Story: It's never too late to start memorising the Quran

SubhanAllah,

If this story doesn't make you smile, sue me :0)

So I was watching Iqraa international TV with my mum and a sheikh told an anecdotal story about how one should never put themselves down or discourage themselves from doing good. This story related to memorisation of the Quran and how it's never too late to start learning.

A lady walked into a Daar- in Saudi I'm supposing- at the age of 60 and asked the sisters there to help her memorise the Quran. 
They looked at her a little shocked, and rightly so, 
she's 60 and most girls that go there are 18, 19 in their 20's. 
They said "O Aunty, your 60 it's going to be too hard for you!" 
She said, "I want to memorise it, teach me."

They said "Ok", 
They supposed she'd stay there for a few weeks, months at most and eventually tire and give up. 

They took her in and the teacher wanted to test her reading 

to see which level she should start at, whether it be beginners, intermediate or advance

She picked up the Quran, upside down and sought to read. 

The teacher looked at her shocked and said "O aunty! 

What are you doing! Your reading the Quran upside down!"

She said, "O my young child, I don't know how to read or write." 

This shocked the teachers. 

They said, "How do you suppose you will memorise the Quran when you can't read Arabic?" 

She said, "I'm going to memorise it, so solve my problem for me."

They took her to the faculty of Arabic reading and writing nearby, 
and there she learnt from scratch, 
how to read and write- at the age of 60. 

She finished learning how to read Arabic within 1 year. 

She went back to the Quran school at the age of 61 

and there she began to memorise the Quran. 

She memorised it whole within 4 years. 

She graduated from that school having memorised the Quran by the age of 65.

Persistence was the key, and she never let her age get in the way, 

simply because 

age is never an obstacle for starting anything. 

SubhanAllah, how lucky she is, she caught herself just in the nick of time and saved herself from being alone in the grave and having nothing interceded for her at the questioning and on the day of Resurrection. 

SubhanAllah, when Allah wills good for someone nothing can prevent it, and when He wills bad for someone no one can stop it.

~~~

Surat Al Ra'd (The Thunder) Verse 11:

For him are angels ranged before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah's command.

Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is within their hearts;

And if Allah willeth misfortune for a fold there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him. 

~~~

The Eclipse & words of wisdom.

"Through these signs 
God speaks to those of reason 
from Adam's children and the Jinn. 
He says: 
'O you who were charged and honored with This Message of Mine, 
These are My Signs. 
Why are you heedless of My Omnipotence and Will?! 
Why do you play with My Decrees, leave My Commands and transgress My Prohibitions?!'" 


[Habib Omar's eclipse prayer khutba]

Short words, so beautiful.

We must believe with all of our heart and with all of our soul 
that love is mightier than hate; 
that mercy is stronger than vengeance; 
and that peace is more powerful than war. 
We can believe this proven truth embodied in the noble words of the Qur’an: 

“Good and evil are not equal. Repulse evil with good. 

Unexpectedly, you will find one between whom you and he there was great enmity become as it were,

an intimate friend.” (41:34)

Allahu Akbar. 

A beautiful story of one's love for the Messenger of Allah *melt*

This is my rough translation

Nasheed starts at 1:57mins Watch here

The Prophet peace be upon him was circumambulating the ka'bah

and he saw a Bedouin Arab circuambulating it and saying

“Ya Kareem!" - O Most Generous One

And so the Shafi'e (Intercessor) said after him

"Ya Kareem!"

Then the Arab went to the Yemeni corner (of the Ka'ba) and said

"Ya Kareem!"

So the Beloved said after him

"Ya Kareem!"

Then the Arab went to the Hajar al Aswad (Black stone) and said

"Ya Kareem!"

So the Messenger said after him

"Ya Kareem!"

The Arab noticed this and turned towards the Messenger-

Peace be upon him

and asked him

"Are you sticking to me O my Arab brother?

By Allah!

If it weren't for your beautiful face and your striking form

I would have complained about you

to my Beloved Muhammad!!"

So the Beloved said to him

"And do you not know your Messenger O my Arab brother?"

he said

"By Allah!

I've believed in him but I've never seen him

and I've entered Makkah and I've never met him!"

