Shifting Gears into Ramadan

Salams all,

Here's the link to the introduction to the Ramadan topic which was held yesterday for the discussion circle.

Being Muslim Americans- Hamza Yusuf

This is Hamza Yusuf at his best. Very moving and inspiring lecture where he emphasizes the current role of Muslims in America and our duty to be part of its history.

Rerun: A day in the life of the Prophet

Salams all,

Here's the link to the topic intro for this tuesday's discussion.

Also refer to the previous post on the topic where you can find a lecture on the etiquettes of sleep.

I'd also recommend that you read the section on the description of the prophet's sleep found in the Shamail of Tirmidhi.

You can find also duaas before and after sleep in both Riyad al-Shaleheen and Al-athkar both books are by imam al-nawawi.

Heedlessness, June 24, 2008

Below is the 15 min introduction to the topic of heedlessness. There is some background noise however since we had the lecture outdoors.

I also wanted to add an afterthought that came to me. It was mentioned that getting out of a state of heedlessness requires that one may need to stand out against a crowd and thus may be humiliated. Compare however, the humiliation that one may experience in this world for standing up for what is right to that of the humiliation which one will face for not standing up to the truth on the Day of Judgment. Indeed the latter is much more severe.

Heedlessness, Bassem, June 24th, 2008

The Dangers of Heedlessness, Hamza Yusuf

A ~30min on The Dangers of Heedlessness by Hamza Yusuf.


Click for the here for the audio mp3 format


Wasalaam

Editing our lives

Salams all,

I've finally managed to upload an audio recording of the discussion circle which took place on April 22nd, 2008. Click the link below!

The topic was "Editing our lives". The recording is a 23 min reminder on the topic. Alhamdullah those who attended really liked it, so I hope you do too, and don't be shy to share your comments.



http://www.msamcgill.com/msamcgill/TreeShadeBlog/Editing our lives, short reminder, Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008.WMA

The Prophetic Mirror

Beautiful lecture (17min) describing a Muslim as being a mirror reflecting the light of the blessed Prophet (S). Lecture is in both Arabic and English.

Hamza Yusuf on Television

40 min motivational lecture directed to Muslim youth and the challenges of living in a consumerist society. The effects of television and marketing are discussed for about half the lecture.

Remembering Remembrance

Tuesday, April 7th, 2008

Today our discussion topic title was "Remembering Remembrance" the third and last session of the "Islam as a core" series.

Recap

In the first session "A day in the life of the Prophet (S)" we reflected first on the importance of the Prophet (S) as a model and then discussed how the Prophet (S) divided his day and how he scheduled his different activities during a 24hour day.

In the second session "Intentions, actions and the sunnah", we discussed i) the importance of intentions being in line with the commands of Allah, ii) The importance of acting out actions in the right manner and iii) how the best actions are those which are in accordance to the sunnah.

In today's session be built upon the previous two sessions; we discussed how the Prophet (S) taught us to use remembrance as a way to state our intentions and examples of his (S) remembrance throughout the day.

Vereses

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me. 051.056

• Reflecting upon this, one might ask how can one make every waking moment of his life into worship. One activity that we can embark on to fill our lives with worship is remembrance (Dhikr).

Some verses about remembrance to reflect on:

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ
Therefore remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me, and reject not Me. 002.152


وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُواْ اللّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّواْ عَلَى مَا فَعَلُواْ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did. 003.135

• This verse is describing those who ward off (evil), or the Mutakeen.

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْبَابِ
190 الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ191
Such as remember Allah, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and say): Our Lord! Thou createdst not this in vain. Glory be to Thee! Preserve us from the doom of Fire. 191 Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain! Glory be to Thee; save us then from the chastisement of the fire. 003.190-1

Hadiths

We also mentioned the hadith mentioned in Imam Nawawi's book "al-adhkar", that (with the meaning of) 'the like of he who remembers his Lord and he who doesn't is like a living person and a dead person', Chapter 2 hadith 11. We also mentioned a hadith in the introduction of the adhkar, informing us (with the meaning of) that when 'a group of people sit down to remember Allah, the angels surround them, Mercy encompasses them, and serenity falls upon them and Allah remembers them in His gathering'.


