Bukhari :: Book 1 :: Volume 1 :: Hadith 3

Narrated 'Aisha:

(the mother of the faithful believers) The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read.

The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3) Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija replied, "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your Kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones."

Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, who, during the PreIslamic Period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to Waraqa, "Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said, "This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone (man) who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly." But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while.

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari while talking about the period of pause in revelation reporting the speech of the Prophet "While I was walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up and saw the same angel who had visited me at the cave of Hira' sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and came back home and said, 'Wrap me (in blankets).' And then Allah revealed the following Holy Verses (of Quran):

'O you (i.e. Muhammad)! wrapped up in garments!' Arise and warn (the people against Allah's Punishment),... up to 'and desert the idols.' (74.1-5) After this the revelation started coming strongly, frequently and regularly."

Allah! Allah!

Our beloved prophet, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, said:  

Allah revealed to my dear brother Uzair, "Oh Uzair! If a calamity befalls you, do not complain to my creation (to the people). How much wrong you have done to me and I never complained to my angels (about you). Oh Uzair! Disobey me as much as you can bear my punishment, and ask me your needs according to your good deeds towards me, and never feel secure of my decision (punishment) until you enter my paradise. Then Uzair started shaking and crying. So Allah revealed to him "if you disobey me out of ignorance, I forgive you out of my mercy, because I am generous and don't wish to punish my creation, as I am the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful." (Hadith Qudsi)

Our beloved, may Allah's peace blessings and mercy be upon him, said:"The best properties are; a tongue which remembers Allah, a thankful heart and a believing wife who helps [to strengthen] one's faith."

I think and I feel

I don’t remember what point a colleague of mine was making when he said something to the effect that we should “put aside our emotions and deal with the facts” to which my teacher retorted, “I believe emotions inform”. This may be the most brilliant statement she has said thus far. The statement itself is really a summary of many of the things she’s said in class. I love this class and fortunately it has given me an opportunity to broaden my view of feminism and actually find myself nodding in agreement in many instances. The idea that “logic” and “emotion” can coexist on equal terms is what I hope we as women can begin to strive for in feminism and in life.

The struggle of old school feminism was to basically say, “I want what they have”. A striving for equality and power which we have been given in many ways –more women are working and receiving higher levels of education, but what I think we did not realize is that competing with our male counterparts and succeeding on their level may have brought us superficial equality and power but it has not brought us respect.

Firstly it caused a large segment of women to abandon characteristically feminine roles and take on traditionally masculine roles, essentially saying to men “You know what you’re right, you are better them me”. In that way we gave men the permission to further degrade our tradition roles in hopes of gaining power and equality. But in our entering the work place we found ourselves again subordinated to men whether through being given menial jobs, lower pay or never breaking the glass ceiling. Worse then this most women were not relieved of their traditional roles at home, if they still chose to have a family, men still do little house work and women are still the primary care givers. So we found ourselves essentially overburdened and still searching for power and equality in a man’s world.

We have yet to deal with the underlining issue that women continuously face whether in a male dominated work world on in the feminine domestic sphere. The essential issue is the very core of male- female relations; men simply don’t value women or characteristically feminine roles, ideas, behaviors, attitudes, etc. Men in any field will never respect women if men simply don’t respect women in a larger more general sense. And women only further push the idea of inferiority when we dress up in men’s suits and sit in meeting were we silence any thought that is remotely feminine. I am being purposefully stereotypical in order to deal with the bigger picture; in general women are more talkative, nurturing and emotional then men. Men on the other hand are more logical, physically stronger and one- task oriented (men are usually poor at multitasking). But what makes being logical inherently better then being emotional? I would argue, absolutely nothing. As my teacher beautifully said, “emotion informs”.

This reminds me of the famous story of the Messenger of God, peace upon him, after giving his army a command to shave their heads (I’m cutting out most of the story to make a particular related point) they all disobeyed. Not knowing what to do he went to his tent and told his wife , Umm Salama, she then told him, peace upon him, to shave his on head. He listened to her and the companions followed suit. Logically the companions should have jumped to listen to any command of the Prophet, peace upon him, but emotionally these were trying times. Umm Salama informed her husband through emotion not logic. When the companions felt the command over simply hearing if they were moved to action.

