Short Summary:

دعاء (Du’a) literally means to call out. However, in the context of religion it mean to call out and supplicate to Allah سبحانه و تعالى for one’s needs and to acquire relief from one’s difficulties.

Du’a is a powerful act of worship in Islam which is not only recommended but also instructed by Allah سبحانه و تعال. So much so, that the anger befalls the one who refrains from supplicating to Allah سبحانه و تعال.

Hafidh Imran Ayub, has carefully approached the topic of Du’a and supplications whilst commencing the book with important matters relating to Du’a before embarking on a journey of presenting a wide range and selection of supplications from the Qur’an and Hadith.

He begins by defining the meaning of Du’a followed by beneficial information regarding Du’a such as:

• The importance of safeguarding the tongue
• The virtues of supplicating and making Dhikr
• Supplicating to Allah and to other than Allah
• Seeking a medium for one’s supplications
• The etiquettes of supplication
• The acceptance of Du’a; times, places and people
• Those people whose supplications are not accepted

Thereafter, the author continues to highlight the importance of Salah-alan-Nabi صلى الله عليه و سلم (Durood) and introduces the supplications from the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Rating – Positives and Negatives:

I found this book to be very detailed and simple in explanation. It is written beautifully and highlights points which are not generally found in the books of supplications.

The author has given a complete guide to the topic of supplicating by including those topics which precede one’s Du’a, such as the etiquettes, as well as including the supplications in appropriate and relevent chapters.

Each supplication is mentioned in Arabic with the اعراب / تشكيل as well as giving a detailed reference to the source of the supplication. The Urdu translation of the supplication is mentioned after the Arabic text.

Overall, it is well worth its weight in gold.

May Allah increase the author in knowledge and bless him with Jannatul Firdaus. Aameen.

So far, the physical and mental preparation has worked and there were no ‘major’ signs of the flu or cold in the family. However, we decided to travel to London for an outing and to visit family.

When we reached everything was fine. However, at night it all started…

To cut a long, ‘painful’ story short… I had a severe headache and a cold which kept me up all night. Whilst the kids both caught the ‘bug’ that seems to be going around. They’ve been vomiting all day and feeling quite poorly.

Off to the doctors…

POINT

Its nothing special is it, we all become caught up with various illnesses, bugs and infections throughout the year. Some, unfortunatelty, are inflicted with more severe illnesses.

Where this relates to the physical aspect of the human body, as individuals, we need to ponder over the spiritual body that is not apparent and visible to the naked eye.

The spiritual body of an individual suffers in a similar manner as the physical body. It catches ‘infections’ and becomes ill. At this point in time we should be able to feel the weakness within ourselves. We should be able to sense the vulnerability of our spiritual body and the threat it poses to allow further illnesses to attac the spiritual body and soul.

These infections are due to the sins we commit, at times it is due to the change of the change in atmosphere; our soul is very sensitive and if we nurture it correctly, it will sense the change in atmosphere and react to the negative surroundings.

We need to ensure we take the correct ‘medicine’ for our ailments. At times a simple pain killer or cough syrup can do magic for our physical bodies. At times, a doctor is required. In the same manner, at times sincere repentance can heal the spiritual body but at times a spiritual doctor is required.

May Allah give us all the inclination to look after our spiritual body as well as our physical body. Aameen.

Saying that, many things are fine but over the weeks or months they require replacing as they’ve come to the end of their life cycle.

Anyways, I noticed, especially in the winter, that many of the lights at the exterior of the house were not working. I thought I’d get these done a little later as some of them needed a ladder and changing.

Whilst I was delaying these another tube light started giving up on me. I went down when evening into the kitchen and ‘flicked’ the switch on hoping to be showered with some light. To my disappointment, the light came on for  second and then went off, it then came on again and went off… This cycle of coming on and going off never ended until I had to give in and switch the light off again.

POINT

So what’s all this about a tube light you may ask? Well it got me thinking about spiritual enlightenment.

The lights in our house our hearts require regular maintainance. Without the lights in our house we can end up walking into furniture and other items of our house; we could end up at the wrong destination.

