Sajdah, is a Litmus Test.
It's an act that distinguishes the faithful from the faithless. It was the inaugural commandment given by Allah in the story of Adam's creation, marking the genesis of humanity's journey. This singular act of worship demarcated the obedient from the disobedient, the humble from the arrogant, and the righteous from the wicked.

The divine decree to prostrate was a watershed moment that separated the angels from the devils, the faithful from the faithless. It was a revelatory moment that exposed the true nature of Allah's creation. Those who submitted to Allah's will were distinguished from those who refused to bow.

Similarly, at the culmination of human history, another direct command to prostrate will serve as a final litmus test. This ultimate act of worship will differentiate the devout from the deniers, those who acknowledged Allah's sovereignty from those who rejected it. It will reveal who lived a life of submission and who persisted in pride and arrogance.

On that Day, this litmus test will separate those who were faithful from those who were faithless. May Allah grant us the strength to establish the spirit of prostration in our lives, so that we may be counted among the faithful on the Day of Reckoning.

Islam IS the submission of our will towards Allah SWT and His commands.

As believers the act of sujood is reserved ONLY for our Rabb and Khaliq. 

The earth, the place of prostration reminds us that we were created from the element of sticky clay ‘tinin lazib’ (37:11); clay that is a cohesive yet pliable element formed to give us our individual shapes. 

Neither the lowly earth nor the central and elevated part of our bodies, our head; can detract us from our primary purpose of creation - which is to submit to Him and Him Alone. 

As believers we are His servants and accept His Rububiyyah  (Lordship) infinitely; and know that He is Our Lord -  the only One worthy of being worshipped.

Even those whose faith is not as strong; carry the affirmation of Rubibiyyah in their hearts.

However, the act of Ubudiyyah (total servitude or submission to Allah SWT) and practising the commands of our Rabb with total servitude or ikhlas -  has been a great challenge -  even for those who are considered to be firm believers.

Believers are flawed and constantly fighting their nafs and laziness or tiredness; therefore we are unable to fulfil our basic acts of worship with the dedication of a submitting Abd (slave) who worships his/her Lord with Ihsan. 

So what of Satan who refused to prostrate at the command of His Lord… 

Satan also accepted His Lord’s Rububiyyah. But the act of ubudiyyah was wherein lay the difficulty…

He was arrogant and ungrateful though he had been granted a high designation by his Lord.

So on this occasion his lack of submission to his Lord  made him damned for eternity. 

Our father Adam Alayhis Salaam had a mere slip when he forgot his Lord’s instruction not to to go near a particular tree, but through the granting of knowledge by the Aleem he was taught the specific dua to seek forgiveness…what a wonderful blessing. Alhamdulillah 

Aren’t we the fortunate ones…
…for we have a choice to pick any second of the day to return back to our Lord and seek His forgiveness and make a new start. 

Alhamdulillah. 
 

 

Buanglah sifat sombong dari diri kita.

Antara dosa yang menjadikan iblis dilaknat dan dimurkai Allah adalah TAKABBUR, iaitu menolak kebenaran dan merendahkan manusia.

Jika kita sering menolak teguran, dan merasa diri kita lebih baik dari orang lain, itu bermakna kita sudah terjangkit dengan dosa takabbur.

Orang yang ada sebesar zarah sifat sombong dalam hatinya, diharamkan syuraga, hatta bau syurga pun tak dapat melainkan jika bertaubat nasuha.

Knowledge is never neutral.
It always bears fruit, the question is what kind.

Will knowledge lead us to obedience or arrogance?
To submission or resistance?
To humility or pride?

The angels responded to knowledge with submission.

Iblis responded with knowledge mixed with ego.

The difference was not what they knew 
but what their hearts did with it.

Allah teaches us a powerful truth:
Above everyone who possesses knowledge is the All-Knowing.

No matter how much we learn, we remain students before Allah.

True knowledge softens the heart.
It increases awe, not entitlement.
It draws a servant closer to obedience,
not further into self-importance.

When knowledge inflates the ego,
it becomes a veil instead of a light.
When it humbles the heart,
it becomes a means of nearness to Allah.

