I didn't write it, just passing on. Wa jazaakum, none the less.

Bismillah He came during a time of darkness and spread, by the will of Allah, light upon the land. Fast forward 1,429 years later, and here we are with hardly any knowledge of him sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. We have lost our chance to be with the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam in this dunya, so let us not loose our chance in the hereafter. In many ahadeeth, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam mentions ways that we can be near to him by doing certain deeds. How can we achieve nearness to him alayhi salaatu wa salaam? 1- Sending salawaat on him sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. Ibn Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “The people who will be nearest to me on the Day of Resurrection will be those who supplicate Allah more often for me.” (At-Tirmidhi). Imam Nawawi states: “Nearest to me’” signifies “those who are most entitled to my intercession”. Thus, this Hadeeth has also an inducement for very frequent recitation of Salat on the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. The best day to send salawaat are on Friday, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Among the best of your days is Friday; so supplicate Allah more often for me in it , for your supplications will be displayed to me.” He was asked: “O Messenger of Allah! How will our blessings be displayed to you when your decayed body will have mixed with the earth?” He sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam replied, “Allah has prohibited the earth from consuming the bodies of the Prophets.” (Abu Dawood) How do you send salawaat? The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam taught us this also: “Say: `Allahumma salli `ala Muhammadin, wa `ala `ali Muhammadin, kama sallaita `ala `ali Ibrahima, innaka Hamidum Majid. Allahumma barik `ala Muhammadin, wa `ala `ali Muhammadin, kama barakta `ala `ali Ibrahima, innaka Hamidum Majid [O Allah, exalt the mention of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you exalted the family of Ibrahim. You are Praised and Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed the family of Ibrahim. You are Praised and Glorious.”’ (Bukhari and Muslim) 2- Helping the orphans Sahl bin Sa`d (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “I will be like this in Jannah with the person who takes care of an orphan”. Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam raised his forefinger and middle finger by way of illustration. (Al-Bukhari) Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “He who takes care of an orphan, whether he is his relative or a stranger, will be in Jannah with me like these two”. The narrator, Malik bin Anas raised his forefinger and middle finger for illustration. (Muslim) 3-Supporting two girls until maturity Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Whoever supports two girls till they attain maturity, he and I will come on the Day of Resurrection like this”. Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam joined his fingers illustrating this. (Muslim) 4- Increasing your prostrations Rabi`ah bin Ka`b Al-Aslami (May Allah be pleased with him, a servant of the Messenger of Allah and also one of the people of As-Suffah) said: I used to spend my night in the company of Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam and used to put up water for his ablutions. One day he said to me, “Ask something of me.” I said: “I request for your companionship in Jannah”. He inquired, “Is there anything else?” I said, “That is all.” He said, “Then help me in your request by multiplying your prostrations”. (Muslim) Imam Nawawi states: This Hadeeth evidently shows the importance of good actions and faithful following of the practice of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. Leave others alone, in the absence of these two, even such people will not be close to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam who used to be all the time with him. It is not difficult to visualize the fate of those who neither perform good deeds nor follow in the footsteps of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. 5- Staying upon his sunnah Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam went to the (Baqi`) cemetery and said, “May you be secured from punishment, O dwellers of abode of the believers! We, if Allah wills, will follow you. I wish we see my brothers.” The Companions said, “O Messenger of Allah! Are not we your brothers?” He sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “You are my Companions, but my brothers are those who have not come into the world yet.” They said; “O Messenger of Allah! How will you recognize those of your Ummah who are not born yet?” He sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Say, if a man has white-footed horses with white foreheads among horses which are pure black, will he not recognize his own horses?” They said; “Certainly, O Messenger of Allah!” He sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “They (my followers) will come with bright faces and white limbs because of Wudu’; and I will arrive at the Haud (Al-Kauthar) ahead of them.” (Muslim) 6-Having good character The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam “Those who are most beloved to me, and the closest to me in the Hereafter, are those who have the best akhlaaq (character) amongst you.” These are the people that will have the, “closest seats to me.” (Hasan according to Shaykh Albaani) 7- Loving him alayhi wa salaatu wa salaam Rasul Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam stated, “A man will be with whom he loves.” (Bukhari and Muslim) ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated: A man came to Allah’s Apostle and said, “O Allah’s Apostle! What do you say about a man wh0 loves some people but cannot catch up with their good deeds?” Allah’s Apostle said, “Everyone will be witthose whom he loves.” (Bukhari) SubhanAllah, if there’s one hadeeth that gives us hope, it should be this one. Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) mentions in relation to this hadeeth; “There was nothing which made us (the Sahaba) happier in this world than to hear this (because of their love for the Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam).” (Muslim) May Allah ta’ala allow us to be close to His Prophet in the aakhirah and in his company in Firdaws. Ameen. Source

