Stories of the Prophets: Hud December 29, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in Lives of the Prophets.Tags: hud
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Bismillah. Here is the story of Hud. It is a bit longer than the other Prophets so far…
The Story of Hud
The People of ‘Aad
Allah has sent Hud to the people of ‘Aad. We wouldn’t have known where ‘Aad lived if it wasn’t mentioned in Qur’aan. Allah says that the people lived in al-ahqaaf – and that is mentioned in Surah Al-Ahqaaf. Ahqaaf means sand dunes. So it’s a desert area right now; it wasn’t that case before. This is an Yemen. They lived in the area of hadramowt [sp?].
Allah described the people of ‘Aad in the Qur’aan. The people of ‘Aad used to worship idols. The description Allah has given them is amazing. As individuals, Allah says “and increased you amply in stature” [see 7:69]. [They were] very powerful and well built as individuals; very strong.
Allah says that Hud said to his people: “And keep your duty to Him, fear Him Who has aided you with all (good things) that you know. He has aided you with cattle and children.” (26:131-132) In modern terms, cattle is referred to as livestock (animal resources). In modern terms we call children man power. [The ayahs continue]: “Gardens” – which we call agriculture – and “water resources.” So Allah has given them livestock, man power, agriculture and an ample supply of water. That is as a society. And as individuals, Allah gave them a powerful structure.
They became so wealthy and luxurious that they began to spend their money in a wasteful way – israaf. They fell into the trap that rich nations fall into: using your money for pride and arrogance. After you satisfy your basic needs of food, drink and shelter and you have additional money, and you have no imaan to spend it the right way, then it will be spent in evil.
The people of ‘Aad had this additional wealth, so they started to build monuments over mountains that they would not use for living. They didn’t use these monuments for living; they were just for pride – to show off. (more…)
The Story of Nuh [Noah] December 27, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in Lives of the Prophets.Tags: noah, nuh
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Bismillah.
Man, I never really realized how patient Nuh [Noah] ’alayhis salaam was until I listened to this. May Allah subhaana wa ta’aala elevate his rank in Paradise.
The Story of Nuh [Noah]
See Surah Nuh – Surah 71 and also Surah Hud – Surah 11.
Da’wah Methods
What were the methods of the da’wah of Nuh? Allah says: “He [Nuh] said: ‘O my Lord! Verily, I have called my people night and day.’” (71:5) Then [Nuh] said: “Then verily, I called to them openly (aloud); Then verily, I proclaimed to them in public, and I have appealed to them in private.” (71:8-9) So Nuh used announcing in public and speaking privately. He varied his methods; he tried every way possible. Similarly, in our da’wah, we should take advantage of every resource we have: telephone, CDs, cassettes, speeches, through akhlaaq [manners], books, etc. Use any method for the sake of Allah.
Allah says: [Nuh said]: “But all my calling added nothing but to (their) flight (from the truth).” (71:6) Allahu Akbar. The more da’wah Nuh gives to them, the further away they become.
Allah says: “And verily! Every time I called unto them that You might forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, and persisted (in their refusal), and magnified themselves in pride.” (71:7) Nuh would be speaking to them and they would do these things! If you are speaking to someone and they start putting their fingers in their ears and behave like this, could you continue talking to them? You would barely be able to talk to him for half an hour [or two minutes, if you are like me!]. You would become fed up and you would leave. Nuh did this for 950 years. 950 years Nuh made da’wah night and day; publicly and privately; and the more da’wah he gives, the more animosity is created between him and the people. He [Nuh] is speaking to closed ears. But he had patience for 950 years.
Nuh told his people about the value of istighfaar [asking for forgiveness]. And look, Nuh tells his people the benefits of istigfaar — (more…)
Before Nuh: Beginning of Shirk December 26, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in Lives of the Prophets.Tags: first idols, noah, nuh, shirk
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Bismillah.
I thought this was really interesting to learn – how shirk began. Notice how it was very gradual and it came from a source which we take very lightly.
Inshaa Allah the story of Nuh will follow.
Ten Generations of Muslims
RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in Bukhaari, between Adam and Nuh, there were ten generations, all of them were Muslim. Qarn means either a century or a generation. If it means ten centuries, then that is a millennium (1,000 years). If it means ten generations, it can mean more than a 1,000, because we know that people used to live a longer life during those times. Between Adam and Nuh, there were many generations, but ten of them were Muslim. Out of the many generations, ten were Muslim, and then disbelief and shirk slowly started to creep in.
How did it happen? Ibn ‘Abbaas says (and this is his opinion mentioned in Bukhaari), the descendants of Adam started to slowly lose their religion and committing sins, but they still believed in tawheed – the unity of Allah. Ignorance was spreading amongst them. And the righteous amongst them were few.
Shaytaan came to them and told them, “When these righteous men pass away, you will have no one to remind you of Allah subhaana wa ta’aala and about ‘ibaadah. You will have no one to give you naseehah and advice. So how about, when they pass away, you erect some statues in their memorial to remind you about ‘ibaadah?” Because these righteous men used to give them naseehah and advice. They followed the advice of shaytaan, thinking it was a good one. They erected these idols.
