Advice For The Muslims - Dont Make Ramadan An Eating Contest

Advice For The Muslims - Wake Up For Fasting (Ramadan Month)

Here is some advice on Muslims. Waking up for Fajr. I love the animations :)

Welcome Ramadan

Welcome Ramadaan!

The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “When Ramadaan comes, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of the [Hell] Fire are closed, and the devils are fettered [chained].”[Sahih Muslim, The book of Fasting]

1) Supplication for sighting the new moon

اللهُ أَكْـبَرُ، اللَّهُمَّ أَهِلَّـهُ عَلَيْـنَا بِالأَمْـنِ وَالإِيمـانِ، والسَّلامَـةِ والإِسْلامِ، وَالتَّـوْفِيـقِ لِما تُحِـبُّ  

رَبَّنَـا وَتـرْضَـى، رَبُّنـا وَرَبُّكَ اللهُ

Transliteration: Allaahu ‘Akbar, Allaahumma 'ahillahu 'alayna bil'amni wal'eemaani, wassalaamati wal-‘Islaami, wattawfeeqi limaa tuhibbu Rabbanaa wa tardhaa, Rabbunaa wa Rabbukallaahu .

Translation: Allah is the Most Great. O Allah , bring us the new moon with security and Faith, with peace and in Islam, and in harmony with what our Lord loves and what pleases Him. Our Lord and your Lord is Allah.

 (Fortress of the Muslim, 2007, p.178) 

2) The Unimaginable Reward of Fasting!

Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “Whoever observes Saum (fasts) during the month of Ramadaan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's Rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven.” [Sahih Bukhari, The book of Belief]

Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “Observing Saum (fasting) is a shield or protection (from the Hell-fire and from committing sins) ... There are two pleasures for the person observing Saum (fasting), one at the time of Iftar (breaking his fast), and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be pleased because of his Saum (fasting).”[Sahih Bukhari, The book of As-Saum]
3) Remain Steadfast in Your Prayers at Night

Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Whoever offered Salat (prayers) at night the whole month of Ramadaan with sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” [Sahih Bukhari, The book of Tarawih Prayers]

4) What is Your Intention?

Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.”[Sahih Bukhari, The book of Revelation]

Beware of worshipping for worldly benefits! Do not fast with the sole intention to lose weight, conform to custom, remain physically healthy, etc. Fast for the sake of Allah and to attain His Pleasure by following His commandments.

Remember: Time passes very quickly! Hasten to do good deeds. Don’t leave them for “tomorrow” and aim higher in doing good deeds than at least the previous Ramadaan. 

References

Fortress of the Muslim. (2007). Riyadh: Darussalam.

Live stream from Makkah

Salam all,

It has been a while since I posted on this site, I am taking Ramadan as an opportunity to make a comeback on this blog. First of all, Ramadan Kareem to all of our Muslim Friends.

Here are the two links for Live stream from Makkah. They include the live Taraweeh prayers during Ramadan as well as Quran recitation live through out the rest of the day. Do not forget to share this with your friends.

Note: Both two streams are same, if one does not work, use the other one.



Live Stream from Makkah 




 Live stream from Makkah through Saudi TV 



 بث حي للصلاة من المسجد الحرام في مكة برعاية وزارة الثقافة والاعلام
Live Stream from Makkah brought to you by Ministery of Culture and Information

Thank you and do not forget to share !

20 Common Mistakes Made During Ramadan

Most Muslims who fast in Ramadan focus on the benefits and rewards of it. But in doing so, we often make mistakes that instead of adding to our experience actually detract from it. Mistakes that can make us commercialize Ramadan as so many other religions have commercialized their sacred days. Insha’Allah the following will serve as a reminder to, first, myself and then to all Muslims. May Allah help us in spending our time wisely this Ramadan and help us in avoiding these mistakes. Ameen!

