islam .:. iman .:. ihsan

The Aftermath of a Sin

rihla2009 — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:38:19 +0000

“People who don’t have determination to heal from the wound will keep letting the sin, the wound, take over the soul, and instead of it being an injury, it becomes a permanent disability.”

Imam Maged, during his lecture on Repentance

The Stars and the Peabrain

rihla2009 — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:27:27 +0000

“You think that you are some insignificant thing but yet in you the whole cosmos is contained. You can’t know the constellations and you cant know that Pleione is so many light years away except that it is in you. The Nobel Prize winner Alexis Carrol said that if we take the smallest things we know in the universe and the largest things, add them and divide by two, we get the human being. We are in between the subatomic universe and the great galaxies. If we don’t see the peabrain size of ourselves we become arrogant, but we also have to see the cosmos sides of us. We have both, just as we’re bestial and we’re angelic. If you become angelic, you’re not acting out the other aspects God has given you. Balance. We shouldn’t forget our own insanities and our absurd nature, the ridiculous things we do. Those are all useful, that’s why we do them. You walk upright. But you’re also a defecating creature, and that’s to remind your peabrain.”

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, during his Aqeedah class.

qayoom

rihla2009 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:37:12 +0000

“’laysa kamithluhu shay‘

Everything that occurs to your mind, God is other that. Our incomprehensibility of Allah is how we comprehend Him. “Don’t reflect on God, but reflect on the blessings of Allah.” Alive, He never dies. The attributes that are in ourselves are analogous to knowing our Lord. Allah has given us attributes that enable us to understand Him. God is Aware.

Allah’s life is utterly and completely independent. He is the One who is enabling everything else to stand. He is what enables all of us. At any moment Allah can take away that power. Atheists say I don’t believe in anything I can’t see feel or touch. Yet they believe in the next moment: there no guarantee of the next moment. You can pop into existence, you can pop out of existence. He is sustaining every instant, and there is no guaruntee of the next moment. That is the qayoom.”

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, during his class on Aqeedah.

faith

rihla2009 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:32:37 +0000

“Whoever realizes faith is from speculative theology, or through abstract proofs, or academic provisions, is an innovator.” This is important because this is not what iman is. Faith is a light, it’s a noor that allah places in the hearts of his servants. It’s a gift, and it’s an act of grace from Allah SWT. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said “None of you will enter paradise because of their actions.” Faith is actually in the heart, not on the face. It’s impossible to express, ineffable. Sometimes it’s made stronger by a vision during sleep. Other times by witnessing the state of a righteous man: you don’t know why, but when you’re in the presence of that person, your faith gets strengthened.”

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, during his class on Aqeedah.

the root of ostentation

rihla2009 — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:18:52 +0000

“The root source of ostentation is desire. Wanting something from a source other than god. Your desire should only be with what Allah has. If you desire what is in the hands of people, they will never like you. We have to remove our desire from human beings.”

Imam Zaid Shakir, during a lecture on Purification of the Heart.

Photo contributed by Dana Atiyat

rihla2009 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:23:30 +0000

If when reviewing your notes, you come across a quote you’d like on the blog, please do not hesitate to send it along; to do so, check the ‘About’ section. InshaAllah this blog was beneficial.

fi aman Allah.

time

rihla2009 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:52:21 +0000

Imam Shafi’i said: ‘I learned two things (kalimaat) from the Sufis: Time is a sword, if you do not cut it off, it will cut you off; and the nafs, if you do not preoccupy it with good, it will preoccupy you with evil.’

Taken from Imam Zaid Shakir’s class on Purification of the Heart

Quote and photo contributed by Lena Zohny

knowledge

rihla2009 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:44:20 +0000

“Knowledge is in the hearts of humans and not in the lines of books.”

Taken from Imam Zaid Shakir’s class on Purification of the Heart.

Quote and photo contributed by Lena Zohny

something strange

rihla2009 — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:39:50 +0000

The Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, said “Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.”

Taken from Shaykh Yahya Rhodus’ class on Shafi’i Fiqh.

Contributed by Nasiha Rahman

Photo by Suzanne Barakat

witnesses

rihla2009 — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:30:01 +0000

“We are witnessed to show people you can follow the laws of Allah SWT in the 21st century. We are witnesses in this world, but primarily, we are witnesses in the next.”

Imam Zaid Shakir, in his class on Purification of the Heart.