PROHIBITION OF INNOVATION IN RELIGION

Firstly, we should know what "bid'ah" means according to Islamic teaching.

It is defined as: any invented way in religion that is aimed at worshiping or drawing closer to Allaah. This means anything that is not referred to specifically in Sharee'ah, and for which there is no evidence (daleel) in the Qur'aan or Sunnah, and which was not known at the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) and his Companions. At the same time, it is quite obvious that this definition of religious inventions or innovations, which are condemned, does not include worldly inventions such as cars and washing machines, etc.

There are a few extremely important hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) that mention general principles (qawa`id) regarding actions and their validity. From the Mother of the believers, `A’isha (Allah be well pleased with her) who said that the Messenger of Allah said:

« من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو ردٌّ»

“Whoever innovates something in this command of ours that is not of it, it will be rejected”

                                                   « وَمَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌّ »

“Whoever does an action not based on our commands, it will be rejected”.                                                                            (Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim)

This is one of the comprehensive statements of the prophet (PBUH) which is the basis for several fundamental principles. It provides a criterion for evaluation of the visible aspects of one's deeds, complementing the hadith, ''Deeds are only by intention,'' which deals with the unapparent aspect. Combining the import of both.

 

Scholars have concluded that there are two conditions for the acceptability of any deed by Allah(swt);

1-Sincerity of intention (Ikhlas), i.e., it must be done for the sake of Allah alone.

2- Correctness (sawab),i.e, it must be done in the way ordained by Him in the quran and sunnah of the prophet (PBUH).

*This hadith warns against innovation (bid'ah) in all matters of religion. In this context the word "matter" (amr) carries the meaning of religious practice and law. "Rejected" means that the deed is unacceptable to Allah and so it will not be rewarded.

* Its a clear prohibition against making any changes in or additions to the religion and warns those sects differing in their ways, for anything claimed to be a valid religious practice must be based upon a proof from the qur'an and sunnah. That is because Allah (subhanhu wa ta'ala) has completed and perfected the religion of islam which He ordained for mankind as stated in Sural al -Ma'idah 5:v3

 “This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you,and have chosen for you Islam as your religion”

*One who asserts otherwise by insistence on some alternative way places himself in danger of falling into disbelief through his contradiction of the Quran and refusal of disobedience to the prophet (PBUH)

The messenger of Allah (SAW) elaborated further when he said, "Indeed the best statement is the book of Allah, and the best guidance of Muhammad (Sallalahu alaihi wasallam). And the worst of matters are the newly devised ones, and every innovation is misguidance.'' and again this refers to matters of religion and not those of worldly life

 

This hadith is one which should be memorized, made known to people, and employed for the prevention of every kind of wrongdoing. Few people give attention to deviations in the more private sphere of worship, particularly when an ignorant majority has been led by custom or by some "shaykh'' to believe that certain innovations are good and are valid ways to seeking nearness to Allah. These innovations are practices that have no basis in the sunnah.

AWARENES IS THE FIRST STEP TO AMENDMENT

Any act performed with sincere intention of drawing nearer to Allah must be first be ordained by Him either through His Books or through His Prophet. Then it must be done precisely  in the way demonstrated or instructed by the Messenger of Allah, who was sent to mankind with complete guidance in all matters of faith and its application to the affairs of human life.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MO'MIN (BELIEVER)

Assalamualaikum WarahmatuaAllahi Wabarakaatuhu!

Surah Al Muminoon is one of the best Surahs I have ever come across. What bewilders me is that there is definitely no end to Allah's words. As Allah says in the Surah Al Kahf 109. Say (O Muhammad  to mankind). "If the sea were ink for (writing) the Words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the Words of my Lord would be finished, even if we brought (another sea) like it for its aid."
And why do I say this? It is because one chapter after the other there keeps coming more reality and more truth than I could ever imagine. Its like there is no ending to the greatest speech of Allah subhanawaTa'la and this is only Surah number 23! subhanAllah!
Which is why I would like to enlighten you all with a little bit of what I know and would also like it to share it with you guys. 

I am only going to share few characters of a Momin (true believer) which I gathered from the few beginning verses of this Surah to make us realize and ponder upon our own souls that if we are really one of the real mo'mins or not.

 In sha Allah!

