Session 18: Q&A and Ramadan

This session focused on the last ten days of Ramadan, the Night of Power and some Q&A. Q&A Q: Islams ultimate purpose and aim is to.... a>Co-exist with all other systems peacefully b>Awaken the humanity and establish a just society for all mankind c>Negate all earlier versions of religion d>All of the above. A: after some discussion we came to the conclusion that the answer was d. Some initially felt that the answer was b, as answer c (Negate all earlier versions of religion) sparked some confusion and debate as to what it meant. Does negate all earlier versions of religion mean to dismiss all previous religions as false, incorrect or does it mean to dismiss them in its current form? As Muslims we believe in all the Prophets from Adam, Moses, Noah, Jesus to Mohammed (Peace be upon all of them), so why would we negate the teachings of Jesus or Moses? But if we are to accept them then why do we need Islam, why was the Quran revealed? We then came to the conclusion that we believe in the original teachings of the previous religions and Prophets, however the previous religions became corrupt and false, hence why Islam came about to correct our faults and so in their current form we reject these religions. Then from this discussion the following question was posed... Q: If the scriptures and teachings of previous religions have changed, how do we know that the Quran hasnt changed or will change? A: Taken from http://lostislamichistory.com/how-do-we-know-the-quran-is-unchanged/ One of the most dangerous aspects of Orientalism was the European study of the origins of the Quran. Since it is well accepted in academic circles that both the Torah of the Jews and the New Testament of the Christians have changed over the centuries, European academics erroneously believed the same must be true about the Quran. Their efforts to prove their belief that the Quran has been changed and is not authentic led to studies and works of questionable intention and low scholarly merit. This article will critically analyze the origins of the Quran, its transmission, and its compilation, to understand why Muslims accept the copies of the Quran they have in their homes to be the exact same words that were spoken to the Prophet Muhammad in the early 600s AD. The Promise to Protect Muslims believe that Allah has already promised to protect the Quran from the change and error that happened to earlier holy texts. Allah states in the Quran in Surat al-Hijr, verse 9: Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian. For Muslims, this verse of promise from Allah is enough to know that He will indeed protect the Quran from any errors and changes over time. For people who do not accept the authenticity of the Quran in the first place, however, clearly this verse cannot serve as proof of its authenticity, since it is in the Quran itself. It is from here that the academic discussion begins. Narration of the Quran to the Companions The revelation of the Quran was not an isolated event in time. It was a constant stream of verses descending to Muhammad throughout the 23 years of his prophethood in Makkah and Ismc Sisters Circle

