Bismillahi ArRahman ArRaheem
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatallahi wa Barakatu
From the Quran:
The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. "We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His messengers." And they say: "We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys." [2:285]
From the Sunnah (Ahadith):
The Prophet (sallahu 'alahi wa salaam) said: 'No creature should be obeyed if it entails disobedience to the Creator.' (Sunan Abî Dawûd, Sharh As-Sunnah Al-Baghawî)
The Prophet (sallahu 'alahi wa salaam) said: 'Surely I was sent to perfect the qualities of righteous character (Musnad Ahmad, Muwatta Mâlik)
Week 3
1. Protecting the faults of one another [Pertains to helping the Ummah]
I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect, we are not perfect. Like the saying goes, its so much easier to pick the defects in others rather than pick those in ourselves because (1) It makes us feel good and (2) others’ faults are probably more easily visible than our own. An example that I commonly see is when someone is criticizing one’s worship to Allah. For instance:
Fatimah: OMG, did you see how she was wearing her hijaab??
Sarrah: Yea, I know! Half of her head was visible, astughfirallah!
Fatimah: You would never catch me wearing a scarf like that.
Sarrah: Tsk, tsk, tsk. No shame, no shame at all…
As you can see, Fatimah and Sarrah are criticizing the way a sis is wearing her hijaab, not only are they criticizing, but they are also backbiting. Yes, they as well are flawed human beings, yet they do not see this.
Instead of doing it that way, like its commonly done, it should be done more like:
Fatimah: OMG, did you see how she was wearing her hijaab??
Sarrah: Yea, but maybe she doesn’t know that her hair is showing.
Fatimah: But like more than half of it is visible? Is she blind or something??
Sarrah: I really don’t think she knows, I’ll go tell her inshallah, maybe she
doesn’t have a proper scarf to wear or something, Allahu a’lem. Let’s not judge.
Good sister Sarrah…anyways, here are the ahadith pertaining to covering the faults of your bretheren:
The Prophet (sallahu 'alahi wa salaam) said: 'Do not search for (the faults of others), for if anyone searches for (others) faults, God will search for his.' (Sunan Abî Dawûd)
The Prophet (sallahu 'alahi wa salaam) said: 'Blessed is he who preoccupies himself with his own defects, rather than those of others.' (Musnad Al-Bazzâr)
Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Messenger said, “Allah will cover up on the Day of Judgement the defect (faults) of the one who covers up the faults of the others in this world.” (Muslim)
Inshallah, before speaking we should think and try to protect our brothers' faults, try to concentrate on our own, and rather than backbiting or harming one another, we can help them correct theirs if they don't know what they are doing is wrong or if simply the message was unclear the first time around.
2. Praying your sunnah/nawafil at home [Pertains to improving one’s salaah]
Putting Islam in your home is an important thing. If there’s no Quran being recited, no prayers being prayed, no supplications being supplicated in your home, then you’re conditioning yourself to another environment where Muslims are always there (i.e. the masjid). This isn’t a bad thing really, but Muslims aren’t going to be there ALL the time through out your life praying with you, and even if they are, why turn your homes like a grave? The most beautiful thing I see is when a father/mother/sister/brother are praying and a child stands next to them and mimics the prayer movements. Overtime the child will want to know how to pray properly subhanallah. So even through that you can provide a small amount of da’wah to someone who is ignorant of the traditions of Islam. You don’t have to pray your whole prayer at home, but the minimum that should be done is the sunnah/nawafil prayers inshallah.
Related Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "If one of you offers his prayers in the Mosque then he should make a portion of his prayers in his house, as Allah has made his prayers in his house a means of betterment (for him)." [Ahmad and Muslim]
'Umar related that the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "The nawafil salah of a man in his house are a light; whoever wishes should lighten up his house." [Ahmad]
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar reports that the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "Make some of your prayers in your houses and do not turn your houses into graves." [Ahmad and Abu Dawud]
Recorded from Zaid ibn Thabit on sound authority that the Messenger of Allah said: "A person's salah in his house is better than his salah in my mosque, except for the fard salah." [Abu Dawud]
3. Refraining from eating with the left hand [Small practice]
Subhanallah, believe it or not, while I was looking up ahadith, I had a snack on my desk, some chex mix or something, anyways, I’m scrolling the screen with the mouse in my right hand and snacking with my left hand. Of course, when I noticed immediately I stopped, but from what I recall, I never thought of it before! So if you’re like me, snacking and surfing, make sure you’re eating with your RIGHT hand. Alhemdulilah writing this up helped me a lot and I don’t do it any more, but yea, I didn’t notice it ‘till way after I’ve done it a few times.
Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zubayr from Jabir ibn Abdullah as-Salami that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade a man to eat with his left hand or walk in one sandal or wrap a single garment around his drawn-up legs exposing his genitals.
[Imam Malik]
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Bakr ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Umar from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you eat, eat with your right hand and drink with your right hand. Shaytan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand."
[Imam Malik]
Umar ibn Abi salamah narrated, “I was a young boy under the care of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and my hand used to wander all over the plate (at mealtimes). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: ‘O young boy! Say Bismillah, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is directly in front of you.’ This remained my way of eating from that time on.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari, al Fat’h no. 5376)
Muslim (May Allah have mercy upon him) reported that a man ate with his left hand in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He said, “Eat with your right hand!” The man said, “I cannot” He said, “May you never be able to!” Nothing was stopping him except pride, and he never raised it to his mouth after that. (No. 2021)
4. Supplicating when leaving/entering your home [du’a]
May Allah protect us ameen. There have been a lot of cases where we heard of a bro or a sis getting harassed, beaten up, jumped, and harmed badly because a few haters don’t know how to control their rage and choose to live in ignorance. Anyways, to protect yourself and your family when you’re leaving or entering your house, here are a few du’as you can memorize over the course of the week inshallah to protect yourself from harm/danger. Note that you don’t have to memorize all of them, but the more the better:
When Leaving & Entering Home say:
Allaahum-ma in-nee us`aluka khairal maolaji wa khairal makhraji. Bismillaahi walajnaa wa bismillaahi kharajnaa, wa 'alallaahi rab-banaa tawak-kalnaa.
O Allaah, I seek of You the good of entering and the good of leaving. In the Name of Allaah we enter and in the Name of Allaah we leave, and upon our Lord we place our trust.
When Leaving Home say (w/ vid #1):
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Bismillahi tawak-kaltu alallah wa la haula wa la quwwata illah billah.
In the name of Allah. I put my trust in Allah and there is no strength nor power except Allah.
When leaving home say (w/ vid #1):
Allahumma innee a'uoodhubika an adhilla auw adhalla auw azilla auw uzalla auw adhlima auw udhlama auw ajhala auw yujhala 'alaiyya
‘O Allaah, I take refuge with You lest I should stray or be led astray, or slip or be tripped, or oppress or be oppressed, or behave foolishly or be treated foolishly.’
[Source, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi]
When Entering Home Say (w/ vid #2):
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Bismillahi walajnaa wa bismillahi kharajnaa wa 'alaa rabbinaa tawakkalnaa
‘In the name of Allaah we enter and in the name of Allaah we leave, and upon our Lord we place our trust.’ [Source: Abu Dawood with saheeh Isnaad] 
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