Read Qur'ān in Secret

Sayyidunā ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

“The one who recites the Qur’ān aloud is like the one who gives charity openly, and the one who recites the Qur’ān quietly is like the one who gives charity secretly.”

Abū ʿĪsā (al-Tirmidhī) said: This ḥadīth is ḥasan gharīb.

The meaning of this ḥadīth is that the one who recites the Qur’ān quietly is better than the one who recites it aloud, because giving charity secretly is better according to the people of knowledge

The Advice of the Prophet ﷺ and the Best of All Women

The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Indeed, the woman is ʿawrah (something to be covered and protected). When she goes out, Shayṭān seeks to tempt her. And she is closest to her Lord when she is in the depths of her home.” Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah 1685
عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:
«إن المرأة عورة، فإذا خرجت استشرفها الشيطان، وأقرب ما تكون من وجه ربها وهي في قعر بيتها»

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his daughter Fāṭimah (peace be upon her):
“What is best for a woman?”
She replied: “That

60 Years of Worship v 6 Nights of Zina v Loaf of Bread in Charity

From Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (ḥadīth no. 10075 and others

Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd) said:

“A monk worshipped Allah in his hermitage for sixty years. A woman came and stayed beside him, so he descended to her and had intercourse with her for six nights. Then he was overcome with regret, so he fled. He came to a mosque, sought refuge there, and stayed for three days without eating anything. A loaf of bread was brought to him, so he broke it in half and gave one half

The Beauty of the Prophet ﷺ

Sayyidunā 'Abdullāh Ibn Rawāḥah – may Allāh be pleased with him – said:

“Even if there were no clear signs in him,
his very appearance would inform you of the truth.”

And al-Qurṭubī – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Some have said: The full beauty of the Prophet ﷺ was not made apparent to us, for if his complete beauty had been shown to us, our eyes would not have been able to bear looking at him ﷺ.

And may Allah have mercy on al-Sharaf al-Būṣīrī, for he said:

“He is the one whose meaning and form were

Ibn Qayyim رحمه الله beautifully says

“In the heart there is disarray that nothing can gather except turning to Allāh.
And in it is loneliness that nothing can remove except finding intimacy with Him in solitude.
And in it is sadness that nothing can take away except the joy of knowing Him and sincerity in dealing with Him.
And in it is anxiety that nothing can calm except meeting Him and fleeing to Him.
And in it are the flames of regret that nothing can extinguish except contentment with His command, prohibition and decree, and embracing patience

Reciting the Qur'ān from a muṣḥaf (physical copy of the Qur'ān) is better than reciting from memory because looking at the text of the Qur'ān is itself an act of worship. In this way, one attains the virtue of both reciting and looking.

Imām al-Bayhaqī in Shu'ab al-Imān (and others) relate

Sayyidunā Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī said: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

“Give your eyes their share of worship.”
It was asked: “O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, what is their share of worship?”
He replied:
“Looking into the muṣḥaf (written Qur’ān), reflecting on it,

Profound Advice from Ibn Qayyim

“Indeed, the blessing of a man lies in his teaching of goodness wherever he may be, and in his sincere advice to everyone he meets. Allāh the Exalted said, informing us about the Messiah (Jesus): {And He has made me blessed wherever I am} [19:31]. That is, a teacher of good, a caller to Allāh, a reminder of Him, encouraging obedience to Him. This is part of a man’s blessing. And whoever is devoid of this has been stripped of blessing, and the blessing of meeting or gathering with him is nullified. In fact, he

Ibn Qayyim رحمه الله says

“Indeed, all those who truly know Allāh (the ‘ārifūn) are unanimously agreed that true success (tawfīq) is when Allāh does not leave you to your own self, and abandonment (khudhlān) is when Allāh leaves you to your own self.

So whoever Allāh wants good for, He opens for him the door of humility, brokenness, constant turning to Allāh, and feeling in need of Him. He makes him see the flaws of his own soul—its ignorance, transgression, and shortcomings—while also allowing him to witness the grace of his Lord, His kindness,

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Qudāmah says

“And know that the one who is in the sea, clinging to a plank, is not in greater need of Allāh and His gentleness than the one who is in his home among his family and wealth. For the means that appear to be in his hands are (in reality) in the Hands of Allāh, just as the means of the drowning person's survival are in His Hands. So if you firmly believe this in your heart, then rely upon Allāh – the Mighty and Majestic – with the reliance of one who is drowning and sees no means of salvation except through Allāh.”

An amazing Ḥadīth pay close attention to person number 2.

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

"There are three people whom Allāh loves, is delighted with, and smiles at:

1. The one who, when a group (of enemies) is dispersed, fights for the sake of Allāh with his own life. Either he is killed, or Allāh grants him victory and suffices him. Allah says: 'Look at My servant, how he has persevered for Me with his life.'

2. The one who has a beautiful wife and a comfortable bed, but he gets up to pray at night, saying: 'He forsakes his desire to

Ṣalawāt will save you on the Ṣirāṭ

On the authority of Abdur Rahmān ibn Samurah he said:

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ came out to us and said:

"Indeed, I saw something amazing last night: I saw a man from my nation crawling on the Ṣirāṭ (Bridge over Hellfire) at times, walking on all fours at times, and hanging on at times. Then his sending of blessings upon me (the Prophet ﷺ) came and took him by the hand, lifted him up, and helped him to cross the Ṣirāṭ."

