Life purpose | Making a difference

Bismillah.

What makes you tick? What makes you forget about the world around you? The very thing that makes you forget the world around you, hence focus on the thing that makes you tick, has got to be your life purpose.

That's my summary of an article by Lifehack on Seven Powerful Questions To Help You Find Your Life Purpose. It got me thinking and writing again. Although it's more rambling than writing. 

At the back of my mind, I know I should be writing about an imam of a mosque in Vietnam. He is a convert. He reverted to Islam at the age of 17. Thanks to his father who first embraced Islam and made a good impression on him. The imam told me, as a matter of fact, that his father first heard about Islam while being detained in Malaysia. He (the father) was literally intoxicated at that time yet he was attracted to the words he overheard about the religion. He was among hundreds of immigrants who were detained that week. He overheard one ustazah speaking about Islam and got attracted to it. He secretly sat in a corner to listen. He was hiding because of the state he was in. When the ustazah caught him hiding and listening, he was asked "Would you like to accept Islam?" He said: "Yes, but I will come back to see you on Monday when I should be in a better state." He was a little drunk then. As promised, he went to see the ustazah, inquired more about the deen and accepted it. That took place in 1993. A couple of years after, upon returning to Vietnam, he brought his 17 year old son to consult one pious man and the son too embraced Islam. The son, after having undergone some training in Cambodia and Malaysia, is now imam of a mosque in Vietnam and is making a difference to the community in Ho Chi Minh City. He found his life purpose. What about us?

Also at the back of my mind, are some inspiring stories of the honorable Spanish guests I received last Monday. Oh well, what I am trying to say is that I wish I had published more postings on my recent meetings and experiences. Must try harder to make it happen.

***

Today 28.2.2015 is the last day of Feb.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah for a fabulous month.

Let's march on!

        

Honorable Spanish Guests | Seville Mosque Fundraising

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah. Feb has been fabulous, so far. Today, was extra fab. Just look at the photo. Am I lucky or am I lucky?

Some of you might remember seeing two of them on TV Al Hijrah, speaking on fundraising for what would be the first mosque in Seville, Spain after some 600 years since Seville ever had mosques or mezquita. Our Spanish guests [from left to right] Mohsin Sierra, Ibrahim Hernandez, Malik A. Ruiz and Bashir Castineira were generous to spare some of their precious time to visit this faqir in KL today. Alhamdulillah. I shall forever be grateful for this memorable experience.

To be honest, I was still feeling exhausted from my Vietnam trip. But to honor our special guests, my mother and I had woken up at 3 a.m. on Monday morning to clean up our crib and prepare the necessary.

It's all more than worth it! Our guests are indeed learned, well-mannered, articulate and friendly too. I should write a thorough/longer posting because each one of them has an exciting background. During the meeting, each one gave a very good interview. Do look out for recordings, courtesy of Al-Falah TV, inshaAllah.

This posting is more like an introduction to who they are and the main objective of their visit to Malaysia. 

Brother Malik is the President of an education foundation called Fundacion Educativa al Andalus. He spoke passionately about the history of the one and only mosque in Granada which was opened in 2003. It took them 20 over years to build the mosque. The Granada mosque became the first mosque to have been built after 500 years since the fall of the great Al Andalus civilization. The mosque also has a dedicated place for classes and community activities. Almost every Friday, there would be requests from people wishing to convert to Islam. He considered the struggle to make Islam's presence stronger and more visible in Spain as jihad-without-weapon, it is a jihad of the tongue.   

Brother Ibrahim is the Vice President of the Seville mosque foundation known as Fundacion Mezquita De Sevilla. Malaysia is the first country for the fundraising effort. The Seville mosque will also serve as a cultural center for about 25,000 Muslims in Seville. It is important for Seville to have a mosque because it is the capital of Southern Spain. It's interesting to note that for nine years, Ibrahim had been an active international model based in South Africa. He said, becoming dai'e is not an option, it is, in fact, an obligation of each individual Muslim. 

Brother Bashir is the imam of the Granada mosque. Upon completing tahfiz of Quran in Morocco just a couple of weeks ago, he was appointed as director of the Granada Mosque Foundation. He spoke about the challenges of his new role. He is tasked to establish a waqf mechanism in order to make the Granada mosque self-sustainable and to develop an international Islamic school for 800 students in the outskirts of Granada.

