Aishah: A Paragon of Islamic Activism

By Sheikh Ahmad Kutty

‘A’ishah, the mother of the faithful, exemplifies the character of a Muslim nurtured from an early age in a pristine Islamic environment. Having been educated by the best of all teachers, the messenger of Allah, she serves as a role model for the perfection that Muslims can aspire for and attain.

It is actually a multifaceted role that the life of ‘A’ishah provides us with. They range from the private to the public and from the domestic to the scholarly. Among these roles was the ever important one of being a mother of the faithful and as such, she manifested the best of Islamic ideals as outlined in the Qur’an. Generosity, selflessness, honesty and the pursuit of justice and truth were among the ideals more prominent in ‘A’ishah’s character.

As a student, she rose from an intelligent youth, with a critical and probing mind to a highly effective and successful teacher, scholar and jurist, who held firm and bold views in all of the vital areas of Islamic knowledge such as tafsir, hadith, fiqh, Islamic history, nuances of Arabic language, etc. One of her hallmarks was being courageous and forthright in expressing these views. ‘A’ishah’s assertiveness, confidence and outspokenness for standing up for what she believed to be true and right explodes the stereotype prevailing even among Muslims today of the “rightful” role for Muslim women – that of being a silent witness prevented by her femininity from participating in the real live of the community.

Her unparalleled insight into the daily life of the messenger of Allah as well as the independence of her thought and character brought her life into sharp focus from other personalities of the time.


read on...

Taste of exam-free days yet to come

Another update

Legally, today was the last day of my exam. But where's the freedom of exam-free days!!! Well, see, I still have a deferred exam to do ... that is, if my lecturer accepts my 'special consideration' form. If she doesn't, well that's another unit added to next year. Drats.


ps. the little ants on my table, coming in and out of my keyboard, are really starting to bug me ....... hehe, ants ... bugging .... haha!!!

...And now for an update ... something about "sock-fluffs"

I come in Peace,

Just to make a little update. A loooooong post is coming up, for my own reading a couple of years later, which none of my viewers need to read.

Anyhow:
Sock Fluff - the new name given to the lint that comes off socks. (a term invented by the boy)

Money money money ... scarier than honey ... actually honey isn't scary at all; very yummy infact...

Salams one and all,

Me scared. Quite scared. Having done a very bad job in the position of Da'wah and Liason assistant, I am freqen scared about being a treasurer at CMS. Yup, that's what I am. A treasurer. HP, HELP!!!!! Mind you, I had to agree to be a treasurer so that it would be a female being Sister's Rep. ... which is Upi!!! yeaaaaaay!!!
Ya Allah, pleeeease help me improve in whatever position I take on as a Muslimah and a representative of Muslims..... *sniff* please make dua for me, y'all.


On a different note ....... HAHAHA!!!! Can't get out of my mind the smile on Sami Yusuf's face in Hasbi Rabbi!!! .... rofl .... Don't get me wrong. I loved the video. But I think they could have done better if they had different Muslims, men and women, in the different scenes/countries, to represent the love and kindness that Muslims all over the world should portray, not just one man doing so all over the world. Although the words and film techniques were quite good. I'm one of those who don't support the use of music, so I didn't really like the bit where Yusuf reads Qur'an and then joins the concert.




AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! Too many distractions!!!! What am I doing on the net!!!! Gotta get back to my diseases!!!!!!!!!!!! ............... Fellow bloggers, please make dua for me that I ... pass my "disease" exam.



Right, if I don't manage to get back to studying within the next 5 min, I'm gonna start ripping my hair off, and ye shall witness A Bald Emu!!!


Salams

Unexpected Kindness

This happened sometime at the end of last year or the beginning of this year (not entirely sure):
So there I was just stepped out of the train and walking (very fast) on a hot summer's day (probably summer 'cause I usually don't catch a bus otherwise) towards the bus stop, trying very hard to keep my aabeyya (is that how it's spelt? ... sheeeeesh!! I'm so incompetent at spelling) from flowing all around me. And just as I get within 10meters of the bus, the door slams shut and the bus starts to pull out; ... the driver had not seen me. "Aaaaah, nuts!!", I think to myself, "It's gonna be a looong walk home". Soooooo I make an about-turn and start walking along the road that my bus also takes ... and whaddo ya know! - the huge vehicle makes a stop when it comes beside me and the door opens!!! The drivers asks me if I wanted to catch this bus.
How very nice of him! Most of the bus drivers of my uni wouldn't do that. In fact, I heard of an account of the total opposite of this kindness. A friend was telling me that the bus driver shut the door in her face! But then there are the jolly fellows who always smile (either that or they just have a smiling face) and are always nice to you. Good on them.

