June 21 , 2009 Explanation of Madarij AsSaleekeen Biography Ibnul Qayim represents the correct methodology when it comes to soul

purification (Tazkiyat AnNafs) Name: Abu Abdullah Shams AdDeen Mohammad bin Abi Bakr bin Ayub Kunyah: Ibn Qayim AlJawziyah or Ibnul Qayim 1. Father was the supervisor of AlMadrasa AlJawziyah hence the name. 2. Father was a scholar, a worshipper and righteous slave th Born 691 H 14 Century He sought knowledge at age of 7 at the school and met with various scholars from whom he learned about manners..etc. He became known for his ebadah (worship) he would have very long rukoo and very long sujood to the point that other scholars told him he should decrease. But he didnt due to the connection he had with Allah subhanahu wa taala. Ibn Rajab said about him: I have never seen anyone like Ibnul Qayim. Ibnul Qayim stayed with Ibn Taymiah for 17 years and met him at 21 years of age and stayed with him until his death. Had great students: bin Katheer, bin Rajab, Athahaby He wrote many books ~30: 1. Aqeedah: spoke against those who misunderstood the names and attributes of Allah 2. Fiqh: Zadul Mi3aad wrote it as he was travelling and quoted from 100 different sources (shows you how much he had memorized) 3. Usul ul Fiqh: Ilaam Al Mowaqe3een 4. Rawdatul Muhebeen: about love Had a grand huge library his son inherited the books, and there were so many that there was enough books to keep for himself and he sold some to get money 1. **The student of knowledge is attached to his books and constantly reads == the book is closer to him than his own children. 2. If this is in regards to peoples books, then what about the book of Allah. The point is not to just stack books but to actually read it. In this course we will ask ourselves, what is the relationship of my heart with Allah? This course will be a practical course. You need to change your life to implement what you learn here The day that neither wealth or children will be of benefit, except the one who comes with a good heart Money is what keeps us busy work shouldnt be what defines our schedule but our deen should Children how much time is spent in this pursuit alone! Time spent to look for a spouse, going on Nikah.com, and then only to have kids that distract you. Procrastination after finals Ill seek knowledge, after work, and after I got married, now theres no time for knowledge. If you are not increasing your eman, youre decreasing. Subject Matter: Your Journey to Allah Madarij AsSalekeen talks about Surat AlFatiha () 1. the goal 2. achieving the goal 3. the road that leads to the goal I have divided the prayer between me and my slave (hadith) *This is between me and my slave youre getting personal with Allah - you can get personal with Allah Ibnul Qayim divides Surat AlFatiha into 3 parts: First Half: About Allah (First 3 verses) Divider: ( about Allah) ( about us) Second Half: About us (last 3 verses) Tawheed is composed of 3 parts Alhamdolilah = praise; ascribing perfection to Allah () 1. comes from which is a ? of Tawheed Aluluhiyah ( - onenesss of worship / singling Allah in our worship)

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3 = evidences of rububiyah is 1. Creation ( )First you need to create the universe 2. Owns it ( )Then, is there anything that Allah doesnt own? 3. Administration (" " ) is plural for universe. comes from its a sign to the existence of God = the most merciful, the one who disposes mercy 1. is the general rahma ( ) Allah created the world for all creation (from his general rahma) 2. These are from the names and attributes of Allah = owner; from the names and attributes = this divider includes the goal and the means; the first part ( ) is the goal and ( ) is the means; you seek his help because he is Rabb because he is able, that is why a lot of the dua starts with rab. So Rububiyah necessitates uluhiyah 1. is the detached pronoun () 2. The name Allah contains all the other names of Allah, thats why its called Asmaa Allah Alhusna, not Asmaa ArRahman Alhusna etc. = this is a duaa and before it mentioned tawheed; this is one way of making tawasul to Allah (with good deeds, and the other way is with the names and attributes of Allah). 1. This is the path ( )seeking guidance from Allah

For A Traveler 1. = seeking to go to Allah this requires ikhlas; purity of intentions (only Allah and nothing else you seek) 2. the actual effort put to achieve that goal this requires sincerity Deficiencies in the first two requirements: Whoever seeks knowledge to argue with the ignorant, compete with the scholars or direct the people towards (him to be famous), then he is in the fire Or a person may have efforts; he memorizes ahadeth/ayat, comes to classes, but what about his matloob? He must not desire anyone else in this world. Why should you when Allah says: And finality is at your Lord ( ) and He said it doesnt make sense to seek someone else when all things will return to Allah. Or someone wants to go to Jannah, but he doesnt pray Fajr in the masjid; he hears the hadith about whoever prays the two cool prayers in Jama3ah enters Paradise but he doesnt believe in it because he doesnt do it. A person doesnt take notes, no change, no efforts he can have all the ikhlas that he wants, but wont be able to travel! Today people forget about Allah and think of creation.. well, why should only He be the goal? 1. Who has authority to say so and so will enter Jannah? Only Him. Aisha (radiya Allahu anha) reports: One day the sun was eclipsed. Gods Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, performed the prayer of eclipse and then explained: Surely, the sun and the moon are two of Gods signs. When you witness an eclipse, pray until it ends. By God, in this place where I have performed the prayer I have seen everything promised to me. When you saw me move forward during the prayer, I did that to take a cluster of grapes which appeared to me from Paradise. Again, by God, when you saw me move backward, I did that because I saw Hell roaring with its parts piling one upon another. (bukhari) Imagine this is the Prophet with the most khusho3, and he wanted to grab its fruit. Imagine Jannah now, if this is just the fruits, then what about the rest? The palaces in Jannah are made of bricks of silver and bricks of gold, and its cement is perfume. These are the palaces of Jannah. Its rocks are pearls and jewels, its sand is saffron, under the houses are rivers flowing rivers of honey, milk that never spoils, and rivers of wine. Does it make sense to go to anybody else? And when the people enter paradise, Allah will call out, Where are those people who used to obey me and never saw me? The people will respond: . So Allah will tell them, So ask of me. And so they will all agree upon wanting to see His beloved face, then Allah will lift the veil, and nothing then will be more sweeter in their eyes than looking at the face of Allah subhanahu wa taala. You know hurul 3een, greater than that is looking at Allah. Tazkiyah comes before learning the Quran and the Sunnah; if the hearts are not clean, then the ayat and the ahadeeth wont benefit us. 3.

