Al-Khaadem YouthCamp 2012

Bismillah. Assalaamu'alaikum.

Since 1992, 20 years and nearly 2000 participants spoke for itself for Al-Khaadem Youth Camps.
 
Al-Khaadem's youthcamp is back this year - bigger and better insha'Allah. Designed by the Youth for the Youth, this unique annual camp combines exciting programs, challenging team building games and outdoor activities with Islamic teachings and values.

The aim of the camp is to develop characters by exploring the lives and stories of the greatest generation of Islam - back to the time of the Companions radhiAllahu anhum ajmain.

An opportunity not to be missed, register your children and get them to invite their friends to join them for a memorable and impactful holidays. Spread the word!

Dates: 9 - 13th December 2012 (5 days and 4 nights)
Location: Kalumpang Training Resort, Hulu Langat.
Fees: RM590 per-person (all inclusive)
Age Group: 12 - 21 years

For further inquiries contact below:

BROTHERS: 013 - 265 7878

SISTERS: 013 - 281 7878

Email: youth.camp@al-khaadem.com.my

BarakAllahu feekum.

Watch last year's video testimonial of the youthcamp 2011:

A story of a mother

My mum only had one eye.
I hated her... she was such an embarrassment.

She cooked for students & teachers to support the family.
There was this one day during elementary school where my mum came to say hello to me.
I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me?
I ignored her. Threw her a hateful look and ran out
The next ...day at school one of my classmates said "EEEE, you mum only has one eye"!
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mum to just disappear.
So I confronted her that day and said if you're only going to make me a laughing stock, why dont you just die?
My mum did not respond.
I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger.
I was oblivious to her feelings...
I wanted out of that house.
So I studied real hard, got a chance to go to overseas to study.

Then I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life.
Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn't seen me in years and she didnt even meet her grandchildrens.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her.
I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scared my children?"
Get out of here now!!!
And to this my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I am so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address, "and she disappeared of my sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house.
So I lied to my wife that I was going to a business trip.
After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity!!!
My neighbours said that she died.
I did not shed a single tear!!
They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.

My dearest son, I think of you all the time
I am sorry that I came to your home and scared your children.
I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion.
But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you.
Im sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see.......when you were little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye.
As a mother, I couldnt stand watching you having to grow up with one eye.
SO I GAVE YOU MINE.......
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me in my place, with the eye.
With my love to you....
YOUR MOTHER...

The Chronicles of Faisal Abdul Latif: My Epic Hajj 2012 Journey

The Chronicles of Faisal Abdul Latif: My Epic Hajj 2012 Journey: Alhamdulillah - all praise and thanks to Allah - after long series of challenges, obstacles, difficulties, our Hajj 2012 expedition is co...

The Lift Me Up Project

Please download the app if you are using apple product like iPhone or iPad. It's a good app that has an artistic work with verses of Qur'an and Hadith that aims to remind you to be patient and ease you when you are in states of difficulties and calamities.

Check it out at http://theliftmeupproject.com/
and their facebook http://www.facebook.com/theliftmeupproject

At the moment, they don't have it on Android but they are planning on it soon.

They are also in the process of putting the reminders into A3 size posters and postcards. Soon, InshaAllah.

 

Support this noble project.. Give it as a gift to your loved ones. Spread the khayr.  

Assalamualaykum

David and Wilson

David and Wilson were lost in desert. They were dying of thirst when they came upon an oasis, and there was a Mosque.

David to Wilson: "Look there is a mosque, lets pretend we are muslims, otherwise we'll not get any food or water. I am going to call myself  'Ahmad'.

Wilson refused to change his name and said: "My name is Wilson and i will never pretend to be other than what I am!"

The Imam of mosque recieved both well and asked their names

David: "I am Ahmad."

Wilson: "I am Wilson."

Imam turned to his helpers and said: "Bring some food for Wilson only".

And then Imam turned towards David and said: "Ramadhan Mubarak Brother Ahmad!"

To change or not to change??

Assalamualaykum, this is a quick reminder for me and all the readers out there.

Changing ourselves can be the hardest thing to do sometimes. It can be a physical change or spiritual change. It can be from good to bad or vice versa. What makes it hard is because when you change, other people might judge you and you are not incompatible with your friends anymore, etc etc. But of course, we all want to change to a better person everyday.

In order for you to change, it's not just by asking other people to pray for you, but to ask yourself whether you really want to change or not..

The best examples are like wearing hijab, stopping from smoking, praying 5 times a day, etc

Allah has said in the Qur'an that if we want to change, we got to do it ourselves first.

