همسـات الإيـمان ᰔ

Seeing the Salaf and the Prophets persevere in the face of hardship should inspire us to keep striving no matter what Allah sends our way. The story of Prophet Yaqub عليه السلام is a humbling reminder that even in moments of profound grief, our relationship with Allah should remain steadfast. ‎In a Sahih Hadith; the Prophet ﷺ said: ‎“Look at those who are beneath you and do not look at those who are above you, for it is more suitable that you should not consider as less the blessing of Allah.” ‎So we should embrace the idea that "Someone has it worse than me" because this will always be the case. People will take this as invalidating their hardships but we have to change our perspective and know that the Prophet ﷺ was the most balanced and we follow his footsteps. We acknowledge our pain but don't allow self-pity to consume us. This is a trap from the shaytan that leads to despair.

Mawraq al-ijli said: I have been asking Allah for a certain need for twenty years. I have not been granted it, nor have I despaired of it. Hilyatul Awliya (2/235)

Ibn al-Jawzi said: “The supplication of a Muslim for his brother in his absence is only answered because nothing motivates it except religion. Thus it is sincere, and what is sincere is not rejected.”

المنظومة الرائعة | "إذا صح الحديث فهو مذهبي" The Beautiful Poem: “If the Hadith is Authentic, Then it is My Madhab” — و قول أعلام الهدى لا يُعمل بقولنا بدون نص يُقبل The guiding Imams said: Our opinions are not to be acted upon unless there is an accepted textual proof. فيه دليل الأخذ بالحديث و ذاك في القديم و الحديث In this is proof of adhering to the hadith, and this has been the way in both earlier and later times. قال أبو حنيفة الإمام لا ينبغي لمن له إسلام Imam Abu Hanifah said: It is not befitting for one who is a Muslim أخذٌ بأقوالي حتى تُعرض على الحديث و الكتاب المرتضى to follow my opinions until they have been presented before the hadith and the Noble Qur'an. و مالك إمام دار الهجرة قال و قد أشار نحو الحجرة And Malik, the Imam of the Abode of Emigration, said while pointing toward the Prophet's chamber: كل كلام منه ذو قبول و منه مردود سوى الرسول Every person's words may be accepted or rejected, except those of the Messenger. و الشافعي قال إن رأيتم قولي مخالفًا لما رويتم And al-Shafi'i said: If you find my opinion contradicting what you have narrated من الحديث فاضربوا الجدار بقولي المخالف الأخبار from the hadith, then throw my contradicting statements against the wall. و أحمد قال لهم لا تكتبوا ما قلته بل أصل ذاك فاطلبوا And Ahmad said to them: Do not merely write down what I have said; rather, seek its original evidence. فانظر مقالة الهداة الأربعة و اعمل بها فإن فيها منفعة So consider the statements of the four rightly guided Imams and act upon them, for indeed there is benefit in them. لقمعها لكل ذي تعصب و المنصفون يكتفون بالنبي They suppress every form of partisanship, and those who are just are content with following the Prophet. صلى الله عليه وسلم Peace and blessings be upon him.

a moving recitation of surah furqan by the late son of shaykh abdurrashid ali sufi, abdulhameed (رحمه الله تعالى)

“We deceive ourselves by beautifying to each other an Islam that is compatible with our desires (Islamicizing our desires), rather the Islam that has been legislated by Allah, is an Islam that requires us to set aside our emotions and desires in order to uphold the rope of Allah, even if it comes at the price of displeasing some.” Sunday, 24th of Shawwal 1444 A.H.

Hasan al-Basri said: "The dunya in its entirety - from its beginning to its end, is like a man who falls asleep, sees whatever he loves in his dream then wakes up."

As one of the salaf said: ‏فتشبّهوا إن لم تكونوا مثلهم ‏إنّ التّشبّه بالكرام فلاح Imitate them, even if you are not like them; indeed, imitating the noble is success.