Brother Muhsin is owner of a travel agency called Visit Al Andalus. He actively promotes tourism in Spain and the Mediterranean region, including Morocco. He is of the opinion that Spain should be the third choice for Muslims to travel, after Mekah/Madinah and Turkey. He encourages Malaysians to visit Spain, in particular South Spain, during winter.        

      

***

More about them and their interviews in separate postings InshaAllah.

On a lighter note, I was delighted that they had noticed the posters of Qasidah Burda in my foyer. And three of them, Ibrahim, Bashir and Muhsin offered to perform the qasidah before we began the interviews. The melody rendered was unique ala Spanish.

Ibrahim, Bashir and Muhsin singing the Qasidah Burdah

Alhamdulillah for the ukhwah. We were indeed grateful for the opportunity to listen to them and be inspired by their tireless effort in helping the religion. 

Pray Allah would ease their fundraising activities and make their trip to Malaysia fruitful. Pray so that they or rather we could see the Seville mosque manifesting very soon, as planned. Pray that Muslims in Spain would become successful and leave a lasting legacy as they did during the great Al Andalus era. Ameen.

***
Do visit these websites and learn more about our brothers and sisters in faith, in Spain.

www.mezquitadegranada.com
www.mezquitadesevilla.com
www.visitalandalus.es

Good evening Saigon | Love The Alcove | Books in need

Bismillah.

Beauty is in the details, undoubtedly.

A five star hotel I once stayed at in the country neighboring Malaysia down south, gave away some overly sweet and hard chocolates as part of their turndown service. By the way, the term turndown is derived from the act of turning down the linen for sleeping as carried out by hotels' housekeeping staffs.

On the contrary, I am pleasantly surprise at this clever little turndown gift at the hotel I am staying in HCMC. It comes with deliciously different crunchy cashew nuts instead. And to live up to its bookish/literature theme, it comes with a quote every night. Tonight it's about 'A Cow Grazing'. Cute!

Artist: "That, sir, is a cow grazing."

Visitor: "Where is the grass?"

Artist: "The cow has eaten it."

Visitor: "But where is the cow?

Artist: "You don't suppose she'd be fool enough to stay there after she'd eaten all the grass, do you?

: D

Each room comes with a unique book and a poster depicting a quote from the same book. I have got 'The Giving Tree' in my room. It's a sad humbling story of how a tree makes one sacrifice after another so that its visitor, a boy, would always be happy. Its fruits, branches and trunk, all have been sacrificed but it is just as happy to have left with a stump for the boy (who is now an old man) to sit on, in the end.

The Giving Tree

We have got 'The Wizard of Oz' in the other room.

It's a fun and chic boutique hotel that would appeal to book lovers.

On another poster, I spotted this quote by William Eliot:

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friend; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors and the most patient of teachers."

From another poster in the hotel's Bookmark Cafe, I learned one important Vietnamese word: doc (pronounce "dock") means "to read".

***

The turndown service at The Alcove Library hotel sure put a smile on my face. It's a sweet end to another great day in Ho Chi Minh.

Today, we had the privilege of meeting and interviewing Imam Musa, deputy principal at Madrasah Al-Anwar. Our new friend whom we met by chance, took us to the madrasah at a Malay village where 300 Muslim families live harmoniously among non-Mulims. Madrasah Al-Anwar is home to 120 students and is the only Islamic institution in the city. On the third floor of the building sits a mosque - Masjid Al-Anwar. Majority of the graduates from Madrasah Al-Anwar have and would customarily further their studies at higher Islamic learning institutions in Malaysia. And all of them somehow ended up getting private funding from generous Malaysians. Alhamdulillah. Having talked to Imam Musa about the school and the Muslim community in Vietnam, I realized that the school is in need of a good supply of quality text books either in Arabic or Malay language. The textbooks which the students at Madrasah Al Anwar are currently using, are in a sorry state. They deserve better looking books with better contents. I have never agreed to the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover' because a book must be appealing from cover to cover, literally. Imagine how the children in your country would react if they're fed with almost illegible photocopied textbooks? MashaAllah.

