WORLD CUP FEVER - A VIRUS OF SPIRITUAL DESTRUCTION

Just as the blessed, Noor-filled month of Ramadan was about to end in what should have been a sort of a spiritual climax of celestial Divine effulgence, and the special mercies of Allah Ta'aala, a carefully and painstakingly prepared virus was presented before us, disguised in the form of a colourful, delicious lollipop enticingly beckoning us to put it into our mouth. Sadly, the majority of Muslims did put it in, and were immediately afflicted by an intoxicating fever that was designed to rob them off every last drop of Noor and reward that they had gained in Ramadan. This lollipop virus is the World Cup which began on the 14th of June, the 29th day of Ramadan, and it means nothing but spiritual destruction.

The flagrant disobedience of Allah which accompanies the watching of this event is perhaps hidden to none, but is conveniently ignored due to the intoxicating nature of this fever. Similarly, the glaringly Satanic symbols that are found on everything connected to this fiasco, such as for example, the images in the logo of this world cup, are passed off as insignificant and irrelevant. The start date is also another big indicator - 14/6/2018. Satanism relies heavily on the concept of Numerology - the significance of numbers in affecting good or evil. The number 11 is considered to be very evil. W. Wynn Westcott writes in his book, 'The Occult Power of Numbers,' "So 11 is the essence of all that is sinful, harmful, and imperfect." Looking at the date, if we were to add up 1, 4, and 6, we get 11. Similarly, 2 plus 0 plus 1 plus 8 also totals 11. Important Satanic events such as this one, and many others like 9/11, are done on such dates so as to please Iblees. Unfortunately, even the release of a promotional world cup ball, that had the flag of Saudi Arabia containing the kalimah in Arabic printed on it, wasn't enough to convince passionate fans regarding the sinister nature of this event. Our eyes, our ears, our minds, our hearts, and our full focus is turned towards Russia in pure adoration - the same country that is slaughtering our Muslim brothers and sisters in Syria even as I type this.

I previously used to believe that the World Cup, The Olympics, and other such major sporting events, which are in reality nothing but Satanic rituals, were held to distract the world from atrocities being committed upon the Muslim world specifically during that time. However, I realised that the atrocities continue unabated even when there is no major international distraction. The reality is that the primary objective of these events is to distract Muslims from Allah, and from Deen, and to link them up to slavery of Shaytan and nafs. It is to make them forget why they came to this world, why they were created, what is required of them in this life, and where they are going. The results of this objective can be clearly seen in the Ummat at this time. We need to rebel against Iblees, we need to stand up to him, and refuse to continue being mere puppets. And that will start by us forgetting about the World Cup. Who wins and who loses will not make an iota of difference to our lives - not to our worldly lives, and not to our lives of Aakhirat.

This weak one had written a few simple verses just before the calamity of the 2010 World Cup befell South Africa, which are being reproduced below - (please forgive the childish, incoherent, and disjointed nature of the words, as this poem was composed at about 2 am in a state of paralysis, so this haphazard mix was all that could be managed)


A CUP FULL OF DECEIT

O my friends, listen loud and clear,
For what I will say will be very dear

In making effort for World Cup, we will tire,
But we make no effort to stay far from the fire

We follow the ball with careful contemplation,
But in our Salaah, we have no concentration

To learn each players life, it's as if we went to college,
But of our Nabi's (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) life, we have no knowledge

We rush to the stadium, all evils it does contain,
But to go to the masjid, we grumble and complain

Live match commentary we listen to with passion,
But commentary of the Quran is out of fashion

When will we recognise this obvious deception,
When will we come out of this distorted perception?

May Allah grant hidayat and understanding, to this sinful one firstly and specifically, and to all of us in general. May He save all of us from the traps of Iblees.

CRITERIA FOR A HAFIZ LEADING TARAWEEH

We find ourselves in a time in which rapid spiritual decline is being witnessed even in institutions of Deen. The great Sunnat of Salaatut Taraweeh is no exception. It has indeed become a magnanimously difficult and challenging task to locate a masjid where Taraweeh is taking place in the correct manner, according to the dictates of Shariat. One of the greatest factors, among others, which contributes to this decline, specifically in Taraweeh, is the incompetence of the Haafiz who is leading the salaah. This incompetence is more a spiritual one, than of memorisation, and the reason for it is lack of tarbiyat. Where there is ta'leem, tarbiyat must compulsorily accompany it, otherwise the ta'leem becomes a liability instead of an asset.

