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Makkah to Madinah: An Epic Composition from Dr Abdullah Al-Kadi

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.

Precious Gifts a Person Leaves Behind

"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

Angelic Daily Prayers for Generosity

"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

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Welcoming Muharram, the Month of Allah

The Islamic calendar consists of twelve months, the first of which is the month of Muharram. The name “Muharram” is derived from the word “haram,” which means forbidden or impermissible, as it is considered unlawful to engage in any war or fighting during this month. This was the case even before the advent of Islam for the people of Makkah and surrounding tribes. Muharram can also be defined as “sacred,” and it is a blessed month which has been mentioned by God Almighty, Allah, in the Qur’an as one of the four sacred months of the Islamic lunar calendar. Allah says: “Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred, (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein.” (9:36) In this verse, Allah mentions the four most sacred months of the year, the 1st, which is Muharram, Rajab, the 7th, and Dhul Qadah and Dhul Hijjah, which are the 11th and 12th, respectively. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, confirmed this in a hadith narrated by Abu Bakrah, in which he said, “… The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive months, Dhul Qadah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab of Mudar which comes between Jumada and Shabaan.” (Bukhari) Not only is Muharram sacred, but also referred to as the month of Allah, as mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, when he said, “The best fast after Ramadan is in the month of Allah, Muharram.” (Muslim) From this hadith, it is understood that the month of Muharram has a unique status with Allah, given the honor of being associated with His glorious name. Another lesson that can be extracted from this saying of the Prophet is that fasting during the month of Muharram is recommended. This fast is even compared to that of Ramadan, one of the pillars of Islam, to emphasize its importance. There is one particular day during the month of Muharram in which it is highly encouraged to fast, and that is the day of Ashura. The day of Ashura coincides with the 10th of Muharram. Several authentic reports in the books of ahadith note that fasting on the day of Ashura was a popular practice even before Islam was established. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, came to Madinah and saw the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. He asked, “What is this day you are fasting?” They responded, “This is a good day; this is the day when Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy and Musa (Moses) fasted on this day.” The Prophet said, “We are closer to Musa than you.” So he fasted on this day and told the people to fast. (Bukhari and Muslim) In fact, before the fast of Ramadan was made obligatory for the Muslims, the Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered his followers to fast on the day of Ashura. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said that fasting on the day of Ashura became voluntary only after fasting the month of Ramadan was made compulsory. (Muslim) Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, also reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Fast the Day of Ashura and be different from the Jews by fasting a day before it or a day after it.” (Ahmad) This is the reason why Muslims often fast the 9th and 10th of Muharram or the 10th and 11th of Muharram. There are immense rewards associated with fasting in general. Allah says in a hadith qudsi: “Every action of the son of Adam is his, except for fasting. It is Mine, and it is I who reward it.” (Bukhari and Muslim) Of course, it is Allah who will assess a believer’s worship and ultimately reward or punish mankind for his deeds. However, fasting is an action which is private, unlike prayer, charity, and even the pilgrimage. No one can “see” another person fasting; and thus, only Allah knows whether or not that individual is upholding his fast. Given that the month of Muharram is the month of Allah, it can be presumed that the reward will be great, in accordance with the status of this sacred month. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did expound on some of the recompense for fasting the day of Ashura. He is recorded as saying, “I seek from Allah that fasting on the day of Arafa may atone for the sins of the preceding and the coming years, and I seek from Allah that fasting on the day of Ashura may atone for the sins of the preceding year.” (Muslim) In another hadith in Sahih Muslim, when he was asked about the reward for fasting the day of Ashura, he clearly stated that it was an expiation for the sins of the previous year. Many other narrations speak about the virtues of the day of Ashura and the month of Muharram in general. No doubt the month of Muharram is blessed and the believers should take advantage of this time to increase in their ibaadah, by virtue of fasting, remembering Allah much, praying, and giving in charity. The Prophet said, “The best fasting after Ramadan is the month of Allah, Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer at night.” (Muslim) At the very least, one should strive to fast on the day of Ashura, which was a practice of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his companions. While the Muslim community does not hold a celebration for the coming of the “New Year,” Muslims are encouraged to embrace the first month of the Islamic calendar by performing good deeds and as a result, set the stage for a fruitful year, insha’Allah.

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Assalamu Alikum WaRahmatullahi WaBarakatuhu, As we approach the end of 2015, we’re humbled to be able to serve the community through Alim’s comprehensive platform.  We first thank Allah SWT, who has enabled us so that we can carry on this work of Da’wa. Secondly, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our generous donors for their continuous support and encouragement. This past year, Alim Foundation has achieved many milestones, including improved web portal with added functionalities and new contents, new translations, new Tafaseer, as well as , new versions of Android and Apple apps to name a few. We were able to do many of these enhancements because of donors like you. Take advantage of the tax break before the year end, please donate(https://www.alim.org/donate/) generously to help us continue this noble work. Alim.org is a non-profit 501 c organization, and your donations are tax deductible. Act before December 31st 2015 to take advantage of 2015 tax break. Please visit us at www.alim.org(/) to donate and support us! Wassalam Walaykum WaRahmatullahi WaBrarakatahu The Alim Team

WHAT AWAITS US IN JANNAH

Are you amazed by the word “JANNAH’? Ok, let’s start with the word ‘Jannah’. What is Jannah?. Yes, we all know it’s heaven, but the word Jannah means “Garden”. We are all afraid of hell and we have been hearing about the torments in hell. Now if we just reverse our thoughts from hell to heaven what is there in heaven. In very simple words Allah SWT says “Whatever your soul wishes will be there in heaven”. Everything that you need will be rewarded to you in abundance and to your wish. There will be rivers of milk (the milk that doesn’t get spoiled), honey, fresh juices, water etc. that which will never stop, it will only get better. Allah SWT says Jannah has in it something far greater and bigger than each person’s singular paradise. SubhanAllah isn’t it amazing?. In Jannah it’s something that our eyes have never seen, all that we see in the earth doesn’t qualify in Jannah. Even the same husbands and wives will be far better in Jannah in a manner we wished them to be. Even our body which we think is perfect is not qualified to go to Jannah. Allah SWT makes everything perfect in order to be qualified to enter Jannah. Mufti Menk in this video says when you see heaven you will say I have never ever seen something like this and I have never ever heard of something like this and I have never ever dreamt of something like this and I never thought this is what it would be like. So why don’t we take up this opportunity. This is what Allah SWT has in store for the ones who live according to his will. Don’t you want to be one among them. May Allah SWT accept all our deeds and grand us Jannah. Mufti Menk in this video has excellently briefed about Jannah. Do listen to his words and honestly try to be one amongst them to enter Jannah.