by Mahnoor Fatima & Fatima Shakir Its finally happening. The nights are getting colder, air conditioners have been bid farewell, fans are slowly losing speed and the warm clothes are on their way. There’s much to prepare for, whether it be looking for new recipes for all the winter vegetables and fruits, or getting the new clothes sewn and brought. So, this winter, we hope that you will let us share a few facts and tips for a smooth winter, the Sunnah way! Come winter, come the joy of dry fruits. As the cold approaches, nut cracking around the heater turns into a good excuse to spend time with the family. We know you all treasure those moments and now we’ll give you reason to cherish them even more. According to the National Nutrient Database of the U.S Department of Agriculture, the ideal nuts serving size for a healthy person is 1oz per day, which conveniently comes to about a handful. Nuts, be it walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or peanuts, are rich in vitamins E and B and unsaturated fats, which are good for your skin, nervous and digestive system and are often termed as ‘heart friendly’ fats. There are several food items which come as winter guests, which are proven to be very beneficial, through the Prophet’s(s) ahadith. These include dates, figs, honey and olives. He said, “Eat olives, and use it on your hair and skin, for it comes from a blessed tree.”(Trimidhi) He also said, “Make use

Last year, around this time, I was in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. As the blessed days of Zilhajj enter upon us again, the beautiful memories of last year are flashing before my eyes. When I came back from Hajj, I penned some thoughts and observations that had been floating around in my mind during these days. Initially these were meant to serve as a personal reminder only, but now I am sharing some of these pages with you in the hope that they might benefit the readers. ***************************** I have been reborn after Hajj! I must not disobey Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala at any cost. As long as this is in place, life is perfect. This is the guaranteed key to ultimate peace of heart. ***************************** For me, one of the greatest take-home lessons from Hajj was learning to be patient. Sabr is the fuel we need to face all kinds of situations in the journey of life. I remember an old lady who was our companion in Mina. She was quite ill, had difficulty in walking and even breathing. But you would never get to know it from the graceful manner in which she conducted herself. She never complained, nor announced her grievances openly. Whenever I saw her, I was reminded of the concept of Sabrun Jameelun (beautiful patience) ***************************** In Muzdalifah, circumstances made us sleep on a narrow spot on the footpath under a bridge. There was traffic, smoke and horns all around. Pedestrians of all

by Bisma Mukhtar  The wind blew in her face and the bicycle felt as if it were flying through the corridor of flowers on either side. Chirping sparrows invaded the grass; in front of her eyes, tight red buds began to flower on the trees lining the path. Yellow daffodils bobbed their heads in the breeze, and little ducklings followed their mother to the pond. A group of children whistled and clapped as they ran through the colourful flowers dotting the nearby fields. The air was filled with a lovely baked apple scent; fluffy little bunnies bounced throughout the gardens as if they were common frogs.She could feel the fragrance of spring spread. A rainbow coloured the sky and the sun’s golden glow shone from end to end. Splendid rivers of rich creamy milk flowed through the mountains. Her heart swelled with pleasure and contentment.   As she rode the little red bicycle along another path- this one much like a paved road, in fact- she came to a large riverside palace. It looked fit for a queen! She approached it and went inside. The floors were lined with fine carpets that appeared to be from another world altogether. For the first time in her life, her eyes were bewildered by all the beauty and splendor around her, as if they had been previously blind. Lying along the sides of a great hall were cushions and the room was decorated with pretty little embellishments. There, she saw someone, with a

For most of us, Jannah is such an abstract concept, that we have no motivations to get there. Surah al-Insaan/ad-Dahr is a surah in the 29th juz of the Quran; almost all of it talks about Jannah. After studying the explanation of this surah in our Ramadan halaqah ‘Juz Tabaarak’, the students were all provided with sticky notes and asked to describe themselves in Jannah. This description had to be so real and so important to them that in no costs could they bear not making it there.  We have compiled their lovely replies, as they are worth sharing!  ‘I’ll have a giant elevated bean bag high up in the air. Besides it is a large tree which bears cupcake flavored bananas. My water permanently tastes like chocolate. I’ll skydive from my chair into a river made of jelly. I have all the clothes I used to see on Tumblr and I have a servant who looks like Chris Evans.’ -Eeman Aslam ‘I see myself in a green silk dress, wearing sparkly silver bracelets. I walk into my own restaurant and eat all I can. My mom is here too, but she’s too busy in her own luxuries to boss me around. I can do, buy, wear, scream or run wherever I want. My home is in a green forest, decorated with jewels.’ -Kiran Raja ‘The most appealing thing in Jannah for me would be the ability to travel to different places and universes. I would see the ocean

