“The Indonesian situation is different, nearly unique among Muslim countries. Indonesia has thousands of institutions where women can become specialists of Islam. For example, in Islamic boarding schools called pesantren, male and female students spend years studying the Islamic sources.  These schools produce female preachers, intellectuals and activists who are equipped with deep Islamic knowledge.  Many of these women have  focused for years on the heart of this knowledge, the law and its jurisprudence (Shari’ah and Fiqh) and go on to become professors in Islamic universities.  Not only can these women debate with extremist Muslim groups who propose a different interpretation of the holy texts concerning gender issues, they participate equally in the interpretation and reinterpretation of these texts.”

~ Women Shaping Islam: Reading the Qur’an in Indonesia, by Pieternella van Doorn Harder.

This surah says: past tense. The path up, the straight path up, the one taken by those You showered favour upon. Past tense. So the real role models of Islam are not the ones alive, are the ones who have gone, because the ones who are alive are as volatile as you and me. The anchors who will not go away are the actual graduates not the students. Graduation ceremony is death. And then the certificate is issued by Allah. And there are some people who Allah already issued their certificate, told us all their transcript. This is what gave them their credit so that they could graduate. Learn from them.

So we ask Allah to show us the path of those who have already gone before. But in the language we say those who You showered favour upon. In other words, we didn’t say the path taken by those who already made it up all the way. Instead of giving them credit, gave Allah credit. The Muslim realizes that this path is really hard, isn’t any way to do this without Allah making it easy. So the Muslim asks, “Ya Allah, who did you make it easy for before?

The word An-amta.

• Come from softness. Something soft and relaxed. Word for cows comes from this. Cows are relaxed. Allah says that I made this path so relaxed for them, will be like cows. Allah says that this is such a hard journey, the more you go up, the more danger you’re in, but with My favour it will be relaxing. And Allah describes these people all throughout the Qur’an. The stories of the righteous, the story of the Prophets, the story that’s mentioned of good people, all this is Allah answering just that one dua of show me the previous graduates.

Do benefit and share these lessons – as even if you’ve read this text before, this is a wonderful review. And to learn more about the Muslim Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto, you can find out more here.

Below, some notes from the second class. These notes were mostly taken on the bus, so they aren’t complete, and as always, all mistakes in notetaking are my own.

Lives of Man – Life of the Grave

•  Everything that comes after the life of this world is based on the way that we lived here.
•  Consider grave a home – how are we decorating it with our deeds now?
• Punishment of grave is mostly from backbiting, slander and not cleaning oneself properly.
• Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would ask constantly for protection from torment of grave. It’s real, not metaphorical!
• We have a responsibility to pray for those who have deceased.
• We have a responsibility to pray for their forgiveness, carry out promises, take care of friends, pay attention to kinship ties
• Goodness to parents continues even after they have passed away!
• One of the greatest gifts a person can offer to a person who has passed is reciting Qur’an on their behalf whether a little or a lot. All of the Qur’an is blessed and beneficial, but something that is easy that the scholars have recommended is reciting Surah Ikhlas and intending reward for that person.
• Generally good to asking dua for a person. Asking Allah to have mercy
• Beautiful statement of Imam Haddad: The one who remembers is remembered, the one who forgets is forgotten.
• One who has passed are part of our community.
• Giving charity on behalf on someone, making dua for them, all good.
• Recommended to visit graves. Reminds you of the hereafter. Is one of the most powerful ways to remove the rust around our hearts. Allows us to recognize that all of these people were alive at one time and had kids and dreams and lives and jobs and families and now they are all dead, all buried underneath the ground. Very powerful mode of remembering the akhirah (hereafter) and life to come.
• No one sits by grave of his brother than his brother is comforted by them.

• Recommended to stand near the head.
• Particularly to keep in mind one own relatives.
• Visit relatives regularly
• The things of the ghayb, Allah knows best

• 3rd life (barzakh) ends when the hour comes.
• The hour cannot come until this world ends.
• All creatures shall be assembled in the intermediate realm, Angel Israfil will blow a horn and everything in existence will will die. Than Allah will take his soul, and then Allah will only be in existence.
• Then another horn will blow, Allah will resurrect that angel, then Israfil will blow the horn a second tme and that will be the commencement of judgement day.