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Allah subhanahu wa taala has showered us with his blessings, from joints, peace, and security Prophet said the everyday on every joint of the son of Adam, theres a sadaqa. This is only the perceptive rahma; which is more important now, the perceptive rahma or the spiritual rahma? Surat AlFatiha - The companions were travelling somewhere and they went to a village of which the people didnt provide them with food, but later needed their help to cure a sick person. So the companion read Surat AlFatiha over the sick person and it benefited him.. what about if it is recited over a Muslim? (sick person might have been not muslim?) Surat AlFatiha is a cure of physical sickness and spiritual sickness. It contains a dua of guidance, not to make us go astray Allah says: ( ) is mentioned in the singular form meaning, only one road gets to Allah is plural meaning, there are more than one way to be led astray Allah says, is plural (darknesses) Light is singular The Prophet drew a line on the ground and stemming from it are smaller, shorter lines. Then he said that the long straight line is the siratul mustaqeem and the shorter lines are paths leading away from it, and on each path is a Shaytan calling to it. So do not be saddened or disheartened by the number of people who stick to this one, straight path. AlFudayl ibn Aiyad said: Dont be diverted by the few who walk on the path and be aware of ways of falsehood and dont be fooled by the number of losers : It is a natural inclination to go with the majority (peer pressure), but he is saying this during his time! Quantity is not what defines the truth; on the day of judgment, a Prophet will come with one follower and another will come with none. One shouldnt be distracted by the way of Shaytan. Ikhlas by itself doesnt amount to anything, must lead the correct path. o A man can have all the ikhals and he wants to go pray, but he meets someone who wants to fight him, so he gets distracted. o The deer runs faster than the dog, however once the deer looks at the dog, it weakens it so the dog is now able to hunt him. Allah says, , if thats so then you should be on the siratul mustaqeem as well. Look at those already trading this path: That is the best company! Prophet Mohamed, Prophet Isa and those who walked on this path are sufficient for me to follow. Taste the sweetness of Eman; if Allah and his Messenger are more beloved to your heart than anything else! candy is sweet as long as you eat it, and so as long as you prefer Allah and His Messenger over everything else, you will taste the sweetness of eman :

How to Travel? : " Religion is easy, and no one overburdens himself in his religion (except that it will overwhelm him) but he will be unable to continue in that way. So do not be extremists, but try to be near perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded. Gain strength by worshipping in the mornings and afternoons and during the last hours of the night. Hadith Analyzed Overburdening oneself is by not taking the licenses of Allah Try your best to do what you are required to do ( )meaning, if you cant hit the target, then hit close to the target and think about the reward. Seek assistance through the time after salatul fajr and then the time after zawaal (when sun reaches zenith point) and from a portion of the night the best times to travel.

The Prophet sallah Allahu alehe wa salem wasnt give a choice over two matters except that he choose the easier of the two, so long as it was not a sin. Points of Benefit 1. If a person on a journey decides that he should travel for 24 hours continuously, then he probably wont continue for so long due to exhaustion. But if someone divides the travel time, so he travels a little bit during the cool times of the day, and then rests for some time and so on, he will be able to travel for longer. a. This points out the importance of continuity this is the secret to seeking knowledge and the secret to developing your acts of worship. Prophet sallah Allahu alehe wa salem said, The most beloved acts of worship to Allah are the most continuous even if theyre little i. A person who listens to a lecture about Quran may intend in the first night to finish reading three juz then he gets burnt out*** However, if you read one page a day and one hadith a day and continue with that until you are comfortable with it, then you increase. ii. This attitude is between two extremes: laziness and strictness 1. A lazy person doesnt read the Quran everyday or a hadith continuity requires sincerity ( )and honesty. a. The guidance of Tawfiq is that Allah guides you to the truth b. The guidance of direction is that you have to continuously seek that knowledge/guidance i. If you are not reading the Quran everyday and the hadith everyday, then how do you expect to receive that guidance? ii. Asiraat Almustaqeen is as dictated by the Quran and Sunnah according to the way of the companions () *