In the same manner the light within our heart requires regular maintainence. Without we could walk into all kinds of troubles, trials and tribulations. To the extent that we could be walking in the complete opposite direction of our intended destination.

The spiritual body is very delicate and it requires a lot of nurturing and attention. Any neglect from our behalf could leave our lives in darkness and destruction.

May Allah تعالى give us all the inclination and understanding to keep our hearts enlightened through His remembrance. May He guide us through this divine light so that we can reach our destination in this world and the Hereafter. Aameen.

The month of Ramadhan has said to be a gift to the believing men and women as it is a month of purification and strengthening of one’s Imaan. It is during this month that we have been given the opportunity to direct our entire efforts in the worship of Allah سبحانه و تعالى.

We strive to cleanse ourselves and our hearts of all sins and evils so that we can be stronger in our conviction and through this acquired strength we can worship Allah for the remaining year.

The gift of Ramadhan is from Allah alone. None can bless us with a gift as blessed as Ramadhan. However, we can make every effort to continue reforming ourselves to ensure we remain close to Allah سبحانه و تعالى.

The chores of this worldly life leave us little time to spend in the path of Allah and our worldly obligations are far more time-consuming than the time we set aside for the worship of Allah سبحانه و تعالى.

In an effort to ensure one’s connection with Allah سبحانه و تعالى remains strong and concrete, even amidst our preoccupation with this world, it is vital to pay attention to the nutritional requirements of the heart. This requirement is found within spiritualism and confining one’s self to concentrate and ponder over the reason of our existence.

The above event is an aim to gather upon a single purpose, to refrain from the temptation of being diverted from the remembrance of Allah سبحانه و تعالى; be it through the various forms of activities widespread during this period of the year or through mere idleness during the public holiday period.

The event consists of recitation of the Qur’an, talks by prominent scholars and Anasheed. Its gathering will be blessed with Qira’ah and salutations upon our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم.

Following is an itinerary for the event:

All brothers should make an effort to attend the event whilst sisters can tune in on the local receiver (454:700 mhz) or listen live at jameah.co.uk

اهل دل كے دل سے نكلے آه آه بس يہي ہے اصلي خانقاه

“Where the sighs emerge from the beloved of Allah, this is in reality the Khanqah (place of seclusion and reformation)”

[Hadhrat Hakeem Akhtar Sahib]

زاد راه – Zaad-e-Raah

Short Summary:

This world is not our final abode, every person who enters this world is a traveller and is upon a journey; like any journey a traveller is required to take provisions
for the trip so that he can reach his destination safely and comfortably. Furthermore, each traveller needs to take provisions for his destination also.

In the same manner, each person is a traveller and his abode and destination is the Hereafter, Jannah. He is required to take the correct provisions for this journey; and there is no better provisions for the Hereafter than ‘good deeds.’

Maulana Jaleel Ahsan Nadwi, has carefully chosen and selected a handful of beautiful flowers from the garden of Ahadeeth of out beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. These Ahadeeth are a selection of advices for us for this great journey of ours as well as selected good deeds that will aid as a great provision on this journey.

Rating – Positives and Negatives:

I personally enjoyed this book as it was full of Ahadeeth containing advices and guidance for people of all type. Every person is able to relate to these Ahadeeth and can adopt the advices within into their own lifestyles.

I would give extra credit to that author for providing the اعراب on the Arabic as well as giving a reference for each hadeeth along with its direct narrator.

However, I spotted a few typing errors in the Ahadeeth which only a person who had knowledge of Hadeeth would be able to recognise and acknowledge. This may be the mistake of the printers and possibly a second edition may have corrected text within it.

Overall, it is well worth its weight in gold.

May Allah increase the author in knowledge and bless him with Jannatul Firdaus. Aameen.

