Quote

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Wayne Gretzkey

Food for Thoughts

Hadrat Ali ( May Allah be pleased with him) said:

" Be in Allah's estimation the best of people, and in the estimation of your nafs the worst of people, and in people's estimation just a man amongst people"

Malik ibn Dinar said:
"Remedy three things with three- pride with humiliy, greed with contentment, and envy with sincere advice."

It is said:
"The movement towards obedience is evidence of knowledge, just as movement of the body is evidence of its vitality."

From Preparing for the Day of Judgement, Imam ibn Hajar Asqalani

La Adree Institute!

After all the hype (?), we are finally here. This organization will change the landscape of islamic learning in the West and East; North and South; Online and Offline. Its here!

La Adree Institute.

Translated into english La Adree means "I dont know".

The problem with our times is that there are a lot of people who think they know but they dont really know. La Adree Institute is here to teach people that they dont really know. So all we know is that we dont know either, so thats all we can teach you.

Whats our vision? We dont know.

Who came up with this idea? We dont know.

Who are our teachers? We dont know.

Whats our location? We dont know.

How many students do we aim to reach? We dont know.

Why are you using "we" Are there more than 1 person in the organization? We dont know.

When is the first class? We dont know.

Will the classes be weekend programs or halaqa style? We dont know.

Who can you contact for more information? We dont know.

Whats our brand? We dont know.

Whats our logo? We dont know?

Whats our website? We dont know.

Who heads La Adree Institute? We dont know.

What do you know? The only thing we can tell you about La Adree Institute is that we dont really know and we want you to know that you dont know either!

La Adree. Drown yourself! (in your lack of knowledge)

Lost Generation

Someone forwarded us this text based video to us. The (text only) video is very thought provoking for sure. ( even though it is only 2 minutes).

The North Wind and the Sun

We heard a Shaykh read this small story. It is very insightful.

"I am stronger than you," said the North Wind to the Sun.

"That is not true," said the Sun. "Everyone knows that I am the stronger."

"Show me that you are stronger than I," replied the North Wind. "You know very well that you are not."

"Do you see that traveler coming? I can make him take off his coat. You can not," said the Sun.

"We will see about that," answered the North Wind. "The one that makes the traveler take off his coat is the victor."

"All right," said the Sun, "and you may have the first trial."

"Whew! How the North Wind blows," said the traveler. "Whew! whew! Hold on there, North Wind; I would rather walk than fly. Whew! whew!

"How cold it is! I must button my coat uptight. Whew! whew! whew! I never felt such a wind before," said the traveler, as he folded his arms over his breast. "It seems determined to tear off my coat. I will turn my back to it. Whew! whew! whew! whew!" But the more the wind blew, the tighter the traveler held on to his coat.

At last the North Wind said, "I will try no longer, but you, Sun, can do no better."

The Sun said nothing, but came out from under a cloud and smiled down upon the traveler.

"How good that feels!" said the traveler. The Sun shone on. "It is getting warm," said the traveler, unbuttoning his coat.

It was now past noon. "The Sun is too much for me," said the traveler, and he threw off his coat and hunted for a shady place.

The North Wind's harshness had failed. The Sun's gentleness had won.

(from Fifty Famous Fables , by Lida Brown McMurry)

A description of Prophet Muhammad ( Peace and Blessings be upon him)

We came across this wonderful description of Prophet Muhammad ( Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) via this Abdul Hakim article. It is paraphrased from a passage by Imam al-Ghazali, in Book 19 of his Revival of the Religious Sciences, Ihya Ulum al-Din:

‘

The Messenger of God (s) was the mildest of men, but also the bravest and most just of men. He was the most restrained of people; never touching the hand of a woman over whom he did not have rights, or who was not his mahram. He was the most generous of men, so that never did a gold or silver coin spend the night in his house. If something remained at the end of the day, because he had not found someone to give it to, and night descended, he would go out, and not return home until he had given it to someone in need. From what Allah gave him [...] he would take only the simplest and easiest foods: dates and barley, giving anything else away in the path of Allah. Never did he refuse a gift for which he was asked. He used to mend his own sandals, and patch his own clothes, and serve his family, and help them to cut meat. He was the shyest of men, so that his gaze would never remain long in the face of anyone else. He would accept the invitation of a freeman or a slave, and accept a gift, even if it were no more than a gulp of milk, or the thigh of a rabbit, and offer something in return. He never consumed anything given in sadaqa. He was not too proud to reply to a slave-girl, or a pauper in rags. He would become angered for his Lord, never for himself; he would cause truth and justice to prevail even if this led to discomfort to himself or to his companions.

