azra THE ‘UMRAH
If a pilgrim wishes to be ritually pure for ‘Umrah, he should shed his clothing and bathe as he would after sexual defilement, if convenient. He should perfume his head and beard with the best oil he can find. There is no harm in what remains of it afterIhram.
It grieves to see how people these days, especially among the younger generation, are almost wholly preoccupied with negativity: through baseless arguments, gossip, and useless talk. Their time and energies are constantly being wasted on fruitless distractions that squander their potential, foster enmity, and make them unmindful of Allah’s remembrance.
Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullaah) said:
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!”
8. Increase in Dhikr (Remembrance of Allah)
We should glorify Allah night and day, especially in these first ten days of the blessed month of Dhul Hijja.
Remembering Allah much through acts of Dhikr brings much peace and tranquillity to the heart.
It also gives us a sense of Taqwa (fearful awareness of Allah), a consciousness that makes us realise that Allah Almighty is ever near and that we should always strive to please Him.
“…Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” (13:28)
Remembrance of Allah indeed is the greatest virtue. (29:46).
7. PRAYING NAWAFIL (VOLUNTARY) PRAYERS
What better way of drawing closer to Allah during I’tikaf than by praying the voluntary prayers:
Allah says in Hadith Qudsi:
….And My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (voluntary deeds) until I love him, [Bukhari]
WANT THE COMPANY OF THE PROPHET (SALLALLAHU ALAIHI WASALLAM) IN JANNAH?
3. AVOIDING DISTRACTIONS
There will be many things getting in our way & distracting us from our worship. But we must take all necessary precautions & measures in order to avoid any possible distractions.
The first thing we must do is to avoid major distractions like TV for a month or at least as much as possible. Putting away games consoles. If we meet with friends then we must try not to get into useless & idle discussions. Not going to places like the mall or high street’s unless it is absolutely necessary.
Rasulullah (Sallahu Alaihi Wassalam) said: “On no days is the worship of Allah desired more than in the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. The fast of each of these days is equal to the fast of a whole year, and the ibaadat (worship) of each of these nights is equal to the ibaadat of laylatul qadr.” (Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah)
Most Muslims very well know the blessings of the nights of Ramadan, especially the last ten nights. However, not everyone knows that the first ten days of the last month of the Islamic month, Dhul Hijjah, are equally packed with blessings.
Allah has provided Muslims numerous opportunities throughout the year to renew their faith and to encourage them towards acts of goodness by specifying such special days. So, we have another such opportunity that we shouldn’t let pass by just like any other period in time.
Allah says in the Quran in Surah Al-Fajr:
Unlike some central ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra who resigned to protest the union cabinet’s decision to carve out separate Telangana state, the Andhra Pradesh ministers have decided not to quit so that they can defeat the resolution whenever it is moved in the state assembly.
Ministers and state legislators of Congress from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) Friday had a meeting with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to chalk out their future course of action. They vowed to defeat the resolution in the assembly.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Friday said he will not run in next year’s presidential elections if his countrymen do not welcome the move.
“If the Syrian people don’t want me, I won’t stand for office,” Assad said in an interview with Turkey’s Halk TV channel.
It was still too early to take such a decision, however, said Assad, whose forces are mired in a devastating 30-month-old conflict with rebels seeking to overthrow the government.
“The situation should become clearer in the next four or five months because there are rapid changes taking place on the ground,” he stated.
A Muslim family in Britain has claimed that its two teenaged boys have been subjected to discrimination at school for not having shaved their beard. The school authorities said it was a matter of dress code, not religion.
The two Muslim 14-year-olds say they are being excluded because of “pure discrimination”. They have been banned from attending lessons with other pupils at a school in Lancashire’s Accrington town because they refuse to shave their beards, reported The Independent citing one of their family members.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Friday reviewed the law and order situation in the wake of protests in Seemandhra against the union cabinet’s decision to carve out separate Telangana state and directed police to handle the situation carefully.
As protests rocked Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra), the chief minister asked police to be on high alert and handle the situation carefully.