June 28 , 2009 And made you successors on earth and raised you above one another (daragat) leyablowakum Steps rizq, deen, knowledge this is so to test you Preparation to the Journey A group of men came to the Prophet, sallah Allahu alehe wa salem, asking him if it was permissible to make wudu with sea water. Prophet responded they were on a journey and were concerned about provision to that journey. So the Prophet answered their question and he also gave them extra information as he is rahma lel3alameen (mercy to all). He is directing them to what they need for their journey. Preparation is needed for any travel, then what about your travel to Allah subhanahu wa tala. There has to be preparation. Four Matters: 1. Be Awake ( ) a. Allah says in surat Saba, Say, I exhort you to one thing, That you stand for Allah in pairs and individually" this standing requires you to be awake, not to be in state of sleep. He made comparison, when athan is given ( come to success) now for fajr time, the person can only come to success if hes awake, thats why theres . b. Should not be in state of heedlessness. , Surely you were in a state of heedlessness and today we removed the cover from you and your vision is sharp i. result of it is a covering over the eyes and so you cant see. ii. Khatam Allah 3ala qulubehim wa 3ala sam3ehim wa 3ala absarehem. Allah has sealed their hearts (intellect -- > cant derive correct conclusion) and then sealed ears and mentioned covered with eyes. Because theyre in state of 3afla, they dont want to use intellect c. Two types i. Major Heedlessness- about deen in totality 1. I dont care if theres a god or not, dont need a religion; no need to find the truth; totally heedless about purpose of life and wisdom of creation. They are worse than sheep. ii. Muslim but is heedless about certain areas 1. In reading the Quran (have you read the book of Allah?); doesnt pay attention to making istighfar; in 3afla regarding to salah, acts of worship (al sunnah al mo2akadah) a. Whoever prays 12 raka in day and night, Allah builds for him a house in jannah i. The two raka of fajr are better than the world and whats in it. ii. With Imam Ahmad, everyday youll see something new or increase in the act of worship; this is the sign that theres no 3afla. d. How to wake up? i. Look at the blessings of Allah: 1. AlMaidah 20, Oh my people, Remember the blessings of Allah ii. Believe that the source of blessings is only Allah ( ) if person thinks it came from him, because of his intelligence, its ( self-admiration) and nullifies ikhlas. This blessing can be taken away. 1. Never feel that you deserve those blessings then youd fall into self-admiration; that Allah owes you those blessings. This nullifies ikhals. There was a person who worshipped Allah for 500 years and died in sujud, and on the day of Judgment Allah said, Enter Jannah with my mercy. The slave responded, Oh Allah, but it is with my action. So a scale was brought forth, all the acts of worship were placed on one side and the blessing of sight alone (seeing) on the other side; that blessing outweighed 500 years of worship. So the slave said, By your mercy Allah by your mercy! a. Whatever Allah gave you, you make shukr iii. If you were to count the blessings of Allah, you will never be able to enumerate them. Greater blessings: eman, islam, the deen if you understand that you cant count the blessings.. a. Some people will never have the opportunity to say Allahu Akbar, or say Muhumadun Rasol Allah, or to love Allah and they will die like that. How do you realize the value of these blessings, you look at Ahlul 3afla 3an al eman wat itbi3a3 deen Allah. Look at the blessing that you follow Mohammad sallah Allahu alehe wa salem. i. And the akhera is a blessing of Ahlul jannah ii. People of jannah will say after everything has been completed: We have found what Allah has promised us to be true, have you found what Allah promised

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you to be true? The people of the hell fire will say Yes. From the blessings of people of Jannah is to see people of Nar experiencing punishment. So they will ask them for some water but Surely the water has been made haram on you iv. The slave will believe that hes not deserving of any, yet he receives blessings every second. He realizes his deficiency in shkur and realizes that he also has sins! Self-Purification () Make tawhbah/istighfar; when was the last time you made tawbah to Allah? Made istighfar? Dunya v. The opportunities to purify oneself from sins are many: from Ramadan to Ramadan and from jumuah to jumuah and from prayer to prayer, its a means of forgiveness for the time in between, so long as you avoid the major sins vi. If the slave bears the calamities with patience, its means of purification if he doesnt curse, but withhold and holds back from showing any complaint or any disregard or disrespect. Barzakh Allah is so merciful that even if dont take advantage of dunya, you still have a chance vii. Salatul Janaza: seek forgiveness for the individual; important for you to have friends who are upon tawheed; dont want people who go to your janaza who make shirk! From your wisdom in this life to be around people who worship Allah so that these people come to your janazah viii. Fitnah of the Grave remove sins ix. What the living may do for them; make dua, make sadaqah for them, make hajj for them. Akhira still opportunities then x. Sweeting, difficulty, waiting xi. Shafa3ah xii. Forgiveness of Allah will forgive people out of his rahma xiii. If after this the person still has sins, theres rust on their hearts out of mercy of Allah that he enters into hell fire to be cleansed and purified and then come out clean to enter Jannah. 1. Its easier to get rid of sins in this dunya** 2. Realizing the deficiency pushes you to work 2. Reflection ( :)what is truth and what is falsehood a. Tawheed of Allah and sunnah, avoiding shirk and avoiding bidah b. Reflect on the path that will benefit him and not harm him. Cant be on a route that has a dead end, or high traffic or highway robbers. Standing up in this ayah means being awake, then it leads to reflection. And if person properly reflects, leads him to basirah Basirah ) (light in the heart that shows you the way; basr is light of eye. a. Need to have basirah of: i. Allahs names and attributes you have no doubt about Allahs names and attributes; that you have no doubt that Allah exists; then ii. Commands and Prohibitions you really want to find out the truth iii. Promises and threats of the day of judgment; 1. We were dead, and Allah gave us life and we will die again, and no doubt he can give us 2. The seasons only remind us of the cycle of resurrection a. ) 5( And if you wonder, then wondrous is their saying: "When we are dust, shall we indeed then be (raised) in a new creation?" (2 tafseers) i. Astonishing that they doubt the resurrection, b/c they were dust ii. More astonishing that they doubt resurrection. b. Whoever doesnt see with his heart in this dunya will not see with his eyes on day of judgment ) 124 - 124( But whosoever turns away from My Reminder, verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection. He will say: "O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)? Allah) will say: "Like this: Our Ayat came unto you, but you disregarded them, and so this Day, you will be neglected.

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The sirat with 70,000 hooks and imagine a blind person to cross it. Determination - a. Thus the 5 great messengers were You tell yourself, Im gona go on this road; Im gonna walk down this road and go to Allah; without this determination youre not going to be able to travel! i. How to increase determination? 1. Seeking knowledge; your love for the 3ilm of taking the shariah, reviewing notes, youre memorizing, 2. Knowing the rewards of deeds of praying 12 rakah this will strengthen your determination 3. Read a lot and know about the pleasures of Jannah the dunya becomes insignificant, so doesnt allow the dunya to divert him; this strengthens his determination to take this road b. This is needed in the beginning of journey and for every single step ; because you can only take the next step with determination.

