Don't Lose Hope

In Surah Zumar, Allah addresses His slaves in two different ayahs. In ayah 10, He says:

"Say: Oh My servants who believe! Fear your Lord. Good is the reward for those who do good deeds in this world. Spacious is Allah's earth! Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!"

In ayah 53 He says:

"Say: Oh My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."

Allah is addressing His slave in both of these ayaat, but He is addressing two different types of slaves. In this first example, He says "Oh My servants who believe!"

يَا عِبَادِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

He is speaking to those who are believers, those who already have taqwa and have already surrendered themselves to Allah.



 In the second example, Allah says "Oh My servants who have transgressed their souls!"

يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ

Allah is speaking to His servant who have wronged themselves and are falling into sin, and have not yet fully submitted themselves to Him. 

Notice the difference in the word servant in these two ayaat. When talking to the believers, He uses عِبَادِ  and when He is speaking to the transgressors He uses عِبَادِيَ . Both words in Arabic still mean "my slaves", but they are in different statuses. The kasra on the last letter in عِبَادِ  still denotes the posessive "my", but it is lacking the يَ and is less possessive. The believers already know that they are the slaves of Allah. For the servants who sin, عِبَادِيَ shows that Allah is subtly saying, no matter how much you have sinned, you are still MY slave, so don't lose hope from the Mercy of Allah. Allah is assuring them that repentance is still possible.

There are two extremes when it comes to the Mercy of Allah. There are the defeatists who think they are too evil to earn any forgiveness from Allah and they think there is no point in repentance. And are those who use Allah's Mercy as a crutch and think they can do whatever they want and that Allah will forgive all their sins. Your sins cannot be bigger than Allah's Mercy. At the same time, you have to make sincere effort to stop sinning and do everything you can to remove yourself from what would make you to continue sinning.

How do we know as Muslims where we fall in earning His Mercy? How do we know that we're doing "ok"? The answer is that we don't know. We have to keep trying our best and never be comfortable with where we are at.

But how we spend our time is a good indication of where we are at with Allah.


May Allah make us among the Mu'mineen.

Don't Settle for the Bare Minimum

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَوَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ ﴿٩﴾

And those who strictly guard their prayers. These will be the heirs, who will inherit Paradise: they will dwell therein forever. (Chapter 23, verse 9-11)

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ ﴿٣٤﴾  

And those who guard their prayer. Such will be the honored ones in the Gardens. (Chapter 70, verse 34-35). 

At first glance, these two ayahs look the same. They are describing the characteristics of those who will enter paradise; specifically those who guard their salah. If you go solely from translation, these ayahs are basically saying the same thing.

Wrong. Take a closer look.

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَوَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ 

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ 

In the first ayah, Allah is talking about the characteristic of a Mu'min (from Surah Mu'minoon), as one who guards his salawaat. In the second ayah, Allah is talking about a characteristic of a Musalli, as one who guards his salaah.

A Mu'min is not the same thing as a Musalli, and their characteristics would not be the same either. A Mu'min is at a higher level than that of a Muslim. A Mu'min and a Muslim are both believers, but the  degree of faith of a Mu'min is much higher and in how much they strive to please Allah. A Musalli is one who prays (one who does Salah). All Muslims should be Musalleen. However there are varying levels, some have lower levels of faith and others have higher levels of faith.

So obviously, Allah would not describe a Mu'min to have the same characteristic as that of a Musalli. What is the difference between the two? Why does Allah say that the Mu'min guards his salawaat, and a Musalli guards his salah?

In arabic, if there are two versions of a word, the version that has more letters means more. So a Mu'min guards his salawaat: he does more than just the essential five prayers. A mu'min will pray the sunnah, nawaafil, tahajjud. He will be in the highest gardens of paradise.

A Musalli guards his salah. The word for prayer is shorter, and connotates that he does the essential acts of worship. A Musalli will make wudu properly, face the qiblah when he prays, and prays his prayers on time. Doing all these things does not make you a Mu'min. Doing all these things is just what makes you Musalli, and all that really means is that you barely escape from the burning fire. It is the bare minimum.

On the Day of Judgement, if there is a lack of any of our fard salah, then Allah will look at our sunnah salah and take those to fill in the gaps of what is missing from our fard. The sunnah prayers protect our fard prayers. If we only pray the fard salah, then when our imaan starts to slip, as iman always goes up and down, then the first thing to suffer will be the fard salah. But if we pray our sunnah salah regulary, then when we begin to slip and our iman is suffering, it is only the sunnah salah that begins to suffer. Our Sunnah salah is a sheild for our fard salaah.

