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Omar Regan – Loving Allah, following Prophet Muhammad & Islamic manners (Video)
In this powerful and inspirational Khutbah, Br. Omar Regan reminds the believers to love Allah, follow the prophet Muhammad (s) and how to improve our Islamic character and manners.
12 Tips from the Sunnah to Communicate Effectively with Others
Source: productivemuslim.com
By: Noorul Irfana Mashooq Rahman
We communicate with people on a daily basis, and what’s better than learning some important types of etiquette that could improve our daily interactions! I personally worked as an elementary school teacher in Sharjah for a period of time. After Allah 
blessed me with my third child, I couldn’t get back to work and I didn’t miss the work environment much except for a few wonderful things that used to happen. I reminisced all those small, lovely things and especially remembered the peace greetings.
The school where I used to work, being an Islamic one, had the full Islamic greeting instilled in its students from an early age, so whenever I used to enter any classroom and utter the greetings of peace, the entire class would reply, ‘wa’alaykum as-salaam warahmatul laahi wa barakaatuh’ (and may the peace and blessings [of Allah] be upon you) in unison.
It was so beautiful, so pleasing to the ears and I had taken it for granted! Though I knew I could not have that many duas showered over me now that I was at home, I made a mental note to use every talking/meeting opportunity (provided the kids weren’t crying or in tantrum-mode) to say the full greeting to everybody with the hope of receiving the same beautiful greeting; a small decision with much to yield, In sha Allah.
Parenting Cannot Be Delegated
Source: blog.islamiconlineuniversity.com
By: Nisaar Nadiadwa
I was a guest at one of my friend’s place. This was a very rich man and he had a young son. While we were sitting, his son offered me a glass of water. The father retaliated: “Can’t you even greet with Salams!” I could clearly see the man’s eyebrows frowning and the little kid shivering. The child mumbled ‘Assalamualaikum’ in a shivering voice . Later, I corrected my friend that he was wrong in insulting his son and he should read the biography of the Prophet 
on how he taught children, tolerated their mistakes and corrected them without getting angry.
David Ovadia, IDF Soldier showing injustice
Excuse the disrespectful manners. What else do you expect from a Zionist? I made sure that he said this statement. His account is active; it’s real.
How about this world? He said it him self. Do you still think he is out there with his Israeli army bombing people in Gaza to “eliminate” Hamas? No, they want to eliminate all Palestinians.
This is not about Hamas.
Whatever happened to manners?
By: Sister Jasmine Khan
Source: eislam.co.za
I was travelling in a bus one day; it was crowded with school children on their way home. As I tried to tune out the chattering of shrill young voices, I looked around and felt that there was something wrong. Then I noticed that the seats were occupied by children, some as young as six or seven, while adults battled to keep steady standing in the aisle.
Many of us have forgotten some of the old school manners that our parents, grandparents, and teachers taught us. This is of course the key, manners or good conduct is instilled in us by our parents. After all, a child learns by watching, seeing and hearing what those around him do. In this increasingly frenetic world, making a good impression is vital, and good manners and respect for others can go a long way to ensuring that you do. There seems to be a lack of respect for what has been taught in the Quran and Sunnah when it comes to our behaviour. It is not that we do not know how we are supposed to behave; it seems more like a general carelessness in our conduct. ”Good Manners” would appear to be a pet dinosaur, which is trotted out from time to time on very special occasions. In our daily life we seem to we care more for our possessions than for those around us. We are so focussed on the material, that we ignore the spiritual. In our drive for the outer trappings we contaminate our souls, and the souls of those around us. It is a basic human need to be acknowledged; when we fail to respect others, we are denying them their uniqueness as a fellow creation of Allah Ta’ala.
All praise is due to Allah Ta’ala who created the universe and taught His greatest Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the best of manners, purified his character and conduct and adopted him as His friend. This is our perfect example; in fact, we are commanded by Allah Ta’ala to follow the Sunnah, and if we do, we cannot go wrong. Allah Ta’ala says “Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind); If ye love Allah , follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. Allah Ta’ala is forgiving and Merciful. Say: Obey Allah and the messenger. But if they turn away, lo! Allah loveth not the disbelievers (in his guidance)”.Quran: Surah 3; Verse 31-32.Outer good manners are a reflection of inner good conduct. Our behaviour is a direct result of our thoughts, and good character and conduct is manifested in our actions. When we exert the power given to us by Allah Ta’ala as our Creator, we access the light of secret power within; with good manners this power is expressed outwardly as a rhyme of beauty; the beauty of the soul and that of actions. Our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never behaved as if he was greater than others. Nor did He belittle people, or cause them embarrassment or humiliation. He always greeted people kindly, and showed respect to elders as well as to children. He once said: “The dearest of you to me are those who have good manners.” (Al-Bukhari)
However, when young people do not bother to greet elderly relatives living on their property, when they go to work and come back without checking up someone who lives a few steps from their back door, is it any wonder that the children do not bother to do so either. When parents shout at their children, address them without any respect for their feelings, are it any wonder that the youth of today are careless and have no respect for others?
