Hello readers :)
2 posts in a week, wow, I'm on a roll! lol.
After the Straight Path Convention - Book of Belief and I'tisam recently, my mum received the lecture notes via text, from someone she knows at Dakwah Book Corner. I have no idea who the original writer is but I pray that God blesses them for sharing this with all of us.. coz my notes were hand-written and I doubt I'd be able to digitize them as well as this.
I'll be adding a bit of my notes here and there later on, but I'll post this first ;)
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*PEARLS OF Wisdom : "Book of Belief and I'tisam" Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem* - 10-11 November, UM
✅ The pillars (rukun/arkan) of Islam are BUILT (بُنِيَ) upon five; built like a structure. Question: if that is the case, then these five acts alone are sufficient? Answer: Yes, these are sufficient to build the pillars of the structure. But what is the use of a structure of a home without furniture, water, lights, air conditioning, kitchen, electricity, etc – does that make the house “live-able”? Pillars alone are insufficient!
✅ Iman (faith) in ar-Rasul (the Messenger, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) is built upon 4 : obeying him in what he ordered us; refrain from what he prohibited us from; believe in what he informed us of; following him by worshipping Allah only through the way he taught us
✅ The only deed which, if abandoned will result in a person to be a kafir – is solah
✅ Abu Bakr fought those who refused to pay Zakat and considered them to be apostates (murtaddin) – not because they didn’t PAY zakat, but rather, they were PREVENTING others from the establishment of a pillar of Islam (i.e. Zakat).
✅ Iman has over 60 branches. Belief of AHLUS SUNNAH: if you fail in any or multiple branches of iman, you are still a MUSLIM, though deficient in his/her iman. If one claims that a “liar” or “oppressor” is Kafir – this is KHAWARIJ
✅ Be careful of your actions to others – by your gestures, you might be backbiting. When Aisyah used her hands to gesture to the Prophet that her co-wife Safiyyah was “short”, the Prphet told her said that “you have said a word that (was so filthy that) if mixed with the ocean, would pollute the entire ocean”!
✅ A TRUE Muslim – Greets anyone and everyone unconditionally (NOT just known people/celebrities) : this signifies good iman!
✅ The Prophet warned us against specifically giving salam to one person only in a gathering of people. Give general greetings: there is no class differentiation. Everyone deserves your salam
✅ Honesty in Businesses – applies to non-Muslims too. Muslim professionalism and honesty of the Arab Muslim traders in Malaysia and Indonesia is what attracted our ancestors to be attracted and embraced Islam by the masses!
❤ Loving yourself – and your family – is NATURAL. Loving the Prophet is a CHOICE.
✅ When the Prophet says “none of you have iman (faith) until…” it could either mean 3 things. Either (a) existence of iman; (b) validity of iman; or (c) perfection / completion of iman. Context (and cohesion with other hadith) are important to differentiate and identify which one is which!
✅ SWEETNESS IN PRAYER : When Abbad b Bishr was praying the night prayer, he was shot with arrows. After being shot with two arrows he didn’t even respond, because “I was reciting a surah; it was so beautiful, I didn’t want to interrupt it”. Today we see a small insect and our solah goes haywire!
✅ How many friends do we have that are our friends – and we love them – only for the sake of Allah? Not because of position, common hobbies, connections, or wealth?
✅ If Allah conceals your sins, don’t expose yourself. Repent to Him Alone.
✅ Repenting from backbiting others: if the harm is greater, then don’t expose all your historical backbiting. Use wisdom, e.g. “I forgive you for whatever you said about me, and may Allah forgive me for everything I have said about you”
✅ If something has more harm than good (e.g. Astro), then khalas it is haram. Your IMAN – and saving yourself and family from hellfire – is your PRIORITY.
✅ Knowledge without taqwa is NOT real knowledge.
✅ Do Prophets commit sins? With respect to major sins, and delivering the shari’ah, NO: they are infallible. However, they may commit minor sins (e.g. Adam eat from the tree, Musa transgressed killing a man by mistake) – however, they all returned and rectified their wrongdoings
✅ Haya (bashfulness) is the unique characteristic of Islam : Raise your children by nurturing and inculcating Haya!
✅ Do not go overboard praising your fellow Muslim brother - even if it is a Sheikh. When Abdullah ibnu Umar was praised, he replied “What do you know about him?”
