quran where there is mention of sujud, and when we read these ayahs, it is sunnah to sujud. This sujud is called the sujud tilawah. Acording to Dr. Fatma, three things happen when we do this: 1) ten of our sins are forgiven 2) we get ten extra points and 3) the syaitans will cry.

One of the surah which has this sujud tilawah is the 32nd surah in the Quran, the Surah As-Sajadah. Only this surah is named as such, and the reason for this is because the message in this surah is wholly about submitting ourselves to Allah Azza wa Jalla. And the prostration is the sign that we submit to Him, the One and Only ilah that deserves to be truly worshipped. 

The most effective way to be submissive to our Creator is to always remember how and what we're made of (Ayah 8). This realisation would eliminate the arrogance in us and instead we admit to our complete reliance on Allah Azza wa Jalla. 

The most significant and the gist of this whole surah is in Ayah 14:

"So taste, (the torment of the Fire) for your forgotten the Encounter of this Day of yours. Indeed, We have forgotten you, so taste the chastisement of eternity for that you were doing.

Allah Azza wa Jalla had mentioned of people who ignore and forget the Day of Judgement and the punishment that come after. They come to their senses and plead to be sent back to Earth so they can do what they had been commanded to, but of course it's too late.

Then in the next ayah (15), Allah describes those who have faith and submit themselves to Him:

"Most surely those who believe in our Revelations (proof, evidence, verses, lessons and signs), those who, when they are recited to them, fall down in prostration, and celebrate the praise of their Lord, and they are not proud."

This is where we should do the sujud tilawah when we recite this surah.

Further to this, in the next ayah (16) the true believer who is subservient to his Master will  perform the solat tahajjud each night. This is truly an indication of a person's conviction as getting out of his/her comfortable bed in the middle of the night or very early in the morning is a huge sacrifice.

Ayah 16 & 17 reads:

"They forsake their beds as they call on their Lord in fear and hope, and they expend of that We have bestowed upon them."

"No soul knows what joys of the eye have been kept hidden for them as reward for their deeds."

The solat tahajjud is much loved by Allah Azza wa Jalla. It is the only ibadah of which no one knows what rewards will be given to those who perform it. 

If one desires to wake up to perform the solah tahajjud, read Surah As Sajadah and Surah Mulk before you go to sleep. 

It works like magic. Insyaa Allah.

  

Follow the Love

In the Name of Allah

The Most Gracious and Most Merciful

Today, the 24th of December 2015, we celebrate our beloved Prophet Muhammad's (May Peace be Upon Him) birthday which falls  on the 12th of Rabi'ulawal. I had made a poster to upload at my Facebook pages in which I had chosen an ayah from the Sura Al-Imran:

What a beautiful, beautiful ayah...my tears just cannot stop falling when I read this ayah...my heart just feels like bursting as Allah Azza wa Jalla teaches us to love Rasulullah SAW, then promises His Love for those who do.

The message is clear and straightforward...Allah Azza wa Jalla says "follow" so that's what we should do - follow. In all aspects...his behaviour, his likes and dislikes, his responses to people, how he speaks, his deeds, his habits, his way of dressing (for women the way he likes them to be dressed), what he eats and how he eats, how he sits and sleeps, how he treats illnesses, his dua' and everything else. Just follow.

As an Islamic medicine practitioner, I focus mostly on the study of Rasulullah's SAW way of treating illnesses and his teachings on preventing illnesses.  In this post, I just would like to share one of my experiences in my pursuit of discovering the truth and wisdom behind the profound Knowledge that Rasulullah SAW was bestowed with.

One of the most prominent kitab in Prophetic medicine is the "At-Tibb Nabawi" or literally translated as "Medicine of The Prophet" written by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. Here Is an excerpt from the book:

               Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Ibn Maja report, from hadith of Abu Huraira, that the

               Prophet SAW said: "Eat olive oil (zayt) and anoint yourselves with it, for it 

               is from a blessed tree. Al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Maja also have from 

               Abd-Allah b. "Umar that the Messenger of God SAW said:

               "Eat olive oil with your bread, and oil yourselves with it, for it was from a blessed tree."