‘He used to bind a stone around his waist out of hunger. He would eat what was brought, and would not refuse any permissible food. If there was dates without bread, he would eat, if there was roast meat, he would eat; if there was rough barley bread, he would eat it; if there was honey or something sweet, he would eat it; if there was only yogurt without even bread, he would be quite satisfied with that.

‘He was not sated, even with barley-bread, for three consecutive days, until the day he met his Lord, not because of poverty, or avarice, but because he always preferred others over himself.

‘He would attend weddings, and visit the sick, and attend funerals, and would often walk among his enemies without a guard. He was the most humble of men, and the most serene, without arrogance. He was the most eloquent of men, without ever speaking for too long. He was the most cheerful of men. He was afraid of nothing in the dunya. He would wear a rough Yemeni cloak, or a woolen tunic; whatever was lawful and was to hand, that he would wear. He would ride whatever was to hand: sometimes a horse, sometimes a camel, sometimes a mule, sometimes a donkey. And at times he would walk barefoot, without an upper garment or a turban or a cap. He would visit the sick even if they were in the furthest part of Madina. He loved perfumes, and disliked foul smells.

‘He maintained affectionate and loyal ties with his relatives, but without preferring them to anyone who was superior to them. He never snubbed anyone. He accepted the excuse of anyone who made an excuse. He would joke, but would never say anything that was not true. He would laugh, but not uproarously. He would watch permissible games and sports, and would not criticise them. He ran races with his wives. Voices would be raised around him, and he would be patient. He kept a sheep, from which he would draw milk for his family. He would walk among the fields of his companions. He never despised any pauper for his poverty or illness; neither did he hold any king in awe simply because he was a king. He would call rich and poor to Allah, without distinction.

‘In him, Allah combined all noble traits of character; although he neither read nor wrote, having grown up in a land of ignorance and deserts in poverty, as a shepherd, and as an orphan with neither father nor mother. But Allah Himself taught him all the excellent qualities of character, and praiseworthy ways, and the stories of the early and the later prophets, and the way to salvation and triumph in the Akhira, and to joy and detachment in the dunya, and how to hold fast to duty, and to avoid the unnecessary. May Allah give us success in obeying him, and in following his sunna.Amin ya rabb al-alamin.‘

Seekers Guidance: Register Now!

Shaykh Faraz teaches at Seekers Guidance. The deadlines for this semester's courses are fast approaching:

12-week courses: Feb 15th - May 10th | $59 | Registration ends March 15th
22-week courses: Feb 15th - July 25th | $99 | Registration ends April 1st

A list of courses is available here!

Dont miss out on this chance to learn with hin. Teachers like him are hard to find: online and offline.

Shaykh Faraz: "This is the sum of success":

 'Verily you have in the Messenger of Allah the most beautiful of examples for whoever seeks Allah and the Last Day and makes much remembrance of Allah.' 

Register Now!

Reflections: Take My Hand

Sidi Nader Khan based his song "Take My Hand on the following story taken from The Duties of Brotherhood in Islam Translated from the Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali Translated Mukhtar Holland.

"It is related in the stories of the People of Israel that two godly brothers were upon a mountain. One of them come down to town to buy a pennyworth of meat. He saw a harlot at the butcher's shop, gazed upon her, fell in love with her, and carried her off to a private place to copulate with her.  After spending three nights with her, he was ashamed to return to his brother in view of his offence.

