Eid Mubarak

A warm Eid Mubarak to our brothers and sisters in Islam. Taqabbala Allahu minna wa minkum – May Allah ‘Azza wa Jal accept from us and from you the righteous deeds. May Allah ‘Azza wa Jal make us of those who have attained Taqwa over this past month. May He make us of those whom He has forgiven all our past sins and mistakes. May He make us of those whom He has granted Ikhlaas, Tawfique and Help in rushing to His obediance and staying away from disobeying Him. May He make this Deen of Islam once again, reign supreme in the world He created, so that the injustices are replaced with true justice (Khilafah upon the Prophethood). May He grant His help and protection over those who are truly striving in His path no matter where they may be. When death approaches us, may we be of those who die upon Islam with the correct Aqeedah and with the declaration of His Tawheed upon our lips. May He grant the children of this Ummah protection from the Shirk, evil eye, evil influences, evil ideologies, deviations, innovations in religion, major calamities and tribulations.

Ameen.

The Patience of Urwah ibn al-Zubayr

‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (RadiAllahu Anhu) came to visit the Khalîfah al-Walîd ibn ‘Abdu’l-Malik. With him was his son Muhammad, who was one of the most handsome of men. The young man had dressed up for the occasion in fine clothes, and had his hair in two plaits or braids. When al-Walîd saw him, he said, “This is how the young people of Quraysh look!” and by so saying, put the evil eye on him. Before he left, the young man fell ill. When he was in the stable (preparing for the journey) he fell down, and the horses trampled him to death.

Then ‘Urwah got gangrene in his leg, and al-Walîd sent doctors to him, who suggested that the leg should be amputated, otherwise the gangrene would spread to the rest of the body and kill him. ‘Urwah agreed, and the doctors began to remove his leg, using a saw.
When the saw reached the bone, ‘Urwah fainted, and when he came around, sweat was pouring down his face, and he was repeating,

“Lâ ilâh ill-Allâh, Allâhu akbar.”

When the operation was over, he picked up his leg and kissed it, then said,

“I swear by the One Who mounted me on you, I never used to walk to any place of wrong action or to any place where Allâh would not like me to be.”

Then he gave instructions that the leg should be washed, perfumed, wrapped in a cloth and buried in the Muslim graveyard.
When ‘Urwah left al-Walîd and returned to Madînah, his family and friends went to meet
him at the outskirts of the city and to offer condolences. The only reply he made was to
quote from the Qur’ân:

“…truly we have suffered much fatigue at our journey” (al- Kahf 18:62).

He did not say any more than that. Then he said,

“I will not enter Madînah, for people there either rejoice over the afflictions of others, or else feel envy for their blessings.”

So he went to stay in a place at al-‘Aqîq. ‘Îsâ ibn Talhah came to visit him there and said,

“May your enemies’ fathers perish!”

and asked him,

“Show me the affliction for which I have come to console you.”

‘Urwah uncovered his stump, and ‘Îsâ said,

“By Allâh, we were not preparing you to wrestle! Allâh has saved most of you: your sanity, your tongue, your eyesight, your two hands, and one of your two legs.”

‘Urwah told him,

“Nobody has consoled me as you have.”

When the doctors came to perform the amputation, they had asked ‘Urwah whether he
would drink intoxicants to ease the pain. He said,

“Allâh is testing me to see the extent of my patience. How could I go against His commands?”

The worldly life came!

Rabi’ah al-Aslami narrated:

I used to serve the Messenger of Allah. So, he gave me a piece of land, and gave Abu Bakr a piece of land. Then, the worldly life came and and we argued over a bunch of palm trees, and Abu Bakr said: “It is in my piece of land!” and I said: “It is in my piece of land!” Then, there was an exchange of words between Abu Bakr and myself. So, Abu Bakr said something to me that I disliked, and he regretted that.

So, he said to me: “O Rabi’ah! Say back to me what I said to you so that we would be equal.”

I said: “I will not do so!”

Abu Bakr said: “Say it, or I will call the Messenger of Allah on you!”

I said: “I will not do so.”

So, Abu Bakr – may Allaah be pleased with him – went to the Prophet and I followed him, so the people from (the tribe of) Aslam came and said: “May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr! Why would he call the Messenger of Allah on you when he (the Prophet) has said to you what he has said?”

So, I said: “Do you know who that is? That is Abu Bakr as-Siddiq! He is the one who was in the Cave with the Prophet, and he is the elder of the Muslims! So, you had better not cause him to turn around and see you helping me against him, making him angry, causing the Messenger of Allah to come and become angry because of Abu Bakr’s anger, thereby causing Allah to become angry for both of their anger, thereby causing me to be destroyed!”

So, they said: “So, what do you want us to do?”

I said: “Go back to where you came from.”

So, Abu Bakr went to the Messenger of Allah and I followed him by myself and continued until he got to the Prophet and informed him of our conversation as it happened.

So, he (the Prophet) raised his head to me and said: “O Rabi’ah! What is going on between you and as-Siddiq?”

So, I said: “O Messenger of Allah, this happened and that happened, and he said something to me that I disliked, and he told me to say the same thing back to him so that we would be equal.”

So, the Messenger of Allah said: “Do not return his comment to him. Rather, say ‘May Allah forgive you, O Abu Bakr! May Allah forgive you O Abu Bakr!’”

So, Abu Bakr – may Allah have Mercy on him – turned his face and began to cry.