"That is so because Allah will never change a grace which He has bestowed on a people until they change what is in their ownselves. And verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower." (Al-Anfal:53)

"...Verily! Allah will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah)..." (ar-Rad:11)

But Allah is the Most  Merciful that if you repent, your bad deeds will change into good deeds.

"Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (al-Furqan:70)

So it's proven that when someone said "Please pray for me that I'll wear the Hijab one day" or "When the time comes, i'll wear the Hijab", or "When Allah gives me the Hidayah, I'll wear the hijab", they are just lame excuses. If you want to wear it, you'll wear it now! If you really have a great desire in changing, Allah will definitely help u along the way.

That "one day" will forever be "one day". The scary part is that you never know when you will die. So, make the change now.  InshaAllah, Allah will ease us in making these changes and accept from us our repentance.

How does Allah decree something evil, when He is not attributed with evil attributes?

Believing in Qadr is an essential pillar of Islam which determines whether one is a believer or not. In order to respond to the question above, one needs to understand the pillars of Qadr which comprises of Allah’s knowledge, the writing, Allah’s will and the creation.

One of the pillars of Qadr stated that Allah is the Creator of all things. Allah says,

 “Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Wakil (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian) over all things.” [1]

He is the sole creator of everything, including the good and the evil. Allah says,

“Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed ...”[2]

Death is perceived by the people as something evil and life as otherwise. Allah created both good and evil for a purpose, but Allah does not attribute evil directly to Himself because all good is attributed to Him. He is perfectly Wise, Just and Merciful in all of His Actions. Rasulullah (ﷺ) was heard as saying, “…I hear Your call and am following Your religion, and all good is in Your two hands and the evil is not attributable to You…”[3]

Hence, evil exists as an act of one of Allah’s creations and not in Himself, Attributes, Names or Actions. The existence of evil in His creations is proven in one of the morning and evening prayers, “I seek refuge in the Perfect Words of Allah from the evil of what He has created.”[4]

It is out of Allah’s will that He allows evil to happen through His creations. However, Allah does not create evil in absolute sense but it is from Allah’s Wisdom and Knowledge that He created evil which human beings often do not realize.

As Allah says,

“…and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.”[5] 

Allah also says,

“And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomsoever He wills to send astray…”[6]

It is Allaah who guides whom He wishes by His wisdom and mercy, and He misguides or allows whomever He wishes to go astray by His wisdom.[7] For example, the wisdom behind the death of Abu Talib in a state of disbelieved. Abu Talib is known to have supported Rasulullah (ﷺ) towards extent that he joined the Muslims in the three years siege and embargo.[8]  He could have accepted Islam, but through Allah’s wisdom that he didn’t. If Abu Talib had accepted Islam, people might have said that the spread of Islam is not due to the message of Rasulullah (ﷺ) but through Abu Taalib which was well-respected and honored by the Quraysh.  

On the other hand, pure evil comes from the creations as mentioned earlier. As stated in The Radiance of Faith, “Humans think evil and, if Allaah permits it, they do evil. However, if Allaah permits them to do evil, there must be a beneficial side to it known to Allaah.”[9] Allah told us already that He does not oppress the people but the people who oppress themselves.

Allah says,

“Truly! Allah wrongs not mankind in aught; but mankind wrong themselves.”[10]

The one who choose to do the evil are responsible for their actions. Furthermore, when they are afflicted with calamities, they would ask, "Why did this have to happen to me?" Will they then not ask the same question when the blessings of Allah are showered upon them?[11]  This proves the evil act of mankind not being grateful to Allah despite the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon them.

As Allah says,

“Truly, Allah is full of Bounty to mankind, but most of them are ungrateful.”[12]

The wisdom behind the existence of evils that we perceived in this world is that Allah wants to test the mankind. This is to distinguish between those who sincerely believe in Allah and those who do not.  Allah says,

“Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: "We believe," and will not be tested.”[13] 

Test comes in many forms such as hunger, hardship, loss in life, and many more. But Allah also says, “Verily, with hardship, there is relief”.[14] When people believe that these matters have been decreed by Allah, they will be rewarded well and their sins shall be expiated.[15] Allah wants to reward the believers, who face these afflictions with patience as Allah says, 

“And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones).[16]

 

Tests by Allah are also to purify the soul and expiate sins. Rasulullah (ﷺ) said, “Whatever trouble, illness, anxiety, grief, pain and sorrow afflict a Muslim, even if it is the pricking of a thorn, Allah removes some of his sins for that.[17] Hence, we should change our perspective from looking at it as something evil to a blessing from Allah to gain more reward from Him.