A statement from the chief minister’s office said the situation was reviewed in view of the shutdown being observed in Seemandhra.
The BJP and its affiliates are fuelling communal passions as the “Gujarat model” of development has increasingly come under attack, the CPI-M has said.
“Given this, the BJP has, obviously, returned to its basics – communal polarisation as the mainstay of its campaign for the 2014 general election,” CPI-M mouthpiece “People’s Democracy” said in an editorial.
Not surprisingly, it said, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh had denounced Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s appeal to chief ministers not to arrest or jail innocent Muslims on terror charges.
Recently, the “Indian Express” published two news items on the same page.
On the top, across five columns, was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s appeal: “All Secular Forces Must Unite Against Modi”, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
Hajj literally means ‘to set out for a place’. Islamically however it refers to the annual pilgrimage that Muslims make to Makkah with the intention of performing certain religious rites in accordance with the method prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).
“When I have not done any crime, how have I been punished?” This was Lalu Prasad’s instant reaction when a CBI court jailed him for five years for his involvement in the fodder scam.
An upset Lalu Prasad asked the question at the Birsa Munda Central Jail here over video conferencing facility after he heard the special CBI court sentencing him with a Rs.25 lakh fine.
Judge Pravas Kumar Singh retorted: “You can appeal in the higher court.”
Congress leaders from Seemandhra Thursday reiterated that Congress Working Committee (CWC) must reconsider its decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.
The ruling party leaders from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) went into a huddle here to chalk out their strategy amid reports that a resolution on Telangana may come up before the union cabinet at its meeting this evening.
The meeting, attended by 14 ministers and about 50 state legislators, also resolved to vote against the resolution whenever it is brought in the state assembly.
A partnership between India and Norway in the health sector has brought newborns’ health higher up on India’s agenda, an evaluation report of the programme released Thursday found.
The Norway-India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) was established in 2006 through a joint statement by the prime ministers of India and Norway.
The vision of NIPI is to provide catalytic, strategic support that would make a vital and sustainable difference to scaling up quality child health services in India under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi said Thursday that the RJD was disappointed after a court jailed her husband and party leader Lalu Prasad for five years in the fodder scam.
“Laluji has become a victim of political conspiracy as there was no proof
against him,” Rabri Devi told the media here after the CBI court sentenced Lalu Prasad in Ranchi.
“We expected justice from the court but are disappointed.”
She insisted that Lalu Prasad had been framed by political opponents and that he was a victim of a “political conspiracy”.
Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad was Thursday jailed for five years for his role in the Rs.950 crore fodder scam that surfaced 17 years ago, effectively ending the electoral career of one of India’s best known politicians.
The sentencing — the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) founder was also fined Rs.25 lakh — takes away Lalu Prasad’s membership of the Lok Sabha, where he was a familiar face, occupying one of the front benches. Lalu Prasad’s lawyers vowed to appeal in a higher court.
A draft resolution for carving a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh is likely to come up at the union cabinet meeting in the national capital Thursday evening.
The home ministry has drafted a resolution for the cabinet’s consideration in accordance with the July 30 decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) for the formation of Telangana state.
A servant does not earn Hajj Mabrur except by leaving sins.
Six new Indian schools are to open in Abu Dhabi in the next two years after education authorities in the UAE capital shut down a number of private Indian schools for violating land use norms.
India’s Ambassador M.K. Lokesh said that the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has given an assurance that the interests of the students of the Indian schools facing shut-down would be taken care of, the Gulf News reported Wednesday.
Seven Indian schools face closure after the ADEC launched a drive against villa schools or schools that are run pivately on residential plots.
Though the first phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail is expected to become operational in March 2015, people now have a chance to feel and experience the coach they will be travelling in.
A model coach, which is half the size of the actual coach, is on public display at Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar in the heart of Hyderabad. It will be kept for a month.
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Wednesday unveiled the coach built by Hyundai-Rotem consortium in South Korea for the 72-km-long elevated rail project.