Now onto other news under the headline of "It's good to see that the efforts of most of the psychologists in Bangladesh are not going to waste."
Beloved mother and I went for dawat to a neighbour's house a few days ago, who at that time had probably planned to watch some "Eid special" natoks airing on a Bangladeshi channel. The natok hadn't started yet and there were some 15-20 ads playing. They are soooooo funny!!! (Pecularly and pathetically funny, not haha funny). I don't suppose Bangladesh has many, if any, psychologists working for ad companies, which is a relief 'cause so many talents and professions in Bangladesh already either go to waste, or out of the country. The ads don't seem to apply much more of conditioned learning knowledge apart from chucking in some songs and music. And, sheeesh, they use those a lot; there is not one ad without them!!!
Let me give you an example - Soyabean oil ad; husband comes home, and husband and wife have a very sing-song-y conversation:
Husband: এই, খানাপিনা কই?
Wife: এই, সয়াবিন তেল কই? (in a very ঢঙি way)
Husband: ও, ভুলে গেছি। নিয়ে আসি। (or something like that)
They they're seen eating and singing (literally) praises of how healthy and tasty their brand of "Soyabean tel" is. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be convinced into buying that from watching that ad.

To Him we come from, to Him we belong, and to Him is our return for He is the holder of our souls, our Creator, Most merciful.

.

"ইমা শোনো, তোমার দাদু ... আর নেই।"


মৃত্তু সংবাদ কিভাবে দিতে হয় আমার জানা নেই।

Please make dua' for him.


One question has been playing over and over again in my mind - "Can a person be anymore helpless than after his death?"

Ammu called my chachi's house and chachi told us about dadu before he passed away. At the time my choto chachu and boro fupi were with him. SubhanAllah, he was saying salams to no one visible. And he said once "Wait, let me just say some things to my sons".

I've heard somewhere that you can't say that a person is good until he has passed away. I think I can safely say that my dadu was a very good person. Afflicted with aplastic anaemia (anaemia doesn't sound serious, but in Bd, because of the lack of its proper treatment, aplastic anaemia can be serious), he suffered before he died. I pray to Allah that he wiped away some of his sins from that suffering.

I'm afraid that a few weeks/months later ammu or abbu will come and say the same thing about my dadumoni. Allah please let me see her before u take her.

Hardening of the Heart

Salams one and all who may have gotten curious about this new blogger,

I received this little peice in email a few years back from the "brothermalcolmx" yahoo group. The very first time I read it, I don't recall that I lost my focus on the article even once, which is extremely surprising for me. Back then, I was very moved by it because I realised that I have a bad habit of all three things mentioned in the article. And today, standing at a much lower ground in relation to those three points, (and I'm ashamed to say this) I ammuch less moved by it. Oh Allah, please guide me and shower me with Your Mercy and Patience.

Well, here it is, and I hope you benefit from it as much as possible...

Imam Ibn Al Qayyim - rahimahaullah - said:

The slave is not afflicted with a punishment greater than the hardening of the heart and being distant from Allah. For the Fire was created to melt the hardened heart. The most distant heart from Allah is the heart which is hardened. If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry.

They (the transgressors) preoccupied their hearts [in the pursuance] of the Dunya, would that they preoccupied them with Allah and the Hereafter, then surely they would have reflected upon the intended meaning of His poignant Words and Verses. Their hearts would have returned to their masters with a wisdom, marvelously curious and [in possession] of the rarest of precious gems.

If the heart is nourished with remembrance, its thirst quenched with contemplation and cleansed from corruption, it shall witness remarkable and wondrous matters, inspiring wisdom.

Not every individual is endowed with knowledge and wisdom, and assumes its character is from amongst its people. Rather the People of Knowledge and Wisdom are those who infused life into their hearts by slaying their desires. As for the one who slayed his heart and vitalized his desires, then knowledge and wisdom is naked upon his tongue.

