5 Difficult Sunnahs You Ought To Be Doing

1. Praying Tahajjud or the Night Prayer.

Oh yeah, this one is difficult. It’s hard enough for many Muslims to even get up for Salaatul Fajr (the Dawn Prayer) which is mandatory. It’s certainly no easy thing waking up even earlier for the night prayer. Establishing and maintaining this wonderful act takes great sacrifice and patience.
Which is why the rewards are so plentiful.

In fact, this is one of the few Sunnahs that are endorsed by Allah in the Quran as well as the hadith.

Arise to (pray) the night except for a little. Half of it or subtract from it a little.
Chapter 73, verse 2-3.

2. Making All of The Sunnah Prayers

• Two Rakaah before Salaatul Fajr; none after.
• Four Rakaah before Salaatul Dhuhr; two Rakaah after.
• Four Rakaah before Salaatul Asr; none after.
• None before Salaatul Maghrib; two Rakaah after.
• None before Salaatul Isha; two Rakaah after.
• It is also recommended that you make Salaatul Witr before going to bed. This can also be combined with Tahajjud instead.

3. Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays

Generally, fasting is difficult no matter when you do it. It’s difficult to do it for thirty days straight during Ramadhan. And it’s difficult to do it twice a week outside of Ramadan.

But it is an act that is loved by Allah. So, it is something you should try to make part of your life. After all, this is one action that no one except you and Allah knows about.

People can see you pray. And they can see you give charity. And they can see you read Quran.

But no one can “see” you fast. Even if you tell someone you’re fasting, no one knows the truth except you and Allah. That’s one of the reasons Allah loves this deed so much.

4. Reciting Suratul Kahf on Fridays

Suratul Kahf (the Chapter of the Cave) is a very interesting chapter. It is the 18th chapter of the Quran and includes many lessons and stories. Some of the stories included are:

• The story of the Companions of the Cave.
• The story of Musa and Khidhr.
• The story of Dhul Qarnain and Gog and Magog.

Some of the lessons included are:

• Leaving the land of disbelief if oppressed for your beliefs.
• Understanding that all pleasures in this world are temporary.
• Being patient with Allah’s decree.
• Signs of the Last Day.

Whoever reads Suratul Kahf on Friday, he will be illuminated with light between the two Fridays. Narrated by Al-Hakim

It’s easy to see the benefits of reciting suratul Kahf every Friday. But actually doing so is not so easy. Some reasons I think many people neglect this action:

• It’s a fairly long chapter. It takes about forty minutes to read the entire chapter in Arabic with proper Tajweed. Even someone who reads better than I do would probably take at least half an hour.
• You have to know how to read Arabic and read it pretty well. If you don’t know how to read Arabic or if you’re not very good at it, you’re going to find what takes me forty minutes will probably take you a couple of hours. Not trying to discourage you. Just keeping it real. And no, you can’t read it in English and expect the same reward.
• People forget. It’s not easy to remember to do something once a week, week in and week out. If it’s done every day, it might be easier to remember. My suggestion, program your cell phone calendar to remind you that it’s Friday and you have to read Suratul Kahf.
• People are lazy. Plain and simple.

5. Making Two Rakaahs After Every Wudu

Seriously? This one is not even all that difficult. But I’m sure many people don’t do it.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, said to Bilal, “O Bilal, tell me what good deed you have done in Islam that I hear the sound of your footsteps in Paradise?” Bilal said, “That after I purify myself during the day or night, I pray with that purification as much as Allah has destined for me.” Related by Bukhari

I can understand why you might want to neglect this deed. If you work in an office building or are in school, it may not be so easy to find a place to make a two rakaah several times a day.

But this is a list difficult Sunnahs, isn’t it?

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not fulfilling any of these. Even though there is great reward in doing them, they are voluntary acts. So there is no punishment if you decide not to do them.

However, rather than neglect them altogether, pick out the ones you think you can do. And then, do it.

It’s really that simple.

Source : http://islamiclearningmaterials.com/5-difficult-sunnahs-you-ought-doing/

Benefits Of Drinking Warm Lemon Water

The way you start each day is incredibly important. Whether you're a mom, a coach, a writer, a small business owner or a yoga teacher, what you do first thing in the morning matters. According to Ayurvedic philosophy, choices that you make regarding your daily routine either build up resistance to disease or tear it down. Ayurveda invites us to get a jump-start on the day by focusing on morning rituals that work to align the body with nature's rhythms, balance the doshas and foster self-esteem alongside self-discipline. Your mind may say you have to check emails, take the dog out, get the kids out the door, that you can't be late for work or that you just don't have enough time to cultivate your own morning rituals.But, if you can only make time for one ritual that will improve your health, let it be this..... Start the day out with a mug of warm water and the juice of half a lemon. It's so simple and the benefits are just too good to ignore. Warm water with lemon:

1. Boosts you're immune system

Lemons are high in Vitamin C and potassium. Vitamin C is great for fighting colds and potassium stimulates brain & nerve function and helps control blood pressure.