Almighty Allah Ta’ala says:
“Certainly you have in the Messenger of Allah Ta’ala an excellent exemplar for those who hope in Allah Ta’ala and the latter day and remember Allah Ta’ala much.”](Al-Ahzab 33:21)
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) practised what he preached; he showed how we should live as individuals and as members of the society. He disciplined himself by staying aloof from quarrels and quibbles. He never engaged in bad language. How refreshing when we consider how most of us cannot refrain from getting involved in the problems of others. His exemplary manners make him a model for us to follow. He stressed the importance of good manners. He said: “The best of you is the best among you in conduct: (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) Also: “The heaviest thing to be placed in the balance of a believing slave on the Day of Judgement will be good behaviour. And Allah Ta’ala hates the one who uses bad language” (Hadith-AL Bayhaqi). Should we not take cognisance of this when next we feel like shouting of insulting those dear to us?
When asked what one needs to get to Jannah, The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) answer was: “Piety and good conduct”
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went even further to declare that we will inhabit different levels in Jannah, based on good manners: “The dearest and nearest among you to me on the Day of Resurrection will be the one who is the best in conduct.” (Ibn An-Najjaar).
Ethics in Islam is different from any other ethical system because it is derived from a Divine source; the revelation from Allah Ta’ala. It cannot be changed, or manipulated to fit our desires. It applies regardless of time or place. This system has not been changed for thousands of years. What was considered good morals in the past will remain as good morals throughout time. What was considered as bad morals in the past will also remain so forever, even if society accepts it as a norm. The system of ethics is not affected by cultural norms, because Allah Ta’ala is the One who determines what is acceptable and what is not. The Noble Quran is very detailed and clearly mentions the significance of good manners. No other ethical system can match it. It teaches humans how to deal with every aspect of their lives; it is not a man made system; it is the Deen of Allah Ta’ala. He made it complete and integrated. Unlike other ethical systems, Islam’s moral system is a very detailed and complete package. Islam addresses every aspect of human life, no matter how minor. It does not lack anything that needs to be completed nor does it have any defects that need to be amended. The Deen of Islam guides our morals that deal with the individual, the community, and Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It also guides us on how to deal with rulers and how to honour and respect scholars. Islam even directs us on how to act during times of peace and war.
Allah Ta’ala favoured us by sending us Rasulullah (peace be upon him), so that he may teach us wisdom. Let us reflect on Allah Ta’ala’s words, study the Sunnah; and resolve to follow it, Insha’Allah. If you want a successful and happy life, then simply apply Islam to it, and you will have wonderful results. Good manners, self respect and respect for others go hand in hand. What a lovely gift to give to our children.
Imam Malik (RA) is reported to have said: The Sunnah is like the Ark, those who board will be saved, and those who don’t, will perish.
Yawning Caused by Anxiety
Yawning Caused by Anxiety
Anxiety causes a lot of unusual reactions in the body, and in some cases it can feel like it changes the way you process air.
It’s not uncommon to find that your anxiety is making you yawn more. Yawning is actually a very common symptom of anxiety, especially if you have anxiety attacks, and it’s not just because anxiety can leave you fatigued.
In this article, we’ll explain why anxiety makes you yawn. You’ll also find out how yawning can actually increase your anxiety.
Yawning = Anxiety?
Yawning may not seem like a traditional anxiety symptom, but if it’s accompanied by other common anxiety symptoms it may be due to an anxiety disorder. Click here to take my free 7 minute evaluation test to see if you have the other symptoms that are related to anxiety yawning.
Why We Yawn
Yawning is a mystery of science, and one that is otherwise completely normal. Yawning is most often due to a lack of sleep, but in many cases yawning may be the result of the way your body responds to anxiety, particularly during an anxiety attack.
