Date: August 27, 2015
There are many memorable and historic journeys took place in the past which stands as the milestones in the historic culture. Musa had crossed the Red Sea! Caesar crossed Rubicon! These are some wonderful and inspiring instances for historic journeys. But here is a wonderful story of an epic journey which changed the human civilization. Dr Abdullah Al-Kadi researched for years and wrote the book Makkah to Madinah: A Photographic Journey of the Hijrah Route. The book reveals the journey took place in the start of the Muslim calendar Hijrah from Mecca to Madinah by Umar and the great companions of the Prophet who were alive at the time. Dr Abdullah Al-Kadi travelled 30,000 miles through the route of Hijrah to know the hurdles and puddles across the way. The journey helped him to get familiar about the oddly shaped rocks that were used as milestones along the way. Dr Al-Kadi was accompanied by his family and Peter Sanders a well-known British photographer. The book incorporates wonderful images from the journey which is captured by the golden eyes of Peter Sanders. Author reveals that there is much more to learn from the history for even more than 14 centuries.
"The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him."
Sunan Ibn Mājah
"Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"
Sahih Bukhari
Hiba Masood a writer, speaker and a story teller talks about her Baba's influence in teaching Quran and its holy threads in her wonderful opinion piece "Baba, The Quran and Me". When she was in her younger age, she had to recite Quran every day, that her Baba taught her to do so without fail. She memorizes her childhood experience in the holy month of Ramadan as well as her Baba's powerful Ramadan experiences. Her Baba looked after all his children with extreme care. She had not faced poverty or any other means difficulties in life. Baba used to talk about his life and his days spent with his eight brothers and sisters used to look like. They were like in abject poverty, splitting one bowl of food for Iftar amongst a family of eleven and so on. Baba used to say that once all the work is done, you should recite Quran in every single possible minute. Every letter you recite during Ramadan has 70 times the regular reward? That means every letter, like saying Alif, gets you seven hundred good deeds. Years passed and with all the impetuous, rebellion of youth, of spending my days in smoke-filled rooms, strategizing with socialist/activists, and my evenings protesting against the Iraq war on the frozen streets of Toronto. Of not praying at all, of not so much as glancing towards the dusty shelf where my Qur'an sat the entire year. Next year Hiba got married and her brand new husband got astonished by her behavior and activities. She never proper placed her shoes and she always misplaced her cell phone. And she blessed with a baby boy just before the month of holy Ramadan. And there have many, many more years filled with anxiety, scary financial strain and a stormy marriage of sickness and grief. Years passed with no changes. Hiba recited Quran verses just as a routine, or just like fasting in the month of Ramadan without knowing the rewards of reciting. At last wisdom came to her brain at the age of thirty and she started to settle in life. Slowly, as an enthusiastically expected reconnection, she started reciting Quran well to Allah to the Qur'an to her childhood, to her father and to herself. Now her beloved father is aging and sick and she is in great agony by thinking about her sick dad. She used to caress his dad's grey hair, press her cheeks to his. She says that she misses him a lot and she is afraid of the future. But most of all, she whisper her gratitude. Gratitude for gifting her so freely all the things, all the lessons, all the beliefs, all the forces of habit and inspiring stories and abiding, enriching traditions that have blessed her life. Ultimately he was the lighthouse when he was able.
Read MoreIn Islam, Ahadith are derived from the sayings, teachings, habits, and life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). These represent the sunnah of the holy Prophet (PBUH) and are meant to be followed by all Muslims to live a righteous Islamic life. Ahadith are reported by Companions of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) and by His wives, the prominent being Hazrat Aisha (RA). Often Ahadith are reported by a chain of narrators, starting from a contemporary companion of Prophet Muhammad (PHUH) followed by the followers of the followers, and generations of scholars in Ahadith. Ahadith have been collected and organized as various books like Sahih Al Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Fiqh Us Sunnah, Tirmidhi, etc. Now Ahadith are the leading source of Islamic guidance after the holy Quran, and they act us the complete authority of sunnah and the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Majority of Ahadith have their root in the holy Quran, the holy text revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Allah (SWT) through angel Jibreel (AS). This happened because, Prophet Muhammad’s (PHUH) life was strictly according to the Quranic guidance and its derivations, and the Ahadith are narratives from His (PBUH) life. The holy Quran is revealed first, and Ahadith are later derived from Prophet’s (PBUH) Sunnah, means Quran is the foundation and reference to Ahadith. Also true is the fact that, some Ahadith act as explanation to many Quranic verses. This is apparent in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, where the Quran is explained through Ahadith. When Quran Ayaath are linked and stated along with Ahadith, it adds the authenticity of the Ahadith, since the holy Quran is the ultimate and undisputed truth. Moreover, Quran Ayaath make the Ahadith strong and provides direction to the reader to understand the Ahadith better. It is in the above context, Alim.org has decided and implemented linking of Ahadith with Quran Ayaath that act as references to the Ahadith. We have used techniques like context matching, machine language and pattern matching to identify Quran Ayaath that matches with Ahadith in context, meaning and background. Thus, Ahadith are linked to their Quran Ayaath references and these Ayaath are shown by side of the Ahadith as Quran references. Our implementation is unique in its kind, and we are delighted to roll out this feature for our users to experience and to provide feedback. Kindly refer to the reference Ayaath of some Ahadith and let us know your valuable feedback. Currently we have done Ayaath linking to Fiqh Us Sunnah Ahadith only and other Ahadith books will be linked and released soon. We are in the process of continuous refinement of our Ahadith Ayaath linking algorithm and your feedback will be used to derive rules to match Ahadith and Ayaath further. Our goal is to provide the users with a complete Ahadith referencing platform through Alim.org and enable them to contemplate upon the meanings and implications of Ahadith to understand it better and complete.
Read MoreRamadan literally termed as the ninth month of calendar and the month of fasting for preaching and reaching Allah. When Ramadan comes, all the Islamic devotees get energized and excited to put up the lanterns and decorations all around to welcome the blessed month. We must welcome Ramadan with neat and tidy home, in neat dress and with prayers. Ramadan is the reminder of renewal of your mind and life to reach Allah. All Islamic devotees must fast from water, food and luxuries. The most important thing to remind in Ramadan is that devotees should fast by keeping the oath that this year I want to grow my character to be more like that of Prophet Muhammad and to cherish goodness to the society.
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