2. Balances pH

Lemons are an incredibly alkaline food, believe it or not. Yes, they are acidic on their own, but inside our bodies they're alkaline (the citric acid does not create acidity in the body once metabolized). As you wellness warriors know, an alkaline body is really the key to good health.

 
3. Helps with weight loss

Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. It also has been shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet lose weight faster. And, my experience is that when I start the day off right, it's easier to make the best choices for myself the rest of the day.

4. Aids digestion

The warm water serves to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and peristalsis—the waves of muscle contractions within the intestinal walls that keep things moving. Lemons and limes are also high in minerals and vitamins and help loosen AMA, or toxins, in the digestive tract.

 
5. Acts as a gentle, natural diuretic

Lemon juice helps flush out unwanted materials because lemons increase the rate of urination in the body. Toxins are, therefore, released at a faster rate which helps keep your urinary tract healthy.

6. Clears skin

The vitamin C helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes. Lemon water purges toxins from the blood which helps keep skin clear as well.

 
7. Hydrates the lymph system

This cup of goodness helps start the day on a hydrated note, which helps prevent dehydration (obviously) and adrenal fatigue. When your body is dehydrated, or deeply dehydrated (adrenal fatigue) it can't perform all of it's proper functions, which leads to toxic buildup, stress, constipation, and the list goes on. Your adrenals happen to be two small glands that sit on top of your kidneys, and along with your thyroid, create energy. They also secrete important hormones, including aldosterone. Aldosterone is a hormone secreted by your adrenals that regulates water levels and the concentration of minerals, like sodium, in your body, helping you stay hydrated. Your adrenals are also responsible for regulating your stress response. So, the bottom line is that you really don't want to mess with a deep state of dehydration!

Adopting just this one practice of drinking a cup of warm water with lemon in the morning for a month can radically alter your experience of the day. Don't be surprised if you begin to view mornings in a new light.

Like I said, the recipe is really simple - a cup of warm (not hot) water and the juice from half a lemon.

What is after Ramadhaan?

With the end or Ramadhaan drawing near, we- Muslims- thank Allaah for the blessing of giving us the opportunity to fast and observe the night prayers during this blessed month, for making that easy for us and saving us from the Hell-Fire.

Such is how days and nights pass so quickly. Yesterday, we were receiving Ramadhaan and today we are bidding it farewell and we do not know whether we are going to live to witness the next Ramadhaan or not. We beseech Allaah to let us have many more of it.

All righteous deeds should be concluded with Istighfaar (seeking Allaah’s forgiveness). Prayers, Hajj, night prayers and meetings are all concluded with it too. Fasting should also be concluded with Istighfaar to amend for any act of forgetfulness, negligence or perversion we might have committed. Istighfaar erases the feeling of arrogance and ostentation from the heart and lets one feel his shortcomings. It is this very feeling that leads to doing more righteous deeds after Ramadhaan and getting more rewards.

Explaining the need for Istighfaar, Ibn Al-Qayyim RA said: “Having pleasure and contentedness for merely doing an act of obedience is of the frivolities of the mind and its stupidity, for, the resolute and knowledgeable people do more Istighfaar immediately after each act of worship because they recognize their shortcomings and their failure to give Allaah what befits His Majesty and Greatness in that act.”

Though we are now bidding farewell to Ramadhaan, this should not mean a farewell to acts of worship. A Muslim should rather strengthen the tie between himself and his Lord so that he may have a perpetual blessing. As for those who break their covenant with their Lord and abandon mosques as soon as Ramadhaan ends, such are miserable people who know their Lord only in Ramadhaan and afterwards turn back on their heels. Allaah Says (what means): “Say (O Muhammad): ‘Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.’”[Quran 6: 162]

There is no value in an act of worship by which one does not increase in piety and fear of Allaah. Where is the impact of fasting when one abandons the recitation of the Quran, no longer observes the congregational prayers and desecrates other people’s honors? Where is the impact of his acts of worship in Ramadhaan when one afterwards consumes usury and takes other people’s properties wrongfully? Where is the impact of Ramadhaan when one abandons the path of the Messenger of Allaah for local customs and traditions and governs his life with man-made laws? Where is the effect of fasting and night prayers if one engages in acts of deception in his business transactions and lies day and night? Where is the impact of Ramadhaan on him if he does not call the misled to the Path of Allaah, feed the hungry, cloth the naked and make a sincere supplication for Islam and the Muslims?

