Thursday, January 8, 2015

Halaqa # 19

Dhikr ~ Asma ul Husna
   
Attendance:
  • 3  Sisters
  • 1  Junior Sisters
Location:  Headquarters
Agenda: (please note, we have included many links where you can read in detail more on each subject)


  • OPENING DUA
Alhumdulillah. Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His Help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from our souls' evils and our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide; and he whom He misguides, no one can guide.


I bear witness that there is no god except Allah- alone without any partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His 'abd (servant) and Messenger.


O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad, just as You sent prayers upon Ibraheem and upon the followers of Ibraheem. Verily you are full of praise and majesty. O Allaah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, just as You sent blessings upon Ibraheem and upon the family of Ibraheem. Verily, You are full of praise and majesty."


Innalhamda lillahee, nahmaduhu wa nasta'eenuhu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na'oodhu billaahi min shuroori anfusinaa wa min sayyiaati a'maalinaa. Mainyah dihillaahu falaa mudillilahu, wa mainyudlil falaa haadiya lah.


Wa ashhadu anlaa ilaaha illalaahu, wahdahu laashareeka lahu, wa ash hadu anna muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasooluh.


Allahumma salli 'alaa muhammadinwa 'alaa aali muhammadinwa 'alaa aali muhammadin kamaa sallayta 'alaa aali ibraaheema innaka hameedumajeed. Allahumma baarik 'alaa muhammadinwa 'alaa aali muhammadin kamaa baarakta 'alaa aali ibraaheema wa 'alaa aali ibraheema innaka hameedum majeed.


  • QURAN RECITATION
We read Surah Fatihah aloud altogether, then sisters individually read aloud a few letters/words, ayahs (according to her ability and with the help and encouragement of her fellow sisters).  We read Surah Baqarah from Ayat 253  till Ayat 259.  In sha Allah, this will be an ongoing part of our halaqa and one day in sha Allah, we will have Khatam Quran and begin again.


  • SISTER’S TALK
Sisters shared their research on the names of Allah chosen the week before. Click on each name to read more.


Sister Rim
Sister Amanny
Sister Winnie


Afterward we chose new names to research.
Al-Wahhab
Sister Rim
Al-Bariyoo
Sister Amanny
Al-Quiyum
Sister Winnie


  • LEARN A DUA

A dua to heal a broken heart.
The example of the Prophet ﷺ is a beautiful one. Imagine being 50 years old, having just lost both your wife of twenty-five years and your uncle who took care of you as a child. Imagine walking into a town in order to ask people for their protection, and instead have them throw stones at you until your feet bleed. How would you have felt? How exhausted, both spiritually and physically, would you have been? And yet, the Prophet ﷺ calls out to Allah in one of the most beautiful and heartfelt du`a’ (supplication):


“O Allah! To you alone I complain my weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been subjected to by people. O Most Merciful of those who have mercy! You are the Lord of the weak, and You are My Lord too.
To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair?


But as long as You are not angry with me, I do no care, except that Your favor is a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descend upon me.


Yours is the right to reproach until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”


Read those words carefully. The du`a’ of  the Prophet ﷺ was not “O Allah, please give me x and y.” It was literally the call of someone broken– complaining to Allah of his situation and expressing to Allah how he felt. What did Allah give him? A young boy by the name of Addaas saw the Prophet ﷺ, came to him with some grapes and kissed his bleeding feet. That is al-Jabbar. Imagine how the Prophet ﷺ must have felt after that, the relief he must have felt after the cruelty he was subjected to.


And al-Jabbar healed the broken heart of the Prophet ﷺ  in another way – He bestowed upon him the miraculous journey of al-Israa wal Mi’raaj (when the Prophet ﷺ traveled from Makkah to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to the Heavens in one night). If we think about the journey, it did not accomplish a great victory nor did it help to convince the Quraysh that he was a Prophet. Rather, Allah honored him after all the hardship he had gone through. Think of the resolve the Prophet ﷺ must have had in his heart and the tranquility he must have felt after such an experience.


Above taken directly from Al-Jabbar: Mending the Broken Heart
  • SISTERS TALK
Sister Rim read aloud the article : Dhikr For the ‘Mum on the Run’


  • VIDEO


  • CLOSING DUA
To listen to the Dua: Click here then choose Dua 084


سُبْحـانَكَ وَبِحَمدِك، لا إِلهَ إِلاّ أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتوبُ إِلَـيْك.