All people should know that Allaah is All Wise, and that there is great wisdom behind His commands and decrees. He will continue to test us in this life in many different ways and for many different reasons. Hence, it is important to endure these tests with patience and protect ourselves from evil desire and temptation by maintaining a strong faith according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

---

[1] Qur’an, Az-Zumar, 39:62

[2] Qur’an, Al-Mulk, 67:2

[3] Narrated by Ali bin Abi Talib, Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, pp. 373, no. 1695

[4] Compiled by Sa’id bin Wahf Al-Qahtani, Hisn Al-Muslim, (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2009), pg 116, no. 97

[5] Qur’an, Al-Baqarah, 2:216

[6] Qur’an, Al-An’aam, 6:125

[7] Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, The Radiance of Faith, (Ajman, July, 2008), Pg 65

[8] Dr. Ali Muhammad As-Sallaabee, The Noble Life of The Prophet, Volume 1, (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2005), pg 518

[9] Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, The Radiance of Faith, (Ajman, July, 2008), Pg 66

[10] Qur’an, Yunus, 10:44

[11] Sheikh AbdulBary Yahya, The Shephard’s Path course by Al-Maghrib Institute, October 2011.

[12] Qur’an, Yunus, 10:60

[13] Qur’an, al-Ankabut, 29:2

[14] Qur’an, Ash-Sharĥ, 94:6

[15] ‘Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, Don’t Be Sad, (Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House, 2003), Pg 40

[16] Qur’an, Al-Baqarah, 2:155

[17] Narrated by Abu Sa’eeh Al-Khudri , Bukhari,  Book #70, Hadith #545

To all those who suffer from sadness or depression

To all those suffering from sadness or depression, know that it isn’t your fault. It isn’t because you’re weak. It isn’t because you’re just not grateful enough. It isn’t because you’re just not religious enough. It isn’t because you don’t have enough faith. It isn’t because God is angry with you. To all the well-meaning people who tell you this, just smile. And know deep in your heart that the tests of God come in different forms to different people. And know that, by the help of God, every test can become a tool to get closer to Him. And that, verily, with hardship come ease–and like all things of this world–this too shall pass. (Yasmin Mogahed)

Methods of teaching by Rasulullah (peace be upon him)

Assalamualaykum,

I was reading The Noble Life of The Prophet (peace be upon him) and I came across Rasulullah's methods of teaching to his companions.

One method for sure that all of us students would realize is the amount of time the teacher would spend to explain in which if it's too draggy, it could make the students bored. Well, Rasulullah (peace be upon him) was also moderate in his teaching. He chose an appropriate time and place to teach. The companions were normal human beings like us, i.e we tend to get bored or sleepy if we listen to a lecture for too long. When Rasulullah (peace be upon him) speaks, he spoke for a moderate length of time, fearing that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with all of them) would become restless. Ibn Mas'ood once said, "Rasulullah (peace be upon him) would carefully choose the day to advise us (i.e he (peace be upon him) would not do so everyday; instead he (peace be upon him) would choose the appropriate time and place to speak), fearing that we would become bored."

There are many methods that Rasullullah (peace be upon him) implemented but one method that caught my interest is Bringing Students to the Point where their Attention is Aroused (as the book points out). This means by talking about a topic that could engage the student's attention and then relate it with an important facts or truth. An example of this is as a narration related by Jaabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him). The story is like this:

One day, Rasulullah (peace be upon him) passed by the marketplace, entering from an 'Aaliyah (one of the highlands of Al-Madeenah), and the people were standing to his side. He (peace be upon him) passed by a dead baby goat whose ears were small. Rasulullah (peace be upon him) picked it up and took hold of its ear. He (peace be upon him) then said, "Who among you would love to have this for a dirham?" Surprised, they answered, "We would not want to have it for any price. And what would we do with it?" Rasulullah (peace be upon him) said, "Would you love to have it?" They said, "By Allah, even it were alive, it would be (considered) defective, for it has small ears? Then what can it be worth when it is dead?" Rasulullah (peace be upon him) said, "Then by Allah, the world is more insignificant to Allah than this (dead baby goat) is to you."

Isn't it amazing the way Rasulullah (peace be upon him) taught his companions?? His main message was to tell us about the greatness of Allah that He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Nourisher for His Creations. Without Him, we would be nothing. Allah doesn't need anything from this world as He doesn't benefit from it but He does what He wishes and what He wills. Just as how we look at the dead goat with a small ear. It worth nothing to us as for your information, we are not allowed to sell goat with defectives, like in this case a smaller ear than the other.

These are some of the methods that Rasulullah (peace be upon him) used to teach his Companions. Let's pray that Allah send blessings and peace upon our beloved Rasulullah (peace be upon him).