Reported by al-Ṭabarānī in Al-Kabīr and by Abū Mūsā Al-Madanī, who said:

When we make Ṣalawāt upon the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ

Allāh, The Prophet ﷺ and the Angels send blessings upon us

Ḥadīth 1:

قال رسول الله ﷺ:

من صلى علي واحدة صلى الله عليه عشرا
“Whoever sends blessings upon me once, Allāh will bless him 10 times”

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 408 Ḥadīth 2:

وعن أنس بن مالك قال : قال رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم :

" من صلى علي صلاة واحدة بلغتني صلاته ، وصليت عليه ، وكتب له سوى ذلك عشر حسنات "
. رواه الطبراني في الأوسط

Al-Mundhirī says
بإسناد لا باس به

Imām al-Ghazālī quoted a saying,

“I read the Qur’ān but did not find sweetness in it. Then I read it as if I was hearing it from the Prophet ﷺ while he was reciting it to his companions. Then, I moved a stage further and read the Qur’ān as I was hearing it from Jibreel while he delivered it to the Prophet ﷺ. Then Allah سبحانه وتعالى brought me to a further stage – I began to read it as if I was hearing it from the Speaker. This was a blessing that was so unbearably (amazing) and satisfying.”

Sayyidunā 'Alī reported that the Prophet ﷺ said

“There will come a time upon the people, when there will remain nothing of Islām except its name (ism) and nothing will remain of the Qur’ān except its outward form (rasm). Their masjids will be full of people (well built) but will be empty of guidance. Their scholars will be the most evil under the heavens; from them turmoil (fitnah) will emanate and to them it will return.”

عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ، رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُوشِكُ أَنْ

Strive to follow this advice of the Prophet ﷺ

Abū Dharr رضي الله عنه said:

'I said, "O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ counsel me."

Heﷺ said: "I counsel you to be conscious of Allāh, for it will beautify your entire affair." (In another narration: "For it is the head of the entire affair.") I said; "O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, give me more." He said: "Recite the Qur'ān, and make remembrance of Allāh, for it is remarked of you in the heavens, and is a light for you on earth." I said: "O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, give me more." He said: "Be silent often, for it

Abū Barza al-Aslamī رضي الله عنه reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

'A servant's steps will not cease on the Day of Resurrection until he has been asked concerning four: His life and by what means he exhausted it, his knowledge and how he acted upon it, his wealth and how he earned and spent it, and his body and by what means he wore it out."

Tirmidhī - Haṣan Ṣaḥīḥ

Bazzār, Bayhaqī and Ṭabarānī narrated, with a Ṣaḥīḥ chain of transmission on the authority of Mu'adh b. Jabal رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

Words from a Wise Man to His Son

"I have experienced many things in life and was able to derive from them 8 beneficial points.

1. If you are in prayer, watch your heart.

Watch your heart that it focuses on other than your Lord during the prayer, for you will be doing the devil a service and harming only your self.

2. If you are in a gathering of people, watch your tongue.

Be careful of what you say, or what you choose not to say - though silence is usually the safest bet.

O slave of Allāh, your religion is your capital; if you lose it, you have lost your capital. Therefore, busy your tongue with His remembrance, your heart with His love and your limbs in His service, and cultivate your existence until the seed [of true faith] appears and thus grows. Whoever treats his heart in the way a farmer treats his land, his heart will be illuminated.

The similitude [of the spiritual path] is like that of two men who bought equally proportionate land. One of them took it and cleared it of thorns and grass, irrigated it with

The Prophet ﷺ curing the eyesight of the early Ḥadīth scholar Imām Ḥāfiẓ Abū Yūsuf Ya'qūb Ibn Sufyān رضي الله عنه (d. 277AH)

He says

I was travelling for 30 years. During my journey my funds ran out. So I decided to write during the day and read during the night. One night I was writing with lantern lit, it was winter, and my eyes watered, which made me blind. So I started to cry because of the loss of knowledge.

I soon fell asleep and I saw the Prophet ﷺ in my vision, and he called me and said:
"O Ya'qūb, why are you crying?"

THE MĀLIKĪ MADHHAB

As for the Mālikī jurists, then Qāḍī' ʿIyāḍ has narrated in al-Shifā' on the authority of the Imām of the Land of Migration [Imam Mālik] that he said to Abū Ja'far al-Manṣūr, when he asked him about facing the qiblah during supplication, Why turn your face away from him when he is your means and the means of your father Ādam before you?

Rather, face him and ask him to intercede, so that Allāh accepts his intercession for you.

In his book al-Madkhal, Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Mālikī said:

THE SHĀFI'Ī MADHHAB

As for the Shāfi'ī Imāms, then [we have the likes of] Imām al-Nawawī, who said in al-Adhkār, al-Manāsik and Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab during the discussion on visiting the Prophet ﷺ:

Then one returns to stand in front of the Prophet's faceﷺ and turns to him to request for oneself and asks him to intercede with his Lord, Glorified and Most High. One of the best formulas for one to say is what has been mentioned with approval by our companions [the Shāfi'ī scholars] from al-'Utbā:

'I was sitting at the Prophet's graveﷺ when a