I was perturbed by the repeated reminders to use olive oil on our body and the questioned lingered on my mind constantly. Why..???

My precious bible ever since I started practicing Islamic medicine in 2007 

There were no explanations in this book as to the benefits of doing it. Besides the scientifically-proven fact that olive oil softens and protects the skin from aging due to it's antioxidant properties, I believed that there must be something much, much more to it. The answer came in the most unexpected circumstance.

One morning, I wanted to prepare breakfast and turned the knob on the stove. I was a fraction of a second too late to realise that the knob was already turned on. There was no flame but apparently there was an emission of gas which I hadn't even sensed. Fortunately it was very little as the knob was at the minimum level, but enough to ignite a burst of flames in my face. 

After the initial shock, I sat down to assess the damages on myself...I was surprised, but very thankful that my clothes did not catch fire. I knew the fire had flared directly on my face and my singed eyebrows and hairline confirmed this. But I didn't feel any pain anywhere at all...except for my lips. Just then I remembered...before I do my my solah fajr each morning, I'd take a bath and put olive oil all over my body, including my face...except for my lips....

Laleli - This is the only olive oil I will use as I know exactly where it came from and who planted the trees. I would love to use olive oil from Palestine if I knew the real source, but unfortunately I usually don't. Many companies obtain supply from other countries and label their bottles to imply they come from Islamic countries. I never use oil from Spain and Italy especially for healing purposes. Laleli is owned by Dr. Yahya Laleli and family, a Muslim Turk who does a lot of charity work and produces one of the best quality olive oil in the world. 

I believe the film of olive oil had protected me from getting burnt, even though it had well absorbed into my skin, subhanAllah. The baraqah in the olive tree, the "nur" in it's oil and the promise of Allah Azza  wa Jalla - these are the spiritual virtues of olive oil that we can never, ever obtain from something that is man-made. I could't have possibly learnt of this had I just studied it without actually following and doing it myself. Eventually, I discovered by Allah's Will, a few other secrets about using olive oil on the skin.

Sura an-Nur: 35

From then on, if ever I wanted to find the wisdom and rationale behind each of the teachings or commands of our beloved Messenger SAW, I would just "follow" first, then only question, probe, study and bi'iznillah, I will eventually discover. I swear, if we love and care enough to seek for The Truth, The Creator of The Universe will return by showing you His Love.  

  

In Search of Eternal Happiness

In The Name of Allah

Most Gracious and Most Merciful

Besides sharing the verses in the Quran that I have benefited much from, I am also going to start sharing what I've learnt in each tazkirah conducted by my beloved teacher Dato Dr. Fatma El-Zahrah al- Ramadan after each attendance. Not only so I remember and practise what I've learnt but also to share with others who may not have the opportunity to attend her classes.

My guru of almost ten years now.

I will start with a special one-off session which was hosted by a friend, the beautiful (inside and out in that order) Kak Shahariah which was held at her gallery at The Forum in Jalan Tun Razak just yesterday, the 13th of December 2015. Dr. Fatma always starts her tazkirah with a muqaddimah (introduction) and this session was no different. She had stressed upon the importance of knowledge, and also the importance of passing on the acquired knowledge to others. Her reminder concurred with my intention to start this blog, and I take this as a guide from my Master that I am doing the right thing and that I should make it a priority.

Three beautiful women masya Allah, from left, Nabila (Kak Shahariah's daughter, Dr. Fatma and the gracious hostess herself) 

The topic for this session was Hayatan Thoyibba which means a Good and Happy Life. Dr. Fatma cited ten steps towards a wholesome, fulfilling life that we all should aim for; in this post I shall write about the first two as they are the very pertinent points and those which we will be questioned on in the hereafter. 