Impossible to go on any journey without these 4 matters Need to be awake () Think about what you need as a traveler ; if you wanna go make hajj, if you dont get the visa, are you going any where? No! () Have to have basirah, insight, in regards to travel; what route am I gonna take? () If you dont have determination to go on this journey, are you going any where? () For every single level, you need these 4 things. **Before Tawbah is Muhasabah (Take yourself into account) Look at what is there for you from rewards and what is against you from sins; Today, I had opportunity to get X hasanat how much have I taken advantage of. How many saiyaat did I commit? o Omar ibn Al Khatab I have ruined myself; He was constantly focusing on himself; how can I make myself better, not focused on other people. You can only improve if you assess yourself. If you think Hey, Im the most pious guy in Brooklyn, you wont be able to improve. But once you start thinkingWait, I didnt read the Quran today, I didnt memorize today when he assesses himself, he can know his true self The attack on this deen is the attack on methodology of seeking knowledge; because if the scholars will not get replaced, this deen will be gone. yata3alamahu aw yu3alemahu fahuwa fe manzelat al mujahedeen fe sabeel Allah seeking knowledge and teaching it is jihad : : " Q/A Want to be the daughter that never says no to parents, that never speaks back to the parents. Loving Allah 1. know names of attributes 2. look at his blessings upon you 3. read the quran

July 5 , 2009 Seeking knowledge is jihad annafs, requires struggle of the nafs, continuity, battle shaytan, to defeat shaytan whispers of making him lazy of skipping the duroos. First Level: Station of Tawbah (Repentence) 1. Its the first level and the last level 2. First level because as ibn Abbass said, when he would stand in front of Allah, he would wear his best cloth and be in best of appearance because now hes going to be in salah. Therefore, we need to purify ourselves so as we begin this journey we face this journey in the most beautiful form. 3. Tawbah was thought to be for the sinners, but Allah says, ( And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers) Allah didnt say, O you sinners! addressing the believers who will return to Allah often and make tawbah frequently. 4. Its because of sins that the people of Nuh drowned, that the people of Aad were destroyed. And the way to wipe away these sins is through tawbah its an act of worship that involves the heart. The believer doesnt take pleasure in sins. A person who is a fasiq takes pleasure in zina or backbiting if a person takes pleasure in looking at the haram, then theres something wrong with his heart o It is mentioned in Sahih AlBukhari about a man who committed a sin, and said, ( : : : : : ) : o Oh my Lord I have commited a sin, so forgive me My slave knew that he has a lord who forgives the sin, so I have forgiven him.. then sometimes passes and he commits another sin, and said the same thing. And again some time passes and he commits another sin. So Allah says, let him do whatever he wants, he rushed in tawbah for the first sin and didnt go back to it. And made another different sin, then he asked Allah for forgiveness and wiped away. The sin doesnt harm this slave and he rushes to repentance. Therefore, let him do what he will, he will come back and repent if anything, because he conditioned himself to do that. If a person commits a sin and makes sincere tawbah and doesnt return to that sin, and make a different sin and makes a different sin he conditions himself that whenever he commits a sin he makes tawbah and never returns to that sin, then Allah says, Let him do what he wants. Anyone who prays in the masjid praying the jama3ah, then written for him is a dissociation from nifaq and from the fire. If a person conditions himself to pray in the masjid every single prayer for forty days, then he is on his way of freeing himself from the fire. Therefore you need to pay attention to your conditioning and your tarbiyah and development, and in what direction its going to. This person dislikes the sins his heart feels, grieves for the disobedience and is happy with the obedience. Jubair ibn Mutt3am (Bukhari), after the battle of Badr (while he was a mushrik) went to discuss the prisoners of war. The Prophet was praying Maghrib with surat atTuur, until he got to the aya, The punishment of your lord will really occur and no one will prevent it then the fear entered into his heart. Then Prophet recited: Were they created by nothing, or are they the creators, did they create the heavens and earth, but they have no certainty, do they have the treasures of your lord or are tyrants with authority over them. Jabir ibn Mut3am said, My heart was about to fly! ( ) this is the effect of the ayat on the heart of the mushrik because he understood the Arabic language. If this is the state of a mushrik, then what about the person who wants to be close to Allah, who wants to make tawbah over and over again. This is the type of heart we want when we speak about tawbah. Tawbah: The Reality of tawbah is to depart from what Allah dislikes and go to what is beloved to Allah. What is the difference between tawbah and istighfar? The words in the Quran and Sunnah follow a principle that deals with the function of words; if a pair of words come in different places, they are synonymous, and when they come in the same place, they have different meanings ( .) different meanings o Istighfar seeking protection from evil of what has occurred in the past (seeking forgiveness of the past sins) Maghfirah forgiveness ( helmet during war; function is protection from strikes and covers the head). Maghfirah is a protection from punishment, and is a covering such that your sins are not exposed. o Tawbah seeking protection from the sins that you fear you may do in the future.