Characters of a Momin:

NOTE: please do read the Arabic text as it is the Kalaam of Allah so do not ignore. :)

1. A momin is the one who is humble and extremely submissive in their Salat. 

If you want to check your level of Imaan, simply just check your salat and see where your mind and attention is. Is it in the humility and submission towards Allah or is it directed towards the world? We as muslims need to improve our khushoo and khudu in our prayers. The highest level of perfection is to pray as if you are seeing Allah or if this is not possible then pray as if Allah is seeing you. 

2. A mo'min is the one who avoids vain useless talks.

 OMG! yes I know! We all are included in sooo much of useless pointless and futile talks whose purpose is nothing. A mo'min speaks and listens to only that which is beneficial to him and he avoids the company of such time wasting people. Whenever he speaks he speaks words of wisdom or he doesn't speak at all. So please sisters and brothers, stop talking or wasting time in useless vain talks especially over waste news & sports or over kaafir celebrities whose discussion doesn't benefit you. This has increased a lot over the years since Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, and free internet international calling system came into existence. 

3. A mo'min is the one who purifies his soul from all the evil 

like idolatry, disbelief, hypocrisy, backbiting, envy, jealousy, hatred. (Zakat here refers to the 'purity of the soul' as this surah was revealed in Makkah and the ehkaam of zakat wasn't revealed then)

He tries to purify his soul by increasing in good deeds, building a good character, having good manners, having a helpful nature and has a clean heart.   

4. A mo'min is the one who guards his private parts 

(chastity)

This includes fornication, any kind of lustful gaze,  watching pornography or indecent movies, having illegal relationships in marriage or outside of marriage, homosexuality, masturbation, watching anything indecent and talking anything indecent. Allah has called such people as transgressors. 

5. A mo'min is the one who is responsible of their own amaanats and covenants

Such as a wife taking care of her husbands house, (which is her amanah), and a husband taking care of his house, taking care of your time, wealth, body, health, children, pacts between each other, keeping a promise and mostly taking care of your dunya and aakhirah. He is true to his trust and covenants. He never deceives anyone.

6. A mo'min is the one who GUARDS his prayers (this came twice in this Surah). 

And how will he guard it? By praying on time, in taharah, in congregation (only men), in a clean place, with proper sunnah, proper postures in sajdah and rukoo etc. This is how he will guard his prayer. in sha Allah!

Allah subhanAllah wa Ta'la says, that "These are heirs who will inherit paradise and live therein forever." [23:10/11] 

Meaning that whoever has these few attributes, he is the heir of Paradise. SubhanaAllah! 

Whats even better is when Allah began this Surah saying "Indeed Successful are those believers" [23:1] 

Which means that whoever followed these few admonitions from their Rabb is definitely successful or has already become successful. :D mashaAllah!
May Allah give us the tawfeeq and guidance to follow these few admonitions and make us the heir of Jannah! Ameen!

Stay tuned for more characters of a Mo'min in the remaining Surah. :) Coming soon in sha Allah

PLEASE NOTE:
The translation of the Arabic text is not given in this blog post. Those were just explanatory sentences and not the exact translation of the Arabic Content. 
Ask me anything related to this post here. JazakumuAllah hu khairan for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

Concept of marriage - A REMINDER

Assalamualykum Wr Wb


My dear readers , when the topic  of Marriage comes in mind , there are many people who forgot the concept of it , so here I am to remind those who forgot and to let people know who are unaware of the topic ' MARRIAGE' ! 

Marriage is a topic which is a vast one , its not a ceremony , but it's responsibility which has to be made by both the couples completing the right's (huqooq) of each other .

Marriage in the eyes of QUR'AN:

Allah says in Surat Nur: "Marry the unmarried among you and the righteous of your male and female servants. If they should be poor, Allah will enrich them from his favours. Allah is Bountiful and Knowing." Qu'ran 24:32

Marriage in the eyes of HADITH:

Our beloved Prophet has made the concept of marriage so important and meaningful for us, as Aishah (may Allah be please with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah(peace be upon him) had stated that: "Marriage is a Sunnah of mine, and whoever does not follow my Sunnah is not of my followers."

