Tarbiya 84: Antagonists of Ikhlas

يسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والحمدلله لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين

In the name of God, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate.
All praise and thanks be to God, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of Prophets and Messenger.

Sincerity in all we do is a commandment of Allah:
“Say, ‘Indeed my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. No partner has He. And this I have been commanded and I am the first among you of the Muslims.‘” -Surah al-An-aam ayat 162-163

“And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, sincere to Him in religion, inclining towards truth and to establish the prayer and to give Zakah. That is the correct Deen.” Surah Bayyinah ayah 5

Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjaani (may Allah have Mercy on him) defined Ikhlas as “not seeking any audience for your deeds other than Allah.”
Ikhlas is to make drawing closer to Allah one’s only goal in an act of worship, without seeking a worldly benefit or to tell people.

We’re warned throughout the Qur’an and Sunnah to have sincerity in the Tawheed (oneness) of Allah, sincerity in our intentions, sincerity in our Tawakkul (placing of trust and reliance) in Allah, sincerity in our worship (i.e. salah, sujood, du’a, siyaam/fasting, Hajj, zakah, sadaqah, tawba, recitation of al-Qur’an, etc.) and sincerity in all our actions and words.

Read Full Post »

Tarbiya 83: Decision-making and Istikhara

يسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والحمدلله لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين
In the name of God, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate
All praise and thanks be to God, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of Prophets and Messenger

Making decisions is something that we encounter everyday, from the littlest things to making career choices. As muslims, we know that we must reflect and think deeply about how we go about our daily lives. We know that we must have taqwaa (God consciousness) and this must be reflected in our actions. Often it is easy to make the really huge decisions, such as the direction that we want our careers and lives to go in general, but our lives, what we really encounter are the smaller, but nevertheless significant decisions, that we encounter everyday. Ones that can lead to later implications, for example taking up a position that may require commitment that you are unsure of, or deciding where you need to be most.

Decision-making can be hard, for some more than others. The beauty of Islam is that it gives us a remedy to this through the prayer of istikharah, which should rid us of indecisiveness. Yet we are also reminded of the importance of making reasoned decisions; because, to put simply, decisions lead to consequences.

Istikhaarah in Arabic means seeking guidance to make a decision concerning things that are permissible. The scholars are unanimously agreed that the prayer of Istikhaarah is Sunnah.

Read Full Post »

Tarbiya 24: Time but not after time

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I realize that this is a difficult time for all of us. Our brothers and sisters are literally bleeding to death and we feel powerless. But we know inshaAllah that the righteous will be victorious. We cannot become obsessed but we must not become complacent. We must not neglect our duties to ourselves, and to the Ummah. We need to be patient, we need to have faith, we need to take advantage of what Allah has given us because in Gaza, they cannot. InshaAllah the recently massacred spent their lives wisely. In addition to writing to our newspapers, rallying for peace and giving to emergency funds, perhaps the best way to spend our time now is by making dua. Make dua for Gaza, for Afghanistan, for Somalia, for Iraq, for Sudan, for peace. Bukhari & Muslim relate: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” The wonderful quote on our wonderful Isoc hoodies should also guide us to spend our time not just complaining, but actively pursuing change. At the same time, make good use of this month of Muharram, as it is the holiest month only second to Ramadan. When Allah (saw) asks us what we did during this crisis, let’s not have to say that we watched our favorite television series, deferred our responsibilities to others, or prioritized ourselves first.

Read Full Post »

Tarbiya 22: Re-energize your faith!

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والحمدلله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate

All praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of the Prophets and Messengers
We all go through periods when we feel as though our eman, our faith, is at its peak. We are constantly in the remembrance of Allah, we have a cheery disposition with people, and the tears flow when we are praying. And it seems as though this feeling will never go away.

At other times, our eman is at a low. We can’t remember the last time we fully focused on our prayers, doing things for others becomes a burden and our du’as become shorter and less desperate. What’s up with that?

Read Full Post »