Allaah describes the believers in His Noble Book as making the following du’aa, “Our Lord, do not place in our hearts hatred toward the believers.” (59:10) Yet some of our brothers have been doing just the opposite: placing enmity in the hearts of the people against the believers. It is sad that conferences, which used to be gatherings of learning, imparting beneficial knowledge, spreading the Sunnah, and increasing our eemaan, have been turned into gatherings of character assassination and maligning scholars, students of knowledge, and du‘aat. So much so that the hearts of those who attend these conferences have become hardened with hatred toward many students of knowledge, who have dedicated their lives to spreading the correct ‘aqeedah and Sunnah, and who should in fact be loved for the sake of Allaah. Rather, we should advise one another and try to guide our brothers if we see them make mistakes or see them straying from the correct manhaj. We should not rejoice nor feel triumphant when we see our brothers fall or err; so as not be like those whom Allaah describes saying, “If some good comes to you it grieves them, while if some evil befalls you they rejoice at it.” (3:120) We should give one another the benefit of the doubt: Perhaps he has a shubhah (doubt or point of confusion) about such and such an issue, perhaps he does not know the proofs regarding such and such an issue, perhaps this mistake, in his view, was based on what he held to be knowledge, but rather it was statements of scholars taken out of context, etc. Allaah describes the believers as being harsh to the disbelievers, and merciful with the believers. (48:29) Now, it has been reversed. Some of these brothers in a recent lecture in the United States went so far as to say about me that I am worse than the Jews and Christians! May Allaah protect us from that which they ascribe us to. This state of random labeling and boycotting has become among the greatest fitnahs of our time, where Satan creates fitnah cloaked in an Islaamic garb. He disguised this fitnah under an honorable name, under the name of Truth, under the name of Salafiyyah. While the noble Salafee manhaj, the only way to attain success, is innocent of such behavior. The path of true guidance, i.e. Salafiyyah, was never intended to be an exclusive club, in which certain individuals can grant membership and confiscate it from whomsoever they please. This attitude is similar to the very hizbiyyah (factionalism) which our brothers are trying to fight.
I advise these brothers of ours to spend their time beneficially, learning the basics, studying Arabic, tajweed, the classic works of ‘aqeedah, such as al-‘Itisaam, al-Usool ath-Thalaathah, Kitaab at-Tawheed, al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah, al-‘Aqeedah at-Tahaawiyyah, etc. under scholars in the original Arabic. And, rather than trying to take some quotes here and there from great scholars like Shaykhs Nasirud-Deen al-Albaanee, Bin Baaz, ‘Uthaymeen, and Muqbil, may Allaah have mercy on them all, I recommend that they actually listen to and study their tapes. Al-hamdulillah, there are many commentaries of Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen on the various books of ‘aqeedah, and tafseers, etc and Silsilat al-Hudaa wan-Noor, the tapes of Shaykh al-Albaanee, rahimahullaah, are available in the hundreds for them to actually listen to from beginning to end.
Finally, I sincerely advise all my brothers and sisters to remember that we are all going to stand for account before Allaah and answer for every word we said (or wrote); and we should remember that injustice is a great sin indeed. Let us all (myself included) never forget that the source of guidance and light is Allaah, the Most Exalted, so we should sincerely pray to Him to guide us to the Truth, and regularly make the du’aa: allaahumma arinal haqqa haqqan warzuq nattibaa’u wa arinal baatila baatilan warzuq najtinaabuh O Allaah, show as the Truth as truth, and grant us the blessing of following it, and show as falsehood as falsehood, and grant us the blessing of staying away from it.
We should beg for Allaah’s divine guidance with our hearts free from diseases, such as envy, hatred, fear of not being accepted by people, or a desire to maintain a good reputation amongst some. I ask Allaah to expose the reality to those who sincerely desire the Truth.
Full Article
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Riqaq (Purification of Soul) Effects of the Five Heart Corrupters
Written by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah,
Madaarij as-Saalikeen, vol. 1, pp. 443-9
Saturday, 05 August 2006
The First Corrupter: Frequent Socializing
The effect of frequent socializing is that it fills the heart with the smoke of anfaas of humans until it becomes black, [3] causing it to be scattered, torn apart, worried, upset, and weak. It causes it to carry what it is unable to from mu’nat evil companions and waste what is beneficial for it, by becoming too preoccupied with evil companions and their matters to attend to what is beneficial. (The heart instead is busy with) scattered thoughts in the valleys of their requests and wishes. So what remains of it for Allaah and the life to come?
How many adversities has mixing with people brought and how many blessings has it repelled? [How many] trials has it caused and opportunities disabled, raziyyah caused to fall in baliyyah. Is aafah the downfall of people caused by other than people? Did Aboo Taalib at the time of his death have anything more harmful to himself than evil companions? They remained with him until they blocked him from the one statement that would have guaranteed him eternal pleasure.
