in the Mix

Yaum al-Khamis 13th Rabi al-Awwal 1429

Bismillah ar Rahmaan ar Raheem,

As salaam alaikum wa rahmaatuulahhi wa baraakaatuu,

As I get closer to the formal launch of this site I have decided to only post once a day. I wrote something on Iraq that I will save for tomorrow. Today will be a little bit of a mix.

First something that I feel strongly about:

I remember when Magic Johnson first announced that he was diagnosed with HIV. For some reason in my mind that memory has merged with the exit of Del Harris when he was with the Bucks. To me Del will always be remembered as the man who destroyed the Bucks. But in reality it was probably Sen. Kohl behind the scenes. If it wasn’t for Sen. Kohl the Bucks would have long left Milwaukee, and the city should be grateful to him for keeping the team here. But it is two fold, because the Sen. bought a winner, and has turned it into a loser and he is the only constant in the loosing ways for almost 20 years. Yeah almost 20 years.

When he first brought Larry Harris on I thought he was coming to finish the job his daddy started, and in some ways he did. Larry did a good job at getting talent, bad job putting a team together. Unfortunately the NBA is not like other sports were you can just get the most talented guy and plug him in. Larry also never recovered after firing Porter. My thoughts are that one day Larry will be like Jerry West, and his firing may look like the senator’s biggest mistake.

No to balance things out I read this yesterday in Tafseer Ibn Kahir:

The Merit of stating the Object of the Action before the Doer of the Act, and the Merit of these Negations

“You…”, means, we worship You alone and none else, and rely on You alone and none else. This is the perfect form of obedience and the entire religion is implied by these two ideas. Some of the Salaf said, Al-Fatihah is the secret of the Qur’an, while these words are the secret of Al-Fatihah,

﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّا! ك& #1614; نَسْتَعِينُ ﴾

(5. You we worship, and You we ask for help from.)

The first part is a declaration of innocence from Shirk (polytheism), while the second negates having any power or strength, displaying the recognition that all affairs are controlled by Allah alone. This meaning is reiterated in various instances in the Qur’an. For instance, Allah said,

﴿فَاعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ﴾

(So worship Him (O Muhammad ) and put your trust in Him. And your Lord is not unaware of what you (people) do.) (11:123),

﴿قُلْ هُوَ الرَّحْمَـنُ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ وَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا﴾

(Say: “He is the Most Gracious (Allah), in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust.”) (67:29),

﴿رَّبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَات&#161! 7;&#1614 ;خِذْهُ وَكِيلاً ﴾

((He alone is) the Lord of the east and the west; La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He).

So take Him alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs)), (73:9), and,

﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴾

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).

We should mention that in this Ayah, the type of speech here changes from the third person to direct speech by using the Kaf in the statement Iyyaka (You). This is because after the servant praised and thanked Allah, he stands before Him, addressing Him directly;

﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴾

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).

So take Him alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs)), (73:9),

Think About It…

Yaum ath-Thulaathaa 26th Safar 1429

Bismillah ar Rahmaan ar Raheem,

As salaam alaikum wa rahmaatuulahhi wa baraakaatuu,

So We responded to him and gave him Yahya and made his wife fit for him;

Surely they used to hasten, one with another In deeds of goodness and to call upon Us (make dua), hoping and fearing and they were humble before Us.

Al-Anbiya 90

Think About It…

Yaum ath-Thulaathaa 6th Muharram 1429

Bismillah ar Rahmaan ar Raheem,

As salaam alaikum wa rahmaatuulahhi wa baraakaatuu,

Surah Al-Baqara –

148 For every nation there is a direction to which they face (in their prayers). So hasten towards all that is good. Wheresoever you may be, Allah will bring you together (on the Day of Resurrection). Truly, Allah is Able to do all things.

149 And from wheresoever you start forth (for prayers), turn your face in the direction of Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah), that is indeed the truth from your Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.

150 And from wheresoever you start forth (for prayers), turn your face in the direction of Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah), and wheresoever you are, turn your faces towards, it (when you pray) so that men may have no argument against you except those of them that are wrong-doers, so fear them not, but fear Me! – And so that I may complete My Blessings on you and that you may be guided.

151 Similarly (to complete My Blessings on you) We have sent among you a Messenger (Muhammad SAW) of your own, reciting to you Our Verses (the Quran) and sanctifying you, and teaching you the Book (the Quran) and the Hikmah (i.e. Sunnah, Islamic laws and Fiqh – jurisprudence), and teaching you that which you used not to know.

152 Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying, etc.). I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless Favours on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.

Think About It…

Yaum al-Ithnayn 5th Muharram 1429

Bismillah ar Rahmaan ar Raheem,

As salaam alaikum wa rahmaatuulahhi wa baraakaatuu,

How many times have you read this surah. I have read it many times, but it hasn’t hit me too much until now. I am memorizing it and two things come out at me. That man is preoccupied with this life but he should be preoccupied with the next, and we may see the hell fire… subhanAllah.

Piling of more wealth has kept you heedless.
Till you saw your graves
Yes, soon you will come to know.
Again, yes, soon you will come to know.
Yes, it you would have knows with knowledge of certainty: you would not have loved wealth
Undoubtedly, you shall necessarily, see Hell
Then again, undoubtedly you shall necessarily see it with the eye of certainty
Then, undoubtedly, you shall surely be asked about the favours.