When women are respected simply for being women and for contributing in a unique way in society we will be respected in all parts of society. But until we pride ourselves in our femininity we can never look forward to a society where we are equally valued as our male counterparts.*

*Note: Obviously some women are not stereotypical feminine nor are some men stereotypically masculine. Which argues the larger part that people should be accepted for their contributions as individual human beings that have something unique and purposeful to offer to the world. I am of course not including the sin of women making a point to act like men (i.e. imitating a masculine voice) or men acting like women (i.e. speaking in a feminine voice) this is an entirely different issue. I would rather point to someone like Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, who never bore children, lead and army, and was a great woman of knowledge or men like Imam An Nawawi, may Allah give him mercy, who lived as an ascetic, never married and also dedicated his life to knowledge.

The Rabb of the boy

Suhaib (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "There lived a king before you and he had a court magician. As he (the magician) grew old, he said to the king: `I have grown old, so send me a young boy in order to teach him magic.' The king sent him a young boy to serve the purpose. And on his way (to the magician) the young boy met a monk to whom he listened to and liked it. It became his habit that on his way to the magician, he would meet the monk and sit there and would come to the magician (late). The magician used to beat him because of this delay. He complained about this to the monk who said to him: 'When you feel afraid of the magician, say: Members of my family detained me. And when you fear your family, say: The magician detained me.' It so happened that there came a huge beast and it blocked the way of the people, and the young boy said: 'I will know today whether the magician or the monk is better.' He picked up a stone and said: `O Allah, if the way of the monk is dearer to You than the way of the magician, bring about death to the animal so that the people be able to move about freely.' He threw that stone at it and killed it and the people began to move about freely. He then came to the monk and told him the story. The monk said: `Son, today you are superior to me. You have come to a stage where I feel that you would be soon put to a trial, and in case you are put to a trial, do not reveal me.' That young boy began to heal those born blind and the lepers and he, in fact, began to cure people from all kinds of illnesses.  a courtier of the king who had gone blind heard about him, he came to him with numerous gifts and said, `If you cure me, all these things will be yours.' He said, `I myself do not cure anyone. It is Allah, the Exalted, Alone Who cures; and if you affirm faith in Allah, I shall also supplicate to Allah to cure you.' This courtier affirmed his faith in Allah and Allah cured him. He came to the king and sat by his side as he used to sit before. The king said to him, `Who restored your eyesight?' He said, `My Rubb.' Thereupon he said, 'Do you have another lord besides me?' He said, `My Rubb and your Rubb is Allah.' So the king kept torturing him untill he revealed the young boy. The young boy was thus summoned and the king said to him, 'O boy, it has been conveyed to me that you have become so much proficient in your magic that you cure the blind and the lepers and you do such and such.' Thereupon he said, `I do not cure anyone; it is Allah Alone Who cures,' and the king took hold of him and began to torture him until he revealed of the monk. The monk was summoned and it was said to him: `You should turn back from your religion.' But he refused. The king sent for a saw, placed it in the middle of his head and cut him into two parts that fell down. Then the courtier of the king was brought forward and it was said to him: `Turn back from your religion.' He, too, refused, and the saw was placed in the midst of his head and he was torn into two parts. Then the boy was sent for and it was said to him: `Turn back from your religion.' He refused. The king then handed him over to a group of his courtiers, and said to them: `Take him to such and such mountain; make him climb up that mountain and when you reach its peak ask him to renounce his Faith. If he refuses to do so, push him to his death.' So they took him and made him climb up the mountain and he said: `O Allah, save me from them in any way you like,' and the mountain began to shake and they all fell down (dead) and that young boy came walking to the king. The king said to him, `What happened to your companions?' He said, `Allah has saved me from them.' He again handed him to some of his courtiers and said: `Take him and carry him in a boat and when you reach the middle of the sea, ask him to renounce his religion. If he does not renounce his religion throw him (into the water).' So they took him and he said: `O Allah, save me from them.' The boat turned upside down and they all drowned except the young boy who came walking to the king. The king said to him, `What happened to your companions?' He said, `Allah has saved me from them,' and he said to the king: `You cannot kill me until you do what I command you to do.' The king asked, `What is that?' He said, `Gather all people in one place and tie me up to the trunk of a tree, then take an arrow from my quiver and say: With the Name of Allah, the Rubb of the boy; then shoot me. If you do that you will be able to kill me.' `The king called the people in an open field and tied the young boy to the trunk of a tree. He took out an arrow from his quiver, fixed in the bow and said, `With the Name of Allah, the Rubb of the young boy,' he then shot the arrow and it hit the boy's temple. The young boy placed his hand upon the temple where the arrow had hit him and died. The people then said: `We believe in the Rubb of this young boy.' The king was told: `Do you see what you were afraid of, by Allah it has taken place; all people have believed.' The king then commanded that trenches be dug and fire lit in them, and said: `He who would not turn back from his (the young boy's) religion, throw him in the fire' or `he would be ordered to jump into it.' They did so till a woman came with her child. She felt hesitant in jumping into the fire. The child said to her: `O mother! Endure (this ordeal) for you are on the Right Path". 

