1] Allah said, “Fasting is for Me and I shall reward for it?”

1]
What is special about fasting so that Allaah singled it out when He
said, "Fasting is for Me and I shall reward for it?".
Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari (1761) and Muslim (1946) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may
Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah said: 'Every deed of
the son of Adam is for him except fasting; it is for Me and I shall
reward for it…'"
Because all deeds are for the sake of Allaah and He is the One Who
rewards for them, the scholars differed concerning this phrase,
"Fasting is for Me and I shall reward for it" –why is fasting singled
out in this manner?
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) quoted the views of
ten scholars who sought to explain the meaning ofthis hadeeth and why
fasting was singled out in this manner. The most important of these
views are as follows:
1 – That there is no showing off in fasting as may happen in other
acts of worship. Al-Qurtubi said: Because showing off may enter into
all good deeds, but no one can see when a person is fasting except
Allaah, so Allaah connected it to Himself. Hence He said in the
hadeeth, "He gives up his desire for My sake." Ibn al-Jawzi said: All
acts of worship can be seen when done, and they maybe contaminated
with some element of showingoff, unlike fasting.
2 – That what is meant bythe words, "I shall reward for it" is: I am
the only One Who knows the extent of his reward and how much his
hasanaat (good deeds) will be multiplied. Al-Qurtubi said: What this
means is that the amount of reward for good deeds may become known to
people, and they will be rewarded between ten and seven hundred fold,
and as much as Allaah wants, except fasting, for Allaah will reward it
without measure. This is supported by a report narrated by Muslim
(115) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Every deed of the son of Adam will be rewarded between ten and seven
hundred fold. Allaah said: 'Except fasting, for it is for Me and I
shall reward for it'" – i.e., I shall reward it greatly, without
specifying how much. Thisis like the verse in which Allaah says
(interpretationof the meaning):
"Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full,
without reckoning"
[al-Zumar 39:10]
3 – That what is meant by"fasting is for Me" is that it is the dearest
of acts of worship to Me. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: The words "Fasting is
for Me" are sufficient to indicate the superiority of fasting overall
other acts of worship. Al-Nasaa'i (2220) narratedthat Abu Umaamah
said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "You should fast, for thereis nothing like it." Classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Nasaa'i.
4 – That fasting is mentioned in conjunction with Allaah by way of
honouring, as we say, "the House of Allaah," although all houses
belong to Allaah. Al-Zayn ibn al-Muneer said: giving a specific
meaning to something general in a context such as this can only be
understood as being by way of honouring.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This hadeeth points to thevirtue of fasting in numerous ways:
1 – Allaah singled out fasting for Himself from all other good deeds,
because of its honoured status before Him, because He loves it and
because it is a demonstration of sinceritytowards Him, as it is a
secret between a person and his Lord, which no one can see except
Allaah.The fasting person may be in a place with no other people
around, and he could eat or drink that which Allaah has forbidden to
the fasting person, but he does not do that, because he knows that he
has a Lord Who can see him even though he is alone and Who has
forbidden that to him. So he forsakes it for the sake of Allaah and
fearing His punishment, seeking His reward. Because of that, Allaah
appreciates his sincerity and singled out fasting forHimself from
among all other good deeds. Hence He said: "He gives up his desires
and his food for My sake."
The benefit of this singling out will be seen on the Day of
Resurrection, as Sufyaan ibn 'Uyaynah said: When the Day of
Resurrection comes, Allaah will bring His slave to account and will
settle any scores outstanding from the rest of his deeds, until when
there is nothing left but fasting, Allaah will settle the matter and
will admit him to Paradise by virtue of his fasting.
:->

Eid Milad-un-Nabi / Mawlid. Right topractise? or Wrong?

