Date & Time: Friday, Jan. 27 after Isha (8:00 pm).

Location: Islamic Circle of Mercer County (ICMC) – 336 Lawrence Station Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 – Driving directions and event flyer.

“Benefits of Dhikr”

Date & Time: Saturday, Jan. 28 after Maghrib (5:20 pm).

Location: Yardley Masjid (Zubaida Foundation) – 855 Big Oak Road, Yardley, PA 19067 – Driving directions and event flyer.

1. Colors of the Sunnah: Riyadh al-Salihin: Chapters 21 to 38
2. Fiqh of Salah
3. Islam, Women & Gender
4. Purification of the Heart series – Part 1
5. The Duties of Brotherhood in Islam by Imam Ghazali

Zaynab Academy (for women) was founded in 2005 by Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed (db) and his wife Alimah Sobia as a nonprofit, nonpartisan and nonpolitical educational institute dedicated to classical Islamic learning and Spirituality. The Classical Islamic Learning courses offered by Zaynab Academy are designed to introduce women to the classical methodology of Islamic knowledge and scholarship through a modern educational approach.The philosophy of the courses offered is distinct in its embrace of the entire academic tradition of the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’a with respect for all scholars of Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, and Usul al-fiqh. Moreover, our courses highlight the importance of spiritual purification (tazkiya) and inner reform (islah).

http://www.zaynabacademyonline.org/

Date & Time: Friday, Jan. 6 after Isha (8:00 pm).

Location: Islamic Association of Collin County – 6401 Independence Pkwy., Plano, Texas 75023 – Driving directions.

“Focusing Our Efforts”

Date & Time: Saturday, Jan. 7 after Isha (7:45 pm).

Location: Hamza Masjid – 6233 Tess Lagunas Dr., Houston, TX 77083 – Driving directions and event flyer.

This talk will be broadcast live from the Ilm Essentials home page.

Comments – Recordings from previous sessions (held last year in Alexandria, VA) are available on the Audio page and new recordings will be posted a few days after each session.

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 24 after Isha (7:30 pm).

Location: Jamia Umar al-Farooq – 282 Elgin Street North, Cambridge, Ontario, N1R 8N5 – Driving directions.

“Avoiding Spiritual Death”

Date & Time: Sunday, Dec. 25 after Isha (7:30 pm).

Location: Jam Abu Bakr Masjid – 2665 Lawrence Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario, M1P 2S2 – Driving directions.

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 10 at 10:30 am.

Location: Islamic Center of Northeast Valley (ICNEV) - 12125 E Via Linda Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259 – Driving directions.

Comments – This program is open only to sisters.

“Living the Quran”

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 10 after Dhuhr (1:15 pm).

Location: Masjid Noor - 55 N. Matlock St, Mesa, AZ 85203 – Driving directions.

“Exalted Character of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)”

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 10 after Maghrib (dinner will be served after the talk).

Location: Islamic Center of Northeast Valley (ICNEV) - 12125 E Via Linda Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259 – Driving directions.

Itikaf Program – Brothers Only

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 10 after Isha through Fajr.

Location: Islamic Center of Northeast Valley (ICNEV) - 12125 E Via Linda Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259 – Driving directions.

Comments – Brothers, bring your sleeping bags and pillows to spend some valuable time in the masjid, remembering Allah and benefiting from each others company.

View the flyer for all the events.

View other upcoming events:

- Ashburn, VA (Dec. 17)
- Cambridge, ON (Dec. 24-25)

Date & Time: Friday, Nov. 18 at 1:00 pm.

Location: Islamic Center of Burlington – 130 Lexington Street, Burlington, MA 01803 – Driving directions.

“Love for the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)”

Date & Time: Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 pm (dinner, Isha and talk).

Location: Islamic Center of New England – 74 Chase Drive, Sharon, MA 02067 – Driving directions.

“3 Roadblocks to Jannah”

Date & Time: Saturday, Nov. 19 between Asr and Maghrib (3-4:30 pm).

Location: Islamic Center of Greater Worcester – 57 Laurel Street, Worcester, MA 01605 – Driving directions.

“Islam, Iman and Ihsan”

Date & Time: Saturday, Nov. 19 after Isha (7:00 pm).

Location: Islamic Center of Burlington – 130 Lexington Street, Burlington, MA 01803 – Driving directions.

View other upcoming events:

- Phoenix, AZ (Dec. 9-11)
- Ashburn, VA (Dec. 17)
- Cambridge, ON (Dec. 24-25)

This should be recited immediately following the prayer, by anyone who offers the fard prayer, whether male or female. There are some valid differences within the madhhab about who the takbirs are wajib upon, as well as regarding the exact phrasing of the takbir, but the safest position is that everyone should recite them.

“Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, there is no god but Allah.

And Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest and to Allah belongs all praise.”

Also, don’t forget to fast on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah:

I remember anytime one of the narrations regarding tahajjud would come up in a text, or was mentioned by one of our teachers, the students would eagerly ask how they could become regular in this blessed act. Here are a few suggestions based on their responses.

Stage 1 – I just can’t wake up

Despite your best efforts (asking a friend to call, multiple alarms, sleeping early, making a firm intention at night, etc.) if you simply cannot force yourself to get up, pray your tahajjud prayer before you go to sleep.  Its time technically begins after Isha, so this can be a means of showing Allah that you are serious, and truly desirous of this great bounty. Couple this with dua admitting your inability and asking Allah for His bounty.