Ya Tayba, translation

Chorus
O Tayba, O Tayba
O cure of the patient
we missed you, and passion has called us to you

As the ship departed, it forgot me
they sailed away and my tears never dried up
they took my heart and my soul with them
O Tayba, you're the distracted's love

Chorus

My direction of prayer (my Qiblah), the house of Allah, I'm patient
perhaps a day will come to visit you
I wonder, Will I be looking upon alkaaba
and being overwhelmed with it's safety..

Chorus

Our prophet, my best wishes, to visit u,
At least once in my life
and near you, to perform my prayers
to praise my Lord, and to recite Qur'an

Chorus

O Madina, How lucky you are
for the coming of the loadstar
May I have a shelter beside you
Indeed, your light has enchanted us

Chorus (more) (less)

"O Prophet (Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace))! Say to your wives: ‘If you desire the life of this world, and its glitter, — then come! I will make a provision for you and set you free in a handsome manner (divorce). But if you desire Allâh and His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, then verily, Allâh has prepared for Al-Muhsinat (good doers) amongst you an enormous reward.’" [Al-Qur'an 33:28,29]

Were will I be tomorrow?

-Some of the prophet's final words longing for his beloved Ayesha, may Allah give them both eternal bliss

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be and blessing of Allah be upon him) said: "If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, God will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge. The inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and (even) the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave (no monetary inheritance), they leave only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion. - Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1631

It's nice to know...

It's nice to know that when I look up at the moon its the same moon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, looked towards. Its the same that shadowed over him. The same one that split for his birth. And the same moon that a companion declared could not compete with the beauty of our beloved, peace and blessings be upon him.

Qasidah Burdah

Mercy and marriage

One of my favourite stories from the life of the Prophet, peace and blessing upon him, is a small scene from his life that exemplified his love, mercy and kindness in particular for his wife Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her. Once the Prophet, peace upon him, was in bed wife his dear wife Ayesha. Once he thought her to be sleeping he snuck off in the night and left. Ayesha, who was not really sleeping, felt panic, dressed and followed the messenger of God, peace and blessing be upon him. She was worried that he would spend some of the night allotted to her with one of his other wives. She spied on him and once he turned to come back she bolted back home to get in bed before he could realize what she'd been up to. On returning the messenger of Allah, upon him be peace, noticed the pounding of his beloved's heart. He asked her what was going on and she confessed. He, peace upon him, responded "so you were the little black thing I saw". She told the prophet of her fear that he would leave her for the night, the prophet comforted her and told her that Gabriel, peace upon him, told him to arise and go to the grave to pray for the martyrs. At this Ayesha was embarrassed by her worries and reminded of the station and character of Rasooluallah, peace and blessings be upon him.
It very unfortunate that a man's right to hit his wife is given so much light and yet the prophetic way of mercy in shone to the background. I don't believe that wife beating is a particularly muslim problem but I do believe this takes up too much space in our discourse. God gives us rights and bear necessities of being Muslim but he gave us a prophet to show us how to implement islam Allah said of the prophet "truly you are of immense character". In this small story is an immense lesson for men and women on love and mercy within marriage. Ayesha, may Allah have mercy upon her and be pleased with her, loved Rasooluallah, peace and blessings upon him, with such depth that she could not stand to be without him on her allotted night. As a wife Ayesha cherished her time with her husband. She loved him dearly, treated him with kindness, and longed for him in his absence. Many wives find it hard to muster up a smile when their husbands come home and probably wouldn't notice if they left the bed for a few minutes. Or would rather get mad and question him on his whereabouts. Instead Ayesha fulfilled her urge to see where her beloved was off to without harming him. It goes without saying that wives shouldn't stalk their husbands but the point is that she respected him enough not to question him but loved him enough to be worried about his absence. When Ayesha was questioned about her racing heart she answered -not just what she'd done but her reasoning behind her actions, instead of attempting to cover herself, of course lying is a vile trait unbefitting of our mother. Another beauty of Ayesha is that when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told her were he'd been she reproached herself. She didn't make excuses or run away from her mistake or think of another complaint she simply blamed herself. Psychology research has shown that arguments greatly determine which couples are at risk for divorce. Not simply having an argument but the way in which each person argues. Our mother knew when to stop herself and this is an extremely important lesson. To often when we have discord we are more worried about being right then about listening to the other person or acknowledging our mistakes. When Ayesha realised her fear was unfounded she withdrew, may Allah have mercy upon her.
Rasooluallah, peace and blessings be upon him, knew Ayesha was wrong for thinking that he would leave her and for following him, but not one word of harshness came from him. In fact in his saying "so your the little black thing I saw" he made light of something that could have been taken more seriously. He could have been angry at Ayesha for a number of reasons: not trusting him, fearing he would leave her, leaving the house in the middle of the night, etc. But he didn't point out any of these things, he looked past her flaws and allayed her of her worry. He chose mercy over reminding her of his 'rights' or 'her place' he didn't condemn her.
This small incident could have been the impetus for a huge blow up, "how dare you""you have no right" "your always_____" and on and on. For many of us this incident would end in tears and harshness. The prophet's way with his beloved wife was understanding and mercy not blame and anger. God bless and grant peace to our beloved Prophet and our beloved mother. And may then spend there lives eternally blissful in paradise.
*hadith and quranic verses including those in quotes have been paraphased from memory, will fix soon, Insha Allah*