['as-Silsilah as-Sahihah'; # 3258]
[With thanks: Brotherhood in Islam, facebook fan page]

Description of Ali that made Mu`awiyah weep

After Ali died , Mu`awiyah bin Abi Sufyan said to Dirar bin Damrah

“Describe ‘Ali to me.”

“Will you not excuse me from answering you,” said Dirar.

“No, describe him,” insisted Mu`awiyah.

“Please excuse me from doing so,” said Dirar.

“I will not,” said Mu`awiyah.

“I will do so, then” said Dirar with a sigh.

“By Allah, he was (far-sighted) and very strong. He spoke with a truthful finality, so that, through him, truth became distinguished from falsehood. He ruled justly, and knowledge gushed forth from him, as did wisdom. He felt an aversion to the world and its (pleasure). He was comfortable with the night and its darkness (meaning he prayed a lot). By Allah he would cry profusely ( from fear of Allah); long durations would he spend in contemplation, during which time he would converse with his soul. He showed a liking to coarse garments and lower-quality food. By Allah, it was as if – in his humbleness- he was one of us: when we asked him a question, he would answer us; when we would go to him, he would initiate (the salam); and when we would invite him (to our homes), he would come to us . Yet, in spite of his closeness to us, we would not speak (freely) with him, because of the dignity and honor that he exuded if he smiled, he revealed the likes of straight and regular pearls(his teeth). He honored religious people and loved the poor. The strong person could not hope to gain favors from him through falsehood. And the weak person never lost hope of his justness. I swear, by Allah, that on certain occasions, I saw him in his place of prayer when the night was dark and few stars could be seen; he would be holding his beard and crying the way a very sad person cries; and I would hear him saying, “O world, O world, are you offering yourself to me? Do you desire me? Never! Never! Deceive someone other than me, I have divorced you for the third time, so that you cannot return to me (metaphorically, of course; he is alluding to the fact that, in islam, the third divorce is final) your life is short, the existence you offer is base, and your danger is great. Alas for the scarcity of sustenance (good deeds), the great distance of the journey, and the loneliness of the road!”

Upon hearing this description, Mu`awiyah’s eyes swelled with tears, and not being able to hold them from gushing forth, he was forced to wipe them with his cuffs; and the same can be said for those who were present. Mu`awiyah then said,

“May Allah have mercy on the father of Al-Hasan, for he was, by Allah, just as you described him to be.”

He then said, “O Dirar, describe your sadness at having lost him.”

“My sadness” began Dirar “is like the sadness of a woman who cannot control her tears or allay her grief after her child , while in her lap, has just been slaughtered.”

Dirar then stood up and left.

[Sifatus-Safwah 1/66 by Ibn al- Jawziyy]
[With thanks: Brotherhood in Islam, facebook fan page]

May Allah be pleased with them both.

Umar’s Islam (Part 2)

Umar (RadiAllahu Anhu) reached the house of his sister and heard words from behind her door. Both Fatima and her husband Saeed Ibn Zayd were reciting Qur’an under the tuition of Khabab Ibn Arat.

When Umar knocked on the door and they saw that it he was there, the immediately stopped reciting, Khabab Ibn Arat hid himself and Fatima hid the scroll of upon which Qur’an was written, under her thighs.

Umar came in and demanded what was the humming sound he had heard. They said it was nothing. He repeated his question and demanded to know if they had become Muslim and left the religion of their tribes. Saeed Ibn Zayd replied:

“Well what if Islam is better than your religion?”

At that point Umar (RadiAllahu Anhu) attacked Saeed Ibn Zayd. He threw him to the ground, sat on top of him and began to beat him. Fatima, seeing her husband being attacked in this way, tried to intervene in vain to help him, and was struck in her face by Umar (RadiAllahu Anhu). She began to bleed as a result and so she rebuked her brother:

“You enemy of Allah! You hit me just because I believe in Allah. Whether you like it or not, I bear witness that there is no God except Allah and Muhammed is His Messenger. Do whatever you like!”

Seeing the bleeding face of his own sister and hearing the strength and conviction in her voice, Umar (RadiAllahu Anhu) calmed down and became silent. He regretted his actions and felt sorry for her. He moved away from Saeed and sat down. He asked her to hand over the scrolls to him. Fatima refused. He told her that her words, had struck a cord in his heart and he promised that he would return them to her safely. She replied:

“No. You are a Mushrik (see glossary), you are in a state of impurity, so you have to go and make ghusl (see glossary) first.”

Umar (RadiAllahu Anhu) did so and took the scrolls from his sister, sat down and recite the verses of Qur’an written upon them. He recited the first verses of Surat TaHa from Qur’an which are translated as follows:

“Ta Ha. We have not revealed the Quran to you that you may be unsuccessful. Nay, it is a reminder to him who fears: A revelation from Him Who created the earth and the high heavens. The Beneficent Allah is firm in power. His is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth and what is between them two and what is beneath the ground. And if you utter the saying aloud, then surely He knows the secret, and what is yet more hidden. Allah – there is no god but He; His are the very best names.” – Surat TaHaa (1-8:20)

Umar was quiet and reflective. He said upon reading these verses:

“Is this what Quraish and the other tribes are fighting …? The one who has spoken these words (Allah, The Almighty) needs to be worshipped. Where is Muhammed?”

They told him the location where the Prophet Muhammed (SalAllahu Alayhi WaSallam) was meeting with his companions. So Umar left to meet with him, now… in a completely different frame of mind.