Suratul Ikhlas: A call to Monotheism

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Surah al Ikhlas.

قُلْ هُوَ اللهُ أَحَدٌ

اللهُ الصَّمَدُ

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ

وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ


Subhanallah so many of us have memorized this surah. In fact there was a sahabi who would recite end the recitation of every rak'ah with this Surah because this Surah was dear to his heart.

Reciting this Surah carries the reward of reciting a third of the Quran.

It is a Surah that talks about tawheed.

Unfortunately I had never been able to have a close relationship with this surah and often I would wonder: what is the benefit in this for us, those who already believe in One God? I often wondered if I would ever be able to establish a relationship with it and if ever I would appreciate this Surah that it changes my life.

Alhamdulillah during maghrib today, I was thinking about Surah al ikhlaas. It struck me in its simplicity. It was the simplest form of da'wah. How to invite one to Islam in the fewest sentences were mentioned in this Surah. Then I realized it was not only da'wah to non-muslims but to muslims as well.

The first ayah says: Say: Allah is The Uniquely One. Subhanallah. This is stopping us from anthropomorphizing Allah. It is also establishing His separation from the creation in that He does not have a source that precedes Him or any successor to succeed Him(Ahad being different from waahid; waahid is preceded by sifr and succeeded by ithnayn). It also shows unlike us creation, who have a need for pairs to propagate or even just other organisms for various purposes or other physical matter for purposes of survival, Allah is too Majestic and Honorable to develop such needs.

Then the next ayah follows: Allah is As Samad. It is translated as Self Sufficient in Muhsin Khan's translation but I remember someone(I believe it was Shaykh Abu Omar) when he was explaining the meaning of that mentioned something that I remember was slightly different in meaning. Sahih Translation translates it as Eternal Refuge. Either way as I remember it, to explain the name the following was mentioned. Think if you live in a village, and you fall into some great difficulty, you will go seek the assistance of the strongest and most capable person of the village to help you out. The one who might be the most superior and will have no problems in helping you out. And each time you fall into the biggest problems, he helps you out. And he helps and helps without any decrease. So take that example and magnify it manifold and perhaps you will get a glimpse of what As Samad means. Allah gives and gives and requires no compensation to be able to give. And He is the Strongest to whom we should turn for help. So turn to Him for help.

The third ayah mentions: He does not beget nor was he born. This goes back to what is mentioned in the first ayah. He is far Glorified above to have desires of the pleasure and comfort the creation gets from the pair and the offspring. Moreover He is Uniquely One, so there is no one suitable to take any position equal to or just slightly inferior to Him. We are all lowly slaves who are but the creation of Allah and we seek only to please Him. Any pride or notions of superiority to the others that may arise in your heart is merely whisperings of the shaytan, for none but Allah knows the ranks of every single person and who is forgiven and who is punished. It also shows how other religions fall into great error by anthropomorphizing Him by saying He has daughters or a son or other such filth. Nay, but He is far Glorified above that which they ascribe to Him. Indeed He is the most High, the Supreme.

Finally the Surah ends with: And there is none in likeness unto Him. Now the interesting thing about this Surah is that when I was contemplating about this I was thinking about two things. One is in line with the rest of the Surah that is talking about His Uniqueness and His being Glorified above having equals or anything similar to Him(this is where a lot of heretics also went wrong when they denied the Most Glorious Attributes of Allah by likening it to His creation). The other things I was thinking is that there is nothing like Him as in He is the Creator and we are the creation. The Creator is not part of the creation, nor is the creation part of the Creator. Two separate entities: One with superlative qualities, the other with some good and some deficiencies but essentially existing for the Praise and Glorification of the Creator. Also because there is none in likeness unto Him, we do not have the capability to imagine or understand how He is. We do not have anything else that might inspire us to get even a gist, but rather we believe in what He reveals to us and do not go beyond the bounds. For the fortunate few, they will see Him in Jannah and inshAllah then we might be able to appreciate His Majesty and Beauty and Supremacy a little better. Finally, I will say that since there is none like unto Him, there is no point worshipping stuff that has contemporaries or equals. There is no point looking upto to anything in the creation, for there is something better than that. Only Allah who has no one/thing comparable to Him azza wa jal is worthy of directing our prayers to. In addition in everything that we do pertaining to our Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala we should realize He is perfect beyond our ability to understand, so we should show proper respect for Allah and His Deen. We should take strict countenance of ourselves when we are in a state of 'ibadah for we are facing the One who has no equal who deserves the best of worship. And even when we may have deficiencies in our worship, we should seek forgiveness and supplicate to Allah to grant us that which is best for us.