Disucssion

The remaining of the discussion revolved around:
- stories from the sahaba showing how they integrated remembrance of Allah in their everyday lives.
- The best remembrance is that which the Prophet (S) taught us, yet if we don't have any of his teachings memorized then we can try our best to remember Allah in our own words.

Please add any stories/reflections that you would like to share about the topic

Weekly Discussion Circle: purpose and structure

The purpose of the discussion circle is to provide a venue for us to present and share ideas and concerns which affect us on an individual level or as a society as a whole.

The structure of the sessions is a 15 min introduction of the topic by one of the members followed by 45-60min group discussion.

Last semester the discussion circle was characterized by having an open, respectful, non-judgmental and comfortable environment. Topics discussed last semester included: Problems faced by international and first-year students, culture shock, religious diversity, how Islam guides our relationship with our Lord and with people, backbiting, double standards among Muslims, gender interactions, handling stress, and dealing with different opinions.

Please spread this to those who you think will benefit.

If you have any questions please email me.

Salams
Bassem

ps. Below are some topic suggestions that we will be discussing this semester. Please respond to this message by selecting the one that most interests you or suggest a topic that you would like to be discussed and send it to bghamian@gmail.com

Balancing our lives: stories from the sahaba
Session about how to balance our spiritual lives with our professional lives.

The place of culture in Islam
A session explaining how Islam dealt with the different cultures of different nations and how it applies today.

Forgotten Manners
A session on Islam's emphasis on manners and the role of manners in an Islamic revival.

Dawah- two understandings
A session about the two different perceptions of what dawah is.

Islam as a core: a three part series
Part 1: A day in the life of the Prophet peace be upon him.
A session detailing how the Prophet divided his day and carried out his activities, a lifestyle which is followed till this day by the most productive individuals in society, both Muslim and non-Muslim.
Part 2: The components of good deeds: Action, Intention, and the Sunnah
Explaining the essentials of good deeds focusing on intentions and defining the sunnah.

Part 3: Remembering remembrance.
A session on remembrance as a worship and how to implement it in our every living second.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Recites Beautiful Poem in English in Praise of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)

Spring's Gift
By Sheykh Hamza Yusuf

I envy the sand that met his feet
I’m jealous of honey he tasted sweet
Of birds that hovered above his head
Of spiders who spun their sacred web
To save him from his enemies
I envy clouds formed from the seas
That gave him cover from the heat
Of a sun whose light could not compete
With his, whose face did shine so bright
That all was clear in blinding night
I envy sightless trees that gazed
Upon his form completely dazed
Not knowing if the sun had risen
But felt themselves in unison
With those who prayed, and fasted too
Simply because he told them to
With truth and kindness, charity
From God who gave such clarity
His mercy comes in one He sent
To mold our hearts more heaven bent
I envy all there at his side
Who watched the turning of the tide
As truth prevailed and falsehood fled
And hope restored life to the dead
Men and Women through him found grace
To seek together God’s noble face
I envy the cup that gave him drink
His thoughts that helped us all to think
To be one thought that passed his mind
Inspiring him to act so kind
For me this world is not one jot
If I could simply be a thought
From him to God throughout the ages
As revelation came in stages
I pity all who think it odd
To hear him say there is one God
Or he was sent by God to men
To hone their spirits’ acumen
It’s pride that blinds us from the sight
That helps good men to see his light
He taught us all to be God’s slaves
And he will be the one who saves
Humanity from sinful pride
Muhammad has God on his side
So on this day be blessed and sing
For he was born to grace our Spring
With lilies, flowers, life’s rebirth
In a dome of green like his on earth

Shaikh Husain Abdul-Sattar - Abu Bakr - The Keys to Success

In this lecture (43 min), Sh. Husain begins his talk stating that what drove the greatest individuals in our community was raising the name of Allah and it is this drive which made them the best people from all civilizations. He continues by describing Abu Bakr, the greatest individual of our Islamic civilization. Two key success factors of Abu Bakr were: Being of the foremost of the foremost and guiding others to the good. He ends talking about our role in the west and a beautiful narration of a hadith describing this life and our path to Allah, this last narration really touches on several things we talked about yesterday in the discussion circle. Very inspirational lecture especially the last 13 min!

