(Verse one)

I can’t escape, its everywhere I go
In the news in the paper, in all that I know

From state to state, shore to shore
Plagued to the heart, down to the core

Undivided and conquered we’re all torn apart
This is coming from inside, straight from my heart

This is all I’m thinking, day and night
We seem to think we’re always right

When I go to the Masjid, I don’t know who’s leading
Who’s sitting by my side, I don’t know who’s praying

Do I give salaam, do I bother to care
I looked at him, all I got was a stare

(Chorus)

At the end of the day there’s one way to go
There’s one way to see, one way to show

As bright as the sun, vast as the sea
To be one unit, one family

Flow of a river, one current
The walk of a march, one movement

Oh brother or sister, I see you, you see me
Together in one cause, one final destiny

Together we rise, together we fall
Hands together forever standing tall

(Verse Two)

I once had a dream it seemed so real
Changed the way I thought, the way I feel

I saw a brother, I never met before
We arrived at the Masjid, he opened the door

He gave me salaam and hugged me like a brother
It made me tear, like none other

What was wrong he asked of me
His kindness made me, so happy

His words stayed with me for so long
Running in my head, on and on

We’re all equal to Allah
Five times a day, we pray Salah

From He we came, to Him we shall return
To unify should be our only concern

A single stick will break so easily
But a bundle sticks, will never be

(Chorus)

At the end of the day there’s one way to go
There’s one way to see, one way to show

As bright as the sun, vast as the sea
To be one unit, one family

Flow of a river, one current
The walk of a march, one movement

Oh brother or sister, I see you, you see me
Together in one cause, one final destiny

Together we rise, together we fall
Hands together forever standing tall

(Verse Three)

What was in my dream, I wish was true
A world where no differences, between me and you

Foot to foot, in a straight line we pray
Forgive our egos that get in the way

Piety and humbleness we need to learn
And let our arrogance, just let it burn

Take a look around, shake a hand
Spread the salaam, to every man

As small as a smile, it can be charity
The best are small deeds, made consistently

I plead with you all, forgive me
Let’s try to live, to live in unity

A characteristic to instill,
A duty to fulfill,
Doing the right thing due to Allah’s will

Noticed by my peculiarity,
as I live in a foreign country,
But it’s a positive from of disparity as long as I posses it with sincerity

Modeled by my credence,
powered by my guidance
Led by my resilience against those who wish to find me in its absence

It’s represented in the way I dress,
and the tranquility that I feel in its presence
is a feeling that words cannot express

They view it as oppression,
or a new invention
Its benefits they don’t take into consideration

Only through a course of action can it serve its true function
To acquire it I made an intention,
so leaving it is not an option

It’s a form of Islamic convention,
It leads me in the right direction
They would realize its importance if they would just pay attention

A form of guidance and light for those who seek what is right
Found in the book they recite,
and within them does it incite the strength to fight

Strong faith it does guarantee
in a halal way that sets you free
I wish that you could see the comfort that it gives me

Indecency it does abolish,
Turning your heart into a diamond that doesn’t need polish

Reflected in my behavior with others
Treating them with kindness because we are all brothers

To lower my gaze I was taught-it would protect me from the fire so hot
They say it’s a form of self-suppression, it’s not
It’s my way to heaven, so desperately sought

So I declare with temerity that it leads to prosperity
The result is worth more than gold,
It’s our desires we must control so let us help each other as a whole

Because repetitiously I was told,
these are my values to uphold
It’s the key to my final goal-modesty in my soul

They say we lack in heroes

Shaytaan says we’re in need of dineros

Not a word, but I know what you are thinking

He’s too much this, not enough that, he’s a weakling

Do you set yourself on automatic mode

They set you aperture and shutter speed, do as you’re told

They say jump and you ask how high

Go buy me lunch so you ask Chinese or tai?

You make excuses for your noble commitment

When in reality you meant to say enslavement

Cant you see there is no good in it

Cant you see there is no benefit

Al that you need is within your grasp

Tear down the chains of your past

We can hear you inside kicking and screaming

Stop and free yourself of all this entertaining

Step up to the plate and don’t be afraid

Be yourself, free and unclaimed

Forget what anyone says you are great

You truly are a blessing at any rate

So pull your chin up and wipe them tears

Here comes the new you, stand clear!!

You don’t need a trophy to be a winner

Or recognition for you to be a great writer

Surely the number of Pulitzer Prize winners are few

But Alhamdulillah Allah blessed us with only one of you

I couldn’t afford to get sick again, I thought. It was a Friday and I had an exam for my Sociology class. It was also my turn to present my social problems presentation. I was actually looking forward to it. I saw it as an opportunity to face my fear of speaking in front of a group of people, however small it may be. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing my Quran teacher at the masjid after 3 weeks. Oh and I hadn’t been to Jummah forever and wanted to stay for it. I didn’t want the fever to stop me from enjoying the day as I had planned the night before!