 Sadly today, most Huffaz suffice on learning and memorising the words of the Quran, while paying no attention towards trying to become a practical embodiment and a living example of the Speech of Allah. The reality is that a Hafiz of the Quran isn't the one who has just memorised the words of the Quran. Hafiz means protector - the protector of the Quran is he who, having memorised it, protects it in his heart and in his life through amal. A person who has memorised the Quran, but does not have it in his practical life, isn't truly a Hafiz of the Quran. Generally, Masjid committees are wholly unaware of this, and as a result are concerned only with the actual recitation. For this reason, some criteria are being listed below which a Hafiz should ideally meet, before being given the very weighty responsibility of leading the Taraweeh salaah -

1. He should be upon the way of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa'ah (Deoband), he should not be from the deviated sects (Salafi, Barelvi etc.)

2. At least outwardly, his life should be upon the commands of Shari'at, especially the following -

     A. He should not trim his beard to less than a fist length (all year round)
     B. His garment should always be above his ankles.
     C. He should not be involved in the sin of watching TV or movies.
     D. He should not be someone who indulges in the sin of photography.
     E. He performs all his salaah with jamaat in the masjid all year round.
     F. He should not be someone who attends a secular institution, like college and university.

3. His life should be upon the Sunnat of Nabi Sallallahu alaihi wasallam in every aspect. This will include his clothing - he should be in Sunnat clothing all year round, at no time should he wear jeans and t-shirt, or shirt and trouser.

4. When he recites in Taraweeh Salaah, he should follow all the rules of tajweed.

5. He should be aware of all the necessary masaail pertaining to Salaah, and to leading Salaah. He should have learnt these masaail from the Ulama.

6. He should give enough time for the Muqtadis (those following him in Taraweeh) to recite the Thanaa in the beginning of every two rakaats, and enough time to recite the Durood e Ibrahim at the end of every two rakaats.

The onus of producing Huffaz who possess all the above qualities lies upon the Madaris of Hifz. May Allah grant us the ability to fulfil the rights of the Quran.
   

THE REAL SOLUTION TO THE PALESTINIAN DILEMMA

On and off, we hear of, and see protests happening around the world with regards to Freedom for Palestine, marches and rallies to show solidarity and support to Palestinians, and at present, the apartheid week all around the world in general in February and March, and specifically in South Africa in this week. Notably, South Africa and the UK are at the forefront in organising such programs, protests and rallies. However, the question that should arise in our minds (sadly, most of the time it doesn't) is that after all these years of marching and rallying and protesting, has the plight of the Palestinians been eased? Has their suffering decreased in it's severity? Any person who has even a vague idea of what is happening there today will emphatically give a negative answer to that question. If anything, their problems have become worse. Why haven't all the marches and protests and programs made any difference? The answer to that lies in our outlook towards the Palestinian struggle. The stark reality which comes to the fore, if one were to ponder a bit, is that today it is considered to be an attack against an ethnicity, an attack on the sovereignty of a nation. It has ceased to be regarded (by the Muslims themselves) as an attack upon Islam, it has ceased to be regarded as a struggle between Haqq and Baatil, and this is as a result of successful propaganda by the media machine, controlled in totality by the Zionists. The proof for this, that this is how we view the issue, is found in these very same protests and programs - flagrant disobedience of Allah, fearless shattering of the commands of Shariat, and in fact, of the very tenets of our Deen. Because we do not see it as a spiritual struggle which the entire Ummat is part of, we have cast aside all the last remaining vestiges of spirituality from our so called efforts of Palestinian freedom. We locked our gazes on the asbaab (outward means), despite their mostly impermissible nature (in this particular case), and forgot The Musabbibul Asbaab (The controller of those means) - we left Allah out of the picture totally. Are we so naive as to labour under the deception that our protests and marches, mixed in with a plethora of violations of Shariat, will force Israel to leave the Palestinians alone, and stop their oppression of Muslims? The truth is that the Zionists know very well what exactly it is that can stop them dead in their tracks, and they are doing everything to keep the Muslim masses away from it. (They have even been bold enough to reveal it a number of times, trusting that the Muslims are too heavily duped by the media drug to make any use of this vital information. They have stated on a number of occassions that when the Masajid will fill up for Fajr like how they fill up for Jumu'ah, then we will surrender ourselves.) And that is why our protests and marches make no difference to them, in fact, they laugh at us when we do such things, laugh at how gullible we are, how easily we are deceived. A spiritual war cannot be fought by making noise on the streets, waving flags and placards, while disobeying Allah. Such actions yield the exact opposite result - they weaken the Ummat further, and act as blockades for the help of Allah. The only way to fight a spiritual war is spiritually - by building and strengthening our relationship with Allah, because it is only this which can bring down the help and mercy of Allah. Every condition in this world is from Allah, and it is only through the rectification of our actions that Allah will change the conditions from negative to favourable and positive. So, instead of creating a mass movement on the streets of crowds yelling out slogans, why don't we create a mass movement towards the Masajid, in which people can, with hushed voices and flowing tears, beg and beseech Allah for help? Instead of having a so called apartheid week, why don't we have a week in Jamaat, or a week in a Khanqah, or a week in a Madrasah? In this way we will have fulfilled our responsibility towards our Palestinian brothers and sisters. (On a side note, Palestine will most probably not be liberated until Hazrat Mahdi Ra comes and begins World War 3.) These are merely my humble observations, may Allah grant us the tawfeeq to understand and make amal.