Imām al-Ghazālī said: “Whoever wishes to become a skilled calligrapher - so much so that he becomes a calligraphist by nature - there is no way [to achieve this] except by putting the hand to work as the calligraphist puts his to work, and to persist in it for a long time, imitating fine script. Thus, he imitates the calligraphist with effort, and continues to persist (in imitation) until it becomes a firmly established trait in his soul. By the end, fine script issues from him naturally, whereas in the beginning it only came with much effort… Likewise, whoever wishes to become generous, chaste in themselves, forbearing, or humble, must exercise the acts of these qualities with effort until it becomes natural for him. He has no remedy except for this.“ 💌 Ihyā’ 'Ulūm al-Dīn, v. 3, p. 59-60

the transcript.

this is a poetic and touching graduation speech given by a student of the arabic institute of nairobi - hudhayfa shāfi'i.

Side benefit: I don't know if it was from this book or another one of his works, but he says after asking yourself if there's something more beneficial, to ask yourself another question: "is there someone more befitting than me to do or say this thing?" And then he says ask yourself another question after that: "if you believe there's no one else befitting, then are you doing it for Allah's sake?" سبحان الله

وأما اللفظات: فحفظها بأن لا يخرج لفظة ضائعة، بل لا يتكلم إلا فيما يرجو فيه الربح والزيادة في دينه، فإذا أراد أن يتكلم بالكلمة نظر: هل فيها ربح وفائدة أم لا؟ فإن لم يكن فيها ربح أمسك عنها، وإن كان فيها ربح، نظر: هل تفوته بها كلمة أربح منها، فلا يضيعها بهذه،…

وأما اللفظات: فحفظها بأن لا يخرج لفظة ضائعة، بل لا يتكلم إلا فيما يرجو فيه الربح والزيادة في دينه، فإذا أراد أن يتكلم بالكلمة نظر: هل فيها ربح وفائدة أم لا؟ فإن لم يكن فيها ربح أمسك عنها، وإن كان فيها ربح، نظر: هل تفوته بها كلمة أربح منها، فلا يضيعها بهذه، وإذا أردت أن تستدل على ما في القلب، فاستدل عليه بحركة اللسان، فإنه يطلعك على ما في القلب، شاء صاحبه أم أبى. As for one’s words, they are guarded by not allowing a single useless word to leave the tongue. Rather, a person should speak only about that from which they hope to gain benefit and increase in their religion. When they intend to say something, they should first consider: “Is there any benefit and gain in these words, or not?” If there is no benefit, they should remain silent. If there is benefit, they should then consider: “Will saying this cause me to miss the opportunity to say something even more beneficial?” If so, they should not waste that greater opportunity by saying the lesser thing instead. And if you wish to know what is in the heart, then look to the movement of the tongue, for it reveals what is in the heart-whether its owner wishes it to or not.

I realised that sometimes I become so focused on memorisation that I end up neglecting my daily portion of the Qur'an or reciting less than I should. That shouldn't be the case. Our daily portion isn't something to be sacrificed for memorisation. It's the time we sit with the words of Allah, reciting them attentively and pondering their meanings. Without this, our hearts gradually begin to harden and all our affairs become scattered.

‏وردك اليومي من القرآن يُرتب لك باقي اليوم كلّه، ستظل في شتات مالم يكن لك نصيب يومي ثابت من القرآن.

‏وردك اليومي من القرآن يُرتب لك باقي اليوم كلّه، ستظل في شتات مالم يكن لك نصيب يومي ثابت من القرآن.

قال شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية: "وكمال الإيمان هو: فعل ما أمر الله به ورسوله، وترك ما نهى الله عنه ورسوله، فإذا ترك بعض المأمور وعوَّض عنه ببعض المحظور كان في ذلك من نقص الإيمان بقدر ذلك." [أسباب زيادة الإيمان ونقصانه، صـ ٦٧] Ibn Taymiyyah said: “The perfection of Iman is to do what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have commanded, and to refrain from what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. So if a person abandons some of what has been commanded and instead substitutes it with some of what has been prohibited, then his faith is diminished to that extent.” [Causes of the Increase and Decrease of Faith, p. 67.]

‘The memoriser of the Quran is not pleased with his memorisation until he stands (during prayer) with it at night.’

دعاء التهجد كسهم لا يخيب مرماه the du'ā of tahajjud is like an arrow that never fails to reach its mark.