After contemplating on whether or not I should ditch class for a snuggly day in bed, my temperature had risen to 100.3. And if you remember having a fever, you know how terrible it is. I so badly wanted to retire for the day and do nothing at all.

Instead I popped in a few pills of Tylenol to reduce the fever and decided to go to class. I aced the exam and the presentation went well.

But I didn’t make it through the day. I didn’t have enough strength to recite Quran to my teacher or stay for Jummah afterwards.

I spent the rest of the day sulking in bed, a bit angry and disappointed that the next few days wouldn’t go as I had planned. There were only 6 weeks left for the AP exams and my workload was piling up. Everything came to a halt. My plan to finish memorizing the Surah Maidah by the end of the weekend was made impossible with the cough that came at 5 second intervals. I literally could do nothing but rest in bed for four days.

I realized something I had never thought of before. If I was to be patient and content with the current state of my health, some of my sins would be forgiven by Allah’s mercy.

”Narrated ‘Abdullah: I visited Allah’s Apostle while he was suffering from a high fever. I said, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! You have a high fever.” He said, ‘Yes, I have as much fever as two men of you.’ I said, ‘Is it because you will have a double reward?’ He said, ‘Yes, it is so. No Muslim is afflicted with any harm, even if it were the prick of a thorn, but that Allah expiates his sins because of that, as a tree sheds its leaves.’” (Book #70, Hadith #551)

Score!! Knowing that all I had to do was be patient and my sins would be forgiven made me feel content and HAPPY. Just by changing my outlook, I changed my attitude and instead of feeling restless, waiting for the fever to pass so you could get back on your feet.

This was just a flu which lasted a few days and that was it.

What would I do if I was put to bed rest for the rest of my life? What if… sometime in the future, I wasn’t as capable and healthy as I was before? Would I regret what I did with all that time I had? Or would I look back, let out a sigh of relief, and lay contently as I waited to either be cured or breathe my last?

“Take benefit of five before five: Your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death.”
(Narrated by Ibn Abbas and reported by Al Hakim)

Have you ever noticed how your elders are always somehow trying to get you to be more “religious” or do something with your life? They really know what they’re talking about. They’ve been young and either have wasted their youth and realized what it means to be successful when they grow old, which is why you see a lot of people getting religious with age or have spent it well. They’ve tasted the sweetness of health and well-being along with the crippling pain of disease and sickness.

Sickness, whatever it may be, small or big, leaves you mentally paralyzed. You lose your senses. Bright light is your greatest enemy (after your little siblings). You can’t talk or enjoy good conversation. Noises annoy you (stay away, little siblings!) And you totally lose your appetite – another great blessing. Being able to engulf your senses in the savory taste of your favorite flavors and enjoy the aroma is a blessing.

A mere fever of four days gave me the opportunity to look back at the previous month’s productivity. And I won’t lie. It was anything but productive. I had the time and health to do MORE than I had actually done. I felt remorseful and regretful thinking about it. I need to stop wasting time! I need to stop wasting time! I told myself. It was time for action. I was not going to waste my youth – the epitome of my years of living. I would take advantage of every moment of my youth.

So my message to you? Think about your goal(s): primarily pleasing your Rabb and Jannah. What are you doing to get there? Are you wasting away your health in useless endeavors and being ungrateful? Or are you using the ni’maah to get closer to Allah and your ultimate destination? Don’t wait for an epiphany.

They said, “We heard a youth threaten them; he is called Ibrahim.”

Sure, we all know the story and can recite it by heart. But do we really understand what this young man really went through? If we placed ourselves in his position and we saw the angel Jibreel offering to help us out, would we say ‘Allah is sufficient for me? Or would we reach out our hands and beg him to save us? What gave Ibrahim this strength, this patience to rely only on Allah?

Now lets go forward into history and take a quick glimpse at those fortunate individuals who surrounded the Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him. Look at Sumayyah, may Allah be pleased with her. What stopped her from giving in when she was threatened by Abu Jahl? What gave her the strength to not leave her religion whilst seeing the spear pointed at her?

What about that man with the beautiful voice, Bilal ibn Rabah? What stopped him from uttering those few words that would have freed him from all his pain and suffering? What is it that these people had? And more importantly, how can we attain it?

Allah says in Surah Hajj,

“Verily Allah will defend (from ill) those who believe, verily, Allah loves not any that is a traitor to faith or shows ingratitude.”

If Allah is with you, no one on this earth can harm you. So what does it take to be among those who Allah protects?

What do we have to do to be amongst the true believers? Iman is something which fluctuates in us. We may feel a rush of Iman after a prayer, or after reading a chapter from the Quran, but a few minutes later that rush may disappear after we commit a sin of some sort. Here are a few ways we can strengthen our Iman.

• Make Dua

• Pray two Rak’at

• Read the Quran and the Tafsir of whatever Surah you read.

• Leave one bad habit for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), when you leave something for his sake he will reward you with something better.