So I realized even for one who has been born and raised in tawheed, there are many lessons in Surah al Ikhlaas. I only hope that I learn more and will develop a closer relationship with Allah's Speech. Allahumma ihdina.

My reflections on Surah al Masad

Subhanallah! As I read this Surah, I started contemplating on the reason why this Surah may have been revealed. I started wondering how we could benefit from this Surah in this day and age, when neither Abu Lahab, nor his wife are alive. Upon sincere contemplation, I realized that though this Surah may serve to show clearly that Abu Lahab was destined to the fire and among the worst mushrikeen during the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam, that wasn't all. I found a benefit in this Surah, that I will share with you bi ithnillah. I tried to pay more attention to the individual characteristics of Abu Lahab and his wife. I found out shocking similarities between Abu Lahab and many of the people of these times. Abu Lahab was a man obsessed with his wealth and status. The first time that he openly mocked the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam was when the Prophet called all the people and informed them about Islam. Abu Lahab made fun of this serious message by asking him, is this why you brought us here from our shops and merchandise?

Unfortunately, such a mentality has become rampant in today's times. This way of thinking is prevalent not only among non-muslims but even those who claim themselves to be muslims. These people prioritize their jobs and businesses over the rights of Allah. The non-muslims do not think about matters of who created us and what is our purpose in life because they are “too busy” trying to earn more money or settle and have a nice life. They know that life is limited and the most one may live is about a little over hundred years, yet they try to live their lives as if this life is never-ending. They don't like to think about the grave because they find such though depressing yet the truth is known to them that someday they will be buried in there.
The situation of the muslims varies only slightly. Many muslims tend to pray their prayers not for the sake of Allah but because their fathers and forefathers used to do so. They stand up in prayer, not knowing a word that they are saying, pray as if it is a torture meted out to prisoners in shackles and then breathe a sigh of relief when they are done. Unfortunately, this may even include those who pray the five daily prayers relatively regularly. The problem does not lie in the fact that they do not understand what they are saying, which may just be due to them not knowing the language. Rather the problem is that they do not seek to establish a connection with their Creator. If they do not know the language, they make no attempt to learn it. They are also busy with seeking wealth and prosperity in this life, despite knowing that their lives will be no longer than a few decades. Such people prioritize this life so much that they would delay or even abandon their prayer to be able to work more hours. They would shave or their beard or discard their hijab to make a more favourable impression on potential employers. They would know more lines of songs than they would know ayaat of the Quran. These people have taken Islam as a culture with no regard to the actual beliefs in Allah and His Commands to us, His creation.

I then looked at the characteristics of the wife of Abu Lahab. She was one, who beared malice towards the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam and his message. She would have liked to bring misery to the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam. In another way, we could also look at it that she would hate the truth to be brought to her and she hated the person of knowledge who brought the truth to her. I looked at this situation from all these different perspectives and I realized even this situation is prevalent today.

So many non-muslims attempt to insult the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam in preposterous ways. They try to create cartoons that ridicule him and they try to defame him by calling him offensive names and try to find whatever fault they can find with him. Interestingly, they never analyze his message but rather look at the actions of his followers and him and judge it with extreme bias.

Fortunately, no sane muslim does such acts as that would make him a disbeliever. Yet there is also a problem with them that some of them do not wish to speak out against this. They would have their dear Prophet, who is the reason for them being guided, to be mocked and ridiculed, yet they would not raise their voices for fear of “ruining relationships”. Others are worried about backlash from the non-muslim society. Their wish for integration is so strong that they would rather become hypocrites to be able to become of part of the “civilized” West rather than stand up for their ideals.