Trust Allah.

His knowledge preceded your creation,
your struggles, your questions, and your future.
Nothing you are discovering now
is new to Him. So submit wholeheartedly. 

On a journey of seeking knowledge? Pause regularly and check your heart:
Why am I seeking knowledge?
Who do I want to impress?
What do I hope it will make me feel?

Then renew your intention:
to know Allah,
to obey Him more sincerely,
to submit even when understanding is incomplete.

Ibn Al-Qayyim [رحمه الله] said:

❝Knowledge is food for the heart, its drink, its medication. The heart being alive is dependent upon knowledge. When the heart is devoid of knowledge then it is dead.❞

[Miftaah Daar As-Sa’aadah, (1/344) |

May Allah grant us knowledge that bears the fruit of humility, leads us to obedience, and keeps us aware that we are always standing before the Knower of all things.

These verses spell out God's love for us. He created the earth, the seven heavens, brought forth our father Adam as a dignified human being, gifting him with knowledge, asked the angels to prostrate before him, told him to enjoy all of the blessings in heaven with his spouse except one tree, and when Satan deceived them , Allah taught Adam how to repent - He did not leave him alone or not forgive him.  

To God belongs the greater example, just as a parent prepares a home for a child, teaches them, supports them to have enjoyment and when they make a mistake, guides them on how to make amends, God loves us and prepares us to be close to Him.

Do you feel His love for you ? 

Do you feel it surrounding you in the earth and the heavens? 

Do you feel it with you when you fall and return to Him ? 

Alhamdullilah, may we be always gifted with Allah's love.

An amazing similarity. In the story of Adam, after asking the angels to name the things that he taught Adam, they admitting to not knowing. So upon Adam proving his superiority in knowledge, Allah asked the angels to prostrate to him. Also in the story of Yousef, after the king asked the interpreters to explain his dream, they were unable to do so, so once Yousef was able to do so after their inability, it resulted in his elevation in status as it did with Adam.
It seems that sometimes that sometimes Allah, if he wants someone to shine and to elevate their status, He will first show the futility of others before putting the spotlight on that individual so his talents are more appreciated and his status is raised even more. We see a similar case when Omars companions blamed him for bringing Ibn Abbas as a child to their meetings which discussed matters related to the Ummah. To prove his worth he asked them their understanding of Surah al Nasr. After giving their interpretations, which were all correct, he asked ibn Abbas for his and his proved to be the most insightful and this was a cause of his elevation in their eyes.

Mashallah those are such insightful observations.

When reading this short passage we see the angels , whom Allah speaks to directly and are able to witness the world which is currently unseen to us , were not able to see the wisdom of Adams creation and inheritance of the earth when their assessment, which proved correct , is that his offsprings will cause corruption on earth and spill blood. Allah made it clear there is a greater wisdom in his creation than meets the eye that only the All knowing can see. The lesson learned is that the servent should know he will not always be able to detect the wisdom in everything , rather he might miss the wisdom in most things whether it be occurrences, laws in Islam , or even the creation of certain creatures and phenomenon in our visible world. When the wisdom as to why is hidden from our very limited intellect we need to accuse our intellect before accuse the wisdom of Allah. In fact if we continue in the story we see that the one who put his intellect before the command of Allah, shaitan, was cursed and banished from the presence of Allah when he refused to bow to Adam on the basis of him being created from a better substance (fire vs mud). His attempt to place his limited intellect before the wisdom of the All knowing is what led to his demise. However the difference between the  Adams disobedience and the disobedience of shaitan was that Adams disobedience was one of weakness and desire which is why it was followed up with repentance and acceptance from the most merciful . However shaitans disobedience came from a position of arrogance and refusing to subdue his intellect before the law of Allah and thus led to his demise.

#Week1 #QuranicCalendar #Yaqeen #Certainty #Iman #Faith  #Hajj #Tilawat #Recitation #Reverts #Arabic #Tafsir #Commentaries #QuranInAYear 

One of our reflection prompts this week (Week One of Qur'an in a Year) is 'How do we believe in Allah SWT without seeing Him?'

