JazakAllah khair Sis Asma for the naseeha…

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 was a special day and an historical day as Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The days that follow should be ones of reflection for the Ummah of Muhammad and the Nation of the United States. We should be assessing who we are as nations among the nations of the world.

Do we not stand up for Justice and against oppression? Will we follow Truth? Will we hold our own selves accountable or look for others on whom to shift blame. Will we be brave and follow the examples of the righteous amongst our predecessors? Or will we continue to emulate and imitate the actions of tyrants in the name of political ideologies, economic strategies, and world hypocrises?

The Ummah of Muhammad has the Best Guidance, in the Best Book, from the Best Teacher, and the best among his Successors. The Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakr as Siddiq – Umar ibn Khattab – Uthman ibn Affan – Ali ibn Abi Talib – all were the Best of Blessings given to Mankind from the One and Only Creator, and One worthy of worship – Allah azza wa jallallahu.

So in light of that auspicious occasion, let us share with our nations and the United States in particular, the just speech of the Inaugural Address of Abu Bakr and Umar. May these appropriate excerpts from their inaugural addresses serve as reminders to us the Nation of Muhammad firstly and to all other nations thereafter.

Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq’s

Inaugural Address

When Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq was made caliph, he delivered a khutba before the people. In it, after describing Allah’s praise and laudation, he said: “O people! I have been appointed the amir of your caravan though I am not better than you are. If I work properly, help me and if I do not work well, correct me. Truthfulness is a deposit and falsehood is defalcation. The weak amongst you is strong in my sight. I will surely try to remove his pain and suffering. And the strong amongst you is weak to me. I will – Allah willing – realize the right from him fully… When obscene things spread among my nation, calamities generally continued to descend upon them. As long as I obey Allah and His messenger, you should obey me, and if I do not obey Allah and His messenger, then obedience to me is not incumbent upon you. (Now prepare for prayer).”

Umar’s Inaugural Address

“O ye faithful! Abu Bakr is no more amongst us. After having led us for about two years, he has returned to his Maker. He has the satisfaction that he has successfully piloted the ship of the Muslim state to safety after negotiating the stormy sea.

After Abu Bakr, the mantle of Khilafat has fallen on my shoulders. I swear it before Allah that I never coveted this office. I wished that it would have devolved on some other person more worthy than me. But now that in national interest, the responsibility for leading the Muslims has come to vest in me, I assure you that I will not run away from my post, and will make an earnest effort to discharge the onerous duties of the office to the best of my capacity in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.

In the performance of my duties, I will seek guidance from the Holy Book, and will follow the examples set by the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr. In this task I seek your assistance. If I follow the right path, follow me. If I deviate from the right path, correct me so that we are not led astray.

Peace upon all those who seek true Guidance.

May Allah bless us with courage, His Mercy, and His Pleasure. Ameen.

LIGHT UPON LIGHT LITE!!!

Picture it…


You are camped out beneath an ink black sky; the fire is crackling gently, its smoky scent wafts lazily into the air. Your gaze is drawn to a single solitary star flickering above. Before you know it, more stars cluster and shimmer. Within seconds you are treated to a stunning display of a million night lights. Your gaze is fixed upward, mesmerized by the power of your Creator. And for every star you see, you yearn to comprehend His splendid magnificence.

SubhanAllah! What an image! Geez, it’d be great if there was an awesome Al-Maghrib class coming to Nurayn that could like, you know, expound upon the glorious attributes of Allah ta’ala. And you know, like, bring us a lil bit of that heaven on Earth.

LIGHT UPON LIGHT LITE!!!

InshaAllah, this seminar will take you beyond that poster on your wall of the 99 names of Allah ta’ala. You will be given the tools needed to gain a deeper understanding of the names and attributes of Allah ta’ala. You will learn how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught us to understand our Lord and study the framework within which the companions and the early scholars appreciated the qualities of Allah ta’ala.

LIGHT UPON LIGHT LITE!!!

Fundamentals of Faith 102

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

November 21-23, 2008

REGISTER NOW!! Class is limited to the first 300 paid registrants. Don’t get left out of the light…

As-Salaamu Alaikum Nurayn!

Remember when we told you before how creative our qabeelah was? MashaAllah! The following was written by Bro. Shad Aadil Imam. The name of the piece is “Long Overdue,” but alhamdulillah, we think it’s right on time…

Long Overdue…

Fourteen centuries have passed, yet your words are so near,
As I open you up, I begin to tremble with fear.
For I know the message and commandments are clear,
And I sheepishly ask myself, “Where was I all year?”

“Why did I not turn to your pages when in need?”
“Why did I not follow your commandment to read?”
“Why did I seek solace in material things of this world…
“When all I had to do was your pages uncurl?”

How arrogant was I to go for so very long,
And have no conversation with the Holy Quran?

I blow off the dust and I open you anew,
The words, same as before — the cover, a different hue.
Your Opening chapter – the verses so powerful, yet lean,
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.

Chapter after chapter, I learn the lessons of old,
From the lives of Musa, and Ibrahim and Yusuf — foretold.
And the story of Adam, our father, and Nuh, Isa, our guides
And of Shaytan ar-Rajeem, who promises us nothing but lies.