To be read on Thursday

Dalail Khayrat:

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad Your slave and Your Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, and the family of our master Muhammad.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, blessings which are pleasing to You, a reward for him and which are his dutiful right, and grant him the Closest Access, the Pre-eminence and the Most Praised Station which You promised him, and reward him our behalf as he deserves and reward him better than You have rewarded on behalf of his people any other Prophet or on behalf of his nation any other Messenger, and bless all his brothers, the Prophets and righteous ones, O Most Merciful of the Merciful.

O Allah, bestow the favours of Your noble blessings and virtues, and the increase of Your benedictions, and the benevolence of Your Compassion, and Your Mercy, and Your Salutations, and the favours of Your bounties, upon our master Muhammad, the Master of the Messengers , the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, the Guide to Goodness, the Opener of Piety, the Prophet of Mercy and the Master of the nation.

O Allah, send him to the Most Praised Station thereby advancing his nearness, comforting his eyes, and making him the envy of those who came first and those who came last.

O Allah, grant him Divine Favour, Divine Grace, Divine Honour , the Closest Access, the Lofty Rank and the High Standing.

O Allah, grant our master Muhammad the Closest Access and send him what he hopes for and make him the first intercessor and the first whose intercession is accepted.

O Allah, strengthen his proof, make his judgement sound, make his argument shine and raise his rank among the dwellers of the Uppermost Heaven.

And raise his standing among the Heights of those who are closest.

O Allah, cause us to live according to his way.

And pass away following his religion.

And make us among the People of his intercession.

And resurrect us in his company and make us to be watered from his Pool.

And to drink from his bowl with no disgrace, no regrets, no doubts, no temptations, amen, O Lord of the Worlds.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, and grant him the Closest Access, the Pre-eminence and Lofty Rank and send him to the Most Praised Station which You promised him, with his brother Prophets.

The blessings of Allah be upon our master Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy and the Master of his nation, and upon our father, our master Adam, and upon our Mother our lady Eve, and upon all the offspring of the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the righteous ones, and bless all Your angels among the folk of the Heavens and the Earths and upon us along with them, O Most Merciful of the Merciful.

O Allah, forgive me my sins and my parents, and bestow mercy upon then even as they cherished me in childhood, and all the believing men and women, all the surrendering men and women, the living and dead, and may blessings ensue on us, O Lord, forgive, bestow mercy, and You are the Best of the Merciful.