Stage 2 – I am sporadic in my tahajjud

If you are blessed to wake up for tahajjud on occasion, or get up most days, but miss a few here and there, be sure to “make-up” the prayer on the days that you don’t get up.  And of course couple this with dua.

Stage 3 – I regularly wake up for tahajjud

Alhamdulillah, if you are at this stage you need to ensure 3 things:

1. Give shukr every night that Allah allowed you take advantage of this great blessing.
2. Admit to Allah that while you are unworthy of such a blessing, you are in need of it.
3. Beg Allah that He allow you to wake up the following night as well.

May Allah, Most High, allow each of us to be regular in our tahajjud prayers!

khalid abdul sattar

The included talk is a brief reminder about the enormous benefits of the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah.

“Greatness of the Sahabah” on Saturday, Nov. 5, after Fajr (6:30 am).

Both events will be at the Islamic Center of Morrisville, 126 Morrisville Square Way, Morrisville, NC 27560, and are open to brothers and sisters.

View other upcoming events:

- Boston, MA (Nov. 18-20)
- Phoenix, AZ (Dec. 9-11)
- Cambridge, ON (Dec. 24-25)

Talk on Love for the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) by Khalid Abdul Sattar on Saturday, October 22, 2011 After Maghrib (6:30pm). This event is open to brothers and sisters.

Location: Zubaida Foundation – 855 Big Oak Road, Yardley, PA.

Talk on The Infinite Mercy of Allah by Khalid Abdul Sattar on Friday, October 21, 2011 After Maghrib (6:30pm). This event is open to brothers and sisters.

Location: Masjid Quba – 4637 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131.

We’ve also created Facebook and Twitter pages for those who rely on social media, and we have setup the email list to include all new posts, clips and announcements.  We’re still making some changes and tweaks to the site, so please feel free to Contact Us with any suggestions or comments.

One of the first steps on the path to Allah Most High is to ensure that we seek forgiveness from those wrong actions we have committed in the past.  Each time we sin, disobeying Allah or leaving one of his commandments, we add a layer of spiritual filth onto our hearts.  The result of this is that when try to perform dhikr and other acts of worship, we cannot fully experience them, because that filth becomes a block between the reality of that act, and its receptor in the body, which is the heart.  This is why despite performing our daily adhkar, despite reciting the Quran, sitting in muraqabah, sending salawat, we are not able to fully reap the benefits of these actions.

If you look at the instructions on a pack of glue, it will always mention to ensure that both surfaces which you want to join together are clean, to ensure a secure bond.  The reason is because if there is any dirt or foreign substance between the two, the bond cannot take hold and remains weak.

The same is true with our relationship with Allah Most High.  As long as we allow that layer of filth to remain upon us, our relationship with Him can never take hold and be maintained, and we will remain in the same pathetic state.  Everyday saying that tomorrow will be different, tomorrow will be better, only to wake up to the same reality day-in and day-out.

So in these last few days and moments of this blessed month, which Allah has created to ensure our salvation, we should strive to sincerely repent to Allah for all of our sins, to turn to Him with a soft heart, tears flowing from our eyes, begging Him to forgive us and accept us back into His good graces.

One of the things we all struggle with it is whether or not we are using our time wisely.  We know we are to be like a traveler in this world who has just stopped under a tree for some rest, yet we find ourselves constantly drawn into the dunya and the pleasures of this life.

Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad (damat barakatuhu) often begins many of his talks with the Quranic Ayah “As for those who strive in Our way, surely We will guide them to Our paths“.  This ayah is one of the best litmus tests to determine whether or not we are using our time wisely.

We were put into this world to struggle; to struggle against our lower self, to struggle against shaytan and to struggle against allowing the dunya to penetrate our hearts.  And this is what most of us go through – we struggle just to pray 5 times a day, we struggle to make it to jumuah on time, we struggle to hold our tongue, we struggle to keep good company, to respect our parents, to hold back our egos, etc.

But what we don’t realize is that is the whole point.  The ease will come in the next life, when we are all in Jannah with the Prophets and the Sahaba, but in this life, we need to exert ourselves, we need to put all of our effort in rectifying our situation, our relationship with Allah Most High.

And we do this for the dunya.  After all, who hasn’t pulled an all-nighter for finals?  Who hasn’t woken up at 3am to pick up a friend from the airport?  Who hasn’t stood in line to get the latest gadget or concert ticket or movie ticket or starbucks coffee?

If you look back at the ayah, it is the one who struggles who gets guided – meaning we need to make some effort first, after which Allah  Most High accepts that and then shows us His paths.  And this is His promise to us.

So the next time you are unsure whether you are using your time wisely, just ask yourself whether that activity brings you under the fold of “Those who strive in Our way.“

Sometimes we make dua, asking Allah Most High sincerely, yet it seems as though our dua is not being answered. However the reality is that the lack of an answer is in fact the answer.

Think about why we make dua. We have a problem, we cannot solve it, so we turn to Allah Most High, to remember Allah, to connect with Allah, to ask for Allah’s mercy and assistance to come upon us. The essence of our dua is to remember Allah, and by making dua over and over again, that is exactly what we accomplish – we are allowed to sit, again and again, at the door of our Lord, begging to be let in.

Otherwise, if our dua is answered right away, in the way we want it answered, we will stop asking, and be deprived of that great blessing.

Verily, through the remembrance of Allah, do we achieve tranquility of the heart.