• Prophet said, peace and blessings be upon him, that “Islam began as something strange, and will return to being  something strange, so blessed are the strangers, who hold on to their values and beliefs at a time when people are corrupt.
• Scholars say that all of the minor signs have come to pass. All that remains is major signs. It is a time that people really have to hold on tight because it’s going to get bumpy. In our lifetimes, or in the next generation, Allah knows when these things will come to pass, but the minor signs have happened.

• The nafs is you. It’s your internal state.
• Hawa is the entity in which the nafs manifests. Hawa is your internal inclinations, your desires.
• True religion is about character, going against yourself.
•  The more you pray, the more you’re around good people, the more you do dhikr, the more your desires begin to change. You will always have desires, but the idea is for your desires to confirm to sacred teachings. It’s so important to have environments that cultivate this.
• First need to be able to govern our souls before we can lead anyone else.
• Need to be aware of the politics of the soul.
• Religion is beautiful, but not necessarily easy.
• We have a faculty of anger and a faculty of desire – both relate to caprice.
• While we are in this world, we’re supposed to know Allah in times of hardship and in times of ease. We are supposed to know Him in His Majestic manifestations and in His Beautiful manifestations.
• We should never be embarrassed to ask Allah for anything, no matter how small. Even if it is for salt in the food, if our sandal strap breaks, for whatever it is, big or small, we should ask Allah.
• Whenever we are in need, anytime we need help, we should turn to Allah.
• Know your Lord in a state of prosperity so that He will know you in a state of difficulty.
• Use good times of health to know Allah

The aim of the book is to introduce the reader to an Islamic worldview, and the book is separated into three sections to complete this task. The first section “An Approach to the Faith” addresses the historical relationship between Muslim lands and Europe, and core principles (such as Truth and Mercy) that animate Islam. The second section “The Making of the Faith” addresses the world of the Qur’an, the life of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the history of the successors who followed him, and history of the people who followed the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. For me, this section was an education in the depth of the Islamic tradition, and a reminder that there is so much to learn! As I read the historical sections of the book for instance, I realised that I really didn’t know anything about the lives of the successors of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. To rectify this, I’m going to insha’Allah start with a lecture series by Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad, available through the Quilliam Press website here.

The third section is titled “Fruits of the Faith”, and describes the example of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Islamic law, Islamic art and mysticism, and the worldview of the hereafter that should structure how Muslims understand their experience in the world. Being reminded of where we are headed and the purpose of our lives was on a personal level, very very needed, and a reminder that one needs to constantly reflect on the beliefs/ideas that determine your response to events in your life. So often we act unthinkingly, and don’t realise that there are faulty beliefs/ideas fuelling our reactions.

Despite the gendered language, the book is a powerful and beautiful read, and a book that reminds you that you need to study. On every page, Gai Eaton demonstrates the richness and beauty of the Islamic tradition, and teaches the reader that one needs to have a coherent study plan in place of Qur’an memorisation, Arabic study, tafsir, fiqh, learning more about the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and personal character refinement. The book is a proof for the need for sustainable sequential learning.

The book was also a reminder that to strive for what is good in this world, but not to put the world in one’s heart. There is no time for envy, or feeling sad about not having something.  Paradise is the goal to work towards.

Below: here are some of my notes.

On the Qur’an

• “The Qur’an, set on a shelf with other books, has a function entirely different to theirs and exists in a different dimension. It moves an illiterate shepherd to tears when recited to him, and it has shaped the lives of millions of simple people over the course of almost fourteen centuries; it has nourished some of the most powerful intellects known to the human record; it has stopped sophisticates in their tracks and made saints of them, and it has been the source of the most subtle philosophy and of an art which expresses its deepest meaning in visual terms; it has brought the wandering tribes of mankind together in communities and civilizations upon which its imprint is apparent even to the most casual observer. ” (p.91)

• It (revelation) gives back to the intelligence its lost capacity to perceive and to comprehend supernatural truths, it gives back to the will its lost capacity to command the warring factions in the soul, and it gives back to sentiment its lost capacity to love God and to love everything that reminds us of Him. (p.92)

• “Even at the simplest everyday level there is constant avoidance of the thought of death; there is evasion of our inward solitariness, which no amount of conviviality can entirely overcome, and there is a refusal to acknowledge our limitations and our sins [...]Hence the sense or urgency which informs the whole Qur’an, making the very thought of ‘passtimes’ an outrage against common sense; for to waste the little time we have seems to the Muslim like insane profligacy.” ( p.107)

On recognising one’s servanthood.

