When Was The Last Time?

My friend and I we usually meet up every weekend and just chill, relax and get something to eat. He had told me today, yesterday was his 1 year wedding anniversary. Alhumdulilah (Thanks To Allah), how many people now-a-days get through even the first 3 months or even 6 months? Being married for a year now is an accomplishment now-a-days, so shout to my boy, you know who you are. May Allah SWT bless you and your family for years to come and more.

We had ended up discussing relationships and how when boyfriends and girlfriends are always so attached and always wanting to prove and proclaim their love for one another. The boyfriend is dressing up, looking fresh and fly for his girl and the girlfriend is dressing up, looking fresh and stunning for her man. They go beyond the limits and comfort zone just so they can prove their worth and proclaim that love is there for one another.

Every weekend or during the week they get together and go really nice places or even to the movies, just so they can spend time together. Both of them are constantly being told and complemented they are a very cute couple and they look like they are meant to be together. They go on dates, the boyfriend buys her flowers, really nice gifts and the girlfriend is doing the same thing for him, just so again, they can constantly prove their love for one another.I know some of my Muslim brothers and sisters will be reading this and say, “astugferullah brother! These types of relationships are haram!!!!” Yeah, I know DUH! Thank you stating the obvious.

I am not here condoning a relationship like this. I am only here to ask you, the reader and giving a few lessons to the to be married and the married, when was the last time, if there was a last time you actually went out of your comfort zone to prove your love the way you used to love physically or in a materialistic way, for your spouse? Everyone knows love cannot be proved in a materialistic way but even you and I know a gift from anyone close to you brings a smile to your face and makes the relationship or friendship that much closer.

When was the last time you and your spouse spent time together and went to the places you used to goto before you were married? If you’ve never been in that type of relationship, when was the last time you took your spouse out to a nice place to eat? When was the last time you and your spouse dressed nicely for one another? The wedding day does not count nor do the days after the wedding count. When was the last time you actually brought your wife home some of her favourite flowers or chocolate? When was the last time you two went out for a walk together? This doesn’t include grocery shopping because that is a must if you are married. If you cannot recall these things at anytime during your marriage or the only time you recall these moments was when you were dating each other, on the wedding day and a few days after, why did you stop now or how come you haven’t started?

Does being married mean it is the end of the show that you can’t do those types of things anymore? Why is that those that are in haram relationships are so willing to do everything for their girlfriend or boyfriend but those that are married, in a halal relationship, that have been giving the blessings, fulfilling a sunnah,  don’t even budge or consider these things anymore? Being married does not mean you cut the line that once brought you in that fish but married means, you are able to fish more efficiently.

Instead of cutting the line, why not do all the things you always wanted to do with your spouse? Why not do all the things you used to do before you were married? Your spouse I’m sure is craving that type of attention that was once there before or even your spouse hopes and dreams they are able to live outside of the make believe hollywood movie that broadcasts romance and love.

Allah SWT has given you the halal means of being married, so why not use it to your advantage? Take your spouse out once a month or twice a month or whatever your budget is able to afford. Dress up nicely, wear perfume or cologne, attar, which your spouse enjoys smelling and clothes you two like seeing each other in. Get dinner or lunch reservations, eat some great food, have a great conversation and spark inside each other a love that is untapped and waiting to be explored.

Even Abdullah Ibn Abbas (May Allah Be Pleased With Him), one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) loved dressing up for his wife. Abdullah Ibn Abbas (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) said: “I love that I beautify myself for my wife just like I love that she beautifies herself for me.” Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah. Im sure if Abdullah Ibn Abbas (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) was alive in our times now, he would be probably be rocking the flyest outfits just for his wife. In Islam we have examples of how to treat and respect each other. Islam explains how to make love to one another. Islam explains how to treat husband and wife but we stop trying or don’t even try because we feel safe in our marriage thinking our spouses don’t need this type of treatment. It’s not whether you think they need the treatment or not, its you should be doing it out of appreciation for one another. Im sure your spouse does a lot which is unseen and even though the love you show is there but there is so much more to marriage than just living together, eating the food your spouse makes, sleeping in the same bed and going grocery shopping.

