10 + 3 blessed days

Dr. Suhaib Hasan and Dr. Fazal Elahi are Professors at International Islamic University, Islamabad.

Some young and muttaqi friends came to my house and told me Dr. Fazal Elahi leads the prayers at Minarul Huda in G-10. So today I searched for the masjid, and prayed the Jumma Salat there.

The masjid:

Masjid Minarul Huda is a no frills mosque, except perhas a simple design of its bookshelf doors. It is simple, solid, and functional. It has a hall with 21/22 musallas in each row. The height of the hall for the first 4 rows is 22-24 feet. The hall is double storied for the 3 rows following these. There are some rows in the open courtyard to the right as well.

It has a separate entrance leading up to the stairs, which most likely is for females. The stairs lead to a first floor hall which has skylights in the internal section, and may have windows for the outside, so the females can hear the imam, but there is no visual communication. The masjid is still under construction.

The imam:

Dr. Fazal Elahi is a renowned scholar who has written several books, including the history of Makkah, Madina Munawara, and the Masjide Nabawi. He has other books to his credit, the names I forget now, but maybe DarusSalam has published these.

He is the younger brother of the late Allama Ihsan Elahi Zaheer, the scholar-politician who was martyred by political terrorists in 1987.

I will insha`Allah pray the Eidul Azha with him.

The Jammat today:

I was wrongly told the khutba would start earlier, so when I entered, there were very few brothers, who were all busy reading the Quran. First I said the masnoon tahayyatul masjid, then picked up a copy of the Quran, and read Surah Kahf.

In the meantime I noticed that every bother who entered, said "asaalmau alykum", one went so far as to say "assalamu alaykum was rehmatullahe wa barakatuhu". That I have not encountered anywhere else, as there are others praying the nawafil, or reading the Quran. What is the right thing to do in a masjid. Should one disturb others by Salaam, or not offer the salaam?

Most had the masnoon beard, a full one, in various colors, reflecting the varying ages of the wearers of beard.

Most offered the tahiyyatul masjid (two nawafil).

The khutba was precise, to the point, and pure Quran and Sunnah.

Gist of the khutba:

These blessed days will begin here today or tomorrw (from 30th Nov.2008 here). The hadith narrated by Abdulla ibne Abbas and collected in Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, and ibne Maja says these are days in which whatever good deed is done exceeds any good deeds done on any other days.

What is to be done, asked the Sahaba.

Say alHamdulillah, La ilaha illah, Allahu akbar

Fast on 9th dhilHajj (yawm arafa), but see the Ahadeeth below

Make sacrifice on 10th dhil Hajj

And for these ten days, no cutting of hair or clipping of nails for the person who intends to make sacrifice.

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The lesson:

No time to lose now.

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Thirteen Blessed Days
by
Muhammad al-Jibaly


Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem
With Allah's bounty, we are at the doors of very blessed days for both the hajeej (pilgrims) and the residents. So we should know the Sunnah regarding these days in order to make the best out of them.

I.The First Ten Days of Dthul-Hijjah:
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1. Ibn Abbas (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said: "There are no other days on which good deeds are more beloved to Allah than on these (Ten) Days" He was asked: "Not even Jihaad in Allah's way?" He replied: "Not even Jihaad in Allah's way; except for a person who went out (for Jihaad) with his self and wealth and came back with none (i.e., lost all for Allah)." [Al-Bukhaaree, ...]

2. Ibn Umar (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said: "There are no other days that are greater before Allah (T), or that good deeds are more beloved to Him in them, than these Ten Days, so say in plenty Tahleel (laa ilaaha illa 'Llaah), Takbeer (Allahu Akbar), and Tahmeed (al-Hamdu lillaah)." [Ahamd & at-Tabarani; authentic]

3. In Tafseer of the aayah {And to mention and remember Allah's Name [plentifully] on known days} [al-Hajj 28], Ibn Abbas said: "These are the Ten Days." [Ibn Katheer]

4. Ibn Umar and Abu Hurairah used to go out to the market places on the Ten Days making Takbeer. And people used to say Takbeer too based on their action. [al-Bukhaaree].

5. Hafsah (R) said: "There are four acts that the Messenger of Allah (S) never stopped to do: Fasting on Aashooraa, on the Ten Days, and three days of every month, and to pray two rak'aat before the morning prayer." [Ahmad & an-Nasaa'ee; authentic]

6. One of the wives of the Prophet (S) said: "Allah's Messenger (S) used to fast the (first) nine days of Dthil Hijjah, the Day of 'Aashooraa', and three days of each month." [Sahih Abi Dawud by al-Albaani]

7. Fasting on all these days, however, is not a waajib or a sunnah that the Messenger (S) was striclty constant in it. Aaishah (R) said: "I never saw the Messenger (S) fasting the Ten Days." [Muslim]

8. It is reported that once the Ten Days started, Sa'eed bin Jubair used to exert very excessively (in worshiping Allah) that it was almost beyond his capability.

II. The Day of 'Arafah:
-----------------------
1. Abu Qatadah reported that the Messenger (S) said: "Fasting the Day of 'Arafah expiates the sins of two years: past one and coming one. And fasting the Day of 'Aashooraa' expiates the sins of the past year." [Muslim, ...]