As a recent revert (March 2022) who was coming from a position of near-atheism, I worried greatly for a while about how it would ever be possible to truly believe in God. But little by slow, Allah SWT, the Gentle and All-Aware, has manifested His presence and care in my life, time and time again. 

There are so many examples. I'll write here about two of them. God wiling:

Help during Hajj
******
I made Hajj last year, Alhamdulillah. I didn't sleep much and I got sick too. Not uncommon! But I could often sense that, even though I was often too tired to think straight, Allah SWT was physically guiding me to what I needed most at the time, whether it be a seat on the ground that allowed me some back support, or whether it be medical care or even a local brother who helped me with a wheelchair for tawaf! I was able to complete everything I needed to do for Hajj, Alhamdulillah, but that's because my Rabb gave me everything I needed just as I needed it.

A Ramadan Stretch Goal: Reciting a Juz a Day
*****************
Learning to read the Arabic script has been an ongoing challenge. As of late last year I still could recite only a few ayat at a time before I would get mentally tired. 

Around that time I began making a du'a that Allah SWT make the Qur'an the spring of my heart and the light of my chest. I recited the du'a for a few weeks and then forgot about it.  

Then I found some learning materials online that improved my ability to read the script and to understand some of the grammatical structures and vocabulary in the Qur'an. And as of Sha'ban, I found myself making an intention to recite a juz a day during Ramadan. And Alhamdulillah, Allah SWT opened the way for me to be able to do just that. Was it tough at times? Yes! Was my tajwid good? No. Did it take me a long time to recite one juz a day? Yes, but the time I needed got shorter each day. Did I connect with the Qur'an in a way I never had before? Absolutely. 

Long story short, a lot of that 'impostor syndrome' feeling is gone now. I still need good English translations to be able to understand the meanings of the ayat and each surah as a whole, and I have a few favorite tafasir (commentaries) that I rely on as well. But I see this recent Ramadan experience as nothing short of miraculous. 

I just remembered the other day that I had been making that du'a, and even though I eventually forgot to keep making it, Allah SWT answered it.

Du'aa
****
May Allah SWT grant tawfiq (success) to all of the participants in Qur'an In A Year and may He shower baraka and noor (increase and light) into the lives of the QuranReflect team, Shaykh Saeed, and everyone who's participated in bringing this initiative to us. Barakallahu fikhum.

May Allah bless you and your words. Jazakallah khair for this reflection, and for sharing your story 🤍

> Yes, but the time I needed got shorter each day. Did I connect with the Qur'an in a way I never had before? Absolutely.

This part is comforting as someone who's currently stumbling across the letters of Quran. As I'm still finding my rhythm with tajweed, it reassures me that progress doesn't have to be dramatic to be real.
Day by day, I trust that this small consistency will grow into something deeper. Inshallah, one day I won't just be reciting the words, rather, I'll feel them settle in my heart.

May Allah continue to bless you in your journey and writing ❤️

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

I had read a few translations of the Qur’an several times during my teenage years. I was marvelled by the science of the Qur’an. Yet, I didn’t really contemplate about the Prophets peace be upon them all, the Day of Judgment and death.  I believe I had not ‘experienced’ much about life and especially I had not suffered much loss during my youth. 

Then one day, it was as though the Qur’an was ‘forced upon me’ by Allah through our Qur’an group ‘Quran Crew’; for Muslim women a small but growing group who come from various parts of the world. I realised then Guidance and invitation to the Qur’an only comes from Allah. It is Allah only who can open a person’s heart. 

In my early days of contemplating the Qur’an with our taddabur group, I had forgotten my books (that I habitually carry) whilst travelling. I had my children’s iPad and I felt the urge to read whilst as a passenger in the car. I saw some ‘kindle books’ and decided to look for a book. I found ‘The Book of Aphorisms’ or ‘Kitab Al Hikam’ by Ibn Ata Illah (an esteemed scholar from Egypt and praised by Ibn Taymmiyah). 

The cover was relatively unappealing but something drew me to this book and as I turned the pages I read the following:

'When Allah unfolds a realm of knowledge for you, get rid of the feeling that you are not qualified for that in terms of deeds. He opened up  that for you because He wanted to make Himself known to you. Don’t you know that the knowledge was His presentation for you, while the deeds were yours for Him and, of course, your presentation will be zilch compared to that of Him.'  (Pg 5).