Number One
HabluminAllah -  habluminAllah means our relationship with Allah. This is first and foremost, and it is the epitome of our aqeedah (matters of our faith). This entails a solid and unwavering belief in the existence of life after death, and that Allah is constantly watching us whatever we do. Ulama' say that there are three celebrations for a true Muslim:
- the day we repent
- the day we have successfully performed the compulsory solah with khusyu', reading the Quran and making sadaqa
- the day we die in khusnul khatimah 

Number Two

Habluminannas -  which means our relationship with people. Our attitude, behaviour and responses towards people is a huge part in Islam for this is our akhlak. There is absolutely no point in worshiping Allah Azza wa Jalla if we do not develop and improve on our relationships with others. 

With some of the jama'ah

Feelings of jealousy, resentment, hostility, revenge and anger towards others is totally unacceptable in Islam. We often hear of this as it is a major part of Islamic teachings, but in this particular session, there was a new facet to it which has not been touched by many ustaz/ah. Dr. Fatma mentioned that we have to be really careful in our choice of words: they (the words we speak) by no means must hurt others even when we have no intention to do that. For example, when visiting the sick, we shouldn't make remarks on how badly they look or frighten and sadden them with stories of deaths and such. Also, body language and facial expressions must be watched so they do not offend or slight others. 

These two criteria weigh heavily during evaluation after our deaths so we must make serious and untiring effort to ensure our relationship with both Allah and people is at its utmost best. Coincidentally, I wanted to study what the factors that made women successful in life were. I observed a few women who had some things in common among them: they are always happy, cheerful and enthusiastic, they are healthy and energetic, and they are blessed with abundance. Through my observation, I saw that these women are extremely altruistic and beneficent. They would go out of the way to help others, and their genuine, sincere, congenial nature is outstanding, masya Allah. Even though they are affluent, they are never condescending or patronizing. They are those who portray the best of both habluminAllah and hablumminnas. 

Even in this life we are able to see the blessings bestowed on them, I cannot imagine the rewards they will receive in the hereafter. I am sure if we seriously focus and work towards this, we all can lead happy and fulfilling lives too, dunya and akhirah, insya Allah. No doubt they have problems like everyone else too, but we don't normally hear them whine or lament about it. I am so syukur to know these women, and may Allah swt continue to bless them and their families with love, baraqah and happiness.

Make Allah happy, and surely, He will make us happy. Aameen.

Be Steadfast and Don't be Afraid

In the Name Of Allah

The Most Gracious and Most Merciful

One of the verses that I love most, of which when I came across it, felt like it was meant for me personally. I had stumbled upon it during a very uncertain period because I was in a transition from practicing colour therapy to Islamic medicine. For doing so, I had received some backlash from a few practitioners and was accused and criticised for betraying the fraternity.  Worse still, at that particular time I was living alone. 

I was sure of my choice, but I just needed a little bit of assurance that not only was I going to the right path, but also be able to sustain what I was set to do. Then came this verse, and Ive never looked back since. 

Surah Fussilat verse 30 translated as:

Verily, those who say: Our Lord is Allah (Alone)," and then they stand firm, on them the angels will descend (at the time of their death) (saying): Fear not nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!

Yet again, Allah promises those who believe, and declare that there is no God but Allah, and he stands by his conviction, the reward of Paradise. What I find most pleasing in this verse is the mention of angels descending upon us, and I take it a little further. It is a fact that Allah sends His angels down for us, His servants and I am immensely comforted by the knowledge that it is not only at the time of our death but all the time, to constantly protect and guide us in everything we do. 

Reciting and holding on to this verse gives me instant strength and courage to face whatever circumstances especially in my line of duty. I know I am never alone and as long as I am steadfast in my belief in Allah, I needn't fear anything. 

Allah, and His angels...they are always near us.