My Struggle

My Struggle

Anonymous asked: Salam bro. What are the signs that someone is being influenced by jinns? the evil kind

Wa Alaykumussalaam,

I did a quick search on the net to see what opinions are out there, and just one of the sites that I found had such an exhaustive list of symptoms that almost anyone would have reason to believe that they may be possessed, or may be having some really bad experiences with jinn in their lives. And that’s really the problem with this specific subject because the symptoms can vary so much, that it has to be considered within the context of the person that is suspected of being affected. 

Some of the more obvious signs would be severe and unexplainable deterioration in health that cannot even be explained by doctors. However, this can also be a sign of the evil eye being cast upon the person. Sometimes the individual that is affected has significant  gaps in their memory about daily activities, however, as suggested above, this is not always indicative of jinn possession because extreme stress can also cause these symptoms. Various changes in personality could also indicate jinn possession, but again, this can also have other causes or influences. 

However, your actual question refers to someone being influenced by jinn, and not necessarily possession. Just in case you meant possession, the above would be true. However, being influenced by them is much more common. Jinn are the helpers of Shaytaan, and given that the majority of disruption in society is a result of the whispers of Shaytaan, it probably makes sense to be more informed about that aspect of potential harm. 

While searching for additional info I came across this page which provides really clear and concise information on the subject, almost all of which is backed up by ahadith or Qur’an, including advice on how to protect oneself from disturbances by Jinn.

http://www.inter-islam.org/faith/jinn2.html

So to answer you more directly, everyone is influenced by jinn, because Shaytaan and the jinn are helpers of each other. However, there are Muslim and non-Muslim jinn. Every person is born with a jinn partner, and depending on how we conduct ourselves, we could convince that jinn partner to become Muslim as well, or they could encourage us towards evil.

Sorry, but the amount of information on this subject that all directly or indirectly relates to this question is huge, so if you need specific proofs for anything that I’ve said in here, let me know and I’ll post it, insha-Allah. I hope that helps. 

Prayer or Worship

Perhaps if we worshipped more and prayed less, we may find that we’ll have less reason to pray and more reason to worship.

That’s not as cryptic as it may sound. Worship, to me, is acknowledging the greatness of the Almighty and His power to make anything happen in your life. Prayer on the other hand, is submitting your needs to Him and hoping that you’re worthy of it being accepted. If this is an agreeable definition, then it stands to reason that the more we choose to recognise His mercy and blessings in our lives, the more likely we are to be inclined to show appreciation for it through worship, rather than to constantly overlook our blessings and focus on our needs that we need to pray for.

But, we’re human, so we will err, and we will forget, and that is why in His eternal compassion, He has made available to us the channel of prayer at times when we find it difficult to acknowledge our blessings and are instead distracted by our needs or wants.

Short Dua to make for your parents.

رَبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا 

(Rab-bir ham-hoo-ma ka-ma rabba ya-nee sa-ghee-ra) 

My Lord! Have mercy on them both as they did care for me when I was little.

It’s in the Quran, Surat Isra (17:24).

(Source: subhanallah, via khadooja)

Maintaining Family Ties

There are numerous ahadith that speak of the merits of maintaining the ties of kinship as a part of our imaan, one of which sums it up quite beautifully:

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari told him that a bedouin came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was travelling. He asked, “Tell me what will bring me near to the Garden and keep me far from the Fire.” He replied, “Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, perform the prayer, pay zakaah, and maintain ties of kinship.”

Maintaining ties of kinship and striving to establish love and understanding amongst family members is as much a part of being a Muslim as making salaah and paying zakaah, both of which are part of the five pillars of Islam. It is no wonder then that the rewards are immense in this world and the hereafter as can be seen from the following ahadith:

Ibn ‘Umar said, “If someone fears his Lord and maintains ties of kinship, his term of life will be prolonged, he will have abundant wealth and his people will love him.”

Narrated: Ubada bin As-Samit
I heard Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) quoting his Lord (SWT) Who said: My love is established for those who love one another for My sake; and My love is established for those who spend money for My sake; and My love is established for those who visit one another for My sake. (In fact) those who love one another for the sakeof Allah will be at pulpits of light in the shadeof Allah’s throne on a day when there is no shade but His shade.~ Hadith Qudsi

A strong and united Ummah doesn’t happen on its own, nor does it miraculously form through dua. Dua unaccompanied by action is fruitless, hence the very plain instruction that guides us to tie our camel and trust in Allah, not just trust in Allah blindly without any action.