Eid Milad-un-Nabi or Al-Mawlid is known as the festival of celebrating
the birthday of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. It occurs on the 12th
Rabi-ul-Awal. Nowadays, many muslims practise it. Some even go on to
call it a duty of a muslim to celebrate this day; But have we ever
stopped andconsidered the validity of this festival?
Most Muslim scholars are of the view that celebrating a fully blown
festival is considered a bidaa. They cite that during the times of
Prophet Muhammed himself such festivals werenever celebrated. Also, In
support of this argument i the fact that even during the times of the
companions of Muhammed PBUH such celebrations were not common and
widespread. Leading to an opinion thatEid Milad-un-Nabi or Al-Mawlid
is wrong to celebrate.
Many say the that this celebration is not rightly an 'Eid' ( I slamic
Festival) thus it is downright unlawful to celebrate during these
times.
The flip side of this coin are the supporters of thesecelebrations.
One of the most ardent supporters of this festival is Ibn-Kathir
(acelebrated muslim scholar)who says:
"Ibn Kathir says in his "Mawlid," page 30: "The Prophet's (s) uncle
al-'Abbas (r) composed poetry praising the birth of the Prophet (s),
in whichare found the following lines: `When you were born, the earth
was shining, and the firmament barely contained your light, and we can
pierce through, thanks to that radiance and light and path of
guidance.' "
There are also other supporters of this version which seem reasonable enough.
Now lets try to look at thislogically, sending praise and good wishes
to Prophet Muhammed PBUHis fine by all means but one shouldnt make a
mountain out of a mole hill (like huge processions, Praise Poems/Songs
on Loud Speakers/Disrupting City Life/Abandoning Salah), especially if
there are notclear cut explanations from Quran.
But these are just some peoples views.. What about yours? Do you
celebrate this day? If you do, Why do you think its allowed in Islam?
If not, Why do you think its dis-allowed?
~
* Share your Thoughts here or Email us:- aydnajimudeen@gmail.com/

The Hidden Fact

An old man lived on a farmin the mountains of eastern Kentucky with
his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the
kitchen table reading his Quraan .
His grandson wanted to bejust like him and tried to imitate him in
every way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read
the Quraan justlike you but I don't understand it, and what I do
understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does
reading the Quraan do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and
replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a
basket of water." The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked
out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said,
"You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to
the river with the basket to tryagain. This time the boy ran faster,
but again the basket was empty before he returned home.
Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry
water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of
water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door
to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show
hisgrandfather that even if heran as fast as he could, the water would
leak out before he got back to the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he
reachedhis grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, "SeePapa, it's useless!""So you think it is
useless?" The oldman said, "Look at the basket. "The boy looked atthe
basket and for the firsttime realized that the basket was different.
It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now
clean,inside and out.
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Quraan. You might not
understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be
changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah inour lives."

A Real Story

Several years ago an Imaam moved to London. He often took the bus
fromhis home to the downtown area. Some weeks after he arrived, he had
occasion to ride the same bus.
When he sat down, he discovered that the conductor had
accidentallygiven him twenty pence too much change. As he considered
what to do, he thought to himself, "I better give the twenty pence
back. It would be wrong to keep it."
Then he thought:
"Oh why don't I just forgetit.., it's only twenty pence.
Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company
already gets too much fare; they will never miss it. I will just
accept it as a gift from Almighty Allah and keep quiet!"
When his stop came, the Imaam paused momentarily at the door, and then
he handed the twenty pence back to the conductor and said,
"Here, you gave me too much change."
The conductor smiled and said:
"Aren't you the new Imaam in this area? I have been thinking lately
about going to worship at your mosque. I just wanted to see what you
would do if Igave you too much change."
When the Imaam got down the bus, his knees became weak and soft. He
had to grab the nearest light pole. He held for support, and looked up
to the heavens and cried,
"Oh Allah, I almost sold Islam for twenty pence!"
REMEMBER!
We may never see the impact our actions have onpeople!!
Sometimes we are the only knowledge of Quran someone will read..,
or the only Islam a non-Muslim will see!
What we need to provide, Insha Allah is an example for others to see!
Let us be careful, be honest and humble everyday, because we never
know who is watching our actions and judging us as Muslims!! Wemight
be saying something and doing something contrary to what we say...Are
we really showing the world the real characteristics andspectacular
qualities of a true believer?
Let us atleast remember atall times -
Allah is watching us! And He is going to ask us if we delivered His
message or not!
To conclude...let us just picture a hypothetical scene:
""If we got arrested for being Muslims, would the police have enough
evidence to bring us in?!!""
THINK ABOUT IT!!!