If you haven’t already, make sure you take the 7 minute anxiety test. It’s designed specifically to help people understand their anxiety, and whether yawning is likely related to an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety Yawning – Your Breathing During Anxiety
Anxiety has causes some unusual physical responses, but yawning is easily one of the strangest. Yet the reason for yawning is actually fairly simple. When you have anxiety, especially anxiety attacks, your body has a tendency to hyperventilate.
When you hyperventilate, your body starts to feel like it’s not getting a full breath. As a response, it tries to yawn, because yawning expands the rib cage and sends a signal to your brain that you did indeed get a full breath. In that sense, yawning is trying to tell your body to relax.
How You Hyperventilate With Anxiety
Hyperventilation is most common during anxiety attacks, but it can actually happen to anyone that suffers from anxiety, and it can happen even when no anxiety is present. The most common ways those with anxiety hyperventilate include:
- Rapid Breathing – During a panic attack, it’s not uncommon for the nervousness to force your body to breathe more quickly. This dispels too much CO2 without taking in enough oxygen to compensate.
- Tracked Breathing – Hyperventilation may also occur when you’re thinking about your breathing. This is because the body usually takes very small breaths, because that’s all the oxygen it needs. When you think about your breathing, you have a tendency to think you need larger breaths, thus taking in more oxygen than you need. You’re still breathing slowly, but because you’re mentally controlling your breathing rather than letting your body control it automatically, taking in too much oxygen the result.
- Poor Habits – Unfortunately, in many people hyperventilation can become a breathing habit. This generally occurs when you have anxiety attacks, and your body starts to learn to breathe incorrectly. This is one of the reasons that those with anxiety often hyperventilate even when they don’t think they have anxiety.
Hyperventilation is, in essence, the act of “over-breathing.” It’s the body letting out too much carbon dioxide while taking it too much oxygen. That can be strange for many people because hyperventilation feels like you haven’t gotten enough oxygen, but in truth it’s the opposite.
Of course, because you feel like you haven’t gotten a deep breath, you likely have a tendency to try to take even deeper breaths. This will just cause you to hyperventilate more, as you continue to take in too much oxygen.
How Yawning Can Actually Hurt Your Anxiety
It’s for this reason that yawning can actually harm your anxiety. Your mind and body have a tendency to try to yawn so that it can feel your ribs expand and help you feel calmer. But this causes two problems:
- Because you’re hyperventilating, it may be hard to get your ribs to expand, since it’s arguably a forced yawn. Forced yawns don’t always feel completed, and when that occurs it can lead to more anxiety over your health.
- When you yawn it’s not uncommon to feel a bit better about getting a full breath. But yawning is still taking in a great deal of oxygen, so when you yawn you’re still furthering the hyperventilation. Yawning has a calming effect on your worries about breathing, but it may still cause other hyperventilation symptoms, like chest pain, that may make you feel as though you need to yawn more.
In a way, yawning is simply a way that you and your body tell yourself that your heart and lungs are still working. It’s a way of curing that “shortness of breath” feeling that occurs when you’re anxious. But despite that “benefit,” yawning may also be furthering your anxiety, and potentially even triggering more anxiety attacks.
How to Yawn Less
Anxiety yawns cannot be easily turned off, because yawning is still an involuntary movement. In fact, even when you try to force a yawn, your body has to go along with it otherwise a yawn is nearly impossible – your chest simply will not expand to take in a yawn unless your body is willing.
So the key to yawning less is not to stop the yawning, but rather to fight the hyperventilation. You can do this by taking slower, calmer breaths. At first, those breaths will not necessarily decrease that feeling of being unable to take a deep breath, but over time your Oxygen and CO2 levels will be back in the right balance, and your mind and body won’t have that desire to take a full yawn again.
Source: http://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/signs/yawning
The Manners of Yawning in Islam
The Manners of Yawning in Islam
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
When one feels the need to yawn, he should try to suppress it, for it is from the Shaitaan (the Devil). Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) that the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) said:
… اما التثاؤب فانما هو من الشيطان …
“… as for yawning, then it is from the Shaytaan only …“[al-Bukharee 2626]
An-Nawawee said, “Yawning usually occurs when the body is heavy, full, relaxed, and inclined towards laziness. It is ascribed to the Shaitaan because he is the one who invites people to follow lusts. [Another] intended meaning here is a warning against doing that act which results in yawning: eating too much and too frequently.”