• ..” there are a million different ways in which – whether in thought or in action – we can ascribe partners to the One who has no partners. Were it not for the intervention of the divine mercy and the overflowing of the divine forgiveness, none would escape the trial by fire. Moreover, the ultimate ‘false god’, the shadowy presence behind all others, is the human ego with its pretensions to self-sufficiency. “(p.71)

• To surrender to the light given from beyond ourselves – to which the inner light responds – is to develop a passionate appetite for greater light. ‘O Allah, appoint for me light in my heart and light before me and light behind me, light on my right side and light on my left, light above me and light below me, light in my sight and light in my perception, light in my countenance and light in my flesh, light in my blood and light in my bones; increase for me light and give me light.” (p.76)

• “A servant works for his wages, he may depart if the conditions of his service do not please him, and he may, if he chooses, set his will against that of his employer. But God is not an employer, nor are His  messengers employees. The ‘slave of God’ surrenders his will to that of his Master, exemplifying the quality of spiritual poverty (faqr) which lies at the very root of Islam.” (p.79)

• God gave to Adam and to his descendants the gift of intelligence, asking in return, not for blind praise, but for a lucid and joyful understanding of the nature of things and their source. It is therefore incumbent upon us to recognise the facts of our sitaution, which is one of total dependence, total indebtedness. (p.205)

On suffering

• The point, clearly is that the our natural feelings must never be taken out of their proper sphere and elevated to the rank of philosophical principles. The fact that I am sad does not mean that the world is out of kilter, the fact that I have been hurt does not mean that God is unjust, and the fact that my personal life may have been darkened by tragedy does not mean that no sun shines upon creation. It is when emotion is transposed to a diferent dimension that we have a “problem of suffering “ and this, precisely, it what has happened in our time.“( 207)

•  For those who see themselves as isolated fragments, the experience of suffering is an experience of alienation and therefore an intolerable invasion. For the Muslim his personal identity and his destiny are one; nothing that enters his experience can be considered a ‘foreign body’ (…). The word maktub ‘ it is written’ or ‘fated’, means that whatever happens to us was inscribed upon our individual essence from the beginning of time. To wish that something else had happened to us is to wish ourselves other than ourselves, which is a perverse self-denial and indirectly, a denial of our Creator who gave us what He gave us. Abu Huraira reported the Prophet as saying : “ Go far as good things are concerned, be eager for what benefits you, seek help from Allah and do not be too weak to do so. [But] if some affliction comes to you do not say, “Had I done such and such this would never have happened.”  but say, “Allah decrees, and He does what He wishes”, for “Had I done…” provides an opening for the devil’s action. (p.209)

On the importance of beauty:

• “The human norm is one of beauty of spirit, beauty of soul, beauty of comportment and finally, the beauty of those things with which we choose to surround ourselves- home, dress, utensils and so on. Anger, condemned in Quran and hadith on moral grounds, is condemned also because it disfigures the human countenance. An ugly building is in-Islamic, however functional it may be, as is everything cheap and tawdry. The true and the beautiful, therefore belong to this final faith in a very special way. Stupidity and ugliness have no place in it.”

On the importance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

• It is clear that if we are to fulfil our true function, we must first identify and then become our true selves; the man alienated from his own centre is alienated from all things, not only a stranger to himself but also a stranger in the universe. Yet he cannot find the centre nor become himself without help. For the Muslim, the Prophet not only shows the way to the centre but in a certain sense, is himself the way, since by taking him as our model, or by entering into the mould of his personality, that we are best able to travel to our destination.  (p.204)

On the hereafter

• “With the entry into Paradise time is redeemed and everything falls into place. Were it possible for the blessed to retain a single unhappy memory this would not be the perfection promised them, yet it cannot be said that they forget anything, since Paradise is the place where everything is clearly seen; what they see then, is the total perfection of creation, in which all disharmonies are resolved. Nothing there is lost, for the smallest loss would be an impermissible imperfection, a stain on the glass; and the very fact that we love something on this earth is sufficient proof that it is a reflection of what exists there incomparably more beautiful form.” (252)

• It is axiomatic in religious terms that God never gives less than He promises. He never disappoints expectations which He has Himself aroused. But He does – we are assured -give more than He promises, and it is this ‘more’ that is indecipherable or that exceeds the reach of the human imagination; and this it is that, in the last resort, overwhelms the simple images people have of a happy afterlife, just as a great light overwhelms a lesser one.” (p.246)

Reminders:

• “People are not always what they say they are – or even what they think they are. There is but One who sees us objectively, and we have reason to be thankful that He is called the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Forgiving.” (p.73)

• ” No one was ever damned for thinking too well of people.”