Pray, with the attention and assistance from certain groups/organizations, students at Madrasah Al-Anwar would be able to enjoy a more enriching learning experience and that they would soon be sparred from below-par textbooks simply because every child deserves a quality education.

Textbooks used at Madrasah Al Anwar

Should you choose Saigon as your next city break, do drop by Madrasah Al Anwar and drop some good Dongs or Greenbacks. You all are big money earners, not quite like Abdul Rahman whom I reckon is the sole halal home-made ice cream-man-on-wheels in Ho Chi Minh city.

Abdul Rahman

   

Abdul Rahman and 84-year-old Khadijah really made my day today : )

Khadijah

Until next time, signing off from Saigon.

-E-

___________
Madrasah & Mosque Jamia Al Anwar
157 B/09 Duong Ba Trac St.
District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Happy Chinese New Year from Saigon

Bismillah.

Wish y'all happy holidays.

May this new "goatee" year be prosperous and fabulous for all.

I gotta run now. I have got an appointment at 66 Dong Du.

The imam at Dong Du mosque in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) has kindly agreed to be interviewed. Alhamdulillah.

By the way, photos of the bilal and the masjid in the previous posting were taken at Dong Du Mosque which is four years older than my mom. It was established in 1935.

p/s
Saigon is quietly sassy in her own way, I must say.
HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City) is a city you must see ; )

Guess where?

Bismillah.

Hi folks,
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah.

From the photos in this posting, can you guess where?

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And GUESS what they have planned for you? Not much."
 - Jim Rohn

So, plan your own life.
Plan your travels.
But let God decide what you shall discover.

Have a good day y'all.

Answer: HCMC = Ho Chi Minh City

Look forward | March forward

Bismillah.

I so....look forward to seeing this week unfolds. It's because I will have completed a major work assignment very soon and then I will get to go makan angin as they say in Malay. That means: go sightseeing, inshaAllah.

Oh...another trip abroad is scheduled in March, inshaAllah, let's just march forward : D

Folks, listen, I have been working so hard, therefore I deserve to go places (in style), don't I? In the meantime, you guys go read some of the decent old postings and ignore the merepek nonsense. And block out all the noise. Don't makan hati as they say in Malay - meaning: don't take it to heart. 

YaHu! See you when I see you!

Look forward, drive, park and fly.
With Ilham (GoPro) & Rashid (Sony recorder)
and a bunch of loved ones ; )

O Light, make me light

Bismillah.

Quoted from a unique salawat taught by Habib Ali al-Habashi:

"O Allah, bestow prayers and peace with a tongue all-embracing, in the limitless divine presence upon our Master Muhammad, through which my body attains assistance from his body, my heart from his heart, my soul from his soul, my secret from his secret, my knowledge from his knowledge, my action from his action, my character from his character, my intention from his intention, my heart's focus from his heart's focus, my direct aspiration from his direct aspiration. May I attain the blessings of these prayers along with my children, my companions and the people of my time. O Light, O Light, make me light by virtue of the light."

Allahumma ṣalli wa sallim `alā sayyidinā Muḥammadin bi’l-lisāni’l-jāmi`ati fī’l-ḥaḍrati’l-wāsi`ati ṣalātan tamudda bihā jismī min jismihi wa qalbī min qalbihi wa rūḥī min rūḥihi wa sirrī min sirrihi wa `ilmī min `ilmihi wa `amalī min `amalihi wa khuluqī min khuluqihi wa niyyatī min niyyatihi wa wijhatī min wijhatihi wa qaṣdī min qaṣdihi wa ta`ūdu barakātuhā `alayya wa `alā awlādī wa `alā aṣhābī wa `alā ahli `aṣrī yā Nūr yā Nur ij`alnī nūran biḥaqqi’n-Nūr


Credit: Muwasala
http://muwasala.org/weekly-salawat-receiving-everything-from-the-messenger-of-allah-%EF%B7%BA/

A heart's and a home's residents | Prayers for our hearts and our homes

Bismillah.

I have discovered something interesting and precious in the middle of the night. Alhamdulillah. Again, credit goes to Muwasala FB for sharing precious gems of the learned and the pious. This one is from Habib Umar bin Hafiz. It has to be copied here so that it would be easier for us to memorize and internalize it inshaAllah. So now we know "who" are the rightful residents of a heart and a home.