This socializing based on love in this world, the fulfillment of desires from others, will change into enmity when the realities become manifest, and some of those who socialized will bite their hands in regret as the Almighty said:
“On the Day when the sinner will bite his hands saying: If only I had taken a way to the Messenger. Woe to me, if only I hadn’t taken so-and-so as a close friend. He misguided me from the Remembrance after it came to me.’ And Satan is forever a deserter of humans in their time of need.” (Soorah al-Furqaan, 25: 27-9)
He also said:
“Close friends on that Day will be foes of each other except the God-fearing.” (Soorah az-Zukhruf, 43: 67)
And He said:
“Indeed what you have taken besides Allaah is only idols. Love between you is only in this world, but on the Day of Resurrection you will disown each other and curse each other and your abode will be the fire and you will have no helpers.” (Soorah al-‘Ankaboot, 29: 25)
That is the state of those who share goals, they love each other as long they help each other to achieve it. But if the goal is cut off, it is followed by regret, sadness and pain, and that love will change into hatred, cursing, blame of one another, and the goals change into unhappiness and punishment, as is witnessed in this life in the states of those who share in khizyah failure, if they are caught and punished. Each supporter of falsehood, friendly regarding it, their mutual love must eventually change into hatred and enmity.
The useful defining principle in the matter of socializing is that one should mix with people in [acts of] goodness like Jumu‘ah, the ‘Eeds, Hajj, learning knowledge, Jihaad, giving advice; and avoid them in [acts of] evil, as well as unnecessary permissible things. If necessity requires mixing with them in evil and avoiding them is not possible, then beware, beware of agreeing with them. And be patient with their harm, for they must harm him if he does not have power or a helper. However, it is harm followed by honor and love for him, respect and praise for him from them, the believers, and from the Lord of the worlds.
Thus, patience with their harm is a better ending and a more praiseworthy conclusion. If necessity requires mixing with them in unnecessary permissible things, he should strive to transform the gathering into one of obedience to Allaah if it is possible, he should encourage himself and strengthen his heart, and not pay attention to the satanic whisper of discouragement which will prevent him from that, that this is riyaa showing off, a love of displaying one’s knowledge and state, etc., he should fight it and seek help from Almighty Allaah and try to affect them as positively as he can. If destiny prevents him from that, he should remove his heart from among them the way a hair is removed from dough. Among them he should be present yet absent, close yet far and asleep yet awake. He should look at them and not see them, hear their words but not be conscious of them, because he has removed his heart from among them and ascended with it to the uppermost hosts (al-mala’il-a‘laa) glorifying [Allaah] around the throne along with the pure celestial spirits. How difficult this is and trying for the souls, [yet] it is easy for whoever Allaah makes it easy. Between a slave and [that state] is that he be truthful to Allaah – Blessed and High – continually seeking refuge in Him, and that he throw his soul on [Allaah’s] doorstep in humility and tareeh. Nothing will help him to do that besides sincere love, continual remembrance of Allaah with the heart and tongue, and avoidance of the remaining four corrupters to be mentioned. He will achieve this except with righteous preparation and strong material from Allaah – Most Great and Glorious – and a truthful conviction, and freedom from attachment to other than Allaah, Most High. And Allaah Almighty knows best.
The Second Corrupter: Riding the Sea of Wishes
It is a sea without shores. It is the sea ridden by the bankrupt of the world. It is said: Wishes are the capital of the bankrupt, and its travel provisions are the promises of Satan, and impossible imaginations and falsehood. The wealth of false wishes and false imaginations continue to play with one who rides them the way that dogs play with a jeefah corpse. They are the supplies of every maheenah disgraced, khaseesah humiliated, low soul, having no conviction to achieve external realities. So it i‘taadat turned away from them with mental wishes. And everyone has it according to his state: From a wisher for power and authority, or travel and international travel, or wealth and valuables, or women and mardaan, The wisher imagines an image of what he desires in his mind, and he succeeds in creating it and takes pleasure in capturing it. While he is in this state he suddenly awakes to find his hand and al-haseer. (p. 446)
The one who has lofty/high conviction himmah his hopes pivot around knowledge and faith and deeds which will bring him closer to his Lord, and yudeenuhu min jiwaarih. These wishes are faith, light and wisdom, while the wishes of those are deception and delusion.
The Prophet (r) praised the one who wishes for good, and made his reward in some things similar to that of the one who actually does it, like the one who says: If I had money I would do as so-and-so does who fears his Lord regarding his wealth, strengthening family ties with it, and extracts from it what is required. He said: “Regarding reward, they are equal.” [4] The Prophet (r) wished in the Farewell Pilgrimage that he was doing Hajj Tamattu‘ and khalla and that he did not take a sacrificial animal with him, [5] as he was doing Hajj Qiraan. So Allaah gave him the reward of Qiraan which he did and the reward of Tamattu‘ which he wished for and combined for him both rewards.