Don't settle for the bare minimum.





Update: Salaah literally means "connection".

Allah's Mercy- Surah Fatiha Part 3

"Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem" (Surah Fatiha Verse 2)

Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem are two names of Allah that stem from mercy. It is usually translated as “The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.” They both sound similar; what is the distinction between the two? Why are they used one after the other?

When two words are close to each other and similar in meaning, it is to highlight the differences between the two. When two similar words are found apart from each other they can mean the same thing, when they are found close to one another they mean different things.

Ar-Rahman linguistically means mercy that is extreme, temporary, and immediate. For example, thirst is also extreme, temporary (until you do something to remove it), and immediate. Anger is also temporary, extreme, and immediate.

When you say somebody is merciful, its is a quality that person tends to have. When you say that somebody is being merciful, it is immediate. If you are in trouble, you are only soothed if the person has the quality NOW. If you are waiting for a friend and he tends to be punctual, you are still not going to be soothed until you see his car pulling in to pick you up. He could still be late. You wan't to know for sure that he will be punctual today, and now.

Ar-Raheen has the quality of mercy that is dormant. It doesn't necessarily imply action taking place. It implies mercy that is constant and long lasting.

Allah is telling us He is Ar-Rahman to secure our immediate concerns. We know that Allah is merciful, but we want to know that He will shower His mercy on us at this very moment because we are in dire need of it. And He is also telling us that He is Ar-Raheem to secure our future concerns. We want to know that Allah will continue to shower His mercy on us. Allah has covered mercy in all possible ends.

Ibn Abbas said about this ayah that Ar-Rahman is for the creatures of this world (immediate mercy), and Ar-Raheem is for the aakhirah (a constant, long lasting mercy for the hereafter).

The reason Allah uses the name Ar-Rahman in Suratur Rahman is because He mentions specific instances and situations in which He is Ar-Rahman, because the blessings that He has given us in this life are immediate and temporary. It will remain there unless there something to remove it, such as His anger.

In the third verse, Allah says that He is Maaliki Yawmiddeen; Owner and King of the Day of Judgement. He adds this to balance out His Mercifulness and remind His slaves that even though He is the Most Merciful, we are still accountable on the Day of Judgement. Some Muslims have started to develop a way of thinking that even if we sin, it is okay and Allah will forgive us.

Allah's mercy is unfathomable. If you compare Allah's mercy to an ocean that is wild, raging, and unpredictable, that is Ar-Rahman. And you can compare his mercy to a calm and peaceful ocean, that is Ar-Raheem. We cannot fathom an ocean that has both qualities at once. That is Allah's mercy. We cannot comprehend it.

Accepting Allah as Rabb- Fatiha Part 2

We already talked about in detail of the meaning of Alhamdulillah from the first ayah of Surah Fatiha in a previous post. The ayah continues  رب العالمين, Rabbil 'Alameen, which is often translated as "Lord of the Worlds".

Some of the names of Allah point to a relationship- somebody at the other end- and some don't. For example, خالق (Khaaliq), which means Creator, points to a creation at the other end. To better understand our Creator, we look at the creation around us. There is a phrase in arabic which means, "We know things by their opposites."

The meaning of the word رب Rabb, roughly translated as Master, can be better understood when we study its opposite: عبد ('Abd). An 'abd has two meanings included: 'aabid is one who is engaged in worship; in other words a worshipper. An 'abeed is somebody who is enslaved.

Slavery is something you are entrenched in; it is a state of being. On the other hand, a worshipper is identified by an act; somebody may be a worshipper at 3:00 but may not be a worshipper by 4:00. A slave is going to do what the master wants whenever the master wants it- he has given up his free will. Sadly, it is possible for a muslim to be a devout worshipper, but still not see themselves as slaves of Allah and realize that they have to completely submit their free will to Him. Many of us have accepted Allah as the Master but we still have not given up our free will to Him and given ourselves away as slaves. 'Abd is someone who is a worshipper and a slave.