Be alive and show and prove more than ever that your spouse means a lot to you. Go to dinner, buy gifts, go for walks, dress up nicely and do whatever is imaginable and is within halal means. Come out of your comfort zone and do something nice for once or do things which you used to do before you were married, so that match, that spark can be lit again.

Rizq Is From Allah – Part 4

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we understand some of these issues that I’ve mentioned concerning the central issues of rizq (sustenance). When we understand that rizq (sustenance) is an issue of aqeeda (belief) and tawheed (oneness), is apart of the belief system that we have. Part of the way our eman (faith) in Allah SWT. When we know, acknowledge and understand that rizq (sustenance) is something Allah SWT distributes and He distributes it with infinite wisdom and mercy and we understand that it has already been legislated for us and that which was prescribed for us will come to us sooner or later. Also when we understand that rizq (sustenance) isn’t only necessarily a sign that Allah SWT loves you or dislikes you. We also we increase in our rizq (sustenance) blessings in our rizq (sustenance). When we understand some of these central issues my brothers and sisters in Islam, then we can begin to acknowledge and appreciate why Abu Bakr (May Allah Be Pleased With HIm) would come and he would give all of his wealth for the sake of Allah SWT. He would not leave anything behind for himself or his family, except the love of Allah SWT and his love of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him). When we understand these concepts we realize and we know why Umar (May Allah Be Pleased With HIm) came and he gave half of his wealth in charity. When we understand these issues we begin to appreciate why Uthman (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) would give hundreds and hundreds of camels and horses in the way of Allah SWT. Then the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “Nothing can harm Uthman after today, doesn’t matter what he does because of the sadaqaa (charity) that he gave.” We begin to appreciate the way the companions (May Allah Be Pleased With Them All) looked at rizq (sustenance), their concept of rizq (sustenance), the way they dealt with this issue of money and wealth. This is also something which we need to have as well.

A scholar of tafseer had finished writing his work of tafseer, he didn’t have any money to publish the book and spread it amongst the people. He spent so much time writing this book, he wanted people to benefit from it. So he heard about a ruler a far distance land that would give money for these types of projects, for dawah (invitations), for spreading the religion of Allah SWT. So he had boarded a ship and made his way towards that land. During the journey people would embark and disembark, so on one of those ports a man came on and he began to speak to the scholar of tafseer. When they begin speaking, the man had asked the scholar of taster, are you the same scholar, imam who wrote a famous work of tafseer? He replied yes. The man asked him, so what are you doing on this ship? The scholar of tafseer said, I wrote this work but people can’t benefit from it so I wanted to go and seek help from this man, ruler, ask him for some money so he could help me. The man replied and said “O imam, within your work of tafseer, in surah Al-Fatiha, the most recited surah of the Quran, when you came across the verse of Allah SWT, the fourth verse, “You alone do we worship and you alone do we seek help” what was that tafseer of that verse?” The imam, scholar begin to tell him from memory what he had mentioned in his tafseer of Surah Al-Fatiha. As he was narrating to the man, he realized why the man chose that verse. That he shouldn’t need to goto this person or that person because Allah SWT had decreed his rizq (sustenance) for him. Before doing anything else, he should have turned to Allah SWT. So the imam, scholar when the ship arrived at another port, he disembarked and went home. After some weeks or months, a man from that ruler had heard after his work of tafseer so he sent him enough money to publish his book.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, when it comes to this issue of rizq, it doesn’t mean you don’t work or open businesses and we don’t try our best. The point and purpose of this is, is that before we do anything, our first step is our aqeeda (belief), to correct our belief when it comes to this issue of rizq (sustenance). To return to Allah SWT, to trust in Allah SWT, to seek this rizq (sustenance) in Allah SWT alone before anything and everything else.

