Today, one of my childhood teachers, the former Principal of the Islamic Cultural Institute Madrassah, and someone who was like a father to the Muslim community of Harare, Sh. Qari Abdullah Diwan (May Allah have mercy on him) was buried in Manchester, UK, after returning to Allah Almighty at the age of 85 years this past Thursday evening.
He was someone who Allah Almighty blessed him with a full life alhamdulillah, and despite this, I couldn’t help but feel the impact of the news upon receiving it.

Sh. Qari Abdullah taught me Islamic studies for an entire year in 1996 as he was responsible for all final year students of the institute, and I will always remember him for making me memorise the last aayaat of Surah alBaqarah and teaching me to recite it before going to sleep, amongst other lessons.

In 2002, he had to travel for a period of 6 months, and he honoured me by pleasingly accepting me being the interim teacher for his class during his absence. Before this, and whilst still a student, I always recall him being fond of me, and affording me roles of responsibility within the institute. This naturally caused my classmates to feel that I was favoured. Of course their sentiments couldn’t be further from the truth.

As I sit here tapping away at my keyboard and look back at all these precious memories; I cannot help but feel older and even more responsible! Indeed a generation has departed to Allah, and a generation now waits in line to depart, for death is a door and everyone will walk through it!

Due to personal reasons, Sh. Qari Abdullah made the difficult choice of shifting his Zimbabwe based legacy to Manchester in the United Kingdom in 2010, and I was fortunate to drive to Manchester a few years ago especially to meet him and his wife, who was a like a mother to the parents of Harare, and a grandmother to us all!

As I digested the news of his passing late Thursday evening/early Friday morning, I remembered fondly how smartly dressed he always was, his punctuality, his dedication to the cause, his service, his strong walk filled with purpose, his patience, and his smile.

Given that children always see before they hear; these attributes no doubt played a huge part in shaping the students of the Madrassah, especially during their formative years, and no doubt mine as well.

I found out before his burial today, that an examination into his cause of death showed him to be a positive carrier of the Covid-19 virus, and with this we have hope in Allah Almighty that he was given the status of Shahaadah, inShaAllah. Indeed Allah bestows a unique rank over His slave as He wills.

May Allah make his grave a garden from the gardens of Jannah, raise him with the family of alQur’an on the day of Judgement, grant him shade underneath His throne, and grant him Alfirdaus without any accountability. Ameen.

May Allah make his children and all his students a sadaqatul-jaariyah (continuous charity) for him. Ameen.

May Allah shower a beautiful patience upon his wife, children, grandchildren and relatives. Ameen.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raajioon.
To Allah we belong, and to Allah we shall return!

Sajid Umar
Riyadh, KSA,
4th of Sha’baan 1441AH

By Dr Ahsan Hanif

The latest unprecedented challenge in modern times.

Covid-19 has brought with it much uncertainty, and raised questions about many different facets of everyday life, worship and social etiquettes.

This research paper explores a wide range of issues including the mindset of a Muslim, the etiquettes that should be observed at a time like this and Islamic rulings with regards to different acts of worship such as purification, prayer, and funerals.

Peer Reviewed By:
Sh Dr. Waleed Basyouni
Sh Abu Eesa Niamatullah
Sh Sajid Ahmed Umar
Sh Imtiyaz Damiel

Download here.

… “However, I have been inundated with questions and arguments about the situation, from people for and against the closure of mosques, and I believe it would be beneficial for all of us to understand the matter at hand, to foster understanding of the reasoning behind the closure of mosques taken by scholars across many countries, and to highlight the fact… “.

Read Article

Assalamualaikum everyone.

Please download this pdf and share it with your friends and loved ones.

Please learn these Supplications and use them regularly.

Please also pray for those who put it together, especially at a time when we are in need of Authentic Supplications.

May Allah accept all our deeds and protect us all. Ameen.

Baarakallahfeekum.

Download (PDF, 9.77MB)

Your brother,
Sajid Umar.

Assalamualaikum everyone. This is some advice I recieved from a doctor, who I consider trustworthy, regarding Corona, and I quote:

“Best advice is to spend money on building your immunity and getting healthy because most likely you are going to get sick with the virus one day.