Madinah. The Prophet appointed numerous Companions of his to serve as scribes, writing down the latest verses as soon as they were revealed. Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan and Zaid bin Thabit were among the scribes who had this duty. For the most part, new verses would be written on scraps of bone, hide, or parchment, since paper had not yet been imported from China. It is important to note that Muhammad would have the scribes read back the verses to him after writing them down so he can proofread and make sure there were no errors. To further ensure that there were no errors, Muhammad ordered that no one records anything else, not even his words, hadith, on the same sheet as Quran. Regarding the sheets that the Quran was being written down on, he stated and whoever has written anything from me other than the Quran should erase it. This was done to ensure that no other words were accidentally thought to be part of the text of the Quran. It is important to understand, however, that physical writing down of the Quran was not the main way that the Quran was recorded. Arabia in the 600s was an oral society. Very few people could read and write, thus huge emphasis was placed on ability to memorise long poems, letters, and other messages. Before Islam, Makkah was a center of Arabic poetry. Annual festivals were held every year that brought together the best poets from all over the Arabian Peninsula. Exuberant attendees would memorize the exact words that their favourite poets recited and quote them years and decades later. Thus, in this type of oral society, the vast majority of the Companions learned and recorded the Quran by memorization. In addition to their natural ability to memorize, the rhythmic nature of the Quran made its memorization much easier. The Quran was not narrated to just a few select Companions. It was heard and memorized by hundreds and thousands of people, many of them travellers to Madinah. Thus, chapters and verses of the Quran quickly spread during the life of the Prophet to all corners of the Arabian Peninsula. Those who had heard verses from the Prophet would go and spread them to tribes far away, who would also memorize them. In this way, the Quran achieved a literary status known among the Arabs as mutawatir. Mutawatir means that it was so vastly disseminated to so many different groups of people, who all had the same exact wording, that it is inconceivable that that any one person or group could have falsified it. Some sayings of the Prophet are known to be authentic through it being mutawatir, but the entire Quran itself is accepted as being mutawatir, because of its wide spread during the life of the Prophet through oral means. Collection After the Death of the Prophet We have thus far seen that the way the Quran was taught to the numerous Companions of the Prophet prevented it from being subject to the protection of a few people. As verses became widespread across the Islamic world, it was impossible for those verses to be changed without Muslims in other parts of the world noticing and correcting them. Furthermore, during the life of Prophet Muhammad , the angel Jibreel would recite the entire Quran with him once a year, during Ramadan. When the Quran was finished being revealed near the end of the Prophet s life, he made sure that numerous companions knew the entire Quran by heart. During the reigns of the first caliphs, however, a need to compile all the verses into a central book arose. Taking preemptive action, the caliphs who ruled the Muslim world after the death of the Prophet feared that if the number of people who had the Quran memorized dipped too low, the community would be in danger of losing the Quran forever. As a result, the first caliph, Abu Bakr, who Ismc Sisters Circle

ruled from 632 to 634, ordered a committee be organized, under the leadership of Zaid bin Thabit, to collect all the written pieces of Quran that were spread throughout the Muslim community. The plan was to collect them all into one central book that could be preserved in case the people who had the Quran memorized died out. Zaid was very meticulous about who he accepted verses from. Because of the enormous responsibility of not accidentally altering the words of the Quran, he only accepted pieces of parchment with Quran on them had to have been written down in the presence of the Prophet and there had to be two witnesses who can attest to that fact. These fragments of Quran that he collected were each compared with the memorized Quran itself, ensuring that there was no discrepancy between the written and oral versions. When the task was completed, a finalized book of all the verses was compiled and presented to Abu Bakr, who secured it in the archives of the young Muslim state in Madinah. It can be assumed with certainty that this copy that Abu Bakr had matched exactly the words that Muhammad had spoken because of the numerous memorizers of Quran present in Madinah, coupled with the disseminated pieces of parchment on which it was recorded. Had there been discrepancies, the people of Madinah would have raised the issue. There is, however, no record of any opposition to Abu Bakrs project or its outcome. The Mushaf of Uthman A copy of Uthmans Mushaf, kept in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul During the caliphate of Uthman, from 644 to 656, a new issue regarding the Quran arose in the Muslim community: pronunciation. During the life of the Prophet , the Quran was revealed in seven different dialects qiraas. The dialects differed slightly in their pronunciation of certain letters and words, but the overall meaning was unchanged. These seven dialects were not an innovation brought in by corruption of the Quran in later years, as it was mentioned by the Prophet himself, and there are numerous sayings of his describing the authenticity of all seven dialects that are recorded in the hadith compilations of Bukhari and Muslim. The reason for there being different dialects for the Quran was to make it easier for different tribes around the Arabian Peninsula to learn and understand it. During Uthmans reign, people coming into the Muslim world at its periphery, in places like Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and North Africa were beginning to learn the Quran. An issue arose for them when it came to pronunciation of words, as they would hear different Arabs pronouncing the same verses differently. Although the different pronunciations were sanctioned by the Prophet and there was no inherent harm in people reciting and teaching them, it led to confusion among new non-Arab Muslims. Uthman responded by commissioning a group to come together, organize the Quran according to the dialect of the tribe of Quraysh (the Prophet s tribe), and spread the Qurayshi dialect to all parts of the empire. Uthmans team (which again included Zaid bin Thabit) compiled a Quran into one book (known as a mushaf from the word for page, sahifa) based on first hand manuscripts along with the memories of the best Quran reciters of Madinah. This mushaf was then compared with the copy that Abu Bakr commissioned, to make sure there were no discrepancies. Uthman then ordered numerous copies of the mushaf to be made, which were sent to far off provinces throughout the empire, along Ismc Sisters Circle