Most of this post has mentioned the similarities between the people mentioned in this chapter and people in this world today. Though I usually used the terms to refer to other people and was usually referring to people closer to the extreme end of the spectrum, I would also like to note that even some of us who may observe our obligations and abstain from prohibitions with correct and sincere intentions fall prey to this disease of prioritizing the wealth and prosperity in this life, all the while knowing that the life of the Hereafter is the true, perpetual life. So I would like to propose some possible methods that we may protect ourselves from becoming like the accursed mentioned in this Surah and in general, protect ourselves from Hellfire. The most important point would be to purify your intentions and to direct your acts of worship to Allah alone. You may ask what is the benefit in mentioning this point when some of the people are not totally convinced about Allah or submission to Him. Well in such a circumstance, I would tell them that even if you harbour doubts with regard to Allah and His Attributes, then still direct your worship to the Creator intending that if there is a Creator then this would be directed to Him and pray for guidance to the truth with the same intention. Another important point is to contemplate deeply upon the death and then subsequent life in the Hereafter. Most of the small surahs that some of us have memorized near the end of the Quran talk about matters of the Hereafter. Don't just read them, but read the translation of the meanings and try to accomplish some understanding of the Hereafter. Ponder upon their meanings and the consequences of being rewarded or punished due to the belief or disbelief that we held on to in this world. The final point I would like to leave you with is to seek Islamic knowledge. Seek knowledge on matters of faith first that you may learn properly the true beliefs in Islam. As you seek knowledge, inshallah(God willing) you will gain a deeper understanding of Islam and will be better equipped to make properly informed decisions. All these advices are not limited to muslims but are an encouraging call to non-muslims as well to learn more about Islam and life in the Hereafter.

Finally I would like to say that all that is good that reaches you is from the Mercy and Blessings of Allah azza wa jal and all that is incorrect and wrong is from the inadequacies of my own soul. Hence I ask you to glorify and praise Allah and seek forgiveness for me. I welcome any questions anyone may have and will try to answer it to the best of my abilities.

How do you deal with losing someone you love?

One often encounters depression upon loss of a loved one, whether it be severing of a relationship or losing someone to death. In these distressful times, ones thoughts often turn to inflicting self-harm or committing suicide. One should realize that that would not benefit him or the loved one in any way. Rather it would bring about even more grief and sorrow to those who love him. During such times, one will encounter difficulty and will often lose focus during work. One may even find himself becoming a failure at what he previously used to be the best at.

To approach the question, how to deal with losing someone you love. Well I don't know. I still haven't been able to cope with my father's death. I often relapse into depression thinking about all the times that I regret having behaved inappropriately, causing embarassment to my father. I often also think how much I miss him. Heck, tears still flow from my eyes from time to time.

So really, though I am publishing this post, I must confess I truly cannot say how to deal with losing someone you love.

Someone told me that the pain feels like an open wound right after the loss but with time feels like a scab or a scar. Unfortunately, that is not in my case. If anything, I have felt the pain intensify with time. Certainly, I may think of my father less often, but when I do, I am overcome with feelings of grief. So it is wrong for me to assume any ability to provide some effective advice based on my experience.

I also heard that to cope with the pain, you should remember the good times and cherish them. Now I may sound ungrateful, but the good times merely bring more regret into my heart for the simple reason that there weren't enough of them.

Earlier, as I had thought about this, I put as one of the points, to realize that one is not alone in facing this. This same situation has been faced by many others. When someone is facing such depressing thoughts, they should talk about it to someone. Upon introspection, I would say that this is effective but to a limited extent. I have yet to figure out what would help cope on a more longer term but I would certainly recommend leaning on ones circle of friends or family for support during such times for as long as need be - even if be longer than a year.

There is one thing that I would mention. We all have our own virtual lives that we think about, where we fantasize ourselves to be the best. We may often retreat to these virtual lives when faced with such bereavement. Though living in a virtual reality can be dangerous, we all need it sometimes to be able to recharge us or enable to us face the true and harsh reality that awaits us. So if you do feel like retreating to your own little world that exists in your mind, do so. If you find you like watching movies and imagining yourself as the protagonist, do so. The key is to be able to cope with loss. This may take various forms and this is definitely benign by most accounts.