Characteristics of Slavery (as thought of generally, not as it related to slavery to Allah):

1. Coerced
2. Humiliating
3. Slave dreams of freedom
4. Hates the Master
5. Master is oppressive
6. Master is unfair
7. Master is not worthy of genuine praise and thanks

When you compare slavery to the characteristics of Slavery to Allah, you see that it is far superior to be the slave of Allah than anything else:

1. Slavery is coerced. When you become the slave of something in the dunya, you are forced to do it even though you do not want to. Slavery Allah has given us the choice to obey or disobey Him. We live this life as we wish and will face the consequences in the next life. When a slave sees all of the favors Allah has given Him, he wants to enslave himself to Allah to continue benefitting from His Mercy. 
2. In slavery to Allah, the believer finds honor. Allah will raise your rank on the Day of Judgement and with Jannah. In slavery to anyone else, one finds humiliation. For example, people find themselves becoming slaves of certain brand names. If one cannot even afford expensive brands, he MUST buy it because if not, he will not find the approval of others. He is humiliated by being the slave of consumerism. 
3. Slavery to Allah leads to real freedom- paradise. Be enslaving yourself to Allah, you free yourself from others' shackles Slavery to fashion, one's body, one's own entertainment, or consumer society is not really freedom at all. A slave in this world will dream of freedom- when he no longer has to be a slave. A true slave of Allah dreams of a day he will become a better slave. 
4. A master is oppressive. A master will immediately punish his slave for mistakes. Allah allows us to talk, walk, and roam the earth even though we are sinning constantly. Allah can wipe us away in a moment. However He continues to shower us with blessings.
5. A master is unfair. Not only does Allah us allow is to live and enjoy this life, but if we lie, you don't see a bolt of lighting come down from the sky and cut your tongue off. In fact, He tells us that if we ask for forgiveness, He will convert our bad deeds into good deeds.
6. A master is not worthy of genuine praise and thanks. But all of the above qualities is what makes Allah a Master worthy of all genuine praise and thanks. 

Definition of Rabb: الرب هو المالك و السيد و المربي والمنعم و القيم

Al-Maalik, As-Sayyid, Al-Murabbi, Al-Mun'im, Al-Qayyim

• مالك Maalik- He is the Owner (more to come in a following post)
• السيد As-Sayyid- He is in charge. He does what He wants, whenever he wants. One may own a car, but he or she may not be able to drive it they way they want, or tint it the way they want. If one owns a house, it doesn't mean they can add on to it or remove whatever they want; they have to get special permits and permission. You cannot even do your yard the way you want. But Allah's ownership is different, you cannot ask Him why He did something a certain way because who are we to ask?
• المربي Al-Murabbi- He ensures our growth. Our growth and development is in His hands. Unlike us, we may own our houses but we may not even take care of our backyards. 
• المنعم Al-Mun'im- He gives us gifts. Allah doesn't pay us for everything we do because we are His slaves, we have  to do it. Everything Allah gives us are gifts, and they are priceless. For what price are you willing to give up your eyes, arm, or legs? We do not deserve these gifts. Some of us may think we are entitled to everything we have, and if we do not get something that we want, or one of us is born with a birth defect, we must realize that it was never ours to begin with. Those who understand what Rabb means and accept Allah as the Rabb will not complain.
• القيوم Al-Qayyim- He takes care of our survival. We are where we are today because of Him.

If you want to sum up the message of the entire Qur'an, it is this: Accept Allah as the Master; We are His slaves. 

Oaths in the Qur'an

Allah swears by many things in the Qur'an (the sun, the moon, the pen, etc.), which makes these things important. Do you ever wonder why Allah swears by these things? What do they have to do with the verses following it? Let's take a look at the purposes of oaths:

Purposes of Oaths (in any language):

1. Expression of anger (I swear you better stop!)

2. Validation for testimony (I swear to tell the truth)

3. To remove skepticism (I swear there was traffic)

Purposes of Oaths in Classical Arabic:

4. To draw the attention of an audience.

• The arabs usually swear by something important to the listener (I swear by your horse!)

The Purpose of Oaths in the Qur'an:

5. The object of an oath is evidence or testimony for the subject of the oath.

• For example, Suratul 'Asr begins

 By time         والعصر   

  For sure, man is in loss.    ان الانسان لفي خسر

The object of the oath is time.

The subject of the oath is the loss of humans. 

How do you understand the placement of the oath? You look at the subject of the oath. Time has to do with why humans are in loss, and it serves as evidence as to why humans are in loss (except for those believe, and do good deeds, and who push each other to the truth and patience to do good).

Let us look at another example:

Surah At-Teen (The Fig)


1. By the Fig and the Olive
2. And the Mount of Sinai
3. And this City of security

What is Allah talking about? Why did Allah choose to swear by these things? We have to look at The subject of the oath:

4. We have indeed created man in the best form.

In today's society, if you tell somebody that humans have been created in the best of forms, they will probably disagree with you and point to all of the evil surrounding you: wars, rape, domestic violence, robberies, murders, political corruption, etc.

