Dear reader:
Assalam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa baraktuhu.
Ramadan Kareem! May Allah (SWT) guide you to partake fully of the blessings of this month.
For Ramadan 2011, MAS Youth National has decided to allow for review of the past four seasons of Ramadan. You can view all four seasons at www.youtube.com/masyouth. Please post your comments and reflections on this thread!
Wa salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa baraktuhu.
MAS Youth National
Share on FacebookWishing all a blessed, happy and healthy Eid, inshAllah. May Allah accept all of our prayers and may we benefit from all that we have learned during Ramadan.
-ISR
Share on FacebookBrother Suhaib Webb teaches us one of the beauties of this month is that the heart is slowly becoming purer and closer to Allah (swt).
Abu Hurayrah once said: “The heart is like a King and the body parts are like soldiers. If the heart is sound, then the body is sound, and if the heart is corrupted, then the body is corrupted.
Suhaib continues by discussing the ‘doors’ of the heart and how it’s important that we install a proper ‘security system’ to protect the heart from invasion. One such system is knowledge.
He then concludes stating that although the month of the Ramadan is important, what’s more important is to instill all that we’ve learned during this month into our actions after the month ends.
Share on FacebookBrother Jamaal teaches us that when communication is bad, everything else falls apart. Bad communication leads to relationship problems. It is important to note that communication occurs within experience. If you cannot connect/overlap in your experiences, then there will be a lapse when trying to communicate with another person.
One example is of the story about an Imam who wanted to make a point to people he was talking to: There was a disconnect in his experiences with the people, so the message the Imam was trying to make was lost.
We must encourage one another to speak with people, not at people. We should focus on building communication through relationships. You cannot try and teach someone something when you don’t know anything about him or her, or how to connect to him or her.
Share on FacebookThere are certain names of Allah (swt) that you find always in pairs, because if you mention only one of the names, then it gives a wrong impression.
‘Athahir’ is the one that manifests, is obvious, and apparent in His actions. Allah (swt) manifests in the sense that He is above and higher than anything else. Also in that whatever He wishes will be fulfilled.
‘Al Battin’ is someone who is on the inside. Allah (swt) is beyond the human perception. That’s why the Prophet (saw) said, “when you ponder and think, think about the signs of Allah (swt) and do not think about the self of Allah (swt)”. Allah (swt) is the ‘Battin’ in that He knows everything.
There are many more names and attributes to Allah (swt) and each has it’s own significance which not only teach us more about Allah (swt) but also about Islam.
Share on FacebookSister Bhawana Kamil explains that your relationship with Allah (swt) is the most intimate relationship you will ever have. She continues “Allah (swt) is nearer to us than our jugular vain.” However, the problem is we do not reciprocate this relationship.
Sister Bhawana reminds us that although we may feel more comfortable relying on others to help us with our issues, at the end of the day the only person who can actually help us, and whom we should lean on, is Allah (swt).
When we live a life according to the will of Allah (swt), this is the most beneficial life we can live, Bhawana reminds us. Therefore, the benefit of having a relationship with Allah (swt) is living a better life.
Share on FacebookTaqwa, often translated as fear, in fact is really about the dynamics of power and protection within the Quranic framing, Chantal Carnes explains.
She continues, khashya is also translated as fear and is actually about awe/reverence – even a significance of hope. Only those who have reverence in Allah (swt), have knowledge.
Ramadan comes from a root of ‘sharpening ones instrument’ so by fasting we are also able to realize and connect to the rest of the ummah in their own weakness.
Taqwa is about us being brutally honest with each other, hence even when we say “astaghfurallah”, “oh Allah forgive me”- that does not really mean forgive. We are actually asking Allah (swt) to cover and protect our sins.
Share on FacebookAssalamu Alaikum,
This is about Imam Taha Hassane’s piece about Gratitude (Shukr):
SubhanAllah, we live in a society where our food, clothing, entertainment, etc. is no farther away than an arm’s length. But yet we sometimes fall short of showing gratitude to Allah. It is key not to separate the blessing from the Blesser (an ni’mah min al mun’im) and that we have to keep a grateful servant to Allah. There is a difference between saying Alhamdulilah (Praise be to Allah) and Shukr to Allah. Alhamdulilah is showing gratitude orally: “Alhamdulilah, I have eaten today….Alhamdulilah, I got an A on an exam….Alhamdulilah I have a job with nice salary….etc”, but Shukr is through the actions. Allah says in the Quran in Surat Saba’ “…DO, family of Dawood (David) shukr (gratitude), and very little from My servants are thankful.” So there is action and we have to “do” something to reflect our appreciation of the ni’mah from the mun’im. If you have eaten today, do you share your food with guests and do you feed the poor through charity (Ramadan socials and Zakat al Fitr…key word: Fitr)? That’s doing something. If you received an A, do you help other students excel? That’s doing something. If you have a generous salary and received some money, do you give in charity, help the needy or relieve someone from debt, help Islamic institutions, etc. (especially in this blessed month of Ramadan)? Allah is not giving us a Buy-1-Get-1-Free deal, but wants to do business with us and offers a Buy-1-Get-70 deal with good deeds. Alhamdulilah I have reached Ramadan and now I’m going to “do” something and try my best to take advantage of Ramadan, worship, spend, etc.
A reminder for myself and for others.
Assalamu Alaikum.
Share on FacebookActions are by intentions so we should have a long-term vision of looking at the consequence of our actions. We do things without thinking about what’s going to happen next – this results in negative time management.
Br. Jamal uses a story about Abu-Hanifa to further illustrate this topic. He also uses the ruling of killing someone as an example – can Allah (swt) ever forgive a person for killing someone?
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