Character of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him): Providing for those in Need

"A woman gave the Messenger of God (pbuh) a Burdah (gown). The Prophet (pbuh) asked his Companions: ‘Do you know what a Burdah is?’ They replied, ‘Yes, O Prophet of God! It is a piece of woven cloth [similar to a shawl]. The woman said: ‘O Prophet of God! I have woven this shawl with my own hands, for you to wear.’ The Messenger of God (pbuh) took it while he direly needed it. After a while, the Messenger of God (pbuh) came out of his home wearing it, and a Companion said to the Messenger of God (pbuh): ‘O Prophet of God! Grant me this shawl to wear!’ The Messenger of God (pbuh) said: ‘Yes.’ He then sat for awhile, and headed back home, folded it and gave it to the person who asked for it. The Companions scolded him saying: ‘It was not appropriate for you to ask for his shawl; especially since you know he does not turn anyone down or send them away empty-handed! The man said: ‘By God! I only asked him to give it to me because I want to be shrouded in this shawl when I die.’ Sahl, the narrator of the Hadeeth said: ‘The shawl was used as a shroud for that man when he died." 

(Bukhari #1987)

Miracle from the Quran: Darkness under the Sea

Allah (SWT) says in t:he Quran:

 Or [the state of a disbeliever] is like the darkness in a vast deep sea, overwhelmed with waves topped by waves, topped by dark clouds, (layers of) darkness upon darkness: if a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it! And he for whom Allah has not appointed light, for him there is no light.

[Surat An-Nur, verse: 40]. 

The explanation of the verse:
God be he blessed and exalted talks in this Quranic text about those who disbelieved in God's verses and denied His meeting and disclaimed the Prophet. So those people and their works that they have done in their lives are like a man that runs behind a mirage, panting behind it and when he reaches it he found nothing but his bad work. And this unbeliever is like a man living in the darkness of a deep sea and can hardly see anything because of the accumulated darkness.

Al-Imam Al-Qurtuby may Allah have mercy on him said: (in a vast deep sea) is the sea that we couldn't see its bottom and vast means the sea when the waves clash. And it was recently discovered that there are interior waves in the deep sees.

Scientific fact:
When scientists went down to the depths of the oceans, they found that deep sees have great darkness. And at the depth of one kilometer one could hardly see something and the darkness increases if the surface sea waves are high as they contribute in blocking the sunlight.

They have also found that at the depths of the deep sees, there are internal waves that no one could see unless he goes down to depths of more than one thousand meters and these waves could be harder than the surface waves.

In this Quranic text there are two scientific signs:
1-Talking about the darkness in the deep sees and this is what scientists have recently discovered and it wasn't known at the time of the coming down of Quran.

2-Referring to the internal deep waves and it was also recently discovered by scientists and it was mentioned in the verse as Almighty God says: (overwhelmed with waves topped by waves).

Below is a video of Mufti Menk giving a better explanation of this Miracle

 Via Facebook Group: Scientific Miracles of Islam

How to make this your Best Ramadan

Below are a few tips from Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

Ramadan is on our door step, Al-Hamdulillah! May Allah accept our worship, protect us from His disobedience and engulf us with His mercy, Ameen. I would like to share a few reminders with you:

1) Prepare for this blessed month from now – if you haven’t already done so. Sort things out and manage your time carefully. Make a timetable, if possible. It is good to make a to-do list (Qur’an, tahajjud, salawat, dhikr, dua, charity) and to-not-do list (watching TV, smoking, backbiting, slandering, hurting feelings, arguing, etc).

2) Ramadan is a month of Taqwa. ‘Taqwa’ refers to being mindful that we will be answerable to God concerning all that we do, say and write. Although fasting, tarawih and other acts of worship are important; the most important thing is to avoid sins – especially those related to the rights of creation (huquq al-ibad). Quarrelling, arguing, backbiting, swearing, slandering, obscenity and other similar acts must be avoided at all costs. It is better to sleep all day (doing only the fard acts) and avoid sins than worship Allah accompanied with sins! The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, “[A true] fast is not to [merely] avoid food and drink; it is to avoid sinful and obscene acts.” (Ibn Hibban)

3) Please take extra care in guarding yourself from the sins of the tongue. Backbiting (ghiba) and other such sins must be avoided. The great Tabi’i, Imam Abu ‘l-Aliya said, “A fasting person remains in a state of worship even if he remains sleeping on his bed, as long as he does not backbite.”

4) A hungry man is an angry man! As such, control your anger. Why wash away all the rewards of fasting by doing something foolish, especially near the end when tempers can really flare up! Avoid arguments and fights over parking, in the Masjid or kitchen at Iftar time, and do not unnecessarily scold children. Remember, Ramadan is a month of mercy; and if we want Allah’s mercy, we need to show mercy to others.

5) Ramadan has a special connection with reciting the book of Allah. Spend as much time as possible in recitation. Focus more on quality than quantity, meaning recite slowly with reflection and understanding. Imam Malik would stop teaching Hadith (and other sacred sciences) in Ramadan, and focus on reciting Qur’an.

6) It is highly important not to disturb others during Ramadan. Whilst attending the Masjid, remember the neighbors may be sleeping and have to wake up early for work. Do not disturb others, or park your cars as you wish - thinking that we have a God-given right to do as we wish!

7) It is Islamically wrong to come for prayers at the Masjid with bad body/mouth odor. The Prophet (peace be upon him) condemned it emphatically saying, “He who has eaten garlic or onion [or anything else with a strong smell] should keep away from us or our mosques.” (Bukhari) As such, ensure to brush your teeth, clean your mouth and apply some fragrance (for men)! It is wrong to harm others with bad body or mouth odor. This is especially important at Maghrib (after Iftar, when you might have just consumed something) and Tarawih. Don’t burp whilst in Salat, and don't smoke just before entering the Masjid!