Islam as a core: Part 1: A day in the life of the Prophet peace be upon him.

Salams,

So we resumed our discussion circle on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008. The topic was: A day in the life of the Prophet peace be upon him.

Here's a short summary my notes which the discussion evolved around and some references. It should talk about 3 min to read.

-We started by mentioning a few verses from the Quran to discuss the importance of the Prophet and why we follow him. here are the ones we discussed.

• لقد جاءكم رسول من أنفسكم عزيز عليه ما عنتم حريص عليكم بالمؤمنين رؤوف رحيم [ سورة التوبة /9 : الآية 128 ]

There hath come unto you a messenger, (one) of yourselves, unto whom aught that ye are overburdened is grievous, full of concern for you, for the believers full of pity, merciful.

• كما أرسلنا فيكم رسولا منكم يتلو عليكم آياتنا ويزكيكم ويعلمكم الكتاب والحكمة ويعلمكم ما لم تكونوا تعلمون [ سورة البقرة /2 : الآية 151 ]

Even as We have sent unto you a messenger from among you, who reciteth unto you Our revelations and causeth you to grow, and teacheth you the Scripture and wisdom, and teacheth you that which ye knew not.

• من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله [ سورة النساء / 4 : الآية 80

Whoso obeyeth the messenger hath obeyed Allah

• قل إن كنتم تحبون الله فاتبعوني يحببكم الله ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم والله غفور رحيم * قل أطيعوا الله والرسول فإن تولوا فإن الله لا يحب الكافرين [سورة آل عمران / 3 : الآية31 ـ 32 ]

31. Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

32. Say: Obey Allah and the messenger. But if they turn away, lo! Allah loveth not the disbelievers (in His guidance).

-We then got into the core of the topic.

· Night time is from maghrib till farj. So usually between 9-12 hours

· The Prophet (S) would divide up the nights into thirds.

· He (S) would postpone praying Isha until after the first third of the night

· After Isha he (S) did not interact with people and encouraged the sahabah not to do so too.

· He (S) would then sleep and wake up before fajr for tahajud.

· Then pray fajr and stay in worship till Duha time (15min after sunrise)

· From Fajr to Duhur he (S) would go on with his daily affairs

· Depending on the season he (S) would take a 10-15 min before or after Duhur (power nap)

· Between Duhur and Asr he (S) would continue his affairs

· Between Asr and Maghrib was a time when he (S) ate and spent time with the family

· Between Maghrib and Isha was a time of worship

· As we can see the Prophet (S) established his schedule around the 5 daily prayers.

· For the geeky ones out there I strongly suggest you research Circadian Rhythm or the internal body clock and you will see how modern research actually advises to follow the sleeping pattern of the Prophet (S)!

· The remaining of the session revolved around the experiences we each have and the difficulties encountered when trying to follow such an example.

· We didn’t discuss much from the Sleep etiquettes lecture below but I’d strongly recommend you listen to it.

· Please share additional references or ideas on topic

· Next weeks topic: Balancing Dunya and Akira/ professional/academic life with spiritual life

References:

· Sleep etiquettes (Sh. Husain Abdul Sattar) ~1hr

http://www.sacredlearning.org/audio/general/2007/etiquettes_sleep.m3u

· Scheduling our day (Sh. Husain Abdul Sattar) ~28min

http://www.sacredlearning.org/audio/general/2005/scheduling_day.m3u

· Al-Shifa. Qadi Ayad (Arabic) book one chapter one.

· Muhamad Alghazali. The art of Dhkir and Supplication. (Arabic) Dar Al-KalamP19-24