Refresh Your Imaan

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “May Allah curse him who eats of usury (riba) or feeds it to another.” [Sahih Muslim] The prohibition regarding riba is for both accepting it (eating of it) as well as paying it (feeding another with it). “Curse (la’n)” means to put someone far from divine mercy. Riba is usually translated as “interest”. This includes both simple and compound interest. Dealing in riba is one of the kaba’ir (enormities) as it is accursed by Allah’s Messenger in the above hadith, and also carries the threat of punishment in the Hereafter in the words of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala): “O you who believe: fear Allah and forgo what remains of usury (riba) if you are believers. If you will not, then know of a declaration of war (against you) from Allah and His Messenger.” [Quran 2: 278-79] If Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) and His Messenger come armed to wage war against a person on the Day of Judgement, does he/she stand a chance? The prohibition regarding riba also ex...

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whoever among you can afford it, let him get married, for it is more effective in lowering the gaze and guarding chastity. And whoever cannot afford it, then let him fast, for it will be restraint for him.” [Sunan an-Nasai] The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) recommended that Muslims get married. It is against the teachings of Islam to have the financial ability to get married but choose to stay single. There is a specific code of conduct Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has outlined for the people who want to spend eternity as they please in Jannah. One of its requirements is to be careful with where one looks and guard oneself from looking at the opposite gender (except one’s spouse). What the eye sees, the limbs follow to. To look at forbidden things is the first step in the wrong direction. Being married helps to guard one’s gaze and remain within the boundaries of Islam. If a person is not able to get married for some reason, then th...

Abu Hurairah (radi Allahu anhu) met a woman who was wearing perfume and heading for the Masjid. He said: “O slavewoman of the Compeller, where are you headed?” She said: “To the Masjid.” He said: “And have you put on perfume for that?” She said: “Yes.” He said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) say, ‘Any woman who puts on perfume then goes out to the Masjid, no prayer will be accepted from her until she takes a bath.’” [Sunan Ibn Majah] A woman’s beauty, attractiveness and charm are for her husband only. The attraction that men feel for women is far greater than the attraction that women feel for men. When a woman applies perfume where there is a chance that non-Mahram men will be attracted to her because of it she jeopardizes simultaneously the happy marital life of many families. Thus, it is not allowed for a woman to apply perfume when she goes out of her house. A woman may go to the Masjid to attend Salaat in Jamaat provided that she avoids adornment and...

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “On the Day of Jum’a, the angels stand at the door of the Masjid and write down the first to come and then those who follow. When the Imam comes out, they roll up their scrolls and listen to the reminder.” [Sahih Bukhari] Ibn Hajar said in Fath-ul-Bari, “On the Day of Jum’a, Allah sends angels with scrolls of light and pens of light.” The angels mentioned in this hadith are special angels deputed by Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) to note down on scrolls the names of all the people who go early to the Jum’a prayer. Once the Khutbah starts (reminder to Muslims of their obligations towards their Lord), these angels roll up their scrolls, sit to listen to the Khutbah themselves, and note no further names. At the end of this hadith in Ibn Majah we find, “Anyone coming after that, comes merely for the sake of the prayer.” The angels mentioned in this hadith are not guardian angels. Guardian angels continue to write down a person’s deeds a...

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Allah has angels travelling about the earth to convey to me the salaams of my ummah.” [An-Nasaai] This hadith indicates to us the high station of the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) for Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has appointed angels just to take each person’s salaams to the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). There are more than a billion Muslims on earth today. Five times a day in our prayers we send salaams. When we hear “Muhammad” mentioned in the Adhan we say “sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam.” The Adhan happens around the clock as there is always some corner of the earth from which the Adhan is being called. Whenever mention is made of Allah’s last messenger we send salaams on him. The salaam is a short prayer for peace and blessings on the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). We send salaams on the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), (1) as a form of greeting, (2) out of the love that we have for him, (3) in app...

“The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) would often say to his Companions, ‘Who among you had a dream last night?’ Then anyone who Allah willed would recount his dream. One morning he said to us, ‘During the night two men came to me and said to me, ‘Come on!’ So I went with them. We came upon a man who was lying on his back while another man was standing over him with a stone which he dropped onto his head and crushed it. Then the stone rolled away from him and he went after the stone to retrieve it. When he returned to him, his head was whole again and had become as it had been in the first place. So he went back and hit him as he had done the first time. I said to them, ‘Glory be to Allah! Who are these two?’ They said, ‘Go on! Go on!’ “….I said to them, ‘This night I have seen marvels, but what are these things which I have seen?’ They said to me, ‘We will tell you. The first man you came to whose head was being crushed with the stone is a man who memorized the Quran a...

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Allah revealed to Yusha bin Nun: ‘I will destroy 40,000 of the best of your people and 60,000 of their worst.’ He asked: ‘My Lord, I can understand the worst of them being destroyed. Why destroy the best of them?’ He said: ‘They didn't become angry for My Anger, and they would give the worst ones food and drink.’ [Ibn Abi ad-Dunya] In Abu Laith’s narration Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) said, “The pious ones did not forbid the evil and did not even consider the sins as an evil. In fact they continued to eat, drink & mix with the sinners.” If we love someone very dearly but then find out that in a gathering where we were being ridiculed our beloved sat comfortably, not getting even a bit upset that we were being made a laughing stock of, then how would we feel? This is what we do with Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) when His commands are violated, His religion is ridiculed, His friends are persecuted, and we act as though nothing ...

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Those who exaggerate will be ruined; those who exaggerate will be ruined; those who exaggerate will be ruined." [Sahih Muslim] Simple advice that we can start changing our lives with! Speech that is devoid of exaggeration is almost necessarily devoid of lying. For if a person is careful enough to avoid even exaggeration, it is not possible that they would be careless enough to lie. And one who avoids lying stays on the path to Jannah.