Day 13

I think I need to reflect on this quote:

“Declare your jihaad on thirteen enemies. What you cannot see:
Egoism, Arrogance, Conceit, Selfishness, Greed, Lust, Intolerance, Anger, Lying, Cheating, Gossiping and Slandering.
If you can master and destroy them, then you will be ready to fight the enemy you can see.”

— Imam al Ghazali

Day 14
These may be useful in helping increase imaan:

Quote:

1) Love اللَّه and His Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم and follow his Sunnah. 2) Have Tawakkul (trust) in اللَّه 3) Always have Sabr (patient). 4) Safeguard your tongue, eyes, stomach etc, from Haraam actions. 5) Stay away from Sins. 6) Increase good deeds i.e. offering optional prayers, fasts, charity etc. 7) Seek Knowledge. People who have Taqwa are those who have knowledge. Always remember اللَّه 9) Always remember death, as death is the destroyer of all pleasures. 10) Make Du'a to Allah (swt). Du'a is a weapon of a believer. May اَللَّه سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى make you from the pious. Ameen

Day 15
The point of Ramadan is to become grateful.
(The point of fasting is to gain taqwa)

Day 16th

Quote:

So let not their wealth or their children impress you. Allah only intends to punish them through them in worldly life and that their souls should depart [at death] while they are disbelievers.

Quran 9:55

Day 17
The battle of Badr took place on this day.

Day 18
In Surah Baqarah around ayah 120 we are told Ibrahim (as) does dua asking Allah (swt) to forgive him. Obviously being a prophet he hs no sins so does not need to be forgiven for them, however he is asking forgiveness for his good deeds - in case they are not good enough and Allah does not accept them. SubhanAllah.

Day 19
There is no contradiction when the Quran says there's no distinction between prophets (pbut) and that some prophets have a higher status than others. The former is referring to Muslims accepting all prophets (pbut) as prophets and not saying some are just normal people, as some other groups, e.g. Christians do. And there are prophets (pbut) who have higher status than others.

The other day, I learnt that Prophet Yaqoob (as) was also called Israel...now it all makes sense, why the Jewish people are called Bani Israel!

Day 20
The prophet will testify against those who have disobeyed and gone astray.

Day 21
When the Prophet first went to Madina he stayed with a sahaba called Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari (ra).

Day 22
Not something I learnt but one of those things that when said as a reminder sounds so new and amazing - when we change our ways/let something go etc for the sake of Allah we are NOT sacrificing, we are simply giving something not so good for something better.
-
The world is nothing in the eyes of Allah yet we seek security etc from it - how can we get something from nothing?!

Day 23

Quote:

The companions of prophet Muhammad would learn 10 verses at a time. They would not learn any more than that. They would learn them and then only after having implemented them would they go back to memorise more.

-

-Taqwa is the skill with which we attain patience
-Taqwa means to be where Allah wants you to be and to never be where Allah does not want you to be
-When you have taqwa, you should be thinking of ways to not get into the wrong situation and steering clear from it - this is why it is a skill, you're already preparing yourself and thinking of alternative ways of doings things - it is not just "a feeling". And although there are different levels of taqwa, every Muslim
Should have the very basic level of taqwa as that is what it means to believe in "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger"
-The Prophet said "taqwa is the head of all matters" - it is the most important thing when making decisions, doing things, in relationships etc
-Allah says He gives knowledge to those with taqwa.

- from a YouTube vid by AbdelRahman Mussa, instructor at www.ipersonalenrichment.com

Day 24
A different lesson learnt from a Hadith:

Quote:

The prophet Muhammad once pointed at the mountain of Uhud and
said that, if he had it's equivalent in gold, he would give it away as charity within
3 days.
 
That mountain is huge! It's not the tallest mountain, but it spans a huge area. Most people learn from this hadeeth 
that the prophet Muhammad was merciful and generous. That's true.
 
But that's not what's amazing about this incident.

Have you seen builders or a construction site? Have you seen how much work and time
it takes to move a bit of rubble out of the way?

And yet the prophet is promising us - LITERALLY - that if he had as much gold as the mountain of Uhud that he would get rid of it within 3 days. that he would get rid of it within 3 days. Think about that logistically. Even with 50 bulldozers it would take months! But The prophet was so used to giving charity, to helping others, that he could have performed this logistical impossibility. He would have dismantled a whole mountain and moved it such that the needy would have benefited. If taking the mountain apart wasn't enough
to impress you, how about distributing all of that weight to all of the people that
needed it. And of course first he'd have to know who those people were beforehand Because he only has 3 days!
 
So. Tazkiyah must produce practical outcomes. Else it is incomplete.