And there is no help or power save through Allah , the High, the Great.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the Light of Lights, the Secret of Secrets, the Master of the Pious, the Adornment of the Messengers, the Chosen One, the Most Noble One, the night has ever cloaked and the day has ever bathed in light, in every drop of rain which has fallen from the beginning of this world until its end, and in every plant and in every tree which have grown from the beginning of this world to its end, blessings which are eternal, lasting as long as the Dominion of Allah, the One, the Powerful.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, blessings which ennoble his Place of Rest, honour his final destination, and on the Day of Resurrection bring him his heart's desire and contentment.

These great blessings are your right, O our master Muhammad. (three times)

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the 'Ha' (the middle letter of the Rahmah) of Mercy, the 'Mim' (the first of the letter of Mulk ) of Sovereignty, and the 'Dal' (the first letter of Da'im ) of Eternity, the perfect master the Opener, the Seal, as much as Your knowledge, now or before and whenever You are remembered and he is remembered by whose who remember and whenever You are forgotten and he is forgotten by those who forget.

Blessings which are eternal, lasting as long You last enduring as long as You endure, and with no end without Your knowledge, for You are the Power over all things (three times)

O Allah , bless our master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and the family of our master Muhammad, him whose light is the most beautiful and most dazzling of all the suns of guidance.

And whose conduct and glory are the best and most renowned of all the Prophets.

And whose light is more radiant, more noble and more brilliant than the lights of the Prophets, and who has the purest and most immaculate manners in creation, and who is the most just and generous creature.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and the family of our master Muhammad, him who is more beautiful than the full moon, more noble than the flowing clouds and the raging sea.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and the family of our master Muhammad, him whose face and essence are diffused with benediction, and the remembrance of whom perfumes and sweetens all the worlds.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, and his family.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, and the family of our master Muhammad, and bestow grace upon our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, and bestow mercy upon our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, just as You blessed, bestowed grace and bestowed mercy upon our master Abraham and the family of our master Abraham, for You are the Praiseworthy, the Mighty.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave, Your Prophet and Your Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, and the family of our master Muhammad.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad to the fullness of this world and to the fullness of the next world.

O Allah, bestow grace upon our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad to the fullness of this world and to the fullness of the next world.

O Allah, bestow mercy upon our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad to the fullness of this world and to the fullness of the next world.

O Allah, reward our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad to the fullness of this world and to the fullness of the next world.

O Allah, grant peace to our master Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad to the fullness of this world and to the fullness of the next world.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad as You ordered us to ask for blessins upon him.

And bless our master Muhammad as he should be blessed.

O Allah, bless Your Prophet, the Chosen One, Your Messenger. the Satisfied One, Your Friend, the Elected One, and Your Custodian of the Celestial Revelation.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the most noble ancestor, the Upholder of Justice and Equity, the One described in surah Al'Araf, the One Chosen from the noble loins and refined wombs and the One purified by suckling, from Abul Muttalib, son of Abdul Manaf through whom You guided from deviation and through whom You made clear the path of forgiveness.

O Allah, I beseech You by the most superior beseeching, in the most loved of Your Names, in the most noble of Your Names, and for the sake of the fact that You blessed us with our master Muhammad, the blessings and peace of Allah, be upon him, saving us through him from error. And for the sake of the fact that You ordered us to ask for blssings upon him and for the sake of the fact that You made our asking blessings upon him a means of raising our rank, an expiation for our sins, and grace and favour for us. Out of obedience to You, I call on You, exalting Your command, following Your Instruction and fulfilling Your Promise, to render unto our Prophet, our master Muhammad, the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, what is due from us, for we have faith in him and we believe in him and we follow the light which came down with him and You said, and Your Word is the Truth, 'Allah and His angels bless the Prophet, O you who believe, ask (Allah) to bless him and grant him abundant peace'.

And for sake of the fact that You made it obligatory for the slaves to ask for blessings upon their Prophet making it an obligation and making it binding on them, I ask You for the sake of the Majesty of Your Face and the Light of Your Greatness, and for the sake of that which You have made binding on You in respect of the virtuous, that You and Your angels bless our master Muhammad, Your slave, Your Messenger , Your Prophet, Your Pure One and Your Treasure from Your creation, the best blessings ever bestowed upon anyone of Your creation, for You are the Praiseworthy, the mighty.

O Allah, raise his rank, ennoble his station, make his judgement sound, refine his proof, make his religion triumph, increase his reward, make his light radiant, perpetuate his nobility, join him with his descendants and the People of his House which will be comfort for his eyes and exalt him among all the Prophets who lack his power.

