Shaykh Rabee’ Defends Shaykhs of Yemen

Translated into English:

Shaykh Rabee’ Ibn Haadee al-Madkhalee is asked about the current condition of the school of Shaykh Muqbil in Damaaj, and about the recent revilement that has occurred from some of the people against this school and its Shaykhs.

He clarifies that the Shaykhs of Yemen are in the best of conditions and that their works delight the chests of the believers and that their works anger every person of desire!

PHOTOS: Housing in Damaaj/Sa’dah

Photos of Damaaj and the Sa’dah province (in which Damaaj is located), with interspersed commentary from Talibideen Jr’s Account of Living in Damaaj, previously posted HERE

“…Damaaj is nestled in the mountains and as you reach the last set of mountains coming in, it is a beautiful view as you look down on Damaaj. Spots of green trees sprinkled here and there.”

Clay House in Sa’dah Province

“The house was better than I had expected for mud. Ours was painted on the outside and had a little decoration. Some houses are just kind of plain and look like what you see in National Geographic.”

The Reality of this Dunya

Excellent E-Book on Hijrah

Questions & Answers Concerning Al-Hijrah
By Shaykh ‘Abdur Rahmaan al-’Adanee
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Click HERE for the Audio

How to Memorize the Qur’an (Part I)

A Practical Method

Choosing a Suitable Time

The student must choose a suitable time for memorization and the most ideal time is after Fajr, after having completed the morning adhkaar (words of remembrance). The student of the Qur’aan must strive and struggle to change his / her sleeping habits and to make the very best usage of their time, with discipline, scheduling and determination. The Prophet (s) informed us that Allaah has placed barakah (blessing) in the early part of the day. So, though one may sit for half an hour after Fajr or half an hour after Maghrib, he / she will accomplish more in the time after Fajr.

In order to remain awake after Fajr, one must then strive to sleep early and / or take a nap in the afternoon if possible. Staying up after Fajr must become a lifestyle for the student of the Qur’aan, so that they can maintain their relationship with the Qur’aan throughout their entire lives, by Allaah’s permission.

If, for some reason, the student cannot do it immediately after Fajr, then before Fajr is the next best time. However, he / she should not attempt memorization in the evening, as the fruits will not be fully reaped.[1]

Also, the student must ensure that nothing will interfere with the time set for memorization, whether phone calls, family members’ needs, etc.

Choosing a suitable place

The student must choose a suitable place to memorize. Ideally, the place should have all, or most of the following qualities:

· It should be a room free of pictures (as much as is possible).
· It should be plain and simple.
· It should not be in a place which will encourage sleep, like in the bedroom or close to the bed.

Hence, memorization in “nature”, contrary to what some may think, is actually not advisable, as the student will easily become distracted.

Observing the etiquette of Qur’aan

The student should make wudhoo’ and maintain it (i.e. renew it upon breaking it) while they sit with the Qur’aan. It is also advisable to sit facing the qiblah, if possible. Though women are not required to wear head scarves, they should be dressed modestly.

Same mushaf

The student should have one mus-haf, from which they memorize and review. The Arabic mus-haf (i.e. not the Pakistani prints) should be chosen, as it is more suitable for memorization, due to the fact that each page starts with the beginning of a verse and ends with the ends of a verse. The student should maintain their mus-haf and avoid switching mus-hafs.

However, it is also advisable for the student to keep a small mus-haf in his pocket or her purse as well as one in the car. This is because, if one has spare time, or gets stuck in a waiting room or in traffic, they can use that time to review. And such times are not always planned, as to allow the student to maintain their main mus-haf with them.

Students should also have a mus-haf stand and a pencil to mark mistakes. Its is also advisable that students have a notebook in which to record their daily progress, as provided by Hifzh schools. A sample record sheet is attached and may be photocopied and used.

Order of memorization

Students should memorize in order, even if they have previously memorized bits and pieces from here and there. They should start from the back (Juz ‘Amma) or the front (Soorat al-Baqarah) and continue. Ideally, students should memorize 3 or 5 juz’s from the back and then move to Soorat al-Baqarah, as it allows the student to start with something easy and build up from there. At the very least, students should first memorize Juz ‘Amma before starting Soorat al-Baqarah.

Start with the “warm up”

Once the student sits with the Qur’aan to start memorization, the first thing he/she should do is the “warm-up”. The student should read the ½ page or page that he / she intends to memorize, slowly and melodiously, paying close attention to applying Tajweed rules, proper makhaarij, etc. Depending on the student’s time frame and level of motivation, the student may also listen to a tape of a good reciter reciting that page.

If the student does not understand Arabic, he / she should then read the meaning from the translated Qur’aan in English (or their language).

Once the student had read the page (and meaning if needed), he / she should begin the process of memorization.

She Abandoned Her Righteous Friends…

See Original IslamQA Fatwa HERE

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QUESTION:

I have a problem and I cannot make a decision regarding it. But this decision has to be taken within few days. I have friends who I think are good. I am 22 years old, four years ago I knew them in university, we co-operate in that which is good. We encouraged each other and memorized 15 Juz’ of the glorious Qur’an. We made a wonderful magazine about the prophet, peace be upon him. They supported me against a big problem I faced in which the whole environment at university was against me. We have a daily circle in which we study about the book of Allah.

The problem is that I cannot tolerate them anymore; I feel I am masked in front of them, and have another face behind their backs. Some silly situations happened made me stop calling them or meeting them. I apologized to them and made our contact only via mail, using few simple sentences, such as how are you, fine, and that is all.  As for memorizing and all other projects with them, I stopped them all. I really hated all of them; I did not complete my memorization till now.

I feel very weak in terms of worshipping, no fasting, no praying at night, I do not know if it is devil or what, they want me to decide what exactly I want to do, I decided to live alone, isolated from the whole world, I became hateful and envious, my heart is so black, blacker even than a dark night. I feel that having friendship with them has an aspect of being attached to life, superficiality and other women issues.

What shall I do? Even the reminder message from them, specially these messages I delete before I read!

A Few Good Men?

American Muslim women bemoan lack of ‘good’ male suitors

By SONDOS KHOLOKI-KAHF, Southern California InFocus

Afaf*, 25, has been searching for a husband for a solid two years to no avail.

“All my friends were getting married by the age of 22, so, naturally, I wanted to be part of the ‘wedding club,’” she recalls. “And, of course, there was this romantic notion that it would be the love story of love stories.”

Afaf started feeling the pressure as her friends talked endlessly about wedding dresses, halal caterers and honeymoons, even though she had not been planning on getting married while in college.