Refresh Your Imaan

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 great...

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.

When he was dying, Ubadah ibnu as-Saamit (radi Allahu anhu) told his son: O son, you will not find the taste of Emaan until you know that whatever you receive, you would have never missed it; and whatever you have missed, you would have never received it. I heard Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) saying: “The first thing which Allah created was the Pen. He commanded it to write. It asked: ‘What should I write?’ He said: ‘Write the Decree (Al-Qadr) of everything until the Day of Judgement.’” O son, I heard the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) say: “He who dies not believing in this is not one of my people.” [Abu Dawud – Jamu al-Fawaaid] Where you will be born, where and when you will die, what you will receive, what you will miss, what joys or sorrows will come in your life – these are all written. This is the exam paper of life that you are presented with. How you will deal with these events will determine your rank before Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). Pray to ...

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Let there be no harming, nor reciprocating harm.” [Sahih - Ibn Majah]   The meaning of this hadith is the prohibition of all forms of harmfulness, great or small, since the grammatical indefinite (of the words “harming” and “reciprocating harm”) in a negative context indicates generality. Thus, harming oneself or any other creature, without reason from the Shariah, is prohibited.   Based on this hadith many contemporary scholars hold it to be unlawful to buy, sell, use, or grow tobacco, because of the unlawfulness of consuming what has been proven to be harmful.  Epidemiological data link smoking and lung disease in the following ways: 1. Up to 50% of smokers may die of smoking-related diseases. 2. Smokers are three times more likely to die in middle age than are non-smokers. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: 1. COPD is very rare in non-smokers. 2. 90% of deaths from COPD are attributed to smoking. 3. 98% of people wi...