Reviving a Forgotten Sunnah

[*charisma*]

Bismillahi ArRahman ArRaheem

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatallahi Wa Barakatu

Intention and Objective:

From the Quran:

"…Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is Severe in punishment." [5:2]

"Say (O Muhammad (peace be upon him) to mankind): "If you (really) love Allâh then follow me (i.e. accept Islâmic Monotheism, follow the Qur'ân and the Sunnah), Allâh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [3:31]​

From the Sunnah (Hadith):

It is reported that the Prophet, sallahu ‘alayhi wa salaam, said:
“Whoever revives an aspect of my Sunnah that is forgotten after my death, he will have a reward equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward." (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 7/443; this is a hasan hadîth because of corroborating asânîd).​

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There are many parts of the Sunnah that aren’t being practiced because of either laziness, ignorance, or simply it’s just been forgotten.

No, don’t get excited, I’m not trying to increase the polygamy practice hehe, but inshallah I’ll post up 4 forgotten aspects of the Sunnah every week so that we may revive them and integrate them into our daily lives. These aren’t hard, if anything they are some of the easiest practices that we can apply to our lives. Oh and by the way, if you help someone else integrate it, you will be rewarded immensely inshallah!! So spread the sunnah for the sake of Allah subhana wa ta’ala

Like I said previously, there will be 4 practices of the Sunnah (1 pertaining to the Ummah, 1 small practice, 1 practice pertaining to salaah, 1 du’a) that were practiced by the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alahi wa salaam). Since there is also a du'a, if we take five minutes everyday just practicing to memorize this du’a, by the end of the week we’ll have it memorized inshallah. Isn’t that great!? Just five minutes of strict memorization or maybe even 3 minutes if you really try to memorize it without having any external interruptions Allah subhana wa ta’ala will give you great rewards! Allahu akbar!

Ok so let me shut up and begin:

Week 1

1. Greeting a fellow Muslim with salaams [Pertains to helping the Ummah]

So you pass a sister or brother that you don’t know. You stand there wondering if you should give salaams or not. Maybe you’re just too shy, maybe you just don’t feel like talking to any strangers at the moment, maybe you're a revert and are afraid you won't pronounce it correctly, or maybe you're just not used to it. You know what though? Giving salaams is a free reward from Allah and its one of the easiest ways of gaining a reward. It is also one of those rewards that affects the Ummah in a positive way because it’s a way of uniting us. Unlike the nonbelievers that greet each other with a “hi”, “hello”, or “’sup homes!” our greeting is unique and distinguishable, so don’t deprive your Muslim brother/sister from their salaams even if you don’t know them. This is their right:

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "By Him in Whose Hand is my life! You will not enter Jannah until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I inform you of something which, if you do, you will love one another? Promote greetings amongst yourselves.''[Muslim].

Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`as (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: A man asked the Messenger of Allah (PBUH): "Which act in Islam is the best?'' He (PBUH) replied, "To give food, and to greet everyone, whether you know or you do not.''[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

`Abdullah bin Salam (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying, "O people, exchange greetings of peace (i.e., say: As-Salamu `Alaikum to one another), feed people, strengthen the ties of kinship, and be in prayer when others are asleep, you will enter Jannah in peace.'' [At-Tirmidhi].

"When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, Allaah is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things" [al-Nisa'4:86] ​

According to this ayah, if someone begins with "assalamu alaikum" you would respond with "walaikum asalaam wa rahmatallah". If they begin with "assalamu alaikum wa rahmatallah," you would respond with "walaikum asalaam wa rahmatallah wa barakatu". Get it?

So the next time a brother yells out “What’s up!?” Rather than replying “Hey yo, just chillin dawg’”, begin with your salaams inshallah.

