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Issue 124 » June 29, 2001 -

General

QURAN

Translation:

Surah al-Mu'minoon

The Believers (23) - Ayahs 1,2

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"Successful indeed are the Believers, 
those who offer their Prayers with khushu' 
[solemnity and full submissiveness.]"

Commentary:

Shaytan is after your Khushu' 

  • Salah (prayer) is the greatest of the practical pillars of Islam, and khushu’ [concentration and humbleness] in prayer is the heart of your worship and your relationship with Allah.

  • No wonder, when Shaytan, the enemy of Allah, vowed to mislead and tempt the sons of Adam (as) and said, 'Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left' [7:17], one of the plots he devised was to divert people from prayer by all possible means. Thus, he whispers to us during our Salah diverting our attention, depriving us of the joy, love, and sweetness of this worship, and diminishing our reward for it.

Khushu' : The First Blessing to be Taken Away from People

  • Khushu’, as important as it is, is easily lost and rarely observed, especially in our present times. According to the Prophet (peace be upon him), with the passage of time, 'The first thing to be lifted up from this Ummah will be khushu’, until you will see no one from among you who has it.’ [al-Haythami, al-Tabarani]

How to Achieve Khushu' 

  • Remember that khushu’ comes from the heart, and only its effects are manifested in the physical body. The various faculties follow the heart. So if one's heart is corrupted by negligence or whispers from Shaytan, the worship of his body will also be corrupt.

  • To perfect khushu' in prayer, one should have a conscious fear of Allah, pray in a calm and collected manner, perform every act and movement with humility and full awareness of its significance, and take time to experience the serenity and tranquility. 

  • Ibn Kathir says: Khushu’ in prayer is achieved when a person empties their heart for it (prayer), focuses on it and prefers it over everything else. Only then do they find comfort and joy in it.

  • This is also the cure to feeling lazy, monotonous and a lack of motivation in acts of worship, since Allah says: "Verily it (the duty of prayer) is heavy, except on those who have khushu'."

[compiled from "33 Ways of Developing Khushu' in Salah" by Shaykh Salih al-Munajjid, 

complete book available online at http://www.youngmuslims.ca/online_library/ ]
THREE MEANS TO NOURISH THE SEED OF IMAN

:!: The Qur'an :!:

It is a treasure-house of soul-stirring inspiration and wisdom. We can and should spend hours in understanding the Quran. Those who truly listen to the Quran, their eyes begin to well up with tears which trickle down their cheeks. We should always study the Quran as if it is being revealed today. One of the greatest injustices we do to the Quran is that we read it as if it was something of the past, and of no relevance to the present.

 

& Brotherhood &

The Quran says, "bind yourself with those who call upon Allah morning and evening." As soon as you have planted the seed of Iman in your own heart, and you have recognised it in someone else and you find that he agrees with you, you feel ten times stronger. It has been proven experimentally that the group life is one of the most powerful forces to stimulate and inspire humans.

~@ Da'wah @~

 If the faith is there inside you, Da'wah is a necessary outcome of it. As Iman increases, you get motivated and you want to go out and tell everybody about what you know to be the truth and call upon them to join your mission.

[compiled from "Revival of the Individual" by Ustadh Khurram Murad in "Journey Through Islam" p.72]

Islamic Vocab.

Qalb   

  • refers to the heart, both the physical and spiritual; the inner-most part of one's being of whose condition only Allah is aware; the center and source of human consciousness, spirituality, intentions, emotions, and morality

  • derived from the root letters q-l-b meaning to change, vary, or turn about since it is a special characteristic of the heart, e.g. "uqallib ul Allahu layla wan nahaar" translated as "it is Allah Who alternates the night and the day

Quotes to ponder over

Gheebah (backbiting and gossip) is the easiest way to lose one's good deeds  and

     benefit the one you are speaking against. Here are three interesting sayings about this:

  • Someone was told: 'fulan ibn fulan has gossiped about you' so he sent him a dish full of dates, with the message: 'I heard that you had given me your hasanat (good deeds) as a gift, and I want to return the favour. Please excuse me for not being able to pay back in full!'

  • If you are unable to do three things, then you must do three (other) things: if you cannot do good, then stop doing evil; if you cannot benefit people, then do not harm them; and if you cannot fast, then do not eat the flesh of the people (by backbiting).

  • Ibn Mubarak (rahimahullah) said: 'If I were to gossip about anyone, I would gossip about my parents, for they have the most right to my hasanat!'

[compiled from "Gossip and its Adverse Effects" by Shaykh Husayn al-'Awaaishah]