O Allah of all the Prophets make our master Muhammad have the greatest number of follower, increase them in strength, and give them the most perfect nobility and light.

And raise their Ranks.

And widen their abodes in The Garden.

O Allah, make their goal be among the foremost in faith and their abode among the elite.

And their dwelling place among those who close and their abode among the chosen ones.

O Allah, make their abode the most Noble of the Noble in Your presence and favour them with Your reward, make them sit close to You, strengthen their Stations, reward them with Your Word, give their entreaties success, favour their share in Your Presence, strengthen their longing for what is with You and bring them into the chambers of Firdaus in high ranks above which there is no other rank.

O Allah, grant our master Muhammad the truest word, the most successful petitioning, the first intercession, the most perfect intercession, and intercede on his behalf for his nation, an intercession that will be the envy of those who came first and those who came last, and distinguish Your slave in the discharge of Your Decree, and make our master Muhammad among the Speakers of Truth, the Doers of Good, and the Guides to the Path.

O Allah, grant our Prophet to excess and make his Pool a promise for the first of us and the last of us.

O Allah, resurrect us in his company, establish us on his way, cause us to die following his tradition, acquaint us with his face and make us among his company and party.

O Allah, unite us with him for we have believed in him without seeing him, do not separate us from him until the day you cause us to enter into his entrance hall, water us at his Pool, and put us in his company along with those favoured from among the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous ones, and what a beautiful company that is.

And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds

Story of the Leper, the Bald Man and the Blind Man

Allah willed to test three who were a leper, a blind man and a bald-headed man.
So, he sent them an angel who came to the leper and said, "What thing do you like most?" He replied, "Good color and good skin, for the people have a strong aversion to me." The angel touched him and his illness was cured, and he was given a good color and beautiful skin. The angel asked him, "What kind of property do you like best?" He replied, "Camels (or cows)." (The narrator is in doubt, for either the leper or the bald-headed man demanded camels and the other demanded cows.) So he (i.e. the leper) was given a pregnant she-camel, and the angel said (to him), "May Allah bless you in it."
The angel then went to the bald-headed man and said, "What thing do you like most?" He said, "I like good hair and wish to be cured of this disease, for the
people feel repulsion for me." The angel touched him and his illness was cured, and he was given good hair. The angel asked (him), "What kind of property do you like best?" He replied, "Cows." The angel gave him a pregnant cow and said, "May Allah bless you in it."
The angel went to the blind man and asked, 'What thing do you like best?' He said, "(I like) that Allah may restore my eye-sight to me so that I may see the people." The angel touched his eyes and Allah gave him back his eye-sight. The angel asked him, "What kind of property do you like best?" He replied, "Sheep." The angel gave him a pregnant sheep.
Afterwards, all the three pregnant animals gave birth to young ones, and multiplied and brought forth so much that one of the (three) men had a herd of camels filling a valley, and one had a herd of cows filling a valley, and one had a flock of sheep filling a valley.
Then the angel, disguised in the shape and appearance of a leper, went to the leper and said, "I am a poor man, who has lost all means of livelihood while on a journey. So none will satisfy my need except Allah and then you. In the Name of Him Who has given you such nice color and beautiful skin, and so much property, I ask you to give me a camel so that I may reach my destination." The man replied, "I have many obligations (so I cannot give you)." The angel said, "I think I know you; were you not a leper to whom the people had a strong aversion? Weren't you a poor man, and then Allah gave you (all this property)?" He replied, "(This is all wrong), I got this property through inheritance from my fore-fathers." The angel said, "If you are telling a lie, then let Allah make you as you were before."
Then the angel, disguised in the shape and appearance of a bald man, went to the bald man and said to him the same as he told the first one, and he too
answered the same as the first one did. The angel said, "If you are telling a lie, then let Allah make you as you were before."
The angel, disguised in the shape of a blind man, went to the blind man and said, "I am a poor man and a traveler, whose means of livelihood have been exhausted while on a journey. I have nobody to help me except Allah, and after Him, you yourself. I ask you in the Name of Him Who has given you back your eye-sight to give me a sheep, so that with its help, I may complete my journey." The man said, "No doubt, I was blind and Allah gave me back my eye-sight; I was poor and Allah made me rich; so take anything you wish from my property. By Allah, I will not stop you for taking anything (you need) of my property which you may take for Allah's sake." The angel replied, "Keep your property with you. You (i.e., the three men) have been tested and Allah is pleased with you and is angry with your two companions.
Sahih Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 56 Virtues and Merits of the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions Number 670]
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The ideal woman/ women

