Remembrance of Allah (Dhikrullah) should be a part of all our gatherings:

 A Muslim always remembers Allah, whether he is alone or in a gathering. 
There are many Ahadeeth that stress that Remembrance of Allah (Dhikrullah) should be a part of all our gatherings and meetings.

The Prophet ﺻﻠﯽ الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ ﻋﻠﯿﮧ ﻭﺍٓﻟﮧ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ  said, "Whoever sits and does not mention the Name of Allah (before he rises) will find it a cause of sorrow from Allah. Whoever lies down to sleep and does not mention the name of Allah before rising, will find it a cause of sorrow from Allah." - Abu Dawud 4/264, Al-Jami' As-Saghir 5/342 (Sahih).

Abu sa’id رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه  narrated that the Prophet ﺻﻠﯽ الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ ﻋﻠﯿﮧ ﻭﺍٓﻟﮧ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ  said,

“ Whenever a group gathers and does not remember Allah during their meeting, it will incur sorrow on them on Judgement Day, even if they enter the Garden”

(An-Nasa’ee in As-Sunan Al-Kubra, Kitab ‘amal Al-Yawm Wal-Laylah (Book of Actions done in the Day and Nights) no.10242)

Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) seldom left a gathering without supplicating (doing Dua)..." [Tirmidhi with a Hasan chain]. 

 وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم : [ ما من قوم يقومون من مجلس ولا يذكرون الله تعالى فيه إلا قاموا عن مثل جيفة حمار وكان لهم حسرة ] رواه أبو داود بإسناد صحيح 

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him)reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Those people who leave a gathering in which they have not remembered Allah, will conclude it as if it has foul odour similar to that of a rotten carcass of a donkey. And it will be a cause of grief to them.'' [Abu Dawud, Sahih]. 

Commentary: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) has warned us against refraining from the remembrance of Allah because most of the heart diseases are caused by this indifference, and because most of the sins are committed as a result of this indifference. 

 وعنه رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قال : [ ما جلس قوم مجلسا لم يذكروا الله تعالى فيه ولم يصلوا على نبيهم فيه إلا كان عليهم ترة فإن شاء عذبهم وإن شاء غفر لهم ] رواه الترمذي وقال حديث حسن 

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him)reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Whenever a group of people sit in a gathering in which they do not remember Allah the Exalted, nor supplicate to elevate the rank of their Prophet, such a gathering will be a cause of grief to them. If Allah wills, He will punish them, and if He wills He will forgive them.'' 

[Tirmidhi, Hasan]. 

Commentary: Any meeting where Allah (SWT) is not glorified and praised and His blessings are not invoked to elevate the rank of His Prophet (PBUH), will cause grief and punishment to the participants in the Hereafter. 

 وعنه رضي الله عنه عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال : [ من قعد مقعدا لم يذكر الله تعالى فيه كانت عليه من الله ترة ومن اضطجع مضجعا لا يذكر الله تعالى فيه كانت عليه من الله ترة ] رواه أبو داود

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him)reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "If anyone sits in a gathering where he does not remember Allah, he will bring grief upon himself (on the Day of Resurrection), and he who lies down in a place where he does not remember Allah, will bring grief upon himself (on the Day of Resurrection).'' 

[Abu Dawud]. 

Commentary: To sum up what has gone in these Ahadith, man should remember Allah on all occasions. This will establish and cement his bond with Allah, keeping heedlessness away from his heart and mind. It is heedlessness which prompts man to transgress Divine rules and limits, whereas the remembrance of Allah prevents him from indulging in backbiting and passing slanderous remarks against people in their absence or reproaching and belittling someone at a meeting. Unfortunately, such petty and negative out-pourings are relished at chat sessions in our society. This generates grudge, ill-will and hostility in hearts and splits up social cohesion and Islamic solidarity. Every Muslim should, therefore, take care to avoid such gatherings. 

THE EXPIATION OF ASSEMBLY (Kaffaaratul Majlis)

Aishah (RA) said: "Allah's Messenger (SAW) did not sit in a gathering, and did not recite the Qur'an, and did not perform any prayer without concluding by saying :

سُبْحَانَكَ اللّٰهُـمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَـدُ أَنْ لاَّ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوْبُ إِلَيْكَ.

Transliteration:

Subhaanaka Allaahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atoobu ilaika.

Translation:

Glory is to You. O Allah, and praise is to You. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.

[Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Tirmidhi and Nasa'i-Sahih]

Abu Dawood narrated that Abu Barzah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say, when he wanted to leave a gathering: “Glory and praise be to You, O Allah, there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.” A man said: O Messenger of Allah, you are saying something that you did not say before. He said: “It is expiation for anything that happened in the gathering.”

Reciting Surah al-‘Asr before leaving a gathering:

This was the practice of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them). 

It was narrated that Abu Madeenah al-Darimi said: When two men among the companions of the Prophet met, they did not part until one of them recited to the other Surah al-‘Asr, then one would say salam to (greet) the other.