The Third Corrupter: Attachment to Other Than Allaah
This is the absolute worst of the corrupters. There is none more harmful than attachment to other than Allaah, nor more able to cut the heart off from Allaah, and block it from what is beneficial to it and what will bring it true happiness. If a heart becomes attached to other than Allaah, Allaah makes him dependent on what he is attached to and he will be betrayed by it and he will not achieve what he was seeking from Allaah as long as he is attached to other than Allaah and turning to others besides Him. Thus, he will not obtain what he sought from Allaah nor will what he was attached to besides Allaah bring it for him
“And they have taken gods besides Allaah that they might give them honor, power and glory. No. But they will deny their worship of them and become opponents to them.” (Soorah Maryam, 19: 81-2)
“And they have taken besides Allaah gods hoping that they might be helped. They cannot help them but they will be brought forward as a troop against them.” (Soorah Yaaseen, 36: 74-5)
The person most betrayed is the one who is attached to other than Allaah. For what he missed of benefits, happiness and success is far greater that what he obtained from those to whom he was attached, and it is exposed to disappearance and loss. The example of one attached to other than Allaah is like one seeking shade from the heat and cold in a spider’s web (home), the weakest wahn of homes.
In general, the basis of idolatry and the foundation on which it is built is: Attachment to other than Allaah, and for the one who does so there is condemnation and betrayal, as stated by the Almighty:
“Do not set up with Allaah any other god or you will sit down reproved and forsaken.” (Soorah al-Israa, 17: 22)
“Reproved” without anyone to praise you, “forsaken” without anyone to help you. As some people may be forced while being praised, like one is forced by falsehood, and he could be forsaken while being helped [by Allaah], like one forced and falsehood has gained the upper hand over him, and he could be praised and supported like one becomes established and gains dominion by way of the truth. The idolater attached to other than Allaah, his is the vilest category, neither praised nor supported.
The Fourth Corrupter: Food
The corrupter of the heart is of two types:
One of them is that which corrupts it by itself like the forbidden which are two types:
* Forbidden relative to Allaah like carcasses, blood, pork, wild animals that kill with the canine tooth [6]and birds that kill with claws.
* Forbidden relative to Allaah’s slaves, like stolen, maghsoob, kidnapped, and what is taken without the permission of the owner either by force or by shame and blame.
The second is what corrupts as a result of its quantity and its exceeding limits, like wasting permissible things, excessive filling of the stomach, for it makes acts of obedience burdensome and it preoccupies the heart with muzaawalat mu’nat al-batnah chasing after belly desires and trying for it until it captures it. If it captures zafara it he becomes preoccupied with muzaawalat following its tasarruf activities and protecting the self from its harm, and being hurt by its weight, and it strengthens the elements of desire. It paves paths for Satan and expands them, for he moves among humans in the veins. Fasting narrows its passages and closes his paths and filling the stomach paves paths and widens them. Whoever eats a lot, drinks a lot, sleeps a lot and loses a lot. In the famous hadeeth:
“No human fills a container worse than his stomach. Two small portions of food to straighten his backbone are sufficient. If he must [eat more], then let it be a third for food, a third for drink and a third for breathing.” [7]
It is said that [on one occasion] Iblees – may Allaah curse him – met Yahyaa, son of Zakariyyaa – peace be upon them – and Yahyaa asked him: “Did you take anything from me.” He replied: “No, except one night when food was presented to you, I made it so desirable to you that you ate your fill and you went sleep without making your regular supplications.” Yahyaa said: “I swear by Allaah that I will never eat my fill again.” Iblees then said: “As for me, I swear by Allaah that I will never advise another human again.”
The Fifth Corrupter: Excessive Sleep
It deadens the heart, makes the body heavy, wastes time, and gives birth to a lot of negligence and laziness. Some [types] of sleep are extremely disliked, and some are harmful to the body. The best form of sleep is what takes place when there exists a strong need for it. Sleep at the beginning of the night is more praiseworthy and beneficial than at the end of the night, and sleep in the middle of the day is better than at its beginning and end tarafayhi. The closer sleep is to the beginning and ending of the day the less the benefit and the more the harm. [This is] especially the case for sleeping in the after noon (‘asr) and sleeping at the beginning of the day, except for one who stayed awake all night.
And among the disliked aspects, according to the scholars, is sleep between Salaatul-Fajr and sunrise, for it is a time of special reward.[8] For that time escape, among the saalikeen (travellers), is a great loss maziyyah. Even if they traveled all night they would not allow sitting down from the journey sayr at that time until sunrise, because it is the beginning of the day and its key. [It is] the time for provisions to be sent down [and distributed], the time for obtaining portions and the descent of blessings, and from it the day is established. The ruling regarding the whole day is [based on] the ruling regarding that portion. One should only sleep at that time if one is forced.