I love this lady. Would love to meet her in person. Insha Allah.

LooooL. That suite should do some damage.

^LOOL. Believe me, you're not the only man.

Cool, MMA. Thanks for sharing - the owner of that car wa rageedi. :cool: I'm a huge supporter too. Long live the SM, May Allah reward her generously.

^Haha. It's possible. Obama Restaurant made it into News Week .

Inaan wax qasaa kuu ficaan. You shouldn't have told Ibti bout this. Wey kula kacaysaa. BTW, did I ever tell you that you sound so much like my brother. You probably know him, Hargaisuu intaa dhex wareegayaa.

Shidh, bool shidh! One of the best threads on here, this was. when is your wife ever happy? all i'm gettin is a woman who is smart,loves to argue, cleans,cooks , takes care of the kids ...the list goes on...does she ever smile? laugh? tell a joke? lord this is one serious marriage. ta ta This cracked me up.

Waa caadi, iska aamusa. It wasn't JB! Horuu u hadlay, laakin.

^OO miyaanan ku odhan ha waalin, you gone and did just that! LOL.

^He posted some more here : http://www.somaliaon line.com/ubb/ultimat ebb.php?/topic/3/304 6 . If you have more Al Zaylaci, add them to that thread, Insha Allah. This letter says a lot about the wisdom and compassion of the great sheikh, Masha Allah. Illahay ha u naxariisto.

LOL. Lady Samaada, you're one funny girl. Welcome. Tell us more of your trip, please... Secondly, don't you have Somali speakers in your family? La sheekayso. You got yourself a free and accessible school right there and here -SOL is full of willing teachers. On second thought, maybe too willing, you might end up with 30 teachers who will fight over the lessons. Stick with Aaliyah and take down the vacancy sign NOW. LOL. All the best..

Wooohooo to morning sickness. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: What a way to waste money and resources...

Thus, I neither consider Western "education" nor langages relevant, but would expect a prospective bride to be Arabic-litterate and acquainted with the Qur'aan and Islamic Classics, as her main role would naturally be to help her children reach their full Islamic potential. Inaadeer, you have a better a chance of finding a sister with the above credentials in Somalia than the west. Anyway, unless you are absolutely and totally inclined to marry her - DO NOT ask for an audience with her. I repeat DO NOT try to get to know her. There are other ways of getting the info you want. Dhaqan celiskan [ ] Ha dhegaysan, Somalis don't do things like that. She's your family, not some woman off the streets..Rejecting her (especially after getting to know her) is deemed disrespectful and would create bad blood in the family, trust me. I think, you've already committed a 'xaal offence' by not jumping at the chance. [Tut, Tut]. I kid. If you're not interested, which seems to be the case to me, decline politely and move on. Hooyo will get over it, they always do. Making a decision is much simpler than you think. Stop painting. Dee waa ku sidaa. Insha Allah Khayr.

Clinton has good reasons to be quiet. Though it sings a different tune at home, America makes good use of barbaric forms of justice. I can't get my head around this phenomena of people recording and photographing themselves when committing these heinous acts of terror - so they can watch it at a later time. It's beyond comprehension. Acoodu Billah!