Remember, there is no easy answer to how to deal with loss of a loved one. However, as we live our lives, we have to find an answer to preserve our sanity.

The worst poverty is loneliness

"The worst poverty is loneliness". This is a quote not from some famous personality with a great legacy. Rather this is the statement of a regular Hamiltonian resident when talking about facing poverty.

Living a life of riches we often turn to the impoverished we see around us in moments of altruism. Some of us may even feel a duty to help them out with the hopes that they would do the same if we were ever in that situation. We shower these people with money and gifts, hoping that they would enjoy it and be happy. Yet in all of this, we tend to forget that money and gifts do not bring happiness. It is the meaningful relationships that we make, that bring us joy and contentment.

How often have we ignored a friend in need of some company to be with popular people for whatever reason? We are so involved in helping the needy...well why limit that to those who need money? Why not help those that need company? I have seen relationships blossom and relationships sour. The reason for all of them have been company - excess or the lack of it.

Next time you see a friend or family member looking a little disconnected, or a little subdued and you have something else to do like an assignment to hand in, or a meeting to go to, take the time out for your friend. Trust me; the relationship that you will uphold will sooner or later be much more valuable than the late penalties for the assignment or a little slump in your work.

Life's too short. So give your best shot where it really counts.

Never look down upon someone

As the title aptly puts it, one should never look down upon someone. This is more general than the prohibition of looking down at someone due to his or her genetics, mental and physical faculties, beauty etc. This includes not looking down at someone who seems to have lesser emaan(faith in God) than you do and is prone to falling into sin.

This realization actually struck me when two of the people that I used to look down upon(or atleast not view them in the same light as most others) turned out to be the greatest support during my time of need. Perhaps this was a humiliating punishment that Allah gave me that the ones I looked down upon became my strongest support. Or perhaps it was the ease that follows the hardship such that upon losing my dear father, I found support in even those that I had looked down upon - so much so that I derived the greatest support from them.

I had seen one of them doing something reproachable(perhaps out of ignorance?). That led me into thinking less of that person and in general being awkward around him and avoiding him. He probably didn't even realize it since we really didn't have too much interaction to begin with. Yet when I was at my most vulnerable, grieving over my father's passing away, he was sent as a support by ArRahmaan(the Most Merciful). I shall make du`a that Allah increase him in good and have him live upon Islam and not let him die except as a believer.

The other person I have wronged much and I have much to atone for. This person indeed was a good person and showed signs of increasing emaan, yet I remained contemptuous. Perhaps it was the general attitude of this person that I had been exposed to that made me so reluctant to accept that this person had actually become a better muslim. It was only another brother reprimanding me and exhorting me to think good of this person that made me not say further bad against this good person. This person was another pillar of support send to me by Allah that strengthened me and made me look past the loss of my father but rather at the big picture that everyone has to leave this world - atleast my dad left it in an honorable state.

The support from both of them has humbled me and I pray that my father is granted entry into Jannatul Firdous.

I also pray that both of these people who were my support enter into paradise.

Surah al Fatihah: A cure for all pain

While dealing with the pain of the loss of my dear father, I learnt some new lessons from Surah al Fatihah in this situation.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

I begin and take support with the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful to the universe and especially to the muslims.

الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Praise and thanks to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.
Verily, my Dad was like my world and the very fact that Allah had me born into his family was something I need to praise and thank Allah for. Also the wonderful moments that I shared with my father is something I need to praise and thank Allah for. Since He is Rabb of my dad, He has the authority to take my world away or to let me enjoy it as a gift(and test) from Him as long as He Decrees.

الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
Indeed Allah let me meet with my Dad this summer and I actually was able to meet him before he passed. This in itself is a great mercy from Allah. Moreover, we had had a death scare when my dad had had a myocardial infarction and had essentially "died" yet upon the insistence of the resident, the doctors continued to attempt to resuscitate him and it worked. It seemed like a miracle. Really it was but a preparation for his passing away. Just like the rumour of the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam dying in the battle of Uhud was a preparation for his death much later. To add to that, my mother would have actually accompanied my father, but by the Decree of Allah, my dad insisted that she stay at home and he would come back soon. This in itself is a mercy as now I at least have my mother with me today as a source of comfort. The examples of His Mercy do not end here, yet I would like to keep this post as brief as I can.