2. Fixing your eyes during the prostration of salaah [Pertains to improving one’s salaah]

It may be that sometimes while you’re praying, there’s a little kid jumping on your back as you prostrate, the brother/sister praying next to you is distracting, or whatever the case may be, it distracts you and you happen to look up. Big mistake! Salaah is giving Allah your 100% attention to remember Him, ask forgiveness from Him, praise Him, receive rewards from Him, etc. Basically, putting all of your concentration into prayer is very important. It is the time you spend with Allah subhana wa ta’ala, you should never let anything distract you from it, so turning your eyes away from salaah is like turning your heart away from Allah subhana wa ta’ala:

The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, Allah does not cease to turn to a slave in his prayer as long as he is not looking around; when he turns his face away, Allah turns away from him." (Sahih - Abu Dawood and others)

The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "People must refrain from looking up at the sky in prayer, or their sight will not return to them (and in one narration ... or their sight will be plucked away)." (Sahih - Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Siraaj)

It was reported from ‘Aa’ishah that “the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to pray with his head tilted forward and his gaze lowered, looking at the ground.” (Reported by al-Haakim: 1/479. He said it is saheeh according to the condition of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim])​

3. Putting on your shoes starting with the right foot, and taking them off starting with the left foot. [Small practice]

You’ve been long hard at work or school, so after you get home, you take your shoes off and throw yourself on the couch, go into the kitchen, or sit at the computer. This probably took you less than a minute to do and probably within that minute, you didn’t really think about how you took off your shoes, or even how you ended up in the kitchen! Or maybe as you were rushing to get to school or work and you just stuck your feet into the shoes applying pressure as you ran out of the house, not really thinking about which foot went in first. I mean the whole point is to get the dang shoes on! However, just as everything else, there is a practice or du’a that could’ve been done in that one minute of rush or relaxation. Islam is truly a way of life, there is even a way of putting your shoes on and taking them off:

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "When any of you puts on his shoes, he should put on the right one first; and when he takes them off, he should begin with the left. Let the right shoe be the first to be put on and the last to be taken off.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]​

This doesn’t even take much to think about, nor will it take any of your time away from you, unless of course, you lost one of your shoes.

4. Supplicating during a gathering [Du’a]

You and your friends are at a restaurant or gathering and you’re talking about everything, just catching up on life. You talk about getting married, graduating from uni, how the guy in the car next to you flipped you off, why the color blue is so popular, how weird brother x is, how annoying sister x is, etc, and probably the only Islamic thing said in that conversation is the salaams that you answered from when you greeted them. Allahu a’lem. Basically, a lot of idle chitchat is going on. You may even have backbitten without realizing it, or said something you shouldn’t have said. Yes, we’ve all been there before, and after it’s all over, you realize there were some things that would have been better left unsaid. Hence, we should, inshallah, memorize the following (short) du’a and learn its significance:

`Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu anla ilaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaika

O Allah, You are free from imperfection; Praise be to you! I testify that there is no true god except You; I ask Your pardon and turn to you in repentance.​

​

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Whoever sits in a gathering and indulges in useless talk and before getting up supplicates: `Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaika (O Allah, You are free from every imperfection; praise be to You. I testify that there is no true god except You; I ask Your Pardon and turn to You in repentance),' he will be forgiven for (the sins he may have intentionally or unintentionally committed) in that assembly.'' [At-Tirmidhi].

Abu Barzah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Towards the end of his life, Messenger of Allah (PBUH) would supplicate before leaving an assembly thus: "Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaika (O Allah, You are free from every imperfection; all praise is for You. I testify that there is no true god except You, I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance).'' A man once said to him: "O Messenger of Allah! You have spoken such words as you have never uttered before.'' He said, "It is an expiation of that which goes on in the assembly.''[Abu Dawud].​

This is often heard during Islamic gatherings, however this is a du’a that is important outside of Islamic gatherings as well. Think about it, how many times do we recite this du’a after we attend a gathering with our friends?

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Alright, that's it for this week. Inshallah through out the week we can remember some of these practices.

Continue to Week 2

Fi aman Allah
Wa’alaikum asalaam wa rahmatallahi wa barakatu

 

[abu abdurrahman]

Masha Allah! An excellent reminder... May Allah make it easy for us to act upon, and reward the sister.