I've notice in many movies there is a common theme when it comes to the "ideal" women. She is basically a marilyn Monroe type. She's needy, fun, free, giggly, exciting,  hangs on the mans every word, emotional, and of course dressed like a ---------. In many ways she's also tragic and in need of rescuing in some way. She also a bit of a mess and though she's very forward she's somehow a hard catch. Watching bits of 'I think I love my wife' with my mom this stereotype definitely pans out. The actual wife in the movie is boring, serious, dowdy, and could care less about the man's feelings or paying attention to his words.
It's an interesting paradigm because the ideal women is the mistress while the opposite is the wife. The wife is in many ways the women the man settles for because he cannot have the women of his dreams. Something in the man tells him that he should not take this "child- like" women as wife but should be with the more "adult- women" as not only his wife but the bearer of his children and the foundation of his household.
I guess its funny in some ways because it makes me feel like it may be one of the wisdoms of polygamy. For example Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, was completely happy and satisfied with his wife Khadeejah. After her death, she could not be replaced, a friend of his suggested two women to him -Sawdah and Ayesha, may Allah be pleased. The Prophet, peace upon him, took both women as his wives. Sawdah was the perfect women to help him with his children and Ayesha was the perfect women (child, by our modern standards) to bring back the light and joyful spirit in to his household. Of course the prophet, peace upon him, had many wives after this all playing different valuable roles in his life. May Allah be pleased with the mothers of the faithful.
The idea of a man have four wives (or 3 or 2) is not very far fetched when you realize the nature of men. Its seems that a man can indeed love more then one women without being strained or pulled. Alluhalim, this is the wisdom I see from it. Ayesha was loved by the prophet, peace upon him, and so was Sawdah and Umm Salamah, and Hafsah, etc. Americans idealize monogamy, which is beautiful, but it looks down on polygamy as if it is something dirty. When our great prophet Abraham  -that muslims, christians and jews believe in, had two wives, Sarah and Hagar.
Polygamy of course can be a horrible experience. I've know of men who took on two wives but could hardly afford to car for themselves. Nevertheless polygamy is good with a good man of good standing -with Allah, in his finances, in society, not just for him, or the women, but for the community. But any who thats enough of my rant... Fiamanillah.