• Download any motivational lecture on to your MP3/iPod, and listen to it on the bus/ car or during any activity.

• Remembering that as the moments pass, death is coming closer.

• Smiling at any random brother or sister you see passing by and saying Salaam. It will make their day and yours as well.

• Give money in charity often… the best time to give is when you feel it is hard to give/ leave your money.

• Ponder upon the verses of Allah.

• Volunteer at the Masjid for the sake of Allah.

• Forgive everyone and anyone that hurt or offended you before bed every night.

• Ponder and reflect on the creation of Allah.

• Look at all the blessings you have, and say Alhamdulilah.

May Allah increase our Imans and make us from the believers.

However, whoever said that wisdom comes primarily from famous people?

The following is a compilation of true stories and conjured tales from MYM staff writers (as well as a special guest writer towards the end) that think otherwise and have encountered wisdom from unlikely sources. If you would like to submit your personal story, please leave a comment and we will add it to this post! So here goes:

Sr. Maryam: Go Down To Go Up

I remember going to a hospital for a meeting with a doctor. I got off the car, the hospital’s entrance door was a few steps away, and I was walking really fast towards it because I was a bit late but then I suddenly stopped. It wasn’t premeditated because I had other things on my mind at that time and I didn’t know why I had stopped walking.

But when I looked at my feet, I saw a chained fence just a feet above the ground and then I thanked God, because if I hadn’t stopped, I would have fallen in front of all those people and would have been laughed at, or perhaps I would have badly injured myself. As I carefully walked past the fence, I smiled because that incident made me reminisce something that happened ages ago, a time when I was in Grade 6.

I remember that day very clearly. The bell had just rung and all of us went out of the gate with our huge school bags. I was walking alone, thinking about what my mum had made for supper when I tripped over the footpath and fell near an area where all the school buses stood. I was 11ish back then, but I had an ego as we all do, and I was just completely red with embarrassment. To add insult to injury (literally), a bus conductor came to me, he was an old fellow with a white beard, wearing not so clean shalwar kameez and he said something to me which I didn’t really understand back then. He said,

“Do you pray? Because when you pray, you will never fall.”

Those were the wise words of an illiterate bus conductor. SubhanAllah and they made sense to me 10 years later when Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala saved me from complete public humiliation.

You see when we remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, He remembers us. Praying is a form of remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Allah swt says:

Remember Me and I shall remember you. Be grateful unto Me and deny Me not. [al-Baqarah 2: 152]

Br. Jawaad: Dangling Prescriptions

One necklace stay wrapped around his neck, dangling slowly. He walked through the Masjid, smiling, meeting up with his friends, unconscious of the foul words that left his lips or the the arrogance with which he glided past the prayer area. On his necklace was a small box, and I approached him, asking him what was inside. He said, caught a little off guard, that it was a Surah from the Qur’an that’s supposed to protect you. What Surah might that be? He didn’t know. He was unsure, going through and thinking about it. Eventually, forgetfulness was his excuse for not knowing. But what he did know for sure was that it was supposed to protect him. So, I tried to get him to think a bit deeper about what he was wearing. I told him to imagine me with a really harsh cold, where I’m sneezing, sniffling, and my eyes are bloodshot red. If I go to a doctor, he’ll write me out a prescription for some medicine that I have to take. So, I posed the notion:

“So, if I put that paper in a bottle, string it, and wear it on my neck, will I be cured?”

“No, that’s silly…” a high-pitched voice came from behind. A little boy had been listening in, and reacted to the silly notion,

“Aren’t ya supposed to take the medicine so you won’t have the cold no more?”

My friend, speechless, walked away, trying to open up the box attached on his neck..

Br. Ammar: The Sun and the Moon

Talking to my friend one Friday afternoon turned out to be a philosophical thinking session in which we started discussing how the sun and moon are different. If you think about it, the difference between the sun and moon is like the difference between Haya’ (modesty, bashfulness, and shyness) and Kibr (arrogance, pride, and conceit) and how Muslims can give off lights similar to these two.

You see, the sun gives off light, which isn’t debated, but is it always for the best? Sunlight isn’t bad; it guides us during the day, allows the whole ecological system to grow, and is our main source for Vitamin D. On the hand, what happens if you get too much of it? You burn! In a spiritual way of relating this, it can also apply to pride. Sure, it’s a good thing to have pride in your religion and your Muslim identity, but when things start to spoil, this permissible pride turns into arrogance in other affairs, and you begin to walk with a “swagger,” that’s when you burn, literally!

Reported in the Sahih of Muslim ibn Hajjaaj is the following hadith:

“He who has, in his heart, an ant’s weight of arrogance will not enter Jannah.” Someone said: “A man likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes?” The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Allah is Beautiful, He loves beauty. Arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth and despising people.”