1. Taking Ramadan as a ritual 
For many of us Ramadan has lost its spirituality and has become more of a ritual than a form of Ibaadah. We fast from morning to night like a zombie just because everyone around us is fasting, too. We forget that it’s a time to purify our hearts and our souls from all evil. We forget to beseech Allah SWTto forgive us and ask Him to save us from the Hell-Fire. Surely, we stay away from food and drink but that’s about it. Although the Prophet (s.a.w..) said: Jibra’eel said to me, ‘May Allaah rub his nose in the dust, that person to who Ramadan comes and his sins are not forgiven,’ and I said, ‘Ameen’. Then he said, ‘May Allaah rub his nose in the dust, that person who lives to see his parents grow old, one or both of them, but he does not enter Paradise (by not serving them) and I said, ‘Ameen’. Then he said, ‘May Allaah rub his nose in the dust, that person in whose presence you are mentioned and he does not send blessings upon you,’ and I said, ‘Ameen.” [Tirmidhi, Ahmad and others. It is classified as Saheeh by al-Albaani

2. Too much stress on food and drink 
For some people, the entire month of Ramadan revolves around food. They spend the ENTIRE day planning, cooking, shopping and thinking only about food, instead of concentrating on Salah, Quraan and other acts of worship. They think so much about FOOD that they turn the month of ‘fasting’ into the month of ‘feasting’. Come Iftaar time, their table is a sight to see, with the multitudes and varieties of food, sweets and drinks. They are missing the very purpose of fasting, and thus, increase in their greed and desires instead of learning to control them. Besides, it leads to wastage of food and extravagance and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allaah) likes not Al-Musrifoon (those who waste by extravagance) [Qur’an, al-Araaf :31

3. Spending all day cooking 
Some of the sisters (either by their own choice or forced by their husbands) are cooking ALL day and ALL night, so that by the end of the day, they are too tired to even pray Ishaa, let alone pray Taraweeh or Tahajjud or even read the Qur’an. This is the month of mercy and forgiveness. So turn off that stove and turn on your Imaan!

4. Eating too much 
Some people stuff themselves at Suhoor until they are ready to burst, because they think this is the way to not feel hungry during the day and some people eat at Iftaar, like there is no tomorrow, trying to ‘make up for the food missed’. However, this is completely against the Sunnah. Moderation is the key to everything. The Prophet (s.a.w..) said: ‘The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach; for the son of Adam a few mouthfuls are sufficient to keep his back straight. If you must fill it, then one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for air.’ [Tirmidhi, Ibn Maajah. Classified as saheeh by al-Albaani] Too much food distracts a person from many deeds of obedience and worship, makes him lazy and also makes the heart heedless. It was said to Imam Ahmad: Does a man find any softness and humility in his heart when he is full? He said, I do not think so

5. Sleeping all day 
Some people spend their entire day (or a major part of it) ’sleeping away their fast’. Is this what is really required of us during this noble month? These people are also missing the purpose of fasting and are slaves to their desires of comfort and ease. They cannot ‘bear’ to be awake and face a little hunger or exert a little self-control. For a fasting person to spend most of the day asleep is nothing but negligence on his part

6. Wasting time
The month of Ramadan is a very precious time, so much so that Allaah SWT calls this month ‘Ayyamum Ma’doodaat’ (A fixed number of days). Before we know it, this month of mercy and forgiveness will be over. We should try and spend every moment possible in the worship of Allah so that we can make the most of this blessing. However, there are some of us who waste away their day playing video games, or worse still, watching TV, movies or even listening to music to occupy their mind so that they won’t feel the hunger pangs. Subhaan Allah! Trying to obey Allah by DISOBEYING Him!?

7. Fasting but not giving up evil 
Some of us fast but do not give up lying, cursing, fighting, backbiting, etc. and some of us fast but do not give up cheating, stealing, dealing in haraam activities, buying lottery tickets, selling alcohol, fornication, etc. and all kinds of impermissible things without realizing that the purpose of fasting is to not stay away from food and drink; rather the aim behind it is to fear Allah, to increase our Taqwa. ‘O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)’ [Qur’an, al-Baqarah :183] ,The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) said: ‘Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, and ignorance, Allah has no need of him giving up his food and drink.’ [Bukhaari

8. Skipping Suhoor (sehri) 
The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) said: ‘Eat suhoor for in suhoor there is blessing.’ [Bukhaari, Muslim]. And he (s.a.w.) said: ‘The thing that differentiates between our fasting and the fasting of the People of the Book is eating suhoor.’ [Muslim]