Subhan Allah.

Originally posted by Al Zeylaci: "Wearing the niqab is not an obligatory duty based on Islamic Sharia (Law). I think Muslims make a big mistake by concentrating on appearances and superficial things, thereby giving a bad idea about Islam," Minister of Waqfs Hamdi Zaqzouq was recently quoted as saying in the local press. Superficial? How Ironic! :rolleyes:

This aazing article is from Productive Muslim. I hope you find some benefit from it. I'A. If we were to look for an Islamic definition of Productivity, it’ll probably be summarised in the word “barakah” or Blessing. Being able to achieve more with little resources, doing much in little time, and generate a lot with little effort surely is a blessing from Allah (SWT). Yet Barakah has somehow become a lost treasure these days; everyone’s looking for it, but no one seems to find it! You always hear people complaining that there’s no barakah in their time, no barakah in their sleep, no barakah in their money..etc. In this post, we’ll solve this mystery inshaAllah, we’ll find out what Barakah is and where you can find it! What is Barakah? A Well-known daee explains it as follows: “Barakah is the attachment of Divine goodness to a thing, so if it occurs in something little, it increases it. And if it occurs in something much it benefits. And the greatest fruits of Barakah in all things is to use that barakah in the obedience of Allah (SWT)” Sources of Barakah I’m a firm believer that Barakah is not a lost treasure, it’s right in front of our eyes! This treasure is only available and ready to be handed over to the one who works for it. Below I list some of the sources of Barakah. It’s not an exhaustive list, therefore, I do hope you can contribute to it with your comments below inshaAllah so we can all share and extend our understanding of this great treasure! 1. Good Intentions If you want something to have barakah attached to it, have good intentions for it. More specifically, make sure that deed is intended for the sake of Allah (SWT). Looking at the definition of Barakah again, you may guess that without us intending what we have or do to be for thesake of Allah, the “Divine goodness” won’t be attached to it. 2. Piety and Belief in Allah Allah says in the Quran: “If the people of the towns had but believed and feared Allah, We should indeed have opened out to them (All kinds of) blessings from heaven and earth…”(Surat Al-A’raf, verse 96). And He says in the Quran: “And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out. And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine” (Surat Al-Talaq, verses 2-3). 3. Putting your trust in Allah Allah says in the Quran: “And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is ((Allah)) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion” (Surat Al-Talaq, verses 3) Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: “If only you relied on Allaah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs.” 4. Reading Quran This is the fountain of the Barakah! But subhanaAllah, we rarely drink from it! Allah says in the Quran: “And this is a Book which We have sent down, bringing blessings, and confirming (the revelations) which came before it…” (Surat Al-An’am, verse 92). So read the Quran, and note the blessings and barakah of Allah coming to your life. The further we are from this book, the less barakah we’ll have in our lives, trust me. 5. Saying Bismillah When you say bismillah before anything you do, you’re invoking the name of Allah on that activity, not only will that activity be blessed but shaytaan cannot take part in it! So always say bismillah before anything you do! SubhanaAllah, it’s easy for us to forget to say Bismillah or be conscious of saying it. Sometimes we’re so used to saying it that we can’t remember if we said it or not! Try to be conscious of saying Bismillah and understand what you’re saying. 6. Eating with People Anyone who had the experience of inviting guests to his/her house will know this one. No matter how little you think the food you’re presenting to your guest is, it’s always enough! (note: this is not an excuse to be miserly when you invite guests over, in fact we should follow the sunnah of our Prophet Ibhraim (Peace be upon him) who when the angels visited his house and he didn’t know they were angels he went and prepared a large meal for them). What I’m referring here is the blessing that occurs with eating together, this is confirmed in the hadeeth of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) who said :”Eat together, for blessing is in Jamma’a (congregation or being together)…” and in another hadeeth “Whoever has food enough for two persons, should take a third one, and whoever has food enough for four persons, should take a fifth or a sixth (or said something similar).” 7. Honesty in Trade This is for all of the business people out there (include ebayers!), don’t think that lying and deceiving people would make your trade profitable, on the contrary, it’ll remove the blessing from your trade. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: “The buyer and the seller have the option ofcancelingor confirming the bargain unless they separate, and if they spoke the truth and made clear the defects of the goods, them they would be blessed in their bargain, and if they told lies and hid some facts, their bargain would be deprived of Allah’s blessings.” Yes, it’s difficult to be honest when you’re trying to sell something, but trust me it’s worth it. 8. Dua Ask Allah for barakah! If you listen to some of the Duas from the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) you’ll notice how the Prophet used to make dua for barakah. We always say “May Allah bless you!” well, guess what? That’s a source of barakah! Also, when you’re invited to someone’s house, Prophet Muhammad advised us to make the following dua for the host:”O Allaah, bless for them, that which You have provided them, forgive them and have mercy upon them.” 9. Halal income/money Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: “O people, Allah is good and He therefore, accepts only that which is good”Scholars refer this to Halal income and the importance of Halal income. A scholar also said that the one who eats Haram his limbs will disobey Allah whether he likes it or not, and the one who eats Halal and seeks Halal income his limbs will also do good and would be given the permission to seek goodness. This