The rightful residents of a heart are:

• beneficial knowledge
• knowledge of Allah
• absolute certainty
• complete scrupulousness.

And the rightful residents of a home are those who possess the above.

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ مُسْتَقَرَّ العِلْمِ النَّافِعِ قُلُوبَنا، ومُسْتَقَرَّ أَرْبَابِهِ دِيارَنا. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ مُسْتَقَرَّ المَعْرِفَةِ بِاللهِ قُلُوبَنا، ومُسْتَقَرَّ أَرْبَابِها دِيارَنا. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ مُسْتَقَرَّ اليَقِينِ التَّامِّ قُلُوبَنا ، و مُسْتَقَرَّ أَرْبَابِهِ دِيارَنا. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ مُسْتَقَرَّ الوَرَعِ الحَاجِزِ قُلُوبَنا ، و مُسْتَقَرَّ أَرْبَابِهِ دِيارَنا.

"O Allah, make our hearts
places where beneficial knowledge resides
and make our homes
places where those who possess it reside.

O Allah, make our our hearts
places where knowledge of Allah resides
and make our homes
places where those who possess it reside.

O Allah, make our hearts
places where absolute certainty resides
and make our homes
places where those who possess it reside.

O Allah, make our hearts
places where complete scrupulousness resides
and make our homes
places where those who possess it reside."

Reference: 
http://muwasala.org/prayers-for-our-hearts-and-our-homes/

Twofold love

Bismillah

I love you with two different loves
the kind that is felt by all men
and the kind that you alone are worthy of.
- Rabiatul Adawiya

My love for You is twofold

Je t'aime de deux amours

It's Friday, folks. It's a day to rejoice. Alhamdulillah.

What is it all about this twofold love? That I love You the ordinary love. And I secretly love You the extraordinary love which only You are worthy of because You are not the same as everyone else. You are not the same as everything else, because You are my "You" and not his or her "You". How special You are to me, he and she will never know. For how can they know that which flies from my heart to Yours. My love for You is twofold. I am happy about this secret love affair between You and me. Who cares about all other loves? You know what You are worthy of. The kind of love all other men have for You, pale in comparison to my love for You because You are my "you" and between the two of us, You know who I am and I know no one else but You. In a myriad of shadows, I see none but You. There are two parts to a reflection as there are two sides of a mirror. There are two aspects of my love for You as there is twice as many, more than anyone's love for You. 

La...la...la...la...

  

Faith in the city

Bismillah.

The above photo was captured by Ilham [my handsome GoPro LOL]

Some people say the city Kuala Lumpur is muddied with negativities. But I have faith in the city. It has taught me plenty. It is kind and generous. Alhamdulillah.  

In fact, Kuala Lumpur was blessed with yet another mawlid celebration last weekend, at Masjid Al-Bukhary. Shaykh Afeefudin Al-Jailani and Shaykh Najmudin gave tausiyah on the importance of remembering the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam.

Shaykh Najmuddin said something to this effect:
It doesn't make sense to not want to be close to the Prophet, to know better about him, to remember him and make salawat for him because at the end of the day he will be our savior. Parents are not going to help their children. Husbands and wives are going to go separate ways because everyone would be in dire need on the Day of Resurrection. It will be he salallah alaihi wasalam and not any other Prophets, who will be saving us in the hereafter - at sirat he will be looking out for us; when we are thirsty, he will let us drink from his palms, he will be there acting like our safety net or safety harness and yet we are lackadaisical in acknowledging him. It does not make any sense to not want to honor and be close to the Prophet here and now. 

***

To be honest, this posting would not have surfaced, if it weren't for my mother who thoughtfully nagged: 'Are you not working on Lisan al-Din? when so many other things nagged at the back of my mind. Office workload is at its peak.

But the good news is that I will be travelling abroad soon and will InshaAllah share something exciting with you. In the meantime, it will be nothing more than sporadic posting.

No matter in which city you live in, just keep the faith. Even though at times the city seems to be moving at supersonic speed and we are left behind gasping, we should still keep the faith. Everything is going to be alright. Everything is going to be alright. Bi-iznillah.

Goodnite all.

-E-

p/s Aunty S: Thank you for the loveeeeee.