TENSION IN THE AIR - ANY SOLUTION?

Most people are well aware of the fact that tensions in Kenya are very rapidly escalating, and have turned the country into a pile of super-dried firewood just waiting to burst into flames. We make dua to Allah that He brings down upon this firewood drenching rains of peace, even before any matchstick can get anywhere close to it. However, for this rain to come, the blockage that is stopping it from showering down upon us must be removed. Removing this blockage is the only solution for the tension we find ourselves in. This blockage is our sins, our spiritual sicknesses, our evil actions.

Today we leave no stone unturned in blaming everything else and everyone else for what we find ourselves in, but we conveniently forget that it is we who are to blame – the problem is in us, the problem is in me. Allah states in Surah Room – “Strife, havoc, and problems have become manifest in the land and in the sea, due to the (evil) actions of the people, so that Allah can make them taste some of the consequences of their evil deeds, and so that they may turn back (to Allah.)” In this deeply beautiful aayat, Allah is telling us that the problems we face – whether on a domestic level, a national level, or problems affecting the entire world – are due to the earnings of our own hands It is we who have brought upon ourselves the dire and grim conditions we are complaining about. We, the Muslims, who are bound by the commands of Allah, are very busy in stoking the fire of sins at every chance we get, wherever we are. We have become bold, open, and fearless in violating the injunctions of Sharia, and throwing behind our backs the beautiful lifestyle of our beloved Nabi Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. When grave sins like watching TV and movies, indulging in animate pictures, free intermingling of sexes, music, women emerging from their homes uncovered, men cutting or shaving their beards below a fist length, men letting their garments reach their ankles, unbridled indulgence in material luxuries are so rampant and rife in our society, then what peace and mercy are we expecting? We constantly defy Allah, and yet we expect His help to rain down upon us?

The only solution to our difficulties, not just in Kenya, but all around the world, is for us to make tauba – repent and turn to Allah. The only way that negative conditions can be changed is if we give ourselves over to Allah in total humility and subservience. We need to extinguish the fire of disobedience that we have set alight, with tears of repentance. We need to become true slaves of Allah for every moment of our remaining lives, till we breathe our last. Failing this, no security guards, and no CCTV cameras are going to be of any use.

This is my humble, heartfelt plea to all Muslims residing in Kenya specifically, and all Muslims in the world in general – let us cleanse and purify our lives from both external and internal sins, before it is too late, and we are left with nothing but regret in a time when regret will be futile.

I, the weakest and most sinful of all, repent from all my sins, open and hidden, and turn to Allah in regret and tauba. May Allah forgive me and all Muslims.

Servant,

Madrasah Fadhlul Uloom

FIDGET SPINNERS - THE LATEST DAJJALI TREND

                                 
In any other era, if we were to see an adult aimlessly and mindlessly spinning a silly, colourful, childish toy between his fingers, we would perhaps start to doubt the fact that his mental capacities were still functioning according to the Divinely set and apportioned harmonious equilibrium normally found in adults. Or, in simpler terms, we would consider calling the psychiatrist. But not in the era we are living in. This techno-tronic era we find ourselves in is an exaggerated form of The Brave New World of Aldous Huxley, and the 1984 of George Orwell, satirical works written many decades ago about a futuristic world devoid of, well, everything even remotely humane. An era in which Dajjal calls the shots (at least according to his deficient and limited mental scope), and we, the Ummah, obediently follow in utter subservience, choosing to ignore and lay to waste the great gift of intelligence given to us by Allah Ta’aala, and the ability to think for ourselves.