The destruction of the heart occurs by security [in this Dunya] and negligence, its fortification occurs by fear and remembrance. If the heart renounces the pleasures of the Dunya, it settles upon the [pursuance] of the pleasures of the Hereafter, and amongst those who call towards it. Should the heart become content with the pleasures of the Dunya, those pleasures [of the Hereafter] cease [to continue].

Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquil, and whosoever sent it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed.

Hence, the most beloved servant before Allah is the one whom He places in His servitude, whom He selects for His love, whom He causes to purify his worship for Him, dedicates his objectives for Him, his tongue for His remembrance, and his limbs for His service.

The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah and protection [from transgression]. It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty, and its clarity is obtained by remembrance. It becomes naked as the body becomes naked, and its beautification is al- Taqwa. It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry, and its food and drink is knowledge, love, dependence, repentance and servitude.

Suggestions

Salams all,

I'm in need of suggestions. I have absolutely no idea about what to get for a 19-yr-old dude (ie. the Boy). So if any of you have any suggestions, please tell me. But make sure it's something around $20 (I'm not very rich).

Ok, I will go now; for if I do not go away, the comforting food will not come to me.

Ma'assalaama

Crying at night... A believer between fear, love, longing, and hope

Source: Sunnipath.com

Q: The issue is that I cry a lot in the evening, especially lying in my bed and at Isha time, when I think about my sins and about my grave and my reckoning with Allah. I get very depressed and feel that the only place for me is Hell, the Fire.

A:
1 . Crying: It is of the great works of the heart to weep in reverence, fear, longing, and love for Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “There are two eyes that the Fire will not touch: eyes that wept in fear of Allah, and eyes that stayed up guarding in the way of Allah.” [Tirmidhi]

And he also mentioned (peace and blessings be upon him) seven people whom Allah will shade in His shade, on a Day when there is no other shade, and included among them, “...and a person who remembered Allah when alone until their eyes flowed with tears.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

2. We don’t just fear Allah: we have love, longing, hope, and joy in Him too…

Allah has blessed us with the straight and upright path of Islam, which is essentially balanced and moderate in its outlook. Part of this balance is that a Muslim does not only fear Allah: we also have great hope in Allah, for Allah is the Merciful, Compassionate, and Loving.

His Beloved Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) told us that when Allah ordained creation, He wrote on His Throne, “Verily, My Mercy outstrips my Wrath.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Allah tells us in the Qur’an, Al Baqara:186 : “And when My servants question You concerning Me, then surely I am near. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when they cry unto Me. So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me, in order that they may be led aright.”

And He tells us the way, Al Baqara:152-153 : “Therefore remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me, and reject Me not. O you who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. Lo! Allah is with the steadfast.”

We all have shortcomings. Allah has called us to turn to Him, Al Baqara:222 : “Truly Allah loves those who turn unto Him, and loves those who purify themselves.”

The way to this is repentance, and turning towards Allah in obedience and love. For every step you take towards Allah, Allah draws closer to you beyond imagination.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that Allah Most High said, “I am as My servants think of Me, and I am with them when they make remembrance of Me. So if they remember Me to themselves, I remember them to Myself. And if they remember me in a gathering, I remember them in a gathering better than theirs. If they draw closer to Me by a handspan, I draw closer to them by an arm’s length. And if they draw closer to Me by an arm’s length, I draw closer to them by two arm’s lengths. If they come walking to Me, I hasted to them.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

The scholars explain that the servant’s drawing close is by seeking to follow the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by performing good works, obligatory and voluntary, and seeking high inward states (such as reverence, love, and thankfulness), and Allah’s drawing close is through giving reward, spiritual illumination, and enveloping them in His Mercy and Love.

Thus, when we realize our shortcomings, we weep over them, repent to Allah, but move forward, for our reliance and hope is not in our works but in the Mercy and Concern of Allah for us. A Muslim is thus an optimist, because while recognizing our shortcomings, faults, and errors, we also realize that Allah gives: our duty is simply to ask and then take the right means.

And Allah has told us, Al Ankabut:69 : “As for those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths, and lo! Allah is with the good.”

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam.Faraz Rabbani.