A united Ummah is a result of a united society, but a united society is not possible without united communities. United communities require united families to establish its foundations, but a united family is not possible without committed individuals striving for harmony and understanding within the family unit. Finding the required common ground on which to build this entire structure that we all so achingly yearn for requires individuals committed to these holistic goals before they find reason to commit to selfish objectives that undermine these goals.

If you’re ever faced with the choice of maintaining contact with family members that may have wronged you before, or continue to treat you badly today, remember the following hadith:

 ’Abdullah ibn ‘Amr reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The one who maintains ties of kinship is not the one who reciprocates. The one who maintains ties of kinship is the one who, when his relatives cut him off, maintains ties of kinship.”

May Allah guide us towards establishing and maintaining ties of kinship so that we may be able to reap the rewards in this world and the hereafter, Ameen. 

When Prayer Becomes Worship

cynicallyjaded:

Quite inadvertently I realised this week that we only apply our minds and our hearts to those things from which we hope to acquire good. At first I thought it was just another superfluous thought, but it seemed to resonate in most things I did that day,…

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I’ve often looked at people that rush through their salaah, and I wondered if they realised what it is that they’re giving up in favour of the few minutes that they hoped to save by finishing as quickly as possible. in fact, we risk committing a sin by stealing from our salaah through pecking at the ground like chickens, as opposed to earning rewards and enjoying the very real benefits that salaah affords us in this world, and not just the hereafter. 

If we seek to obtain good from salaah, rather than just avoiding punishment for non-compliance, we’ll take a lot more time to submit rather than just completing the ritual. Khushoo is therefore not something you do, but something that is attained through conviction and deliberation in how we submit when we’re in the act of submission. 

May Allah make our salaah a form of beneficial worship and not just a means of compliance with His laws, Ameen. 

سورة الضحى

saytuun:

the best thing to read when you’re feeling sad is Surah ad-Duha. Surah ad-Duha was revealed when the mushriks used to mock rasulAllah (sallAllahu aleyhi wa sallam) and say “Muhammad’s Lord has abandoned him.”

and Allah swore by daybreak that He had not forsaken or forgotten him. [93:1-3]

and Allah assured rasulAllah (sallAllahu aleyhi wa sallam) that the akhirah would be better for him. [93:4]

and Allah promised that He would give rasulAllah (sallAllahu aleyhi wa sallam) treasures upon treasures, like that of al-Kawthar, and that he would be pleased. [93:5]

and Allah reminded rasulAllah (sallAllahu aleyhi wa sallam) that He provided him with refuge. [93:6]

and that Allah had found him lost, and unaware, and then guided him. [93:7]

and that Allah granted rasulAllah (sallAllahu aleyhi wa sallam) the ability to be self-sufficient of all others besides Allah. [93:8]

finally, Allah instructed him with how to deal with orphans and to proclaim the graces of his Lord. [93:9-11]

Tafsir ibn Kathir - Surah ad-Duha

shuayyb:

When Quranists use:

“Your discourse is the worst of discourses, for you continue to narrate to the people until it is said that some scholars say this and others say that, and the Book of God is abandoned. Whoever among you stands up to speak, let him stand with the Book of God. If not, let him remain seated.” -`Umar ibn Al-Khattaab

Its like:

This reflects my thoughts on this subject as well. I often wonder why we’re so prone to quoting scholars before we quote Qur’an and Hadith? And just to clarify, I’m not suggesting that we ignore everything every scholar ever said, but I I just wish we would stop finding reasons to put forward the quotes of scholars or anecdotes from their lives to demonstrate what good manners or character is, when in fact we have much more inspiring examples from the Qur’an and hadith itself. 

P.S. I wasn’t referring to this within the context of Quranists, but just generally speaking, this quote of Umr ibn Al-Khattaab just reminded of my own thoughts on the subject (and given that it’s a quote of Umr (RA), and not Rasulullah (SAW), I guess there’s an irony in that as well.) :)

(Source: ping-pong-amnesia)

strivingmuslim:

Reported by Sufyan b. ‘Abdulla al-Thaqafi (RA): I asked the Messenger of Allah to tell me about Islam a thing which might dispense with the necessity of my asking anybody after you. In the hadith of Abu Usama (RA) the (words) are: other than you. He (the Holy Prophet) (peace be upon him) remarked: Say I affirm my faith in Allah and then remain steadfast to it.

