Sisterhood/Brotherhood in Islam

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Comment by jalil on May 1, 2010 at 4:34pm

Comment by Ablacem on March 6, 2010 at 11:33pm

THE BELIEVERS ARE THE GUARDIANS OF ONE ANOTHER
There are several verses in the Qur'an that relate to us of believers as the guardians of one another. The following is one of them:

And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other. They command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and establish prayer and pay alms, and obey God and His Messenger. They are the people on whom God will have mercy. God is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat at-Tawba: 71)


The word "guardian" means intimate, protector, helper and supporter. In this sense, believers, honest, sincere and conscientious people with high moral values, should support each other, and be helpers and protectors of one another. Our Beloved Prophet (pbuh) also stated this in his following saying:

A believer is a mirror to another believer. A believer is a brother to another believer. He saves him from losses. He safeguards his interests in his absence.1


The stories related in the Qur'an about the prophets provide many examples about this practice. Moses, for instance, killed a man by mistake when he sided with a man who was in trouble. Then, he had to run away from the city to save himself from the cruelty of the Pharaoh and the leaders of the city. This is related in the verses as follows:

A man came running from the furthest part of the city, saying, 'Moses, the Council are conspiring to kill you, so leave! I am someone who brings you good advice.' So he left there fearful and on his guard, saying, 'My Lord, rescue me from the people of the wrongdoers!' (Surat al-Qasas: 20-21)


The Prophet Moses (as) managed to leave the city through a man who helped him as a favour to him. He then reached a watering place in the land of Madyan and helped two women who kept back their flocks because they did not want to mix with the shepherds near the water. Upon their return home, the women mentioned to their father, the Prophet Shu'ayb (as), the help Moses had offered them. Upon this, Prophet Shu'ayb (as) invited prophet Moses to his home. This is revealed in the verses as follows:

One of them came walking shyly up to him and said, 'My father invites you so that he can pay you your wage for drawing water for us.' When he came to him and told him the whole story he said, 'Have no fear, you have escaped from wrongdoing people.' (Surat al-Qasas: 25)

Because Prophet Shu'ayb (as) recognized the inherent goodness and trustworthiness of the Prophet Moses (as), he helped him in his difficult time and allowed him to stay in his household and to work for him. Shu'ayb's manner sets an example for the good in protecting and guarding other good people who encounter hardship. Unless the good offer help and support to one another in times of adversity, then they will leave each another alone and unable to defend themselves against the cruel people. In a verse of the Qur'an, God commanded our Prophet (pbuh): "...take the believers who follow you under your wing" (Surat ash-Shu'ara': 215). Taking believers under one's wing, protecting them against dangers and difficulties is a command of our Lord, and also a Sunnah of our Prophet to follow.

1. Hadith of Abu Dawud, On the Authority of Abu Hurayrah, Words of the Prophet Muhammad by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, p. 54
source

Comment by nur-inn on February 23, 2010 at 12:39am

‘Umar bin al-Khattab said:
“If one of you is blessed with affection from his brother, he should hold onto that as tightly as possible, as it is quite rare for one to be blessed with this.”
(taken from imam al-Ghazzali’s ‘Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din’)

Comment by Mumthazqadiri on February 15, 2010 at 8:57pm

Comment by Ablacem on February 5, 2010 at 4:46pm

Assalamualaikum My Dear Brs/Srs

Sorry for not keeping uptodate:) Special dedication for those who have been very patient with me.May you have a good weekend wherever you are.

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Comment by Ablacem on January 15, 2010 at 7:42am

Winds of Forgiveness

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

Comment by nur-inn on January 11, 2010 at 9:15pm

Eight duties of brotherhood in Islam.
In the name of Allah , the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

According to Imam al-Ghazzali there are eight duties of brotherhood in Islam.
The first duty is the material one. Muhammad (S) said, "Two brothers are likened to a pair of hands, one of which washes the other." That means the two are like one person.

The second duty is to render personal aid in the satisfaction of needs, attending to them without waiting to be asked, and giving them priority over personal needs.

The third duty concerns the tongue, which should be silent, and at other times speak out. As for silence, the tongue should not mention a brother's faults in his absence or presence. Rather one should feign ignorance.

The fourth duty is to use the tongue to speak out. He should use the tongue to express affection for his brother. Muhammad (S) said, "If one of you loves his brother, let him know it."

The fifth duty is forgiveness of mistakes and failings. The failings of a friend must be one of two kinds -- either in his religion or in his duty (to you).

The sixth duty is to pray for one's brother, during his life and after his death. He should pray for him as he prays for himself, making no distinction at all between them. For in reality his prayer for his brother is a prayer for himself. Muhammad (S) said, "Whenever a man prays for his brother in secret, the angel says, And to you the same."

