Messenger of Allah said, “Allah Almighty will say on the Day of Rising, ‘Where are those who loved one another for the sake of My majesty? Today, on the day when there is no shade but My shade, I will shade them.'” [Muslim]

Spend of what Allah has granted you by way of sustenance before death should come to any of you and he should say: “Lord, why did You not defer my return for a while so that I might give alms and be among the righteous?”
But when a person’s term comes to an end, Allah never grants any respite. Allah is well aware of all that you do.(63:10-11)

This Day every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allah is swift in account.
– Surah Ghafir (40:17)

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health, and well being of himself and his family…”. The Preamble to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) constitution also declares that it is one of the fundamental rights of every human being to enjoy “the highest attainable standard of health”.
Unfortunately the sad reality is that there are millions of people on the Earth we all share who do NOT have access to basic health care, generally as a result of poor financial conditions.

In a recent visit to Pakistan, late 2011/early 2012, we found many living in the city of Karachi, which has a population greater than all of Canada, unable to afford basic medical services. As a result, many people are facing malnutrition and diseases, especially among the children and elderly.

By the Mercy of Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala, we decided to try and do what little we can to help and open a medical clinic in Orangee, a very poor suburb in Karachi Pakistan. The mission of the clinic is to:
offer free medical services to everyone
offer free medicine to the patients
treat patients with respect and dignity

We strongly believe that health care is a basic human right. Ash Shifa Clinic will exist to provide the widest scope of primary care possible to anyone who needs it. While care will be provided at no cost, it will also be provided within the constraints imposed by limited resources.
FUNDING
We are seeking donors who can commit to a monthly pledge to help support this clinic financially. We intend to have paid staff of doctors and administrators to manage the clinic, as well as the cost of the clinic, utilities and medicine. Our estimate is approximately CA$1500/month. Of course if you choose to give a one-time donation, it would not be turned down. We estimate the cost to increase to CA$2000/month once it is fully operational. Please note that 100% of the funds will be sent to be used for the clinic.

At this point, Alhumdulillah, we have secured pledges of CA$650/month. May Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala reward the brothers and sisters who are committed to helping the less fortunate, only to seek the pleasure of Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

The benefits of giving in the path of Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala cannot be measured.

We know that Indeed the best speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). So listen to what Allah tells us in Surah Baqarah:
“Those who spend their substance in the cause of Allah, and follow not up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury,-for them their reward is with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Qur’an 2:262)
AND
“Those who spend of their wealth (in charity) by night and by day, and in secret and in public have their reward with their Lord, on them there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Qur’an 2:274)

NOTE:
“…on them there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve…”
“…no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve…”

And what does Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala warn us against in Surah Bakarah, ayah 268? What could mean:
“Satan threatens you with poverty and prompts you to commit what is indecent, while Allah promises you His forgiveness and bounties, and Allah has boundless knowledge” (Qur’an 2:268)
What else do we know about giving charity?
“By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you spend of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allah knows it well.” (Qur’an, 3:92)>
“The likeness of those who spend for Allah’s sake is as the likeness of a grain of corn, it grows seven ears every single ear has a hundred grains, and Allah multiplies (increases the reward of) for whom He wills, and Allah is sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower).” (Qur’an, 2:261)
“When a person dies, his good deeds cease except for three: 1 – Deeds of continuous Sadaqa (Sadaqa Jariyah e.g. orphan home, a well for giving water to drink, building a mosque, a free medical clinic, etc.) 2- Ilm Naafiya (beneficial knowledge) , 3- Al walad as-Saalih (a righteous son or daughter who supplicates to Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala on his behalf).” (Narrated by Muslim)

We have NOT yet started the project as we are waiting to reach our goal of CA$1500/month in commitments. We have also NOT yet collected any of the pledges yet, unless and until we reach our goal Insha’Allah. Please help us help the less fortunate and be part of this Sadaqa Jariyah.