2. Aaishah (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said: "There is no day on which Allah (T) frees people from the Fire as He does on the Day of 'Arafah. He comes close and then He boasts to His angels: 'What are these people seeking?'" [Muslim, an-Nasaa'ee, Ibn Maajah]

III. The Ruling of the Udhiyah (Sacrifice):
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1. Suurat ul-Kawthar ((... For Your Lord Pray and offer Sacrifice ...))

2. ((Say: my salaah, sacrifice, life, and death are for Allah the Lord of the peoples. He has no Partners, with this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the believers.)) [al-An`aam 6:162-163]

3. Abu Hurairah (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said: "He who has the capacity but chooses not to sacrifice may not approach our prayer place (on Eed)." [Ibn Maajah, Ahmad, ..; authentic]

4. Anas reported that the Messenger (S) said: "He who slaughtered before the prayer (of Eed) has only slaughtered for himself. But the one who did it after the prayer has indeed completed his sacrifice and conformed with the Sunnah of the Muslims." [Al-Bukhaaree]

5. Al-Baraa' reported that the Messenger (S) said: "The first thing that we do on this day (al-Adhaa) is to pray. Then we go back and slaughter. The one who does this has indeed complied with our Sunnah, but the one who slaughtered earlier had only gotten some (regular) meat for his household, which does not count as sacrifice in the least." [Al-Bukharee & Muslim]

6. The one who cannot afford to sacrifice has been covered by the Messenger (S) who sacrificed for those who did not sacrifice in his Ummah, as was reported by Jaabir. [abu Dawud, at-Tirmidthi, ...; authentic:Irwa ul-ghaleel]

IV. Some Sunan and Regulations:
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1. Umm Salamah (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said: "The one who has a slaughtering to slaughter (on Eed) then, once the hilaal of Dthil Hijjah is observed, he should not cut any of his hair or nails until he sacrifices." [Muslim, ...]

2. Anas (R) reported that the Messenger of Allah (S) sacrificed two rams of beautiful (dark) eyes and large horns. He slaughtered them himself, putting his foot on the side of the kneck, and saying: "Bismillah, wallahu Akbar." [Al-Bukharee and Muslim.]

3. Aaishah (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said to her: "Give me the knife." Then he said: "Sharpen it against a stone." Then He took it, laid down the ram, and slaughtered it saying: "Bismillaah. O Allah, accept from Muhammad, Muhammad's family, and Muhammad's Ummah." And thus he sacrificed it.

4. The Messenger (S) first prohibited saving any of the Sacrifice's meat, to benefit poor people. Then permitted it saying: "Eat (from the meat), save, and give as Sadagqh." [Al-Bukharee & Muslim]

5. It can be done on any of the three days (Days of Tashreeq) following the Eed. Jubair bin Mut'im (R) reported that the Messenger (S) said: "All the Days of Tashreeq are slaughtering days." [Ahmad, Ibn Hibban, etc. Good in its collective chains of narrators]

6. Ibn Umar said: "The days of slaughtering are the day of adhaa and the two days following it." [Al-Muwatta'; Authentic]

V. The Three Days of Tashreeq:
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1.'Uqbah bin Aamir said the the Messenger (S) said: "The day of 'Arafah, the day of slaughtering, and the days of Tashreeq are our Eed - Muslim people. They are days of eating and drinking." [Abu Dawud; authentic]

2. 'Amr bin al-'Aas said: "These days (the Days of Tashreeq) are the days that the Messenger (S) used to order us to eat on them and to prohibit us from fasting them." [Abu Dawud; authentic]

3. Nuhaishah al-Hudthali said that the Messenger (S) said: "The Days of Tashreeq are days of eating, drinking, and mentioning Allah." [Muslim, Ahmad]

4. Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (S) said: "The Days of Minaa are days of eating and drinking." [At-Tahaawi & Ahmad; as-Saheehah 1282 by al-Albaani]

Wa Salla 'Llaahu 'alaa Muhammad.

anxiety and sorrow

1. Supplication for anxiety and sorrow

makedua.com dua34

‘O Allaah, I am Your servant, son of Your servant, son of Your maidservant, my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You name Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You, that You make the Qur’aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety.

Jamae (encompassing) dua, said in jalasa

this dua is said in between prostrations during the Salah, but it can be said on other occassions as well.

‘O Allaah, forgive me, have mercy upon me, guide me, enrich me, give me health, grant me sustenance and raise my rank.’

Telawah - prostration

‘My face fell prostrate before He who created it and brought forth its faculties of hearing and seeing by His might and power. << So Blessed is Allaah, the best of creators.>>’

on hearing the adhan ...

What happens to you when you hear the adhan, especially when you are outside the mosque and you hear it on the loudspeaker. I guess in Western countries the adhan on the mike is forbidden, so many there would not know the feeling I have on hearing it.

I said in a post that I went to Karachi in 1977 from London. There:

I met my mother, siblings and assorted nephews and nieces, handed over the keys of my suitcase to my youngest sister, ate what mother had prepared for me, took a shower and changed.