concept of your limbs being “blessed” and enabled to do good, is truly a blessing and a barakah we should all seek. Reminds me of a story of the old man, who jumped a large distance that young people couldn’t do. So when the young men asked the old man how he did it, he replied: “These are limbs, we’ve protected it from doing sins when we were young, so Allah preserved them from us when we got old” 10. Following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad in all things I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, the most Productive Man in the history of humanity is Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him), therefore, by just following his lifestyle and the sunnahs we so often hear about, is a great source of Barakah! Some of these sunnahs include: Eating Suhoor, eating with the right hand from the side of the plate, going out for Eid Salat, licking your fingers after finishing eating, sleeping on your right hand side, using the siwaak, and many more. Look out for these sunnahs and follow them, for imitating the life of the most blessed man on earth, is surely a source of blessing! 11. Praying Istikhara Praying istikhara in all matters and handing over the matters to Allah and accepting his decree is a great source of barakah. And Prophet Muhammad have taught us this beautiful dua which helps us make decisions and not regret the choices we make with the permission of Allah in the following hadeeth: On the authority of Jaabir Ibn ‘Abdullah he said: The Prophet (S) would instruct us to pray for guidance in all of our concerns, just as he would teach us a chapter from the Qur’an. He (S) would say ‘if any of you intends to undertake a mater then let him pray two supererogatory units (two rak’ah naafilah) of prayer and after which he should supplicate: ‘O Allaah, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge and by Your power I seek strength and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You are able while I am not and verily You know while I do not and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allaah, if You know this affair -and here he mentions his need- to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life, and end, then decree and facilitate it for me, and bless me with it, and if You know this affair to be ill for me towards my religion, my life, and end, then remove it from me and remove me from it , and decree for me what is good wherever it be and make me satisfied with such.’ One who seeks guidance from his Creator and consults his fellow believers and then remains firm in his resolve does not regret for Allaah has said: ‘…and consult them in the affair. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allaah…” 12. Giving thanks to Allah in abundance Allah says in the Quran: “If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you” A scholar once told me if you look into this verse, the Arabic word that is used to confirm that Allah will favours unto the person who thanks Allah is actually in the form of an Oath “La azidannakum” so Allah is promising the person who thanks Him that He’ll increase him, and Allah never breaks his promises. 13. Charity In the Hadeeth Qudusi, Allah says: “O son of Adam, spend (in charity), and I’ll spend on you!” Whenever you are broke, or you feel barakah is zapped out of our life and urgently need it back, the quickest of way of getting barakah in your life is giving charity. Not only because of the above hadeeth, but let’s say barakah has been removed from your life because of a sin you’ve committed, charity cleanses your sins and adds good deeds and is truly a source of barakah. I cannot describe the instantaneous gratification of giving charity and the barakah that follows it! Try it NOW! 14. Tying your ties of kinship Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “Allah created His creation, and when He had finished it, the womb, got up and caught hold of Allah whereupon Allah said, “What is the matter?’ On that, it said, ‘I seek refuge with you from those who sever the ties of Kith and kin.’ On that Allah said, ‘Will you be satisfied if I bestow My favors on him who keeps your ties, and withhold My favors from him who severs your ties?’ On that it said, ‘Yes, O my Lord!’ Then Allah said, ‘That is for you.’ ” Abu Huraira added: If you wish, you can recite: “Would you then if you were given the authority. do mischief in the land and sever your ties ofkinship.” 15. Waking up early Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: “Allah made the early hours blessed for my Ummah.” Such gems of productivity are actually sources of blessings that we should seek to make our life productive. Waking up early is such an important part of being blessed and feeling blessed throughout your day. Try to wake up for tahajjud, pray, and then work during the hours before fajr salaat and tahajjud. If you can’t, then at least wake up for fajr and stay up till sunrise before you go back to sleep. Those hours are so blessed. If you’re able to go to work in those hours, do so, you’ll get much more work done than the whole day put together! 16. Marriage Allah says in the Quran: “Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves, male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace: for Allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things.” Speaking of marriage, I highly recommend the following training course to anyone seriously thinking of getting married: www.Practimate.com. 17. Salaat Allah says in the Quran: “Enjoin prayer on thy people, and be constant therein. We ask thee not to provide sustenance: We provide it for thee. But the (fruit of) the Hereafter is for righteousness” To illustrate the point of Salaat further, just imagine your life without salaat, where would barakah come from? For those of you who are still wavering in their Salaat, please get back on track, this is your lifeline in this life and hereafter, and the daily food for your soul. 18. Asking Allah for forgiveness The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “If anyone continually asks forgiveness from Allah, Allah will appoint for him a way out of every distress, and a relief from every anxiety, and will provide for him from where he did not reckon.” I hope this covers most of the sources of Barakah, but as I said before, this is not an exhaustive list, please add your sources of barakah in the comments section below

