Series 6 - 786

Series.6
"786" - Does it stand for 'Bismillahi Rahmaani Raheem'?

786 is the numerical representation of "Bismillahirrahamaanirraheem" has no religious or Islaamic significance.

The numerals 786 or any other numerals in no way represent 'Bismillaah al-Rahmaan al-Raheem' or other Surahs of the noble Qur'ân and is not the Sunnah either.

CAN NUMBER 786 REPLACE THE HOLY NAME OF ALLAAH?

Allaah say in Qur'ân "Verily, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'ân in order that you may understand" (12:2).

We are instructed to recite the Qur'an as can be seen from the following verses: So RECITE as much of the Qur'ân as may be easy (for you),..." (73:20).

Now would one recite the Qur'an if it is reduced to numbers? As an example, we shall reduce the Surah Fatihah to numerical figures for the benefit of the reader.

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem............................................... 787
Al-humdolillaahir rubbuaalamin............................................... 632
Ar-Rahmaan-ur-Raheem....................................................... …618

So can we instead of reciting the whole Surah Fatiha in our Salaah, will it be sufficient to recite some numbers say 2130 for it!!!

This old game of numbers was practised by the ancient Egyptians, as did many other civilisations. Islaam came to ELIMINATE ALL such superstitions, mysteries and numerological mumbo-jumbo. However, Muslims are still enslaved to the number game, and think that 786 represents BISMILLAAHIR RAHMAANIR RAHEEM.

Even Final Messenger Muhammad (pbuh) in his letters to different heads of states and governments, used the noble words at the top. Therefore, whosoever uses 786 with the intention to obtain Allaah's blessings, is a misguided person and any attempt to justify it, is ignorance.

Islaam's foundation is laid on the belief in Tawheed (oneness of God). If we associate anyone with Allaah's exalted names orally or practically, we would be committing an unpardonable sin. Did the Final Messenger (pbuh) and his companions respect the noble Words less than we do?

Series 5 - 99 names of Allaah

Series.5
99 names of Allaah

The Names of Allaah mentioned in the Qur'aan and Sunnah number over one hundred, as several scholars have agreed.
Among these names are 99 that will lead to paradise, Insha' Allaah.

The fact that there are 99 Names leading to paradise is authenticated in the following hadith, although it does not list which Names those are:
• Hadith - Sahih Muslim and Bukhari 8:419, Narrated Abu Huraira : Allaah has ninety-nine Names, i.e., one hundred minus one, and whoever 'ahsaha' [enumerates them, believes in them, ponders their meanings, worships Allaah by them and supplicates with them, and acts by them according to one's belief in them] will enter Paradise; and Allaah is Witr ("Odd", i.e. He is one, and it is an odd number) and loves 'the Witr' (i.e., odd numbers).

However:
Allaah (subhanahu wa ta`ala)'s names are not limited to 99, which is a common misconception. There are a couple of evidences, one is the du`aa where one calls upon Allaah by the names He (subhanahu wa ta`ala) has kept to Himself (obviously not taking these names since Allaah has not revealed them to us);

Points to be noted in this topic:

 Memorize the Names/Attributes of Allaah, subhana watala
 Do dhikr (remembrance of Allaah)
 For example, say "ya" ("Oh") before any of the above Names of Allaah, swt, i.e. say "Ya-Rahman" or "Ya-Raheem (if for Forgiveness) ; similarly call Allaah wit the name corresponding to your need
 Do not use what is marketed as "dhikr beads" (Urdu: Tasbeeh)... use your right hand and count on the inside joints, as our hands will be our witness on the day of judgement
 Meanwhile, modern day Sufi's exploit this list by offering mystical, unsupported advice for the use of each Name (i.e. "say this 100 times in a row over a glass of water, blow on it, and you are guaranteed success..."). There is no evidence whatsoever for such practice

Series 4 - FORBIDDEN NAMES

Series.4
FORBIDDEN NAMES

Naming is an important aspect in our lives and today in our zeal to keep new names we have lost the Sunnah of keeping the names preferred by our Final Messenger

The names which Allaah likes are Abdullah and Abdur Rahman

Below are a list of forbidden names:

• Abd means a Slave and we can only be a slave of Allaah and of nobody else. Similarly Gulam is the Urdu / Persian translation of Abd meaning a slave, hence names such as: 'Abdun-Nabee (slave of the Final Messenger), 'Abdur-Rasool (slave of the Messenger) and 'Abdul - Muttalib - and whatever is like these names are HARAM
• Just the same in meaning are Gulam Muhammad,‘Ghulaamun-Nabee’ and Ghulaamur-Rasool’, OR Gulam Hussain, Gulam Ali, etc are HARAM
• Abu Hurayrah reported that the Final Messenger of Allaah said, "The name most detested by Allaah is 'Malik Al-Amlak' ('King of Kings.')"
• Giving names which are meant to show servitude to Allaah (SWT) but not known to be from Allaah's (SWT) perfect names - like 'Abdul-Mawjood, Abdul-Maqsood and 'Abdus-Sattar and hence cannot be called lawful
• Names of Surahs of the Quran such as: TaHa, Yaseen and other names of Surahs. "The saying of the common people that Yaseen and TaHa are from the names of the Final Messenger (SAW) is not correct, there is no 'Sahih' Hadith about it. Rather they are letters like 'Alif Lam Meem', 'Ha Meem', 'Alif Lam Raa' and the like."

NOW WHAT DO WE DO IF WE HAVE A HARAM NAME:

It is among the Sunnah of our Final Messenger to change detestable and haram names to good ones, as we will be called by our names on the DAY OF JUDGEMENT (Imagine would you want to be called by a haram name on that day?)

 He (SAW) also said to a man, "What is your name?" So he replied: "Hazn." (Roughness). So he (SAW) said: "Rather you are Sahl (Smooth)." (Reported by Al-Bukhari & Abu Dawud)
 ‘Barrah (Pious Woman) to Zaynab (Reported by Muslim)
 The names Abdul-Ka'bah and Abdul-Uzzah were changed upon accepting Islaam

Series 3: Where is Allah?

Where is Allaah?

It is from the established traditions of Final Messenger Muhammad (peace be on him) to test a person’s faith by asking the question ‘Where is Allaah?’, as understood from his authentic saying when the Final Messenger asked a slave girl, 'Where is Allaah?' .

She said, 'Above the heavens'. Then he asked her, 'Who am I?' She said, 'The Messenger of Allaah. Thereupon, the Messenger ordered to free her and declared her to be a believer. Once a person ascertains the fact that Allaah is above His Arsh, above His seven heavens and not everywhere, then he comes to realize that it is futile to worship anything that he can see or visualize as none of it is his object of worship but Allaah.

The evidence for the statement that Allaah is above the heavens are overwhelming from the Quran as for example
 in Chapter 7:54, "And verily, your Lord is Allaah who created the heaven and earth in six days, and then rose over the 'Throne’;
 and also from traditions of Final Messenger when he went "up" during the miraculous night journey
 or that he pointed his finger "towards the sky" when making Allaah the witness over his final sermon.

This question assumes a fundamental importance as any negation of Allaah’s Attribute is a negation of Allaah Himself. I quote the iman of our times in this regard:

Imaam Abu Hanifah said about a person who says, 'I do not know whether my Rubb is, above the heavens or on earth?' Abu Hanifah, said: 'A person who makes such a statement becomes an apostate because Allaah, the Exalted says, 'The Merciful has ascended above the 'Arsh, and the 'Arsh of Allaah is above His heavens'. It was further asked to Abu Hanifah, 'What if such a person admits, Allaah is above His 'Arsh, but exclaims, I do not know whether His 'Arsh is above the heavens or on earth'. Abu Hanifah responded: 'If he denies that the 'Arsh is above the heavens, he is an apostate.(a disbeliever)"

Series 2: Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat

InshaAllaah we will begin the basic of Tawheed by a little explanation of the category and related question with it:

Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat (lit. "Maintaining the Unity of Allaah's Names and Attributes")

Allaah must be referred to according to how He and His Final Messenger (saws) have described Him and to believe in that Allaah has most beautiful of Names and Attributes.

Here we will discuss 4 points:

• Where is Allaah?
  
• Are there only 99 name of Allaah?
  
• Forbidden names of Muslims which are Haram
  
• Is 786 the translation of Bismillah
  

The year that went by - 2006

I love the year endings. No, not for those New year wishes. I don't like them anyway. To me there are just the spiritual wishes, like the Eidain (the two Eids) or the greetings on sighting the Ramadan moon, with the beautiful dua..

But yes I love the end of the year to recollect the top stories of year, the newsmakers, the best and... worst of sports (read Cricket) and ofcourse, looking back at my year end claims and accompolishments.

2007 would be a new calendar year and nothing more. If there ever has to be a new year celebration, it should be the Muharram, but nothing of that sort is reported from the Sunnans.

So we stick to a simple year end best and highs and lows.