According to a recent article in The Express Tribune (http://tribune.com.pk/story/131565/one-child-dies-every-minute-in-pakistan-report/) on March 12, 2011, it was stated that “the situation of child health in Pakistan is abysmal… and thousands of children who die every year from preventable diseases.”

According to the annual health report of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) for the year 2011, one child dies every minute from diarrhea and acute respiratory infection (ARI). The report also reveals that every year about 400,000 infants die in the first year of their life.

Child mortality in Pakistan is a major cause of concern, with every one among 10 children dying before reaching the age of five and one among 30, just after they are born.

Just think of the last time your children were sick, or your parents, or you yourself. Imagine if you had to think twice before visiting the doctor because you couldn’t afford it. Imagine the thoughts that would have gone through you mind, knowing you need medical attention and medication to help relieve you of the pain and suffering. Imagine what may have been the outcome if you did not receive that medical care or medication.

Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala is the sole source of granting Shifa. But the means have been provided to us. Let us help those who cannot access those means by making a pledge, with Allah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala, and with Ash Shifa Free Medical Clinic.

To donate, please email us at shifa@trustit.ca with your contact information and how much you would like to donate Insha’Allah and we will follow up with more information as soon as possible. You may also send INTERAC money transfer to the same email address. Cheques can be mailed to:

Attn: Ash Shifa
120 Laguna Crescent
Markham, ON, L3S3G5

Jazak’Allahu Khayrun Katheera Fidarayn wa Ahsaanul Jaza wa BarakAllahu Feekum,
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh.

…Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-knowing. (Quran 2:127)

How do you wake up for fajr? And I don’t mean wake up for a day or two, but how do you keep waking up for fajr, constantly, everyday, without fail.

There’s loads & loads of websites online giving you tips and advice on how to wake up early. But our focus is not on worldly tips (which should be taken by all means, part of tying the camel ;)), our focus is on the spiritual means.
My dear brothers/sisters, every day when you read Surat Al-Fatiha, at least 17 times a day, you recite the verse “You Alone weWorship, and You Alone we Seek Help from”: You want to worship Allah? “Yes!” You need His help then. You want to wake up for Fajr? “Yes please!” Guess what, you need Allah. You cannot, I repeat, cannot, wake up for fajr without Allah’s help. Now ask yourself the question, what can I do to show Allah that I truly and utterly want to wake up for fajr?!

Have you ever had days when you’re about to go to sleep, and you have this deep feeling that you’ll definitely wake up for fajr? And have you ever had days when you know for certain that you’ll oversleep? Imagine the two scenarios, which I’m sure some of us have gone through:

Scenario 1:

You feel high with Eman, you’ve prayed your witr, read some Quran, and even though you’ve got 2 hours to sleep till fajr, you’re certain you’ll wake up because you’ve set your mind, heart and body to make sure you wake up. In fact, sometimes you keep on waking in the middle of the night thinking it’s fajr time out of fear that you’re going to miss it. If you haven’t experienced this, think of a time when you had to catch an early flight or a bus/train, and think of how your mind, heart and body were switched on, and it doesn’t matter what time you slept, you’ll wake up.

Scenario 2:

There are days when deep down you really don’t want to wake up, you hope that you “oversleep” so you feel less guilty about it, and Allah may have mercy upon you and still wake you up, and that’s when the battle with the snooze alarm starts and the classic shaytaan trick “just 5 more minutes…” begins.

How do we maintain scenario 1 everyday?With these 2 scenarios, one details a feeling deep down inside that you’re definitely waking up, and another where you know you won’t wake up because deep down inside you don’t want to and you’re not ready to take the fight against shaytaan of waking up in the morning.