(Abu Dawood (no. 417); al-Tabarani in al-Mu’jam al-Awsat (5/215); al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Eeman (6/501), Sahih)

The prophet seldom left a gathering without saying this Dua...

 وعن ابن عمر رضي الله عنه قال : قلما كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يقوم من مجلس حتى يدعو بهؤلاء الدعوات : [ اللهم اقسم لنا من خشيتك ما تحول به بيننا وبين معاصيك ومن طاعتك ما تبلغنا به جنتك ومن اليقين ما تهون به علينا مصائب الدنيا اللهم متعنا بأسماعنا وأبصارنا وقوتنا ما أحييتنا واجعله الوارث منا واجعل ثأرنا على من ظلمنا وانصرنا على من عادانا ولا تجعل مصيبتنا في ديننا ولا تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا تسلط علينا من لا يرحمنا ] رواه الترمذي وقال حديث حسن 

Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) seldom left a gathering without supplicating in these terms: "Allahummaqsim lana min khashyatika ma tahulu bihi bainana wa baina ma`sika, wa min ta`atika ma tuballighuna bihi jannataka, wa minal-yaqini ma tuhawwinu `alaina masa-'ibad-dunya. Allahumma matti`na biasma`ina, wa absarina, wa quwwatina ma ahyaitana, waj`alhul-waritha minna, waj`al tharana `ala man zalamana, wansurna `ala man `adana, wa la taj`al musibatana fi dinina, wa la taj`alid-dunya akbara hammina, wa la mablagha `ilmina, wa la tusallit `alaina man-la yarhamuna.

 (O Allah, apportion to us such fear as should serve as a barrier between us and acts of disobedience; and such obedience as will take us to Your Jannah; and such as will make easy for us to bear in the calamities of this world. O Allah! let us enjoy our hearing, our sight and our power as long as You keep us alive and make our heirs from our own offspring, and make our revenge restricted to those who oppress us, and support us against those who are hostile to us let no misfortune afflict our Deen; let not worldly affairs be our principal concern, or the ultimate limit of our knowledge, and let not those rule over us who do not show mercy to us).'' 

[Tirmidhi]. 
Ameen.

This Hadith reveals a prayer through which we may be able to reach all that which is good in this world as well as in the Hereafter. 

Dont be deluded by the worldly possessions and progress of the non-Muslims

How can one prevent himself from being deluded by the worldly possessions and progress of the non-Muslims?

Remember the reality. Allah says of the disbelievers:

 Do not be impressed by their wealth and children (Al-Tawbah, 9:55),

 Do not strain your eyes in longing for things We have given for enjoyment to groups of them, the splendour of the life of this world, through which We test them; the provision of your Lord is better and more enduring (Ta Ha, 20:131) &

 Let not the movement of the disbelievers in the land deceive you. (Al `Imran, 3:196)

You should see their worldly possessions as being completely insignificant things which cause them to lose out on their portion in the next world. You should feel sympathy for those who have been deceived by this contemptible world and you should wish that they are given insight. 

They are like children who are promised sweets and toys in exchange for being slaughtered. Not knowing the meaning of being slaughtered, they happily accept the sweets and toys. 

So look at these disbelievers with sympathy just as you would look at those poor children. Save them if you are able to. Do not be deceived as they have been deceived but wish that they be guided and have sympathy for them.

The whole earth was created for the pious and not for the disbelievers, but Allah tests His slaves through the existence of disbelievers: Such days (of varying fortunes) we give to men in turns  (Al `Imrān, 3:140) but the pious Muslims will eventually inherit the earth: We wrote in the Zabūr (Psalms), after the Message (given to Mūsā) that My pious slaves will inherit the earth. (Al-Anbiyā’, 21:105)

-Adapted from http://muwasala.org 

Believer's Firasah (Spiritual Insight): Light of Allah

Believer's Firasah: Light of Allah

“Beware the spiritual insight (Firasah) of a believer, for he sees with the light of Allah.” (Tirmidhi)

"Indeed, Allah has servants who know about people by reading the signs." [Al-Tabarani, Mu‘jam al-Awsat, no.3086, and its chain is hasan].

Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah remarked: ‘O you who are defenceless! Beware the spiritual insight of the godly one, for he sees your hidden deeds from behind a veil. (Al-Fawaid)

Shaykh Surkheel Shareef writes: "Spiritual insight, or firasah, is a faith-based insight that Allah casts into the hearts of His faithful ones, by which peoples’ states or deeds are unveiled to them. They are from those saintly miracles (karamat al-awliya) gifted to them by God; the inner workings of which are the very opposite of magic and sorcery. Sorcerers claim power, for themselves or for others besides God. Saints (and more so, Prophets) claim only helplessness before their Lord, accepting they have no share whatsoever in the miracles which issues forth from them. Such spiritual intuitions or epiphanies that arise in the heart are seldom wrong if the heart is pure. Which is to say, the accuracy of a person’s firasah will depend upon their nearness to God and their strength of faith. For, as masters of the inward life say, when souls approach the presence of the Truth (al-Haqq), it is usually the epiphanies of the Truth that come to it." (thehumblei.com)