As for suppressing a yawn, doing so is recommended, Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Messenger of Allah (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) said,
التثاؤب من الشيطان فإذا تثاءب أحدكم فليرده ما استطاع ، فإن أحدكم إذا تثاءب ضحك الشيطان
“Yawning is from the Shaitaan (the Devil), so if one of you yawns, then let him hold it back as much as he can; for indeed, when one of you says, “Haa (in the act of yawning), the Shaitaan laughs.”
Ahmad related it with this working: “Then let him hold it back as much as he can, and let him not say, “Ahh Ahh,’ for indeed,k when one of you opens his mouth, the Shaitaan laughs at him [laughs] because of him.” [Related by Bukhaaree(3289), Muslim (2994), Ahmad (9246), At-Tirmidhee (370), and Abu Dawood (5028)]
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Messenger of Allah (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) said,
إذا تثاءب أحدكم فليمسك بيده على فيه. فإن الشيطان يدخل
“When one of you yawns, then let him hold his hand over his mouth, for indeed, the Shaitaan [otherwise] enters.”
Ahmad related the Hadeeth thus: “When one of you yawns during prayer, then let him place his hands over his mouth, for verily, the Shaitaan enters with a yawn.” [Related by Muslim(2995), Ahmad (10930), Abu Daawood (5026), and Ad-Daarimee (1382)]
One can suppress a yawn by controlling one’s mouth, making an effort not to allow it to open; by putting pressure on one’s lip with one’s teeth; by placing one’s hand or garment over one’s mouth; or by doing something similar to achieve the same effect.
Related Issue:Some people report to seeking refuge from the Shaitaan (the Devil) when they yawn; this practice is wrong from two angles: first, a person who does so has innovated by introducing the saying of an invocation which the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) did not legislate it for that occasion). Second, he forsakes a Sunnah practice that the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) commanded every Muslim to perform upon yawning; that practice is to suppress the yawn as much as one can, with one’s garment or hand, or through the use of any other means.
Source: The Book of Manners P. 421-423
http://knowledgeisdeen.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/the-manners-of-yawning-in-islam/
How Yawning Can Actually Hurt Your Anxiety
30 Inspirational Islamic Sayings and Short Poems
1
The Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it. Whenever it is taken from something, it leaves it tarnished.” – Imam Bukhari’s Book of Muslim Manners.
2
Abdullah bin Al-Haarith said, “I didn’t see anyone who smiled more than the Messenger of Allah (s).” – (At-Tirmithee, 3641).
3
“Allah. It all starts with Him – the universe, humanity, and our own conception – and it all comes back to Him in the end. There’s no victory without Him, no progress, no peace. Strengthen your relationship with Him in the easy times, and you will find Him beside you in the hard times.” – Wael Abdelgawad
4
“Allah (God) is an exponential word.” – Imam Zaid Shakir
5
“Keep your head up, forge forward fee-sabeel-illah, keep praying, learning, thinking, following your dreams, and loving the people in your life. It’s all worth it, it all matters and makes a difference. Every single thing you do is meaningful, even when you don’t see it. You are my brothers, my sisters, my heroes.” – Wael Abdelgawad
6
“When you’re out of ideas, that’s when faith comes in. Let Allah show you the way.” – Wael Abdelgawad
7
“No one should ever be depressed by his or her worldly situation as long as he or she is walking on the path leading to Paradise. Attaining Paradise is the great objective of this life, and the person who gains it is victorious, regardless of what he achieved in the world.” – Imam Zaid Shakir
8
Allah has a beautiful plan
for every woman and man.
Trust Allah and pray
and He will light the way.
– Wael Abdelgawad
9
“When I am feeling low and downtrodden I just find a quiet place and sit alone with my favorite book (the Quran)! When I turn each of its miraculous pages my heart begins to feel lighter and the world around me brighter! The love, warmth and security of each word sets in and it is in these very moments that I know for sure in my heart how much Allah really loves me! Alhamdulillah! Subhanallah! Allahu Akbar!” – Asmaa Deanna-Dee
10
“‘Oh, but what’s the use of trying to be a good Muslim when I end up sinning again and again?’… Well, what’s the use of bathing when you get dirty again and again? Salat (prayer) is a purifier. Though you sin again and again, keep returning to Allah for purification. Fasting is a purifier, Zakat is a purifier, Hajj is a purifier… We can use the same analogy for hope and motivation. We have to keep finding them again and again. That’s the nature of life.” – Wael Abdelgawad
PASS THE KNOWLEDGE (LIGHT & LIFE) 