“During your sleep, Shatan knots three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is, long, so keep on sleeping,’ If that person wakes up and celebrates the praises of Allah, then one knot is undone, and when he performs ablution the second knot is undone, and when he prays, all the knots are undone, and he gets up in the morning lively and in good spirits, otherwise he gets up in low spirits and lethargic.” [Bukhari]
Let us revive another of the prophet’s (ﷺ) sunnah. Anything he (ﷺ) advises us to do in our lives is for our own benefit in this world and the next. For he (ﷺ) said:
“Whoever revives my Sunnah then he has loved me. And whoever loved me, he shall be with me in Paradise.” [Tirmidhi]
Friendship is a significant part of our lives. We are bound to the relationships we form around us. For our deen this can be either a path to paradise or hell so we must take heed of who we choose to be our friends.
Let us begin with the word of Allah:
“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favour of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers [and sisters]. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.” 3:103
The importance of holding together and not separating is a crucial part of Islam. We are united as an Ummah to do what is right and to forbid evil – we must stick together to remind each other not only through our words but through our actions, how we live our everyday lives.
“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those – Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.” 9:71
Allah highlights to the Muslims the importance of settling issues between us. We are brothers and sisters in Islam, hatred and ill feelings towards one another will only separate us weakening the Ummah.
“The believers are but brothers [and sisters], so make settlement between your brothers [and sisters]. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy.” 49:10
We must remember that our friends have rights over us in Islam. The prophet (ﷺ) teaches us the way of a true Muslim friend: “‘The right of a Muslim upon a Muslim are six’ It was asked what are they? He replied
‘When you meet him, salute him (give salam),
when he calls you, respond to him,
When he seeks advice , give him advice,
When he sneezes and praises Allah, respond to him,
When he falls ill, visit him,
When he dies, follow him (the funeral bier);” [Muslim]
He (ﷺ) describes a Muslim friendship as the following: “You will see the believers in their mutual kindness, love and sympathy just like one body. When a limb complains, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever.” [Bukhari]
Friendship, love and mercy to our brothers and sisters of the world is a key to true belief. The prophet (ﷺ) said: “You shall not enter Paradise until you believe; and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not guide you to a thing? Which when done, will make you love one another: spread the greeting of salam among you.” [Muslim]
The prophet (ﷺ) also said: “A muslim is a brother [sister] to a Muslim: Neither he wrongs him, nor hands him over (to another). And whoso comes in need of his brother, Allah comes in his need; and whoso removes a calamity of a Muslim, Allah will remove a calamity from the calamities of the Resurrection Day, and whoso conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his sins on the Resurrection Day” [Bukhari]
These are key attributes of a true friend in Islam. Allah also highlights who the real friends of a Muslim are:
“Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed – those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship].” 5:55
Without piety and righteousness, a friend is not a friend but merely a risk to one’s afterlife. This is not to say however, that everyone is perfect. We are all sinners – we all do wrong. We cannot leave a brother or sister to fend for themselves simply because they did wrong. This is not the way of a true Muslim. The prophet (ﷺ) said: “‘Help your brother [sister] whether he is a wrong-doer or is wronged’. A man enquired: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I may help him when he is wronged, but how can I help him when he is a wrong-doer? ‘ The prophet (ﷺ) replied ‘You can prevent him from wrong-doing. That will be your help to him.'” [Bukhari]
Let us take heed of these beautiful Ayahs and narrations from the prophet (ﷺ). True friendship today has become a rarity especially among the youth who many of which gather for the wrong reasons.
We must take heed on who we choose to be our friends. Our choice can determine the persona we pick up as time passes especially at a young age. Allah paints an eye opening scene in the Qur’an:
“And the Day the wrongdoer will bite on his hands [in regret] he will say, ‘Oh, I wish I had taken with the Messenger a way.
Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend.
He led me away from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan, to man, a deserter.'”
“And the Messenger has said, ‘O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur’an as [a thing] abandoned.'” 25:27-30
This is the moment mankind will have the upmost regret as to who they chose to be their friends in the dunya.
One may think that friends are merely people one hangs out with but we must take a step back and look at who these people are. Do they call to the remembrance of Allah? Or are they calling us to evil?
Is that guy/girl reminding us to go to the mosque? Or are they reminding us of that party or haram gathering?
We must be sincere; we know who is good for our deen and who is not. For those who are not it is our responsibility to call them to do right but at the same time we as Muslims cannot keep them close if they are calling us to evil.
We must not put ourselves in company that will make sinning an open and easy thing. The prophet (ﷺ) said: “A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends.” [Tirmidhi]
We are the same as the friends we choose; but we also cannot push everybody away as they may need our help to get back on track.