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 There they shall pass from hand to hand a cup, free from any Laghw, and free from sin. And there will go round boy-servants of theirs, to serve them as if they were preserved pearls. And some of them draw near to others, questioning. Saying: "Aforetime, we were afraid (of the punishment of Allah, fear that their acts of worship dont get accept it) in the midst of our families. "So Allah has been gracious to us, and has saved us from the torment of the Fire. This fear is present in tawbah. Ibn Al Qayim: In tawbah is the whole deen. Encompasses all the other levels in the journey, you need it in the first level. If you go the wrong way, in order for you to you go back to the right way, you make tawbah. 1. ) ( a. }omes from purify the material from any defects, deficiencies, deceptions, cheating thus we have b. Ibn al qayim i. When you make tawbah or istighfar, you make it comprehensive ii. To have strong, sincere, honest determination (3azm) that you would not return to the sin without hesitation. And dont make any delay in the tawah. Im making tawbah, but tomorrow Im not gonna wake up for fajr anyway If a person delays tawbah, thats a sin by itself; so now you have to make tawbah for 2 sins Sins that you dont know about shirk is more hidden than the crawling of the ant. Thats now 2 sins and you dont even know! ( duaa for riya) proof that you can make sins and you dont know. iii. Must be with ikhlas Youre not making tawbah for a position or a status or the praise of people or to be popular. Youre making tawbah for Allah a. Almaqsood the intended reason for tawbah is to obey Allahs commands and stay away from Allahs prohibitions. If somebody worships Allah and wants to obey Allah and he knows that those who obey Allah will get the 3izza in the dunya (ascendency/honor in the dunya), the tawbah is not pure. Then youre doing it for the 3izza not to seek the pleasure of Allah. Umar once told the Prophet sallah Allahu alehe wa salem, Do you pray on a woman who committed fornication? So the Prophet responded, Indeed, she has repented to Allah a repentance that if it were divided amongst 70 of the people of Madinah, it would have been sufficient seventy of the sahaba not seventy of us! She could have travelled to another country, but she came back and repented with such ikhlas that the prophet said that about her. Conditions of Tawbah: 1. Remorse and Regret () a. Sincere regret; you disobeyed Allah and you violated the commands of Allah 2. Abandon the sin () a. Dont go back to the sin as if you are playing with Allah; would you do that with your boss that you wont come late tomorrow yet you go late everyday? 3. Strong Determination () a. That you wont commit the sin again in the future 4. If the sin is related to the rights of the people, return their rights due to them.

Apply the preparatory criteria 1. Have to be awake to make tawbah 2. Why should you make tawbah? Reflect, ( And whoever doesnt repent, then those are the oppressors) Prophet said, in the meaning of the hadith, when a believing soul leaves his body, then a beautiful smell comes out. But when a sinners soul leaves his body, a stinky filthy smell comes and the angels dont like this so they cover

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him and everyone calls him by the worst of names. The smell is coming from the sins ( the immaterial impurities) a. This person had opportunity to make tawbah in this dunya, he didnt so he goes to the barzakh he oppressed his own self b. I dont want my soul to come out filthy, everything will be public; if you know what, let me make tawbah now. Baserah Insight, about what Allah has commanded and prohibited. If he doesnt know its a sin, will he make tawbah? Thats why shaytan loves innovations more than the great sins; he believes hes doing something thats part of the deen a. Requires you to know what is shirk, kufr, traps of shaytan, what are the means that leads to the haram Strong determination Im never gonna make this sin again; Im gonna conquer this sin by the help of Allah.

Notes concerning Tawbah Persistence in sin is a sin in itself if dont make tawbah, there are 3 sins. Sin + Delaying + Persistence Anas a believer sees his sin as a mountain, but the sinner sees his sin as a fly that he waves away. All of my Ummah shall be forgiven/pardoned except those who publicize their sins; some take honor in publicizing their sins; play music in public, drink bear in public. Tawbah is the way out Signs of the Accepted Tawbah 1. If he is a better person than he was before. 2. After he makes tawbah, hes still fears for his deeds being accepted; whether its jannah or hell fire he remains fearful until he hears the words, ( Do not fear and dont be saddened and receive the glad tidings of the Jannah which you were promised) when the angels come and takes his soul. a. He never thinks that jannah is now a guarantee for him (since he made tawbah); Umar used to say that he would seek forgiveness for many years for one sin he did. 3. Goes to Allah with a broken soul; meek in front of Allah. Perhaps a person may commit a sin that maybe a cause for him to enter Jannah because he becomes humble and weeps to Allah and makes sujod and seeks Allahs forgiveness and he would get so close to Allah that perhaps if he hadnt done that sin he wouldnt come. And perhaps a person may commit a good deed that would be a cause for him to enter hell fire he thinks hes the only one with the haq, that he is the most pious so this builds arrogance in him and 3ujb (self-admiration) that it cause him to enter the hell fire. a. A person may commit a minor sin but it could be in the level of a major sin and a person may commit a major sin but it could be in the level of a minor sin. i. A minor sin without any fear of Allah being bold about it and being persistent. A person does a major sin but with fear and is hurtful of doing it, but because of the fear it reduces it. ii. The standard is the condition of the heart which dictates the level of sins. iii. ( : Sahih Muslim) By the One whose my soul is in His hands, if you dont commit sins, Allah shall replace you with another nation that commits sins, so it causes them to seek forgiveness so Allah forgives them. 1. This is not a license to commit sins, look at the second half of the hadith. 2. These people commit sins and then seek forgiveness from Allah so it brings them closer to Allah they dont make a sin except that they make proper tawbah for it. 3. If sins are a means for you to make tawbah and never go back to that sin, then thats the sin that the Prophet that is speaking about. The best of believers are those who make a loT of tawbah. Then let us rush to tawbah ( ) Allah pardons all sins; ( ) If you were to sin to the point that your sins reaches the sky, and then you repent, then surely Allah will pardon you. Allah is more happy with the tawbah of his slave than the person who took his camel in the desert and while in the desert, by himself, his riding animal left him he lost his means of survival, so the person starts searching for the animal in the heat and gets extremely thirsty, and doesnt find the animal. So he tells himself, Let me go lay down and die, and then he opens his eyes and he finds the animal. Allah is more happy with his slave than that slave with his camel. If we know that theres something that makes Allah happy, why would we not do it? Why persist in slandering? Riba? In selling ciggaretts? In selling alcohol? In disobeying Allah? Do we not want Allah to be happy? Tawbah is the wiqaya (protection) from the punishment. Surat AlBurooj people of the ditch o Those who put the believing males and females into trial and then they didnt make tawbah, they will have the punishment of jahanam which means, if they made tawbah, they wont have the punishment of hell fire. So, tawbah protects you

- And Allah would not punish them if they are seeking forgiveness leaving sin, seeking forgiveness is present tense (present tense denotes continuity .) They do it without delay.