I was about to lie down to rest when I heard it:

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar

Allah is Great, Allah is Great
meaning: "Allah is the Greatest, or Allah is the Great One"
(As I heard it, it registered with me how much I had missed this declaration. Yes indeed Allah is the Greatest, nay Allah is the Only Great One.)

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar

Ash-hadu anla ilaha illallah
meaning: "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah"
(Allah is derived from al-ilaha, the God, the One and Only God)

Ash-hadu anla ilaha illallah

Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah
meaning: "I bear witness that Muhammad (sallahu alaehi wa sallam) is His (last) Prophet

Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah

Hayya alas-salah
meaning: "Come to offer prayers"
(Lahawla wa la quwwata illa billah
There is no power to do good or to refrain from bad except through the Power of Allah)

Hayya alas-salah

Hayya alal-falah
meaning: "Come to Salvation"
(Lahawla wa la quwwata illa billah
There is no power to do good or to refrain from bad except through the Power of Allah)

Hayya alal-falah

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar

La ilaha illal-lah
meaning: "There is no God but Allah"
(Indeed there is no God but Him!)

As I finished answering the adhan, I recalled that we are to make this dua:
Allahumma Rabba hazehid-Dawatitta`mma
WasSalatil Qaaima
Aati Muhammada nil waseelata wal fadilah
Wabhashu maqamam mahmoodanilladhi wa`adtah


Hearing the adhan, I felt strangely empowered. This feeling lasted for more than 25 years. Any time I was down, all I had to wait for was the time of the adhan, and I would hear it, and all worries, all weights on my shoulders would be lifted. Allah is Great, so what do I have to worry about? It is only in the last three or so years that on hearing the adhan, I no longer feel that internal strength to face anything in the world. Maybe it is the age, maybe I need to rejuvinate my faith.

I wouldn't exchange hearing, answering the adhan and this feeling of empowerment for a trillion dollars.

Surah Fateha amal for problems or needs

When there is an problem, particularly life-threatening one, like an illness, operation, accident, etc. here is an amal that is based on Surah Fatiha.

Between the Sunnah and the Fard rakaahs of the Fajr prayers,

start with duroode Ibrahimi, at least once, or in odd numbers

Say Surah Fateha 41 times, together with ta3awwudh and bismillah, every time

Say duroode Ibrahimi again (the number of times you said at the beginning)

Then blow your breath on the sick person, or the one with problems. (It could be you).

No other word is to be spoken. No diversion for other tasks.

Repeat for 40 days.

It has been used in my family, for very serious problems of health, with very satisfactory results, alHamdulillah.

I have seen it in Hafiz Rehmani's book.

monetary problems, debts

after every fard prayer,please say the following three times:

اللهم اكفني بحلالك عن حرامك، و اغنني بفضلك عمن سواك

Allahummakfini bi halalika an haramika, wa aghnini bifadlika 3amman siwak

O Allah! make it sufficient for me through the halal (permitted) means, and make me indpendent through Your bounty of everyone except Yourself

aameen

The Kaaba - an old (?) view

dua for loss or tragedy

duas for loss or tragedy

duas


I hope mutmainaa2 does not mind this clipping.

Here is a dua:


when a tragedy strikes: Umme Salama's husband was a very good man. When he died leaving behind small children, she was grieved. The Propeht (saw came to offer condolence, and asked her to recite this dua. She did, but thought: "I am old and with children. How can I get a better husband than Abu Salama?"

After the Iddah, the prophet (saw) proposed to her, and she was married to the best man ever.

insoluble problems, and the cure

Why do we suffer from almost insoluble problems, and what is the cure?

This is in the light of my experiences and something of the deen that I remember.

· What happens is almost always due to one’s own mistakes. E.g. we say something that becomes a wish for hard times, or at least expresses our readiness to brave such times. I give here an example from my life. I was not given a directorship, and I said I don’t care, I don’t need or want it. Result: I never got it at my place of work. Similarly I was denied promotion many times, in the initial stages, when I was bypassed for promotion, I said haughtily: “So what, I do not care. I have fifteen years before I retire, I can wait.” Result: I got my promotion just before retirement. I was reminded of this statement of mine when I retired, and I had never given a thought to what I had said.

So it was for health, for housing, for anything that I suffered from, or was not able to get, I expressed disdain. Result: I either did not get it, or got is very late in life. And this is true of matters pertaining to the deen, too. When I came back to Pakistan, I said I would Islamise my life gradually. It has been very, very slow. Result: Despite my age, I have a very long way to go compared to others.

A friend’s wife had a stroke of partial paralysis, and was hospitalized. Whe we visited her, she confided that she had been praying that whatever punishment she was likely to get in the Hereafter, she wished to get it in this world. I told her this was precisely what a Shahabi had wished, and became severely ill. The Prophet :swas: visited him and told him something like: Subhanallah, you do not have the strength to endure such hardship. Why didn’t you ask Allah for forgiveness.”

Moral & suggestion: Do not express disdain. Keep thanking Allah for His fanours, and keep asking Him for more of them. None of us can do without.

And make Istaghfaar - lots of it.