Muhabbat ul Deen

The month of Ramadhan is fast approaching and my mind was cast towards the sermon given by Prophet Muhammad on the last day of Shabaan. It is beautiful and full of instructions on how we should spend it:

“O People ! Indeed ahead of you is the blessed month of Allah . A month of blessing, mercy and forgiveness. A month which with Allah is the best of months. Its days, the best of days, its nights, the best of nights, and its hours, the best of hours. It is the month which invites you to be the guests of Allah and invites you to be one of those near to Him. Each breath you take glorifies him; your sleep is worship, your deeds are accepted and your supplications are answered. So, ask Allah , your Lord; to give you a sound body and an enlightened heart so you may be able to fast and recite his book, for only he is unhappy who is devoid of Allah ’s forgiveness during this great month. Remember the hunger and thirst of the day of Qiyamah (Judgment) with your hunger and thirst; give alms to the needy and poor, honor your old, show kindness to the young ones, maintain relations with your blood relations; guard your tongues, close your eyes to that which is not permissible for your sight, close your ears to that which is forbidden to hear, show compassion to the orphans of people so compassion may be shown to your orphans. Repent to Allah for your sins and raise your hands in dua during these times, for they are the best of times and Allah looks towards his creatures with kindness, replying to them during the hours and granting their needs if he is asked …

“O People! Indeed your souls are dependant on your deeds, free it with Istighfar (repentance) lighten its loads by long prostrations; and know that Allah swears by his might: That there is no punishment for the one who prays and prostrates and he shall have no fear of the fire on the day when man stands before the Lord of the worlds.

“O People! One who gives Iftaar to a fasting person during this month will be like one who has freed someone and his past sins will be forgiven. Some of the people who were there then asked the Prophet (s): “Not all of us are able to invite those who are fasting?”

The Prophet (s) replied: “Allah gives this reward even if the Iftaar (meal) is a drink of water.” “One who has good morals (Akhlaq) during this month will be able to pass the ‘Siraat’ … on the day that feet will slip … “One who covers the faults of others will benefit in that Allah will curb His anger on the day of Judgment …

“As for one who honors an orphan; Allah will honor him on the day of judgment, “And for the one who spreads his kindness, Allah will spread His mercy over him on the day of Judgment. “As for the one who cuts the ties of relation; Allah will cut His mercy from him … “Who so ever performs a recommended prayer in this month Allah will keep the fire of Hell away from him … “Whoever performs an obligator prayer Allah will reward him with seventy prayers [worth] in this month. “And who so ever prays a lot during this month will have his load lightened on the day of measure. “He who recites one verse of the Holy Quran will be given the rewards of reciting the whole Quran during other months. “O People! Indeed during this month the doors of heaven are open, therefore ask Allah not to close them for you; The doors of hell are closed, so ask Allah to keep them closed for you. During this month Shaytan (Satan) is imprisoned so ask your Lord not to let him have power over you.”

Inshallah Shaykh Muhammad will be delivering a lecture at Ghamkol Sharif, Birminham on Tues 28th August @ 8pm

For further info call: 07828863975

I have to say, i like Melvyn Bragg, in fact, i have always found him to be a very honest and likable person and his shows can be very informative. So when was i reminded, in a spate of text messages (that i am sure was played across every Muslim household across the UK) that a programme about Jesus (as) was to be aired by Melvyn Bragg..and that Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, amongst others, would be speaking on, i got very excited. Not least because finally we were going to get someone with knowledge on television speaking about Islam sensibly rather than some puppet Muslim who utters the kind of rubbish we are so accustomed to listening to on TV.

I tuned in (i must admit to sending a few text messages myself) and i really enjoyed it, i felt that they could have expanded on a few of the issues raised though, for example, they could have gone into much more detail about the second coming Of Jesus Christ (as) as this is an event that is so important to both Christians and Muslims. What we got was a glossing over of information about the second coming and so we never really got stuck into the ‘nitty gritty’ of it, unfortunately.

It was the first time i was watching something on TV that was presenting the Muslim understanding of things and i hope…i really hope it wont be the last.

It was also good in the sense that the issues that fundamentally divide Christians and Muslims were raised too. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf said:

“In the Christian narrative the most central and fundamental point of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but Islam basically denies that. The Qur’an states that it was made to appear that Jesus was crucified as when the Romans captured Jesus God organised a rescue operation.”

and that really did say it all as it is this issue alone that divides these two religions.

Melvyn Bragg interviewed a couple of Christians about the Qur’an stories and the stories of the hadith regarding Prophet Jesus (as) and i was not surprised to hear them refer to it as fairy tales and made up stories from the periods after Prophet Jesus (as). However, i was very surprised to hear them go down the route of authenticity in their defense of the Bible narrative. They claimed that the bible is rigorously authentic…which is absolute nonsense - Christianity does not have sanad which establishes authenticity for their Bilble like the Muslims do for the Hadith or the Jews did (at some point in their history) for the Torah - the Christians have actually no idea at all who wrote the Bible and who witnessed what event and moreover, they use a translation of a translation, of a translation, of a translation, of a translation, of a translation that was made many many years after the time of Prophet Jesus (as). The authenticity of the Bible passages are in total question…as apposed to the Hadiths where Muslims themselves have imposed the tightest and most rigorous quality and authenticity tests…

..anyway i digress..

Obviously, we are going to get uneducated idiot apostates like Patrick Sookhdeo, an Anglican canon, who said of the program: “How would the Muslim community respond if ITV made a program challenging Muhammad as the last prophet?” and we are going to get Christians, in retaliation, insulting Prophet Muhammad like they love to do.

But those of us, Christian or Muslim should be happy that we finally had some honest television about Islam and Christianity and the tenants of faith because, let’s be fair; we haven’t had much we could smile about on TV have we?

It could have been better though, i was not 100% happy because i felt that if some of the issues were discussed in more detail the Christians may have realised that they need to actually start to think more about what they believe.

tag: muslim, religion, doctrine, christianity, jesus, isa, Islam, Quran, hadith, melvyn bragg, ITV, the Muslim Jesus

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi al-Hassani will be speaking at Glasgow Central Mosque.

For more info call 07815176630.

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi al-Hassani, may Allah preserve him, will be touring the UK, covering many major cities to impart knowledge, wisdom and love through his charismatic and un-paralleled style. The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah increase him, needs no introduction, but for the few that have still not heard Shaykh Muhammad speak, or have not sat in his presence, then this is a golden opportunity not to be missed. For details of his itinerary please keep an eye on the events calendar

Mosquemap

Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq is scheduled to deliver a talk entitled “Ramadhan - The Month of the Qur’an” on the 2nd September 2007 after Zohar Salaah (1:30PM) at Masjid-e-Quba. This event is for brothers and sisters.

- Segragated seating arrangements have been made for sisters (2nd Floor).
- There will be stalls where you can purchase Islamic audio & books, itr, clothing and a variety of other Islamic goods.

Please come yourselves and invite others for as the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Whomsoever guides towards a goodness, will get virtues equal to the one who performs that goodness.’ [Muslim]