How arrogant was I to go for so very long
And have no conversation with the Holy Quran?

In Ramadan these pages are turned each day and each night
At times I smile, or I cry, and at times, I tremble in fright.
For I realize that in reading this Holy Book from my shelf
That Quran al-Hakeem knows me better than I know myself.

It tells me of my pettiness & jealousy & my attitude towards life,
That I think myself to be sufficient, no one else need suffice.
The more I read & reflect & understand the words so Divine,
The more I realize that this – Al-Quran – is the cure for all
ailments of mine.

How arrogant was I to go for so very long,
And not turn the pages of the Holy Quran?

While fasting this blessed month, I reflect on my life,
What have I done for Allah, or even for others in strife?
I work all day long — emails, phone calls and meetings galore.
Do I take the time to remember the Ultimate Meeting –
with my Lord?

So vivid a scene of that Day of Judgment is shown,
In the words of Allah, enshrined in the Holy Quran.
A day that will last for 50,000 years – so long!
With scorching heat and destruction and horrors unknown.

And I ask myself, how arrogant was I to go for so long
And have no conversation with Allah’s Holy Quran?

I begin to despair in days void of dhikr & remembrance of Allah,
Instead they’re filled with sins – on TV, at work, or in the car.
But I recall the words of Rasulullah*, in the sand dunes,
“Kul ibne-Adam khatta, wa khayr al-khatta-een at-
-tawwaaboon.”

Thus, turning in repentance to Allah is my goal,
To avoid the Fire in which men and stones serve as coal,
And attain felicity in the highest levels of Jannah
And to drink from the hand of our beloved Rasulullah*

And to think that I was arrogant for so very long,
To go without conversing with the Holy Quran.

The fruits and mansions of Paradise – described so clear,
In the Book of Allah, those very same words that we hear
During each night we are blessed to attend another Taraweeh
Behind our beloved Imams, Samiullah and Ibrahim.
It teaches us to be kind, compassionate, and people of mercy
To love one another and fight all indecency.
It teaches us that our guide, our example, is none other than he,
The one that wept at night making dua for you and me.*
For his Companions were the ones who lived & dined with him,
But his Brothers, he said, are ones who without seeing,
believe in him.

So much wisdom & guidance, so many verses to light my way,
As I try to be a better Muslim each and every single day.
I commit myself this Ramadan, and urge you to follow my lead,
To start a conversation this year, with the Book we all need.

Do not be arrogant, like I was, to go for so very long,
Without having a conversation with the Holy Quran.

This month is our chance to make right with Allah,
Fill it with dhikr, and good works, and recitation of Quran.
And make dua for yourself, your families and the ummah,
For Allah’s forgiveness and mercy and guidance on all.
And late at night, if you recall, this short reminder from me,
Make dua for Qabeelate Nurayn, community and my family.

Ten minutes I was given, in sha Allah this has been less,
My main message for those that have not heard the rest
Is make sure that this year, you make it a point to stay on –
Consistently, regularly converse with the Holy Quran.

* sall Allahu alayhi wasallam (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
1 “All of the children of Adam are prone make mistakes, and the best of those who make mistakes are those who turn in repentance to Allah.”

A lil birdie told me that Sacred Scrolls has been receiving glowing reviews, alhamdulillah. This very chatty lil birdie also told me that the latest issue of The Muslim Link included a nice article about Sacred Scrolls with quotes from our very own Virginia Ameer Br. Mobeen. MashaAllah!

The Muslim Link. August-1-2008 Issue

How y’all doing?

No doubt you’re reading this because you’ve made our fantastically creative lil blog a regular stop on your daily journey through the world wide web. MashaAllah, for that, we thank you. And because we know you’re reading, we here at Nurayn.com are on a mission to wow you. Yeah that’s right, wow you. Rock your virtual world. You deserve nothing less.

InshaAllah in the next few weeks there will be some exciting changes made to the blog. A sprinkling of this, a dab of that, a smidge of thisnthat. I can’t divulge everything right now, but trust me, you’ll want to keep checking in. And if you have your own dose of sumthin’ sumthin’ that you wanna add to the blog, drop a comment and let us know – new writers are always welcome to spice up our Nurayn stew. (Okay, I’m done with that analogy.)

While we’re cooking up some yummy new additions (okay, I’m really done this time, I promise) there are two things I’d like to call your attention to:

1) Uh, how awesome was Sacred Scrolls? Totally awesome! Alhamdulillah!

2) During Sacred Scrolls, Nurayn’s awesome Projects Committee brought to our attention the wonderful work being done by Muslimat Al Nisaa. May Allah ta’ala bless all those who’ve taken the cause to heart, and may He increase us all in compassion and empathy, and most importantly goodly actions for our fellow man (and woman). Ameen!

GASP! Did the new girl really just dedicate a post to excuses? She must not know the rules. This is Qabeelat Nurayn – we don’t take no stuff from excuses. We give excuses black eyes. Booyah!