(Muslim)

#Hadith

Simple truth. Sectarians, deal with that! Alhamdulillah. 

cynicallyjaded:

analyticalmuslim:

tmihijabi:

the72sects:

Sects, madhabs, schools of thought, schools of law, and scholar-worship have become the equivalent of tribes and castes in the Ummah. Those that push a specific sect, or madhab, or scholar’s teachings, rarely realise that they’re creating more divisions in the Ummah, rather than uniting us behind a common good. 

Debating the merits of my scholar versus your scholar is juvenile and smacks of arrogance. There would be no need to have such debates if the focus was on the issue itself. If we weren’t too lazy to apply our minds to the beautiful and sound principles contained in Islamic teachings, we’ll very quickly find that there is no need for us to align with a specific scholar, or a specific sect. 

I have yet to come across a single debate between the sects that is based on the threat of something taking one outside the fold of Islam. The only time judgements of kufr or deviance are passed out is when the ones passing them out are steeped in arrogance and obstinacy because they refuse to be wrong, rather than any stated concern about the imaan of the one that they are accusing. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’ll never find an extremist unless they profess to fall under a specific banner or sect. Islam is about moderation, yet every sectarian forgets this. We’re also encouraged directly by the Hadith, in plain language, that we should not help Shaytaan by insulting others, yet even this the sectarians don’t get.

It’s time that we started rejecting the quotes of scholars that are divisive, unless they can directly support their view with a sahih hadith, or a verse from the Qur’an that they believe encourages the divisions that they seek. We need to stop believing that we’re so depraved of intellect and logic, that only those that formally study the sources of Islamic knowledge are capable of teaching others. Yet another hadith that is often forgotten or maligned is the one that teaches us to teach others even if we know only a single verse. 

I could go on all day, but it should be obvious by now that the facts are stacked against the sectarians, the taqleedis, the blind followers of scholars, and similar such extremist tendencies that we have in the Ummah. We have Muslims starving themselves to death to get our attention, but it seems selecting the right label for your imaan is more important than this. No wonder we’re so despicable in action and inaction these days. 

May Allah save us from ourselves, and may He save others from us as well. Aameen. 

thumma ameen

This is illogical.

Going for the ‘anti-scholars’ route will not help anyone progress their conviction of Allah(swt). You can apply this same skewed rationale towards understanding the sciences and have people ‘think for themselves’; toss a textbook towards them and let them ‘learn on their own’. That’s now how it’s supposed to work. With every book of information comes a guide. Sometimes information is so obvious that the guide that would suffice is common sense. Other times, when it’s something as complex as Islamic Philosophy, you need a scholar to help you along.

If people don’t know how to think they won’t know what to think. They’ll run astray, start finding loopholes and exploit these misunderstandings through their own perspective. 

This is dangerous because these perspectives are radicals that can cause enormous disruptions in the mindset of the masses. It starts small at first, but once you get a few people that are capable of swaying huge numbers of people solely by the way they communicate, their words cause huge shifts in understanding. And this understanding, if left uncensored, unfiltered, and unregulated leads towards insane deviation of what is supposed to be accepted within a populace.

This is not what Islam is teaching us. In Islam, there has always been some sort of leadership that chains back towards Allah(swt). This whole notion of “use your intellect” is conditional on the fact that you have prerequisite knowledge of what you’re studying. This extends towards teaching others as well. You have to be very careful that the information that you are giving others is 100%, without a doubt, set-in-stone, flawless, follows logic, history, and (in certain situations) is backed by hadith and Quran as well as tafseers by reputable scholars. 

If there is something that Islam is saying, that is explained by scholars who have spent their lives trying to understand Islam, that you don’t agree with, then you are at fault. Your understanding is flawed. 

So bottom line, scholars are the way to go. 

At the risk of starting a reblog debate, I respectfully disagree with what you have said. Not only are you contradicting yourself, but you’re also confirming exactly what I stated to begin with. For starters, you cannot teach someone how to think. If you assume that teaching someone to interpret something the way someone else believes it should be interpreted, then you’re essentially conditioning them. 

When you raise scholars above reproach, you make them infallible, which ultimately results in the sectarianism that we see today. In fact, you confirmed this when you said “It starts small at first, but once you get a few people that are capable of swaying huge numbers of people solely by the way they communicate, their words cause huge shifts in understanding.” Like I said, that confirms exactly what I said. 

However, I have never stated that we should become anti-scholar. That is simply your extremist interpretation of my post. I simply said that we should encourage people to apply their minds to the principles of Islam rather than dogmatically following rituals based on the interpretations of others. 