بَيْنَا رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صَلى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ قاعِدٌ اِذْ دَخَلَ رَجُلٌ فصَلّى فقالَ: اللهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِيْ وَ ارْحَمْنِيْ فقالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صَلّى اللهُ عَليْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ: عَجَلتَ اَيُّهاَ المُصَلِي إذا صَلَّيْتَ فَقعَدْتَ فاحْمِدِ اللهَ بِمَا هُوَ اَهْلُهُ وَ صَلِّي عَلَيَّ ثُمَّ ادْعُهُ. قالَ ثُمَّ صَلَّى رَجُلٌ آخَرَ بَعْدَ ذلِكَ فَحَمِدَ اللهَ وَ صَلَّى عَلى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ فقالَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ: اَيُّهَا المُصَلِّى ادْعُ تُجَبْ

Whilst the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم was once seated (in the Masjid) a man entered and offered his prayers thereafter he said (whilst supplicating): “O Allah! Forgive me and have mercy upon me.”

(After hearing this) Rasoolullah صلى الله عليه و سلم responded: “O Musallee (performer of prayer)! You have rushed (into supplicating). When you finish praying and then you sit (to supplicate), then praise Allah in a manner He is worthy of and send blessings upon me and then ask from Him.”

Thereafter, another man offered his prayers and then he praised Allah and sent salutations upon the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. The Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said (to him): “O Musallee! Ask and you shall be granted”

[Tirmidhi / Nasaai / at-Targheet wat Tarheeb]

إنَّ الدُّعَاءَ مَوْقُوْفٌ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَ الارْض لا يَصْعَدُ مِنْهُ شَيْئٌ حَتّى تُصَلِّيَ عَلى النَّبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ

Indeed a supplication remains remains between the sky (heavens) and the earth, it does not proceed until you send salutations upon your Nabi صلى الله عليه و سلم.

[Hadhrat 'Umar رضي الله عنه]

Explanation

The above Hadith and Athar of Hadhrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه make it quite clear that when one intends to supplicate then he should raise his hands and not haste into asking for what he desires but instead he should praise Allah Ta’ala in a manner which He is worthy of thereafter he should send salutations upon the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم.

Indeed a supplication without these two qualities and ingredients remains incomplete; such a Du’a leaves the ground but does not reach the sky; it remains hanging in between the two.

To resolve this issue, and to ensure that it did not reoccur, he came out with the solution of backing his phone’s contact list on to his computer as well as his email account.

Whilst mentioning the same thing to some other students gave an amazing thought provoking comparison to the Hereafter. He said,

It is amazing as to how dependant we are on our worldly contacts list. We go through many means to ensure that it is safeguarded and backed up. Yet have we ever thought about the contacts that we will require in the Hereafter? What will happen to us on that Day if we have lost all our contacts?

This made me ponder over the many times my Shaykh and respected teachers have mentioned the need to keep pious company and to attend the Majalis (gatherings) of the ‘Ulamaa (Scholars).

In this world they are a source of guidance and in the Hereafter we will be indebted to them for their guidance. They will be our contacts in the Hereafter and Insha Allah our constant contact with them in this world we will be our safeguarding and backup of our contacts so that we are not stranded without any contacts in the Hereafter.

May Allah give us all the inclination to occupy the gatherings of the pious and to take heed of their guidance and advices. Aameen.

If we were to glance at our phone’s contact list… How many contacts would we find of pious people? If we don’t have many, how often is it that we keep in touch with such personalities?

I also have a number of blogs which takes up a considerable amount of time to update on a regular basis.

Therefore, you will find on this site, a collaboration of posts from my various blogs. Over the coming days, I will start importing posts over from my various sites and make them available on this site.

Some of the main I have therefore, with the advice of some friends, readers and fellow bloggers reverted back to my wordpress blog, zain121.wordpress.com.

I am consolidating all my blogs and publishing my posts at one central site. This will allow me to focus my attention at one site and therefore enable to post regularly.

However, at the same time, I will maintain the theme of my current blogs which were kept separate for this very reason.

In zain121.blogspot.com I was concentrating on life experiences and lessons learnt from them as well as the thoughts that run through my mind and remind me of my Creator.

In simplyislam.blogspot.com I introduced a range of educational Islamic material that people could refer to and benefit from.