In general, the most balanced/moderate (a‘dal) and beneficial form of sleep, is sleep during the first portion of the night and the last sixth of the night. According to medical practitioners, the length of the most balanced form of sleep should be eight hours. In their view, more [sleep] than that or less than that will cause deviation in one’s natural disposition according to it bihasabihi.
Among the forms of sleep that are not beneficial also, is sleep in the first part of the night shortly after sunset until fahmatul-‘ishaa the darkness of ‘Ishaa goes. The Messenger of Allaah (r) used to dislike it.[9] So it is disliked according to the Sharee‘ah and naturally.
As excessive sleep causes these defects aafaat, putting aside sleep and abandoning it causes other major defects like bad temperament, yabsihi dry personality and a warped disposition, as well as drying up of the humors [10] which aid in understanding and work, and it leads to illnesses mutlifah which will prevent one afflicted from benefiting either with his heart or body.
Existence [of the world] was established on the basis of justice (‘adl), so whoever adheres to moderation has grabbed his portion of the confluence of good.
Madaarij as-Saalikeen, vol. 1, pp. 443-9
Saturday, 05 August 2006
The First Corrupter: Frequent Socializing
The effect of frequent socializing is that it fills the heart with the smoke of anfaas of humans until it becomes black, [3] causing it to be scattered, torn apart, worried, upset, and weak. It causes it to carry what it is unable to from mu’nat evil companions and waste what is beneficial for it, by becoming too preoccupied with evil companions and their matters to attend to what is beneficial. (The heart instead is busy with) scattered thoughts in the valleys of their requests and wishes. So what remains of it for Allaah and the life to come?
How many adversities has mixing with people brought and how many blessings has it repelled? [How many] trials has it caused and opportunities disabled, raziyyah caused to fall in baliyyah. Is aafah the downfall of people caused by other than people? Did Aboo Taalib at the time of his death have anything more harmful to himself than evil companions? They remained with him until they blocked him from the one statement that would have guaranteed him eternal pleasure.
This socializing based on love in this world, the fulfillment of desires from others, will change into enmity when the realities become manifest, and some of those who socialized will bite their hands in regret as the Almighty said:
“On the Day when the sinner will bite his hands saying: If only I had taken a way to the Messenger. Woe to me, if only I hadn’t taken so-and-so as a close friend. He misguided me from the Remembrance after it came to me.’ And Satan is forever a deserter of humans in their time of need.” (Soorah al-Furqaan, 25: 27-9)
He also said:
“Close friends on that Day will be foes of each other except the God-fearing.” (Soorah az-Zukhruf, 43: 67)
And He said:
“Indeed what you have taken besides Allaah is only idols. Love between you is only in this world, but on the Day of Resurrection you will disown each other and curse each other and your abode will be the fire and you will have no helpers.” (Soorah al-‘Ankaboot, 29: 25)
That is the state of those who share goals, they love each other as long they help each other to achieve it. But if the goal is cut off, it is followed by regret, sadness and pain, and that love will change into hatred, cursing, blame of one another, and the goals change into unhappiness and punishment, as is witnessed in this life in the states of those who share in khizyah failure, if they are caught and punished. Each supporter of falsehood, friendly regarding it, their mutual love must eventually change into hatred and enmity.
The useful defining principle in the matter of socializing is that one should mix with people in [acts of] goodness like Jumu‘ah, the ‘Eeds, Hajj, learning knowledge, Jihaad, giving advice; and avoid them in [acts of] evil, as well as unnecessary permissible things. If necessity requires mixing with them in evil and avoiding them is not possible, then beware, beware of agreeing with them. And be patient with their harm, for they must harm him if he does not have power or a helper. However, it is harm followed by honor and love for him, respect and praise for him from them, the believers, and from the Lord of the worlds.
Thus, patience with their harm is a better ending and a more praiseworthy conclusion. If necessity requires mixing with them in unnecessary permissible things, he should strive to transform the gathering into one of obedience to Allaah if it is possible, he should encourage himself and strengthen his heart, and not pay attention to the satanic whisper of discouragement which will prevent him from that, that this is riyaa showing off, a love of displaying one’s knowledge and state, etc., he should fight it and seek help from Almighty Allaah and try to affect them as positively as he can. If destiny prevents him from that, he should remove his heart from among them the way a hair is removed from dough. Among them he should be present yet absent, close yet far and asleep yet awake. He should look at them and not see them, hear their words but not be conscious of them, because he has removed his heart from among them and ascended with it to the uppermost hosts (al-mala’il-a‘laa) glorifying [Allaah] around the throne along with the pure celestial spirits. How difficult this is and trying for the souls, [yet] it is easy for whoever Allaah makes it easy. Between a slave and [that state] is that he be truthful to Allaah – Blessed and High – continually seeking refuge in Him, and that he throw his soul on [Allaah’s] doorstep in humility and tareeh. Nothing will help him to do that besides sincere love, continual remembrance of Allaah with the heart and tongue, and avoidance of the remaining four corrupters to be mentioned. He will achieve this except with righteous preparation and strong material from Allaah – Most Great and Glorious – and a truthful conviction, and freedom from attachment to other than Allaah, Most High. And Allaah Almighty knows best.
