بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
With Hajj season upon us, here’s a short and sweet article on Makkah and some of its virtues:
Makkah – The Most Beloved Land to Allah and His Messenger by Shaikh Wasiullah Abbas [Article source: http://qaryah.wordpress.com/]
[Shaikh Wasiullah is a scholar who resides in Makkah.]
PS. Here’s a short post about Makkah with a nice picture that I posted on my Daily Dose blog.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Note: The book entitled “From the Teachings of Hajj” has been updated by the translator. The post now shows the 2nd edition. So if you have the old edition, please delete that and replace it with the new one.]
Another day, another great article by the Badr family.
This one is on the virtues of the second best place on the planet as well as the manners that its residents and its visitors must abide by.
The Virtues of Al-Madeenah and the Manners of Residence and Visiting by Shaikh Abdul Muhsin Al-Abbaad
Shaikh Abdul Muhsin, for those who are unaware, is one of the senior scholars and he is from Madinah.
Note: For those of you who love to read, here’s the translator’s (Brother Aboo Shaybah, may Allah reward him greatly) blog. It’s jam-packed with wonderful translations:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
If you’re like me and you:
1) Love learning about aqeedah (creed).
2) Love all these “lessons derived from…” sort of books.
3) Love learning about Hajj.
4) Love anything that is written by the Al-Badr family.
Then you’ll love this book.
Really.
Which book, you ask?
It’s called “From the teachings of Hajj” and it’s by Shaikh Abdur Razzaq Al-Abbad.
It’s divided into three sections:
a) Lessons in Aqeedah learned from Hajj
b) Hajj and Refining the Soul
c) Sermons and Admonitions from the Farewell Hajj
Each section contains thirteen lessons.
Here’s the book:
From the teachings of Hajj (2nd Edition) by Shaikh Abdur Razzaq Al-Abbad.
[Update June 2012: For those of you who may have downloaded this book earlier, please note that this is a NEW edition of the book.]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Most of the planet seems rather fond of poems (not me though), so I thought I would post this Hajj poem I came across.
It’s by none other than Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullah).
________________________________________________________________
http://www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=613&category=127
by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
By Him whose House the loving pilgrims visit,
Responding with ihram at the appointed limit,
Uncovering their heads in total humility
Before One to Whom faces bow in servility.
They exclaim in the valleys, “We have responded to You –
All Praise is Yours, and Kingdom too!”
He invited and they answered, with love and pleasure;
When they called upon Him, nearer came the Divine treasure.
You see them on their mounts, hair dusty and dishevelled,
Yet never more content, never happier have they felt;
Leaving homelands and families due to holy yearning,
Unmoved are they by temptations of returning.
Through plains and valleys, from near and far,
Walking and riding, in submission to Allah.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
One of the complaints that I hear about most from the Hajjis is how their Hajj company messed up. [No, I can’t type it out. The list is too long.]
Okay, just a question: who chose this Hajj company to begin with? That’s right, the people themselves.
Many people decide on the Hajj company at the last possible minute which is probably why they end up getting some bad surprises.
Here’s an interesting document from Al-Hidaayah (the book publishers) about how to choose a Hajj company. It seems to cover just about all the complaints I’ve come across.
[There are a lot of references to the UK because that’s where they are based.]
How to choose a Hajj company by Al-Hidaayah
I’d advise those that are going to Hajj to go through this document carefully. Then, try to shortlist a group of Hajj companies based on these points.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Sigh, yes. Unfortunately, lots of people practice innovations during Hajj (and everywhere else for that matter).
Someone might say, “Hey, what’s the big deal if there are a few innovations here and there?”
Well, Allah has ordered us to do that which He loves and has asked us to stay away from that which He does not love.
So, the one who wishes to earn the love of Allah must apply the shariah as best as they can.
However, innovations are something that people have invented thinking that it will help them gain the love of Allah.
Just a few questions:
1) Does anyone know what Allah loves more than He does? How can anyone add anything to the shariah saying that it is a “good” innovation??? If it was truly a good thing, then Allah would have revealed it to His Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam)!
2) Has what he has ordered us to do not enough for us? Why do people feel the need to invent practices?
The main problem with those who practice innovations is not knowing the Majesty of Allah and not understanding the religion of Islam.
This is why it is mandatory for all of us to seek knowledge from authentic sources and also ask Allah to grant us fiqh (understanding) of this religion.
As for some of the innovations that are practiced during Hajj, the following article sheds light on that:
[Note: The translators seem to be in the process of adding more information so please check the main link provided below for any updates. Also, Points 11 and 12 are the same, probably a publishing error.]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Crave to know more about Makkah? Well, here’s a nice compilation of ahadeeth related to Makkah and the important things in it (Masjid Al-Haram, Zam-Zam, Black stone, etc):
[Note: The compiler has mentioned the authenticity of all the ahadeeth but for some of them, he has used scholars like Imam Ibn Hibban (rahimahullah), for example, who was known to be very lenient in grading ahadeeth.]
40 Hadeeth about Makkah by Dr. Talaal ibn Muhammad Abu An-Noor
Hajj and Umrah 