Think about it…

yaum ath-thulaathaa 16th Dhu al-Hijjah 1428

Bismillah ar Rahmaan ar Raheem,

As salaam alaikum wa rahmaatuulahhi wa baraakaatuu,

Surah Al-Baqara, Ayah 200-202:

200 So when ye have accomplished your holy rites, celebrate the praises of Allah, as ye used to celebrate the praises of your fathers,- yea, with far more Heart and soul. There are men who say: “Our Lord! Give us (Thy bounties) in this world!” but they will have no portion in the Hereafter.

201 And there are men who say: “Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire!”

202 To these will be allotted what they have earned; and Allah is quick in account.

(I like the noble Quran translation better)

Summary of Al-Baqarah Sections 6 and 7

Section 6 ayahs 47 – 61

Allah asks the children of Israel to remember 

1. his favor and to fear the day of judgment

2. that he split the sea and delivered them from pharaoh

3. he appointed Musa for 40 nights, and they worshiped the calf, and then they were forgiven

4. They asked to see Allah, and Allah killed them and brought them back to life

5. Allah asked them to enter Jerusalem and follow instructions, but they didn’t and were punished for their disobedience.

6. Allah told Musa to strike a stone with his stick and 12 springs gushed for each tribe, but the COI complained and drew the wrath of Allah on themselves.

Section 7 ayahs 62 – 83

Those who believe and those who are the people of the book, and the Sabians who were righteous will have their reward with Allah.

Allah asked the COI to remember

1. That they were given a covenant but they turned away but will still guided out of mercy. There were some who didn’t follow the Sabbath and were turned to monkeys and this was made an example to future generations.

2. They were asked to slaughter a cow and they made it hard for themselves.

3. A man was killed and Allah asked them to hit him with the flesh of the slaughtered cow, they did and he told who killed him.

The COI hearts became hardened, and the believers should think that they believe while they continue to change Allah’s revelation to them, and they hide the references to Muhammed in the torah. And some of the COI are ignorant and follow their desires and guess. Allah warns those who change the torah, and tells those who think that they will be in hell for a short period of time, but they don’t know this. Those who do evil will be in hell, and those who do good will be in paradise

Summary of Al-Baqarah Sections 3,4 and 5

Section 3 21-29

Allah is the one who provides wealth. If you do not believe in the Quran produce a Surah like it. If you can not produce a Surah like in the Quran fear Allah.

Section 4 30-39

Allah (swt) created Adam and he taught him the names of all things. Iblis disobeyed Allah, and Iblis persuaded Adam to disobey Allah. Adam learned  how to repent. Adam, Huwah, and Iblis were sent back down to earth. Allah (swt) warned those who disbelieved that their place will be hell, and informed the believer if they  believe their place will be paradise.

Section 5 40 – 46

Allah (swt) asks the Children of Israel to remember the following:

1. the favor Allah (swt) did for them and to fulfill their obligations so that he can fulfill his obligations to them. Allah tells the COI to believe in the quarn as it confirms the revelations from before and tells them to not be the first to disbelieve, and tells them not to change their revelation to suit their needs. Allah tells them not to hide the mention of Muhammed in their books. Allah tells them to pray, pay zakat, and join the Muslims. Allah asks to they make the others do good, while they do bad, don’t they have sense. Allah states that patience and prayer is hard except for al-Khashiun.

Sections 1 & 2 of al Baqarah

Section 1 Ayahs 1-7

There is no doubt in the Quran, it is for those who are al-muttaqiun (they are the ones believe in the unseen, offer prayers perfectly, and spend in Allah’s cause, they also believe in the Quran and the revelations before it, and the hereafter). The al muttaqiun are the ones who are truly successful. The ones who do not believe, their belief does not depend on Muslims warning them, Allah has misguided them due to their disbelief.

Section 2 Ayahs 8-20

The Hypocrites are a group of people who say they believe but do not. They think they deceive Allah, but they only fool themselves. Hypocrisy is a disease that Allah has increased in them. They will be punished for the lies they tell. They are told to be peaceful and they claim they are but they really make mischief. Allah makes fun of them and shows benefit (in this life) in their deeds to make them think they are doing the right thing.

Summary of Surah Al -Fathiah

Summary of Surah Al -Fathiah

Section 1 (ayahs 1-5)
Allah is the creator of everything and is the only one worthy of praise, worship and the one we should ask for help from. He is the most accepting of what we do in his behalf, and he is the most merciful when we error.

Section 2 (ayahs 6, 7)
Allah is asked to show us the strait way. The strait way is not of those who have gone astray or have earned his anger.

Note: Yusuf Ali actually had only one section for this Surah but I separated it into two.

Introduction to my notes on Yusuf Ali’s sections of the Quran

Al humduulilah I finished reading the Quran for the first time recently. It is very strange that someone would choose to be a Muslim for half of his life and only finish the Quran once. It is my belief now, that after one takes the shahadah they should complete the Quran in the first month.

The object of this post is to introduce my notes on Yusuf Ali’s sections of the Quran. I decided that this reading of Quran I would do it section by section and take notes.

And inshaa Allah I will post the notes here, so others may benefit.

If I make any errors just comment.

Jazack Allahuu Kahir