prayer

In place of a eulogy, my aunt has asked the family to write some of their memories of my uncle for the pastor to read.  Here are my thoughts.  inshaAllah I’ll polish them later:

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, due in large part to the gathering Uncle Jeff and Aunt Pat hosted every year.  The entire family gathers, and those who can’t make it are sure to phone in and say hello.  A veritable feast is laid out and we all partake.  Inevitably, talk will turn to politics, and the banter will increase as we sit, stuffed to the gills.

But out of all the hustle and bustle of the day, a bright light stands out: Uncle Jeff’s prayer.  He must have taken such thought to write them out, taking care to include all the people gathered.  Here, insert something about this year - my sister and I think that he wrote one that someone will read.  If he didn’t, write about how I missed it.  Thank you Uncle Jeff, for your beautiful prayers.

bearing burdens

“God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear: in his favour shall be whatever good he does, and against him whatever evil he does.”O our Sustainer! Take us not to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong!”O our Sustainer! Lay not upon us a burden such as Thou didst lay upon those who lived before us! O our Sustainer! Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear!

“And efface Thou our sins, and grant us forgiveness, and bestow Thy mercy upon us! Thou art our Lord Supreme: succour us, then, against people who deny the truth!”

Qur’an 2:286

Translated by Muhammad Asad

thanksgiving

My uncle was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer 2 years ago.  Alhamdulilah, Allah (swt) gave him another 2 years.  He and my aunt have had the opportunity to travel the world, and spend time with all their friends and family.  He made it to a few more Packers games, and got to play Trivia in the world’s largest trivia contest two more times.  And we’ve had 2 more family thanksgivings.  My aunt and uncle have hosted a big get together at their house for years.  Everyone from my dad’s side of the family comes.

 After my grandfather passed away earlier this year, we had all been looking forward to getting together under happier circumstances.  Unfortunately, we’re not sure if there’s going to be another thanksgiving at their house this year. 

The cancer is unstoppable, and there’s not much more that can be done.  Please make dua that my uncle will be able to spend one more thanksgiving with us.

the power of dua

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said; Three supplications will not be rejected: the supplication of the parent for his child, the supplication of the one who is fasting, and the supplication of the traveler. [al-Bayhaqi, at-Tirmidhi - Sahih]

The prophet (saws) declared, ‘Three men whose dua is never rejected (by Allah) are: when a fasting person breaks fast (in another narration, the fasting person until he breaks his fast), the just ruler and the one who is oppressed.’[Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi - Hasan]

Are you taking advantage of this month in your dua?  Are you supplicating your little hearts out?  Please include these people in your dua:

Cairo Rockslide Deathtoll Climbs

At least 47 people are known to have died in a rockslide at a shanty town in Cairo, the Egyptian capital.

Some reports say hundreds more people may be buried beneath the rubble. Hopes of finding more survivors are fading though rescue efforts continue.

The authorities have been criticised for a delay in sending heavy machinery.

Ramadan Curbs Imposed on Muslims in Western China

The rules include prohibiting women from wearing veils and men from growing beards, as well as barring government officials from observing Ramadan. One town, Yingmaili, requires that local officials check up on mosques at least twice a week during Ramadan.

…

They include barring teachers and students from observing Ramadan, prohibiting retired government officials from entering mosques and requiring men to shave off beards and women to doff veils. Mosques cannot let people from outside of town stay overnight and restaurants must maintain normal hours of business. Many restaurants close in daytime hours during Ramadan because of the sunrise-to-sunset fasting.

Powa

Check it out - DuaPower.com - major spiffiness.

 I’ve already printed out 10 copies of the Muslim Prayers of Happiness to give to friends.  Looks quite spiffy and professional.  Ok, it would look professional if only I could fold straight.  Dur.

losing strength

I’m losing the strength to argue on internet forums. Post conversion, that was my jihad - to seek out where ever Islam was being slandered online and debate. I did this almost from the very second I converted. I learned a lot in doing research for my arguments, but there were definate holes in my understanding. In recent years, I’ve dialed back the internet confrontation and concentrated on learning the deen and doing ibadah, and alhamdulilah, it’s really helped my iman.

In January 2004, I joined christianforums.com to participate in a thread about deaths during the hajj. I’ve hung around there on and off, accumulated an obscene number of posts. However, I’ve lost the will to participate in verbal spates. The structure of the forum doesn’t allow for open discussion in several subforums, so most of the islam bashing can happen free and clear of any muslim interaction.

So at this point, I’ve fallen back to duas. And, I’d like to ask that ya’ll make dua with me for the participants in one specific thread. Words cannot express the disgust I feel at the blatent falsehoods being spewed about and cardboard cut out perspectives on islam being offered. It’s pointless to log in and post, because those posts will just be deleted.

I also find it despicable that some insist on studying THEIR religion from positive sources, while OTHER religions should only be studied from polemicists. I was a religious studies gal in college. I took a class on eastern orthodoxy, talked with priests, read books written by eastern orthodox scholars. Shouldn’t they have the courtesy to do the same for my faith? Heck, if you want to read the negative stuff, be my guest, but read something from the believers too. I always start the study of a faith with the central texts, commentary on the texts by the believers and with books recommended by practioners. Then I can delve into the critics. I even did this with scientology, a religion perhaps even more reviled than Islam.

When the husband came to the US and wanted to study christianity in order to refute it, I insisted that he actually pick up the bible and read it before he started slinging polemic negatives around. It just seems like good adab. Ah, but what do I know, I’m just a muzzie who’s only hope in the hearafter is to be one sex slave among many for the husband.

Intercession

Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah (ra):

Allah’s Apostle (saws) said, “Whoever after listening to the Adhan says,

‘Allahumma Rabba hadhihi-d-da’ watit-tammati was-salatil qa’imati, ati Muhammadan al-wasilata wal-fadilata, wab’ athhu maqaman mahmudan-il-ladhi wa’ adtahu’

‘O Allah! Lord of this perfect call  and of the regular prayer which is going to be established! Kindly give Muhammad the right of intercession and superiority and send him to the best and the highest place in Paradise which You promised him,’

then intercession for me will be permitted for him on the Day of Resurrection”).

Bukhari Volume 1, Book 11, Number 588:

Dua on the Day of Arafat

The Prophet (saws) said: The best invocation is that of the Day of Arafat, and the best that anyone can say is what I and the Prophets before me have said:

237. Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer.

None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He is Able to do all things.

Reference: At-Tirmithi. Al-Albani graded it good in Sahih At-Tirmithi 3/184, and also Silsilatul-’Ahadith As-Sahihah 4/6.

A blogger who needs duas more than me

Make dua for Baraka.

In fact, make dua for everyone.  One thing Shaykh Nuh repeated over and over again in the 1998 Suhba is that Allah (swt) loves for His servants to ask of Him.  Ask Him for anything and everything.  It builds a connection with Him.

Oppression

From the book Reflection of Pearls.

When leaving the house:

Bismi’Llahi tawakkaltu ‘ala ‘Llah, Allahumma inni a’udhu bika an udilla aw udall, aw uzilla aw uzall, aw azlima aw uzlam, aw aj-hala aw yuj-hala ‘alayy

In the name of Allah, I trust in Allah. O Allah I seek your protectoin from misleading and being mislead, from causing someone to slip or slipping, from oppressing and oppression, and from promoting folly and being foolish (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)

I think there are some muslim leaders around the world who need to start making this dua when they leave the house. I wonder how many people who make this dua when they leave the house actually think about the meaning of the words they are reciting, and strive to do what they are praying for?