The Blessed Tree located in Jordan

 “The Blessed Tree” is located in Jordan. It is fondly known as the last remaining Sahaba. It is a tree near Safawi where the young Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) met with Bahira the monk while travelling with his uncle, Abu Talib, to Syria. This was to prove a critical historical event. Bahira would be the first holy man to identify Muhammad (SAW) as a prophet.

Dua Astaghfar (Forgiveness)

Source: http://hadithoftheday.com/dua-astaghfar/

Astaghfar means seeking forgiveness of Allah for the sins so far committed and turning repentant unto Allah.

Allah has created us weak and we are likely to make mistakes and transgress. At the same time Allah has allowed us to seek forgiveness. Forgiveness is very important in Islam. By constantly turning to Allah for forgiveness of our sins, we learn humility. Our Creator time and time again tells His creation to repent so that they may be forgiven.

And seek forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.
Surat An-Nisa 4:106

And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of Allah will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
Surat An-Nisa 4:110

Allah is Ar-Rahman, the Most Compassionate, and Ar-Raheem, the Most Merciful. He loves that we ask Him for forgiveness and He has promised to forgive.

Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.
Surat Az-Zumar 39:53-54

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle salallahu alaihi wasallam said, “Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains, saying: “Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 21 Hadith 246

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “When Allah created the creations, He wrote with Him on His Throne: ‘My Mercy has preceded My Anger.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 93 Hadith 545

Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
Anas heard the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam say: Allah, the Exalted, has said: “O son of Adam! Certainly I shall continue to pardon thee so long as thou supplicatest Me and hopest (for My forgiveness), whatever may be thy faults and sins, I don’t care. O son of Adam, even if thy sins pile up as high as the sky, and thou askest for My forgiveness, I will forgive thee. O son of Adam, if thou comest to Me with an earthful of defaults and meetest Me, not associating anything with Me, I will come to thee, with an earthful of forgiveness.”
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 442
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar
The Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam said: “Allah, the Lord of honour and glory, will accept the repentance of His servant till his death-rattle begins.”
Al-Tirmidhi – Hadith 18

Prophet Muhammad salallahu alaihi wasallam, Allah’s beloved Messenger would constantly ask for Allah’s forgiveness.

Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying.” By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 75 Hadith 319

Narrated Abdullah bin Amr: Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said to the Prophet “O Allah’s Apostle! Teach me an invocation with which I may invoke Allah in my prayers.” The Prophet said, “Say: O Allah! I have wronged my soul very much (oppressed myself), and none forgives the sins but You; so please bestow Your forgiveness upon me. No doubt, You are the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 93 Hadith 485

Thauban reported: When the Messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi wasallam finished his prayer, he begged forgiveness three times and said: O Allah! Thou art Peace, and peace comes from Thee; Blessed art Thou, O Possessor of Glory and Honour. Walid reported: I said to Auza’i: How is the seeking of forgiveness? He replied: You should say:, I beg forgiveness from Allah, I beg forgiveness from Allah.”
Sahih Muslim – Book 4 Hadith 1226

Narrated Shaddad bin Aus: The Prophet salallahu alahi wasallam said “The most superior way of asking for forgiveness from Allah is:

للَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لا إِلَهَ إِلا أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَمَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلا أَنْتَ

‘Allahumma anta Rabbi la ilaha illa anta, Anta khalaqtani wa ana abduka, wa ana ‘ala ahdika wa wa’dika mastata’tu, A’udhu bika min Sharri ma sana’tu, abu’u Laka bini’matika ‘alaiya, wa Abu Laka bidhanbi faghfirli innahu la yaghfiru adhdhunuba illa anta.”

(O Allah! You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins except You.

The Prophet added. “If somebody recites it during the day with firm faith in it, and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise; and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it, and dies before the morning, he will be from the people of Paradise.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 75 Hadith 318

Let us take time every day to reflect on ourselves and seek Allah’s forgiveness with utmost sincerity and earnestly. May Allah help us stay on the right path, forgive us and help us repent when we falter.

Ameen

A mother cannot be replaced by anyone!

By: Mufti Menk

We MUST value our mothers before they are taken away. It is an obligation to be respectful towards them, say kind words to them & appreciate everything they have done & continue doing for us! A meal prepared at home by “mum” is far more valuable & blessed than tens of other meals even if it is plain & simple! Once we marry, although life changes drastically, the status of a mum should never be forgotten. Success lies in appreciating those closest to us!