25 ways to enter Jannah

Assalamualaykum, I know it's been a long hiatus as I was very busy with work, online business as well as my Islamic Online University study.. However, as of now, I'm trying to do one thing at a time and set my priority first. At this stage, I know working especially in engineering field is not mandatory for me, so I quit and focus on other things which is of more important to me.. Ok, so anyway, I stumbled across a very beneficial blog which focus on answering questions by young adults who are facing with daily crisis revolving the religion Islam. It's called Dear Little Auntie. So, I read this article about someone who asked her about Jannah.  You can read it at this link. So, in addition to what has been written, I would like to add more points in the light of Hadith which I received from a brother through email which I'd like to share with everyone else. InshaAllah we will all benefit from it:

25 ways to attain Jannah:

1. Whoever meets Allah without ascribing anything to Him will enter Jannah.[Bukhari]

2. Whoever believes (has emaan) in Allah and His Messenger (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), and establishes the prayer and fasts the month of Ramadan, it is incumbent upon Allah that He enters him in Jannah.[Bukhari]

3. Whoever builds a masjid seeking by it the Pleasure of Allah, Allah will build for him a similar place in Jannah. [Bukhari]
 
4. Whoever prays the two cool prayers (Asr and Fajr) will enter Jannah. [Bukhari]

5. Whoever goes to the masjid (every) morning and in the afternoon (for the congregational prayer), Allah will prepare for him an honorable place in Jannah with good hospitality for (what he has done) every morning and afternoon goings. [Bukhari] 

6. Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Jannah for him. [Bukhari] 

7. Whoever prays 12 rakaat in the day and night, a house in Jannah will be built for him. [Muslim] 

8. Whoever treads a path in search of knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Jannah. [Bukhari]

9. Whoever repeats after the muadhdhin from his heart (i.e., sincerely) will enter Jannah. [Abu Dawud]

10. There is not one of you who perfects his wudhu and prays two rakaat setting about them with his heart as well as his face except that Jannah would be mandatory for him [Abu Dawud]

11. Whoever says: “I am pleased with Allah as my Rabb, and with Islam as my Deen, and with Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) as my Prophet, Jannah would be mandatory for him. [Abu Dawud]

12. Whosoever's last words are: Laa ilaaha il Allah, will enter Paradise. [Abu Dawud, Saheeh]

13. Whoever says “SubhanAllah al-Adheem wa biHamdihi, Glorified and Exalted is Allah, The Great, and with His Praise”, a date-palm will be planted for him in Jannah.[Tirmidhi]

14. Whoever dies and is free from three: arrogance, grudges and debt will enter Jannah.[Tirmidhi]

15. Whoever raises two girls, he and I will enter Jannah. [Tirmidhi]

16. Whoever calls the adhan for 12 years, Jannah will become mandatory for him[ibn Maajah]

17. Whoever asks Allah for Jannah three times, Jannah will say: “O Allah, enter him into Jannah.” [Tirmidhi]

18. Whoever visits an ailing person or a brother of his to seek the Pleasure of Allah, an announcer (angel) calls out: May you be happy, may your walking be blessed, and may you be awarded a dignified position in Jannah.[Tirmidhi]

19. Indeed, truthfulness leads to righteousness and indeed righteousness leads to Jannah. [Bukhari]

20. Allah guarantees him who strives in His Cause and whose motivation for going out is nothing but Jihad in His Cause and belief in His Word, that He will admit him into Jannah. [Bukhari]

21. O people, spread the salaam (greetings), feed the hungry, and pray while the people are asleep, you will enter Jannah in peace. [Tirmidhi]

22. (The performance of) Umrah is an expiation for the sins committed between it and the previous Umrah; and the reward of Hajj Mabrur (i.e., one accepted) is nothing but Jannah. [Bukhari]

23. Allah has ninety-nine Names, one hundred minus one, and whoever believes in their meanings and acts accordingly, will enter Jannah. [Bukhari]

24. Removing harm from the waylike glass, I saw a man going about in Jannah (and enjoying himself) as a reward for cutting from the middle of the road, a tree which was causing inconvenience to the Muslims[Muslim]

25. O Allah, You are my Lord, none has the right to be worshipped except You, You created me and I am You servant and I abide to Your covenant and promise as best I can, I take refuge in You from the evil of which I committed. I acknowledge Your favor upon me and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for verily none can forgive sin except You. “If somebody recites this invocation during the day, and if he should die then, he will be from the people of Jannah. And if he recites it in the night, and if he should die on the same day, he will be from the people of Jannah.” [Bukhari]