This hadith by itself give an example of two different sides of carrying one’s self.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have moonlight. In the middle of the night, it guides us, gives us light, and illuminates everything around it. You can look at it for as long as you want and absorb its light, but never be blinded. Similar to this is Haya’. No matter how much you humble yourself, you will never lose anything! It is said that before an arrogant person, you should humble yourself. This is can also relate back to the hadith mentioned above. We are told that “Allah (SWT) loves beauty.” Now this doesn’t mean one should be flashing fresh $100 Nikes to school, but rather, they should be presentable in their clean attire. One must act in a humble way and carry one’s self with a Muslim identity, but not an identity that looks down upon others.

Sr. Sadiyah: Wisdom Graffiti

Did you ever go to the bathroom in a public building like at school and see that the walls are covered with writings? You would think these people have run out of paper or maybe they just want to have a conversation with every person that enters that bathroom stall. Last term I remember one particular ‘conversation’ where this woman wrote, “They tell me to be grateful, but I have lost EVERYTHING!” And a few spaces away, someone replied to her,

“No You didn’t. You still have hands that you can write with, and eyes you can see with.”

There’s no such thing as, ‘Oh I have nothing to be grateful for.’ You might look at people around you and think that they are so much better off than you. So? Who cares? We’re not here to be better off than others. We’re travelers with a destination. So next time you feel like you don’t have anything remember this Hadeeth: “Look towards those who rank below you, so that you may get used to being thankful, and do not look at those who rank above you, lest you should despise the favours of Allah upon you” (Ibn Hibban).

“Kung Fu Panda” Po: Special Does The Charm

Ho! So like right before I became the ‘Dragon Warrior’ (I am, after all, the coolest Panda ever), I wanted to figure out what was the special ingredient that my dad (who is incidentally a goose) had always told me about. I thought it would be some Halal variant of Char Sui sauce or something, but this is what it turned out to be:

Mr. Ping: The secret ingredient is… nothing!
Po: Huh?
Mr. Ping: You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.
Po: Wait, wait… it’s just plain old noodle soup? You don’t add some kind of special sauce or something?
Mr. Ping: Don’t have to. To make something special you just have to believe it’s special.
[Po looks at the scroll again, and sees his reflection in it]
Po: There is no secret ingredient…

It’s all about you, your faith, and your effort! Or something like that…

Yoda: Hmm. Wise, these stories are. The Iman is strong with these ones.

Po: Yeah. Whatever…

We hope you enjoyed these stories! What’s your own story on wisdom from unlikely sources?

The Battle of Badr has been referred to in the Qur’aan as the “Day of Furqaan”. Furqaan in Arabic means to separate and to distinguish because on that day, Allah clearly distinguished truth from falsehood. On that day, He gave the believers a sound victory and vanquished the hopes and aspirations of the disbelievers who were attempting to bring an end to the growing Islamic Movement.

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم marched from Madeenah on a Wednesday evening, 8 days after the beginning of Ramadaan (it was also March), with a small band of men numbering between 313 and 319. From this number, there were roughly 80 to 100 Muhaajiroon. And the rest of the men were Ansaar.

The initial purpose for this expedition was to capture the caravan of Abu Sufyaan as it was carrying all of the possessions and belongings of the Muhaajiroon when they had left Makkah for Madeenah, to Shaam, where they were now going to be sold by the chiefs of Quraysh for a great profit of money.

Their intention was one thing, but yet Allah planned for them a much greater event as He alone knows where the good lies for the believers. The Muslims were materially unprepared for any large scale battle and they did not even intend to engage in a battle. As a result, they were first unaware of the war preparations made by the Quraysh, who wanted to defend Abu Sufyaan’s caravan and inflict a heavy blow to the Muslims. The disbelievers came out of Makkah with 1,000 men, 100 horses, and 700 camels, greatly outnumbering the poorer Muslim army. The Muslims had only 2 horses, but some say that it was actually 3: the horse upon which Az-Zubair sat, Al-Miqdaad’s horse, and the horse upon which Abu Murthad Al-Ghinawi sat. In any case, 3 horses against 100 was very disproportionate indeed!

As they were marching out of Makkah with these huge numbers and camels and horses, their attitude must have been one of great arrogance, pride, and contempt. This is the exact manner that Allah described them with in the Qur’aan, in Surah Al-Anfaal (verse 47):

ولا تكونوا كالذين خرجوا من ديارهم بطرًا ورئآءَ الناسِ ويصُدُّون عن سبيل الله, والله بما يعملون محيط

“(O Muslims!) Don’t ever be like those people who came forth from their homes arrogantly & boastfully, and in order to be seen by men, and to obstruct people from the Path of Allah. Surely, Allah is All-Encompassing of everything they do.”

Al-Haafizh Ibn Katheer said: “Allah commanded the believers to fight sincerely and to always be mindful of Him. In this Ayah, Allah commanded them not to imitate those pagans, who marched out of their homes بَطَرًا “boastfully, looking down upon everyone else” ورِئَاءَ النَّاس “and to be seen of men” (showing off).”