with reciters who would teach the masses the Quran. Because the Quran was now compiled and being produced on a regular basis, there was no need for the numerous fragments of verses that people had in their possession. He thus ordered that those fragments be destroyed so they cannot be used in the future to cause confusion among the masses. Q: What constitutes Ibadah... a>Salah, Zakat, Fasting and Hajj only b>Speaking the truth and avoiding falsehood c>Obeying the laws of Allah in commercial and economic affairs d>All of the above. A: Ibadah means form of worship. This was an easy one, as unanimously we agreed that the answer was again d. We must realise that Islam is a way of life hence we say it is our Deen rather than our religion. Because it affects every single aspect of your life. We mustnt be under the impression that so long as we fast, pray, pay our zakat than we have truly embraced Islam as a way of life. Rather our character, the way we speak, the way we run our businesses, all constitutes the Deen. Speaking the truth is a commandant from Allah (swt) as is avoiding falsehood; therefore these are forms of Ibadah. But when we think of Ibadah (worship) we may think of it as physical worship (praying salah, reciting Quran) however we know from many ahadith and verses in the Quran it is much more than that. Consider the following: Allah says, "Indeed you are truly vast in character," (68:4) and He also says "those who control their rage and pardon other people." (3:134) An-Nawwas ibn Sam'an said, "I asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about piety and wrong action. He said, 'Piety is good character and wrong action is what is hatched up in yourself and you do not want other people to know about." [Muslim] 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As said, "The Messenger of Allah, used to say, 'The best of you are the best in character." Abu'd-Darda' (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah(SAW), said, "There will be nothing heavier in the balance of the believer on the Day of Rising than good character. Allah dislikes foul language." [Tirmidhi] Abu Hurayra (RA) said, "The Messenger of Allah (SAW), was asked about the things most likely to bring people into the Garden. He said, 'Fearful awareness of Allah and good character.' He was asked about the things most likely to bring people into the Fire. He said, 'The mouth and the genitals.'" [Tirmidhi] Abu Hurayra (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, "The believers with the most perfect belief are the best of them in character. The best of you are the best of you towards your wives." [Tirmidhi] 'A'isha (RA) said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, 'By his good character a believer can reach the same rank as someone who fasts and prays at night." [Abu Dawud] The Messenger (saw) said: [A Muslim] would have an intercourse with his spouse and would be rewarded for it. The Companions asked: Oh Messenger of Allah! A person would be rewarded while satisfying his sexual need? Allah's Messenger (saw) replied: Yes. Isn't it that he would be punished had he practiced sex illegally? The same applies if a Muslim practiced a lawful intercourse with his spouse. As such, he would be rewarded Allah rewards the love that a husband has for his wife. Hadith tells us that the best among the believers is he who is good to his wife. It is also written that if a husband and wife look at each other and smile, then Allah looks at both of them and smiles in His everlasting mercy. Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: "The believer's shade on the Day of Resurrection will be his charity." Tirmidhi. The Prophet also said: "Every act of goodness is charity." - Muslim Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: "Charity is prescribed for each descendant of Adam every day the sun rises." He was then asked: "From what do we give charity every day?" The Ismc Sisters Circle