Ibn Al Qayyim RA said: “There is indeed a distance between a righteous deed and the heart, and there are in that distance a lot of impediments that prevent the deed from reaching the heart. Hence, you see a man who has many deeds to his credit and yet nothing of that finds its way to his hearts, for he never carried out the deed out of love for Allaah, fear of Him, hope in His mercy, in abstention from worldly life or out of craving for the Hereafter. Neither does he possess the light by which he can differentiate between those who love Allaah and His enemies. Had the impact of his deed reached his heart, he would have had the light and recognize the truth and falsehood.”

Needless to say, Allaah does not need the movements and efforts that we make in our acts of worship. He only requests our piety thereof. He, The Alimghy, Says (what means): “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.”[Quran 2: 183]

He also says (what means): “Their meat will not reach Allaah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you.”[Quran 22: 37]

Of the good deeds that are recommended after Ramadhaan is fasting for six days in the month of Shawwaal. The Messenger of Allaah said: “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadhaan and follows it up with a fasting of six days in the month of Shawwaal is like the one who fasts for a complete year.” [Muslim]

Ramadhaan has filled our minds with blessings, awakened our conscience and purified our souls. It has taught us how to resist the insinuations of Satan and the whims of the evil inclining soul and how to eliminate differences and its causes. The ranks of the Muslims have become solidly united during Ramadhaan, so we should not let it become disunited again after it. The eyes have shed tears during Ramadhaan, so we should not let them become dry after it; mosques have become full of worshippers during Ramadhaan and the tongues were engaged mentioning Allaah, praising Him and invoking Him, so let this continue after Ramadhaan; we have been overwhelmed with desirable manners and characteristics such as humbleness and tranquility during Ramadhaan, we should not spoil that away with arrogance, ostentation and stupidity; we have become generous during Ramadhaan, so we should not withhold our generosity after Ramadhaan.

The fasting Muslim has two occasions of happiness: when he brakes his fast and when he meets his Lord; one is a worldly happiness and the other is the everlasting one in the Hereafter when he will have the greatest enjoyment and bliss which is Paradise in which there are enjoyments which no eyes have ever seen, no ears have ever heard of, and no human mind has ever imagined- a place where we, Allaah willing, will be addressed (what means): “Eat and drink in satisfaction for what you put forth in the days past."[Quran 69:24]

Such is Paradise which when a slave is made to enter it, he forgets his misery, distress and sorrow as it is reported that the Messenger SAW said: “The most unfortunate person in this world among the people of Paradise will be given a short dip into the Paradise and he will be asked: ‘Have you ever known misery? Have you ever experienced difficulty’? He (or she) would say: ‘No, by Allaah, I have never experienced any misery nor known any difficulty!’” [Muslim]

The Muslim nation is now bidding farewell to the blessed month of Ramadhaan while its agonies are still ongoing. It is experiencing great calamities that can be seen in what is happening in Palestine ,Syria,Burma and other places in the Muslim world; a merciless war aimed at Islam in order to exterminate it.

The Islamic nation has been tested during its long history with different kinds of conspiracies and afflictions some of which are enough to wipe other nations out of existence, but the power of Islamic belief that was and is still keeping this nation alive. This gives us a hope that the future is certainly for Islam.

It is therefore a duty of all Muslims to help the causes of Islam, to exercise patience and self-control, to make sincere supplications and to seek the help from Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta`ala in the face of all these tribulations so that He may rescue us from all these sufferings.





by Ash Shams on Friday, August 17, 2012 at 12:43am source:sharing_knowledge_ofislam@yahoogroups.com



 

Ramadhan Untuk Semua

Bulan Ramadhan merupakan bulan yang dinanti-nanti bagi seluruh umat Islam di segala penjuru dunia. Kendati demikian suasana ramadhan tidak hanya dapat dirasakan pada negara-negara yang mayoritas berpenduduk muslim saja, bahkan pada negara dengan minoritas penduduk Islam dapat ikut merasakan indahnya suasana Ramadhan seperti di Amerika.

