The (quick) fiqh of Fasting

By: Shaykh Mansur Ali

Source: ilmgate.org

Definition: Fasting is to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and having sexual intercourse from dawn till dusk with the intention of worship.

Types of fasting:

18 sources of Barakah!

Source: productivemuslim.com

By: Abu Productive

If we were to look for an Islamic definition of Productivity, it can probably be summarised in the word “barakah” or Blessing. Being able to achieve more with few resources, doing much in little time, and generating a lot with little effort is surely a blessing from Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala). Yet Barakah has somehow become a lost treasure these days; everyone’s looking for it, but no one seems to find it! You always hear people complaining that there’s no barakah in their time, no barakah in their sleep, no barakah in their money and the rest of it.

In this article, we’ll solve this mystery inshaAllah: we’ll find out what Barakah is and where you can find it!
What is Barakah?

A Well-known daee explains it as follows:
والبركة: هي ثبوت الخير الإلهي في الشيء؛ فإنها إذا حلت في قليل كثرته، وإذا حلت في كثير نفع، ومن أعظم ثمار البركة في الأمور كلها إستعمالها في طاعة الله عز وجل.

“Barakah is the attachment of Divine goodness to a thing, so if it occurs in something little, it increases it. And if it occurs in something much it benefits. And the greatest fruits of Barakah in all things is to use that barakah in the obedience of Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala)”

Common Daily Mistakes Exploited by Shaitan

Source: blog.islamiconlineuniversity.com

By: Abdul-Baseer

Our lives can seem like a whirlwind of hectic, chaotic, unpredictable situations and occurrences that keep us busy. Struggling to do what we need to do to maintain our obedience to Allah  and surviving in a complex world at the same time can be very difficult.  Yet, we all have patterns, habits and daily routines we fall into as we maintain some stability, sanity and normality to our lives.  The longer one makes daily mistakes, the more harder it will get to survive Shaitan’s trappings; making his temptations difficult to resist and easier to fall into.

The various addictions Shaitan wants to trap a person can move from one level to the next. An addiction locks one into a vice, sin or foul activity. Without the ability to escape from shaitan’s trappings, we are unable to free ourselves, making us not only slaves of Shaitan, but we might also end up working to spread his foul causes and agendas.

So clearly the first step one should take is to stop Shaitan in his tracks before any of these weakening factors occur.  Then turning to the Qur’an and the Sunnah will answer the strategy to avoid each pitfall.

The Sunnah manner of eating

Source: inter-islam.org

The Holy Prophet (May Allah send peace and blessings upon him) expressed dislike for over-eating and said that over-eating is ill luck and misfortune. In other words, a person who over eats will be followed by such faults and defects that he will have difficulty and hardship in every place and people will look at him in a bad way.

The Holy Prophet (May Allah send peace and blessings upon him) used to eat with three fingers, and before wiping and cleaning his hand he used to lick his blessed fingers.

Whenever food is very hot, it should be left covered for a while, so that the emission of steam finishes. In doing so, the Holy Prophet (May Allah send peace and blessings upon him) has said that this is a method in which barakah may be gained.

Top 10 tips on avoiding food wastage from the Prophet

Source: muslimvillage.com

A Muslim’s diet is above ordinary – we are “meat-eating vegetarians” which means if it’s not organic or halal food (lawful in Islam), we practice temporary vegetarianism. Muslims are blessed with grocery stores and local markets therefore life in Britain does not require us to grow our own crops – although, if we did, that would be exciting and nurturing. As an eco-Muslim I have learned to grow my own tomatoes and other herbs, which, with a little know-how is a productive step to improving our lifestyle.

18 sources of blessings in life

Source: productivemuslim.com

By: Abu Productive

If we were to look for an Islamic definition of Productivity, it can probably be summarised in the word “barakah” or Blessing. Being able to achieve more with few resources, doing much in little time, and generating a lot with little effort is surely a blessing from Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala). Yet Barakah has somehow become a lost treasure these days; everyone’s looking for it, but no one seems to find it! You always hear people complaining that there’s no barakah in their time, no barakah in their sleep, no barakah in their money and the rest of it.

In this article, we’ll solve this mystery inshaAllah: we’ll find out what Barakah is and where you can find it!

The line for food at Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp

This jaw-dropping photo published in The Guardian this week shows the line for food at Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp. The UN says that some people in this camp have been reduced to eating animal feed!

Extremely small amounts of aid have gotten in recently but delivery has been suspended repeatedly due to ongoing security concerns. The situation is dire! Take action to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria –>http://bit.ly/1mIYFrT

Opinion: Eating your ethics – Halal meat

Source: halalfocus.net

By: Alicia Miller

Halal ritual slaughter has raised huge controversy in the UK press, writes Alicia Miller. But the far greater issue is farm animals’ entire quality of life – as reflected in the Qu’ranic principle that meat must be ‘tayyib’ – good, wholesome and from well-treated, healthy animals. Is this something we can all agree on?

Judging Islam on the basis of a few Muslims is like eating a rotten fruit and blaming the whole tree.

 Judging Islam on the basis of a few Muslims is like eating a rotten fruit and blaming the whole tree.
 A juzgar Islam sobre la base de unos musulmanes es como comer una fruta podrida y culpar a todo el árbol.
 Afgaande islam op basis van een aantal moslims is als het eten van een rotte vrucht en het beschuldigen van de hele boom.
 A en juger l’Islam sur la base de quelques musulmans, c’est comme manger un fruit pourri et de blâmer l’arbre tout entier.
 Islam urteilen auf der Grundlage von ein paar Moslems ist wie Essen eine faule Frucht und die Schuld den ganzen Baum.
 Yīxiē mùsīlín de jīchǔ shànglái kàn yīsīlán jiào shì xiàng chīle làn shuǐguǒ hé zhǐzé zhěnggè shù.
 Att döma islam utifrån några muslimer är som att äta en rutten frukt och skylla hela trädet.
 Sudya islam na osnove neskol’kikh musul’man , kak yest gnilyye frukty i obvinyat’ vse derevo.
 Birkaç Müslümanların temelinde İslam’ı bakılırsa bir çürük meyve yeme ve bütün ağaç suçlamak gibi.
 A giudicare l’Islam sulla base di alcuni musulmani è come mangiare un frutto marcio e incolpare tutto l’albero.
 Menilai Islam atas dasar beberapa umat Islam adalah seperti makan buah busuk dan menyalahkan seluruh pohon.