Prophet answered: "The doors of goodness are many...enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the deaf, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one's arms--all of these are charity prescribed for you." He also said: "Your smile for your brother is charity." - Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 98 Everything which Allah is content with and which He The Most High loves is ibadah. For example the prayer, zakah, hajj, being truthful, not breaching the trust, being kind towards to parents, not cutting the relationship off with the relatives, loyalty to contracts, commanding good, forbidding from bad, being kind towards the neighbours, orphans, poor, needy ones, slaves and animals, dhikr, reciting the Quran, loving Allah Almighty and His messenger (saw), to be afraid of Allah The Great, directing oneself towards Allah The Glorious, being sincere in the deen, making deen solely to Allah Almighty, being thankful to Allah and showing content, Tawakkul (trust and reliance on) in Allah, expecting the grace of Allah and to be afraid from His punishment, speaking good words, and acts like such would be taken in consideration under the term ibadah. Q: Why does the Quran use the words He and We for Allah (swt)? The Quran says very clearly that there is only One God, Allah. There is no god but Allah is the basic principle of Islam. There is no ambiguity about this fact in the Qura n and there are hundreds of ayat or verses of the Quran that make this point very clear. Belief in more than one God is Shirk (polytheism) and a major sin according to the Quran. The word Allah itself cannot be changed to mean female (Goddess) or male or plural (Gods) etc. However whenever in the Quran Allah is mentioned in the third person there are always singular pronouns used, such as He, him (Huwa or Hu). Whenever Allah is spoken to in the second person there are also singular pronouns, such as Thou, Thine and Thee (Anta, Ka). However only in the first person sometimes the pronouns I, My or Mine (Ana, Iyaya, ya) are used and sometimes We, Us and Our (Nahnu, Na) are used. This is a style of speech. Sometimes the speaker says I and sometime says we. We also use that in our conversations. In the Quran you will see that often the first person singular such as I or My is used, when Allah speaks about His love, care and closeness and forgiveness for His servants. In a similar way the first person plural is often used when Allah speaks about His power, majesty, glory, great deeds or when He speaks about His anger and wrath for the sinners and criminals. We must remember that when translating the Arabic text into English or indeed any language a lot of the meaning is lost in translation. There arent always words in the English language that can substitute words used in the Quran. Think about your own language there are words in Bengali that have no equivalent word in English and as such we often find ourselves using long sentences to translate this one word! In the Qur'an, God often refers to Himself using the word 'We'. But this does not mean that Islam believes in the existence of more than one God. In several languages, there are two types of plurals; one is a plural of numbers to refer to something that occurs in a quantity of more than one. The other plural is a plural of respect: a. In the English language, the Queen of England refers to herself as 'We' instead of 'I'. This is known as the 'royal plural'. b. Rajiv Gandhi, the ex-Prime Minister of India used to say in Hindi "Hum dekhna chahte hain". "We want to see." 'Hum'means 'We' which is again a royal plural in Hindi. c. Similarly in Arabic, when Allah refers to Himself in the Qur'an, He often uses Arabic word 'Nahnu' meaning 'We'. It does not indicate plural of number but plural of respect.