But Allah is swearing by these objects that indeed, man has been created in the best form. What do the objects have to do with the oath? The fig is associated with Prophet Nuh, because the area where his ship landed was known for its figs. The olive is associated with Prophet Isa because Jerusalem was known for the olive. In Arabic you point to a region by the produce it is known for. And Mount Sinai is associated with Prophet Musa. The city of security is referring to Makkah, which is associated with both Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them all).

These five Prophets are called Uloo Al-Azam- they are the greatest Prophets who are known to have been tested greatly and have strong will and perseverance. The object of Allah's oaths are referring to them, and they are attesting to the oath that man has been created in the best of forms. What better example can Allah give to show us how much potential humans have, than the five greatest Prophets to walk the earth?

But for those who do not recognize it, and who do not believe in the message,

5. Then we have reduced him to the lowest of the low.


6. Except those who believe and do good deeds, they will have a never ending reward. 

              

Surah Fatiha

Today we did a "brief" dissection of the first phrase in the beginning of the Qur'an, in Surah Al-Fatiha, "الحمد لله".

الحمد لله (Alhamdulillahi) is usually translated as "All praise belongs to Allah". But it is not only praise.

1.  حمد (Hamd) is actually a combination of the meaning of three words: مدح (Madhun), ثناء (Thanaa'un), and شكر (Shukrun).

• Madhun is praise, Thanaa-un means over the top excessive praise, and Shukrun means thanks or gratitude. Hamd encompasses all three of these meanings, because what you praise is not necessarily what you thank and vice versa. If you see a nice car in the parking lot, you may praise it, but you don't start thanking it. In the same way, Prophet Musa acknowledged that the Pharaoh is the one who raised him and thanked him for that, but he never praised the Pharaoh, because nothing that the Pharaoh does is praiseworthy. So translating Hamd as praise is simply not enough, because it is both thanks and praise.
• Madhun (praise) and Thanaa-un (over the top praise) can both be fake; it is not necessarily genuine. You can praise a boss or a teacher. Hamd, on the other hand, is genuine.
• Madhun and Thanaa-un can also both be used for non living things. Hamd, however, can only be applied to living things.
• Shukrun (thanks) is when you realize that someone has done a favor and you thank the person for it. It relies on the one thanking. Shukr does not exist unless the person receiving the favor does not realize it. Hamd can be used to thank for everything that we realize, as well as everything we do not realize. 
• Hamd is also thanking Allah for everything, whether it be good or bad, health or sickness, everything that Allah does is praiseworthy whether we see the good in it or not.

2. This is the first thing Allah describes Himself as. Out of the many other names and attributes that He could have chosen, Allah chose this to introduce Himself because this is what we should think of when we think of Him.

3.  حمد is an idea; an intangible. Allah could have phrased it in a different way, such as the verb form نحمد (Nahmadu) meaning "We praise and show gratitude?" Why not "We do Hamd of Allah" instead of "Hamd belongs to Allah"?

• "We do Hamd to Allah" mentions "us"; if we are not there, then the Hamd ceases to exist as well. The ball would be in our court.
• "Hamd belongs to Allah" is timeless and unlimited. It does not depend on anyone or anything.

4. Sometimes we hear ان الحمد لله (Innal Hamdulillah), such as at the beginning of a khutba. What is the difference between that and the "Alhamdulillah" that Allah uses in the beginning of the Surah?

• What does ان mean? Usthaadh Nouman doesn't like to use old timey English to translate it into "Verily" because quite frankly, when was the last time you used that word in everyday English? So he said, let's translate it as "mos def", or "for sure", whichever you like. Wouldn't adding "For sure, all Hamd belongs to Allah" make it sound stronger? Why didn't Allah do that?
• To explain this next point I have to mention the two types of sentences in Arabic: Jumlal khabriyya, which communicates information and must be either true or false, and Jumlal Inshaa-iyya, which communicates sentiment. 
• Alhamdulillah can either be fact or sentiment; Allah has allowed it to encompass both. When we say Alhamdulillah, it is something we can feel as well.
• When the khateeb says "Innal Hamdulillah", it is only said as a fact, something that is taught.