The Second Corrupter: Riding the Sea of Wishes
It is a sea without shores. It is the sea ridden by the bankrupt of the world. It is said: Wishes are the capital of the bankrupt, and its travel provisions are the promises of Satan, and impossible imaginations and falsehood. The wealth of false wishes and false imaginations continue to play with one who rides them the way that dogs play with a jeefah corpse. They are the supplies of every maheenah disgraced, khaseesah humiliated, low soul, having no conviction to achieve external realities. So it i‘taadat turned away from them with mental wishes. And everyone has it according to his state: From a wisher for power and authority, or travel and international travel, or wealth and valuables, or women and mardaan, The wisher imagines an image of what he desires in his mind, and he succeeds in creating it and takes pleasure in capturing it. While he is in this state he suddenly awakes to find his hand and al-haseer. (p. 446)
The one who has lofty/high conviction himmah his hopes pivot around knowledge and faith and deeds which will bring him closer to his Lord, and yudeenuhu min jiwaarih. These wishes are faith, light and wisdom, while the wishes of those are deception and delusion.
The Prophet (r) praised the one who wishes for good, and made his reward in some things similar to that of the one who actually does it, like the one who says: If I had money I would do as so-and-so does who fears his Lord regarding his wealth, strengthening family ties with it, and extracts from it what is required. He said: “Regarding reward, they are equal.” [4] The Prophet (r) wished in the Farewell Pilgrimage that he was doing Hajj Tamattu‘ and khalla and that he did not take a sacrificial animal with him, [5] as he was doing Hajj Qiraan. So Allaah gave him the reward of Qiraan which he did and the reward of Tamattu‘ which he wished for and combined for him both rewards.
The Third Corrupter: Attachment to Other Than Allaah
This is the absolute worst of the corrupters. There is none more harmful than attachment to other than Allaah, nor more able to cut the heart off from Allaah, and block it from what is beneficial to it and what will bring it true happiness. If a heart becomes attached to other than Allaah, Allaah makes him dependent on what he is attached to and he will be betrayed by it and he will not achieve what he was seeking from Allaah as long as he is attached to other than Allaah and turning to others besides Him. Thus, he will not obtain what he sought from Allaah nor will what he was attached to besides Allaah bring it for him
“And they have taken gods besides Allaah that they might give them honor, power and glory. No. But they will deny their worship of them and become opponents to them.” (Soorah Maryam, 19: 81-2)
“And they have taken besides Allaah gods hoping that they might be helped. They cannot help them but they will be brought forward as a troop against them.” (Soorah Yaaseen, 36: 74-5)
The person most betrayed is the one who is attached to other than Allaah. For what he missed of benefits, happiness and success is far greater that what he obtained from those to whom he was attached, and it is exposed to disappearance and loss. The example of one attached to other than Allaah is like one seeking shade from the heat and cold in a spider’s web (home), the weakest wahn of homes.
In general, the basis of idolatry and the foundation on which it is built is: Attachment to other than Allaah, and for the one who does so there is condemnation and betrayal, as stated by the Almighty:
“Do not set up with Allaah any other god or you will sit down reproved and forsaken.” (Soorah al-Israa, 17: 22)
“Reproved” without anyone to praise you, “forsaken” without anyone to help you. As some people may be forced while being praised, like one is forced by falsehood, and he could be forsaken while being helped [by Allaah], like one forced and falsehood has gained the upper hand over him, and he could be praised and supported like one becomes established and gains dominion by way of the truth. The idolater attached to other than Allaah, his is the vilest category, neither praised nor supported.
The Fourth Corrupter: Food
The corrupter of the heart is of two types:
One of them is that which corrupts it by itself like the forbidden which are two types:
* Forbidden relative to Allaah like carcasses, blood, pork, wild animals that kill with the canine tooth [6]and birds that kill with claws.
* Forbidden relative to Allaah’s slaves, like stolen, maghsoob, kidnapped, and what is taken without the permission of the owner either by force or by shame and blame.