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Allah has also clarified that he is neither male nor female and there is nothing else like him in Surah Ikhlas. Why do you think this Surah was revealed? Maybe to correct the Christians and others at the time that Allah is One, he has no son nor is he the offspring of anything. And if there is nothing else like him than we cannot compare Him to any creature or creation we have seen Human/animal or object. Q: Can a weak or bad Muslim pray sincerely? A: Allah says in the Quran, "Call on Me. I will answer your prayer, but those who are too arrogant to serve me will surely find themselves humiliated in Hell" (40:60). Allah also says: "And your Lord says: Pray unto me: and I will hear your prayer" (Quran 40:60), as well as "When My servants question thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me" (Quran 2:186). So in fact we are instructed to call upo n Allah and make dua to him. Duas are never wasted, Aisha radhiallaahu anha said, "No believer makes Dua and it is wasted. Either it is granted here in this world or deposited for him in the Hereafter as long as he does not get frustrated." Allahs anger at those who dont make dua, In fact, it is even wrong to never make Dua, "Whosoever does not supplicate to Allah, He will be angry with Him." [Saheeh Jaami`as-Sagheer #2414] Who defines who is a weak or bad Muslim, certainly not us, it is Allah alone to judge who is weak and who is strong in their faith. We need to have hope and faith that Allah listens to our prayers and pleas. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people. (Surah Yusuf 12:87). The approved state of optimism is of a man who does good in the light of the Shari'ah and is hopeful of being rewarded for it. If a man committed a sin, he repents sincerely, and is hopeful of being forgiven. Allah (swt) said: "Verily, those who believed, and those who migrated and fought in the way of Allah, it is they who are hopeful of Allah's mercy. And Allah is very Forgiving, very Merciful." (AlBaqarah, 218) In contrast, if a man indulges in sins and excesses, but is hopeful that he would be forgiven without doing anything good, then, this is self-deception, mere illusion and false hope. Abu 'All Rowzbari said, "Fear and hope are like the two wings of a bird. If they are well balanced, the flight will be well balanced. But, If one is stunted, the Right would also be stunted. And, to be sure, if the two are lost, the bird will soon be in the throes of death." Allah has praised the people of hope and fear in the following verse: When a person sins and then sincerely turns to Allah for forgiveness, one will find Allah ready to accept his repentance and to forgive him, as this verse indicates: And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself, but then seeks forgiveness from Allah, he will find Allah forgiving and merciful. (Surat an-Nisaa 4:110) Everyone commits sin and does wrong, but Allah is always willing to forgive and He always gives them a chance to repent and seek His forgiveness. A believer should never forget the fact that Allah is so forgiving. If Allah had willed, He could have held everyone accountable for his or her sins, but He has decreed that He shall allow His servants to seek His forgiveness and that He shall in fact forgive who and what He wills. In fact, Allah commands that His servants seek His forgiveness: And seek Allahs forgiveness. Certainly, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (Surat al-Muzzammil 73:20) Q: The Fardh, Sunnah and Nafl of Salah- what must I pray and what am I permitted to excuse? A: There are five types of Salah: 1. Fardh (Obligatory): everyone is ordered to offer these salah. Failure to do so is a serious sin. 2. Wajib (Compulsory): e.g. Witr Salah

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3. Sunnah Muakkadah (Compulsory): That is those which are emphasized by the Prophet (saw) and offered regularly. The Shariah has stressed upon these Sunnah. Leaving it without proper excuse makes one liable for fault and abandoning it makes one a sinner. These should not be purposely abandoned. Some Imams have said that one who abandons these will be deemed astray, and a sinner although his sin less than that of leaving an Essential. 4. Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah (optional): That is those only occasionally offered by the Prophet (saw). 5. Nafl (supererogatory/extra): This is an extra prayer; there is reward in it if you do it but no sin if you leave it. THE RAKAATS IN PRAYER-(A single round of bodily actions within a Prayer, is called a Rakaat.) Highlighted in orange you must do. SALAH Fajr Prayer: Total of 4 Rakaats Zuhr Prayer: Total of 12 Rakaats Asr Prayer: Total of 8 Rakaats 1 2 Emphasised Sunnah Muakkadah 4 Emphasised Sunnah Muakkadah 4 NonEmphasised Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah 3 Obligatory Fardh 2 2 Obligatory Fardh 4 Obligatory Fardh 4 Obligatory Fardh 3 4 5 6