Salaams Aaliyah, Jizaak Allah for posting the lectures, hon. Sheikh Sacid waan maqlaa uune, weli maan dhagaysan he's talks. I like his style, Masha Allah. 'Never give up', is awsome.

Waaryaa Somali Pirate, I don't care for your politics, matey.. BUT call my beloved Burco a shithall again and I'll break your little fingers. Besides, we (Burcawis) don't want the Illustrious Cretin to come to our home town. If he ever gets that silly idea, waan shidaynaa.

I don't believe this. I think the numbers are exaggerated to justify the presence of foreign navies in our seas. Those greedy little gits our out of their depth now, I hope they have the smarts to know when to stop. Anyway, do these Robin hoods "Rooble Koofiyadle" give what they steal to the poor?

LOL. Mabrook. I've never had a job that lasted more than a year and somehow I don't want it to either. Hows, NG? Maku soo gaadhey? Noo, ilaali yarka eh. Hana naga waalin.

Wassalaam, AbuJ and Indhoos. It's no problem, sorted my PM box out now.

^ That wouldn't be very reliable, would it. Errm. I'm confused, so help me out here.. Someone being a single mother is your problem because...? It's bad for the community because...? Apart from not having a husband who helps out with the bills and taking care of the children - and yes before someone jumps on me and points this out, even some married mothers don't enjoy this 'luxuary' - how is a single mother, different to a married one. Is there a shift in the mother-to-child dynamics? Why is this worthy of concern and communal discussion? Originally posted by Che -Guevara: ^Couldn't father be single...I don't understand why is it the mothers that get labelled? If you are single, have child (You don't have to have the custody of the child) and then you are single whatever. Sadly, most fathers divorce their children along with their mothers.