 

[Pk_#2]

AsalamuAlaykum Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

that was ace sis

I reccomend everyone to read it properly...TWICE

and stay tuned for more

*wah am i chatting bout?*

Ok nevermind i'm using one of the hadiths on my userpage

JazakAllah sis !!!!!!!!

Peace x

 

[sapphire]

Assalamu'Alaykum!

Mashallah! yet another terrific idea of yours! Inshallah this thread will be of great benifit to many ppl.....Jazkallah for starting it

 

[*charisma*]

Assalamu Alaikum

Barak allahu feekum for the comments. Someone asked me when the next posting will be, and I thought I'd inform you inshallah. It will be sometime next week, probably on Sunday. I don't want to throw everything at you all at once, so I'm just going to post it weekly that way it can slowly be integrated, rather than doing it all at once and then forgetting the practices later on. If that makes sense? lol

If the font is too small or something, please notify me so I can edit it, because I didn't work with this type of font before, so if anyone has trouble reading it, I can PM you a copy of it with a bigger sized font or change it all together if more than one person has trouble seein it.

fi aman Allah
w'salaam

 

[.:Umniyah:.]

MashaAllah, This is a great Idea. Slow and steady is the way to go in my humble opinon:statisfie That way like you said it can not only be practised InshaAllah but also memorized and not forgotten. :bravo:

:statisfie

 

[youngsister]

Jazakallah kheir sis that was great! Masha Allah!:thumbs_up

 

[fzainab]

Sister

Jazakallah for your enlightening article. May the All-Mighty Allah reward you. I took a copy of your article so I can read it several times when I am offline. Keep up your work.

 

[*charisma*]

Bismillahi ArRahman ArRaheem

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatallahi wa Barakatu

​

From the Quran:

Those who behave arrogantly on the earth in defiance of right - them will I turn away from My signs: Even if they see all the signs, they will not believe in them; and if they see the way of right conduct, they will not adopt it as the way; but if they see the way of error, that is the way they will adopt. For they have rejected our signs, and failed to take warning from them. [7:146]​

From the Sunnah (Hadith):

The Prophet said: 'Whoever loves my way of life (Sunnah) loves me, and whoever loves me will be with me in Paradise.' (Sunan At-Tirmidhî)​

Week 2​

1. Conversing so that all may understand and participate without feeling left out. [Pertains to helping the Ummah]

This reminds me of a time when I was a kid and if we were angry at another friend we'd make up code words so that they wouldn't understand. Now that I'm older, alhemdulilah, I don't ever do that, but I do see adults doing something similar to this, be it intentionally or unintentionally. I think conversing where the other person may not understand is most common when we visit our home countries. If you have a relative that speaks english, and english is your mother tongue, we tend to speak in english rather than the language of the land because we are more used to it. We may not do it purposely, and it could be because we are too shy to pronounce some of the words in the other language, still, though, our purpose is to maintain brotherhood. This would make the other person in our company very sad indeed and often we don't notice this because they've stopped talking! So if the only time you take advantage of speaking their language is when you step foot into the market fearing the merchants will increase the prices knowing you're from the west, read this:

Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "In the presence of three people, two should not hold secret counsel, to the exclusion of the third .'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

In Abu Dawud, Abu Salih related: I asked Ibn `Umar: "What if there are four people.'' He said, "There is no harm in that.''

Ibn Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "When three of you are together, two of you must not converse privately ignoring the third till the number increases, lest the third should be grieved .''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]​

I don't know if its ever been done to you, but it really sucks! So make sure everyone around you understands what you are saying so that they can comment, converse, and not feel left out inshallah

2. Fulfilling your appetite before offering salaah [Pertains to improving one's salaah]

The best example I can give is praying during ramadhan. So you sit there and mother, auntie, gramma, or whoever sets the table and serves the food. You make the du'a whilst waiting for the last minute to dig in. "Bismillah!" and you pick up a date ready to tear that mother apart with your bare teeth when all the sudden uncle says , "Time for maghrib salaah!" :mmokay: At this time you form a few tears in your eyes as you return the date to the table and you give uncle a mean look :raging:...guess what?? You're supposed to eat before you pray if you're hungry:

`Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying, "No Salat (prayer) should be performed when the food has been served, nor should it be performed when a person is in need of relieving himself.'' [Muslim]​

Note that this keeps you from any distractions while offering salaah. Whilst it is important to offer salaah on time, this is an exception to keep the salaah pure. Allah does not make the religion difficult upon us alhemdulilah wa subhanallah!, so if ramadhan comes around and this is common in your family, you may want to educate a few of your members inshallah.