Kau ilhamku | My Ilham | My inspiration

Bismillah.

My mother had this to say as we were watching a heartwarming documentary of Caliph Buskers: "They are on TV, yet they can't watch themselves..." And silence filled the space between me and her, for a minute.

Caliph Buskers skyrocketed to fame when a renowned musician let them perform his composition at a prestigious song competition in Malaysia. On that fateful night, I was probably one of millions of viewers who was mesmerized by their voice and wondered who on earth they were. Wasn't really paying attention on the TV screen as I was occupied with some work but when they belted out the first few lines, it was a "wow" delivery. They first captured the viewers' hearing with their truthful-sounding vocals and then many began to notice they were blind! MashaAllah.

Caliph Buskers

Tonight, my mother and I were glued to the screen again as we watched a documentary on how this group live their lives. It's inspiring and humbling to see how they move about their daily routine. That they were able to give specific instructions to the cab driver and knew it when the driver missed the intended stop. MashaAllah. The main vocalist is completely blind. He cannot even see a speck of light. One of them has slightly better "vision" than the rest. Everyone else is practically blind.

To state the obvious, as did my mother, they can't see themselves on TV. They can't see a playback of their remarkable performance at the competition. Imagine if you were to appear on television? You would be excited to watch yourself.

But I suppose it's enough for Caliph Buskers to experience and feel the defining moments, when things turned around for the better for them - moments when they went from zero to hero. Allah is All-Knowing, Most-Powerful and Most-Generous, isn't He? The Almighty lets us see something magical in Caliph Buskers. Many were inspired and humbled at the same time.

Ilham is the name chosen for my new "companion", with the hope that it would inspire me to capture beautiful and meaningful moments of this temporary life. If Allah had not given me the ability to see, Ilham would be of no meaning to me. It would be useless to place my eyes behind it because there will be nothing to see.

Still, Allah in His unfathomable wisdom, inspires us all in unique ways. He gives something to each one of us. He lets us see things anyway, be it with the physical eyes or with the eyes of the heart. Still, there is something to see. There is always something to see for Caliph Buskers, you and me.

***

My heart hums a beautiful Malay song called:

Kau Ilhamku  [You are my inspiration].

Kau ilhamku.
You are my inspiration.

Ilham

These cute boys too, have inspired me.

Click on pic to enlarge and see better.
I see sheer joy and innocence.

Mawlid Al-Kabir organized by Darul Masri of Kuala Lumpur

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah we were able to attend the mawlid at Masjid Al-Khairiyah in KL tonight. The event was organized by Darul Masri, headed by Shaykh Razak al-Masri. We had the privilege of interviewing Shaykh Razak at a mawlid event in Penang several weeks ago and was impressed by his warmth and humility.

Shaykh Razak al-Masri (leftmost)
flanked by honorable guests including
Shaykh Hafiz bin Selamat al-Jenderami, Ustaz Ahar Hashim,
Kiyai Jalil and Shaykh Rohimuddin Nawawi al-Bantani

The majlis was unique because Shaykh Razak al-Masri -- an Egyptian who chose to live in Malaysia -- was able to moderate the event in the Malay language in entirety. He has assimilated very well and Malaysians should be honored to have him among us. He is doing a great deal for our community through Darul Masri Tahfiz and Qur'an schools. One notable teacher at Darul Masri Quran school is Shaykh Ibrahim al-Banna, the grandson of Shaykh Hassan al-Banna (1906 - 1949). Shaykh Ibrahim al-Banna made a beautiful Quran recital at the majlis.

Shaykh Razak al-Masri said: "The majlis is called Mawlid Al-Kabir and not Mawlid Al-Akbar because only Allah, the prophets and the angels could do Mawlid al-Akbar as they did during Mikraj where Prophet Muhammad was greeted by each Prophet occupying each level of the heavenly skies beginning with Prophet Adam. On the seventh level, Prophet Ibrahim said to Rasulullah 'Marhaban, marhaban, marhaban.' Anyone who questions the appropriateness of saying marhaban and celebrating mawlid should read the kitab by Imam Baihaqi." 

According to Shaykh Razak, there is a big difference between Akbar and Kabir, as such the majlis that ordinary people like us could afford is not so big (kabir) and not grand as in Akbar.

