Thursday 24 January 2008

Effort In Islam

Islam is true. There are four types of effort in Islam:

The effort of listening....Ta'illem
The effort of speaking...Da'wah (Tabligh)
The effort of thinking...Dhikr
The effort of asking...Du'a

Faith ripens through mujahadah, It is strengthened through Da'wah,
It spreads through migration and it is saved through discharging the rights of Allah's servants.
(Maulana Ahmad Ladh, Ijtima Bhopal)

Imam Zahabi recorded from Sayyidina Imran Bin Hussain (r.a) that the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said:
" On the day of judgement, the ink which was used by a (true) scholar
to put religious knowledge and injunctions into writing, and the martyrs b lood shall be
weighed. The scholars ink however, shall turn out to be heavier than the bloo d of the martyr "
(Ma'ariful Quran 3/235)

Something sweet, light hearted and maybe untrue!

Monday 21 January 2008

Back From Hajj-:)

Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatullah

Well, as you can see, i'm back from Hajj-:)
We set off on the 22nd of November, from Manchester Airport, and Alhamdulillah reached Stanstead safely on the 17th of January, 2008. Due to the emergency Landing at Heathrow airport, we were diverted to Stanstead Airport, which added to the jet lag, but other than that, all went well, by the grace of God.

My two months in the two Holy cities were pure heaven. we stayed in Makkah for about two weeks first. It was relatively calm then, all the hajjis hadn't arrived at the time so the Haram (Holy mosque) wasn't as crowded as it is nearer Hajj time, and it was easier to get around. After which we proceeded to Madina Tun Nabi, the city of the Prophet for 7 days, a totally inadequate period of time to stay in such a serene, beautiful city. Nevertheless, we made the most of it, and i soaked in the cool atmosphere there. The absolute calm quiet at morning prayer, when the light is soft and just risen, and everyone is hurrying quietly to the mosque...the scene continues to stay in my mind even now.

After the seven days, we proceeded back to Makkah, a mere two days before the five days of Hajj begun. Hajj preparations were made, which included simply getting ready sleeping bags and getting the essentials we'd need for the five days. The rituals of Hajj passed beautifully, the Saudi Government has made it incredibly easy for the Hajjis, much easier than it was before. Stoning the shayateen seemed so simple to me this time, so much ease, plenty of space for the 3 million or so Hajjis who attended this year. The last ritual of Hajj to be performed was stoning the shayateen, and after that, we all - family, rest of the hajj group- embraced each other and there was a lot of joy, a sense of joy and a hope deep as the ocean that Allah almighty accepted our humble efforts.

This was my 5th trip to Saudi, my second Hajj, but every time i go there it feels like i am going for the first time, every time i see the Ka'ba it feels as if i am seeing its beauty for the first time.
I think every person who goes there, yearns to go back with deep longing. I certainly do, England seems very depressing after all that brightness and beauty!
But Khair, i had a beautiful trip and thats what matters.

WasSalam