The blessed days of Dhul Hijjah

By: Abdullah Hakim Quick

As we pass through the blessed days of Dhul Hijjah, Muslims need to hold on to the life giving practices of Islam. Our Prayers, Fasting, Sadaqah (charity) and Hajj are blessings directly from Almighty Allah to each one of us! We have to believe that no matter what evil is done to us, no matter what insult is hurled at us, no matter what slander is made against the name of Islam, Allah has power over all things and has made for each manifestation in creation, a limit! We must believe that our children and our faith will survive, Insha Allah!!! They will find a way out (Makhraj) of the darkness into light!!!”

Traits of Al Mustafa (pbuh): his blessed hands

Source: http://www.sunnah.org/

By: Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi

The impulse for writing this article came from a conversation with a colleague who told me that while sitting with other colleagues, he had heard one of them repeat the statement that the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, was an ordinary human being like the rest of us, except that Allah had given him the Qur’ân. My friend knew very well that this kind of statement had been deliberately circulated among Muslims to detach them from their Prophet, thus cutting them off from the mercy of Allah that descends upon them through their love for him and close adherence to his teachings. This is part of an overall plan to destroy Islam from within, a plan that, we regret to say, is carried out by ignorant Muslims, misled by crude suggestions of the Devil that to love the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and revere him is to worship him beside Allah. My friend told me he became quite angry and challenged our colleagues to take anything of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) at random and compare it with themselves. He found himself saying, “Take his hand for instance!” Then he started discoursing about the special distinctions of the Prophet’s hand, talking for about twenty minutes, all the time aware that he had never spoken like that before. His colleagues listened silently, then when he was finished, begged him to carry on. These were educated people who already had much of this knowledge in their minds, but who had been too busy with worldly things to assemble and envisage their knowledge from that angle before, or to make the necessary effort in understanding how and why they had previously been misinformed.

Making the most of the 10 blessed days of Dhul-Hijjah

Source: eislaminfo.blogspot.com

By His wisdom, Allah Ta’ala gave preference to some places and times over others. For Muslims, Friday is the best day of the week, Ramadan is the best month of the year, “Laylat al-Qadr” is the best night in Ramadan, the day of “Arafah” is the best day of the year. Likewise the first ten days of the month of “Dhul-Hijjah” are the blessed days for Muslims.

Allah Ta’ala says in the Quran what means: {By the daybreak, by the ten nights, by the even and the odd,by the passing night – is this oath strong enough for a rational person?} (Al-Fajr 89:1-5)

DANISH SCHOLAR REVERTS TO ISLAM

Source: thedeenshow.com

As a Muslim of Scandinavian origin I am often met with the question of why I became a Muslim. Yes, I even ask myself from time to time, why Allah had picked me, out of the multitude of people, and brought me to this blessed path of Islam.

Substandard Medical Care Claims Another Life At A Bangladesh Rohingya Refugee Camp

Source: rohingyablogger.com

A. Soma Khatun, a 28 year old Rohingya woman, wife and mother, hadn’t recovered well from the birth of her second child. Her son, Abdur Rahman, came to the world just a little over three months ago. Wife of Abdul Karim, A. Soma Khatun was blessed with their first child, Stamina Akter 3 years ago. They lived as a family in one of the thousands of sheds in Nayapara Refugee Camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh, which is near the Myanmar border, the motherland of the Rohingya. The country can clearly be seen just across Naf river, which separates the 2 countries beyond the border point shared by the two countries. The Rohingya’s citizenship was revoked by the Myanmar government in 1982. Most of the refugees in this camp came to Bangladesh in the early 1990’s and their generation after, have since been born there in the camps.

Jewish Scholar Moved by the Prophet’s Forbearance

Source: Leicester Dawah

The blessed Companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Abdullah ibn Salam narrates that when Allah willed to guide Zaid ibn Su`nah (the great Jewish scholar of Madinah), Zaid ibn Su`nah said:

“I recognized all of the signs of prophethood upon seeing the face of Muhammad save two signs that were not immediately evident:

That his forbearance would precede his rashness, and that his forbearance would increase upon encountering excessive rashness.”