The most amazing thing about the incident
of the prophet pointing to Uhud, that I described above,
is the logistical prowess of the prophet (saw).

He is showing us what true tazkiyah does It enables you to literally move mountains!

source: part of the free newsletter (email) from ipersonal enrichment.

Day 25
There are angels created just to curse humans. O.o
 

 

Accountontherevival wrote:

TPOS wrote:

Day 13 I think I need to reflect on this quote: “Declare your jihaad on thirteen enemies. What you cannot see: Egoism, Arrogance, Conceit, Selfishness, Greed, Lust, Intolerance, Anger, Lying, Cheating, Gossiping and Slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be ready to fight the enemy you can see.” — Imam al Ghazali

Have you reflected yet? What did you learn?

It needs to be acted on more than reflected. Reflect wasn't the right word, I was just wondering what kind of enemy it is referring to. I think it's saying that these emotions and actions are what cause a lot of trouble for us and lead to all kinds of wrong-doing and we make enemies/get into trouble where there is no need to. If we were to control these emotions and stop acting in such wrong ways then we would think more clearly and not be led astray so easily and see what is important; what is worth fighting over and making an enemy.

Day 26
I learnt a beautiful Durood sharif, mostly loved it cuz it had the word habibi in it. Yeah, there isn't just one Durood sharif with that but this wasn't too long either dont know how to find it online so can't share it.

I'll share something else instead
Surah Yaseen is advised to be read upon the dying person to help them, I think it's seen as a way of trying to cure as well, but I'm talking about using it as a way of easing the person's death - it is recommended for this because obviously it is the word of Allah, but also because, and more importantly because Surah Yaseen talks about imaan, the prophethood of Muhammad and the life in the hereafter, therefore for a Muslim hearing these things again should reaffirm and streghten their faith and so make their death easier, by dying in a state of imaan.
The prophet said Surah Yaseen is the heart of the Quran and he wishes for all Muslims to have it in their heart (learn it off by heart). I think for all of us who don't understand Arabic, it's very important that we try to know the meaning of the Surah as it is so important for us and could help us in our dying moments! inshaAllah.

Day 27
Women have a slightly different way of praying salah (atleast for those who follow the hanafi madhab, don't know about others) due to them having to be modest. So, for example, they go into sujood with their limbs close together so their body is showing/sticking out. Yh I don't think I knew that before :/

Day 28
Self-loathing/feeling guilty/ hating yourself does not make you feel better spiritually. To purify your self/soul you need to love yourself.

Day 29
Allah is the best of planners.

Day 30
...unfortunately there was no day 30 for me since Eid was announced on sunday. It was a bittersweet feeling, having to say goodbye to Ramadan and enjoying the eid atmosphere at the same time. Now that eid is over, I just miss Ramadan. I don't want everyone and thing to go back to normal, I don't want to lose that peaceful, loving, helpful, thoughtful, generally more Islamic atmosphere of Ramadan.

This Ramadan was perhaps my best. There was some pretty nasty lows but the highs were greater and even the struggle must've been made easier with the blessings of Ramadan. The thing I love this Ramadan for the most, is that I built I real connection with the Quran. I began to understand some of the most basic lessons from mainly just one Surah of the Quran and it has brought me closer to the Quran, closer to Allah and I feel much better spiritually. I have a longing for the Quran that I never had before and of course the Quran is our answer to success, so for Allah to bless me enough to allow me to understand His words and open my heart is just the best thing. And to do in this in the month of the Quran is even better!

I could've done more, for sure, but I feel I've actually improved, achieved stuff and gained a few good habits, so I'm still happy. I need to make a note of the things I came to recognise, were down to my nafs - and not shaytan, so I can continue working on them inshaAllah and try not to let new wrong deeds have such a strong hold over me.

Remember guys, we WILL sin, but Allah loves the sinners who repent - who turn back to Him.
And as the Prophet said, the good deed is the one done continuously, *even if it's small*.

I hope you've all benefitted from this Ramadan as much as I have or even more! And perhaps even a gained a thing or two from this thread
May Allah help us continue in our struggle against the nafs and shaytan, open our hearts, guide us to Him and keep us on the straight path, ameen.

TPOS wrote:

Day 13

I think I need to reflect on this quote:

“Declare your jihaad on thirteen enemies. What you cannot see:
Egoism, Arrogance, Conceit, Selfishness, Greed, Lust, Intolerance, Anger, Lying, Cheating, Gossiping and Slandering.
If you can master and destroy them, then you will be ready to fight the enemy you can see.”

— Imam al Ghazali

Well that's odd, there's only 12 mentioned. There's actually meant to be 14 and yesterday I learnt...like really understood what this means. SubhanAllah ask for knowledge and you shall get it.