Some tips to wake up for fajr and tahajjud!

Assalam Alaykum!
Here are some tips to inshaAllah help us wake up for fajr and tahajjud! May Allah grant us tawfiq and baraka in our time inshaAllah! Ameen!
InshaAllah may we also be able to keep up with some extra acts of ibadah and improvements in our character that inshaAllah we made during Ramadan!
InshaAllah let's also try our best to wake up for tahajjud, and strengthen our connection to Allah!
I got this as part of an email and part of it stated:
"It is from the Rizq (provision/bounty) of Allah that He allows you to get up for Fajr and especially Tahajjud, and when you start sinning He may deprive you from turning to Him at Fajr/Tahajjud due to your sins and having turned away from Him. May Allah swt protect us all and grant us forgiveness and abundant tawfiq. Ameen!"
I hear that in Hidramawt, Yemen, the shuyukh say to stay away from the student who does not wake up for tahajjud because these students are heedless! SubhanAllah, I don't even want to imagine what is said about those who have a hard time waking up for fajr! InshaAllah may Allah protect us from our our own weaknesses and from the shaytan! And don't just go back to sleep after fajr! Read Surah Yasin, recite daily dhikr, and memorize/recite the Qur'an inshaAllah. Pray salat-al-ishrak and later on in the day, inshaAllah pray salat-al-doha. Of course if a person has make-up prayers to make up, these take precedence over any extra forms of worship because we have to make up what we owe to Allah--as well as the rights we owe to our ownselves and others. Shaykh Yaqoubi (may Allah preserve him!) said that on the Day of Judgement, other people will be getting our good deeds if we didn't pray, because in our prayer, we pray for other people; thus people will be asking us why we didn't fulfill a prayer we owed to them!! SubhanAllah!

Tips to help you wake up for Fajr (and Tahajjud!), Insha'Allah:
1. Keep Away from Ma'aasi (acts of disobedience).
2. Avoid eating too much food.
3. Drink one or two glasses of water before going to bed.
4. Perform Wudoo (ablution) before going to bed.
5. Go to bed early.
6. Make intention in your heart to get up for Fajr/Tahajjud.
7. Set your alarm.
8. Establish Fajr/Tahajjud wake up calling system with family and friends e.g. friends/family members calling, texting etc each other to help one another wake up for the prayer.
9. Say prescribed supplications (dua) before sleeping
10. Once awake, do not linger lazily in bed.
11. Go to your local masjid to pray

Habib `Ali on Brotherhood

Here is a link to an article from Guidance Media (it's been published for awhile so many of you may have already read this)

http://www.guidancemedia.com/downloads/articles/BROTHERHOOD-HA.pdf

Shama`il of Imam al-Tirmidhi

Here's a link to some lectures on the Shama`il of Imam al-Tirmidhi: http://www.sacredlearning.org/classrooms/hadith/index.htm

InshaAllah may we all come to love the prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam and come to know how he was such a mercy for mankind. InshaAllah may we be granted the highest state of jannatul ferdaus so we can be in his presence and drink from his blessed pool! Ameen!

Lava Tracts

Imagine this: It's the year 1256 of the Gregorian calendar (654 Muslim calendar), it's jumuah-- everyone in Madinah feels the tremors of over 18 earthquake shocks. In a time when alcohol and music were rampant in this holy city, the lives of the people quickly changed. Volcanic eruptions were vomiting lava and ash from cracks in the earth's crust, southeast of Madina. The businesses, homes, and the very lives of the Madinan people were at stake. People quickly threw out their alcohol and musical instruments, and urgently sought each other's forgiveness because they believed their imminent death was approaching if they didn't emigrate from the city. Most importantly, they sought Allah's forgiveness and mercy. As the lava quickly neared the inhabitants, miraculously the lava quickly shifted gears its current heading north!

SubhanAllah the sites of these lava tracts, as my sister puts it, reminds you of the desolate and barren land seen in The Lion King when Mufasa dies (that's the name of Simba's dad, right?) The difference is is that it's all black and there is no sign of vegetation or life. SubhanAllah one can only imagine how hot and desolate hell would be-- as the fire in hell is hotter than any fire we can conceive of in this world-- and it's black.

Last year at the rihla, there was a non-Muslim scientist (sorry I can't remember if it was an archaeologist or a geologist), who came to study these lava tracts. For years, people have been trying to figure out how exactly the lava shifted it's gear when it was heading south to north. This scientist's only explanation was that it was the prayers of the people that saved them-- something like this could only be a miracle from God. Allahu Akbar!