9. Stopping Suhoor at ‘Imsaak’ (a correction on my part) 
Some people stop eating Suhoor 10-15 minutes earlier than the time of Fajr to observe‘Imsaak’. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: This is a kind of bidah (innovation) which has no basis in the Sunnah. Rather the Sunnah is to do the opposite. Allah allows us to eat until dawn: ‘and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night)’ [Qur’an, al-Baqarah :187]. And the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) said: ‘….eat and drink until you hear the adhaan of Ibn Umm Maktoom, for he does not give the adhaan until dawn comes.’ This ‘imsaak’ which some of the people do is an addition to what Allah has prescribed, so it is false. It is a kind of extremism in religion, and the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: ‘Those who go to extremes are doomed, those who go to extremes are doomed, those who go to extremes are doomed.’ [Muslim]

10. Not fasting if they missed Suhoor 
Some people are too scared to fast if they miss Suhoor. However, this is an act kind of cowardice and love of ease. Missing a few morsels in the morning will, insha’Allah, not lead to death. Remember, obedience to Allah overcomes everything. Saying the intention for fast out loud or saying a specific dua’a to start fasting are bid’ah. The intention is an action of the heart. We should resolve in our heart that we are going to fast tomorrow. That is all we need. It is not prescribed by the Shari’ah for us to say out loud. Also, there is no specific dua’a to be recited at the time of starting the fast in the Sunnah. Whatever ‘dua’a’ one may see on some papers or Ramadan calendars, etc. is Bid’ah.

11. Delaying opening fast 
Some people wait until the adhaan finishes or even several minutes after that, just to be ‘on the safe side’. However, the Sunnah is to hasten to open the fast, which means opening fast whenever the adhaan starts, right after the sun has set (and not before). Aa’ishah (RA) said: This is what the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) used to do. [Muslim] The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: ‘The people will continue to do well so long as they hasten to open the fast.’ [Bukhaari, Muslim] Determine to the best of your ability, the accuracy of your clock, calendar, etc. and then have tawakkul (trust) on Allah SWT and break your fast exactly on time.

12. Eating continuously until the time for Maghrib is up
Some people put so much food in their plates when breaking their fast and continue eating, enjoying dessert, drinking tea, etc., until they miss the Maghrib prayer. That is obviously not right. The Sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) was that once he broke his fast with some dates, them he would hasten to the prayer. Once you are done with the prayer, you can always go back and eat some more if you wish.

13. Missing the golden chance of having your Dua’a accepted 
The prayer of the fasting person is guaranteed to be accepted at the time of breaking fast. The Prophet (s.a..w.) said: ‘Three prayers are not rejected: the prayer of a father, the prayer of a fasting person, and the prayer of a traveler.’ [al-Bayhaqi, classified as saheeh by al-Albaani] Instead of sitting down and making Dua’a at this precious time, some people forego this beautiful chance, and are too busy frying samosas, talking, setting the food, filling their plates and glasses, etc. Think about it…Is food more important than the chance to have your sins forgiven or the fulfillment of your Dua’as.

14. Fasting but not praying 
The fasting of one who does not pray WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. This is because not praying constitutes kufr as the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) said: ‘Between a man and shirk and kufr there stands his giving up prayer.’ [Muslim] In fact, NONE of his good deeds will be accepted; rather, they are all annulled. ‘Whoever does not pray ‘Asr, his good deeds will be annulled.’ [Bukhaari]

15. Fasting and not wearing Hijaab 
Not wearing the Hijaab is a major sin as it is obligatory for Muslim women. (See Surah Nur, Surah Ahzaab). So fasting and not wearing hijaab certainly takes away, enormously, from the rewards of fasting

16. Not fasting because of exams or work 
Exams or work is NOT one of the excuses allowed by the Shariah to not fast. You can do your studying and revision at night if it is too hard to do it during the day. Also remember that pleasing and obeying Allaah is much more important than ‘good grades’. Besides, if you will fulfill your obligation to fast, even if you have to study, Allaah will make your studies and other activities easy for you and help you in everything you do. ‘Whosoever fears Allah, He will appoint for him a way out and provide for him from where he does not expect, Allah is Sufficient for whosoever puts his trust in Him. [Qur’an, Surah at-Talaaq :2-3]

17. Mixing fasting and dieting 
DO NOT make the mistake of fasting with the intention to diet. That is one of the biggest mistakes some of us make (especially sisters). Fasting is an act of worship and can only be for the sake of Allah alone. Otherwise, mixing it with the intention of dieting may become a form of (minor) Shirk.