I understand. And really, I was all on board for the full-on assault of excuses. This post started out as a mock-up of a trial – The Excuse vs The Student. Oh, it was golden (if I may say so myself). The Student was being charged with assault and battery for the beat down issued to The Excuse. The Excuse presented a pathetic and wholly unbelievable case that was overwhelmed by The Student’s plea of self defense. In the end The Student was victorious and The Excuse was sent off in shame. Golden.

But then I started thinking, do I really wanna be responsible for advocating the widespread abuse of excuses? I mean, sure one could argue that they bring ill will upon themselves. They are annoying and whiny. They’re constantly talking – forget whispering, they yell. And if you try to ignore them they don’t get the hint. Nag, nag, nag. Excuses have no athab. Forget knocking three times and leaving. Not excuses. They’re all up in your grill, peeking through your windows with their fingers pressed on the doorbell.

Excuses survive because they are persistent. In fact I’d venture that in case of an atomic explosion there would be cockroaches and excuses. They aren’t easily dissuaded. You walk away and they follow you. You try to sidestep them and they pull a crossover meaner than anything Allen Iverson could ever execute. You turn your back on them and they push you. They wanna be wherever you are and they wanna tag along to wherever it is you’re trying to go. “Can I come?,” they’ll say. “Pretty, pretty please?” You try to reason with them and they don’t listen. They just get more aggressive and start plucking you in the back of the head. That’s when things get ugly. You shove them, they shove you back. One thing leads to another and in no time you and the excuse are going at it fight club style. BAM! Black eye.

But here’s the thing – excuses are fast healers. A lil black eye can’t keep them down. No sir. Excuses are like weebles: they wobble but they don’t fall down. By the time you’ve dusted yourself off and regained your composure the excuse is ready for round two.

So what’s a person to do? I dunno. I’m still dusting myself off from my last cage fight with an excuse. But as I was nursing all my excuse inflicted wounds I realized that perhaps I was approaching this all wrong. Maybe I need to be more Zen-like in my combat with excuses. Some sort of wax on, wax off philosophy a la Karate Kid. But Daniel-son got beat up a lot and that whole one-legged kick thing at the end was ridiculously unbelievable. Maybe my excuses and I will be like Frodo and Smeagal begrudgingly connected as we embark on an epic adventure. But that turned out wrong too, and I don’t wanna lose a finger. (I realize that in using these references I have revealed some of my more uh, dorkish tendencies. I’ll stop while I’m ahead.)

The point (I think) is this: excuses are persistent because they have a purpose. Their sole reason for being is to distract you to the point that you stop doing something. And since they never seem to pop up when that something is something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place, then I’d say that excuses stop you from doing good things. Productive things. Things that make you a better person, things that inshaAllah will make you a better Muslim. So fight them if you must. And if that involves a black eye, so be it. But I think I’ll just acknowledge my excuses, give them their space and go about my merry way. Eventually they’ll get bored and find somebody else to bother. (If not, I’ve got a mean right hook.)

To reflect upon is to think about, give thought to, consider, review, mull over, contemplate, cogitate, meditate on, brood on, turn over in one’s mind. Reflection is sort of like chewing; you can chew just enough to swallow and get the whole thing over with (brussel sprouts), or you can chew and chew and chew in order to fully savor every yummy morsel (chocolate). I feel like I’ve been chewing on Heavenly Hues since the last class ended and it’s still as sweet as the first bite. Yum!

So, now would be the time to point out that if you’re looking for inspiration, this is probably not gonna be the post to give it to you. Sorry. (But really the whole chewing metaphor should’ve been your first clue.) Just posting this reflection is an odd enough experience. As a newcomer to Al-Maghrib classes, at times during the course of the course (ha!) I felt like the weird new person who intrudes upon a party already in progress. You know the one who walks in and immediately trips over the cord and brings everything to a screeching halt and suddenly has all eyes on them? Yup, that’s kinda what it felt like. It wasn’t uninviting, mashAllah I met some really nice sisters. I was just new. People were discussing previous courses and using acronyms and laughing at previously told stories and I was still trying to figure out where to park my car. So what could I possibly say that someone hasn’t said before? What insights could I give that haven’t already been given in a more eloquent fashion? What if my whole post turns out to be a trip the cord moment? Eh, oh well. Here goes…

The quick and short version is this – I thoroughly enjoyed Heavenly Hues. I mean, who didn’t? It was thought provoking and probing. It was enlightening. MashaAllah, it was amazing. The morsels of knowledge that Shaykh Yaser doled out like so much yummy chocolate were at once soothing and jarring, accessible and yet just out of reach. Sort of like a comforting reality check, if that makes any sense.

I think the best way to sum up what Heavenly Hues meant for me is to briefly (and clumsily) expound upon a metaphor that Shaykh Yaser presented during the class – that of the ocean and the one who possesses knowledge. The ocean at its deepest is quiet and still and it takes an expert to reach its depths and discover the treasures hidden within. At the shore however, that same ocean is a source of constant noise and shallow enough that even a passerby can wade in and pick from it as they choose. Heavenly Hues was for me like a dip into the center of the ocean; a chance to get away from the noise at the shore (bar exams, work, etc.) and take solitude in the beauties and wonders of the Quran. Alhamdulillah! What a gem!