Now, Abu Sufyan’s caravan was able to escape, so it seemed that there may be no armed conflict. However, Allah had destined this great event to occur, and so, when Abu Jahl, the leader of the Quraysh, was told that the caravan escaped safely and that the army should return to Makkah, he commented, “No, by Allah! We will not go back until we proceed to the Wells of Badr, slaughter camels there, drink alcohol, and female singers dance and sing to us. In this way, all the Arabs will always talk about us and what we did on that day.”

Thus, Abu Jahl refused to return to Makkah without first camping three days at Badr in such a way that all the Arabs would hear about their greatness. On the other hand, at this point, the Muslims had to decide what they should do. They could have returned to Madeenah and avoided any bloodshed but had they done so, they may have looked cowardly in the eyes of the Arab tribes, who were all closely observing the struggle between the Quraysh and the new Prophet.

They had to make a crucial decision.

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم consulted with his followers, telling them that Allah had promised them one of the two parties (either the caravan or the army):

وإذ يعدكم الله إحدى الطآئفتين أنها لكم Allah has promised you one of the two: either the caravan or the army [Surah Al-Anfaal:7].

Al-Miqdaad Ibn Al-Aswad, one of the Muhaajiroon, stated:

“O Messenger of Allah! March on as Allah guides you, and we are with you. I swear by Allah! We will not say to you as the Banu Israel (Children of Israel) said to Prophet Musa: ’Go, you and your Lord, and fight them and we will sit here’ (5:24). Rather, we say to you: ‘Go, you and your Lord, to fight, and we will all fight along with you.’ I swear by the Being Who sent you with the truth, that if you order us, we will follow you to the extremity of the earth and fight with you until your goal is attained.”

A similar narration was recorded in Saheeh Al-Bukhaari; Ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“I was a witness to something that Al-Miqdaad Ibn Al-Aswad did, that I wished more than anything else, to have been the one who did it. Al-Miqdaad came to the Prophet while he was supplicating to Allah, and said: ‘We will not say as the people of Musa said (Go, you and your Lord, and fight you two). Rather, we will fight to your right, and to your left, and in front of you, and behind you.’ [Ibn Mas'ood said] I saw the Prophet’s face beaming with pleasure, because of what Al-Miqdaad said to him.”

After this, Sa’d Ibn Mu’aadh of the Ansaar, perceiving that the Prophet wanted to hear explicitly from the Ansaar, spoke:

“We have believed in you and regard you as the true Messenger of Allah, and bear witness that what you have been given is the Truth. And on this we have given you our binding promise, to hear and obey.  March on as you desire and we are with you! I swear by Him Who has sent you with the truth, if you ask us to wade through the ocean, we will wade through with you, and not one of us will stay behind! We will be perfectly content with whatever may happen to us tomorrow, at the hands of our enemies for surely, we are patient in war, fierce in battle, and truthful in our company. Perhaps Allah will show you from us what will please you. Therefore, by the grace of Allah, march on with us.” Thus, the stage was set for battle.

The armies began to approach each other; the Prophet, with his army, was nearing Badr, while the Quraysh were making their way out of Makkah. Neither of the armies knew of the exact position of the other army. The Prophet and Abu Bakr began to walk around the army and they walked away in the distance. They ended up meeting an old Bedouin man and the Prophet asked him, “Have you heard anything about the army of Muhammad, and the army of Quraysh?” So the man said, “Tell me who you are and then I will tell you where they are.” The Prophet said, ‘If you tell us, we will tell you.’ So the old man said, “I received information that Muhammad and his army left Madeenah on such-and-such a date. If this information is correct, they should now be in such-and-such place.” He then pointed out the right position of the Muslim army, and that indicated his truth. He then said, “And I’ve received information, that the army of Quraysh have left on such-and-such date. If that information is correct, then they would be in such-and-such place.”

The Bedouin then asked the Prophet and Abu Bakr, “So where are you both from?” The Prophet said: نَحْنُ مِنْ مَاء “We are from water.” And he and Abu Bakr walked away. ;D  The man began flipping his hands, saying: مِنْ مَاء؟ أَمِنْ مَاءِ العِرَاق؟ “What? From water? What do you mean? Are you from the water (rivers) of Iraq?” The Prophet spoke in a vague manner, so as not to give the Bedouin any info, and what he meant by his words was that: we all are from ‘water’, as Allah says in Surah Anbiya, Ayah 30: “Allah has created every living being out of water.” (Also if you didn’t understand what the Prophet meant, refer to the Qur’aan, 32:8)

On the night before the battle, the Prophet made a very long and intense du’aa’ to Allah. He was praying under a tree, crying until the sun rose. He was standing up, raising his hands, to the point that the cloth on his shoulders fell down:

اللَّهُمَّ أَنشُدُكَ عَهدَكَ وَوَعْدَكَ, اللهُمَّ إِن شِئْتَ لَمْ تُعبَدْ “O Allah! I invoke You for Your promise (of victory). O Allah! If You decide (that we be defeated), You will not be worshipped!”