West entraps the youth and mainly the muslims. WHY ?
I will start from marriages taken as in the west, because as I am a youth I know well what attracts the youth right now and that is the western influence. I came to this topic because I really thought about this before coming to know about my madrasa, I was really living in this darkness of following western side than my own religion. The illuminated deen side, and I feel so ashamed to share this that I was following mostly what the west follows and I had considered the conception of marriage as a means of destruction of my career, my future & my freedom !!
Nowadays in the west, marriage is given no preference. Couples want to stay together but they don't want to name their relation into marriage mainly because they are "scared of commitment"!
Well it took me sometime to understand this topic, that, why do people run away from marriage? Why is this concept of MARRIAGE so burdensome for people to understand?

When I did a some research after listening to different lectures on the topic, I came to know that 80% of people hate marriage. In fact they prefer living together but they deny getting married to each other !!The main reason of not marrying, is because of fearing for losing their privacy and getting burdened by loads of responsibilities. this doesn't make any sense!  

Most of the reason why people avoid marriages and goes into relationship is because , they wanna be educated enough to make their own career , but they don't want to take up responsibilities of a husband or kids. Another thing I want to drag your attention towards is that, our cultures have made marriage so impossible for us or may I say, our desires of having a big budget marriage and making it a PRICELESS MEMORY, is what becomes a big conflict for the youth. Some people avoid marriage because it will cost a fortune. Some people avoid marriage because they don't have finance RIGHT NOW, and hence they get into relationships !! This saddens me more. We are making marriage difficult on ourselves where as our prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam made the marriage so easy for us that the Prophet sallallahu alaihe wasallam has stated, "Marriage is the basis for blessings and children are an abundance of mercy." (Al-Kabaair Lith-thahabi)

Choosing a spouse:

Another topic which goes in our heads. When we decide for marriage we see his/her appearance, his/her way of talking , education, his/her family background, his/her salary, and etc etc .....the list never ends !
We must consider this beautiful hadith in regards of choosing a spouse. "A woman is married for her deen, her wealth or her beauty. You must go for the one with deen, may your hands be in the dust! (if you fail to heed)" [Muslim]
"Choose carefully for your seed. Marry those who are equivalent (or "qualified") and give to them in marriage." [Ibn Majah, others and Sahih]
"If someone with whose piety and character you are satisfied with comes to you, marry to him. If you do not do so, there will be trials in the earth and a great deal of evil." [At-Tirmidhi and others and it is hassan]
"Marry the loving/friendly, the child-bearing for I shall outstrip the other nations with your numbers on Qiyamah." Ahmad, Abu Dawud and others and it is [Sahih]

I don't go against the beauty , but one shouldn't see only beauty because beauty fades eventually but the personality won't. 

'Umar ibn Al-Khattab once said: "Do not force your young girls to marry an ugly man, for they also love what you love."
Ibn Abidin (a famous faqih from last century) said: "The woman should choose a man who is religious, of good character, generous and of ample wealth. She should not marry an evildoer. A person should not marry his young daughter to an old man and an ugly man but he should marry her to one similar."

How to celebrate the weddings?

extravagant wedding

I would like to focus on the topic of how to celebrate the event of wedding, not with costly dresses, fashionable jewellery, perfect marriage halls, beautiful photography, dancing or music, and usually a line that I hear mostly from my back country " a marriage of so dhoom- dham that everybody should remember it". And to waste so much money they have lines saying "wedding happens only once , then why not to celebrate it on big budget ''Why has everybody forgotten that if you have a pair of shoes and you buy another just for the sake of your desire then you are doing extravagance? (Israaf )
z
Which has so strong ayahs in Qur'an:
"(And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not the wasteful.) "With food and drink.'' Ibn Jarir commented on Allah's statement,(Certainly He (Allah) likes not the wasteful.) ". 

extravagant wedding

Allah the Exalted says that He does not like those who trespass the limits on an allowed matter or a prohibited matter, those who go to the extreme over what He has allowed, allow what He has prohibited, or prohibit what He has allowed. But, He likes that what He has allowed be considered as such (without extravagance) and what He has prohibited be considered as such. This is the justice that He has commanded.