The second is what corrupts as a result of its quantity and its exceeding limits, like wasting permissible things, excessive filling of the stomach, for it makes acts of obedience burdensome and it preoccupies the heart with muzaawalat mu’nat al-batnah chasing after belly desires and trying for it until it captures it. If it captures zafara it he becomes preoccupied with muzaawalat following its tasarruf activities and protecting the self from its harm, and being hurt by its weight, and it strengthens the elements of desire. It paves paths for Satan and expands them, for he moves among humans in the veins. Fasting narrows its passages and closes his paths and filling the stomach paves paths and widens them. Whoever eats a lot, drinks a lot, sleeps a lot and loses a lot. In the famous hadeeth:
“No human fills a container worse than his stomach. Two small portions of food to straighten his backbone are sufficient. If he must [eat more], then let it be a third for food, a third for drink and a third for breathing.” [7]
It is said that [on one occasion] Iblees – may Allaah curse him – met Yahyaa, son of Zakariyyaa – peace be upon them – and Yahyaa asked him: “Did you take anything from me.” He replied: “No, except one night when food was presented to you, I made it so desirable to you that you ate your fill and you went sleep without making your regular supplications.” Yahyaa said: “I swear by Allaah that I will never eat my fill again.” Iblees then said: “As for me, I swear by Allaah that I will never advise another human again.”
The Fifth Corrupter: Excessive Sleep
It deadens the heart, makes the body heavy, wastes time, and gives birth to a lot of negligence and laziness. Some [types] of sleep are extremely disliked, and some are harmful to the body. The best form of sleep is what takes place when there exists a strong need for it. Sleep at the beginning of the night is more praiseworthy and beneficial than at the end of the night, and sleep in the middle of the day is better than at its beginning and end tarafayhi. The closer sleep is to the beginning and ending of the day the less the benefit and the more the harm. [This is] especially the case for sleeping in the after noon (‘asr) and sleeping at the beginning of the day, except for one who stayed awake all night.
And among the disliked aspects, according to the scholars, is sleep between Salaatul-Fajr and sunrise, for it is a time of special reward.[8] For that time escape, among the saalikeen (travellers), is a great loss maziyyah. Even if they traveled all night they would not allow sitting down from the journey sayr at that time until sunrise, because it is the beginning of the day and its key. [It is] the time for provisions to be sent down [and distributed], the time for obtaining portions and the descent of blessings, and from it the day is established. The ruling regarding the whole day is [based on] the ruling regarding that portion. One should only sleep at that time if one is forced.
In general, the most balanced/moderate (a‘dal) and beneficial form of sleep, is sleep during the first portion of the night and the last sixth of the night. According to medical practitioners, the length of the most balanced form of sleep should be eight hours. In their view, more [sleep] than that or less than that will cause deviation in one’s natural disposition according to it bihasabihi.
Among the forms of sleep that are not beneficial also, is sleep in the first part of the night shortly after sunset until fahmatul-‘ishaa the darkness of ‘Ishaa goes. The Messenger of Allaah (r) used to dislike it.[9] So it is disliked according to the Sharee‘ah and naturally.
As excessive sleep causes these defects aafaat, putting aside sleep and abandoning it causes other major defects like bad temperament, yabsihi dry personality and a warped disposition, as well as drying up of the humors [10] which aid in understanding and work, and it leads to illnesses mutlifah which will prevent one afflicted from benefiting either with his heart or body.
Existence [of the world] was established on the basis of justice (‘adl), so whoever adheres to moderation has grabbed his portion of the confluence of good.
Brief Introduction to Dr. Abu Ameenah Philips
Written by Dr. Bilal Philips
Friday, 14 July 2006
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was born in Jamaica, but grew up in Canada, where he accepted Islam in 1972. He completed a diploma in Arabic and a B.A. from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usool ad-Deen) at the Islamic University of Madeenah in 1979. At the University of Riyadh, College of Education, he completed a M.A. in Islamic Theology in 1985, and in the department of Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, he completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology in 1994.
Abu Ameenah taught Islamic Education and Arabic in private schools in Riyadh for over ten years and for three years he lectured M.Ed. students in the Islamic Studies department of Shariff Kabunsuan Islamic University in Cotobato City, Mindanao, Philippines. Since 1994 he has founded and directed the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (which is now known as Discover Islam) and the Foreign Literature Department of Dar al Fatah Islamic Press in Sharjah, UAE. Presently, he is a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Dubai and Ajman University in Ajman, UAE.
Bilal Philips, once a Christian, is now an Islamic scholar. He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Madina and his M.A. in Aqeedah (Islamic Philosophy) from the King Saud University in Riyadh. His deep study and understanding of Islam has won him the respect of ordinary Muslims as well as many learned scholars of Islam.
“There is no time for holidays”, says Bilal Philips, “when you realise how little time there is, and how much work has to be done for Islam.”
Born in Jamaica in 1947, he comes from a family of educationists. Both his parents are teachers, and one of his grandfathers was a church minister and Bible scholar.
Bilal came from a broad-minded family, and though he went to church regularly every Sunday with his mother, he was never forced to go. He says: “Going to church was a social event, more than a religious one. What was being taught went right over my head.”