3 events that made 2006:
1. 26/11 - The Mumbai local train blast. Yet again,
2. Iraq - all the voilence, the death and the hanging on Eid al-Adha

3. Business - The booming of low-cost airlines 
(I too flew the Air Deccan and was happy to pay 50% less on waht 
otherwise would be the normal fare)
 
3 best books I read in 2006:
1. Monk who sold his Ferrari
Did not read much from the Islamic side and I do miss that part - without a proper library and a hectic schedule with driving to work, I listen to audios instead.
2. Tafsir ibn Katheer - Juz Amma: doing the small tafseer at home, this book is remarkable and interesting.

3. Burooj Stars - well this is definately not a book but a newsletter. This 
however provided me with an oppurtunity to explore read and write a college
mag, my way.

3 best Audio books I heard in 2006:

1. Those who desire Paradie - Bilal Asad
2. Lives of Prophets - Anwar Awlaki
3. Tarjamun Quran - Dr. Israar Ahmed

From the sporing event:
Nothing gets bigger than World Cup football and it is fun only if
a. You have the telecast and
b. friends to share the passion with.
So this time since I had both it was fun. And that is why the greatest sporting event for 2006 would be the Zidane head-butt over Italians winning the world cup.

Personal:
for me, i do not make lot of introspection but i and shazi were thinking of 3 most important things that happened in 2006. u know those number games, that comes in TV. top 5 of year etc.. and just for that fact that Safiyah came in our life (04-05-06), was the number one thing to have happened to us in 2006.

then a distant second was for me about - home. our new home in mumbai to leaving the old one and then furnishing this current one.. all about shelter..

the third one was spending eids. first one at mumbai at the beginning and then the more memorable one was at portblair this october.. so looking back we had a good year.. alhamdulillah

for most part of year or may be 50-50 we (I and Umm Safiyah) were together after begin away for 9 months after safiyah's birth. that was hard on us.. so we were celebrating the new togetherness.. the fights and loves. the naughtiness and the cryings..

of the lows, masha Allaah all lows are life's way of making even. It was perhaps missing out on Yunus's marriage.

Spiritual lows:
1. Not spending the best part of Ramadan in worship. With the travels and being alone and responsible for my family here in Dubai, I missed my taraweehs and the joy of worshipping in Ramadan.
2. No concrete plan for spending the Zakaah money to a use where I can contribute with more than just the money!

a new calendar year bring new hopes and new dreams to achieve.
there would be new spiritual high and new career achievements. there would be new learning in life and yes with our baby's growth, there would always be new bundle of joys our way..

Quick FAQ

A quick look at some common Qs.

1. Is there a Haj Akbar?
If Arafat is on a Friday, then many describe it as Haj Akbar (Big Haj). There is no big or small Hajj. There is only one Hajj. Every year is Hajj Akbar. The 10th day of Dhul Hijja is described in The Qur'an as Yaum-ul-Hajjil-Akbar.

2. Is it a requirement to enter Masjid Haram from the Baab as-Salaam entrance?
There is no such requirement. You can enter from any of the many gates.

3. Can I smoke when I'm in Ihraam?
No. Try to give up this habit for the good of your health and the well-being of your family. Many chain smokers have returned from the Hajj as non-smokers for good. Alhamdulillah.

4. When I stone the jamr'at, is it necessary to hit the target?
It is acceptable if the stone falls into the circle without hitting the target.

5. Can I perform the Hajj every year?
Performing the Hajj ONCE is obligatory for Muslims who are financially and physically able to do so. There is no rule prohibiting anyone from performing the Hajj more than once.

If you plan to perform it yearly, you are obviously financially well endowed. You should consider the following. One, there are numerous things you can do to walk in the way of Allah. Consider contributing your Hajj trip funds to uplift downtrodden Muslims. Two, with nearly 2 1/2 million people converging in The Holy Land, the Saudi authorities have understandably imposed Hajj quotas. Have a heart for those waiting in line to perform the Hajj for the first time. Allow a reasonable time gap before going to perform the Hajj again.

Hajj Fun Game

My comments: Just missed my favourite ways to learn about Hajj - the game board way. After all one of the things we try to do at our Burooj Chidlren circle is play, interact and then learn.

So this is for all those parents who want their kids as well to be a part of their enthusiasm.

Description:

The Hajj Fun Game offers you entertainment and fun and at the same time makes it easy for you to learn the meaning and message of hajj and to acquire a knowledge of the important historical places associated with it. It will enable you to learn how the acts and rites are performed during hajj and what its dos and don'ts are. In short, the Hajj Fun Game will bring alive the annual pilgrimage of Hajj.

Price: $19.99
Publisher: Goodword
Ages: 9 - 12 Years