Refresh Your Imaan

“The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) never touched the hand of a woman who was not married to him.” [Bukhari] Aisha (radi Allahu anha) reported that the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) accepted the oath of allegiance from women verbally, without taking their hands into his own hand. When men would embrace Islam and pledge allegiance to the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) they would put their hands in the Prophet’s hands. However, when women would embrace Islam and take the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) he would take it from them only verbally. He did not let this become an opportunity for Shaitaan to get a foot in.  We should not let matters even less trivial than a pledge of allegiance to Rasul Allah become an opportunity for non-Mahram men and women to touch each other. For example, when there is a need to see a doctor or dentist, men should go to male doctors and dentists, while women should see female doctors and dentists.

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Woman is awrah and when she goes out the Shaytaan raises his glance to her.” [Saheeh Sunan At-Tirmidhi] The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) told us that he was not leaving behind any greater temptation for men than women. For this reason women are commanded to cover all of their bodies and men are commanded to nevertheless keep their gazes lowered and not look at them. Yet it seems that the opposite behaviour is in vogue.  Today women go out for no reason at all, clothed yet naked. Institutes employ armies of women and men to propagate immorality by means of TV and movies. Their promiscuous stories tell tales of immorality, their characters glamourize lewd behaviour, and evil gains currency as the norm. The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) forbade being alone with a (non-mahram) woman, and said that no man is ever alone with a non-mahram woman (khalwah) but the Shaytaan is the third one presen

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “What a Muslim spends on his family, for seeking the pleasure of Allah, is also counted as charity.” [Bukhaari] Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) advises man to first be kind to himself and to the people in his home, then to his larger circle of relatives, and then to all human beings.  When a man provides for his wife, children, parents and any other dependents, he is worshipping Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) by obeying Him. If his intention is to fulfill the responsibilities Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has assigned to him, he gains the reward of performing good deeds, by paying for his family’s food, clothes, housing, medicine, etc. Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has forbidden both miserliness and extravagance (wasteful spending). We should spend in a balanced manner, keeping well away from these two extremes.

Umm Habibah bint Abu Sufyan (radi Allahu anha) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whoever prays twelve rakat during the day and night will have a house built for him in Paradise: four rakat before Zuhr and two after it, two rakat after Maghrib, two rakat after Isha, and two rakat before Fajr.” (Hasan Sahih hadith) [Tirmidhi] One of the Umayyad Khalifa’s asked Ibn Hazm, “Why do we fear death?”  Ibn Hazm replied, “Because we hate to go from what we have built to what we have destroyed.” Whatever efforts and accumulations we have made are for this Dunya and it shows in the form of our properties, businesses, possessions, etc., looking very nice. When we try to imagine our property in the Akhirah we don’t see anything, or at best, we are uncertain. Thus, we don’t feel comfortable about going there. But our death will bring an end to this life and will take us to the life of that uncertain place anyway. So why not invest in a real estate project f

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whichever woman applies scent should not join us for the Isha prayers.” [Abu Dawud] During the early Islamic era, women used to perform salaat behind Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), in congregation. On one occasion Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) told the women that they should not come to the masjid perfumed.  While the women are coming to the masjid to earn sawaab/hasanaat, their presence should not cause the salaat of other people to be ruined. If the fragrance of the perfume distracts men and instills desire in their hearts, then the women would have gotten more sawaab by staying home and not being a cause of fitnah/corruption in society.  If Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) prevented women who applied perfume from attending the masjid during his noble era, one can imagine how much worse it is for women to mingle with men decked up and perfumed.

When Ruqayya (radi Allahu anha) the daughter of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) died and women started to cry, Umar (radi Allahu anhu) tried to stop them. On this the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “O Umar, leave them alone and let them cry.” To the women he said: “Go ahead and cry, but avoid the crying of the Shaytaan… Whatever comes from your eye and heart is from Allah and is a sign of mercy, and whatever comes from your hand and your tongue is from the Shaytaan.” [Ahmad] It is permitted to cry on the death of a loved one. It is natural to feel a sense of loss from which one sheds tears. However, wailing, eulogizing (excessively praising the deceased), tearing one’s clothes, pulling one’s hair, and all such extreme displays of emotion from one’s hand and tongue are forbidden.  These customs were known at the time of Jahilliyah and are still common among Muslims today. Such conduct is not permitted in Islam, as a Muslim is required to face bereavement, like al