18. Praying ONLY on the night of the 27th Ramadan 
Some people pray ONLY on the 27th to seek Lailat ul-Qadr, neglecting all other odd nights, although the Prophet (s.a..w.) said: ‘Seek Lailat ul-Qadr among the odd numbered nights of the last ten nights of Ramadaan.’ [Bukhaari, Muslim]

19. Wasting the last part of Ramadan preparing for Eid 
Some people waste the entire last 10 days of Ramadan preparing for Eid, shopping and frequenting malls, etc. neglecting Ibadah and Lailatul Qadr. Even though, the Prophet (s.a..w.) used to strive the most during the last ten days of Ramadan in worship [Ahmad, Muslim] and not in shopping. Buy whatever you need for Eid before Ramadan so that you can utilize the time in Ramadan to the utmost. Aa’ishah (RA) said: ‘When the (last) ten nights began, the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.w.) would tighten his waist-wrapper (i..e., strive hard in worship or refrain from intimacy with his wives), stay awake at night and wake his family.’ [Bukhaari and Muslim]

20. Iftaar parties 
Although inviting each other for breaking fast is good and encouraged, some people go to extremes with lavish ‘Iftaar parties’ with all sorts of disobedience to Allah, from flirting, mixing of the sexes and hijaab-less women to show-off and extravagance, to heedlessness to Salaah, and Taraweeh to even music and dancing. It’s not too late to rectify ones mistake and do good for the sake of Allah. Inform My servants that I am the Forgiver, Most Merciful. [Qur’an, al-Hijr:49]

Credits: I have forgotten where I got all this information from. If you remember, please comment and I shall credit.

Freedom of Speech

When you attack black people, they call it RACISM. When you attack Jewish people, they call it ANTISEMITISM. When you attack women, they call it SEXISM. When you attack homosexuality, they call it INTOLERANCE. When you attack your country, they call it TREASON. When you attack a religious sect, they call it HATE SPEECH. But when you attack the Prophet Muhammad, they want to call it FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

via a Facebook User

Who is Muhammad (PBUH)

Who is Muhammad (PBUH)

Muhammed – A Brief Description

You may be a Christian Protestant, Catholic, Jew, an atheist or an agnostic; or you may belong to any of many different religious denominations existing in today's world. You might even be a communist or believe in man's democracy as the rule on earth.
Whoever you are and whatever ideological or political beliefs, social habits you may hold, there is no doubt -


You Must Know This MAN - MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him).

He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come.

"HIS NAME IS MUHAMMAD" (peace be upon him)

He was born in Arabia in the year 570 C.E. (Common Era), started his mission of preaching the religion of Truth, Islam (submission to One God at the age of forty and departed from this world at the age of sixty-three.



During this short period of 23 years of his prophethood, he changed the complete Arabian Peninsula from paganism and idolatry to worship of One God, from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined living, from utter bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation of a people or a place before or since - and IMAGINE all these unbelievable wonders in JUST OVER TWO DECADES.

Response to thunderf00t's Video titled "Burn Muhammad Burn!!!!" on Youtube

At first i would like to comment on this video. This a video by thunderf00t. The video is embedded here.

Video

It's a ritual whenever the Islamic world has a grudge that they get out a flag and burn it.

They do this intentionally to cause offense. As a protest.

Well that can cut both ways... if they expect carte blanche to cause as much offense as possible by burning flags, do they really have a leg to stand on in complaining about a Muhammad burning protest?

Some main points about the video.
1. He mentions that this is the way Muslims choose to express the "Peaceful Nature of Islam" and being a "War with World" by burning flags.
2. Then he mentions "..and then burn the flag, although many Muslims struggle and i mean really struggle with this new dangled technology of making fire.."
3. Then some footage of people burning flags is shown and captions like "LMAO... flag burning debate!", "...easiest way to shut up and angry Islamic mob? .. ask them to make fire", "OMG NOOBS!", "you can't start a fire and you expect to take over the world? - LMAO" and "Maybe the Koran would burn better". "ROTFLMAO... YOU SHALLOW " There are more captions if you watch the video.
4. He then explains who the sole purpose of this activity is to cause offence and insult.
5.  Then he asks a question to all the angry Muslims while showing a picture of a bear, which has paedophilia associations, known as PedoBear and the same time talks about what is wrong with referring to Prophet Muhammed P.B.U.H. Drawing and putting him up on a flag, burning him. With yet again some captions such as "Burn Muhammed Burn" and "Blasphemy has never been so beautiful" while playing a song.
6. And last during point number 5, he mentions how Prophet P.B.U.H allegedly married a 7 year old. A fact which he just picked up from google.