3. Restraining from overstuffing your stomach [Small practice]

This is probably most common during ramadhan as well, but it could be common any other time just the same, heck western people are becoming obese, and you can't always blame McDonalds! So often when we are hungry, like really really hungry, and food is presented to us, we act like we haven't seen food in our lives! The first dish is presented, then the second, and we load up on drinks and in the end you never want to look at food the same way again +o(. Ever had the feeling where those pants were just a few sizes smaller after you ate then when you wore them this morning? Yea...that's not really good:

The Prophet said: 'There is no vessel worse for the son of Adam to fill than his stomach. A few morsels are sufficient for him. If he is to consume more then a third is for his food, a third for his drink, and a third for air.' (Sunan At-Tirmidhî, Sunan Ibn Mâjah)​

In this hadith, we are supposed to eat 1/3 food, 1/3 drink, and leave the rest empty so that we can breathe. Filling ourselves up causes laziness [not to mention acne and all sorts of hormonal abnormalities] and indeed this is not the way of a true mu'min. So refrain from that inshallah. Even a few bites is enough to help us carry ourselves through out the day. No need to overload.


4. The restraint of yawning and the gratitude of sneezing [du'a]

You are probably getting tired from staying up all night studying or working since school's coming to an end, so late night studying is common, unfortunately, so is yawning. Seasonal allergies are also coming up, if they haven't done so already. Sneezing season, wuhu :statisfie!! Unlike the traditional "Bless you" that most say when one sneezes, there are three parts to the traditional sunnah reply:

After sneezing say: Alhemdulilah or Alhemdulilah 'ala kulli haal (Praise be to Allah)

After one has sneezed and said Alhemdulilah, you say: Yarhamuk Allah (May Allah have mercy upon you)

After one has said Yarhamuk Allah, you reply with: Yahdikum-ullah wa yuslihu balakum (may Allah guide you and render sound your state of affairs)​

*Note: The last one can also be said after a NonMuslim sneezes.

The only du'a you probably would have to memorize, is that last one. The other ones are pretty easy alhemdulilah. This is what it says in ahadith pertaining to both sneezing and yawning:

Yawning:

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Yawning is from the Shaytaan. If any of you feels the urge to yawn, let him resist it as much as possible, for if any of you says ‘Ha’ (makes a noise when yawning), the Shaytaan laughs." (al-Bukhari no. 3289)

Narrated by Abu Sa'id al-KhudriAllah's Apostle said: When one of you yawns, he should try to restrain it with the help of his hand since it is the Satan that enters therein. [Muslim]​

Sneezing:

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allah loves sneezing and dislikes yawning. If any one of you sneezes and says ‘Al-hamdu Lillaah,’ it is a duty on everyone who hears him to say ‘Yarhamak Allaah.’ As for yawning, if any one of you feels the urge to yawn, let him resist it as much as he can, and do not say ‘Hah, hah’ (do not make a noise when yawning), for this is from Shaytaan and he laughs at it." Abu ‘Eesaa said: This is a saheeh hadeeth. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 2747)​

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "When one of you sneezes he should say: `Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah),' and his brother or his companion should say to him: `Yarhamuk-Allah (may Allah have mercy on you).' When he says this he should reply: `Yahdikum-ullah wa yuslihu balakum (may Allah guide you and render sound your state of affairs).''' [Al-Bukhari]​

**Reminder: One says “Yarhamuk Allah” only after the one who has sneezed has praised Allah:

Narrated Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him): Two men sneezed before the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said to one of them, "Yarhamuk-Allah (May Allah bestow His Mercy on you)," but he did not say that to the other. On being asked (why), the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "That one praised Allah (at the time of sneezing), while the other did not praise Allah."
[Al-Bukhari]​

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If I've written anything wrong, it is from myself and shaytan and may allah forgive me for it. If you see anything wrong, please do correct me, as I am human and do make mistakes. Jazakum Allahu Khair

That's it for this week!! Inshallah next week, approx. 7 days, I'll post up the next one.

