Earliest Return for Silah Rehmi - Categories: Hadith

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Of all
good deeds, the earliest returnone gets is on Silah Rehmi (caring for
relatives); to the point that even if the members of a bad and
disobedientfamily (rebellious to Allah) practice Silah Rehmi their
wealth is increased. A person who practices Silah Rehmi never has any
member ofhis clan become dependent." [Saheeh Ibn Hibban]
Some people think that Silah Rehmi (taking care of relatives) can only
be done with money. This is a defective understanding. Silah Rehmi is
the effort one undertakes to bring any good and to prevent anything
bad from reaching your near and distant relatives.
Silah Rehmi is rewarded even if done by a Kaafir or Munaafiq. Of
course, their reward is limited to returns in this world only, for
they have no share in the Hereafter.!-
Tags: islam , religion

Shaykh Zahir Mahmood

Shaykh Zahir Mahmood , the erudite scholar was born in England and has
gained licenses to teach (ijaazas) in many Islamic sciences including
Qur'an, Jurisprudence (Fiqh) and Traditions (Hadith) of The Prophet
(SAW) from various Shyukh.
Following the completionof his secular studies at the age of 16,
Shaykh Zahir Mahmood enrolled at Dar al-Uloom al-Arabiyya
al-Islamiyya, Bury (a satellite college to al- Azhar University),
where he initiated his studies of the Alimiya course. Thereafter, he
studied 3 years in the presitigious seat of learning al-Jamia
al-Islamiyya Karachi, Pakistan.
Shaykh Zahir Mahmood went on to complete his Alimiya course at the
pioneering Dar al-Uloom Newcastle, South Africa which has since been
used as a template for other seats of learning inthe region. Here, the
Shaykh studies included a detailed analysis of Sahih al-Bukhari with
therenowned scholar Shaykh Qasim Seema.
Returning back to the UK,he gained a BA in AppliedTheological Studies
from the University of Birmingham and taught the Alimiya course at
Madina al-Uloom Kidderminster for a subsequent 2 years. He also
translated to English part of the classical Hanafi text on Fiqh,
al-Shurunbulali's Nur al-Idah .
For the past four years Shaykh Zahir Mahmood has been an khateeb
(preacher) at one of Birmingham's largest mosques, Jame Masjid . From
this base, he has taught many workshops including Arabic at various
levels and Seerah (the Life of The Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon
Him). He has endeavoured to reach out to the local youth as well as
spanning the country to deliver the message of Islam in the English
language.
In 2004, he committed himself to delivering a weekly study circle
(dars)from Birmingham Jame Masjid covering many Islamic aspects
ranging from the detailed study of the lives of the Prophets (AS), the
Companions (RA), the LastMessenger of Allah (SWT) Muhammad (SAW) and
most recently Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh)…etc. In this same year, he
founded the as-Suffa Institute of Learning in Birmingham where he is
one of the resident scholars.
source: http://www.as-suffa.org/
Some of the talks given by Shaykh Zahir Mahmood can be heard on Darul
Islam website. May Allah swt give good health and long life to Shaykh
Zahir Mahmood in order that the ummah continue to benefit from his
lessons and knowledge. Ameen.

Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and the Thieves

One night Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi went walking among his subjects
after taking off his royal clothes and putting on ordinary clothes. He
chanced to come upon a group of thieves who were consulting amongst
themselves. On seeing him they asked: "Who are you?"
The King (Sultan) replied:"I am also one like yourselves." They
understood that to mean that he was also a thief like themselves and
allowed him to join their company. They then continued the
conversation amongst themselves and it was decided that each one of
them should explain what speciality or skill hepossesses so that at
the time of need a task couldbe put before him to show that special
skill.
One of the thieves said: " Friends , I have a special gift in my ears,
that whenever a dog barks, I fully understand what hesays."
The second one said: "I have a special gift in my eyes, that whatever
I see in the darkness of night, Iam able to recognize it inthe light
of day."
The third one said: "I have this speciality in my arms that through
the strength that lies in my arms, I can make a hole in the strongest
wall, to enter a house."
The fourth one said: "I have this special gift in my nose that by
smelling the sand on the ground I am able to ascertain whether there
is any treasure buried underneath it or not. It isjust like in the
case of Majnoon, who without being told, merely by smelling the
ground, got to know where Layla wasburied."
The fifth one said: "I havesuch strength in my hands that no matter
how high a building is, I can climb along its wall with my rope ladder
and easily enter the building in this manner."
Thereafter they all asked the King: "O man, what special gift do you
possess which we can make use of in our thieving activities?"
The King replied: "I have this speciality in my beard that when
criminals are handed over to their executioner,I merely shake my beard
and such criminals are immediately set free." (Inother words, if as a
showof mercy I shake my beard, the criminals found guilty of murder,
are set free).
On hearing this the thieves said: "O dear Qutub, on the day of
difficulty, you will be our one means of salvation." (In other words,
if we arearrested, then through you blessings we will be saved. Now we
do not have to fear, because therest of us had the special gift which
would help us in our thieving exploits, but none of us had the means
of granting safety from punishment. This speciality lies only with
you. Now we need not have any fear of punishment. Now we canget on
with our work).
They all went in the direction of the palace ofShah Mahmood with the
King in their midst. Alongthe way a dog barked and the one who
understood the dog's language translated: "The King is also in you
midst." Although they heard it, no one paid anyattention to this
information, as their greed was uppermost in their minds. One of them
smelled the ground and explained that this is the Royal Palace . There
is a treasure in this place. Theother one threw a rope ladder against
the wall. The other one made a hole in the wall and they all entered
to burgle. Afterwards they divided the loot amongst themselves and
hastily each one of them went to hide his share of the spoils.
The King noted each one's description and found out where each of them
resided. He left them and secretly re-entered the Royal Palace . The
following day the King related the entire story to his courtiers and
thereafter sent the policemen to arrest them and to inform them of
their death sentence.
When they were broughtbefore the Court with hands bound together, they
were all trembling in fear before the King's throne. However, the
thief who had this special gift of recognizing anybody during the day
whom he had seen during the darkness, was quite at ease. In him
together with the signs of fear there were also sights of hope. In
other words, although he was struck by awe while standing before the
King and although fearing the King's wrath and revenge, he also had
the hope, that the King would be true to his word, that when in mercy
he shakes his beard, criminals will be set free. Furthermore he also
had the hope of setting free al his companions because the King will
surely not turn away from all those whom he knew and recognized.
This person's face was changing from yellow to red, as within himself
thefeelings of fear and hopealternated. The Sultan Mahmood in Kingly
dignity passed judgment that they all should be handed over to the
Executioner to be hung on the gallows. As the King himself was witness
to their crime, there was no need for any other witnesses.
As soon as the King announced his judgement, this person appealed in
great humility: "Sire, with you permission, may I say something?" The
King permitted him to speak and he said: "O Master, each one of us had
exhibited his special gift which helped in this crime. Now it is time
that the Kingly speciality should be exhibited according to the
promise. I have all the while recognized you. Remember you had
promised that in you beard there is this speciality, that if you cause
it to move in mercy, the criminal will be saved from punishment.
Hence, O King, shake you beard, sothat through the blessings of your
grace, all of us can be saved from the punishment of our crimes. Our
specialities have broughtus to the gallows. Now it is only you special
gift that is left which can save us from being punished of our crimes.
Our specialities have brought us to the gallows. Now it is only you
special gift that is left which can save us from being punished. Now
is the time for the exhibition of your speciality. Kindly shake your
beard. Because of fear our lives have reached right up to our mouths.
Please save us with the special gift that lies in your beard."
Sultan Mahmood smiled at the plea and became filled with mercy and
grace as he heard their pitiful admission of guilt. He said: "Each one
of you have exhibited his special quality to such an extent that it
has brought you to the brim of destruction, except in the case of this
one. He recognized me as the Sultan. He saw me in the darkness of the
night and recognized me as the Sultan. Hence for his having recognized
me, I set all of you free. I feel ashamed at those eyes which