Then, shaytaan left them alone; he is very patient. He left them until they forgot why these statues were built. Generation after generation came and people forgot why these were erected. Shaytaan came to them and told them, “Why don’t you worship these statues?” And that is how shirk started.
Allah talks about these 5 idols: waddan, suw’an, yaghoof, ya’ooq and nasl. Ibn ‘Abbaas says that these were righteous men, whom the people of Nuh started to worship their idols.
Nuh was the first messenger of Allah to the people of the world. And this is mentioned in the authentic hadith of Shafa’a. [see Bukhaari , 6/60/3 and there are many others in Bukhaari and in Muslim as well.] People will go to Nuh and tell him, “You are the first messenger of Allah to the people of the world.” He is also one of the five ulil ‘azm minar Rasul – the greatest five ambiya of Allah. The other four are: Muhammad, Ibraheem [Abraham], Musa [Moses] and ‘Eesa [Jesus]. The greatest of them was Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
What was the message of Nuh? Allah says, “And indeed We sent Nuh (Noah) to his people (and he said), ‘I have come to you as a plain warner. That you worship none but Allah […]’” (11:25-26) This is the message that every nabiy has presented to the world – tawhid.
Lives of the Prophets: Death of Adam December 25, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in Lives of the Prophets.Tags: adam, david, dawood, dawud
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Adam is Shown His Descendants & Death of Adam
Allah stroked Adam’s back when he was created, so all of the descendants of Adam came out from the back of Adam. We don’t know in which form, but they all fell down from his back. Allah subhaana wa ta ‘aala put some light between their eyes. Adam said, “Who are they?” Allah subhaana wa ta’aala said, These are your descendants.
Adam looked at one of them and he saw some bright, shining light between his eyes and he liked it and he liked him. Adam said, “Who is this?” Allah told him, This is one of your descendants who is going to come in the end of time, his name is Dawood. SubhaanAllah, Allah is telling Adam that Dawood is towards the end of time! Then when are we living? Adam said, “What’s his age?” Allah said 60 years old. Adam loved him; it was his child. We are all his children. He views us all as his children, his descendants. Even though there are thousands of years between Adam and Dawood, Adam loved him, so he told Allah, “O Allah, give him 40 years from my life.” Allah told Adam, Then it would be written down and sealed. In other words – “Are you sure?” Adam said, Yes. So it was prescribed and sealed.
Adam was supposed to live 1,000 years. That is the time Allah told Adam he would live. So now Adam is living in the dunya and years and years are passing by. Then, when he was 960 years old, the angel of death came to Adam and told him, “Are you ready to die?” The angel of death takes permission from the ambiya (messengers). Adam said, “I still have 40 years to live.” The angel of death said, “Didn’t you give 40 years of your life to your son Dawood?” Adam denied. This hadith is Sahih.
RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “Adam denied, so the children of Adam, they deny. And Adam forgot, and his children forget. And Adam made mistakes and his children make mistakes.” Sometimes we forget, and that is human nature. And it is said that the name insaan (human) comes from nisyaan, which is forgetting. When we forget, we reject. Adam wasn’t lying – he forgot. He is a nabiy of Allah and they are infallible from falling into these sins. Allah forgave him; it was a mistake from Adam. Every day in our daily conversations and dealings, we forget. That happens; give excuse for your brothers. RasulAllah told us to give our brothers 70 excuses. Let us use these stories to learn akhlaaq (manners); we are in great need of akhlaaq. You can easily find 70 excuses or more if you want to.
Adam submitted to the will of Allah and submitted his soul. Humans did not know [how to deal with death]; these things were new to them. So the angels descended and they washed Adam ‘alayhis salaam an odd number of times. They dug the grave for Adam. They made it in the form of a laht. The angels washed him and they buried him.
This is the end of our father, Adam. We ask Allah to bring us together with him in Jannah.
I remember reading this hadith – or one very similar – in hadith Qudsi. I’ve tried to look for it, but haven’t been successful. 
If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated 
Next up inshaAllah – Sheeth ‘alayhis salaam!
Lives of the Prophets: Creation of Adam December 24, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in Lives of the Prophets, du'aa`.3 comments
Bismillah.
At last, the contiuation of the Lives of the Prophets. I apologize for the horrible delays. Life with two kids doesn’t leave room for much else… Alhamdulillah
The Story of the Creation of Adam
Transcriber’s note: The story of the creation of Adam is found in the beginning of Surah AlBaqarah.
RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, the angels were created from light and the jinn were created from fire. Iblees was from al-jinn, but because he was so righteous he was included amongst the angels and elevated to a very high level amongst the angels. Adam was created from dirt. Allah says: “And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: ‘Verily, I am going to place a khalifa on earth.’ [...]” (2:30)
A Short Lesson in Vocabulary – Khalifa
What does khalifa mean? It comes from the word khalaf, which means (more…)