Meanwhile, his brother missed him and felt concern about him. He descended to the town and kept on asking about him till he was directed to him.  Then he went in and found him sitting with the girl. He embraced him and began kissing him and hugging him, but the other denied all knowledge of him, being so ashamed.  Then he said:

"Come my brother, for I know your condition and your story, yet you were never better loved nor dearer to me than at this moment. "

Now when he realized that what had happened had not lowered him in his brother's eye he arose and went away with him. "  

Listening to Sidi Nader's song "Take My Hand" took a different meaning after reading this story. 

Subhannallah. The song speaks for itself. A lot of times when we see someone ( we know) in a hole, we tend to put them down and make judgements. We also like to attribute "cause and effect" to their condition i.e. thinking/saying that this happened to "so and so" because they did "so and so".  However, when we are in holes or facing a tribulation, we tend to gravitate towards people who don't pass judgements on us. As Sidi Nader says if we really love them and if we really care about them we would or should say:

"Take my hand, come with me / I won’t judge, won’t put you down / While you lie, down on the ground / Take your time, I’ll hang around / Take my hand, come with me"

We have all faced trails and tribulations based on which people around us have formed opinions on us. A lot of times these opinions seem to be unfair or at least based on a bunch of assumptions, which make us want to think: " Oh man, I wish they really knew what I went through". As the saying goes "   Treat others like you would like to be treated."  Sidi Nader says:

"Take my hand, come with me / I don’t know how I would fare / If your trials, I was to bear / But your burden, do let me share / Take my hand, come with me /"

Along the same line of thought, its hard to forgive someone when one has been wronged. Whats even harder is to start a relationship with the same person with a clean slate. However, as Muslims we are commanded to show mercy to people since we are constantly under the infinite mercy of Allah. Sidi Nader says:

"Take this hate out of your heart / It’s alright that we’ve grown apart / Let’s give this thing a brand new start / Take my hand, come with me /"

Sometimes when we land in a problems, we tend to blame circumstances and the people around us. However, as Muslims we are supposed to have Rida. We are supposed to be content. We are supposed to have a good opinion of Allah for he puts us in situations and things happen because He willed it to  happen.  We are only responsible for taking the means. We should not worry ourselves with outcomes for they are in his hands. As a scholar said beautifully when we point one finger of blame there are three other fingers pointed towards ourselves. Sidi Nader says:

"Turn your anger, your glowing rage / Against yourself, break out of the cage / Write your story, on a brand new page / Take my hand, come with me /"

Along the same lines as before ( of not passing judgment on others too quickly), Sidi Nader says:

" I won’t shout, I’ll stay composed / This is where, you need me most / It’s not too late, the door hasn’t closed / Take my hand, come with me /"

When we act as a support for people we love, we may start thinking that since we are the "support", we must be better then them. One really has to be humble when one helps other people. For if Allah had willed we could have been them and they could have been us. Besides, we are in constant need of help of the One above so who are we to think that we are better then "so and so". Sidi Nader put its beautifully ( and this is my favourite part):

 "And if i stumble, as I walk with you / I’ll take your hand, oh I’ll come with you / I’ll need your strength, to pull me through / But now take my hand, and now come with me /

Amazing song. For more information on Sidi Nader, visit www.naderkhan.com

Cast down your bucket...

A lot of times we worry and want to know about things about which we really cant do much about. Information for it's own sake is useless  unless one uses it to change oneself and/or change the conditions (for the better) around one.

I was once taught about two circles we have around us: 1. The circle of concern and 2. The circle of influence. The circle of concern is the bigger circle over which we typically dont have much influence. However, the circle of influence is a circle of things within our hands over which we can potentially have a much bigger impact. If we keep focussing on things that are far from us we will probabaly be losing valuable energy, time and resources. ( and  get furstrated as well). The things far away may be important but given our limited influence, it is prudent that we should instead focus on things which Allah has placed within our grasp.

Imam Zaid has quoted Brooker T. Washington many times in his lectures:

"A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: “Water, water. We die of thirst.” The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back: “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time, the signal, “Water, send us water!” went up from the distressed vessel. And was answered: “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A third and fourth signal for water was answered: “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River."