Sunday, April 29, 2007

A parable

This is a very meaningful story, please read: http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/nuh/parable.htm

Description of the Righteous.

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah,

During our last halaqah on April 26th, we spoke about Taqwa. We gave a description of the people of taqwa through using a text provided by Zaytuna institute.

If you'd like a copy of this text please email me and let me know.

wassalamu alaikum,
Dana

Monday, April 23, 2007

The last three weeks

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah,

Here's what we did in the last three weeks:

April 5th: Description of the Prophet's Physical Characteristics (pbuh)
Summary: We spoke about the way the Prophet looked (pbuh). Including: How his hair was, his eyes, his height, his nose, his mouth, the way he ate, the way he spoke, the way he walked, the way he drank, and much more.

We learned how beautiful the Prophet is physically and in characteristically. May Allah bless him with peace inshaAllah.


April 12th: The Death of The Prophet (pbuh), by Hajirah Ali

Summary: Sr. Hajirah gave a beautiful talk mashaAllah which included dhikr and an explanation of some verses from the burdah and finally it ended with the description of the Prophet's death (pbuh).

April 19th: Reliance on Allah (Topic suggested by Ferozan)
Summary: we spoke about how important it is to truly rely on Allah. However, that is under one condition. One must do everything they can first and then put their trust and reliance on Allah. The Prophet (pbuh) was once asked by a man: Should I tie my camel or should I rely on Allah?. The Prophet (pbuh) said: Tie the camel and then rely on Allah.

This week inshaAllah (April 26th) we will be talking about "Taqwa".

wassalamu alaikum,
Dana

Monday, April 2, 2007

Shaykh Ninowy

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

I hope you are all doing well inshaAllah.

For those of you who couldn't make it to the halaqah on Thursday, here's a summary of what Shaykh Ninowy spoke about:

-The Shaykh explained how pleasing people is impossible, yet pleasing Allah will cause people to be pleased with us.

-The word "Aqeedah" is actually not mentioned in the Quran or sunnah. It comes from the Arabic word "Aqada" which means to tie. Aqeedah is what you tie your heart on believing.

-The word "Assamad" in surat Al-Ikhlas means: the one who is not in need of anything, yet everything in creation is in need of Him.

-"need" usually implies imperfection and dificiency, our creator is not in need of anything. We are in need of Him.

-Another attribute of Allah (swt) is that He is not subject to change.

-The Shaykh mentioned that the most two famous schools of Aqeedah are "Al-Ashari" and "Al-Matureedi". It's important for us to study one of them.

-The attributes of Allah have no beginning, no end, and are not suject to change.

-The Shaykh also gave some advice on how we shouldn't "label" people, we are all Muslim. He also mentioned how we should worry about our own faults, not the faults of others.

-He also said that the best way to learn sacred knowledge is from a shaykh who studied with a shaykh who studied with a shaykh...Reading books without someone explaining them to us is not recommended.
The Shaykh said: "learn from someone who is authorized, trustworthy, and knowledgeable".

-Finally the Shaykh gave advice on how to speak to non-Muslims who approach us with endless questions regarding hijab, why men can marry more than one wife, etc. He said we should talk to them about Aqeedah first, then we can answer their other questions.

I'm sorry that my notes are not that detailed. For anyone else who did attend, please post any additional notes you may have! :)

wassalamu alaikum,
Dana