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
Owner of the Day of Judgement
He is the Owner of the Day of Judgement. If He has complete power over the Day of Judgement, surely He also has power over my dad, and the judgement regarding him on the Day of Judgement. Also the Day of Judgement will be a day when even I would not care about my dad. Hence it is a reminder that since a Day will come when I will only be concerned with myself, I should seek refuge in Allah from such a Day and to continue to make as much du`a as I can for my father in this life.

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
You Alone do we worship, and You Alone do we seek help from.
Even during this calamity of my father's passing away, my first concern should still remain the worship of Allah. As mentioned in many places(two of them that I remember on the spot are Surah al Isra' and Surah al Baqarah) that worship of Allah alone precedes doing good to parents. Hence worship Allah alone and turn to worship even as a means of seeking help. Secondly seek help from Allah even outside of formal worship. Make du`a to Him, intend your acts for His Sake. Indeed in the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find rest. So remember Him often.

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
Guide us to the Straight Path
This is to be understood in many different ways even in the specialized context of my father's shahaadah. Yet for the sake of being succinct, I will provide only one particular understanding. O Allah, guide me during this difficult time and bring to closer to Your worship and to Your remembrance.

صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ
The Path of those upon whom You bestowed gifts(blessings), not those upon whom was Your Anger, nor those among the deviants.
This ayah can be broken into three sections. The first is the group upon whom the gifts were bestowed. The second is the group upon whom came the Wrath of Allah(who deliberately rejected the command of Allah while they had knowledge). The third are the deviants(who did impermissible acts out of ignorance without bothering to seek the knowledge).
The first - O Allah, make me mourn the death of my father according to the Quran and Sunnah as the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wasallam, and the Sahaabah, and the Salaf and the `Ulamaa of the deen would mourn. Do not let me go into excessiveness and do an act that you dislike.
The second - O Allah, do not let me do acts that you have revealed in the Quran and Sunnah as forbidden acts. Do not let me cross the boundaries of Islam in mourning my father.
The third - O Allah, do not let me introduce or take part in bid`ah acts of worship. Acts that done on their own would be liked by you but because of certain conditions placed on them(that are not from Quran or Sunnah or ijmaa`) become a disliked act that should be frowned upon. These acts may range from makrooh tahreeman to haraam.

And that is my understanding of Surah al Fatihah according to the situation I am currently in.

Wallahu ta`la a`lam.

RabbirHamhuma kama rabbayaani Sagheeraa

A son's love

Here is a poem that I wrote to express my feelings.

A son's love:

As I came into this world,
With the atmosphere upon me hurled,
Along came you and Mom as pillars of light
To stand against all evil in a fight.

Countless gifts did you bestow upon me,
Even now I treasure them as I love thee.
The beauty of Islam as you raised me to be,
And life in this transient world as a man free.

Now Allah has chosen you for a martyr's honour,
Leaving in this world many a mourner.
Yet we hope to remain steadfast,
To live in the present and not dwell upon the past.

Yet the heart cries and tears flow,
And time seems to run so slow.
Life seems like a withered flower,
And my body seems depleted of power.

You will remain in my heart for verily you were truthful,
And I hope all our du`as for you become fruitful.
I shall turn to the Quran during this test,
For verily in the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find rest.

Your shahaadah has made me realize,
What a calamity in the Prophet's death lies(sallallahu alayhe wasallam)
I now pray that Allah may take,
You to be loved by everyone, for His Sake.

O Allah! Have mercy upon my father for he raised me while I was young.
Many a times has he, your slave, between life and death, hung.
Accept your slave's du`a and forgive his sins,
And do not let him in the barzakh wince.

O Allah! Enter him into the best part of Paradise,
And let him gaze upon Your Noble Face many times.
O Allah make his grave spacious and fill it with light,
And give me the strength to pray for him day and night.