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Oh Ali, if two people come to ask you to judge between them, do not judge in favour of the first until you hear the word of the second in order that you may know how to judge.” [Ahmad, Abu Daud] Humans are hasty by nature. We are quick to judge. A situation aggravates us and we rush to condemn without bothering to determine all the facts first. In our haste usually only one point of view is considered. This could happen in our households when children get into a fight. This also often happens when we hear things about people. We don’t stay out of things that do not concern us; then we do not bother to hear the other side of the story either. Thirdly, we also get easily influenced with one sided information broadcast at us through the media. In short, we do exactly what Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has forbidden, which is to make haste in passing judgment. Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) used to make dua begging Allah, “Enable me t

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu): "Al-Fadl bin Abbas rode behind Allah's Messenger (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) as his companion rider on the back portion of his she-camel on the day of Nahr (slaughtering of sacrifice, 10th Dhul-Hijja) and Al-Fadl was a handsome man. The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) stopped to give the people verdicts (regarding their matters). In the meantime, a beautiful woman from the tribe of Khatham came, asking the verdict of Allah's Messenger. Al-Fadl started looking at her as her beauty attracted him. The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) looked behind while Al-Fadl was looking at her; so the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) held out his hand backwards and caught the chin of Al-Fadl and turned his face (to the other side) in order that he should not gaze at her. She said, 'O Allah's Messenger! The obligation of performing Hajj enjoined by Allah on his worshippers has become due (compulsory) on my father who

Aisha (radi Allahu anha), the wife of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) narrated: “A lady, along with her two daughters, came to me asking me (for some alms), but she found nothing with me except one date which I gave to her and she divided it between her two daughters, and then she got up and went away. Then the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) came in and I informed him about this story. He said, “Whoever is in charge of these daughters and treats them generously, then they will act as a shield for him from the Fire.” [Sahih Bukhari] There are several lessons to be learnt from this hadith: 1. Look at the house of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). The person who has the best and highest place in Jannah, has a house in this world which has nothing that can be given away except a single date! When the most beloved to Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) died, there was not enough money to buy oil for a lamp. Aisha (radi Allahu anha) mortgaged his battle shield to buy oil

Jabir (radi Allahu anhu) narrates that the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) also gave these instructions in his sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage. "Fear Allah regarding women; for you have taken them (in marriage) with the trust of Allah." [Mishkat] This warning establishes the sanctity and inviolability of women's rights. In this teaching, men have been cautioned that although they are the guardians of women, they should not exercise this responsibility without concern and fear of accountability before Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). They should be mindful that Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) is a witness between them and their wives, and it is through His commandment and permission that women have been made lawful for them through marriage. Women are therefore in Allah's protection. If husbands are cruel or unjust, they are guilty of breaching their trust with Allah. How great an honour this is for women and how stern is the warning for their guardian husbands that t

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Shall I inform you which woman will enter Paradise?” The Sahaba replied: “Yes, most certainly.”  Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “The woman who has children, is lovable, when she becomes angry the husband consoles her, and when the husband becomes angry she says that as long as you do not become pleased with me, I will not even apply surmah (antimony) to my eyes.” [Tibrani] The love between husband and wife offends Shaytaan more than anything else. If husbands and wives are to care for each other and try to keep the environment of the house as peaceful and loving as possible, every Muslim house can become a model of Jannat. All kinds of quarrels will cease and the misfortune of divorce will not prevail. Children brought up in such environments will be an example of piety, discipline, love and sympathy. May Allah make every Muslim house a model of Jannat. If the hearts of both spouses are united, there can be no greater b

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) mentioned bedding and said: “Bedding for the man, bedding for the wife, bedding for the guest, and the fourth is for the Shaitaan.” [Sunan Abu Dawud] Every house should have beds according to the number of people living in the house, and extra beds according to the number of guests that usually visit. Beyond that, is extravagance.  Although only bedding is mentioned in this hadith, we can extrapolate this to the amount of cutlery and crockery one should keep, the number of rooms one should have, the amount of linen we should keep, and so on and so forth. It is something to think about.