5.  In Surah Jaathiya, Allah also says "لله الحمد" (Lillahil Hamd), meaning "To Allah Hamd belongs". We also say this in the takbeeraat on Eid day. What is the difference between saying this, and saying "Hamd belongs to Allah," and why did Allah choose to put them where they are in their respective chapters?

• "To Allah Hamd belongs" is abnormal sentence structure, even in Arabic. This shows exclusivity. It communicates the meaning "only" into the sentence to mean "ONLY to Allah does Hamd belong". It means that Hamd belongs to Allah... and nobody else. This is used with somebody who is arguing with you. Surah Jaathiya is a debate with those who do Shirk and worship other in addition to Allah. This phrase was also being chanted by the Muslims when the Ka'bah was being cleansed of the idols. It is a statement of defiance. 
• "Hamd belongs to Allah" is normal sentence structure, and Surah Fatiha is speaking to those with Fitrah and there is no need to argue with someone that already agrees with you.

The Qur'an is perfect. Its perfection is more clear when compared to what is imperfect, and we are able to appreciate better.

Knowledge

Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda said something very important today. He said that the first and foremost reason we are here to gain knowledge is to apply it. If we have come from miles and miles away, leaving our homes, families, spouses, and friends, and learned everything from the program, but it has no effect on the way we deal with our family, with other people, or even with the way we drive, we have failed. We are failures.

Our intention should not be to become a rockstar imam or speaker. Our intention should be to better ourselves and our character.

"Knowledge is not that which is memorized; it is that which benefits."




I mentioned before that there is a goal I had recently which was not falling through. Well alhamdulillah this week everything as come together for me and I will be able to accomplish that goal once the Dream program is over. Allah has a time and place for everything, and as muslims it is important to trust in Allah and know that we are in good hands.

The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) said: "And know that what has befallen you was not going to miss you, and that which has missed you was not meant to befall you."

The Most Wonderful of Bounties

Surah Ar-Rahman is a very popular surah, probably because of all of the "fabi ayyi aalaa-e rabbiku maa tukadhibaan's" in it. It is a very beautiful Surah in which Allah mentions all of the favors and signs He has given to us.

Today, Br. Nouman was talking about the little details in sentence structure of the Qur'an that makes the ayahs so much more profound. Of course, we lose the beauty of it when translated to another language. Allah begins the Surah with "الرحمن" (Ar-Rahman), which is one of His names that means 'The Most Merciful'.  Why, out of all of His other 99 names, does He choose this one?

He then goes on to list all of the things that He has created as bounties for us; the reasons why He is The Most Merciful. Among His numerous bounties (creating the sun, moon, trees, the earth, fruit, date palm trees, etc.), the first thing He lists is that He taught the Qur'an. The second thing He mentions is that He created  man. We would not be able to enjoy any of the bounties if we were dead. We have to be alive in order to enjoy life. The fact that He created us is a bounty in and of itself, which is why He mentions the creation of man before mentioning the creation of all the other bounties. Why then, did Allah mention that He taught the Qur'an before the mentioning of our creation? Weren't we created before the Qur'an? Wouldn't we have to be alive first in order for the Qur'an to be taught to us?

Allah mentions the Qur'an first and foremost because that fact that He has given this to us is even more significant than our own creation.

Subhanallah.

And Allah says that He taught the Qur'an, but to who? He doesn't say He taught the Qur'an to the Messenger specifically. He didn't restrict it. It is an open invitation to anybody, including all humans and jinn.

Beginning of a Dream come true

Bismillahirahman Ar-Raheem

Praise be to Allah for allowing me the opportunity to study His book and the language of His book for TEN WHOLE months. It is very rare that anybody gets this opportunity and I am very grateful to Him. I will have to admit that I had other plans for my life during this time period and when my plans did not go through, I was very disappointed and frustrated. After learning to deal with it and learning to practice patience, this opportunity fell in my lap. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. Allah had better plans for me.

For anybody who is interested in applying to the program, you can get more information here. The application process is not difficult, and one is not required to know any arabic to enter the program. You are, however, required to be able to read arabic and read Qur'an with proper pronunciation. The program focuses on Qur'anic arabic and arabic grammar. It should be the goal of every Muslim to learn this language, because this is our language, the language of our book, the language of our deen.

In the following posts, I, as a humble student of knowledge, will be sharing some thoughts as well as some gems of balaaghah (eloquence) of the Qur'an. There is so much beauty in the way the Qur'an was written that we miss out on in translation. What I will be learning in these ten months will only touch the surface of an ocean of knowledge.