The seventh duty is loyalty and sincerity. The meaning of loyalty is steadfastness in love and maintaining it to the death with one's brother, and after his death with his children and his fellows. The prophet (S) said, "Among the seven whom Allah keeps in His shadow are also two men who love each other for His sake, constant whether together or apart."

The eighth duty is relief from discomfort and inconvenience. One should not discomfort one's brother with things that are awkward for him, he should not ask him for help with money or influence. The sole objective of his love should be God, being blessed by his brother's prayer, enjoying his company, receiving assistance from him in his religion, drawing close to God through attending to his rights and bearing his provision.

(Imam Ghazzali’s Ihya’ Ulumuddin)

May Allah unite our hearts to uphold the dignity of Islam for the sake of our love to Him.

Comment by Mustapha Cliff Ibengabriel on January 8, 2010 at 7:31am

As-Salaam AlaikumThanks a lot sister for this important and beautiful lecture you share with us.Today many people who say they are salafs say
loving the Prophet too much is wrong.I say to them i don't ever want to be right.I wish u all A wonderful and happy Jummah full of love and light.
Thank you, thank u sister.

Comment by Ablacem on January 7, 2010 at 11:21pm

You Are With Those Whom You Love
Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Yahya al-Ninowy

December 17, 2009

Title : You Are With Those Whom You Love

Date/Location: July 2007 – Talk delivered in Rochdale, Jamia Chistia

Speaker: Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Yahya Al Ninowy

NoteTaker: Anonymous (itb075@hotmail.com)

The shaykh talked about the very famous Ayah in the quran:

“Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which you fear a decline: or the dwellings in which you delight – are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His punishment: and Allah does not guide the fasiqeen.” [Surah At-Tauba Verse 24]

If we are to summarise this religion of Islam, then we can say that it is a religion of love.

Allah (subhanahu wa’tala) encourages us through the Quran to love our parents and informs us not to even say ‘uff’ to them [Surah Al Israa].

The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) informs us about love of the family, where he says “The best amongst you is he who is best to his family and I am best to my family”. He (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) also teaches us about loving our daughters, when he says “Fatima is part of me”, showing his deep love and affection for her. He also expresses his love for Imam Hassan and Husayn (Radiallahu Anhum) ,when they are on his shoulders and he is kissing them and a man comes and says , “Do you love them? I have 10 sons, I don’t kiss any of them.” The Prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) replied “What can I do if Allah has taken away mercy from your heart?”.

He also teaches us love for our neighbours, where he says “Gibreel keeps coming to me and keeps saying neighbours, neighbours, as though he is inheriting from the neighbours”.

Allah (subhanahu wa’tala) orders us Ihsaan (be good) towards our society by saying in the Quran… “Allah orders you to be just and to do Ihsaan …” We should be positive contributors to society, because our beloved (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) came as a mercy to the entire worlds, therefore we should be an extension of his mercy to the entire creation of Allah.


The more you learn about his beautiful qualities (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), the more hostage you become to his love and his beautiful qualities…

Furthermore, the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) also taught us about love of his companions. Loving the family of Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) is also talked about in the Quran where Allah says “Tell them , I am not asking of you any reward in return, expect that you are kind to my offspring”. This is the wasiyah of the beloved, so don’t neglect it. There are Hadith that also emphasize this.

The Quran also teaches us to love the mothers of the believers… One should love their mother. The Quran also teaches of love of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta Alaa) and his Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) . This is all contrary to the saying of those who say that Islam is a religion of violence and hatred, but in reality, it’s a religion of love and forgiveness.

Note that the verse which is the theme of the talk says “That if you do not love Allah and his Prophet more than your family, your parents etc…” you shall await the punishment of Allah. This is actually waajib and fard upon you. Allah finishes the ayah by saying “Allah does not love the Fasiqeen”. Fisq from a Fiqh point of view is a “major sin” not a minor sin…

We need to ask ourselves the question “What number on the list of your priorities is the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam)?” If he is not number one , then make him number one!

If you have hardships in life, in your marriage, in your work, in your rizk, then take a look at where the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) is in your list of priorities..

Allah says in the Quran “whoever avoids my Dhikr , then we will fill their life with difficulties… and in the akhira they will be assembled blind…” The person shall ask “I had my vision in the duniya? “. Allah will say, “Our ayahs came to you , you forgot them, so today you shall be forgotten”.

Dhikr is amongst the name of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) as Allah says in the Quran “Zikran Rasoolan”…

Allah also puts his own name with the name of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), in the same verse that we are talking about, therefore, Allah is glorifying the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam). If you put the love of the Prophet second, that’s not good enough, because in a race, the one that comes number two, is the first looser followed by many others.

There is usually a sign for everything, similarly, there is a sign for his love. One of the signs for his love is “Shauk (yearning) ” which we will focus on today….

When you hear his name (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), your heart moves, you think about him, you dream about him, he is in your heart, your mind, your thoughts all the time….