When Bilal was eleven, his family migrated to Canada and for the first time the sensitive boy began to feel that all was not right with the world.
“Most of the Canadians at that time were Euro-Canadians”, he says, “and the Europeans, of course, had an idea of their own superiority. They had gone around and smashed up everybody else's society, so they had to justify the destruction of human civilisation by promoting their own superiority over others. Those feelings are expressed in much of their literature, in films, on television and so forth.”
Growing up in an environment where one is different from everyone else and trying to rationalise it was hard for a little boy. Little discrimination hurt more as he became a teenager. “Later on”, he says, “my parents told me about the struggle they had to go through; they had to face much more in society than I had to as a child at school.”
Bilal's first contact with a Muslim society came when his parents moved to Malaysia in the capacity of teachers and advisors to the ministry of education under the Canadian Colombo Plan.
Though much happier there, Bilal hardly noticed that he was in a Muslim country. The British had been in Malaysia and had left their traces behind. His friends were either Euro-Asians or anglicised Muslim Malaysians. Bilal formed a rock group and began to play the guitar professionally. He had a motorbike and was quite popular and consequently his A-level studies suffered.
While in Malaysia Bilal's parents adopted an Indonesian boy who happened to be a Muslim. Mrs. Philips was quite aware of Islam and made it easy for him to fast and pray. Bilal understood that this boy was different once when opening the door to his new brother's room and he bumped his brother on the head as he prostrated himself in prayer. Not being interested in religion at that time, he did not pursue the issue.
Bilal's parents felt there were too many distractions in Malaysia for him, so they decided to send him back to Canada to the Simon-Frazer University in Vancouver.
Back in Canada, Bilal stepped right into the volatile student movements of the late sixties and early seventies. The drug culture and hippy movement was being propagated by such prestigious persons as Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary.
In certain classes the lecturers would pass marijuana cigarettes to the students. They would smoke together and then start the classes.
At this time Bilal's goal was to become a medical artist and thus combine his love for science and art. To this end, he had taken up biochemistry and had also received a scholarship from an art university.
Before he could fully pursue his goals, he found himself getting deeply entrenched in student politics. The seed sown during his childhood, the idea that something was amiss with Western society and things needed to be changed, bore fruit now. He began to get involved with student movements. There were sit-ins and strikes, sometimes there were more violent protests and the police would be called in.
Professors were introducing socialism into their classes. Impressed by this, Bilal began a detailed study of the work of Marx, and soon considered himself to be a Marxist-Leninist. “Socialism was presented as a programme for change of society”, he says “rectifying injustices and making sure there are equal rights for all. This change was to be brought about by revolution.”
His search for a political solution led him to California. Here he worked with black activist movements like the Black Panthers. “These movements were all black movements, the figures in the forefront were mostly blacks. Since the blacks were the most oppressed group at that time, naturally their voice was the loudest. However, they were widely supported by white college kids. Eventually everybody got on the bandwagon. There was a women's liberation movement followed by the gay liberation when the homosexuals started coming out of the closets.”
Soon disillusion set in. “Many of these people were deep into drugs. They collected money for what they called defence committees and used much of the money to pay for their parties, their rents and their drugs. They were like leeches living off the people's donations.”
During this period there also existed a “black movement known as the Nation of Islam” or, more popularly, the Black Muslims, founded by Elijah Muhammad, who concocted a religion called Islam but which was totally different from the real thing.
He taught that all black men were gods and all white men were devils. There was one major god who had come and taught Elijah, and Elijah was his prophet. At that time the autobiography of a former follower of Elijah, Malcolm X, was very popular. Malcolm X had left the Black Muslims after being its leading spokesman and had found real Islam. He was assassinated within six months of his conversion and had little time to use his rhetorical skills to promote the real Islam. Thus only a few who read his autobiography grasped the significance of his journey.
Bilal, who had read Malcolm X's autobiography, visited one of the temples of the Black Muslims. Though impressed by their organization and the fact that their women dressed modestly, he found their ideology useless.
Official Site
Friday, 14 July 2006
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was born in Jamaica, but grew up in Canada, where he accepted Islam in 1972. He completed a diploma in Arabic and a B.A. from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usool ad-Deen) at the Islamic University of Madeenah in 1979. At the University of Riyadh, College of Education, he completed a M.A. in Islamic Theology in 1985, and in the department of Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, he completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology in 1994.
Abu Ameenah taught Islamic Education and Arabic in private schools in Riyadh for over ten years and for three years he lectured M.Ed. students in the Islamic Studies department of Shariff Kabunsuan Islamic University in Cotobato City, Mindanao, Philippines. Since 1994 he has founded and directed the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (which is now known as Discover Islam) and the Foreign Literature Department of Dar al Fatah Islamic Press in Sharjah, UAE. Presently, he is a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Dubai and Ajman University in Ajman, UAE.