Having read this, I was astounded I had recently had miracle encounter with a sister from another part of the world and together we formed a taddabur group. I struggled against this responsibility. Afterwards, shortly I discovered Quran Reflect. For four years, I have been turning the pages of the Qur’an deeply contemplating on most days. I consider this nothing but a miracle and the Generosity of Allah towards me. I also know there are beautiful stories from mankind of how they discovered the Qur’an. All coming to the conclusion that this is truly the Mercy of Allah. 

Yet, the Qur’an carries responsibility and the responsibility of action, adherence and trust upon Allah. It’s not a gift to be taken without huge gratitude, a gratitude that must be given every single day. 

I was once in my tajweed class and I was struggling and my teacher from Egypt she told me ‘ask Allah for help, ask Allah to make it easy’ so I had this habit to ask Allah to make things easy and I realised I should do the same when applying the Qur’an to make it easy. For often the soul will struggle against the temptations of this world. 

I must contemplate always this gift, this invitation to follow and show my gratitude by implementing the Qur’an and always being in awe of Allah and always remembering He indeed is the Most Gracious and ever so Merciful. Yet, I need His help to follow. 

This ayah in a good way frightens me. I know if I am sincere with Allah, He will be with me. So I ask for His help to guide me with His Blessed Book.

Shauma Hayyu Syakura​ may the Qur’an be our companion in this world, for it to be our companion in the barzakh and on the day of judgment and we are elevated through the quran and we are forgiven because Allah guided us to love His words and to heed them. All praise is due to Allah Lord of the worlds, and I am grateful to Allah that you are striving and keep that striving and may you feel the sweetness of striving that you cannot be without the Qur’an, Allahumma Ameen 🤲🏻♥️

The fruit that a plant bears depends on the seed that we sow.When allah provides us with seeds,we have to nurture and water it in a good fertile soil so that it produces lot and lot of fruits,flowers and seeds.

Throughout our lives Allah is constantly planting seeds of faith in our life and calling us to also plant seeds of faith in the lives of others, on an ongoing basis.

Remember —a farmer who plants good quality seeds,in a highly fertile soil generously will get a great crop.

TO REAP GREAT BENEFITS

*the soil(heart) has to be fertile with faith.
We should make our heart clean and pure to reap good harvest.

*good watering and light is required to yield good crop.
      With Allahs mercy and light,when a fertile heart receive rain of benefial knowledge,it grows abundantly.
 
*we can produce more and more crops by sowing the seeds from our own crops.If the root is strong and deep,we can reap crops in plenty and in good quality .

             Likewise for each good deed that we do with strong faith and sincerity,we get a great harvest eventhough we may not see it now.Once seed is sown allah will make it grow and allah increases it,and we continue to reap the benefits.SUBHANALLAH

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

*The weeds and parasites growing around the crops if not checked and rooted out, from to time, it is likely that they’ll take over and kill the crops.  

Similarly, the faith and righteous deeds must be cleared of the weeds of hypocrisy and innovation.May Allah protect us all....
 
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

Every deed of the son of Adam is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times. Allah the Exalted says: Except for fasting, for it is done for my sake and I will reward it.

Source: Sahih Muslim 1151, Grade: Sahih


Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

None gives charity from what is good, for Allah only accepts what is good, but that the Merciful takes it with His right hand. Even if it is a date, it is nurtured in the hand of the Merciful until it becomes greater than a mountain, just as one of you nurtures his young horse or camel.

Source: Sahih Muslim 1014, Grade: Sahih

SUBHANALLAH....
ALHAMDULILLAH...
May Allah help us to remember that whenever we are giving sadaqa,it goes directly to Allahs right hand.May Allah pour his mercy upon us to race to earn his immense pleasure....Aameen.

Allahu akbar kabeera
Walhamdulillahi kaseera
Wasubhanallahi bukrathan wa aseela.....


# spend
# charity
# good deeds
# Allah increases

Word een maandelijkse donateur