My dear readers I really want the concept of marriage to be understood well. Marriage is not an amusement or just a function to attend or a memory saved in pictures. The main concept of marriage that ALLAH subhanawatallah gave us is:
"And marry those among you who are single (i.e. a man who has no wife and the woman who has no husband) and (also marry) the Salihoon (pious, fit and capable ones) of your (male) slaves and maid-servants (female slaves). If they be poor, Allah will enrich them out of His Bounty. And Allah is All-Sufficent for His creatures needs, All-Knowing (about the state of the people).[al-Noor 24:32] "

"Marry the unmarried among you and the righteous of your male and female servants. If they should be poor, Allah will enrich them from his favours. Allah is Bountiful and Knowing." Qu'ran 24:32
I know this change of marriage like our beloved Prophet Sallalahu alaihi wasallam did takes a huge courage as people call those who follow sunnah as 'backward', but everybody forgot the reward of following sunnah!

"And obey Allah and the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy. (Aal `Imran 3:132)"

And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, these are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and a goodly company are they! (An-Nisaa’ 4:69)

But I really wish that people hasten eachother in following sunnah , in gaining good deeds , as I include myself in it ! May ALLAH subhanawatallah give us all hidayah and taufeeq to do Amal on it , Ameen !
With the prayers that everybody be helpful with my this topic of our blog , in sha Allah :)

JazakiaAllah hu khairan for reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and Follow us. If you have similar views please do comment

HADITH E JIBRIL

ASSALAMUALAIKUM WA RAHMATULLAHI WA BARAKATAHU

Hey friends. Hope all of you are doing good....today i thought to write about yet another famous hadith which gives a beautiful description of our Deen. Subhaan Allah how beautifully does Allah Subhaanahu wa Taa'la teach us and through such amazing mean. Allahu Akbar. So beginning with a Bismillah, here is the hadith e jibril :

On the authority of 'Umar, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said:

"While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him.

He sat down close by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, rested his knee against his thighs, and said, O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam." Said the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, "Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah, fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it)." Said he (the man), "You have spoken truly."

We were astonished at his thus questioning him and telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, "Inform me about iman (faith)." He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, "It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects." He said, "You have spoken truly."

Then he (the man) said, "Inform me about Ihsan." He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, " It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you." He said, "Inform me about the Hour." He (the Messenger of Allah) said, "About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner." So he said, "Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i.e. of its coming)." Said he, "They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings." Thereupon the man went off.

I waited a while, and then he (the Messenger of Allah) said, "O 'Umar, do you know who that questioner was?" I replied, "Allah and His Messenger know better." He said, "That was Jibril. He came to teach you your religion.""
(Narrated by MUSLIM)

POINTS TO LEARN:

•  Hadith e Jibril / Jibrail as its is commonly known is a famous hadith which informs us about our religion. Our DEEN (religion) is based on ISLAM ( Total Submission i.e. The Apparent Deeds) and IMAAN (Belief i.e. The Hidden Deeds), both of which can and should be done along with IHSAAN (Perfection/Utmost Good way). These are the requisites of our Deen.

 

•  Islam is based on 5 pillars: 

            · Shahadah (Testimony)

            · Salah (Prayer)

            · Zakah (The Purifying Dues)

            · Sawm (Fasting)

            · Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

           These pillars (excluding the first one – Shahadah) are studied under the Branch of FIQH.

•  Imaan is based on 6 pillars: 

            · Iman bi Allah (Belief in Allah)

            · Iman bil Malaikah (Belief in His Angels)

            · Iman bil Kutub ( Belief in His Books)

            · Iman bil Rusul (Belief in His Messengers)

            · Iman bil Youm al Akhirah (Belief on The Last Day)

            · Iman bil Qadr (Belief on Fate in both good and evil aspects)

            These pillars (including the first one of Islam – Shahadah) are studied under AQEEDAH.

•  We also learn the etiquette of dressing while we go to a gathering of knowledge. One must be clean, presentable and should not be a means of distraction for others (no body odor and dirty clothing should be avoided). 

•  Etiquette of sitting in a gathering of knowledge is also in this hadith. Sitting with knees resting down so as to sit in an attentive position. Also, sit as near to the teacher as possible as it helps to learn more and has a better effect. 

There are many nice lectures (on you-tube and web) on the Hadith Jibril by renowned Scholars of Deen . I have added a video of it for proper pronunciation of  the arabic text:

 

May Allah Taa'la make it easy for us to understand the Qur'an and Hadith and its interpretation as it should be understood on the way of Rasool Allah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and His Companions Radhi Allahu anhum ajma'een...Ameen..:)

Thats it for now friends....I take your leave.. Hope it was helpful..... have a nice day..

Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatahu...:)






JazakiaAllah hu khairan for reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and Follow us. If you have similar views please do comment.

IS THERE STILL HOPE FROM HUMANITY?

"And never give up hope of Allah's truly soothing mercy, no-one despairs of Allah's soothing mercy except those who have no faith." [Surah Yusuf: 87]

Reading, watching or listening to any kind of news makes me nauseous, brokenhearted, disappointed, angry and extremely sad! What is happening to this world? What happened to every single human being? Where is our morality and our respect for another fellow human being? Where is the dignity and respect for our own soul? Haven't we already sinned enough that we keep on increasing immensely? 

The Conditions in Syria and Egypt are beyond imagination. Men, women and children are dying every day and most of them are fearing for their lives. The turmoil occurred in Egypt was by the oppression from their own country. Then what is left for the security of the citizens of Egypt? No security, no rights, no privilege. Only some kinds of agenda to ruin the Muslims for the benefit of their own income and luxury. The neighboring Muslim countries ought to help ALWAYS but little is the help that is received to any one of the victims of the murdered families.  It only reminds me of how the Ansars of Madinah stood up with courage to help the Muhajireen of Makkah only on the basis of Muslim brotherhood and unity. But this makes me feel ashamed of myself and life in general. Has Saudi Arabia done sufficient to decrease the sufferings of the Muslim brothers and sisters in Egypt, Syria and Palestine? Man, even this country is corrupted.  Many people are still striving to get their rights reserved. And I have nothing more to say in defense of any country or anybody but as humans we all know what is right and wrong despite the religion differences.                          

For one second I wanna speak to my Muslim brothers and sisters in general. Do you think affliction is just simply occurring upon our lives because we are innocent? No we aren't. Are we all praying five times a day on time without laziness? Are we all Reading the Qur'an with understanding and acting upon it? Are we engaged in Halal lifestyle with no alcohol, no haram business, no usury, no illegal relationships, returning of amaanats, Hijab of men and women, no music or movies? Are we obeying our parents and elders and maintaining our blood relationships? Are we truthful at all times? Are we all Just to every human being around us despite our differences and enmity? Have we held firm the rope of Allah and have had full trust in Him? If the answer is No, then we all have nothing more to say just to be ashamed of ourselves. If the answer is Yes, then there is still hope for the world to be in peace.
As Muslims and most of all humans, we need to restore our humanity and CHANGE. Stop living for the world. Fear Allah and live for the Day of Judgement. Do jihad against ourselves.  

This is a total disaster and the more we speak or shout who do you think is listening except Allah? No leader or authority cares for you then why do you turn to them? The month of Ramadan is over but it reminds me that most of us weren't in masjids during the Qiyam ul Layl. Who do you think is to be blamed but yourselves? We all are in loss with time that we didn't take advantage of and the blessings we cared less for. We all know very well who were the true worshipers in Ramadan and even outside of Ramadan. The least we could do is Repent sincerely so Allah subhanawaTa'la has mercy on us. Then why don't we call upon Allah even when we had no Affliction or calamity? Isn't Allah subhanaAllah All Seeing, All Aware, All Listening? Don't you know that He is All Aware of your petty little tricks of pleasing yourself by calling Him suddenly out of nowhere at the difficult times and then fleeing from Him when things seem good for you? 

My heart only sinks in deep sorrow and grief for the loss of innocent lives of children, men and women all over the world because of the propaganda against the Muslims by the mind control of the Zionists and most importantly, our own nafs and mistakes.

"Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allah, but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself." 4:79

The Prophet (sallallahu aleihi wa sallam) said: "Allah does not punish the individuals for the sins of the community until they see the evil spreading among themselves, and while they have the power to stop it, do not do so." (Ahmad). Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "This is why those who are in authority are of two groups: the scholars and the rulers. If they are upright, the people will be upright; if they are corrupt, the people will be corrupt."

But there is still hope for us in the aakhirah and as well in this dunya because one day we will be brought to justice.