by Ayesha Mahsud Khan Music, gossip, the thrill of a fast drive and youthful desire What are angels, demons and the fury of hell’s naked fire? Lost in pure ecstasy, who cares what tomorrow will bring! Leather jackets, atheism, our porsches and diamond rings Look alive my friends! We are children of the darkest hour We erect our dreams in the depths of a baseless tower Ah! The sheer grace of being wrapped in silks of black How naïve we are to not miss the bone of faith, we lack When it’s all over, goodbye, it’s time to go our separate ways There is no silver lining, no rainbows, not even a hint of day Pain, emptiness, depression and not a single soul in sight Isn’t there anyone to give me comfort, to help me fight? Sinking, falling deeper and deeper into filth and abyss More pain, there is no hope, just a wretched night’s kiss Is this the end? Can’t I be saved? Have my sins swallowed me? As this thought crosses my mind, a cool breeze and I am free I feel the hand of the mightiest might, the highest height I have found salvation in the warmth of Allah’s light I see the truth, I see it crystal clear, how can one deny? The trees, the mountains, the giant whale and the house fly Is this the path we have been trying to avoid for so long? Is this the price of knowing how to differ

by Ayesha Zaka Some of the azkaar discussed in previous episodes would require the reader to read them from a book or paper daily until he or she is able to commit them to memory. However, there are others that we all have already memorized by heart. All we need to do is brush up on them, incorporate them consciously into our routines and reap the unimaginable benefits! From these are the last three Surahs of the Quran, the last three ‘Quls’ –al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and an-Naas. Rasulullah (sallalahu alaihi wasallam) said that whoever recites these (al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and an-Naas) three times in the morning and in the evening, they will suffice him (as a protection) against everything! Abu Dawud 4/322, and At-Tirmithi 5/567; Classed as Sahih by al-Albani A protection against EVERYTHING- now isn’t that something too precious to be skipped because of laziness or heedlessness. بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ “قُلْ هُوَ اللهُ أَحَدٌ ۞ اللهُ الصَّمَدُ ۞ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ۞ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ” With the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Say: He is Allah (the) One. The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He begets not nor was He begotten, and there is none equal to Him. بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ “قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ ۞ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ۞ وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ۞ وَمِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ ۞ وَمِنْ شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ”. With the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Say:

by Ayesha Zaka Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala says about our father Adam (‘alaihis salam): “And, indeed, long ago did We impose Our commandment on Adam; but he forgot it, and We found no firmness of purpose in him.” (Surah Taha, ayah 115) Forgetfulness is in the very nature of human beings from the first day. It hasn’t even been a month since we bid farewell to Ramadan, and we have already started to slip and forget many of our good intentions and resolutions. We forget a lot. We forget our Akhirah and the outcome of our actions. We become heedless and forget even our Rabb –this is indeed the worst kind of forgetfulness with serious repercussions. Forgetting Allah or remembering him very little has been termed a characteristic of the hypocrites. Allah says about them: “They forgot God, and so He forgot them.” (Surah at-Taubah, ayah 67) People who forget the remembrance of Allah have been labeled as being from the Party of Shaitaan, as Allah says: “Shaitaan has gained mastery over them, and has caused them to forget the remembrance of God. Such as these are Shaitaan’s partisans: oh, verily, it is they, the partisans of Shaitaan, who will truly be the losers!” (Surah al-Mujadilah, ayah 19) Allah Subahanau wa Ta’ala warns us: “..and be not like those who forgot God, and whom He therefore causes to forget [what is good for] their own selves: [for] it is they, they who are truly depraved!” (Surah al-Hashr, ayah 19)