Shah al-Kirmani says, to increase the strength of one's insight:

1. Turn eyes away from the unlawful

2. Restrain passionate drives

3. Self-scrutiny and vigilance (muraqaba)

4. Eat only lawful food.

(Imam Qushayri's Risala)

In his Madarij al-Salikin, imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah discusses the reality of firasah, its cause, the sayings of the early masters concerning it, and its types. He also relates some wondrous accounts about the firasah of his shaykh and mentor, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. He writes:

“I have witnessed incredible things from the firasah of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy upon him; and what I have not seen are even greater – accounts that would need a large volume to document".

Sunnah DUA to remove the love of Dunya from our hearts and lives

Nice DUA to remove the love of Dunya from our hearts and lives :

اللهم لا تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا غاية رغبتنا

Allahumma la taj`alid-dunya akbara hammina, wa la mablagha `ilmina, wa la ghayata raghbatina.

"O Allah!  let not worldly affairs (Dunya) be our principal concern (greatest aim), nor the ultimate limit of our knowledge nor the limit of our aspiration."

-Tirmidhi & Nasai 

Considering our conditions and life styles today, we need to say this Sunnah dua atleast once after every Salah with sincerity and a devoted heart.

May Allah remove the love of Dunya from our hearts and lives. 

آمين يا رب العالمين 

DUA of a repentant sinner: Ibn Jawzi

DUA of a repentant sinner:

My Lord, certainly, I am a weak slave

Who has come before You seeking that which You have to give.

I come before You complaining of the affliction of my sins, 

For can one complain of grief to anyone but You?

Gift me with Your Pardon, my Benevolent Master

For my reliance is on none but You.

My Lord, I have drowned in my own sins,

I ask for Your pardon, Most Generous Lord

By the depth of my poverty and my utter need

For You, my Lord, in times of distress.

I ask You by my weakness, inability, and indigence,

I ask You by what Your Books have guaranteed –

I ask you by Your infinite Mercy.

—

 (from Imam Ibn Jawzi's Al bahr ad-Damu) 

Arabic and Urdu scans of the above dua:

Seeking knowledge with Ikhlas (sincerity)

There are many virtues of acquiring Ilm of Deen that are mentioned in the Quran and Hadith. 

However, a person may be misled by his Nafs or Satan to seek religious knowledge and to study it extensively with the sole purpose of becoming a scholar or mufti who people will come to with their questions, or a scholar whose name will go down in history, or maybe an Islamic activist who people will rally around.

Like wise, there may be many such Dunyawi purposes or worldly intentions for acquiring the Ilm of Deen that can destroy it's benefits.

The Holy Prophet  ﺻﻠﯽ الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ ﻋﻠﯿﮧ ﻭﺍٓﻟﮧ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ has specially stressed upon us to learn the Deen only with the intention of pleasing Allah.

1. Those who learn the Deen to be called as a 'Scholar':

The Prophet ﺻﻠﯽ الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ ﻋﻠﯿﮧ ﻭﺍٓﻟﮧ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ  mentioned that three people would be the first on the Day of Resurrection to be thrown in the Hell-fire. One of these three was: “…a man who acquired knowledge and taught it to others, who recited the Qur’ân. He will be summoned and asked what he did during his lifetime. He will say: ‘I acquired knowledge and taught it to others and I recited the Qur’ân for your sake.’ Allah will tell him: ‘You lie! You only acquired knowledge so people would call you a scholar and read the Qur’ân so you would be acclaimed as a Qur’ân reciter. These things were indeed said about you.’ At this point an order will be given and this man will be dragged on his face and cast into Hell.” 
The others mentioned in this hadîth were a man who will be a Martyr in Allah’s cause and a man who gave lot of charity, both with the intention of showing off. 
[Sahih Muslim]

2. Those who learn the Deen for acquiring wealth:

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Anyone who learns knowledge which should be learned for the sake of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, only to obtain by it goods of this world, will not experience the scent of the Garden on the Day of Rising." [Abu Dawud] 

3. Those who learn the Deen to win arguments and debates:

Jabir (radhiallahu 'anhu) reported that Allah's Messenger (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Do not acquire knowledge in order to compete with the scholars, nor to argue with the ignorant, nor to gain mastery over the gatherings. Since whoever does that, then: The Fire! The Fire!"

[Reported by Ibn Majah (no.254), Ibn Hibban (no.90 of az-Zawaid), al-Hakim (1/86)]

[It also has a further witness from the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah reported by Ahmad (2/338), and Abu Dawud (Eng.Trans. vol.3, p.1039, no.3656), Ibn Majah (Eng.Trans. No.252) and others and its chain of narration is acceptable as a support]

May Allah give us Ikhlas and correct niyyah in all our actions. Ameen