Narrated Abu Huraira radiaAllah anhu: The Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) said, "The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us (to do)?" He said, "Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfill their (i.e. the Caliphs) rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship." [Al-Bukhari 4.661]
Allah's Messenger SAW said, "If any ruler having the authority to rule Muslim subjects dies while he is deceiving them, Allah will forbid Paradise for him." [Sahih Al-Bukhari 9:265]

Narrated Ma'qil: I heard the Prophet sallalahu alaihi wasallam saying, "Any man whom Allah has given the authority of ruling some people and he does not look after them in an honest manner, will never feel even the smell of Paradise." [Sahih Muslim - Volume 9, Book 89, Number 264]

Our only weapon is duwa and supplications, so let us all humble ourselves and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaitaan and seek forgiveness from Allah subhanaWa ta'aAla and pray for the oppressed in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc.

JazakiaAllah hu khairan for reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and Follow us. If you have similar views please do comment

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Eating habits in RAMADHAN

Assalamualaykum,
Dear readers ,Today my topic is miscellaneous I thought why not to write about , Ramadan !!!
Well when the word ramadhan comes in mind we have fasting, reading Quran, doing extra ibadah, and EATING IFTAR!

Well yes, we worry a lot about our Iftar. That's not a bad thing to worry about. It's natural.. But trust me just eating samosas, meethas, pakoras, haleem etc. should not be something we should worry about.

In fact, the entire year you can eat many things as much you want according to your diet, but in Ramadan you have to be more careful about your diet. Since Ramadan is over and Shawwal is still going on, we can still adapt these ways in our fasts.
We should know that our sahur, our Iftar should be healthy, but we hardly follow it .
My dear readers I live in east Asia, so according to that, I have a list here 

What you should avoid for sahur:

Acidity increasing food items, like heavy meat or chicken curry, any rice, nahari or sticky oily food items which might lead to indigestion .

Things that you should eat in suhur :-

Food like bread, milk, yoghurt, egg, fruits, every thing which you feel is easy on your stomach , and don't grasp much water thinking you won't feel thirsty later on in fast , but that's the wrong concept. Infact water is the only thing which will digest fast and make your stomach feel heavy but later on you might feel hungry. So don't make your stomach full of tanks of water !!!

Avoid eating rice at dinner or at suhur, because that too will digest quickly and might result in hunger later on .

Now coming towards Iftar, things that you should not eat in iftar :-

Besan pakoras - or any besan oily items, cholay, cream and ghee included meethas, peas included items, cauli flower, any item that has huge amount of meat or oil should be restricted because the effects will occur when you go for taravi . 

Things that you should eat in Iftar :-
Yoghurt, fresh Laban, fish, milk, fruits, juices of fruits are very essential for vitamins and minerals in body. In fact, if you add milk to your meetha's in more amount than your ghee /oil - then you will have a more calcium rich diet than any fat rich diet and SOUPS definitely !  

I never understood the concept behind making the barley boil so much at stove, until I went through this Hadith.
Prophet (Pbuh) said, “You recently recovered from illness, hence you are weak, hence don’t eat more. Therefore, that lady prepared a dish from barley and beet root. Then, the Prophet (Pbuh) told Hazrat Ali “Eat from it, it is better for you”. (Ibn-e-Maja, Sanad-e-Ahmed, Tirmizi)
Hazrat Aisha (R.A) used to order preparation of Talbina for sick person and used to tell “Even though the patient dislike it, but it is highly beneficial for him. (Bukhari)

You can get this barley in any flour shops, it's called in urdu 'jau' !
This is the main thing for your energy and good digestion. It removes every illness of stomach and most importantly it is recommended by our prophet Mohammed sallalahu alaihi wasalam. So don't think much when it's about following Sunnah !! Just go for it !!

How to break the fast :The best way to do Iftar is to open your fast with dates, then water, then offer your Maghrib salah, then come back to eating, but don't fill your stomach much that you feel heavy and difficult in Salat without khushu and khuzoo. Try eating less in variety foods!

Narrated Anas ibn Malik The Apostle of Allah Sallallaho alaihey wasallam used to break his fast before praying with some fresh dates; but if there were no fresh dates, he had a few dry dates, and if there were no dry dates, he took some mouthfuls of water. [Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 13, Number 2349] 
For cooking lovers,, my best advice is to please cook with small quantities, with best quality and definitely with variety.

And remember if you cook thinking its a way to please Allah not humans, then your food will be cooked more delicious than ever. Try to share food with your neighbors, relatives and invite a fasting person so that he/she could eat at your home and it has a lot of sawaab !

Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam declared, "If a person gives iftar to a fasting person in this month, his sins will be forgiven. And he will be given as many rewards as has that fasting person," some of the Blessed Companions said that they were not so rich as to give iftar meal to a fasting person. He declared as a reply, "The rewards will be given even to a person who gives a date as the iftar or who provides water to break the fast or who offers a little milk" [Bayhaqi]

Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalm stated, "He who gives water as iftar to a fasting person in Ramadan becomes as sinless as the day his mother bore him."
Before I leave, let me remind you to not forget about eating habits at EID. Usually, people stay on cautious diet in Ramadan but give up at eid. So my dear readers please take care of your health in this month of blessings as well as Eid. Don't forget the month is to make your sins forgiven, but not to just eat !!!
May this post of mine , help you guys a lot! Ameen :)

JazakiaAllah hu khairan for reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and Follow us. If you have similar views please do comment

"Muhammad As If You Can See Him" - BOOK REVIEW

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Dear Reader,

Today, I will be sharing my thoughts on a book with you :) 

I came across it when we had to read a book on the Seerah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alahi wa sallam) for a book club meeting. I had initially decided to read the biography written by Martin Lings but due to time constraints I decided to go ahead in search of a comprehensive but succinct description on the life of our Prophet.

I couldn't be happier for happening to stumble upon this specific one. The book is entitled "Muhammad As If You Can See Him" and written by the well known Dr. Aid Al-Qarni. He is also author of the ever so popular and one of my favourite books ever- "Don't Be Sad".

                                        

The book consists of only about 171 pages, which forms the main content of the book.

Dr. Al-Qarni uses simple, but beautiful and powerful ways to describe the various qualities of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) in this work. He starts by briefly going over the story of Prophet hood.  After that, each section of the book pertains to describing one quality (amongst the many) of the Prophet. The various qualities include his patience, his truthfulness, his generosity, his Zuhd, bravery, humbleness, mercy, laughter, and so on. For someone who wants to know how the Prophet was in a certain aspect, they can look it up in the contents and go straight to that particular section, making the organisation of the book very user-friendly and also very helpful for any second or third reads in the same manner.

This book is now one of my favourite books I have ever read. I wished it could go on more, to learn more new things about the Prophet that I had never known before, and work on increasing love for him. For whatever Rasul Allah (Sallalahu alaihi wasallam) has done for us, we can never repay him. Except by loving and emulating him in all aspects of our lives. Even that would be less, for it would only contribute to our own well-being and in our relationship with Allah subhanahu wa taala.

I loved it because it truly made me know my Prophet "as if I can see him". You can feel the Dr.'s love of the Prophet himself which aids the reader in loving the Prophet as well (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam).

I learned so many new things about the beautiful and perfect character of the Prophet. Reading each quality makes one feel so intimate to the Prophet, and long to be with him more than ever. Although each and every quality is to be loved and learned from, one of the qualities which stunned me to an amazing manner was his generosity. Perhaps it impacted me so immensely because it is something deficient in myself which I need to work on. 

The entire book seems like a mirror to check myself with. To emulate the Prophet, his tremendous character and perfect example with.

This book will give a wonderful insight into the life of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) for all the Muslims. After reading this, one's desire to learn more about him increases to a degree higher than ever before.

I wish to share so much more about my thoughts on the book, but there is only so much I can write here in one post. Reading the book itself alone can truly make one feel the beauty of its contents.

May Allah subhanahu wa taala bless us with the Sunnah in all its inward and outward dimensions, and may He increase the love for the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) in our hearts more than all of mankind. Ameen.



Allahumma salle aala Muhammad <3

Oh Allah, bless the Prophet! 

Here is a link to a PDF version of the book:

http://www.kalamullah.com/muhammad-as-if-you-can-see-him.html

I truly hope this post was of at least some benefit to you.

Have a wonderful day!

-Kausar 

[I apologize for any mistakes, all goodness is from Allah and errors from my own self.]

For more blog posts from Kausar, Please visit her blog JUSTKONCEPTIONS

JazakiAllah hu khairan Kausar for a wonderful guest post! May Allah reward you Ameen! 
We can't wait to read this book! :D

JazakiaAllah hu khairan for reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and Follow us. If you have similar views please do comment