He was saying this because these 300 people at Badr were the only Muslims on the face of the earth. So Abu Bakr came, picked up the cloth of the Prophet, put it back on his shoulders, and he held his hand and said: كَفَاكَ مُنَاشَدَتَكَ رَبُّكَ “Enough of this. Because Allah will surely fulfill His promise to you!”

The Prophet went back to the tent, and he fell asleep. This was the grace and blessing of Allah, that before the battle, Nu’aas overtook many of the Muslims, and this is described beautifully in Surah Al-Anfaal, Ayah 11. Therefore, the Scholars have said:

“If a person feels sleepy on the battlefield, that is from Allah. And if a person feels the urge to sleep during Salaah, that is from Shaytaan.”

After a while, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم woke up smiling, and he declared: “O Abu Bakr! Rejoice with the victory of Allah. This is Jibreel (galloping) on his horse, with dust on his shoulders.” The Prophet left the shade, while reciting the verse: سيهزم الجمع ويولون الدبر “And the multitude will be made to flee, and they will show their backs (while running).” (54:45)

It rained on the eve of Badr. The Quraysh who had arrived earlier, had taken over the the main wells. The Muslims began to worry about how they would get water, so Allah sent down a heavy rain, allowing the Muslims to drink and use it for purity. And when the rain fell, it also made the sand firm. The battle began on Jumu’ah morning and Maalik said, “It was the 17th day of Ramadaan.” Allah sent down, in support of the Prophet and the Muslims, 1,000 angels! On one side, 500 angels were under the command of Jibreel, and on the other, 500 angels were under the command of Meekaa’eel.

Iblees, his flag holder, and the soldiers, came to the Armies of Quraysh. Shaytaan appeared to them in the form of a human being, Suraaqah Ibn Maalik, who was actually the Chief of a great and powerful tribe, Banu Mudlij (but in fact, the real Suraaqah was not present). And he began to praise them, saying: لا غالبَ لكم اليومَ من الناس “No one can defeat you today, no person from mankind can overcome you.” إني جارٌ لكم “I am with you, I am your neighbor, I will fight with you to the end.”

‘Ali Ibn Abi Talhah reported that  ’Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Shaytaan as well as his devil army and flag holders came on the Day of Badr. Shaytaan appeared in the shape of Suraaqah, and he said to the pagans, “None can defeat you today, and I will help you. When the 2 armies stood face to face, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم took a handful of sand and threw it at the faces of the pagans, causing them to retreat. At that point, Jibreel came towards Shaytaan. When Shaytaan, who was holding the hand of a pagan man, saw Jibreel, he let go of his hand, and ran away with his soldiers. That man asked him, “O Suraaqah! You claimed that you would aid us!!” And Shaytaan said as he was running, إني أرى ما لا ترون إني أخاف الله والله شديد العقاب ”Verily, I see what you do not see! Verily, I fear Allah for Allah is severe in punishment!” He said this when he saw the angels coming towards him.”

Among the many miracles at Badr, one of the most notable ones occurred when the two armies drew closer to each others. At that moment, Allah made the Muslims look few in the eyes of the disbelievers, and Allah made the disbelievers look few in the eyes of the Muslims. Thus, when the Quraysh saw the Muslims, and how few they appeared, they laughed and said: غَرَّ هَؤُلاَءِ دِينُهُمْ “These people have been deceived by their religion!” (8:49) Qataadah said, “We were informed that when Abu Jahl saw Muhammad and his Companions, he said: ‘I swear by Allah! After this day, they will never worship Allah.’ He said this in viciousness.” For the Muslims, Allah made the disbelievers’ armies look small in their eyes as well. ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood said: “They were made to seem few in our eyes, so that I said to a man who was next to me, ‘Do you think they are 70?’ He said, ‘Rather they are 100.’”

The greatest support Allah gave the Muslims in this battle was the army of Angels led by Jibreel and Meekaa’eel عليهما السلام. Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “When the disbelievers faced the Muslims, the Muslims attacked their faces with swords. When they fled, the angels smote their rear ends.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab said that while a Muslim man was pursuing a disbeliever during the battle, he heard the sound of a whip above him, and a rider saying: أَقْدِمْ حَيزُوم “Come, O Hayzoom!” Then the man turned around and looked at the disbeliever, who had suddenly fallen to the ground. When he investigated, he found that the idolator’s nose had a wound and his face was injured, just as if he received a strike from a whip on it. The man later came to the Prophet and told him of this, and the Prophet said: “You have said the truth. ذالِكَ مِنْ مَدَدِ السَّمَاءِ الثَّالِثَة That was from the reinforcements from the third heaven.”