Continue to Week 3

fi aman Allah
w'salaam

 

[sapphire]

Assalamu'Alaykum!! Mashallah great update! no errors Alhamdulillah..well none i can pick out!anymore

Maybe this thread should be made into a sticky....its a great way to learn new things everyday...specially for beginners to Islam....but also for the rest as a reminder of the basics of Islam which we tend to forget and neglect when we move on to learning more advanced things......

Jazakallah for ur efforts

w'salam

 

[lyesh]

masha Allah sis charisma!!!!! that's a great article! may Allah reward u!!! ameen!

 

[.:Umniyah:.]

MashaAllahu BarakAllahu feeki. I just love this idea. May Allah reward you for your efforts ameen.

 

[Umu 'Isa]

:salamext:
Masha Allah sis, very well written!

Jazaki Allah khair wa barak Allah feeki for the reminder. I agree this thread should be a sticky, its very beneficial and inshaAllah we can all implement these into our daily lives.

 

[Snowflake]

MashaAllahhh simply superb Chrisma sis! May Allah reward you abundantly. Ameen.


:muslimah: :awesome:

I’m not trying to increase the polygamy practice hehe

;D

 

[khushnood]

jazakallah,a very nice thread,sister charisma

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

:salamext:

JizakAllah khair !​

i just have one little problem, its easy for the sisters to recognize a muslim sister due to hijaab, but wallahi its so hard for me to recognize a muslim brother, its not nice ! So many times i would just stare at a brother contemplating wether his muslim or not, yesterday i didnt salaam this 40 year old man with a slight beard because i wasnt sure if his doing that due to age or islaam.

what a dilemma!


but jizakAllah khair, im on week 1. A little late....

 

[Pk_#2]

ur early.

Erm...some sisters wear the hijaab as fashion, when non-Muslims wear it you duno whether they are converts or just wearing it!

Also not all sisters hijaab ofcourse!

we all go through it.

Peace!

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

ur early.

Erm...some sisters wear the hijaab as fashion, when non-Muslims wear it you duno whether they are converts or just wearing it!

Also not all sisters hijaab ofcourse!

we all go through it.

Peace!

:salamext:

none the less its far easier to identify a muslim sister then a muslim brother.

 

[*charisma*]

Assalamu Alaikum

jazakum Allahu Khair for your comments

JizakAllah khair !

i just have one little problem, its easy for the sisters to recognize a muslim sister due to hijaab, but wallahi its so hard for me to recognize a muslim brother, its not nice ! So many times i would just stare at a brother contemplating wether his muslim or not, yesterday i didnt salaam this 40 year old man with a slight beard because i wasnt sure if his doing that due to age or islaam.

what a dilemma!


but jizakAllah khair, im on week 1. A little late....

Maybe you could ask them what religion they are affiliated with? If theyre muslim, just be like "assalamu alaikum ekhi" and go on about your day they may even need help or something, i mean you could teach them how to say salaamz, and everytime they do say it, you get a reward as well.. allahu a'lem

The problem I used to have..well I probably still do for that matter, is I used to say my salaams, and they wouldn't hear it, so I'd say it a bit louder, and still they wouldn't hear it, so im like ah forget it :mmokay: then someone told me that its ok since the salaamz go towards Allah, because of my intentions.

fi aman Allah
w'salaam

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

:salamext:

sister if its not too much trouble perhaps you can post the dua' in arabic aswell, dont worry if you cant find it, im sure the transliteration is close enough inshaAllah.