2 Emphasised Sunnah Muakkadah

2 Voluntary Nafl

Maghrib Prayer: Total of 7 Rakaats Isha Prayer: Total of 17 Rakaats

2Emphasised Sunnah Muakkadah 4 Obligatory Fardh

2 Voluntary Nafl

4 NonEmphasised Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah

2 Emphasised Sunnah Muakkadah

2 Voluntary Nafl

3 Essential Wajib Witr

2 Voluntary Nafl

Q: What are the times when prayer is prohibited? A: The following are the times: From sunrise until 20 minutes have elapsed. From 20 minutes before sunset, until sunset. Mid morning (meridian noon) until sun reaches the zenith. *Within these periods Prayer of any type or the Prostration (for Qur'an recitation etc.) is not permitted. *However, Voluntary Prayers are not permitted after dawn until sunrise and after one has offered the Evening Prayer until sunset. Q: What is the difference between Wajib and Fardh? Only the Hanafi (school of thought/madhab) makes a distinction between the 2. Ismc Sisters Circle

Fardh in the sacred law is a name for that which we have been ordained by means of a text which has no degree of doubt in it. Wajib in the sacred law is a name for that which we have been ordained by means of a text which has some degree of doubt in it.

Know that sacred texts are of four types: Definite in its transmission and meaning: A text whose transmission is definite or doubtless is one which has reached us by means of numerous chains of transmission such that there is no room for error or forgery in the report. This is known in Arabic as mutawatir. Every verse of the Quran has reached us by such a means as well as a number of hadiths. The meaning is the understanding of what the text is saying. A text which is definite in meaning is one whose meaning is unambiguous such that it cannot be interpreted in a different way. For example the saying of Allah most high O you who believe, when you prepare for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows and wipe your heads and (wash) your feet to the ankles. When Allah says wash your faces it cant mean anything other than that.] Definite in its transmission and ambiguous in its meaning: In this case the actual meaning of the verse isnt clear in that it can be explained in more than one way. Probabilistic in its transmission and definite in its meaning: In this case the text itself has room for error, even if slight. This includes hadiths whose chain of transmission, have only one or a few chains of transmission such that it is possible that the hadith narrators could have made an error. However, the content of the text, in this case, is unambiguous and clearly indicates a specific meaning. Probabilistic in its transmission and ambiguous in its meaning: Here the both the transmission of the text has an element of doubt and the meaning is unclear, indicating more than one possible meaning. The first category establishes something as being fard (obligatory). The second and third establish something as being wajib (necessary) whilst the fourth establishes something as being sunna or mustahabb (recommended). The ruling of a wajib is deserving punishment for leaving it [like the fard], not declaring as an unbeliever the one who denies its necessary nature [due to the probabilistic nature of the evidence; unlike the fard whose denial does cause unbelief if done so knowingly], and reward for its accomplishment [like the fard]. Its specific ruling in the prayer is that the prayer is deemed deficient by leaving a wajib element. It is necessary to perform a prostration of forgetfulness if omitted forgetfully or to repeat the prayer if omitted intentionally. In the case that one neither prostrates for forgetfulness nor repeats the prayer, one is still counted as having offered the obligatory prayer though with deficiency [and doing so is sinful]. [Imdad al-Fattah, 256] http://spa.qibla.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=972&CATE=4 We then proceeded to discuss the Night of Power, what it means and the benefits. We set ourselves targets to establish during Ramadan and to continue after Ramadan insha Allah. We also set ourselves tasks we could do over the last week of Ramadan and during the odd nights. Maximize the last 10 days of Ramadan Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power), "better than a thousand months" (97:3). Any action done on this night such as reciting the Quran, remembering Allah, etc. is better than acting for one thousand months which do not contain the night of Qadr. Aisha (RA) related that the Prophet (SAW) said: Look for Laylatul Qadr on an odd-numbered night during the last ten nights of Ramadan (Bukhari). The Prophet (SAW) said: "Whoever prays during the night of Qadr with faith and hoping for its reward will have all of his previous sins forgiven." (Bukhari & Muslim). Here are some tips of things we can do during the last 10 days/Night of Power. Ismc Sisters Circle