recognized me notto shake my beard and thereby exhibit my special
quality."
Lessons
The first lesson containedis this story is that while a person is
committing a crime the true King of Kings is with him, and is fully
aware of all that he does. "And He is with youwherever you are." When
a person commits any disobedience to Allahhe is actually committing
treachery against Him. Anyone who fails in his duty to Allah or in the
rights which are due to me, is like a thief committing the theft of
Allah's treasures. For this reason, one should always bear in mind
that the Master is the witness, seeing us at all times, andis aware of
all that we do. If we commit any disobedience or iniquity, it means
that in His very presence His treasury is being looted and robbed.
Think for a moment! Whom are you robbing? That King and Master
tellsyou: "I am seeing what you do. I am with you. Mylaws have been
revealed to you. Today your breaking that law. Today,in this world I
will hide your fault, hoping that perhaps you will come upon the right
road. But if you do not come to your senses, then tomorrow on the day
of Qiyamat when you will be brought before Me, with hands bound
together, then who will be able to save you from My anger and
revenge?"
The second lesson from this story is that Allah willpunish sinners in
the hereafter although He may initially overlook them in this world.
We see that at the time the thieves were looting the Royal treasury,
the Sultanwitnessed the entire incident. He was with them and allowed
them to proceed without being punished. However in the end, he had
them arrested. If, at all times, this thought is uppermost in our
minds that Allah sees all our deeds then there will surely be fear in
the heart against committingsins.
The third lesson from thisstory is this that on the day of Qiyamat no
specialquality will be of any benefit. All those deeds which
contravene the laws of Allah will on the day of Qiyamat be boundaround
man's neck even though, in this world, they were considered as being
special qualities. The thieves mentioned those special gifts and
qualities as if the were qualities of virtue, but in reality those
very qualities were the cause of their destruction:
"Each one of them exhibited their special quality,
But all their qualities onlycaused their misfortune to increase."
Any special quality whichdoes not bring a person nearer to his
Creator, andwhich does not connect the heart to Allah, and which is
not a medium towards the remembrance of Allah is no quality of virtue.
In fact it is a cure and a misfortune. All the powers and attributes
of man which are used in rebellion against Allah and towards
disobedience and negligence, will one day cause him to be brought
before Allah as a criminal. All those nationswho have made great
progress and through scientific inventions havemade this world
subservient to them, but turn away from Allah, passing their lives in
disobedience, will realizeon the day of Qiyamat, whether the
speciality of scientific progress had been the cause of receiving
Allah's grace or His anger.
"Blessed be to you the subjugation of the sun and moon,
But if there is no light in the heart there is no lightanywhere."
The fourth lesson from this story is that no special quality will be
of benefit except that which leads towards recognizing Allah, just
like the person who having seen the Sultan, recognized him and through
this special quality, he not only savedhimself but was also able to
intercede on behalf of this companions. As for his other companions,
their special quality became a means towardsearning Allah's
punishment.
"Only the sight of the fortunate one was of any use
Who recognized the Sultan during darkness of night."
The lesson derived is thatthis world is like a place of darkness. In
the darkness of this world, every servant of Allah who follows the
Divine Laws of Shariat and through its blessings recognizes Allah,
will be provided with salvation against the punishment on hell-fire,
on the day ofQiyamat. This recognitionwill also be a means towards
intercession on behalf of other criminals,from among the sinners of
the people of faith. However, there should not be any pride and over
confidence in this recognition. In fact, one should alternate between
fear and hope and in utmost humility beg for this intercession. Then
Allah will accept this intercession from whomever He wishes according
to His Mercy . For those whom He will not accept this intercession, He
will in perfect justice exhibit Hisoverwhelming vengeance. Hence,
fortunate indeed is the person who, in the world, created within
himself the knowledge ofrecognizing Allah. The Aarifeen (True knowers
of Allah) who through their spiritual efforts andexercises recognize
Allah with their souls, will tomorrow on the day of Qiyamat see Allah
and attain salvation. Furthermore their intercession on behalf of
other sinners will also be accepted. But the disbelievers and
criminals will through their special qualities be admitted into
hell-fire. On that day these poor starving ones with pale faces,
patched coarse clothing, who today are being ridiculed and jeered at,
will feast their eyes upon the countenance of Allah. On that day, the
criminals will envy them:
"Would that we had livedlike them in the world and acquired their qualities.
Would that we had recognized Allah properly!"
The fifth lesson is this that the story also illustrates the high
position these righteous and saintly ones have as far as their
humanity is concerned. What a pity that nations and people, just like
those thieves, spend their short span of worldly lives looking upon
means of delight and comfort as special gift and accomplishment,and
look upon material progress as being actual progress. Whereas on
theother hand, they have adopted uncouth habits like urinating while
standing and cleansing themselves with paper after defecating. They
also consider it normal totake a bath sitting in a tub and allow the
water, which had become dirtied through being in contact with the anus
to be drawn into their mouth and nose. They consider those actions as
the norms of society. Can such people ever be considered to be
cultured and people of progress? What a pity it is that the beloved
cultural ways of Muslims should be cast aside and that such despicable
ways of these people should be adopted.