Part 1: https://mshabazz33.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/rizq-is-from-allah-part-1/

Part 2: https://mshabazz33.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/rizq-is-from-allah-part-2/

Part 3: https://mshabazz33.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/rizq-is-from-allah-part-3/

*Written from the lecture “Rizq Is From Allah” by Ahsan Hanif

Rizq Is From Allah – Part 3

Also from the issues of aqeeda (belief) that we have concerning this issue of rizq, is that which Allah SWT has already prescribed and decreed for you it will come to you. It will come to you whether you like it or not and that decree has already finished, it was written much before you were born, Allah SWT has already decreed this. So the only thing that is upon us then is to try our best. To go to the best of our abilities to try and attain that rizq. In the hadith of Abdullah Ibn Masood (May Allah Be Pleased With Him), the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “That when all of us were in the wombs of our mothers” you and i, from the richest person on the face of the earth to the poorest person on the face of the earth, “for 40 days we were a drop of sperm and then for 40 days we were like a blood clot and then for 40 days we were like a lump of flesh. After 120 days had passed, Allah SWT had ordered the angel to come while we were still in the wombs of our mothers. The angel was ordered to write 4 things concerning us. Our life span, our rizq, our actions and whether we would be from the successful or from the wretched and then angel blew into us our spirits.” Allah SWT had already decreed this. So why then do we become jealous of our family members? Of our brothers, sisters, neighbours, friends and people within the community? When we see that there are some people who are more affluent than us, people who have more money than us, people who Allah SWT had favoured more than us, people who Allah SWT had given these blessings to more than us, why do we become so upset? It is not them nor is it their fault. That is their rizq that Allah SWT had rewarded for them and likewise, the rizq that Allah SWT had wrote for us.

That is why The Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “That indeed the holy spirit, Jibriel (Peace Be Upon Him) came to me and he inspired to me that there is not a single soul, a single person, not that a single person will die until its lifespan has reached its full cycle, until that person takes all that their rizq that Allah SWT had decreed for them, so fear Allah and do things to the best of your ability.” Try to the best of your ability to take from the rizq of Allah SWT through halal means but know it is something Allah SWT had decreed.

That is why also, from the most important things we need to know and acknowledge from the issues of aqeeda (belief) concerning our rizq, that just because someone has more rizq or has more wealth or is more affluent, that does not necessarily mean that is s sign of Allah SWT. Doesn’t mean just because someone is rich or they are successful or they have money or more cars or houses, doesn’t necessarily mean Allah SWT loves them. Just as it is not a sign that those people who don’t have money or that don’t have wealth, that Allah SWT necessarily dislikes or hates them. That is our aqeeda (belief). That is what we believe. It is not a sign of Allah SWT love or hate that he gives from his rizq in this life, why? Because this dunya (world) is for everyone and if that reasoning was to be correct, then the disbelievers wouldn’t have anything from the rizq and the believers would have everything but as the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said to us: “that this dunya and everything within it, in the sight Allah SWT is only equal to the wing of a mosquito.” It is worthless, it is insignificant in the sight of Allah SWT. That is why the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) would spend his time with the weak companions, with the poor companions, those were the companions who he would share his meals with. Those were the companions who he would look after and seek out. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “You will only gain success, you will only be victorious, you will only gain the rizq of Allah, through the weak members of the community.” This is something we have lost now. When we as individuals or us as a community or as a society look down upon and frown upon the weak and the poor. The orphans and the widows. The people whom no longer can look after themselves, financially be able to look after their affairs. Where as the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) and his companions would seek out these people. Abdullah Ibn Umar (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) wouldn’t break his fast unless there were poor people sitting at the same setting as him and if there wasn’t a poor person with him, he would say to his family, you eat and he would take some food and seek them out to break his fast with them. That is how the companions were.