Princesses and Super Hero's

There's a theme in many stories, especially princess movies and superhero comics of an alter ego. In Cinderella she is a servant in the eyes of her step mother and sister and then suddenly a princess in the eyes of the prince and all other at the infamous ball. Mulan is a common girl turns in to a male warrior by a little ambition and a change of outfit. Superman a hero who saves earth from its daily threats but is know by most as Clark Kent the reporter. And Batman the dark knight also a superhero is known commonly as Bruce Wayne the billionaire playboy. Lastly of my examples a story from the Quran (and bible) of Yusuf: When his brothers saw him rich and powerful in the land of Egypt they did not recognize him.
How do these character represent the complexities of identity. It a joke that many of us have probably washed away. How could you not recognize someone just because they change there clothes? Remember in Cinderella (the version with brandy) when the step sisters come back from the ball and she starts singing and imagining how the ball (that she of course went to) would have been. In the end she does a curtsy the same way she did at the ball and the step mother rages "the thought of you with the prince is laughable", "why" says Cinderella, "because your common .... and you'll always be common!"
The issue here, the larger picture as stated so clearly in this movie is the way people see us and the way we see ourselves. IN the movies and stories its not simply the change of clothes but it is a change in the role the character plays in the story. Who was once common is now beautiful, who was once a selfish and inconsiderate is now a hero, who was once weak is now powerful. It is such a large incongruence that outsiders cannot the character as one full person with the ability to leap in to different interests as a full person.
When others become so use to seeing us in one state it becomes nearly impossible for them to see us in any other way. We do this all the time in real life, we see people how we chose to see them and what we find convenient. Like the father who still sees his adult daughter as his little girl. Or the mother who sees her grown son as her little boy.
So how do we allow people to see our full selves, how do we live up to our ideals, is it healthy to have alternate identities. It is important to show your true self and be your true self but it is also important to wisely chose who to show yourself to. In the Dark Knight, Rachel, his love interest and Geoffrey, his butler both know of his identities. He trust them and they don't betray him. But how do we know who these people are that can be trusted? What character traits do they display? Well, first and foremost we know we can trust in God since God knows us completely and therefore does not find any discrepancies between different aspects of our identities. But who can we trust after God, friends? Coworkers? Mother? Father? Siblings?
Ideally we should and can judge people from there previous decisions and actions? When ask your sibling for help could you depend on them? When you told you friend secret did she keep it to herself? When you asked your parent for advice where they helpful? These are the answers that will help you decide who you can share yourself with and who you should be more sheltered with.
But what if were are unsure of ourselves. Many people get so caught up in one identity they don't realize how badly that are hurting there potential as a full human being. For example women use to be seen primarily as caretakers now we have completely thrown ourselves careers and are beginning to be seen as equals to our male counterparts. But each role has its disadvantages. If we are seen primarily as caretakers then how can women who want to work been seen as vital and productive to the workplace. But if we are seen primarily as workers then how can we be seen as useful and help to society if we chose to solely be caretakers? If we as women showed men that we are full people with different interest and are perfectly able of carrying out one or the other or any other responsibilities.
This characterisation is true for groups as it is for people. So you want to be a dancer but your in medical school -who says you can't do both? Being a doctor or being a dancer should not be the fullness of who you are, these are only segments of our lives. When we come back to Allah we will be asked if we believed in one God and his prophets, if we where upright and moral people. But whether or not where professional a doctor or a teacher, a mother of two or a father of five, took vacations every summer or not -are these the kinds of things that will effect our moral standing?
In anything we chose to do we have to do with integrity and morality but we can't limit ourselves out of fear of breaking expectations of others. Was not Yusuf the keeper of storehouses, a wisemen, a prophet? Was not Ayesha the prophets wife, a soldier, and an academic? Is not Barack Obama a husband, father, a basketball player and the president?
When our identities conflict with each other then it is necessary for us to find some congruence between these persons that we both claim as our own. For batman his two identities were becoming burdens because they were moral opposites was he a playboy who only cared about himself, or was he a superhero who carried the weight of the world on his soldiers and saved the innocent. For Spiderman his personalities where conflicting was he the tough guy who fought bad villains or was he a geek to afraid to even let his true emotions show towards the girl he loved. When we face these kinds of conflict we have no choice but to close the gap of incongruence or to chose between our identities which of our "masks" truly belong to us and which we should put down for good.
Allah (SWT) knows us and all our incongruences and discontents, Insha Allah he will help us chose the best of character befitting to ourselves. And when we do may he bless us with strength and courage to show our selves to those befitting of trust, our true sahabahs.

What is it that keeps men from believing

What is it that keeps men and women from believing? And if we believe what keep us from practicing our faith. Their is no doubt that the Prophet Muhamed (PBUH) was a sound believer in Islam. But it is sometimes through his followers that we seen the truth and strength of the prophets' message come alive. The prophets' message spread through culture, race and age. The seventh person to accept Islam was a man by the name of Bilal. He was, at the time of his conversion, an Ethiopian slave. His master was a atheist, and upon hearing of his conversion, began to treat him with severe cruelty. One example of him cruelty is when he would take Bilal out on the hottest days in full armor laying him on the ground only come out to turn him around. Still Bilals' faith was sound. Bilal was twenty years old at the time. I am nineteen and I can only think to myself , what would I have done. I have no doubt that under such cruelty I would contemplate suicide, but Bilal faith was sound. He only repeated the words 'God is one' to himself (as comfort).
Soon Bilal was taken from his enslavement, and set free by one of the prophets' companion. P. Muhamed was rejoiced and through a companions' dream Bilal became the muadhin (caller to prayer). Sadly the prophets death came soon after and the whole ummah wept for the lost of one of the greatest men to live on earth. Bilal was called to make the adhan but he was so chocked up that he could not finish. He only made the adhan twice in his life after the prophets' death (once when he visited the prophets tomb). Bilal was a matyr for Islam and died at the old age of sixty- four. What a servant for islam and for Allah. A man willing to die and live for Islam. I hate myself for every salat I have not made or any fast I did not make, any time I made an excuse for doing less then the absolute best I will remember Bilal. He was literally a slave but somehow he found the strength to go on simply by remembering 'Allah is one'. Allah is my lord, what a great messenger and how beautiful were his followers.