A poet says “If you are far away in distances to me, you are in my heart, present and with me. Your image is in my head, your dhikr is always on my tongue, your dhikr is in my heart, where will you go?” We need to check our hearts to see if we have the yearning for the beloved (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam).

The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) said “By the one who has the Nafs of Muhammad, there will be a time when one of you will not see me, then one of you will wish that you will give your whole family and everything you own , just to see me” [Sahih Muslim]

Lets look at some examples of Shauk, so that we can see the love of the Companions (Radiallahu Anhum) towards the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam).

In one of the battle, a woman was waiting, a man came to her and told her “Your husband was next to me in the battle, and he was martyred”… She asks about the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) instead and asked “How is he?”
Another man came and said to her “I was next to your son and husband, both are marytred”… She asked “How is Rasoolullah? “
Another man walked by and told her that her brother is also martyred. She just marched on and looked for the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), and when she saw him eventually, she said “Every calamity happening to other than you is insignificant”.

When Bilal (Radiallahu Anhu) was on his death bed and his family was next to him crying saying “how sad will we be when you are gone”. Bilal (Radiallahu Anhu) said “I have been waiting for this day for a long time, tomorrow I will be with Muhammad and his companions”.

A man from the Shawk of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) every night before he went to bed, he repeated all the names of the Sahaba and then said the name of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam). He then said “Those are my origin, oh Allah my heart falls for them, do not make me leave without seeing them .”


Abdullah Bin Zain (Radiallahu Anhu) was told that the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) passed away and he then made Sujood to Allah and said, “The last thing i saw was your Prophet, take my vision away, so i don’t see anyone other than him”… and Allah accepted his dua…

If there is no Shawk, then the heart does not move when you hear the name of the beloved sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam, then it’s time for resuscitation of the heart, otherwise it’s a sign of Fisq..

Why should we love him ?

1) You should love him because he loves you as Allah mentions in the Quran.

2) He guided us to the path of success, without him we would be perished. He did not leave a good single thing, but showed us how to do it and he did not leave a single bad thing, but showed us how to avoid it.

3) The Prophet recited the verses that Ibrahim (Alaihis Salam) recited and he cried “Oh my lord, my ummah , my ummah”… Allah sent Gibreel to ask him why he was crying after sending his Salams… Allah informed Gibreel “Go and tell Muhammad, that we will give you until you are pleased (Surah Ad-Duhaa) ” . Ask and you will be granted, interceed and you will be granted…

4) Love him because he would have loved to be with you, he would have loved to meet you… He said “I loved to meet my brothers who believed in me, yet who did not see me”… Allah says in the Quran that he is caring about you more than you care about yourself. He use to say , “If any of the believers who die, and they owed people, tell them to come to me and I will pay them back on their behalf”.

5) Loving him in the world has a special effect on the believers. There is a Hadith where a companion asks him about how much time he should spend on making Salah and Salam on him, he said, “Then you will be sufficed from all your hardships in the duniya”.

6) He will benefit you on the day of judgement, his love will help you in the Akhira. As he said “those of you who have the closes seats to me on the day of judgement, will be the one who sends the most Salah and Salam on me”.

Anas (Radiallahu Anhu) said “Allah is my witness that I love Abu Bakr, Umar, the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam)

All the companions present said we have never been so happy about a Hadith, if you do your Faraid and you love the Prophet, you will be with him. We should check our heart and see who we love.


7) A Bedouin came and asked the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) when the day of judgement is, he replied “What have you prepared for it?”. This is an important point and should give us the realisation that we should not waste our time on secondary non important issues and focus on preparing for the Akhira. Our priority list is confused, we are giving other things high priority, we indulge in secondary issues, indulging for the sake of argument. Your Qiyamah is when you die… The Bedouin replied, “Nothing, except I love Allah and his Prophet”. The Prophet then replied “You will be with those whom you love” and I pray that Allah assembles me with them..”

Ibn Ata’Allah said “The heart is either filled with Haqq or Batil, not both, the love of Quran and love of Shaytaan can not be in the same heart.”


The Quran will come as a witness for some, the Masjid will come as a witness for some on the day of judgement. It is natural to feel comfortable at your own house, regardless of where you are, the Awliya of Allah feel most comfortable in the house of Allah, the Masjid..

The lecture should enable us to understand the high status of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), so that we can remember him day and night, so that his image is in front of us all the time, so his Dhikr is on your tongues and in your hearts all the time…..

N.B If you have any questions regarding these notes, please contact the note taker on the e-mail address provided above. All credit and du’as should go to the note taker- I’ve just posted them on this blog in order for people to benefit from them.

Comment by Malina Mokhtar on January 7, 2010 at 6:29am

'Alaikumsalam Sis Ablacem,

Yes, the hadith had its impact on me too. So, I decided to share it with the rest.

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