That is why The Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “bring me your weak, show me your poor.” That is who the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) wanted. That is why Allah SWT in the Quran gave us the example of Karun. A man who Allah SWT had given to him so much wealth. So much of the treasures of the dunya (world), he had so much, that he would need the strongest men to hold them but the thinking with him, all the wealth he had received, his thinking, his logic was that Allah SWT was pleased with him. So he had become arrogant and said, all of this I have is because of me. My intelligence, my family, my efforts. So what did Allah SWT do to him? What was the example Allah SWT made for him? “We caused the earth to swallow him up and everything he had possessed and owned.” That is why my brothers and sisters of islam, from the issues of aqeeda (beliefs) that we have concerning our rizq (sustenance) that one if the ways that we increase in our rizq (sustenance), one of the ways Allah SWT blesses what we already have from our rizq (sustenance) is that we spend in the way of Allah SWT. As the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “Wealth has never decreased because of giving in charity.” Allah SWT says in the Quran: “That which you give from your wealth and you give to other people so it may increase and multiply in the sight of Allah SWT it does not multiply or increase.” Yes, it may increase for you in the dunya (world) but in the sight of Allah SWT, it has no significance but that you give of zakat, charity for the sake of Allah SWT, that is what multiplies in the sight of Allah SWT. That is what will increase. That is what Allah SWT will bless for us and our families.

*Written from the lecture “Rizq Is From Allah” by Ahsan Hanif

Rizq Is From Allah – Part 2

Now all of this is well known to us. I haven’t mentioned anything new or ground breaking. All of us know this but the problem is, within our minds it is only a theory and a concept. We haven’t applied it practically within our lives. We don’t see its application or its implementation in our daily routine and that is why now, for the vast majority of us, we have fear and we are worried that we might lose our jobs, our business might not do very well, our benefits may be cut, this issue or that issue may affect our finances and we have become attached to these materialistic issues forgetting we should return back to Allah SWT. That it is an issue of aqeeda (belief). That is Allah SWT alone who controls our provisions and not anyone or anything else, so we need to realign our line of thinking. We need to set our priorities straight. We need to connect this issue back to our aqeeda (belief), back to Allah SWT and from the issues we need to know about concerning our rizq, is that it is Allah SWT who controls all provisions. And He Allah SWT has enough provisions to provide for me and provide for you. Allah SWT can provide for everyone and there is not a limited budget or a limited amount that is within the treasures of Allah SWT that it will run out if I take more of if you take more. Allah SWT is sufficient for everyone.

As it is mentioned in Sahih Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Hurraria (May Allah Be Pleased With Him), that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said concerning our Lord. that Allah SWT hands are full and Him spending does not diminish in His kingdom and dominion. He is the one who gives generously without any fear of poverty by day and by night. And the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: Do you not see what Allah SWT had spent already when He had created the heavens and the earth? Allah SWT has provided for me. Allah SWT has provided for me from the time i was born and He provided for you from the moment when you were born and He provided for our parents before us and then before them and the billions of people living and the billions of people that had lived in the time of Adam (Peace Be Upon Him) and He continues to do so and it doesn’t diminish anything from his kingdom or His dominion.

Allah SWT says in Hadith Al-Qudsi: “O my slaves! If the first from amongst you and the last from amongst you and the jinn from amongst you and the humans from amongst you, all of you together were to come upon a single plane and each one of you were to come and ask of Allah SWT and Allah SWT had given you that which you requested, then that would not diminish anything from the kingdom of Allah SWT, except that when you goto the ocean and you place a needle within the ocean and you draw it back, how much does that ocean diminish with that single needle?”

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, let us apply this hadith in our lives. Today when you go home fill up a sink with water, take a glass or a tub of water, show this to yourself and your family. Take a tip of a pencil or a needle and place it within that small tub of water, take it out and see how much of that water is left and then apply that example on a vast ocean. That is the dominion of Allah SWT. So why then are we afraid that this person may take away from our rizq? Or that person may withdraw or withhold something from our provisions? Or our income may be depleted for this reason or that reason?