8) Maximize your time and do not waste it. If possible, take a break from social media; and even better, from the internet altogether. I also will not be posting any messages during Ramadan. I ask all of you to remember me in your prayers. Ramadan Karim!

Bear with Patience whatever Befalls You

ALLAH says: And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient; Who, when calamity strikes them, say, “Indeed we belong to ALLAH, and indeed to HIM we will return.” Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided. (Surah Al-Baqarah 155-157)

This story was recounted by Prof. Khalid Al-Jubeir, consulting cardiovascular surgeon, in one of his lectures:

Once I operated on a two and a half year old child. It was Tuesday, and on Wednesday the child was in good health. On Thursday at 11:15 am – and I’ll never forget the time because of the shock I experienced – one of the nurses informed me that the heart and breathing of the child had stopped. I hurried to the child and performed cardiac massage for 45 minutes and during that entire time the heart would not work.

Then, ALLAH decreed for the heart to resume function and we thanked HIM. I went to inform the child’s family about his condition. As you know, it is very difficult to inform the patient’s family about his condition when it’s bad. This is one of the most difficult situations a doctor is subjected to but it is necessary. So I looked for the child’s father whom I couldn’t find. Then I found his mother. I told her that the child’s cardiac arrest was due to bleeding in his throat; we don’t know the cause of this bleeding and fear that his brain is dead. So how do you think she responded? Did she cry? Did she blame me? No, nothing of the sort. Instead, she said “Alhamdulillah” (All Praise is due to ALLAH) and left me.

After 10 days, the child started moving. We thanked ALLAH and were happy that his brain condition was reasonable. After 12 days, the heart stopped again because of the same bleeding. We performed another cardiac massage for 45 minutes but this time his heart didn’t respond. I told his mother that there was no hope. So she said: “Alhamdulillah. O ALLAH, if there is good in his recovery, then cure him, O my Lord.”

With the grace of ALLAH, his heart started functioning again. He suffered six similar cardiac arrests till a trachea specialist was able to stop the bleeding and the heart started working properly. Now, three and a half months had passed and the child was recovering but did not move. Then just as he started moving, he was afflicted with a very large and strange pus-filled abscess in his head, the likes of which I had never seen. I informed his mother of the serious development. She said “Alhamdulillah” and left me.

We immediately turned him over to the surgical unit that deals with the brain and nervous system and they took over his treatment. Three weeks later, the boy recovered from this abscess but was still not moving. Two weeks pass and he suffers from a strange blood poisoning and his temperature reaches 41.2°C (106°F). I again informed his mother of the serious development and she said with patience and certainty: “Alhamdulillah. O ALLAH, if there is good in his recovery, then cure him.”

After seeing his mother who was with her child at Bed#5, I went to see another child at Bed#6. I found that child’s mother crying and screaming, “Doctor! Doctor! Do something! The boy’s temperature reached 37.6°C (99.68°F)! He’s going to die! He’s going to die!” I said with surprise, “Look at the mother of that child in Bed#5. Her child’s fever is over 41°C (106°F), yet she is patient and praises ALLAH.” So she replied: “That woman isn’t conscious and has no senses”. At that point, I remembered the great Hadith of the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wa Sallam): “Blessed are the strangers.” Just two words… but indeed two words that shake a nation! In 23 years of hospital service, I have never seen the likes of this patient sister.

We continued to care for him. Now, six and a half months have passed and the boy finally came out of the recovery unit – not talking, not seeing, not hearing, not moving, not smiling, and with an open chest in which you can see his beating heart. The mother changed the dressing regularly and remained patient and hopeful. Do you know what happened after that? Before I inform you, what do you think are the prospects of a child who has passed through all these dangers, agonies, and diseases? And what do you expect this patient mother to do whose child is at the brink of the grave and who is unable to do anything except supplicate and beseech ALLAH? Do you know what happened two and a half months later? The boy was completely cured by the mercy of ALLAH and as a reward for this pious mother. He now races his mother with his feet as if nothing happened and he became sound and healthy as he was before.

The story doesn’t end here. This is not what moved me and brought tears to my eyes. What filled my eyes with tears is what follows:

One and a half years after the child left the hospital, one of the brothers from the Operations Unit informed me that a man, his wife and two children wanted to see me. I asked who they were and he replied that he didn’t know them. So I went to see them, and I found the parents of the same child whom I operated upon. He was now five years old and like a flower in good health – as if nothing happened to him. With them also was a four-month old newborn. I welcomed them kindly and then jokingly asked the father whether the newborn was the 13th or 14th child. He looked at me with an astonishing smile as if he pitied me. He then said, “This is the second child, and the child upon whom you operated is our first born, bestowed upon us after 17 years of infertility. And after being granted that child, he was afflicted with the conditions that you’ve seen.”

At hearing this, I couldn’t control myself and my eyes filled with tears. I then involuntarily grabbed the man by the arm, and pulling him to my room, asked him about his wife: “Who is this wife of yours who after 17 years of infertility has this much patience with all the fatal conditions that afflict her first born?! Her heart cannot be barren! It must be fertile with Imaan!”Do you know what he said? Listen carefully my dear brothers and sisters. He said, “I was married to this woman for 19 years and for all these years she has never missed the [late] night prayers except due to an authorized excuse. I have never witnessed her backbiting, gossiping, or lying. Whenever I leave home or return, she opens the door, supplicates for me, and receives me hospitably. And in everything she does, she demonstrates the utmost love, care, courtesy, and compassion.” The man completed by saying, “Indeed, doctor, because of all the noble manners and affection with which she treats me, I’m shy to lift up my eyes and look at her. So I said to him: “And the likes of her truly deserve that from you.”