And finally, zainulabedeen.blogspot.com was a collection of teachings and experiences from my days of studying at Darul Uloom (Islamic Institution) as well as the lessons I learnt I also include the words of wisdoms from my respected teachers and their biographies.

Also included on the wordpress site will be my collections from my zain121.freeforums.org site. This will include event notifications, book reviews, biographies, poetry and various other topics.

All in all, I pray that this is a positive step forward in the collaboration of the various different themes I have mentioned and that it proves to benefit me and its readers.

If you are receiving subscriptions from this site, please add a new subscription to www.zain121.wordpress.comfor all future posts.

Well, an incident which occurred a couple of days back reminded of this ‘buy one get one free’ term. My friend was standing, frustrated, in front of a vending machine as his £1 coin was rejected one after another. So I swapped a £1 which I had and, as usual, it ‘did the job’… out came the drink…

Hold on… out came TWO drinks.

It’s not uncommon for this vending machine to make this sort of an error as highlighted by previous users. Now my friend already had paid for his drink and gave me the other drink which was ‘buy one get one free’. What else could he have done with an extra drink.

I took the drink; both of us grinning at the bargain we had got, £0.75 for a drink is a fair price as compared to the extreme price of £1.50. Being happy with the price he paid we both left.

On my way, whilst having this drink I was questioning myself of whether this drink was okay for me to take and this returned my thoughts to three episodes:

1. Once a disciple of Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi رحمه الله came to visit him with his son. He travelled from his home to meet the Shaikh through the means of a train.

Whilst convercing with the Shaikh the disciple stated his ‘cleverness’ of getting a half price ticket for his son who was of age yet was short enough to look as a minor.

Upon hearing this the Shaikh was furious and informed the disciple of his lack of understanding for even the basics of the religion.

2. An incident which I came accross in a few forums where a Imam was taking a bus from him home into the town centre. The bus driver gave him £0.20 extra to which the Imam was having thoughts of keeping or giving it back. He felt that it was a minor amount but regardless he decided that it should be returned.

The bus driver was aware that the Imam had been given an extra amount but was doing this to test the Imam for the sole reason that the bus driver was thinking of studying Islam.

This made the Imam think and realise that he could have ‘sold’ Islam for the mere sum of £0.20

3. The final incident is of a person who was once travelling by river and saw an apple floating. He took the apple and ate it only to realise afterwards that he had taken something without prior permission. He went out of his way to search for this person in order to recompense him for the apple he had taken.

Once he found the owner he agreed to marry his ‘dumb’, ‘deaf’ and ‘blind’ daughter as a price for that apple. In reality the daughter was regarded the above for her purity as she would hear, see and speak no evil.

Once the person married the owner’s daughter he found that she was neither deaf, dumb or blind. On enquiring about this, he was told that she had never used her ears, tongue or eyes for any unlawful activity.

Having thought of this, I ensured that we contacted the venders and informed them of this, who of course found it a little strange. Nevertheless, it was a common thing with the machines and was accounted for. Therefore, we were told not to worry about it.

Point

A few quick points to not lengthen the long post any further:

1. As we look for ‘BOGOF’ offers in this world, we should also take full benefits of these offers when Allah سبحانه و تعالى opens His ‘shop’ of mercy. These are times such as Ramadhan and regularly at Tahajjud time and on Laylat-ul-Bara’ah and Laylat-ul-Qadr.

2. We are quick to read labels of food items to see their contents and check to animal ingredients. However, we should pay more attention to neglected matters such as the manner in which we have acquired this food item. Have we caused someone difficulty to obtain this? Have we earned the money through a Halal medium? Have the shopkeeper charged us less by mistake or given us back more change?

3. We should never underestimate the effect of our actions on others. We can never be sure who is looking and judging us, and more importantly our religion, through our actions. We may not be informed of the consequences of our actions, but we can be rest assured that each of our actions are judged by people and opinions are made in regards to us and our religion. Ultimately, Allah is and will judge us in accordance to our actions and efforts.

May we all be given the strength to keep a constant watch over our actions. Aameen.