One of the key speakers, Shaykh Rohimuddin Nawawi al-Bantani mentioned a few salient points:

No one is going to heaven based on their amal but mercy of Allah. That mercy is Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, we must be with rahmatan lil alamin. It is about loving the Prophet. Having said that, it's not that we don't need to do amal, although the key point is not amal. The key point is love. We must understand that the foundation of amal is love. An amal that is not carried out with love, will not result in good akhlak. He who performs an amal with love will not be tired. All lethargy will be gone and that which would manifest from an amal that is done with love, is akhlak. Sunnah is akhlak. Sunnah is all about akhlak. 

"He who does not make salawat upon the Prophet 

when his name is mentioned is bakhil. 

I don't want to be branded bakhil 

for turning down an invite to a mawlid. " 

- Ustaz Azhar Hashim.  

Truthfulness of action is about excellence and quality

Bismillah.

First and foremost, Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah to have arrived safely in KL from one Home-Sweet-Home to another Home-Sweet-Home.

What has it got to do with the title re truthfulness, you ask. She is starting another merepek nonsense rambling : )

I tell you what is nonsense. Nonsense is when people come to this space for the wrong reason. If you have FB go shout on your own wall. If you have got Twitter, go tweet your thing. I am here simply to write anything that turns me on and something useful to woo the attention and mercy of my Lord, so that a relatively good deed may follow a bad deed, therefore, excuse me, folks.

Upon arrival in KL, I was delighted to receive the college hoodie I ordered. The one that says: 'Never underestimate the power of a woman who graduated from Stirling'. YaHu! Could not resist trying it on [never mind that oily/wearied face LOL]. And thissss... must be put on record so that my nieces and nephews who are all doing well in their respective schools and colleges, would be inspired by their cool aunt : D

Anyway, all this while I thought truthfulness in doing something is synonymous with sincerity. Yes in a way, but not quite right. According to al-Habib Umar bin Hafiz in his book 'The Clarification of Noble Character', truthfulness of action means "to perform an action with excellence solely for the sake of one's Lord, and to be completely focused on it while performing it, expanding upon it all of one's effort." (page 51)

Therefore, it is about giving your best, going all out in doing a good job. In other words, it's about trying hard to produce high-quality work. 

Interesting to note that Henry Ford said: "Quality means doing it right when no one is looking." But of course, in the context of our faith, the aim is to garner the Lord's pleasure.

So, let us do our best and don't be busy body checking if that fella's "best" is good/not good enough according to our definition/interpretation of "best" because there are multiple ways to attain the pleasure of Allah.

Peace y'all!

Ah! Fabulous Feb

Bismillah.

Thisss... is Feb rambling, O people!

It's hard not to be in good mood when writing from my Penang home. Alhamdulillah.

First thing first, what's fabulous about Feb is that we discovered that superb publication on the Prophet's 805 names. Who would have thought he [pbuh] had so many names! Who knew? 

Ahh... the flowers are still pretty and fresh, yet we have to leave so soon.

Ahh...the idea for a hanging bookshelf to hide some odd AC wiring, turned out well.

Ahh...many learned men say "Ah" is the zikir for those who have attained makrifah level. Allahu'alam. But from a laymen's perspective, me thinks it makes sense because when you have come to know something so well, you'd say Ah! 

Is it not? Ah! LOL

  

Penang Bridge from Queensbay rooftop.
That island you see is not Penang island.
It's called Jerejak island. It takes about 10 minutes boat ride to get there.
 It used to be our version of Alcatraz.
But these days you can go get a spa treatment
at the one and only resort on the island.
[Yes, I am an unpaid tourism officer for Penang, in case you're wondering.]

Durian is only for the brave among you [visitors] and is king to us [locals]
This Musang King durian costs RM100 each!

It feels like yesterday we embraced the new year and January is gone for good. Subhanallah! Time flies they say, but I think it evaporates.

Before Feb vaporizes before our eyes, here's wishing you a fruitful month, wish you a fabulous Feb. May we have a fab Feb, bi-iznillah. 