Muhammad (ﷺ) prophesied many events that are to happen as the hour draws near. This is a list covering some of these occurrences that have happened in the past; are happening in our time; and will happen in the future:
Death of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).
A form of death which will kill thousands of Muslims. (Understood to refer to the plague of Amwas during the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab.)
A major fighting in Madinah (understood to refer to the battle of al Harrah during the caliphate of Yazid, 63 AH).
The Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.
The Muslim conquest of Constantinople.
Two large groups of Muslims will fight in war.
A war between the Muslims and a reddish people with small eyes, wearing sandals made of hair (understood to refer to the Mongol Tatar invasion of the Islamic lands.)
A peace agreement between the Muslims and non-Muslims from the Asian race (Chinese, Mongols, etc.)
Thirty impostors (dajjal) will appear, each thinking he is a prophet.
Naked, destitute, barefoot shepherds will compete in building tall buildings: Look at Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and many other Arab countries competing in building huge buildings.
The slave-woman will give birth to her master or mistress: A slave woman would give birth to her mistress: Shaykh al Islam Ibn Hajar says: “It means that there will be widespread undutifulness among children. That means that a child will treat his mother as a master treats his slave. The child will do that with humiliation , insults, hitting and servitude”. (extreme disobedience to parents)
A trial (fitnah) which will enter every Arab household.
Knowledge will be taken away (by the death of people of knowledge), and ignorance will prevail: Look at the real scholars talking the truth against leaders in the world – they end up in prison or killed.
Wine (intoxicants, alcohol) will be drunk in great quantities.
Illegal sexual intercourse will become widespread.
Earthquakes will increase.
Time will pass more quickly.
Tribulations (fitan) will prevail.
Bloodshed will increase.
A man will pass by the grave of another and wish he was in the place of the deceased.
Trustworthiness will be lost, i.e. when authority is given to those who do not deserve it.
People will gather for prayer, but will be unable to find an imam to lead them.
The number of men will decrease, whilst the number of women will increase, until for every man there are 50 women.
The Euphrates will reveal a treasure of gold, and many will die fighting over it, each one hoping to be the one who gains the treasure.
The Romans (Europeans) will come to a place called A’maq or Wabiq, and an army of the best people will go forth from Madinah to face them.
The Muslim conquest of Rome.
The Mahdi (guided one) will appear, and be the Imam of the Muslims.
Jesus the messiah will descend in Damascus, and pray behind the Mahdi.
Jesus will break the cross and kill the swine i.e. destroy the false christianity.
The Antichrist (al-masih al-dajjal, the false messiah) will appear, with all his tools of deception, and be an immense trial. He will be followed by 70,000 Jews from Isfahan (present-day Iran).
The appearance of Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog), and the associated tribulations.
The emergence of the Beast from the Earth, carrying the Staff of Moses and the Seal of Solomon, who will speak to the people, telling them they did not believe with certainty in the Divine Signs.
A major war between the Muslims (including Jews and Christians who truly believe in Jesus after his return) led by the Imam Mahdi, and the Jews plus other non-Muslims led by the Antichrist.
Jesus will kill the Antichrist at the gate of Ludd (Lod in present-day Israel, site of an airport and a major Israeli military base).
A time of great peace and serenity during and after the remaining lifetime of Jesus.
Wealth will come so abundant that it will become difficult to find someone to accept charity.
Arabia will become a land of gardens and rivers.
Society will then decay.
The buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daws will again sway in circumambulation (tawaf) around the idol Dhul-Khulsah.
A great fire in the Hijaz, seen by the inhabitants of Busra.
Three major armies will sink into the earth: one in the east, one in the west, one in Arabia.
An Abyssinian leader with thin shins will destroy the Ka’bah.
The huge cloud of smoke.
The sun will rise from the west (its place of setting).
A gentle wind which will take the souls of the believers.
There is no-one left on the earth saying, “Allah, Allah” or “There is no god except Allah.”
Eventually the Day of Judgment is established upon the worst of the people, who copulate like donkeys in public.
The blowing in the Trumpet by the Angel Israfil, upon which every creation will faint except as Allah wills.
The second blowing in the Trumpet, upon which everyone will be resurrected.