In this battle, the greatest chiefs of the idolators was slain. Abu Jahl, the Fir’awn of this Ummah, was killed by two youth. Umayyah Ibn Khalaf, according to some reports, was killed by his previously owned slave, Bilaal Ibn Rabaah (may Allah be pleased with him). Abu Lahab, who could not attend the battle (but had to stay behind in Makkah due to a disease) soon received the news of Quraysh’s defeat at Badr. Abu Sufyaan returned and gathered the people in Makkah and told them, “The fact is that we met our enemy and turned our backs. They made us to flee. And I cannot blame our tribesmen because they faced not only them, but also men wearing white robes riding horses, who were between the skies and earth. They spared nothing, and no one ever had a chance.” Later on, a disease spread through the skull of Abu Lahab. It turned to septic, and its poison soon spread rapidly though his entire body, causing many dark pimples (filled with pus) to appear all over his body. He stayed like that for a week before he died.

When Abu Lahab finally died, his family and sons, fearing that they might be afflicted with his disease, were hesitant to bury him. So they left his decaying body to decompose in his home for 3 nights. It was only when someone rebuked them strongly and said, “It’s disgraceful; you should be ashamed of yourselves to leave your father to rot in his own house, and not bury him from our sight!”  that they decided to do something, but still with great reluctance. So from a safe distance, Abu Lahab’s sons threw water over his body, and removed his corpse with sticks, and left it by a wall on a high piece of ground outside Makkah, and they threw rocks and stones over it, until it was fully covered. {And this was just his share in this world. What about what is in store for him in the Hereafter?! Please see Surah 111 in the Quran. This is a message of warning,to all those who fight Allah, His Messenger and the believers.}

The Prophet and the Muslims returned from Badr on a Wednesday that was 8 days before the end of Ramadaan. It is noted that there were only a few Shuhadaa’ from Badr. Only about 14 or so Muslims were martyred on that day while many of the idolaters were killed.

Regarding the prisoners of the Battle of Badr, this was the first ever battle of the Muslims, and so the Prophet consulted his Companions over this issue of what to do with these prisoners. Abu Bakr advised the Prophet to pardon them and accept ransom on their behalf (in order to free them). ‘Umar expressed that the disbelievers should be killed, and each one by his own relative (among the Muslims).

The Prophet went out for a while. The Companions were wondering, whose opinion the Prophet would choose, especially as everyone had various views on what to do. ‘Abdullah Ibn Rawaahah, for example, expressed his view, saying: “We should dig a trench, fill it with firewood, set it ablaze, and throw them all in.”

In the end, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) returned and said: “We will ransom the prisoners.” So they would accept ransom for the prisoners. There are some reports, that state they gave them the choice, to accept Islaam and thus win their freedom, or they could be freed if they taught 10 Muslims how to read and write. This would be their ransom. Al-Haafizh Ibn Katheer mentioned an authentic narration recorded by Abu Daawood in his Sunan, from Ibn ‘Abbaas that he said: The Prophet fixed 400 (Dirhams) in ransom from the disbelievers, in the aftermath of Badr.

How were the prisoners treated? A Scottish Orientalist by the name of Sir William Muir,  a very hostile critic of Islam, wrote:

“In pursuance of Mahomet’s commands, the citizens of Medina and such of the emigrants who possessed houses, received the prisoners and treated them with much consideration. ‘Blessings be on the men of Medina’, said one of these prisoners in the later days, ‘they made us ride while they themselves walked. They gave us wheaten bread to eat when there was little of it, contenting themselves with dates.’ “

Ibn Katheer said:

“Ibn ‘Abbaas (رضي الله عنهما) said: On the day of Badr the Prophet commanded them to be kind to their prisoners, so they used to put the prisoners before themselves when it came to food… they would give food to these prisoners even though they themselves desired it and loved it.”

Whereas the Romans, the Assyrians, and Persians, used to put out their prisoners’ eyes with hot irons and flay them alive, feeding their skins to dogs, such that the prisoners preferred death to life, Islam taught their followers to treat prisoners with mercy and kindness.

May Allah (سُبحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) fill our hearts with the same mercy and kindness that was shown, and may we have the courage and perseverance to stand up and deal with our problems.

They used to sneer, jeer, and try every conceivable method to get him to join, but he used to break away from them crying while saying,

“Allah did not create me to play” ¹

This was Imam An-Nawawi’s outlook on life from a very young age. Yes, in our times, we would consider it to be bizarre and unusual if a kid would rather stay in and do his studies instead of going out to recess, but this was one of the distinguishing characteristics of Imam An-Nawawi, and continues to be one for anybody who wishes to be amongst the people given the characteristic:

“A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic”

It is widely known that this is the description of one of the seven people who will receive the shade of the Throne on the Day of Judgment, but an interesting point to note that many people do not realize (including myself before reading this elsewhere), is that among the characteristics for the ones that will be shaded, any of them can be attained at any point in one’s life except for the characteristic of a youth that grew up in the worship of Allah from childhood.

This characteristic is so special that it is limited in time.

A Deadline in Life

A point that I thought to be extremely powerful was when Shaykh Muhammad AlShareef said in this promo video:

“Delusions comes up where a person thinks that things are urgent. But in reality, there is no urgency.”