Allah SWT says in the Quran in surah Mulk: “Are these people able to provide for you your rizq, If Allah SWT withholds rizq from you?” If Allah SWT decrees there is no rizq for you, then it does not matter if all of the universe comes together to provide and if Allah SWT decrees there is rizq for you then likewise the whole universe cannot do nothing to take the rizq away from you. Also, from the essential points from our aqeeda (beliefs) when it comes to this issue of rizq, is that we know when we acknowledge and we have eman (faith) in this issue, that the rizq from Allah SWT has distributed from amongst us, it is from His infinite wisdom and mercy. Allah SWT gives rizq and it is not based upon your lineage or family name. It is not based upon your qualifications. It is not based upon the colour of your skin or the language that you speak or the nationality that you hold. It is not based upon any of those issues but it is Allah SWT who decrees and distributes rizq as He pleases.

It is Allah SWT who has given some of you preference over others in terms of rizq. It is Allah SWT who decides. Not you, not your father, not your boss, not your parents, no one but Allah SWT who decrees this and this why Allah SWT with His infinite wisdom has decreed that within your own community or family who is extremely educated. Extremely well cultured. Extremely well mannered or very bright, yet they will have very little rizq. Yet there is someone else within your community who doesn’t speak a word of english, probably just arrived from abroad, doesn’t have any qualifications but he will be extremely successful and wealthy. That is the decree of Allah SWT. That is what Allah SWT has decreed for us.

I will post part three tomorrow insha’Allah

*Written from the lecture “Rizq Is From Allah” by Ahsan Hanif

Part 1: https://mshabazz33.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/rizq-is-from-allah-part-1/

Rizq Is From Allah – Part 1

All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help and we ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides, there is none that can misguide him and whoever Allah misguides, there is none that can guide him. There is no God worthy of worship except Allah alone, there is no partner and that Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) is His slave and final Messenger. 

O, you who believe, fear Allah as he deserved to be feared and do not die except as Muslims. (Surah Al-Imran: Family Of Imran: 3:102)

O, Mankind, fear your Lord, who has created you from a single soul and created from it, its mate and from them both, many men and many women and fear Allah through whom you demand your mutual rights and indeed Allah is ever watchful over you (Surah An-Nisa: The Women: 4:1)

O, you who believe! Fear Allah and speak a word that is true and He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great success. (Surah Al-Hajj: The Pilgrimage: 22:77)

The best speech is the book of Allah (The Qur’an) and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him).

The worst of affairs in this religion are the newly invented manners and all of them are innovations. 

Al-Imam Ibn Kathir (May Allah Have Mercy Upon Him) In his tafseer when he comments on the verse of Allah SWT in the Quran, in which Allah says: “There is not a single beast which is upon the earth. Not a single thing that treads upon the face of the earth  be that human, jinn, insect or an animal. Not a single beast, except that it does not control or have the ability to control its own rizq (provisions).” Where its wealth comes from. It is Allah SWT that provides for those beasts and it is He who provides for you and He is the all hearing and all knowing. Al-Imam Ibn Kathir (May Allah Have Mercy Upon Him) did commentary on this verse to show and to give an example of how great the rizq of Allah SWT is and how it suffices all forms of His creations. 

He gives the example of the crow. That when the crow lays an egg and it hatches, the parents of that  chick, they fly away. They don’t feed the baby, they don’t give it any water, they give it no sustenance and they fly away because the baby is featherless. Since it is featherless, the babies parents will not return to it until after 2 or 3 days, until its feathers starts to appear. So during those 2 or 3 days of absence, that baby crow, it opens its beak looking for sustenance and Allah SWT had decreed another bird, that’s not its parents or a crow, will come and gives its sustenance for those 2 or 3 days. Then after 3 days, the feathers of that bird begin to grow, the parents of that baby crow realize, it is their own and they come back and look after it. 

