Building Bridges With The Community
Tel: 0161 832 5352 · Email: office@myf.org.uk
Clydesdale House, 27 Turner street, Manchester M4 1DY
1. How blessed are we to have hot food all the time? Today at lunchtime I thought to myself we are never short of food for us or our children. We are so lucky. We should be thankful to Allah for the small things we take for granted. Look at people all over the world who don’t have these luxuries which we take for granted every single day. May Allah give us humility to never forget how lucky we truly are. Ameen Read more…
Being of service to others leads to happiness. In an authentic hadith, the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) said:
Verily, Allah will say to His slave as He is taking account of him on the Day of Judgment, `O’ son of Adam, I was hungry and you did not feed me. He will answer, how can I feed you and you are the Lord of the worlds! He will say, did you not know that my slave so and so who is the son of so and so felt hunger, and you did not feed him. Alas! Had you fed him you would have found that (i.e. reward) with Me. O’ son of Adam, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. He will say, How can I give you drink, and you are the Lord of the worlds! He will say, did you not know that my slave so and so, the son of so and so felt thirsty and you did not give him drink. Alas! If you had given him, you would have found that (i.e. reward) with Me. O’ son of Adam, I became sick and you did not visit Me. He will say, How can I visit you and you are the Lord of the worlds! He will say, did you not know that my slave so and so, the son of so and so became sick and you did not visit him. Alas! Had you visited him, you would have found me with him.” Read more…
Among the many ways in which they were blessed, the Companions were informed of their ranking through revelation. This verse was revealed about Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him):
And Al-Muttaqoon [the pious and righteous] will be far removed from it [Hell]. He who spends his wealth for increase in self purification. (Qur’an 92: 17-18) Read more…
You should feel reassured in that you have a Lord who is just.
Allah, the Exalted, admitted a woman into Paradise because of a dog and another into the Hellfire because of a cat. The first was a prostitute from the children of Israel; because she once gave drink to a thirsty dog, Allah forgave her and admitted her into Paradise. This was a just recompense for her sincerity in doing a good deed, for her sincerity to Allah. The second was a woman who confined a cat to a room. She neither fed it nor gave it drink; by confining the cat, she prevented it from eating insects in the fields, and so Allah made her enter the Hellfire.
The story of the first woman is one that brings coolness to the heart, because it makes one know that Allah gives great rewards for small deeds.
So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom for a small ant] shall see it.
And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom for a small ant] shall see it.
(Qur ‘an 99: 7-8)
Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds [i.e. small sins]. (Qur ‘an 11: 114)
So help the grief-stricken, give to the poor, aid the oppressed, visit the sick, pray over the dead, guide the blind, give comfort to the afflicted, guide the misguided, and be generous to both guest and neighbor. All of these are deeds of charity, deeds that not only help the receiver of your kind acts, but that also help you by giving you comfort and peace.
It has been related that Imam Ahmad visited Baqi ibn Mukhalid while he was sick and said to him:
“O’ Baqi, rejoice in Allah’s reward. The days of health are devoid of sickness and the days of sickness are devoid of health.” Read more…
At-Tanookhi gave the account of a governor in Baghdad who usurped the wealth of an old lady in his province. He took away all of her rights and confiscated her property. She went to him, wept before him, and complained of his oppression and wrongdoing. He was neither regretful nor ashamed of what he had done. In a fit of anger, she said, “I will pray against you.” He laughed at her in mockery and said, “Then you should pray in the last third of the night.” His arrogance had made him say this to her. She went away, and in accordance with the governor’s mock-advice she was steadfast in praying during the last third of the night. It was only a matter of days before he was violently removed from office. As a reward for his tyranny, his properties were seized, and he was publicly whipped. After the whipping, the old lady passed by him and said, “You did well! You advised me to pray in the last third of the night and I found the results to be most favorable.”
(Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is good for you. (Qur’an 24: 11)
Most people who are remembered today for their greatness had to overcome many obstacles on their path: their perseverance was akin to obstinacy. They felt a weakness in one faculty or area that required compensation in another. Many great scholars of Islam were actually freed slaves, such as `Ataa, Sa’eed ibn Jubayr, Qatada, Bukhari, Tirmidhi and Abu Hanifah. Read more…
In previous chapters, I quoted revealed texts to illustrate the importance of being gentle; here we expand on the same theme by mentioning some examples. Imagine yourself driving a car on an extremely narrow road that is enclosed on either side by a wall. There is no way for a car to pass except with a great deal of care, gentleness, and caution. However, if a driver attempted to go through this street at a high speed, he would constantly crash into the wall on the right, and then into the one on the left, eventually causing his car to break down. In both of these instances ___________that of driving carefully and that of driving recklessly at a high speed – the street is the same and the car is the same, but the way of driving is different. Read more…
Following the shocking murders in Paris, condemned by Muslims all over the world, and subsequent moves to depict the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once again, Imams from around the world have come together to issue the following advice to those concerned about the depiction. Read more…