Berbagai liputan tim VOA yang menarik tentang Ramadhan di negara-negara yang kaum muslimnya hanya minoritas, contohnya liputan tentang puasa di Amerika. Jika saya harus memilih salah satu berita yang paling saya sukai, jujur akan sangat sulit karena setiap berita yang disajikan begitu mengobati rasa penasaran saya khususnya, bahkan mungkin setiap orang yang ingin tahu bagaimana kehidupan minoritas muslim yang melaksanakan kegiatan di bulan Ramadhan. 

Cukup menonton channel VOA Indonesia pada Youtube, untuk menjawab apa yang selama ini saya tanyakan dalam benak saya. Banyak informasi mengenai Ramadhan yang saya dapatkan,  dari berita: "Persiapan Ramadhan", "Awal Penentuan Ramadhan", sampai berita-berita seputar makanan halal dan kegiatan buka puasa bersama, sebagai upaya mengenalkan agama Islam kepada masyarakat sekitar. Hal yang sering diungkapkan oleh Presenter berita VOA seputar berita Ramadhan adalah: "Puasa kali ini, lebih panjang, karna kami disini berpuasa pada musim panas, berbuka jam 21.00 dan harus bangun pagi untuk makan sahur" . Benar-benar tidak terbayang kalau di Indonesia harus puasa lebih dari jam 18.00. 

Berkah Ramadhan yang dirasakan adalah, tingginya permintaan makanan halal. Beda dengan Indonesia yang dengan mudah kita temukan makanan halal, dimanapun, kapanpun. Informasi yang disajikan tim VOA seputar makanan halal, dari Resto Burger 7, Warung Mobil Yang Jual Makanan Halal, JJS's Halal Cheese Steak, Restoran Halal Malaysia di AS, sampai Supermarket Halal Co yang menyediakan kebutuhan akan produk-produk halal. 

Ramadhan Untuk Semua 

Bagi mereka yang bukan beragama Islam, dapat merasakan kegiatan yang dilakukan para muslim pada bulan Ramadhan salah satunya adalah Berbuka puasa, Seperti liputan yang disajikan oleh tim VOADuniaKita. Pada kesempatan kali ini Dunia Kita mengunjungi rumah sakit Stanford University di mana para staf menyelenggarakan buka puasa bersama bagi para pengunjung dan karyawan rumah sakit .Acara buka puasa yang diselenggarakan Di Rumah Sakit Standford yang tidak hanya mengundang umat muslim, tetapi dari berbagai Agama dan dari berbagai Negara.Bisa diintip liputan videonya:

Buka puasa yang diadakan 2 kali dalam seminggu selama bulan Ramadhan ini, tidak melibatkan panitia muslim saja, tetapi juga melibatkan panitia non muslim dari unit layanan spiritual.

Unit layanan spiritual  (perawatan rohani) adalah pelayanan kesembuhan yang menyediakan dukungan emosional dan spiritual kepada pasien, keluarga mereka, staf rumah sakit, dan sukarelawan. Para pendeta bekerja sebagai bagian dari tim penyembuhan bersama dengan dokter, perawat, dan pengasuh lainnya. Perawatan spiritual mungkin termasuk menanggapi krisis, membantu orang dalam resolusi pertanyaan etis tentang perawatan pasien, menghubungi pendeta, pastor, rabi, atau perwakilan agama lainnya seperti yang diminta, dan memberikan dukungan rohani yang terus berlangsung.

Acara ini cukup baik, untuk mengenal apa itu Ramadhan? dan apa yang dilakukan para Muslim saat Ramadhan. Merasakan berbuka puasa, yaitu salah satu Ibadah utama yang dijalankan umat Muslim pada bulan Ramadhan.

Sumber:

VOA

YouTube/voaindonesia

http://www.stjohnprovidence.org/Providence/PatientVisitor/Services/PastoralCare/

This is worded well ~ Chiam Eng Huat (Part II)

It takes only a minute to have a crush on someone

An hour to like someone
And a day to love someone
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone...

Don't go for looks; they can deceive
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away
Go for someone who makes you smile
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seems bright
Find the one who makes your heart smile!

May you have...

Enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
And enough hope to make you happy...

 

 

Always put yourself in others' shoes

If you feel that it hurts you

It probably hurts the other person, too...

 

 

 

The happiest of people
Don't necessarily have the best of everything
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for...
Those who cry
Those who hurt
Those who have searched
And those who have tried
For only they can appreciate the importance of people
Who have touched their lives...