And then "Grow up Islam" caption to end the Video.


Now what is wrong with what he says. Let me see. If he is reading this, for convenience sake, i will go point by point what he tried asking in the hate video he made. (Yup i call it a hate video).

First Point: At first he talks about Muslims being angry and burning down flags. Did he care to ponder why they are doing so ? A new hobby perhaps, to go down the mall, buy some flags and burn it. In case he has not noticed, many Western Countries are occupying the Middle East Countries for their advantages. (Oil, political presence). They blindly support Israel,  a country which is aggressively and openly killing thousands of Gazans/Palestinians. Occupying their land. (If someone tells me that they are fighting terrorism/Hamas, please be known that Hamas WAS born because of Israel's aggression and occupation)
And since all those poor unfortunate people, including kids as young as 6 being shot by snipers while they play football, are Muslims. Muslims all over the world take part in condemning these acts. And not just these acts, occupation and treatment of people in Iraq/Afghanistan are just of few Western Countries activities.

Second and Third Point: I believe this is a part of what people refer to as, Mockery. He could say its humour but since he is talking about delicate issues that concerns millions of people. Not just those with faith but also who are suffering and dying everyday!. It isn't exactly what i would call funny.

Fourth and Fifth Point: He then explains that what those people are doing, ( their protests against Western Countries) is a legitimate excuse for him to make fun of them by picking on something really delicate to them. Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H, which we all respect to a great extent and follow as an example.
Really ? He thinks it is fair to make fun of them ? Yeah I know their protests seem so "wrong" but are they really wrong ? Is their anger towards the Western Countries "Wrong" ?

Sixth Point: He obviously know that as Muslims, Prophet Muhammed P.B.U.H is regarded as a great example for us. So shares a piece of mislead information. That Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H being a paedophile since he married someone the age of 7. Let me tell him that Wikipedia is not a source for Islamic Knowledge. If you guys must know, it is only mentioned that Prophet P.B.U.H, was with her when she was mature. Hazrat Aisha, which you people refer to as a 7 year old girl, was the daughter of Prophet's best companion. And when there was much threat to the companion's life, he asked Prophet to be responsible for her thus marriage. She lived in her father's house and didn't move to Prophet house until she reached puberty. Which I think was around the age of 14. And before you blast me with, 14 is a young age. Let me remind that as far as man can remember, the marriage age has been around that time. ( As soon as a person reached puberty). Since life expectancy was 40 years back then, it was fairly common. In fact pretty common through out the world before World War 1. And then slowly the West raised the bar, and East following suit. Still pretty common though in certain places such as India.  ( to be married after puberty).

However, as i would like to point out, it is all about where the source of the knowledge is. This has been passed down from generations and i cant really comment on it right now because I do not have direct access to such references. So please do not entirely believe in that information i gave. I will however edit this as soon as i get some information from a trusted source. ( Wikipedia my ... )

Conclusion

So to everyone, what do i conclude from this ? thuderf00t clearly needs to research a bit more and make it clear to people what he is trying to say. He can't just pick of a point randomly and start making hate videos.
Yes as you can see, this video is not something about spreading a word, its just his hatred and mockery at sensitive issues. He is trying to show that Muslims are angry people who burn down flags and go on protests. Has he ever wondered why they do that ? It is not just because of difference in thoughts or beliefs but actually because of thousands of lives that are being wasted every year.

So i hope my message reaches those who are getting a wrong impression of the religion Islam. This is not the only post i will make. I will be discussing more and more of what thunderf00t has been saying and what other people have been talking about.

Please feel free to leave comments below. Even if you something to say against Islam, feel free to post your argument. I do not mind a debate but please keep it clean and straight forward. No Flaming.

Regards,
B.M

Hi this is My first Post

Recently I have seen a uproar in Accusations against Islam. mostly fuelled thanks to bunch of people who think it is fun to insult a religion with mislead facts. And to add to injury, they call it freedom of speech.

I have yet to believe that they provoking is really "freedom of speech".

I shall be posting what people have been saying what really the truth is in this blog. Please feel free to comment to what you think.

Regards,
B.M