Bilal Philips, once a Christian, is now an Islamic scholar. He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Madina and his M.A. in Aqeedah (Islamic Philosophy) from the King Saud University in Riyadh. His deep study and understanding of Islam has won him the respect of ordinary Muslims as well as many learned scholars of Islam.
“There is no time for holidays”, says Bilal Philips, “when you realise how little time there is, and how much work has to be done for Islam.”
Born in Jamaica in 1947, he comes from a family of educationists. Both his parents are teachers, and one of his grandfathers was a church minister and Bible scholar.
Bilal came from a broad-minded family, and though he went to church regularly every Sunday with his mother, he was never forced to go. He says: “Going to church was a social event, more than a religious one. What was being taught went right over my head.”
When Bilal was eleven, his family migrated to Canada and for the first time the sensitive boy began to feel that all was not right with the world.
“Most of the Canadians at that time were Euro-Canadians”, he says, “and the Europeans, of course, had an idea of their own superiority. They had gone around and smashed up everybody else's society, so they had to justify the destruction of human civilisation by promoting their own superiority over others. Those feelings are expressed in much of their literature, in films, on television and so forth.”
Growing up in an environment where one is different from everyone else and trying to rationalise it was hard for a little boy. Little discrimination hurt more as he became a teenager. “Later on”, he says, “my parents told me about the struggle they had to go through; they had to face much more in society than I had to as a child at school.”
Bilal's first contact with a Muslim society came when his parents moved to Malaysia in the capacity of teachers and advisors to the ministry of education under the Canadian Colombo Plan.
Though much happier there, Bilal hardly noticed that he was in a Muslim country. The British had been in Malaysia and had left their traces behind. His friends were either Euro-Asians or anglicised Muslim Malaysians. Bilal formed a rock group and began to play the guitar professionally. He had a motorbike and was quite popular and consequently his A-level studies suffered.
While in Malaysia Bilal's parents adopted an Indonesian boy who happened to be a Muslim. Mrs. Philips was quite aware of Islam and made it easy for him to fast and pray. Bilal understood that this boy was different once when opening the door to his new brother's room and he bumped his brother on the head as he prostrated himself in prayer. Not being interested in religion at that time, he did not pursue the issue.
Bilal's parents felt there were too many distractions in Malaysia for him, so they decided to send him back to Canada to the Simon-Frazer University in Vancouver.
Back in Canada, Bilal stepped right into the volatile student movements of the late sixties and early seventies. The drug culture and hippy movement was being propagated by such prestigious persons as Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary.
In certain classes the lecturers would pass marijuana cigarettes to the students. They would smoke together and then start the classes.
At this time Bilal's goal was to become a medical artist and thus combine his love for science and art. To this end, he had taken up biochemistry and had also received a scholarship from an art university.
Before he could fully pursue his goals, he found himself getting deeply entrenched in student politics. The seed sown during his childhood, the idea that something was amiss with Western society and things needed to be changed, bore fruit now. He began to get involved with student movements. There were sit-ins and strikes, sometimes there were more violent protests and the police would be called in.
Professors were introducing socialism into their classes. Impressed by this, Bilal began a detailed study of the work of Marx, and soon considered himself to be a Marxist-Leninist. “Socialism was presented as a programme for change of society”, he says “rectifying injustices and making sure there are equal rights for all. This change was to be brought about by revolution.”
His search for a political solution led him to California. Here he worked with black activist movements like the Black Panthers. “These movements were all black movements, the figures in the forefront were mostly blacks. Since the blacks were the most oppressed group at that time, naturally their voice was the loudest. However, they were widely supported by white college kids. Eventually everybody got on the bandwagon. There was a women's liberation movement followed by the gay liberation when the homosexuals started coming out of the closets.”
Soon disillusion set in. “Many of these people were deep into drugs. They collected money for what they called defence committees and used much of the money to pay for their parties, their rents and their drugs. They were like leeches living off the people's donations.”
During this period there also existed a “black movement known as the Nation of Islam” or, more popularly, the Black Muslims, founded by Elijah Muhammad, who concocted a religion called Islam but which was totally different from the real thing.
He taught that all black men were gods and all white men were devils. There was one major god who had come and taught Elijah, and Elijah was his prophet. At that time the autobiography of a former follower of Elijah, Malcolm X, was very popular. Malcolm X had left the Black Muslims after being its leading spokesman and had found real Islam. He was assassinated within six months of his conversion and had little time to use his rhetorical skills to promote the real Islam. Thus only a few who read his autobiography grasped the significance of his journey.
Bilal, who had read Malcolm X's autobiography, visited one of the temples of the Black Muslims. Though impressed by their organization and the fact that their women dressed modestly, he found their ideology useless.
Official Site
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