What is happiness?

A few years ago I went to Kruger National park with my family. As we were driving down a side road we came across a pride of lions who had killed a hippopotamus and were eating it. There were a couple of very young cubs who were frolicking on the road while their mothers ate, but there was an older cub who was eating alongside the adults. The hide and meat of the hippo was too tough. Some of the adults were also having a hard time in tearing and eating but this young cub had it hardest. His fur was drenched in sweat as he tried to tear the tough hide and chew the tough meat.

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Atlas of the Quran

This book by Dr. Shauqi Abu Khalil takes stories from the Quran and represent them in the form of maps, tables and pictures. It also provides a summary of the incident and other useful information like how many times the names of the prophets appear in the Quran and where.

Uloom al Quran

Ever wondered what are the different Qiraat of Quran? Curious about how the Quranic text was compiled? Who gathered the whole Quran in one mushaf for the first time? How wahee used to descend on Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم ?

Maarif al Quran

This is a post in my series From My Bookshelf where I will share short reviews of books I have found beneficial. After you have finished Tafsir ibn Katheer, I would suggest starting Maarif al Quran by Mufti Shafi Uthmani of Karachi. Written specifically for the layman, this tafseer has more detail than Tafseer ibn Katheer without involving scholarly details …

Tafsir Ibn Katheer

This is a post in my series From My Bookshelf where I will share short reviews of books I have found beneficial. When starting out on studying Tafseer, I would recommend starting with Tafsir Ibn Katheer. It covers a lot of ground without being too lengthy or too detailed. It explains the meaning of an …

The story of those who turned away

In this ayaah Allah is telling us a story. The story of a people who were given the book. Allah tells us that they had some sort of relationship with the book they were given. They may have read it beautifully, memorized it, celebrated it etc. but as soon as it came to this book making decisions for them, deciding right and wrong for them, they turned away.

Charity is like a plant

Doing an act of charity is a lot like planting a seed. In order for this seed to mature into a plant from which we may benefit there are certain conditions which have to be met and many things that need to be taken care of.

How will we meet our Lord for the first time?

I am standing on the day of Qiyamah, helplessly looking at the angels gathering and piling my deeds on top of each other in front of me. Allah is there in front of me, on His throne, in all His majesty. The first time I am able to look at my Allah but I am too scared to look up. I am just standing there paralyzed with fear, unable to tear my eyes away from whatever the angels are bringing.

Optimism and belief in al-akhirah

A believer is not the one who will sit in a corner depressed or give up even before the battle starts. Our imaan gives us the confidence to look our enemy in the eye, no matter how big he is and say "Allah is with the patient!"

Allah sets role-models for us

Selling one's self to please Allah is a very strong expression in itself. But coupled with the word "maradhaat" the meaning is intensified even further. It means that these slaves do not seek just the pleasure of Allah, they seek the extreme pleasure of Allah. They go above and beyond in their desire to please their Master.