Fidget spinners, as these new toys are called, have been quite aptly named. It is claimed that they help bring about concentration and calmness, and remove fidgeting. Outwardly it may seem so, but in reality this toy has been cleverly designed to do just quite the opposite – it is nothing but a time-wasting distraction which causes excessive and dangerous fidgeting of the spiritual heart, and the fidgeting it is actually supposed to remove is quite different from anything we may imagine. The saddest and most distressful part is the fact that Muslims have been rushing to buy, and even sell the toy, despite knowing well that Allah has categorically and clearly stated in the Quran, “Beware! It is only and only through the remembrance of Allah that the hearts can attain peace, contentment, tranquillity, happiness.” Concentration and calmness cannot be achieved through fidget spinners when a person is involved in the disobedience of Allah, because to disobey Allah is to forget Him. Peace can only be achieved through staying away from sin, and involving oneself in salaah, dhikr, recitation of the Quran, pondering over the power and beauty of Allah, sitting in the gatherings of the Awliyaa, among numerous other praiseworthy deeds.

Whoever has seen a fidget spinner will know that they come in various colourful designs and shapes. When spun, the rotation of the designs creates a mesmerising, hypnotic effect similar to what is used in actual hypnosis sessions. Similarly, the spinner comes with an option of LED lights, for spinning in the dark. The effect created by these fast spinning, colourful LED lights is almost the same as the effect of flashing, pulsating, rotating disco lights. Disco lights aren’t how they are without any reason, the lights have been specifically designed to achieve sinister objectives. Disco lights were created to blanket the human mind into a mildly hypnotic stupor, and this is what happens with the LED lights on the fidget spinner. Not everyone goes to the disco, so they simply brought the disco lights home in the form of a seemingly harmless toy. From this we get to know that the spinning of the colourful designs and/or the LED lights exercises a tranquilising, hypnotising effect on the brain, relaxing its natural guards and alarms, so that the mind becomes more willing to accept subliminal messages and suggestions, and becomes more vulnerable and susceptible to subconscious programing. In layman’s terms, fidget spinners have been designed to make our minds more willing to blindly accept, consciously or subconsciously, whatever Dajjal and his cronies want us to believe, without every knowing what we are actually doing. It thus effectively removes the ‘fidgeting’ of the mind, otherwise more commonly known as critical thinking. Not coincidentally, television works according to the same principle of flashes of colourful lights moving with high speed, to achieve a similar objective.

Fidget spinners are extremely dangerous and harmful toys for adults as well as children, which can destroy our dunya as well as Aakhirat. Let us not become gullible, blind slaves to the fads and crazes being propelled by the West. Let us learn to think for ourselves, and look deeply into matters with the noor of the heart, to be able to see the reality that is not apparent at first glance. May Allah save all of us from the traps of Dajjal.

THE REALITY OF MUHARRAM AND AASHOORAH

As with all the other days which hold virtue and significance in Islam, Aashoorah too is a virtuous day regarding which there are many misconceptions and misunderstandings. It is thus necessary for us to clarify and understand what has been established and proven regarding this day and what hasn't. Below in point form, besides a few additions, is a summary of the writings and teachings of my beloved Shaikh Aarif billah Hazrate aqdas Maulana Shah Fazlur Rahman Azmi DB in this regard.                    

   - Muharram is one of the four sacred months, thus a general increase in ibaadat is encouraged, but     even more importantly, an extra effort should be made to stay away from all sins.                                                                                                                                          
   The only reason for the significance of Aashoorah is that on this day Allah granted Hazrat Musa AS and the Bani Israel salvation from Firaun. There is no proof for any other historical incident (related to the other Ambiya AS) to have happened on this day.                                                                                                                                                          
  - It is mustahab to fast on the 9th and 10th, or the 10th and 11th, or the 9th, 10th and 11th.                                                                                                                                              
  - It is makrooh e tanzeehi and reprehensible to fast only on the 10th.