1. Take a vacation for Allah. We take a break from our jobs for almost everything in life. If this is not possible at least take a few days off if you can. This can make it easier to stay awake at night to do extra Ibadah, not having to worry about getting to work the next day. 2. Do I'tikaf. It was a practice of the Prophet to spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadan in the masjid for I'tikaf. If not for the whole ten days a day or two. 3. Make this special Dua. Aisha (RA), said: I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.' "(Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi). The transliteration of this Dua is "Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fu 'annee" 4. Recite the Quran. 5. Reflect on the meaning of the Quran. Choose a/some Surah or Surahs and read their translation and Tafseer. Then think deeply about their meaning and how it affects you on a personal level. 6. Get your sins wiped out. Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger said: Whoever stands (in prayer) in Laylatul Qadr while nourishing his faith with self-evaluation, expecting reward from Allah, will have all of his previous sins forgiven. [Bukhari and Muslim). Don't just pray using the shorter Surahs that you know. Try to make your prayers longer, deeper and meaningful. If you are familiar with longer Surahs, read the translation and explanation and then pray reciting these Surahs, carefully reflecting on the meaning while you pray. Even if you are only familiar with the shorter Surahs, read the translation and explanation beforehand, and then pray reflecting on the message of the Surahs. If you know the duas that can be read during salah read them also. Aim for QUALITY not quantity. 7. Make a personal Dua list. Ask yourself what you really want from Allah. Make a list of each and everything, no matter how small or how big it is, whether it deals with this world or not. Allah loves to hear from us. Once this list is ready, you can do three things: Ask Allah to give you those things Think about what actions you have taken to get those things Develop a work plan to get those things in future. 8. Do dhikr For those of you who say you dont have time - dhikr doesnt require time, do dhikr whilst driving, walking etc. Dhikr means remembering and commemorating God. There are two kinds of dhikr: 1) Oral Dhikr (to recite duas, say Alhamdulillah, SubhanaAllah, Astaghfirullah etc.) 2) Dhikr of Heart (to remember Allah, to think about Him and His blessings) 9. Make long, sincere and deep Duas One of the best times to do this is during the last part of the night. Abu Huraira, RA, related that the Prophet saw said: When the last one-third of the night remains, our Lord, the Glorious One descends Ismc Sisters Circle

towards the heaven of the earth and proclaims: Who is that who supplicates for Me, and I grant his supplication? Who is that who begs Me for anything and I grant it to him? And who is that who seeks My forgiveness, and I forgive him? (Bukhari, Muslim). That means for instance, waking up one hour before Suhoor time to ask Allah for anything and everything you want. This can be done using the Duas of the Sunnah, but also Dua in your own language, with sincerity and conviction. 10. Memorize a different Dua every night They don't have to be long. They can be just one line. And be sure to know what they mean generally at least, even if you don't know the exact translation in English. You can put them on index cards (or and keep them with you during the day, glancing at them during work, while driving, waiting in line, etc.) 11. Pray Tahajjud or other nafl salah Tahajjud is the best nafl salah. 12. Read a book/s Read about the Prophet's life, which can increase your love for him and Islam by seeing how much he struggled for Allah's sake. 13. Plan for the next year Plan where you want to go or be at, at least in the next 12 months. Laylatul Qadr is a great night to be thinking about this (without taking away from your worship), since you'll Insha Allah, be in a more contemplative state. You may choose to dedicate one night of power for evaluation and one night for planning for the next year. 14. To do list for the Night of Power Make a to do checklist for each Night of Power. * Remember the night of Power isnt confirmed to be the 27th night, it could be the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 29th as well. And in any case since it is the last ten days we should strive to do good throughout all the days, ODD or EVEN! * Make a list, this will help you avoid wasting your time in unproductive things. Your list can include things like, recite 2 juz from the Quran, read the translation of 5 small suras, memorise these 2 duas, read 3 chapters of such and such book, make a list of the things I would like to memorise or achieve etc. 15. Decide on 2 things you want to change or improve in yourself.

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