• This world is the place of mercy, where we need only ask in order to receive; on the Day, pure objectivity rules and we are what we are or what we have made of ourselves. “

Verse 15: Has the story of Moses reached thee?

• Rhetorical purpose: see Allah bringing solace to the heart of His beloved.
• Makes us ask: What is the station of this creation that when Allah sees his prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) troubled, He reveals a verse to comfort him?

• General point: the story of Moses and Pharoah appears many times in the Qur’an. Very important story. In different junctures we hear different aspects of this story. Many meanings ot this story that are very relevant for our time. One lesson here: some person can attain great status even being in the belly of the beast. Some people wil grow up in societies that in themselves are societies of unbelief, and yet they themselves will be the means for the demise of unbelief.

V16: When his Lord called out to him in the holy valley of Tuwa.

• Allah called out to Moses in this sacred valley of Tuwa. Allah spoke to Moses. Learn from this that there are sacred places. There are places that are special and we deal with special places and special people and times with tadheem (exaltation)
• If Ramadan comes and goes and we don’t have tadheem, our heart is dead. If we don’t have tadheem for jumu’ah, our heart is dead. If we don’t have tadheem for the mosque, our heart is dead. If we don’t have tadheem for our Muslim brothers and sisters, our heart is dead.
• We have to have tadheem in our heart for the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. We exalt him. We respect and honour him.
• Saying the name Muhammad is not like saying other names. We are supposed to say Rasulullah and all of his other beautiful names
• To have tadheem means that in our hearts you esteem it.
• If you have a bottle of water with water from spring and bottle with zam zam water, though we shouldn’t waste water and mistreat any of Allah’s creation,  we use zamzam in a different way. We are going to pour it  in different cups and stand up and face qibla before drinking, and going to say special dua. Will have increased amount of esteem
• When walk in house, different than when we walk in a mosque.
• Tadheem: it translates into respect and honour for these things.

Verse 17: Go to Phaorah because he has transgressed all bounds

•  Pharoah known to be a very bad person, He was a tyrant. And Allah is commanding Moses to go to Pharaoh. Imagine this! We learn from this that you and I have to have courage. We are part of a message that is of a heavenly origin. We have the keys to understand everything in the world.
• Recall Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s poem Springs Gift: Muhammad has God on his side.
•  Doesn’t matter what technology is out there.
•  If everyone in world was to plot against you, you will always be successful  and honoured. Even when people were placing excrement on the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he was honoured.
•   You and I ..where is our courage? We are the followers of Sayyidna Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him..
•  We have to believe deeply that what we have is the best thing that we could have.
•  This is the source of our izza (dignity) as Muslims. Whoever seeks izza from other than Islam, Allah will humiliate. If seek izza from books or beauty, or any other things. Source of izza is Islam.
•  Many of the Muslim today have an inferiority complex. Feel like the West has outstripped them.
• People are asking “Why do they have it? But the question should be: Do you really want it?
• We are grossly overconsuming. Everything we need is already there.
• Think of the courage of Moses.

3 types of arrogance:

1)    worst is the arrogance human beings show towards Lord
2)    Messengers
3)    Other human beings

In reality: We cannot be arrogant to a rock, to insect, to animal. To honour and respect what Allah has told us to respect and honour is from the essence of our deen.

V18: And say to him, “Would you purify yourself from sin?”