So the messenger said to him

"I am your Messenger O my Arab brother"

so the Arab fell on the hands of the messenger and kissed them

and said

fidaka abi wa ummi ya habibAllah!!!!

(may my mother and father be your ransom O Beloved of Allah!)

Thereupon Jibreel the Trustworthy descended to the Messenger

And said "O beloved of Allah

Allah sends his Salams to you

and He says ask this Bedouin Arab

does he suppose that if he were to say "Ya Kareem"

that We would not hold him accountable?"

So the arab told the Messenger

Peace be upon him

"O beloved of Allah!

O light of my eyes!

O grandfather of the Hassaneins (Hassan and Hussein)

If Allah is to hold me accountable then I too will hold Him accountable!"

And so the Shafie' (intercessor) asked him

"And how will you hold your Lord accountable O my Arab brother?"

He said "If He is going to hold me accountable for my sins,

I too will hold Him accountable for His Forgiveness

and if He is going to hold me accountable for my shortcomings (in my worship)

I too will hold him accountable for His Overlooking them and His Generosity"

So Jibreel the Trustworthy descended upon the messenger and said "O beloved of Allah

tell this Arab man that he will not hold Us accountable

and We will not hold him accountable"

(ie he is forgiven of sin) :)

Imam Al Shafi'e Rahimahullah on his death bed..

When Imam Al Shafi'e was dying, Al Muzani and said to him:

Fakayfa tajiduka ya imam?

How do you find your state O Imam?

Qaal ajuduni minad dunya rahilaa

He replied, I find myself of this dunya, departing

Wa ila ikhwana farikaa

And of my companions, parting

Wa li ka's el manniyati sharibaa

And of the cup of death, drinking

Wa 'ala Allahi waridaa

And to Allah, returning

Wa li soo' a 'amali mulaqiyaa

And to my bad deeds, meeting (to be questioned/punished for them)

Fa la wallahi adri

So, by Allah, I do not know

A roohi taseeru ilal Jannati fa uhannihaa?

Will my soul will be of the inhabitants of Jannah that I may congratulate it?

Am illal Naari fa u'azihaa?

Or to Hellfire (its abode) that I may console it?

This was how he mentioned his sins in poetry before his death, although he was a great Imam of high standing, Allah rest his soul. People had wonderful dreams of Al-Shafi'e (thereafter) and poets wrote many elegies about him may Allah rest his soul and be pleased with him.

This was one of the superior elitist minds of his time and no man the like of him has come after- without exaggeration, scholars all agree that without a doubt he was the Mujadid of the 2nd Century AH. Interesting to note that from the second century AH to the 12th century AH all the Mujadids were of the Shafi'e school of thought! This is of the baraka of Imam Al Shafi'e! Allahu Akbar.

This was small piece I've written was taken from "The Life of Imam Al-Shafi'e" by Shaykh Muhammad Musa Al-Shareef (can be found on youtube)

One of the secrets to khushu' in Salah...

Bismillah

The key to Paradise is Prayer

and the key to Prayer is Purification.

(Tirmidhi)

Wudu is an obligation imposed upon the believers in Surat al Maidah Verse 6: Allah Most High says:

O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.

Wudu comes from the root word: Daw' ضَوْء

Linguistically wudu means: illumination, light and brilliance.

Technically wudu means: (Muslims) Washing certain limbs as a pre-condition to certain acts of worship.

It is fard for: Salah, Tawaf and holding the Mushaf.

There are many virtues of wudu (briefly):

1. It washes the sins off even if they be under the nails (small/unknown/overlooked sins)
2. Qualifies one to stand before Allah without being weighed down by sins
3. Increases the illumination of Quran, Haddith, gatherings of knowledge
4. Physically illumiates the Muslim
5. Cause of illumination for that Muslim on the Day of Resurrection, a Day that is darkness upon darkness upon darkness
6. Repels shaytan
7. Mark of a true believer (who is upon wudu all the time)
8. Protection from harm (evil eyes, injustice, fear and the like)

The Question now is... How is wudu linked to khushu'?

Many people complain of not being able to ascertain khushu' in Salah, so it is interesting to know what scholars have to say about the various actions of wudu and how they relate to the Akhira and how when thinking about these during wudu one can prepare themselves for Salah in a state of khushu'..