Regulations Regarding Tawbah 1. Is a tawbah considered valid if someone makes tawbah from a sin but commits other sins. There are a couple of opinions: a. Valid b. Not Valid c. Ibnul Qayim if making tawbah from a sin and the other sins hes making are not from the same type/category, its accepted. Otherwise not accepted. Ex. Person drinks wine and smokes pot makes tawbah from wine but smokes pot, although its from the same category of intoxicants. But if hes stealing, the tawbah of wine is accepted because stealing is not from the same category. 2. Rights of Mankind a. Conditions: remorse, abandon sin, 3azm (determination), return the rights of people (give back what you stoleetc) i. What if you backbited? Why is that important? Hes not gonna take you to court, so why is it important? If the animals will be able to get retribution on the Day of Judgment, what do you think about the human being? The currency rate on the Day of Judgment will be the hasanat the thing that you will be in need of the most. Ya Allah, heres my salah, its not enough heres my siyam, heres my walking to the masjid! Heres birrul waledeen. Prophet Mohamed said that after the good deeds are finished, the bad deeds of the person will be thrown over you. b. The issue here is how do you give back to them their right if its backbiting and such? i. One opinion: Go the person and ask him forgiveness because you spoke bad about him ii. Another opinion: Ibn Taymiah going to the person and telling him that will be a mafsadah because it will decrease love, so he should: 1. The exact place and arena where he slandered him, he should mention him in good quantity equal to the amount of backbiting and slandering 2. Equal to the amount of backbiting and slandering, make duaa for him. a. You have a limited time in dunya, these duaas are going from someone else. Its better to hold the tongue. c. Stealing wealth made tawbah but cant find the person to give it to. i. Can give it to charity on his behalf. ii. If the person comes 3 years later wanting his money, you explain to him that you gave it for charity. If he doesnt accept, you give him the money and the money you gave for charity becomes on your behalf. Why is tawbah the first level? Cleans you sins, so you start the journey clean. Why is it the last level? Because in this journey youre going to make mistakes. After salah, you say astaghfarullah, why! Did you commit zinna? Salah is fard! Yes, because of your shortcomings in the salah you seek Allahs forgiveness. Q/A 1. If someone makes tawbah from a sin, then years later he returns to the sin. Does that mean its not accepted? a. Should rush to make tawbah again dont let shaytan play with you. But you should be ashamed of yourself, youre dealing with Allah 3az wa jal. The believer is not stung from the same hole twice. If its the environment, change the environment. If its the companions, change them. If you dont change anything to make your tawbah stay, theres no sidq in your tawbah. If you ask a brother to forgive you and he doesnt. a. Whats an obligation on you is to return the rights, such as money, such as mentioning him in good. If you do that, enshalah it will be accepted. The praise a muslim gets if he does a good thing This is the glad tidings received by the believer Bid3a any action that the prophet didnt do while there was a need for it, then doing that action after his death would be bid3ah a. Prophet could have celebrated mothers day/fathers day. There was a need (as in trying to get good deeds prophet said, I am the most knowledgeable and have the most taqwa amongst you) so if he didnt do it, its bid3ah. b. The Quran wasnt compiled as a book during Prophet sallah Allahu alehe wa salem its not bid3ah, because there was no need to compile it then and there was no gurantee that another ayah would not be revealed. So if you compile it in one book then, confusion could start stemming as to which written copy is the final copy!

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How to make tawbah sincerely if you know youll commit the sins again i.e. not lowering the gaze a. Reflect at what will happen to you if you dont make tawbah if you dont feel closer to Allah, something is wrong. Understand that this is a reality, death can come any time. Shouldnt we make hijra a. Prophet mentioned about a land that will be swallowed, everyone will be raised upon their niyah?! b. Punishment that came to Lut that he saved family of Lut, he saved those people who are enjoining good and forbidding people. Prophet said that if we stop enjoining good and forbidding evil, hes afraid that if the punishment comes it will be general. But those who rectify themselves and others are hoped to be saved. Major sins a sin that is associated with a punishment in the akhirah and a 7ad () a. Thunub and saiyat if together, same thing. If separate, Thunub are major sins and saiyat are minor sins. Major sins are removed with tawbah and Minor sins are removed with good deeds, as long as person stays away from major sins. Does desiring a reward for a good deed decrease your sincerity in pleasing Allah a. Nothing wrong with desiring the reward in the akhira ( ( Not allowed to do an act of worship seeking a dunya reward, unless the shariah has mentioned and associated an act of worship with a dunya reward. Ex. Maintaining family ties increase in your age. What if someone seeks to have a long life, nothing is wrong with that but the person who only does it for the pleasure of Allah, he has more reward, but we cant say the other person is committing shirk because we have a text to prove the action. Istikhara and duaa develops your relationship with Allah, you can make it more than once. Dont let someone else take that from you.

10. What is a good dua for taubah? It is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Messenger of Allah said that the master of forgiveness ( ) is to say: . The Prophet then said, If one says it during the day with certainty in it and dies on the same day before the night then he is amongst the people of paradise. If one says it during the night with certainty in it and dies before the morning then he is amongst the people of Paradise. Imam al-Bukhari entitled the chapter where this hadith is mentioned as The Best Way of Seeking Forgiveness to explain the Prophets words: ( .) And Allah knows best. 11. Can we backbite the rulers like Presidents or Prime Ministers that they are not doing well? Allah said: O you, who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you (4:59) Ibn Kathir mentions in his tafsir that those in authority among you are the rulers and scholars. Allah has mentioned them after mentioning unconditional obedience to Him and His messenger. The command obey did not precede those in authority as obedience is only in matters that are good. From this ayah we see the importance of Muslim rulers and scholars. Therefore,backbiting them is greater than backbiting an average person. The Prophet defined backbiting as The mentioning of your brother by you in what he dislikes. (Sahih Muslim) The believer should be result oriented. Backbiting the Muslim rulers does not in any way serve as a means of rectification neither for them nor for the conditions in the country. The believer should channel his frustration into productive action in rectifyinghimself, his family, and the community. As Allah said: And whatever strikes you of disaster- it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much. (42:30)

As for the oft-repeated hadith to attempt to justify such backbitings: The best jihad is if one says a statement of truth in front of an oppressive ruler, then there are a few matters that should be taken into consideration before its usage as evidence for this matter is accepted: 1. A statement of truth must be said and it doesnt seem like backbitings would qualify. 2. The ruler is an oppressive one 3. It is to be done in front of the ruler, not behind his back. If one is bold and brave enough to say a statement of truth in front of an oppressive ruler and doesnt mind the possible consequences of death, then that is the best jihad.

