Shahadah in Islam

The only sad part of finding the straight path is when you lose it. There are many ways to fall, but no fall is more tragic than a fall in one's deen . Sometimes it's a sister who decided to take off her hijab and live a different type of life, other times it's a brother who was once active in the community, but got caught up with the wrong crowd. But, with each story, somehow, somewhere along the line, our brothers and sisters fell so far. Sadly, these stories are not uncommon. Sometimes we can't help but look at them and wonder: How? Why? We wonder how someone who was so straight could have gotten so far off the path. In wondering this, we often don't realize that the answer may be simpler than we think. People fall into all types of sin, but there is one sin all these people have in common. There is one common denominator for every individual who lives a life full of sin. Whether that person was once on the straight path and fell, or ...

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded us to do RUKOO’ and SUJOOD perfectly and completely. It was reported from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said : “Do your rukoo’ and sujood perfectly and completely, for by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, I can see you behind me when you do rukoo’ and sujood.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6268; Muslim, 425) __________________________ ________________________ Part of doing rukoo’ and sujood properly and correctly is to BE AT EASE in both. It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that a man entered the mosque and prayed. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sitting in a corner of the mosque, and the man came and greeted him with salaam. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) answered “ Wa ‘alayk (and also upon you). GO BACK AND PRAY, for you have not prayed.” So he we...

Author - Anonymous student of Islamic knowlege with an introduction by Sheik Abdullah Ibn Jibreen {And then there followed after them (the prophets) an evil generation who delayed the prayer and followed their lusts. Soon will they face destruction, except he who repents, affirms his faith and does deeds of righteousness} [Soorah Maryam: 59-60] Introduction Sufficient it is for me to praise Allah and supplicate Him for peace on those servants of His whom he has chosen. To proceed: I have read this letter entitled "Mending the Rift" and found it to be valuable in the choice of its subject matter. Thanks to Allah, the author succeeded in realising the growing tendency of people to miss the Dawn Prayer in congregation inthe mosque. He noticed with dismay that mosques are getting virtually empty of people at that time, except for a few elderly people and some adults who, with Allah's assistance, found their way back into the mosque. Indeed, even a sizeable majority of...

There are five times at which performing prayer is forbidden: 1. The first time starts from the second ( the factual ) time of dawn to sunrise. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: " When the dawn breaks, no prayer is to be performed except the two rak'ahs ( units of prayer ) of the Fajr Prayer ( i.e. the supererogatory rak'ahs of the Fajr prayer.) Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, And other compilers of Hadith Therefore, when the dawn breaks, one should not perform any supererogatory pray except the two rak'ahs of the Fajr prayer. 2. The second time starts from the time of sunrise until the sun reaches the height of a spear in ones sight, above the horizon. 3. The third time starts from the time when the sun is at its height at midday until it passes over the meridian. This time is known as the time when shade stops' i.e. it does not increase nor does it decrease until it starts moving towards the west. 'Uqb...

Merit of the (Optional) Duha (Forenoon) Prayer 1139. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: My Khalil (the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)) directed me to fast three days of each month, and to observe two Rak`ah Duha (optional prayer) at forenoon, and to perform the Witr prayer before going to bed . [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Commentary: " Three days '' can be any three days of a month, but it is better if one opts 13th, 14th and 15th of every lunar month because the Prophet (PBUH) used to observe fasting on these days. This Hadith also highlights the importance of Duha and Witr prayer, and proves the merit of giving counsel persuasion and inducement for virtuous deeds.   1140. Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him)reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, " In the morning, charity is due on every joint bone of the body of everyone of you. Every utterance of Allah's Glorification (i.e., saying Subhan Allah) is an act of...

He remembered his grandmother's warning about praying on time: 'My son, you shouldn't leave prayer to this late time'. His grandmother's age was 70 but, whenever she heard the Adhan, she got up like an arrow and performed Salah. He, however could never win over his ego to get up and pray. Whatever he did, his Salah was always the last to be offered and he prayed it quickly to get it in on time. Thinking of this, he got up and realized that there were only 15 minutes left before Salat-ul Isha. He quickly made Wudhu and performed Salat-ul Maghrib. While making Tasbih, he again remembered his grandmother and was embarrassed by how he had prayed. His grandmother prayed with such tranquillity and peace. He began making Dua and went down to make Sajdah and stayed like that for a while. He had been at work all day and was tired, very tired. He awoke abruptly to the sound of noise and shouting. He was sweating profusely. He looked around. It was very crowded. Every directio...

Reminder Shaykhul Islaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah Reference: Fawaa`id ul Fawaa`id of Ibn ul Qayim - Page 384 There are ten things you will never find benefit in: The First: Knowledge which is void of action. The Second: Actions which are void of sincerity to Allah, and void of exemplification of the Sunnah. (Note: These two conditions constitute the act being accepted by Allah i.e. Ikhlaas and Ittiba`a) The Third: Wealth which is not spent in the way of Allah, so the one who exhausted all of his energy amassing it will not benefit from it in this life, nor will he see the fruits of it in the hereafter. The Fourth: A heart which is void of the love of Allah and the ardent desire to meet him. The Fifth: A body which is void of obedience to Allah. The Sixth: A love for other than Allah which is void of any boundaries. (i.e. unconditional) The Seventh: Time which is void of benefit and the individual does not take advantage of it to do actions which would bring him closer to Allah. The Eigh...