Please read the full story and see the pictures for yourself....http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200602/volcanic.arabia.htm

Field trip continued

Below are pictures from the field trip.. continued (alhamdulillah it was a jam packed day!)

Above: Surah Tahrim verses about honey were revealed here. The Prophet (saw)would visit Maria here, after he had requested her to move. He (saw) would visit her after `asr everyday and Abu Bakr (ra) would be his companion on his excursions just so he could spend more time with the beloved. This is also the place where Ibrahim (son of the prophet (saw) and Maria) was born.
Mukhariq (a Jew) gave a garden of trees to the prophet (saw). The Prophet (saw) said he was the best of the Jews. There is a hadith that states, “By the earth and the spittle of the saliheen, the sick get well.” This is the location of the sacred dirt of Madinah which is a shifa and a cure for any illness and disease.

Above: (sorry this picture is out of order). This picture was taken on my last night in Madina-- where a couple of sisters and I went to give our last salaams to the prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salaam and his companions. We also sent our salaams to all those buried in the Baqi` cemetery (although Saudi guards made us move away!) Under the green dome is the exact burial spot of the nabi sallalahu alayhi wa salam.

This is the well where the Prophet (saw) did ghusl in. He used 7 water skins which is equivalent to 14 gallons. He did wudu and poured wudu back into the well. He also poured honey into the well to make it a shifa. Ali (ra) wanted to be washed with this water when he died. He also was washed with 7 water skins. This is one of the wells of paradise called Bi`r ul- Gars.
Above: This note was in our air conditioned Mercedes buses. I just thought it was ironic that they made cleanliness during hajj only as a religious and health requirement; what about the rest of the year?
On our drive out of Madina to Mecca, I managed to take a picture of Janat-ul-Baqi`.

Ruins of a Jewish fortress

As-salam Alaykum!
As we approach the last 10 days of Ramadan, I pray we are constant in our remembrance of our Creator and we make the most use of our time. InshaAllah let's all pray for each other, our families, and the rest of the world that we are all guided to true Islam, that we stick firmly to it, and have barakah in our time!

Below, are pictures of ruins of a fortress wall of a Jewish tribe, Banu Nadir. When the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam entered into Madinah, 3 Jewish tribes had treaties with the Muslims. Banu Nadir under leader Ka`b ibn Ashraf breached the treaty. In war, the Jews had built these types of walls so no one could come in. SubhanAllah how this concept is similar to the wall built in Israel now!

Shaykh Hamza and Imam Zaid further discussed how the prophet (saw) was forgiving in Mecca, but as a leader in Madinah, he was now in charge of people, so justice had to reign over his mercy. Many people accused that the prophet (saw) had changed when he became a leader; but this isn’t true. SubhanAllah how even in the punishment of justice, there is mercy. (ie: even with adultery, punishment can not be given until certain prerequisities have been met!)

Other randomness

Salams folks...
here are some other excerpts I decided to share on this blog. I've been reading Imam al Ghazali's book entitled Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence. SubhanAllah, it's a deep book, like all other Ghazali books. I've shared this with some sisters, but inshaAllah may we all gain from this sacred knowledge...
"...trust consists in a stable state [of the soul] with knowledge at its root and practice its fruit....tawakkul [trust in divine providence] is derived from wakala [power of attorney, management]. It is said: he entrusted his affairs to someone, that is: he commissioned that one to take care of them, depending on him to do it... the one who entrusted is called wakil [trustee, authorized agent]...So trust of this sort consists in the heart's relying on the trustee alone....
In litigation... if someone has had false charges brought against him, and entrusts the case to one who will expose their dubiety, then that person will be the one upon whom he depends... he has confidence in and in whom his soul can be at peace in entrusting itself to him. But this will be the case only if he can be convinced of four things about him:... he be nothing but rightly guided, exquisitely able and powerful, flawlessly eloquent, and utterly compassionate.... right guidance will show him how to confront the dubious charge....power and ability...will embolden to speak the truth clearly....eloquence...one can clearly articulate everything which the heart emboldens him to say... utterly compassionate.... moves [the attorney] to do everything he possibly can..." He goes on to discuss how if a person didn't have these 4 qualities, a person may be hesitant to put their trust in that wakil.
SubhanAllah this is the parable of the believer because we should put our full faith and trust in Allah and this is our natural fitra! Like how a mother is to her child.... there are those children who know that when they cry, they will be attended to by their mother; yet there is also a state where even when the child doesn't cry, we know that the mother is constantly protecting that child. SubhanAllah we are in the best of hands, and Verily in this may our hearts feel at rest!