• Zakat relates to purity because it purifies your wealth.
• Meanings of purity, purity in all of the different ways that we stray. This is a comprehensive word
• Whenever we are trying to serve and help people, the  foundation is gentleness. Only move to coarseness in certain situations.
• People want to spend time with are people who are gentle and soft.
• Greatest purpose of the sending of the messengers…is hidaya (guidance). Guidance is that which points to and leads to the truth. One of the verses of the Fatiha:..guide us to the straight path. We say this at least seventeen times a day if praying 5 daily prayers.
• Rest of the Qu’ran is about guidance in great detail. One of the names of Book of Allah is the guidance (al-Huda) Guidance to what? Path.
• In reality travelling back to our Lord. Qur’an is guidance that we arrive safely in the travels that we are making.
• Part of the reasons that it is so important that these meanings are solidified is that the closer we get to the end of time, stranger Islam and religious teachings become in the minds of people. Prophet told us this. If people think that you are strange, good thing. If you were to fit in the modern world, would be serious pb.
• Much of modern world is based on falsehood
• People who have reverence in their heart who will benefit from these stories.

Q and A

• When you incline towards something, have to be wary. If  the nafs desires to do something, have to be hesitant. Greatest criteria of whether we should do something is the sacred law.
•  Also have istikhara to guide you in this matter
• Start by praying five daily prayers on time.
• Doing salawat and istighfar are two of the greatest things that a person can do.
•  Salawat – is said that salawat is shaykh for person for person who doesn’t have a shaykh
• Q: What is an advised translation of the Qur’an? A: If had to suggest one, would suggest the translation by Abdul Haleem. Other translations used in this course include Thomas Cleary’s translation, the Majestic Qur’an, and others. In this course, have used up to seven different translations.
• Q: how can we expose ourselves to Allah’s mercy?
• A: by praying the 5 daily prayers firstly.
• By doing anything where that thing would be means of Allah’s mercy.

Surah Naziat

• Name of surah is from 1^st verse: By those who wrest violently (refers to removal of the soul). Word Naziat refers to the angels that remove the soul.
• This is a Makkan surah, revealed before the Hijrah
• 46 verses. 
• Correlation to chapter that came before: both of these chapters are discussing Day of Judgement
• Starts with description of Yawm Qiyamah, and then emphasizes various events that are going to take place.
• “By those who wrest violently”.
• Our soul is what makes us truly human. Once soul leaves the body, then human being is dead. Soul is what determines life. Soul’s existence in the physical body is life. Soul has a connection to every aspect of the body. Taking of the soul is intense. For the disbeliever, it is not pleasant, the way that their soul is taken out.

2^nd verse: ”By those that draw out gently.

• Soul of the believer is taken out gently

Third Verse: By those who glide serenely

• There are oaths in the Qur’an. The Creator swears by whatever He wants, we only swear by Allah. Even swearing by Allah, this is a form of emphasis and we should only do that when absolutely necessary. See people who are always swearing by Allah, poor adab to do that.
•  As if they are swimming, these angels are moving along so speedily

Fourth Verse: By those who race forward

•  Racing forward  with the souls of believers and disbelievers.

Sixth Verse: And by those that direct the affairs

• Number of issues here.
• This is from the Divine Will. Allah could have just given us a book and required us to work it out for ourselves. Wisdom in having that means in creation. Didn’t have to create angels.
• Angels are beings of light, Allah is not in need of them
• Created beings of life
• The true doer of every act is our Lord.
• The way we live will determine the way our soul is taken. This should be a matter of reflection.

Exploring the Qur’an  (Week 3 Notes)

• 2^nd degree of taqwa : to set a barrier between yourself and unlawful things, whether they are internal traits of the heart like arrogance or outward actions like backbiting
• A higher stage of taqwa: not only have you left the haram, the disliked matters, but you leave the doubtful matters too.

Note: Another meaning of doubtful matters: matters regarding which there is a difference of opinion among scholars. In this stage of taqwa, you leave them out of scrupulousness

• Fourth stage: Did what you were asked to do with the permissible. Did you give you the right of gratitude to what you were given?

• Remember: to the degree that you don’t give thanks, the Day of Judgement will be lengthened. So we have to constantly remind ourselves to give thanks, to give thanks, to give thanks

• Zakat of having a car: give people rides when they don’t have a car
• Zakat of having a home: opening it to people to study
• Zakat of owning own medical practice: serving people who are underinsured, or not insured

• If you choose to leave the permissible out of a desire to prefer the next life, it is good.