Why study for your test? Life will move on, regardless of how you do. Why care about when you get to school or work? You’ll still live anyhow. It’s only when we realize and get in the mindset that there is a deadline in life do we actually get up and do something.

I once asked a friend, “If I tell you that you will get a free cruise trip for a full year, complete with five-star furnishings and provisions, for just acting good today, would you do it?” He started exclaiming “Yeah, definitely…” and really got in it. I then asked him, “If I tell you that you can enter Jannah forever just by trying your best to worship Allah in this life, would you do it?”

I would like you to answer this question honestly. Do you want to increase your odds of getting into Jannah, or would you rather stick to this short Dunya? SubhanAllah, our Lord is promising Paradise for eternity! If we wish to move forward and to gain the Pleasure of Allah, we must approach our life, especially as youth, from the same perspective of the young Imam An-Nawawi as he cried at the world around him to realize that we were put on this world for worship…

May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) bless our time, help us to become productive, and to help us further His Deen. Ameen…

Alhamdulillah, ProductiveMuslim.com has released an eBook entitled, Mission: Ramadan. It basically comprises of 30 bloggers each writing on one theme, this year being Qur’an, for the month of Ramadan. Go ahead and click the cover image to view the eBook!

In the book itself, there are two articles written by MYM staff writers – Day 2 has been written by Jawaad Ahmad Khan (personal website) and Day 28 by Yours Truly (also published on MYM).

Behind The Scenes

This project was launched a few days before Ramadan on a conference call organized by Productive Muslim. As he writes in the introduction of the book:

“I remember having such high expectations of our online meeting, especially with 15 bloggers registering for the meeting when first announced, but SubhanaAllah, only 4 people turned up…”

The meeting was held at 4pm, so it was perhaps a time that most people couldn’t make it (70 excuses for your brother, right?). The four participants included Jawaad, ProductiveMuslim, Sr. Hanan, and I. We began discussing different ideas, and we thought it’d be soo cool to have a blogger per day write on a post dealing with the Qur’an, as the Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an.

At the time, I was thinking of Mercy Mission, a project of Shaykh Tawfique Chowdhury, and I thought it’d be a cool idea to have ‘Mission’ somewhere in the title. We tried different names out, and Mission: Ramadan seemed to be the most apt as we could easily have several missions throughout the year. After the meeting, everybody got to work; Jawaad made a quick logo for the project, ProductiveMuslim made an email address and description, and all of us helped to market the event via several emails for submissions and sponsors.

Alhamdulillah, it came out to be an awesome project and here it is today! Please do make sure to check out the eBook and to pray that this project continues to be successful…

“Islam began as something strange, and will revert to being strange as it began. So give glad tidings to the strangers.”

-The Messenger of Allah (sallalahu ‘alayhi wasallam) (narrated by Muslim (145) from Abu Hurayrah)

/~~~\

Are you a stranger? Or are you just an average Joe?

Are you DIFFERENT? Or do you fit in with the crowd just fine?

Below is a poem from spoken word poet Silent-K (Raa’id Khan) on the identity of Muslim youth.

[Note: music in the beginning and ending fifteen seconds]

“Different”

You see I am different

No matter which way you

Swing it, write it, or say it

Say it, write it, or swing it

Different I am

I am not like the ordinary

I bow my head to the floor

Times five

I stand by towering pillars

Times five

And I utter words in a language

So sweet, calm and beautiful

Al Loogatil arabiya

Hathihi jameelah

I wear a kuffee and recite poetry

I speak and teach Islam

I represent for the Muslim Youth

I strive to do good deeds

I help others in need

Even though I am in need of help myself

I stay silent when anger punches me

I swallow my pride and suppress my ego

I am nothing

A piece of clay

Skin toned differently

I walk down a path traveled by few

And because of this

I get in fights

Every single day

In fact I am fighting my naffs right now

You see I am different

No matter which way you

Swing it, write it, or say it

Say it, write it, or swing it

Different I am

And being different stands out

How

I pray to the unseen in public

I show the world that Muslims are real

I walk on campus with my head held high

Proud to be different

And it doesn’t matter to me what people say

Because people will always talk

Talk slander, slander gossip, gossip comment, comment questions, question backbite

Their mouths will never be full

All I can be is myself

And no one can take that away from me

Not even myself

It is a gift from Allah

To be Muslim

And while others see us as being different

I see us being different together

Because when we are together then we can grow

When we are together then we can show

And what seemed like one individual

Is now many

Times five

And the dawah that we give will be spread

To many times five

Because we are different

Our mentality is different

Our demeanor is different

But a different that is good

Because different is not bad

It is unique

And because of that we will change the world

So I say be different

Be outstanding

Be like our example

Prophet Muhamad

Peace be upon him

And because he was different

Till this day we say peace be upon him

So accept who you are

And be who you are

Keep your head high and struggle to accomplish

Because no matter which way they swing it, write it, or say it

Being different is different

And that continues to make the difference