  - It is haraam to look down upon anyone who doesn't fast on Aashoorah. Mustahab means we have a choice of not to fast. 
                                                            
 - The incident of the shahadat of Hazrat Husein Ra which happened on this day, has absolutely no connection whatsoever to the significance of Aashoorah.                              

  - Our great Akabireen have specified that it isn't even permissible to mention or talk about the shahadat of Hazrat Husein Ra in the month of Muharram or the day of Aashoorah, because this is imitation of the shias.
                                                                     
  - It is permissible for the head of the family to spend more on his family on this day in terms of food, and the virtue for this is that sustenance will be made easy for him for the entire year.                                                                                                                                
 - This absolutely does not mean that Aashoorah should be a day of exchanging gifts. Do not make it a commercial holiday like Christmas.                                                              

 - It is not permissible to cook any specific dish on this day (like kheeraj) and send it to others, nor is it permissible to send any food item to other people in commemoration of this day (as is generally done by the people of innovation.)                        

 - There is no specific, special ibaadat for the day or night of Aashoorah.                                

  - The incident of karbala that is normally narrated, and is common among the Sunnis as well is a lie fabricated by the shias, who themselves were the killers of Hazrat Husein Ra. The actual story of what really happened is very different.                              

 - It is not proven that Qiyamat will occur of the day of Aashoorah.                                  

 - Any virtue of any act that has not been mentioned above is a fabrication.

THE REALITY OF SHABE BARAA'AT - 15TH SHABAAN

Dear respected brothers and sisters,

Very soon inshallah, the night of the 15th of Shabaan will be upon us. It is necessary for us to briefly understand the reality of this night, and to differentiate that which is correct and valid from that which is wrong and innovated.

There are numerous ahadith that have been narrated with regards to the virtue of this night. All of them have a certain degree of weakness in them. However, some are very slightly weak, while others are extremely weak. Putting all these ahadith together, the virtuousness and blessings of this night have been proven to be valid.

The specialty of this night is the forgiveness of Allah - according to the ahadith, a huge amount of people are forgiven on this night, and Allah casts a special gaze of mercy upon us from the very beginning of the night.

The salafis, due to their compound ignorance, refuse to accept that this night has any extra virtue over and above any other night, and in thus doing so deprive themselves of benefiting from Allah's forgiveness and mercy. We should be very careful and alert, lest we get deceived by their deviant methods of undermining the virtue of this night.

There is no special and specific ibaadat to be done in this night. One must strive to increase in all types of ibaadat generally - nafl salaah, recitation of Quran, dhikr, dua, taubah etc. Every hadeeth that is narrated regarding specific ibaadat on this night, or special surahs to be recited is fabricated.
Likewise, there is no exchanging and distributing of food or sweet dishes on the day of the 15th.

Shabe Baraa'at (or Laylatul Baraa'at) is not indicated towards anywhere in the Quran. It is famous among people that in this night the decisions regarding sustenance and death are made by Allah. This is not substantiated with any evidence, thus it is not correct, the Ulama have specified that such decisions, or any other decisions for that matter, are not made in this night.

Another misconception prevalent among the masses is that to fast on the 15th of Shabaan is sunnat. Please note that the fast of this day is not sunnat. If someone wishes to fast then he can do so, provided that he doesn't think the fast to be sunnat. To keep this fast thinking it to be sunnat is not permissible. There is no significance and virtue of fasting specifically on this day over and above fasting on any other day. 

In the ahadith there are a number of types of sinners mentioned who will be deprived of forgiveness on this blessed night -

1. The mushrik
2. The one who harbours hatred, malice, and enmity for others
3. The one who drinks alcohol
4. The one who disobeys his parents
5. The man who lets his lower garment cover his ankles
6. The one who indulges in zinaa
7. The murderer
8. The one who breaks off relations with family and relatives.

Respected brothers and sisters, it is still not too late, we still have a few days to make tauba from the above mentioned sins and completely purify ourselves from them before this night comes upon us, so that we can also be forgiven. On the contrary, if we will continue to indulge in these sins, then we will not be forgiven on that night, even if we stay up the whole night begging for forgiveness. From the above list, the most common is letting the lower garment touch the ankle - the vast majority of men are involved in this sin, and as a result deprive themselves every year from the blessings and forgiveness that are showered down in this night.

Let us all make a firm decision to once and for all get rid of these sins from our lives, so that we too can come under the protective blanket of the mercy of Allah.