• Example: permissible to speak to friends for four hours. But you know that if you spend four hours, things start to be mentioned that never would within first 30 minutes,or when food arises.  Eventually speaking ill of people. So out of fear of being dragged to the impermissible, you leave the permissible.
• Sahaba used to leave 9/10 of the permissible out of the fear that it would drag them into the impermissible. That was their maqam. We need to respect that.

• 5th stage of taqwa: someone who strives to not have a thought come to their heart except that reminds them of the Divine presence. There are some people who are immersed in the Divine presence, that they don’t have any thought that doesn’t remind them of the Divine.

Allah says, “Truly for the God-conscious, there will be triumph.

• We are not able to understand the true nature of the Garden.

Three of the Seven Central themes of the Qur’an

1)    Return to the God
2)    Promises that Allah makes
3)    Threats and Warnings

• We need to be motivated as human beings. Fear is a deterrent, when used properly.To not do something out of fear though is a low level. Higher level to do something out of hope for reward.Higher level still to do it because it is the right thing to do. Because Allah deserves to be worshipped. Out of love and longing

• When we’ve pushed ourselves to the extend can’t push anymore, then that is when we will get what we want. Nature of nafs is that you have to tire it out. You see this in exercise, where the most important part of the pushup is the last rep, where you really push yourself. As Shaykh Hamza says, “practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent!”. There is a difference between benefit and excelling. In the spiritual path have to work at it before you see doors opening for you
• Paradise will be a place of purity, where you will only experience great things. There are some people in the world who you can’t stand to be around. No anxiety in jannah, no rancor, no hatred. All these things, completely removed in the next world.

Book recommendation: A Dictionary and Glossary of the Qur’an by John Penrice

• Start the process from now, try and memorise 10 root words of the Qur’an each week. See root word, see the derivatives in the book of Allah

• Note: difference between reward and gift. Reward is when you’ve done something and given a recompense. A gift is just given to you

• Q: Do our acts bring us to paradise? Do you earn Paradise through your acts? No, our acts do not enter us into Paradise. Entering paradise is solely through the mercy of Allah. We are supposed to expose ourselves to that mercy though.

• Part of the maqam of deen is understanding Lordship and what that means. Part of that is to humble us. There is so much sheer arrogance today. If the veil was removed and we saw people’s reality, we would see people in complete illusion and delusion.
• Reality is how Allah has chosen reality to be. We don’t have a choice in how Allah has chosen reality to be. But we become privy to certain parts of that reality through our submission. 

• He is the Lord of everything and everything has its function and purpose whether we understand its purpose or not. Intelligent person seeks meaning in everything.

• If angels are not going to be speaking on Day of Judgement, what will this day be like? Only people who are going to speak are those who are given permisission to speak. From this, understand the station of Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He is the one who will be given permission to speak who will only say what is right.
• Everything that they say on this day will be truth.

• See sometimes with children where they are so stunned that they will just tell you what happened. On the Day of Judgement we will be in such a state of awe, that we will just tell the truth. Will not be able to tell anything else.

• Verse 39; That is the Day of Truth (That is the True Day)
• The grammar of the Qur’an is essential and they are mistranslations because people don’t notice the grammar of the verses. Which is why the Qur’an cannot be translated, can just translate the meanings of the Qur’an. We are blessed, we have the Arabic Qur’an and the different recitations preserved through time.

• That is the day of Truth. Day when truth will manifest and falsehood will disappear.
• People will wish that they could turn into dust. 
• We are absolutely certain that it is day that is going to come.
• We will behold everything we put forth in this dunya. We will behold everything we did of good.

“Spending in the cause of God is called metaphorically “a beautiful loan”. It is excellent in many ways: 1) it shows a beautiful spirit of self denial 2) in other loans there may be a doubt as to the safety of your capital or any return thereon,: here you give to the Lord of all in Whose hands are the keys of want or plenty; 3) giving, you may have manifold blessings, and withholding you may even lose what you have. If we remember that our goal is God , can we turn away from His cause?

~Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Commentary on 2:245

Accepting invitations is good adab. Important to acknowledge spirit of the gift being offered by expressing gratitude for gift. We are social animals. What counts is not your view on the weather or your children’s health, what counts is your courteous and appropriate response. Its about parting and the subsequent atmosphere. The end should be better and feel better. The real alim, knowledge doesn’t just stick in their brain, it shapes the entire mode of their being.

- Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad, July 23rd 2008, Rihla