✅ So few Muslims name their children Saad, yet so many great companions named Saad! (ibn Abi Waqqas among the top ten promised Paradise, ibnu Mu’adz leader of Al-Aus, ibnu Ubadah leader of Al-Khazraj)
✅ When the Prophet was asked “what is the best deed”, he will respond according to the specific person, or context. He prescribes the proper SPECIFIC medication for our illnesses.
✅ Ibn Qayyim said, “if someone asks, which one is better – water or a loaf of bread. It depends: If one is thirsty, water is better and if one is hungry, a loaf of bread is better.” This is why the Prophet prescribed different “Best of deeds”!
✅ Times of Calamities and Trials reveal who we truly are. In times of ease and comfort, it is easy to be steadfast.
✅ The Prophet in his wisdom, would give more booty (worldly wealth) to the ones with weaker iman and recently embraced Islam (still on shaky ground). Yet he gave little to his long-time followers, because he had confidence that their iman is good.
✅ Be a real MAN, not a MALE. A donkey can be a male. A man takes responsible care for his family.
✅ Islam teaches us to LEARN to IMPLEMENT. Not to learn to JUSTIFY our preferences to go fatwa shopping – this is NOT islam.
✅ We should ALL fear HYPOCRISY for ourselves! Umar was guaranteed Jannah, yet feared hypocrisy from himself. We have no guarantee yet sometimes we are complacent.
✅ Not encouraged to use the English word “Holy” in describing Islamic references (e.g. Holy Qur’an) – Holy is usually associated with Christianity.
✅ Repentance can be obligatory or it can be recommended. It is obligatory when we do something haram or fall short of something wajib. It is recommended when we did something that is Makruh, or when we neglect doing something Nawafil/Recommended.
✅ Religion is Easy: don’t take everything at once, come closer (do it step-by-step), receive glad tidings, and strive for consistency.
✅ " This is the EASY religion – it is EASY in its Aqidah, its Akhlaq, and its Fiqh" (As-Si'di)
✅ Muslims face Qiblah in Life (during prayer) and in Death (in burial grounds) – emphasizes the Unity of the Muslim Ummah
✅ Hadith of Change in Qiblah is proof that one testimony is sufficient as proof - this is proof that Ahad (non-Mutawatir) hadith is 100% acceptable to be authentic, as long as narrator(s) is trustworthy.
✅ Scholars are of three types: Scholars of the Daulah (the State; officially appointed by government, gives fatwa in favor of government); scholars of the Ummah (the People; issues fatwa to gain popularity, “go with the flow”); and (3) Scholars of the Millah (Religion; this is very few – they do not concern themselves about popularity or fame, they concern themselves with upholding the truth)
✅ Do not be concerned by the number of “likes” or “followers” – the Prophet said there will come prophets of Allah on the day of judgment, some with one or two followers and some with no followers. But they are still Prophets: they most noble men in the Sight of Allah!
✅“Once a Person stops learning, he is NOT a scholar” (imam Ahmad)
✅Do NOT judge others for what they are lacking in nawafil / recommended deeds. The Prophet said that if you 100% fulfill your obligatory (wajib) deeds, that is sufficient to be successful (enter Paradise)
✅ Last ten nights of Ramadhan : exert your efforts in all 10 nights. Ibnu Taymiyyah said according to the hadith, counting odd numbers starts from the end – since the month can either be 29 or 30 days, and we don’t know EXACTLY how many nights it is in Ramadhan for that year, Lailatul Qadr might fall on the night of the 22nd or the 26th!
✅Why do People use Qadar (destiny) to justify sins? Why not use Qadar to be positive and thankful for what has been destined for you?
✅Because of Intention (ikhlas), a small deed can be a GREAT deed in the Sight of Allah
✅ Muslims are NOT impulsive, nor do they just follow “the Herd”: they carefully weigh their actions whether they are in accordance to the Quran and Sunnah.
✅ When asked about when was the Day of Judgment, the Prophet said he doesn’t know. Lesson: If you don’t know, just say you don’t know. Imam Malik was asked 40 questions, and could only answer a few, to which he said, “Tell them Malik does NOT know”.
✅Do not make your concern to Save the Questioner. Save yourself first. Don’t just give answers for the sake of answering or looking smart.
✅Top 3 Advice to students of knowledge who assumes responsibility of teaching others :
1. Be Sincere
2. Prepare the subject well
3. Avoid fame
✅Circles of knowledge always brainwash you with khayr (goodness) - so keep attending them!