Story - Princess

I miss my ex. I saw the words reminded me of her. The reason is
because the first time shehurt my feelings she kissed my cheek and she
said "are you cranky? Mr. Cranky needs to go to bed!" And I told her
"no, you just broke my heart and it can't find its way home" like
Whitney Houston's song "Where do Broken Hearts go" and she told me not
to beupset with her and she told me to think of all thepositive things
shes donefor me and the positive way shes impacted my life and the
wonderful relationship we had and Ijust smiled and covered her in
kisses.
I love her so much but I can't be with her anymore. I should move on,
I know...but how can I if she was such a great person? If she was the
one that was always there for me? If she was the one I fell in love
with? I can't stand being without her, it's such a horrible
experience. I know I can't be with her, there's no way. I can't even
talk to her and tell her how I feel. I miss her so much and I just
want that sense of comfort in knowing shes there for me and that I'm
deeply loved. I hate not being able to talk to her...having to just
drop off the face of the earth and having to ignore her as I have been
doing and feel like I am forced to hate her to stop me from missing
her. I don't hate her, I don't hate her at all.
I'm angry at myself for falling in love with her and missing her the
way Ido. I hate the fact that I can't even tell her "I love you" and
get a response. I hate having to pretend Idon't feel anything for her.
Shes such a great, great girl. Shes the first one I've fallen for
because of personality, not looks and its so hard to be able to let go
of what we had and move on. I know I'm strong enough to do so, to
succeed but I don't want to.
I don't want her to just fade into a memory...to fade into a "once
was" type of thing. I can't let that happen, she means far too much to
me to even think of just letting her go like that. I hate having to
keep to myself about everything and notbeing able to get her much
valued opinion on things. She made me so happy and she was such a
great help to be. I lovedbeing able to call her mine... my love or my
friend. I loved having that sense of happiness in knowing that she was
in my life and she was always gonna be there for me. I just miss her
so much. No matter how I try to distract myself she just comes to mind
and I cant tell anyone about it.
I cant tell anyone how I feel about her and how I want her in my life
again.She was what I called"ugly" when I first saw her. I disliked her
and disliked everything she did and was a part of in the beginning but
we soon talked more and I fell in love with her as she was. Ever since
then I've looked at her and thought "Damn. I did so good. Shes so
amazing." Iwould thank the lord for her every night, thankinghim for
inserting such a bright light into the blackhole which I called life.
I wasn't afraid of the dark anymore because there was no dark. There
was no reason to fear something that wasn't there. She lit up the
room, she lit up my life...she lit up my heart...my soul..my
everything.
Jesus knew I needed an angel and she gave her to me and damn, was
sheperfect! She influenced me to be the best I could. We sometimes had
our issues but we'd get through them. She'd say stupid things, as
would I, but we still got through the jungle without any scratches, so
to speak. I was there for her from the beginning, even when I disliked
her. I stood with open arms, I'dallow her to cry on my shoulders. She
was wortheverything I had to sacrifice...I meant every word I ever
said to her about loving her...even when I said it at irrelevant and
bad times. I was there for her.
If someone dared to hurt her I'd sure show them how wrong they were to
do so. No one could hurt my sweetheart, my friendand get away with it.
Shemeant everything to me and she still does. She may not know how I
feel about her now and probably never will but thats okay. It's also
okay if I fade into only a small memory in her mind...its okay. I'm
one drop in herwhole ocean...one chapter in her gigantic novel. Shes
my 7abibti. Shes my milosc. Mi amor. My love. I'll love her no matter
what. One never forgets their first real love...and she was mine. I'll
keep her in my heart and in my mind forever. She had a great impact on
my life and I'll never forget her.