This is the example, Ibn Al-Kathir (May Allah Have Mercy Upon Him) gave to illustrate an extremely important point. A point that is in the forefronts of all our minds and that is the issue of rizq. Where are we going to find our provisions from? Where are we going to find our source of income? We have families, we have children, we have parents, we have siblings. We have bills, we have houses, we have cars. We have so many issues, all of them pertaining to this issue and we are going through recessions, some say a double dip, some say a triple dip. Some say this and that. This is the cause and that is the cause and so now, we have become attached to materialism. In this issue of rizq we become pre-occupied to when and where we are going to get our source of income from. Within this equation, with this quagmire of different factors we have forgotten the most essential and the most important point that relates to you and i as Muslims. That for us as Muslims, for people who believe in Allah SWT, for people who accept the tawheed (oneness) of Allah SWT, rizq, before it is anything and everything else, it is an issue of tawheed. It is an issue of aqeeda (belief). It is an issue of our belief. 

Rizq is just not something you get your pay cheque from. It is not about the banking the bank you use to store your money. It is not about whether you get benefits or not. It is not about the recession and the economy or any of those issues. Before all of that, it is an issue of our aqeeda (belief). That is why when we go back to the book of Allah SWT. We go back to the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) we find that Allah SWT and His Prophets, they connect this issue of rizq to the tawheed (oneness) of Allah SWT. To our aqeeda (belief). That is why when you look at the most essential component of our lives that is aqeeda (belief) and tawheed (oneness). When we look at this issue and when we look at the 3 categories of tawheed (oneness): Rububiyyah, Uluhiyyah and Asmaa Was-Sifaat, rizq falls in within those 3 categories. 

We have tawheed (oneness) of Allah SWT in his Rububiyyah. We unify Allah SWT as the creator and the provider, the one who gives life and death. Apart of that is, Allah SWT controls all of our rizq. There is not a single person, not a single power or force within the heavens and the earth besides Allah SWT that controls your rizq. Not your boss, not your employeer, not the government, not your bank. It is Allah SWT before anything and everything else. There is not a single beast or person on the face of the earth except Allah SWT provides for it. It is Allah SWT that knows where it came from and it is Allah SWT that knows where it’ll goto. All of this has been prescribed in a clear book. 

Allah SWT says within the Quran: “Order your family to establish the prayer and remain patient upon it, for we do not ask of you any rizq, we will provide you your rizq.” It is Allah SWT who gives rizq. It is Allah SWT who is Ar-Razzaq, the one who provides. Allah SWT is the provider. 

Then we come to the second category of tawheed (oneness). Just as we worship Allah SWT, we only pray to Allah SWT. We fast only for Allah SWT. We slaughter only for Allah SWT sake. We make Hajj only for Allah SWT, we sacrifice only for Allah SWT, then likewise when we seek our provisions, before anything or everything else, we seek it only from Allah SWT. We make du’aa for rizq only from Allah SWT. When we have trust or reliance on something or source of rizq, it is upon Allah SWT. 

The Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) said: ” “If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the evening with full stomachs.” If you had that type of reliance upon Allah SWT, that type of tawwakul in Allah SWT and you turn to Allah SWT before anything or everything else then you would find the provisions and the rizq that Allah SWT had decreed for you. 

And tawheed (oneness) in Asmaa Was-Sifaat, unifying Allah SWT in His beautiful names and attributes, that Allah SWT alone is Ar-Razzaq the provider. Allah SWT alone is Kareem, The Most Generous. Allah SWT alone is Al-Jawad, the one who gives without any fear of poverty. He gives by day and He gives by night. 

I will post part two tomorrow insha’Allah 

*Written from the lecture “Rizq Is From Allah” by Ahsan Hanif