More importantly, Islam is not science, nor is it a philosophy that needs to be studied in order to be applied. We’re all so quick to talk about following the ways of the salaf, yet we rarely consider the practical reality of the lives they lead on a daily basis. We conveniently overlook the ahadith that directly indicate that variations of practice are entirely allowed, and were not reprimanded or corrected if the principles of Islam were not violated. We selectively quote the salaf, and the scholars that profess to follow the ways of the salaf, but ignore the examples of the salaf themselves when they abandoned their personal views in favour of establishing unity in the Ummah. 

Stop intellectualising Islam and making it a domain for the academic elite only. Islam is a way of life, not a course to be studied at some university. The ahadith is a practical example that anyone can learn from. Apply your mind and live moderately, and observe the basic principles of Islam, and you’ll be fine. 

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Beware of going to extremes (in religion), for those before you were only destroyed through excessiveness.” [An-Nasai]

Allah Most High says in the Quran, “Say: O people of the Book, do not be excessive in your religion.’” [4:171]

I therefore reconfirm my disagreement with your views. I think Al-Ghazali made a good point when he questioned why it is that we seek more knowledge when we don’t practice on the knowledge we have.

To clarify, I am not dismissing the works of the scholars as a whole. I said specifically “It’s time that we started rejecting the quotes of scholars that are divisive, unless they can directly support their view with a sahih hadith, or a verse from the Qur’an that they believe encourages the divisions that they seek.” So I’m not sure why you felt a need to defend a position I didn’t even take in the first place. 

Sorry, this was meant to be reblogged on the72sects. 

Sects, madhabs, schools of thought, schools of law, and scholar-worship have become the equivalent of tribes and castes in the Ummah. Those that push a specific sect, or madhab, or scholar’s teachings, rarely realise that they’re creating more divisions in the Ummah, rather than uniting us behind a common good. 

Debating the merits of my scholar versus your scholar is juvenile and smacks of arrogance. There would be no need to have such debates if the focus was on the issue itself. If we weren’t too lazy to apply our minds to the beautiful and sound principles contained in Islamic teachings, we’ll very quickly find that there is no need for us to align with a specific scholar, or a specific sect. 

I have yet to come across a single debate between the sects that is based on the threat of something taking one outside the fold of Islam. The only time judgements of kufr or deviance are passed out is when the ones passing them out are steeped in arrogance and obstinacy because they refuse to be wrong, rather than any stated concern about the imaan of the one that they are accusing. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’ll never find an extremist unless they profess to fall under a specific banner or sect. Islam is about moderation, yet every sectarian forgets this. We’re also encouraged directly by the Hadith, in plain language, that we should not help Shaytaan by insulting others, yet even this the sectarians don’t get.

It’s time that we started rejecting the quotes of scholars that are divisive, unless they can directly support their view with a sahih hadith, or a verse from the Qur’an that they believe encourages the divisions that they seek. We need to stop believing that we’re so depraved of intellect and logic, that only those that formally study the sources of Islamic knowledge are capable of teaching others. Yet another hadith that is often forgotten or maligned is the one that teaches us to teach others even if we know only a single verse. 

I could go on all day, but it should be obvious by now that the facts are stacked against the sectarians, the taqleedis, the blind followers of scholars, and similar such extremist tendencies that we have in the Ummah. We have Muslims starving themselves to death to get our attention, but it seems selecting the right label for your imaan is more important than this. No wonder we’re so despicable in action and inaction these days. 

May Allah save us from ourselves, and may He save others from us as well. Aameen. 

The Oppressors, are you from them?

idonthaveamuse:

Imām Sufyān Ath-Thawrī, may Allāh have mercy upon him said that ten people are regarded as oppressors and amongst them are:

1. The person who prays for himself, but forgets his parents and other believers.

2. The person who does not recite at least a 100 ayāt from the Qur’ān daily.

3. The person that leaves the masjid without having performed at least two units of prayer.

4. The person who passes a graveyard without greeting the deceased or praying for them.

5. The person who enters a city on a Friday and leaves without having performed the Friday prayer.

6. The man or woman in whose vicinity a learned person comes and none acquires any religious knowledge from him.

7. Those two people who love each other for the pleasure of Allāh but are unaware of each others names.

There are a few statements in the above list that appear to be problematic (for lack of a better word). It would be great if someone to point out sources from the ahadith or Qur’an to authenticate these claims, because a few come across as excessive. If each of these can be substantiated from authentic sources (i.e. Qur’an and Hadith), then it would be great if we could get the context so that we can understand it rather than question it. 

This is really the problem with quoting scholars in the absence of the authentic sources that they’re referencing.

(via a-heart-revitalized)