-E-

Prophet's 805 Names | Barakat Makkiyah

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah. Because I care, I want to share this precious discovery with you. Some of you might already have the book and ijazah for it, good for you. In any case, I feel that anyone who knows about the book is responsible to create awareness and share because I strongly believe each Muslim should know about it and each one of us ought to have a copy of the kitab and practice it. One is supposed to have an ijazah to practise but that can be sorted out sooner or later, just please get hold of the book and find your way to obtaining the ijazah, bi-iznillah.

Barakat Makkiyah was authored by a renowned mua'llim of Pakistan, Shaykh Musa Ruhani Bazi (1935 - 1998). He began working on the book upon a suggestion by Maulana Muhammad Mas'ud Syamim, who was principal of Madrasah Soulatiyah and Darul Ulum Diniyyah in Makkah. Sadly, the shaykh had passed away in 1992 before Shaykh Musa Bazi could present it to him. Shaykh Musa Bazi named the compilation of the Prophet's 805 names as Barakat Makkiyah in honor of Maulana Muhammad Mas'ud Syamim. The muqaddimah for the kitab was written during duha on Eid-ul Fitr in Masjidil Haram in 1993 where Shaykh Musa made a lengthy du'a for those who keep and read the kitab.

Excerpts of his lengthy du'a are as follows:
That Allah would protect those in whose house are kept the kitab, that Allah would protect them from fears and worries, from any evils caused by men, from being fearful towards their enemies and the acts of evil men, that Allah would protect them from fire, from theft, from lighting strike and from drowning. Shaykh Musa also prayed so that each house in which the kitab is kept, would be enveloped by happiness, protection and abundant goodness. Shaykh Musa prayed so that those who have the kitab by their side at home or when traveling, would be joyful, safe, given honor and protected from calamities. The shaykh prayed so that those who read the kitab would feel safe should they find themselves under duress in an unsafe situation. That they would feel at ease as though they are covered by a strong shield. He also prayed so that those who read the kitab would have their affairs facilitated and made easy, that Allah would fulfill their wishes, elevate their status, remove all afflictions, sickness and accidents. Shaykh Musa prayed so that Allah would open the door of success for those who recite the kitab and they would be granted honor and a prosperous life. [Ameen!]

We would not have known about this person of incredible repute, if it weren't for Ustaz Muhammad Razif bin Abd Wahab, a Malaysian who translated and published the introduction (muqaddimah) of the original kitab. He and a few mureed of Shaykh Musa Ruhani Bazi have, since July 2014, began promoting the greatness and uniqueness of Barakat Makkiyah, in Malaysia.

In Muqaddimah Barakat Makkiyah, Ustaz Muhammad Razif writes about the esteem position of Shaykh Musa Ruhani Bazi, the author of Barakat Makkiyah in which, for the first time, as many as 805 names of Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam have been compiled and published.

MashaAllah, surely you are better than me. I only knew four of the Prophet's names i.e. Muhammad, Ahmad, Taha and Mustafa. Thanks to Barakat Makkiyah we now know and will get to recite 805 of the Prophet's names, subhanallah!

The author of the kitab, Allamah Shaykh Musa Ruhani Bazi (Shaykh Musa Bazi) was one blessed with immense talent in writing, teaching and karamah. It was related that the imam of Masjidil Haram, Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdullah Sabil would always mention and praise Shaykh Musa Bazi in his majalis. People in his circles got curious as to why the Imam of Masjidil Haram was well acquainted with a non-Arab like Shaykh Musa Bazi. The imam said, he has had the privilege of meeting many ulama and mashaikh throughout the world, but none surpass the knowledge and wisdom of Shaykh Musa Bazi.

In Muqaddimah Barakat Makkiyah, Ustaz Muhammad Razif writes about Shaykh Musa Bazi being one of only four people whose grave emits a strong sweet perfume that lasted for months! You may listen to more wonderful stories of Shaykh Musa Bazi from this website dedicated to marketing and promoting Barakat Makkiyah.

http://kitabselawat.com/

  

Not just wonderful stories about the honorable writer who have authored some 200 books, you will also get to learn about the marvelous benefits one could derive from reciting the salawat contained in Barakat Makkiyah. The website and videos are in Malay language, still I would like to urge our non-Malay visitors to try get a copy of the kitab. InshaAllah. 

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, I'm utterly grateful to have discovered this superb publication.