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Station Two Turning back to Allah and turning back to the truth 1. shared by mankind. When some calamity afflicts mankind, they call their lord (believe in Allah at this moment), turning back to Allah. But when he saves them, they go back to shirk (30:33) this is for the awliyaa who have established tawheed Al-uluhiyah on Earth Ibrahim was forbearing, grieves a lot about his own self and the shirk that people fall in, and he turns to Allah (This is of the uluhiyah) It consists of four parts: a) Love of Allah a. Ibrahim even to the point that he commanded him to slaughter his son, the love of Allah was greater than his only and young son. The love of Allah was more beloved to him than his own father, when he told him to stop making istighfar for him. b) Submits to Allah a. Allah commanded Ibrahim to go to Makkah and take his wife Hajer, Did Allah command you with this? And he said yes. Then he left them. Didnt say, wheres the wisdom, why would Allah do this to me he only surrendered to Allah. c) Direct oneself to Allah a. Grieving means he will be turning to Allah making duaa when he was building the ka3ba, they were saying, Oh our Lord accept this from us a prophet and another prophet, yet they are worried that their action wasnt going to get accepted. They dont take it for granted. d) Turn away from everything beside Allah a. When Ibrahim saw the idols said, Im sick and b. Only when these 4 things are present is it called inabah

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How is it established? 1. rectify and correct yourself a. Baqara 166. b. Obey commandments c. How to increase your acts of worship? i. Ibnul Qayim: Look at what you have missed from the righteous actions. When you realize what missed you, it will encourage you 1. Surely Allah and his angels send rahma and make duaa for the people who sit in the first row in regards to the salah. How many times have we missed praying in the first row? So you look at what you have missed to encourage you. 2. Fulfill your contracts a. With Allah and with people b. Ibnul Qayim said Allah took contracts from the prophets through angels, and from nations through prophets i. Israa 34: And fulfil (every) covenant. Verily, the covenant, will be questioned about. 1. One of the qualities of nifaq is to not fulfill the promises 2. The greatest contract was tawheed 3. When you fulfill these contracts, you are turning to Allah. c. To fulfill the contracts, you stop looking down at the people who dont practice the deen of Allah while at the same time you think you are saved by the mercy of Allah and that you are of no need to evaluation. i. If the person looks down at people, and thinks hell walk straight to Jannah, hes focusing on creation and thus hes not turning to Allah. Because if he was turning to Allah, he would have focused on himself. Thus, it requires one to look inwards. Must be more strict on oneself. 3. Have to have a condition after your response; when you responded to Allah (I believe in Allah!) by this statement, this should be reflected in your actions. Therefore, actions and statements should match and there should be no disparity between the two a. Ibrahim Atayme: I didnt compare my statements with my actions except that I fear that it would be contradictory. i. They would check themselves and evaluate their actions; do my actions reflect it when I say I love Allah more than anything else. b. :

i. I met 30 of the Prophets companions, every single one of them fear hypocrisy for themselves. That they may something and their actions dont match it; even if they were 1% off. 1. If a person pays attention to his words! Do my actions match those statements? It is accomplished by 2. This is an insight and reminder for every slave that turns to Allah () Meaning if you want the ayat of Allah to see them and have insight about these ayat and make them serve as a reminder to you, its only for the one who turns to Allah Insight is a vision which removes blindness, Reminder removes heedlessness, forgetfulness Inabah removes turning away from Allah Station Three * Reflection " " And no one will remember except the one who performs inaba. This is how the scholars put the stations in order. Only those who deeply reflect will make remembrance o Therefore, a person who makes tathakur is highly intelligent o AlHasan AlBasri student of Abdullah ibn Mas3ood The people of knowledge continue to make remembrance such that it leads them to reflection, and that reflection leads them to further remembrance (its a circle). And by doing this, they communicating with their hearts such that the hearts speak. Who put the sun? Where did the trees come from? How do the clouds move? Who will take my soul? You say Subhan Allah (more more zikr), Oh Allah you have not created all this in vain. And this will lead you to make more reflection. If someones heart is locked, the keys to these locks is remembrance of Allah. Thats why Allah says, do they not deeply reflect on the Quran or their hearts have locks on them? o Two things were mentioned: Reflection and Locks The remembrance of Allah; why do you do whatever you do? You start reflectingIs it for fame? Is it for Allah? He is the Malik, he will make my accountability so once this starts, these locks open up and you benefit. o Surely, in that theres remembrance (the ayat) for one who has a heart, or a person who listens while it is attentive. There is a heart that is both listening and attentive, so there is no need to mention listening and attentiveness again. Then Allah says OR a heart that is listening and attentive, because only with these two characteristics can you benefit from the remembrance. Sahaba used to sit with the Prophet as if there were birds on their heads very attentive. The one who will benefit is one who has a heart that is alive 1. Types of Hearts: a. Dead heart wont benefit from remembrance () b. Alive heart but not paying attention wont benefit. It is equal to the first one, both are blind. c. Alive heart but not listening wont benefit. Sending text messages, thinking about your phone, you hear the words but not listening. 2. Types of Ayat (which the heart will benefit from) a. ) (the signs of Allah that you see () i. Person pays attention who created the Earth, who sends down the rain, who moves the clouds, where did the night go and the day come. Person is living with the nature, hes watching and listening and returns to Allah then with reflection and remembrance, the cycle continues.

b. the ayat in the Quran. A person with such a heart finds a pleasure from such reflection and remembrance. Ibn Taymiah said: In this dunya, theres a jannah, if one doesnt enter that Jannah, he wont enter the Jannah in the akhira. Some people may not have the pleasure in the salah, but have the pleasure of watching a soccer game. This persons vision is focused, he can see. In this journey towards Allah, you will need to see to get to your destination.