AAaishah (r.a.a) said: Whenever The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) would betake a seat, read Quran or pray, he would always conclude it with certain words, I (i.e. AAaishah) said: O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), I have noticed that whenever you betake a seat, read Quran or pray, you always conclude it with these words. He said: Yes, whoever speaks good, it (i.e. the supplication) will be a seal for that goodness and whoever speaks ill, it will be an atonement for him.’
Subhanaka wabihamdik, la ilaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa-atoobu ilayk.
‘How perfect You are and I praise You. None has the right to be worshipped except You, I seek Your forgiveness and turn in repentance to You.’


If any of this information was good and true, know that it comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.  If there are mistakes we ask for Allah’s Forgiveness and Mercy.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Halaqa # 18

Growing Closer to Allah
   
Attendance:
  • 6  Sisters
  • 2  Junior Sisters
Location:  Headquarters
Agenda: (please note, we have included many links where you can read in detail more on each subject)


  • OPENING DUA Screen Shot 2014-04-25 at 12.48.19 PM.png


  • QURAN RECITATION
We read Surah Fatihah aloud altogether, then sisters individually read aloud a few letters/words, ayahs (according to her ability and with the help and encouragement of her fellow sisters).  We read Surah Baqarah from Ayat 238  till Ayat 252.  In sha Allah, this will be an ongoing part of our halaqa and one day in sha Allah, we will have Khatam Quran and begin again.


  • SISTER’S TALK
Thanks to Sister Merve who brought to our attention to an Article on Productive Muslim entitled. 6 Steps to Get You Closer to Allah (SWT) Click here to read the article.


Sister Winnie presented the above article as a Slide presentation.  
To watch click here
  • LEARN A DUA

Fortress of the Muslim # 262 under section 130 The excellence of Remembering Allah
A desert Arab came to Allah’s Messenger (sallAllah alayhi wasalaam) and said, “Teach me a word that I can say.”  The Prophet told him to say:


Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu, wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, Allaahu ‘Akbaru Kabeeran, walhamdu lillaahi katheeran, Subhaanallaahi Rabbil-‘aalameen, laa hawla wa laa quwwatta ‘illa billaahil-‘Azeezil-Hakeem.


There is none worthy of worship but Allah, Who has no partner, Allah is the Great, Most Great, and praise is to Allah in abundance, glory is to Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is no power and no might but by Allah the Mighty, the Wise.”


He said, “That is for my Lord, but what about me?”
The Prophet (sallAllah alayhi wasalaam) told him to say:


Allaahummaghfir lee, warhammnee, wahdiniee, warzuqnee.
Oh Allah forgive me,, and have mercy on me, and guide me, and provide for me.”


[Muslim 4/2072, Abu Dawood reports the same Hadith the addition: and when the Arab left, the Prophet (sallAllah alayhi wasalaam)) said: “He has filled his hands with goodness.” 1/220.]
  • SISTERS TALK
In the Amanah room there is a wall hanging with Allah’s names written. Here is a picture of it:
IMG_0236.JPG
All the sisters present took turns reciting Allah’s swt, beautiful names in English and Arabic. Then we each chose a name to research and present at an upcoming Halaqa. The names chosen are:

Ar-Rahman
Sister Rim
Ar-Rahim
Sister Amanny
Al-Hakeem
Sister Nissa
As-Salam
Sister Lamiaa
Al-Jabbar
Sister Winnie

  • SISTERS TALK

What is your intention when reciting Quran?

Sisters took turns reading aloud the following article:
  • SISTERS TALK
Sister Winnie brought to the sisters attention a short story written in Arabic. Sister Lamiaa kindly read that article and then translated into English for the benefit of all present. Click here for a link to the Arabic article and we would love if one of our members who speaks Arabic would send us an English translation to share with everyone.


  • VIDEO
Allah is Near   Nouman Ali Khan (12:25)


  • CLOSING DUA
To listen to the Dua: Click here then choose Dua 084


سُبْحـانَكَ وَبِحَمدِك، لا إِلهَ إِلاّ أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتوبُ إِلَـيْك.

AAaishah (r.a.a) said: Whenever The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) would betake a seat, read Quran or pray, he would always conclude it with certain words, I (i.e. AAaishah) said: O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), I have noticed that whenever you betake a seat, read Quran or pray, you always conclude it with these words. He said: Yes, whoever speaks good, it (i.e. the supplication) will be a seal for that goodness and whoever speaks ill, it will be an atonement for him.’
Subhanaka wabihamdik, la ilaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa-atoobu ilayk.
‘How perfect You are and I praise You. None has the right to be worshipped except You, I seek Your forgiveness and turn in repentance to You.’


If any of this information was good and true, know that it comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.  If there are mistakes we ask for Allah’s Forgiveness and Mercy.