by Ayesha Zaka So, today’s zikr is one that we all already know something about (hopefully): Ayat-ul-Kursi! We all learnt it by heart when we were young, and we can recite it at top speed, and we know that it protects. Let’s look deeper into the virtues of reciting Ayat-ul-Kursi at dawn and dusk. اللَّـهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚلَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ Allah! There is none worthy of worship but He, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never encompass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. – Surah al-Baqarah, ayah 255 We learn from the hadith that: “Whoever says this when he rises in the morning will be protected from jinns until he retires in the evening, and whoever

by Ayesha Zaka There are many ways in which we can keep our hearts filled with the remembrance of Allah, and many words to keep our tongues moist with His remembrance. The best of these words are, undoubtedly, the ones taught in the Quran and Hadith. We observe that many of the azkaar mentioned in ahadith focus on the Tauheed (Oneness) of Allah. After all, to acknowledge Allah’s tauheed and to worship Him alone is the greatest right that Allah has on His slaves. Shirk on the other hand is The Unforgivable Sin, if a person dies without repenting. Embedding true tauheed in the heart is the one thing that can sets a person’s heart, and thereby all his affairs, straight. It is the one thing that can decide a person’s fate: Jannah or Jahannum. From the perfect and comprehensive words that we have been taught to mention Allah’s Oneness and His Dominion, and to praise Him, and also mention His Absolute Power and Ability are: “لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ”. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, who has no partner. His is the Kingdom and His is the Praise and He is Able to do all things. (Recite ten times morning and evening) Abu Hurayrah (radhi Allah ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said:  “Allah will write one hundred rewards for whoever says this ten times in the morning,  and

by Ayesha Zaka Rasulullah (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Whoever recites blessings upon me ten times in the morning and ten times in the evening will obtain my intercession on the Day of Resurrection.” Haithami’s Majma’ Az-Zawa’id 10/120, and Al-Albani’s Sahih At-Targhib Wat-Tarhib 1/273 At-Tabrani reported this Hadith together with two chain of transmissions. One of them is reliable (Jayyid). We may recite any of the longer forms of Durood taught in ahadith, such as Durood-e-Ibrahimi, or a shortened form such as: “اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ” O Allah, we ask you for peace and blessings upon our prophet Muhammad Our hearts should be filled with the love of Rasulullah (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) as a natural consequence of knowing him and believing in him. Consequently, our tongues should always be moist with sending blessings on him. Ten times in the morning and evening is the bare minimum all of us should try to stick to. And look at the incentive we have been given: His intercession on the day we will all need it. May Allah fulfill this glad tiding for us. Two years back, when, I think, some cartoon controversy or the other was raging, I wrote a heartfelt piece about our relationship with our Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasllam). I’m going to share some excerpts with you all here: Imagine the day when every identity of yours will become irrelevant. The day when no one will care which country you are from, which language you speak, whose son

There is profound wisdom and depth in the short and comprehensive, yet very powerful du’as that have been taught to us by Rasulullah (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam). Along with the other du’as that we make, we should memorize high-impact Prophetic du’as to get their barakah in our lives. One such du’a that we have been taught to make in the morning after Fajr prayer is: اللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ عِلْماً نَافِعاً، وَرِزقاً طَيِّباً، وَعَمَلاً مُتَقَبَّلاً  O Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, a good provision, and accepted deeds. Ibn As-Sunni, no. 54, Ibn Majah no. 925. Its chain of transmission is good (Hasan), Ibn Al-Qayyim 2/375. This is a very beautiful, power-packed du’a to start every day of ours with. The words are few yet the meaning is vast. O Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge  Naf’i (beneficial) knowledge can mean knowledge that will benefit us as well as others. We should aim to learn something new every day instead of stagnating. However, we should also make sure that what we are learning is not useless, time-wasting stuff, but rather it benefits us in our deen or dunya. Whether it be medicine, or art, we should look for ways to gain and spread real benefit from our knowledge. The most beneficial ‘ilm is undoubtedly that of the Deen. But, even that will not benefit all who seek it. To reap its benefit, we should seek it with a pure intention and strive to implement and spread it too. What