How to call people to the remembrance of Allah? Good Admonition Debate with them in way that is best But Allah didnt say Al-Hikmah Al-Hasanah because all of hikmah is good. It is the Quran and the Sunnah, the commands and prohibitions; is there a command of Allah that is not good? o You get hasanah for performing this because it brings about benefit ( ) and repels the harm from you () The Types of People this is how you make others perform tathakur o Muneeb you only need to mention to him al hikmah and he will take it (an ayah or a hadith) o Others need good adminotion. They may know the ayat, but they need encourage them about Jannah and fear the punishment in the akhirah () o Those who wont take the ayat, you need to debate with them in a way that is best (because many times the debate gets out of control) How to Strengthen our Remembrance? 1. Have yaqeen that this dunya will finish a. Prophet Mohamed sallah Allahu alehe wa salem (Sunnah Ibn Dawood) Abdullah ibn Amr said that one day I was repairing the wall of my house and the Prophet Mohamed was passing by and he asked me what I was doing so I told him I was repairing the wall of my house. The Prophet said: I dont see except that death is closer than that. () i. Prophet is teaching the sahabi and us that we need to have yaqeen that this dunya will finish. The person repairing the wall is afraid it might collapse, so the prophet is saying your fear that it should collapse shouldnt be greater than your fear of your death. b. Have yaqeen that your body will be carried by others and that you will be lowered underneath the ground 2. Having certainty that the akhirah will never end a. Enjoy the pleasures forever can you even fathom forever? Can you fathom burning forever? Every time their skin is burnt, it is replaced, not once, not twice, but forever. Their drink is the pus, and the cloth is made out of fire forever, nonstop. Ya Abdullah, were those 10 minutes of pleasure worth it? Were those 30 minutes of fame worth it? Five things that corrupt the heart 1. A lot of intermingling, socializing hanging out The more time youre spending with creation, the less time youre spending with Allah. The less time you ask Allah, , the less time you are reading the book of Allah. As the attachment with the creation increases, your attachment with Allah decreases. Except the gatherings of good 2. Unregulated wishes ( )wishes that cannot be fulfilled A person wishes to be the wealthiest in the world. A person with no job wishes to marry 4 wives. I want to travel the world. As far as having wishes for the deen, thats okay (knowledge and such, wishing to build a masjidetc) 3. Attachment with those beside Allah () A person is so attached to others that if they praise him, hell do anything even if its not pleasing to Allah, because he is getting that recognition. A person is so attached to others that if people go to seek knowledge, he will go, but if there are only 5 people he wont go; who are you doing it for? Our attachment is not to be with creation, no matter how famous they are. If we can just do just that in our lives, this ummah will change!

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Haram food they are not slaughtered properly, the cows are battered here in this country (McDonalds, Burger Kingetc) Halal food, but a lot of it full stomach hardens the heart A lot of sleeping () Produces laziness and wastes so much time. There is so much you can do to increase you eman. Causes the person to be lazy, sluggish, slow, cant get to places on time. Thus, you notice in Ramadan, you dont eat throughout the day and not sleep at night, this helps to cleanse the nafs. Station Four: Adherence, holding on to something that will protect you

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Al-Imran 103: Hold on to the rope of Allah and do not be divided o Rope of Allah is the Quran and Sunnah. The command of not to divide came after the basis for unity, the foundation, which is the Quran and the Sunnah and the way of the salaf (Sahaba). So if you dont hold on to this methodology, it will cause you to divide. o Is it plausible to call someone strict because theyre holding on to the Quran and Sunnah? Oh youre saying music is haram, youre strict. You have to pray 5 times a day, youre strict. It is not correct. o Holding on the rope of Allah protects you from misguidance*** I have left amongst you two things (proof that it is preserved), you will never go astray if you hold on to both of them: the book of Allah and my sunnah The rope of Allah is the daleel (evidence). It is not the opinions of the people. The opposite of daleel ( )is desires (hawa). o They only follow assumptions and what their souls desire. That surely, from their Lord has come guidance (which is which is opposite to desire) o Who is more astray than the one who follows their desires without guidance from Allah The person praised by Allah is the one who holds on to the Quran and Sunnah, the one who holds on to the daleel/rope of Allah. Allah dispraised the hype, and emotion, and person attachment. It is holding on to the daleel not personal attachment. In desires and emotions, people are not stable and they dont make correct judgments; thats why the hadith, A judge doesnt judge while he is angry. The daleel is the rope of Allah. Al Hajj 78: Hold on to Allah, He is your protection o Holding on to the commands and the Prohibitions. o Holding on to Allah, it protects you from destruction. (And give you victory) Do that by relying on Allah (tawakul) Prophet said, Whoever prays the fajr prayer in Jamah will be in the protection of Allah go to the masjid and pray fajr, not like women in the homes. Imagine if the people who pray Jumuah all go to pray fajr, and all of them come under the protection of Allah, who will then harm the Muslims? Do we not have certainty in the words of the Prophet, sallah Allahu alehe wa salem? Allah will defend those who have eman Oh you who have believed, if you obey His commands and avoid his prohibitions, he will give you victory and make your feet firm. Allah has promised those who have eman (have eman though knowledge) and do good deeds, he will give them the khilafa on Earth as He gave it to those before them. Impossible to have eman without knowledge, thats why Imam Shafiee had a book called Book of Eman and Knowledge they come together. Who is more truth in his speech? It is a promise from Allah. If you dont believe, look at the history.

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