InshaAllah may Allah help us all have faith and trust in Him and His divine decree! May He grant us knowledge, certainty, and have our fruit be action for His sake alone! Ameen!

"Indeed, all need and harm in the world, while it represents a deficiency in this world, nonetheless spells an enhancement in the next, and everything which amounts to a deficiency in the next world for one person spells a benefice for another. For if there were no night one would never know the reach of daylight, and absent sickness one would not enjoy good health when one had it; or if there were no hell, the inhabitants of paradise would not know the extent of their blessing....perfection takes precedence over diminishment is proper to justice. Similarly, amplifying blessing on behalf of the inhabitants of paradise while increasing the punishments of the inhabitants of hell, so that the price of the people of faith is paid by the people of unbelief, is quite proper to justice. If diminishment had not been created, the dignity of human beings would not be evident, for perfection and diminishment become evident in relation to one another, so it belongs to generosity and wisdom to create perfection and diminishment together. Just as it is just to cut off an extremity once gangrene has set in, to prolong one's life, because the less perfect is sacrificed to the more perfect , so it is with the order of differences which exist among people in the divisions within this world and the next. All of that is just with no injustice in it; true with no jest in it." (p. 49).

Valley of Aqiq continued

Sorry all my pictures were not able to post.. so here is the Valley of Aqiq continued (please refer to post below)... Also, I will continue (inshaAllah) with the rest of the field trip taken on the same day in a later posting...

This is the Valley of `Aqiq where the prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam would go to often. Mount Uhud is on the left and Mount `Ayr is on the right. Uhud is said to be a mount of paradise while `Ayr is to be from hell. These 2 mountains are like a positive and negative charge. The Prophet (saw) said Madinah would extend in between these 2 mountains and the other side being where the lava tracts are. Aisha (ra) asked the prophet (saw) if they could move to the Valley of Aqiq because the prophet (saw) said it was blessed, but he replied that he didn’t want to inconvenience the people because they had moved from Mecca to Madinah, and many people already established themselves in Madinah al-Munawarra. There is a hadith that is known to state that the prophet sallalahu `alayhi wa salaam said praying in this valley is like doing `umrah and hajj!

Above: Does anyone know what type of plant/fruit this is? It's hollow inside!!

Valley of `Aqiq

As-salam alaykum! I apologize that it's been awhile, but insha'Allah now that I'll be working part-time I will have some more time to update this! And now.. back to the rihla series =) As many of you may know, unfortunately, Saudi government has not preserved some of the Islamic sites well. Because of the strong "W" movement and trying to steer clear from bi`dah, many of the sites the rihla students have been blessed to go to are places no one knows about. You may pass some type of rubble and not even know that this was once the house of the granddaughter of the prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam. Shaykh Hamza stressed how we don't even know how these places will look 10 years from now, let alone next year. Below are pictures with captions detailing our field trip...

The well of `Aqiq. Below, Imam Zaid handed out water cups for the students to drink the water from. They also told a story of how the prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam bathed in this water and one of the palm trees has "Muhammad" in Arabic engraved on it because the prophet's sallalahu alayhi wa salam's bath water hit it. SubhanAllah!

Above: The third pen I went through on my trip as I took notes! I had to take a picture because I couldn't believe yet another pen had died on me...Interestingly enough, many of the sisters would eagerly take notes upon hearing the shuyukh elaborate upon the sites we visited, while the brothers stood and soaked all the information. Shaykh Hamza commended the sisters of our dedication to studying the deen and wanting to remember all the information!

Above: During the Ummayad era, the people gave Sukaena (the daughter of Husayn (ra)) a difficult time. So she moved to the outskirts of Madina (the Madina of that time period) and dug her own well. The picture above is the well that remains, called "Bir al-zam zam". SubhanAllah how she dug this with her own hands! Below is a picture of what remains of her house. You would have never thought that these were sacred sites as construction vehicles surrounded this area. I wouldn't be surprised if this area turns into one of the many hotels surrounding Masjid Nabawi.