Date: February 13, 2015
Sheikh Navaid Aziz, well known speaker on Islamic knowledge and thoughts delivered a wonderful speech on ‘The Accepted Dua’ or the accepted prayer. The almighty and compassionate Allah is the ultimate to provide you the solution for your doubts, troubles, struggles and thoughts. He can help you in every state of life if you keep good prayer and faith in him. He has told a story of first Dua that a couples done for their infant at hospital that the infant was struggling for survival due to severe blood clotting in brain. After their first Dua to Allah, Allah showed his miracle on the baby. The baby was totally cured and she is alive in this universe with all her physical and mental abilities. So the moral of this story is that we must pray to God for most compassionate and moral things, not for personal profits.
Earth and moon while rotating around their own axes rotate in their own orbits around sun and earth, respectively. In doing so there comes a time when moon orbits in between sun and the earth that blocks a part to complete visibility of sun from earth. This blockage of sun is simply called as solar eclipse. This year on August 21, 2017 partial to total solar eclipse will last about three hours in USA. In Greater Washington Area partial solar eclipse could be observed between 1:17 to 4:01 PM. For details please refer to NASA (https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov) or other online resources. Hadith relative to Kusoof us Shams (Solar Eclipse) It so happened that on a day of a solar eclipse our beloved Prophet Mohammad, SAW, lost his young son Ibrahim. And the people thought that the solar eclipse took place due to the death of Ibrahim. This thinking was carried from the days of Jahilia in Arabia. The Prophet, SAW immediately denied such notion by saying: "The sun and the moon are two signs of the signs of Allah, SWT; they do not eclipse on the death or life of anyone. So, when you see the eclipse, remember Allah, SWT, raise His Praise, His Greatness (say Takbir), pray, and give charity." (Narrated by the Prophet's wife Ayesha, RAA). He then, himself observed prayers and supplication that was joined by some companions. Salatul Kusoof us Shams (Solar Eclipse) Prayer It is generally accepted among the scholars of Islam that the two rakah Sunna that Prophet, SAW observed is Sunnah (stressed) and must be observed by every Muslim and Muslimah. There are two ways to observe this prayer as described below: 1. Pray two rakat sunnah as usual following the standard procedure but recite long Surahs (longest in first rakah) in both rakah after Surah Fatiha. Observe each action lot longer than usual prayers by increased Tasbeeh. 2. Pray two rakat sunnah with two added ruku (one in each rakah). In the first rakah after reciting Surah Fatiha and a long Surah (recommended is equal to Surah Baqara) then go into long ruku and stay there lot longer than the standard ruku. Then go back to standing position, recite again Surah Fatiha and a long Surah (shorter than the one recited in first), follow with a long ruku and then complete the standing and two long prostrations. This completes the first rakah with two ruku. Folllow the second rakah with two ruku and two sujood as first. 3. After completion of the prayers supplicate whole heatedly asking Allah, SWT's help in affairs of ourselves, our beloved ones, our community, our nation as a whole. Ask His direct protection from all the evils and ills of this world and our own selves. 4. This prayer should be observed covering the whole solar eclipse time, if possible. But, neither before nor after the eclipse time. 5. If an obligatory prayer time is close then Kusoof should be delayed and observed after the obligatory prayer. 6. It could be prayed in congregation in a mosque (preferred) or individually in a mosque or home.
Read MoreParenting is a great time in one’s life. As far as parenting is concerned, it is a challenging and lovely responsibility. There are a number of different needs that a person has in his or her life. That needs may be physical, mental or spiritual. A parent should give the correct path to his child on how to fulfill these needs by the time. Good parenting is all about meeting all these needs of a child in a balanced and correct order. Many parents think that, by meeting the physical and material needs of their children, all their responsibilities are complete. No! You have to make them learn how to lead a life with spirituality and kindness. Normally, if a parent is very much busy with his job or something else, he tries to manage the needs of his child by gifting everything that is possible with money power. By doing this, you are spoiling your child’s great future. So, every parent should find some time to pay attention to his child and to love him or her with affection and care. Each child has emotional needs and spiritual needs. To meet these needs, there are different ways for parents. Parents can read about this particular subject by referring respective books or magazines. Parents can go for a class online or offline that covers the psychological scene of a child. Try to find some time to meet the intellectual needs of your children that their school cannot meet-such as visit historical places, visit some places of natural beauty, centers of worship, homes for the aged or the infirm, factories, museums, or a slum, a forest or an orphanage, a shrine or a park, a dance performance or a planetarium or a bakery, combining in this way entertainment as well as exposure to various situations and dimensions of lived reality. Parents should have to teach their children about God and his wisdom. Make them pray to God everyday at regular time with family members. Let them thank God for the good time they had in life. One cannot acquire good parenting skills by simply giving birth to a child. Its a regular practice to lead the child to a good future by giving him or her better guidance spiritually, physically and emotionally.
Read MoreThe year 2017 is coming to an end, insha’Allah, and it has been a year full of turmoil and emotional ups and downs. As time goes on, we witness the forewarnings spoken by our beloved Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, unfold before our very eyes. However, amid this chaos, there are still rays of hope shining from the Heavens, as we hold fast to the rope of Allah and stand in supplication, and we watch Islam continue to grow, despite the adversities. We still have in our hands the ability to spread the knowledge of Islam throughout the world; now more than ever before because of technological advances that allow us to access this knowledge at the click of a button. As we approach the end of this year, please do not forget to support our organization, as we continue to make the Qur’an and Sunnah readily accessible through our Islamic software, our Alim.org website and Alim Qur’an and Hadith app. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, once said: “If the Hour starts to happen and in the hand of one of you is a palm shoot or seedling; then if he's able to plant it before the Hour happens, then let him plant it”. As-Silsilah as-Saheehah 9. Plant your seed today! Donate to The Alim Foundation by clicking the link below: https://www.alim.org/donate/
Read More"When a person dies, his works end, except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that is benefited from, and a righteous child who prays for him."
Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)
"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