Vitamin C, berroca B, Vitamins, Fish Oil and lots of water and exercise”.

*In addition to the above, I add:*

Take good grade Blackseeds (Nigella Sativa, not Cummin) even if in capsule form, along with pure good grade Honey 🍯daily.

Also, stop smoking 🚬 and eating processed foods, and all actions that work against your immune system.

Please don’t forget the daily athkaar (duas) I spoke about in recent videos.

May Allah protect us all. Ameen!

Baarakallahfeekum.

Your brother,
Sajid Umar.

A beautiful story of Dua and Transformation narrated by my Colleague, Sh. Ahmed AbdelWahab
…

A beautiful story of repentance
narrated by my beloved Shaykh, Ibrahim Al-Akhdar, Shaykh Al-Qurrā’ (the head Qur’anic reciter and teacher) in the Prophet’s Masjid:

Shaykh Ali Subai’ (may Allah have mercy on him) was a great scholar of Quran and Islam from Al-Azhar (Egypt).

He was one of the main teachers of Shaykh ‘Āmir Sayyid Uthman, who later became Shaykh Al-Qurrā’ of Egypt and was one of the greatest and most renowned scholars of Quran in the Muslim world. He was one of the Quran teachers of Shaykh Ibrāhim Al-Akhdar. So Shaykh Ibrahim is relaying the story of his teacher’s teacher.

He said:

Shaykh Ali Subai’ was known to be a very pious man. His du’aa was mustajāb (always answered), so people had great awe of him. He was blind, but was very dedicated to his Qur’ān classes. He would walk alone with his cane, asking for directions, until he reached the masjid or building he had his Quran class in.

One day, he was walking to his Quran class in Abul ‘Ila in Cairo. As he walked alone with his cane and got close to the area where the Quran school was he asked a man, “Where is Maqra’at Abul ‘Ila?”

The man he came across was very wicked. Instead of leading him to the correct location, he led him to a prostitute’s apartment. So the poor, naive Shaykh walked to the area that the man led him to. He felt the stairs with his cane, and went up the stairs.

The woman was at the top of the stairs.

She said, “What do you want?”

He heard a woman’s voice, which wasn’t what he expected.

Shaykh Ali said, “I want the Maqra’ah (Quran school) of Abul ‘Ila.”

When this woman, who normally sells unlawful desires, saw that this man was looking for a Quran school, she began trembling with fear and embarrassment.

She said, “Okay. Please come in.”

He said, “NO! I’m looking for Maqra’at Abul ‘Ila! Where is the Maqra’ah?!”

He started going down the stairs, saying “Lā Hawla wa lā quwwata Illā billah! (there is no change or might except from Allah).”

Continue Reading…

This was the advice of Imam Abu Hanifa to one of his students who went to Basra to teach people there the fiqh of Kufa and the opinion of it’s scholars.

“Know that if you harm ten people, you will have enemies, even if they are your mothers and fathers, but if you do good to ten people who are not your relatives, they will become like mothers and fathers to you.

“If you enter Basra and oppose people, elevate yourself over them, vaunt your knowledge among them, and hold yourself aloof from their company, you will shun them and they will shun you; you will curse them and they will curse you; you will consider them misguided and they will think you misguided and an innovator. Ignominy will attach itself to you and us, and you will have to flee from them. This is not an option. It is not an intelligent person who is unsociable to the one who is unsociable until Allah shows him a way out.

“When you go to Basra, the people will receive you, visit you and acknowledge your due, so put each person in his proper position. Honour the people of honor, esteem the people of knowledge and respect the shyookh. Be kind to the young and draw near to the common people.

Continue Reading…

One of the things we learnt from our sheikh, sh. Ja’far Idris (may Allah preserve him), is that scholars of the Islamic sciences share something in common with scientists.

When the scholar of science looks at something in the universe which he doesn’t understand; he doesn’t express science as being problematic, or there being a mistake with the universe, but rather puts it down to his need to further investigate.

In the same way; when the scholar of Islam learns something of the religion which supposedly doesn’t make sense; he shouldn’t label the Islamic narrative as ‘problematic’, but rather express his ignorance, and dire need to further learn and study.