I just want to draw a note here, that this is not sunnah or fard to make these internal thoughts.. But you will see how the connection scholars make between wudu and the Akhira can, in turn, aid us in being able to enter Salah in the right state of mind conjusive to khushu'..

Amidst a day that is constantly filled with dunya and thoughts and worries of dunya this is most definitely a practical way of tearing oneself away from this dunya, cleansing our thoughts of it prior to Salah and concentrating on the Inevitable that is to come and indeed what Salah prepares us for..

I'll go through it all step by step..

To begin:

While washing our hands:

Recite:

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

نَوْتُ اَلْوضُوء

A’uthubillahi minash shaytanir Rajim

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Nawatulwudu

“I seek reguge in Allah from the accursed satan

I begin in the name of Allah, who is Most Merciful Most Gracious.

I intend to make wudu”

We begin by reciting the isti'atha and basmallah and then by making an intention to perform wudu during our hand washing.

For the Ahnaf the intention is sunnah not fard- as they consider it a pre-requisite to Salah and pre-requisites don't need an intention formulated. They say for instance covering your awrah is a pre-requisite to salah, but we don't say out loud "I intend to cover my awrah for salah" so they say the same applies for wudud. According to the Hanafi Madhhab this can just be an internal realisation and this suffices in this madhhab, if they want they can recite it out loud, but it stands that for the ahnaaf this is a sunnah.

For the Shafi'es though they consider it fard to make an intention. So in any case begin with the isti'atha and basmallah, and whether it's, fard or sunnah depending on your madhhab, it's good to recite the intention for the Shafi'es or for the ahnaaf either recite it or have an internal realisation that you are about to make wudu.

(NB: It is sunnah to say the basmallah before washing every limb, so I have included it below with each action..)

One should then make an internal dua

"O Allah free my hands of debt (before my death)"

Washing the mouth:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah allow me to say the shahada upon my death"

Washing the nose:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah allow me to smell the fragrance of Jannah (tul firdaws al a'la,

always aim high, your dealing with the Most-Generous)

Washing the face:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah illuminate my face on the Day of Rising"

Washing the right arm to the elbow:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah allow me to receive my book of deeds in my right hand"

Washing the left arm to the elbow:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"Not in my left hand"

Wiping over the head:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah shade me under Your Throne

on the day there is no shade but Your shade"

Wiping the ears:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah allow me to hear the call to Jannah (tul Firdaws al a'la)"

Wiping the neck:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah free my neck from Hellfire"

Washing the right foot:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah make my feet firm on the siraat

the day the feet are made firm or made to fall"

Washing the left foot:

بِسْمِ اللَّه

"O Allah make my feet firm on the siraat

the day the feet are made firm or made to fall"

To be honest with you I like to make these du'a out loud...

I tried the internal du'a thing a few years ago when I first studied this subject but I slowly forgot because thoughts occupy my mind all the time and slowly other thoughts crept in while I was making wudu which made me forget these dua's, now I just make it out loud so it's facilitates me remembering in the long run and making the thoughts more real.

Dua's then upon ending wudu

Look towards the sky and recite:

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ

مُحَمَّدَاً عَبْدَهُ وَرَسُولَهُ

Ash-hadu al la ilaha illa Allah

wahdahu la sharika lah

wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh.

"I testify that there is no one worthy of worship besides Allah.

He is all by Himself and has no partner

and I testify that Muhammad is Allah's Rasul (Messenger)".

Eight doors of Jannah will be open for the reciter of this dua.

He will be able to enter from whichever door he pleases. (Mishkat)

It is recorded in the same narration that the dua should be recited three times. (Hisnul Hasin)

Thereafter this dua should be recited:

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي مِنَ التَّوَّابِينَ وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنَ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ

Allahuma ij'alni minnat tawwabeena waj'alni minal mutattahireen.

"O Allah, count me (make me) among those who seek forgiveness

and amongst those who stay clean". (Hisnul Hasin)

Also recite this dua:

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَأَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبَ إِلَيْكَ

Subhanaka Allahuma wabihamdika,

ash hadu al laa ilaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.

"O Allah, You are pure,

I praise You and testify that only You are worthy of worship

and I seek forgiveness from You. (Hisnul Hasin)

InshaAllah this is of benefit to those who read it.

And Allah knows Best.