The Registers of Deeds In a hadith narrated by Sayyida Aisha, the Prophet said that all the deeds that we perform are written down in three registers: One register contains the deeds of those who have associated partners with Allah. Allah will not forgive those who commit shirk or polytheism. He forgives all sins except shirk . The second register contains those deeds that Allah will not forgive, unless they have been compensated for. These are the ones between fellow human beings. The third register contains the deeds about our personal duties to Allah. They are the deeds between man and his Creator like Salat and Sawm Allah determines whether they are forgiven or not. The second register of deeds is especially important for us to consider because there is no Divine pardon in cases where personal rights have been violated. Forgiveness can only come from the person concerned - either directly or when Allah makes it possible for that person to grant a pardon. The Prophet...

Interrogation Some Muslims today have gotten into the habit of interrogating their brothers and sisters about matters of faith and law. They ask them questions about the particulars of the Islam creed or some details of various legal ruling, but their intention is not to learn anything. They already know the answers. What they want to do is see if the person they are asking is on the right creed or has adopted the correct position in certain matters of Islamic Law â€" or have the correct "Islamic" attitude about certain issues. A classic example of this is to ask "Where is Allah." Yes, the Prophet (peace be upon him) did once ask a slave girl this question. However, the people who go around with this question on their lips, foisting it on every passer-by, forget that the Prophet...

SLEEP Assalamu alaikum warahmatu lalhi wabarakatuhu! Do you know what happens when you sleep?? Allah says in the Quran: It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed. Verily in this are signs for those who reflect. Quran, Chapter 39 verse 42 This means: every time you sleep, Allah takes your souls, amongst many other souls he takes during sleeping. Then Allah decides who is going to be given another chance. For those who are blessed with another chance, Allah will permit their souls to go back to their bodies, the rest he keeps back from returning to life i.e.they die. This means: each time you go to bed you should never be sure you ...

7 Common mistakes usually we make in prayers Listed below are the 7 Common mistakes usually we make in prayers Mistake 1: Reciting Surat al-Fatiha fast without pausing after each verse. The Prophet (SAW) used to pause after each verse of this surah. (Abu Dawood) Mistake 2: Sticking the arms to the sides of the body, in rukoo' or sujood, and sticking the belly to the thighs in sujood. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: "Let not one of you support himself on his forearms (in sujood) like the dog. Let him rest on his palms and keep his elbows away from his body." (Sahih Muslim) . The Messenger of Allah (SAW) used to keep his arms away from his body during rukoo' and sujood that the whiteness of his armpits could be seen (Sahih Muslim). Mistake 3: Gazing upward during prayer. ...

A Beautiful Hadith Assalam Aleikum, Rasulullah (Sallalloho alaihe Wa-aalay wasallam) said: "When a man dies and his relatives are busy in funeral, there stands an extremely handsome man by his head. When the dead body is shrouded, that man gets in between the shroud and the chest of the deceased. When after the burial, the people return home, 2 angels, Munkar and Nakeer (names of two special Angels), come in the grave and try to separate this handsome man so that they may be able to interrogate the dead man in privacy about his faith. But the handsome man says, "He is my companion, he is my friend. I will not leave him alone in any case. If you are appointed for interrogation, do your job. I cannot leave him until I get him admitted into Paradise". Thereafter he turns to his dead companion and says, "I am the Qura...

REWARDS FOR TARAWEEH DURING RAMADAAN: 1st Night: Almighty Allah forgives all the sins of a momin. 2nd Night: Your sins including your (momin) Father's and Mother's sins are forgiven. 3rd Night: Below the Arash (Allah's throne) there an angel proclaims, "O Momin, make good deeds with sincerity, Allah has forgiven your past sins! 4th Night: You are awarded the sawaab of reading the Thaurat, Injeel,Zaboor and the Quran Majid. 5th Night: You get sawaab equal to that which you would gain if you read your namaaz (prayers)in Masjid Haram, Medina Muna-wara and Masjid Aksa. 6th Night: You gain the sawaab of the Tawaaf made by the 70 000 angels made at Baitul-Mamoor on the 7th sky. 7th Night: You receive the sawaab of those good people who helped Moosa A.S. when he fought Firon and Haman. 8th Night: The reward of the 8th Tharawee are equal to the sawaab awarded to Ebrahim A.S. 9th Night: The rewards of this night of Tharawee are equivalent to the sawaab awarded to our Holy Proph...

Three Common Mistakes made after Prayer Short Description: Three Common Mistakes made after Prayer are part of the great book of shaikh Mash-hoor Hasan Salmaan (Al-Fasl-ul-Mubeen Fee Akhtaa-il-Musalleen). 1. Greeting and Shaking Hands after Prayer: [1] Abu Hurairah ( radyAllaahu 'anhu ) reported that the Prophet ( sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam ) said : "If one of you meets his brother, then he should greet him with Salaam. Then if a tree or a wallor a rock should come between the two of them and then he meets him again, he should greet him with Salaam again." [2] In this hadeeth, the Prophet ( sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam ) has commanded the Muslims, when any of them encounters his Muslim brother to greet him with Salaam. This is because of what the greeting consists of from the growth of unity, eradication of hatred and the bringing about of love. The command in this hadeeth is only a recommendation, meaning it is strongly advised and encouraged, and not oblig...