Many of these signs are already upon us – the time will soon come for every soul to pay for every minor and major act it has committed. We must understand that these signs are merely for the world as a whole. Individually, our judgement begins the moment we pass away – let us never forget that.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever recites a letter from Allah’s Book, then he receives the reward from it, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that Alif Lam Mim is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.” [Tirmidhi]
Let us stack up the rewards – it is from Allah’s mercy that he made it so easy for us.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “There is a Surah in the Qur’an which contains thirty Ayat which kept interceding for a man until his sins are forgiven. This Surah is ‘Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the dominion.’ (Surat Al-Mulk 67).” [Tirmidhi]
Adbullah Ibn Masood also narrated: “Whoever recites [تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ ] [i.e. Soorah al-Mulk] every night, Allah will protect him from the punishment of the grave. And at the time of the Messenger of Allah (sallal-laahu-alayhi-wasallam) we used to call it [ٱلْمَانِعَةُ – i.e. something that protects]. And indeed it is a Soorah in the Book of Allah that whoever recites it every night has done very well”.
Let us make a habit of reading this short yet beautiful surah on a daily basis and let us understand what Allah is saying in each ayah. Understanding is the most important aspect of reading the Qur’an.
After introducing Adam to the angels and Iblees, he was sent by Allah into jannah (paradise) to live. Allah then created Hawa’ from the creation of Adam who was made to be his partner.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Treat women nicely, for a woman is created from a rib, and the most curved portion of the rib is its upper portion, so, if you should try to straighten it, it will break, but if you leave it as it is, it will remain crooked. So treat women nicely.” [Bukhari]
This is an important lesson we need to take heed from the creation of the first woman. Allah says:
“And We created you in pairs” 78:8
They proceeded to live a blessed life in jannah with everything they could ever want at their disposal. Out of everything available to them, Allah forbade only one thing:
And We said, “O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers.” 2:35
One tree to avoid was their only order. Let us try to imagine, how many trees would there be in jannah? Jannah translates to “garden”, the size of which we can never contemplate. The width of which is the only size we know, yet even that does not give us a clear image, only an idea:
“Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is like the width of the heavens and earth, prepared for those who believed in Allah and His messengers. That is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.” 57:21
They could have had anything at all. However, the Shaytan had a plan – he schemed to have them expelled from jannah. Allah also warned Adam and Hawa’ of the Shaytan’s intentions:
“So We said, ‘O Adam, indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from Paradise so you would suffer.'” 20:117
Yet Shaytan is smart and knows how to play mankind. He knows of the greed human beings possess and plays it against Adam and Hawa’.
Then Satan whispered to him; he said, “O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and possession that will not deteriorate?” 20:120
And Adam and his wife ate of it, and their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to fasten over themselves from the leaves of Paradise. And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred. 20:121
There are some extremely important lessons to be learned from this scene. The first of which is the power of Shaytan’s whisper. This is not a literal whisper as we perceive; this is a deeper whisper in the mind of the human being drawing us towards evil.
Adam and Hawa’ were in paradise yet they were still deceived by Shaytan. We can only imagine his power against mankind on earth – a much lower place compared to jannah. This is so we never tell ourselves that Shaytan won’t effect us. As pious or righteous one may see oneself, Shaytan will always be there calling to evil. Allah says:
“Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones. Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He was most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were foetuses in the wombs of your mothers. So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him.” 53:32
Only Allah knows the true righteous. We cannot claim it upon ourselves as we will come to learn the weakness of mankind.
The second lesson is from where Allah mentions that Adam and Hawa’s private parts were made apparent. This is extremely significant, showing Shaytan’s intentions to strip mankind of his/her clothing.
“O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness – that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember.” 7:26
We see today everything being sexualised. Clothes are getting tighter and more revealing. The half naked dressers are looked up at while the people dressed modestly are looked down upon. Allah mentions:
“O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them. Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not believe.” 7:27
Shaytan has deceived the world in such a manner as these days it is barely socially acceptable to dress modestly.
Allah continues the story:
“Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that Satan is to you a clear enemy?” 7:22
They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the lose” 7:23
The difference between Adam and Shaytan is that Adam accepted that he made a mistake and asked for forgiveness. Shaytan from his pride and arrogance simply stated that he is better than mankind as he was created from fire while the human was created from clay.
“[ Allah ] said, ‘Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time.'” 7:24
“He said, ‘Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth.'” 7:25
Unlike the Christians, we as Muslims do not believe that man was sent upon the earth as a punishment for eating from the tree. It was always Allah’s plan for mankind to live on earth. This life is not a burden upon mankind but a blessing. Allah says:
“And We have certainly established you upon the earth and made for you therein ways of livelihood. Little are you grateful.” 7:10
Furthermore, Christianity teaches that it was Hawa’ (Eve) who deceived Adam making it her fault that they were expelled from the garden. Islam teaches us that Shaytan deceived them both.
Islam was with Adam and Hawa’ as they were sent to earth and needed guidance not with the prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) – he was not the start of the deen as most people think.
“We [Allah] said, ‘Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance – there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.'” 2:38
This is the introduction to the first prophet of Allah – Adam (عليه السلام).