Below I detail some practical and spiritual tools, that will help you in achieving scenario 1 all the time inshaAllah:

Spiritual Tools

• Know who Allah is: This is the key and number one tool to waking up for Fajr. If you know Who you’re worshipping, and you know that He requests that you get up in the morning and pray to Him, you’ll wake up. It’s our lack of understanding of who Allah is that makes us slump into scenario 2 all the time. Know your Lord, that’s key.
• Sincerity: Be sincere about waking up for fajr, don’t just say to yourself: “InshaAllah, it’ll be nice if I wake up for fajr” be sincere about it, and say: “I will wake up for fajr” I find it useful sometimes to talk to myself about it before going to sleep and say: “I will wake up for fajr, i don’t care how, but I’ll definitely will!”
• Wudu before sleep: Ibn Abbas reported that Allah’s Messenger said: “Purify these bodies and Allah will purify you, for there is no slave who goes to sleep in a state of purity but an Angel spends the night with him, and every time he turns over, [the Angel] says, ‘O Allah! Forgive Your slave, for he went to bed in a state of purity.” Do you think that such a person would be left to oversleep and miss fajr?
• Witr Prayer + Dua: Make sure you don’t sleep before performing your witr prayer, and supplicate to Allah during your Witr prayer to help you wake up for Fajr, remember, “You Alone we Worship, and You Alone we Seek help from”
• Read some Quran: Ending the day with verses of the Noble Quran will sure put your focus straight on waking up for salaat. Prophet Muhammad used to recommend that we recite Surat Al-Sajdah, and Surat Al-Mulk (Chapters 32 and 67) before going to sleep.
• Remember Allah before you go to Sleep: This is part of the first point I made, and you can find all the supplications you need to recite before going to sleep here. You might need to print them off and read them off paper at first, but within a week or two you should be able to memorize them fully and just recite them before dozing off.
• Remember the rewards attached to Fajr Salaat: from being safe from being a hypocrite, to having light on the day of judgement, to being under Allah’s protection the whole day, to having laziness removed from us that day and being productive. Remember these rewards and you’ll sure wake up.

Other tools I use that help me a lot:

Ask a friend/family member to wake you up: This is the number one rule for me to wake up. Get a family, friend, spouse to wake up, and help each other, if you get up before them, don’t be selfish and make sure they are awake too.

• 1.5 hours sleep rule: Aaaah.. here’s a secret trick, there’s a theory in the Sleep science that says that every human being completes an entire sleep cycle in 1.5 hours, therefore, if you can wake up at the end of a multiple of 1.5 hours (e.g. 1.5 hours, or 3 hours, or 4.5 hours..etc) you’ll wake up fresh and rejuvenated. Otherwise, you’ll wake up lazy. So if fajr is at 5am, and you sleep at 12am, make sure you set your alarm at 4.30am, because that gives you 4.5 hours to sleep. (Of course, if you take 1/2 an hour to fall to sleep, you might need to add that into your calculation).
• Nap in the afternoon: Another lifehack, taken from the Sunnah and recommended by many, make sure you nap in the afternoon, for just 20 minutes! yup, just 20 minutes. Trust me, for the past 3 years, I’ve mastered the 20 min nap, and everytime it never fails to rejuvenate me. If you need to train yourself to nap for that long, I highly recommend www.pzizz.com, a wonderful software that trains you for these short naps, it’s what I used to train myself.
• Promise yourself a grand breakfast if you wake up for Fajr: I’m a breakfast guy, so if I wake up early, I sure like to have a big breakfast. Sometimes i look forward to my breakfast from the afternoon before, and just like a small reward, treat yourself to a massive breakfast in the morning. It’ll definitely set your day straight as well inshaAllah.

Well, that’s all I can think of. If you think of new ideas, or you have other ways to wake up for fajr and hence keep up your productivity boost, give me us a shout.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE from ProductiveMuslim.com

LIE OR A JOKE?

Making jokes appears to be a popular form of entertainment for the youths. But how often are these jokes, and pranks based on lies? How often do people make excuses and say its only a joke…but SubhanAllah read the words of the Rasool Sallahualaiwasalm.

“Woe to the one who lies to make people laugh, WOE TO HIM, WOE TO HIM!”

At-Tirmidhi [2315]

Messenger of Allah said, ‘Allah Almighty says, “O son of Adam! I will forgive you as long as you call on Me and have hope in Me, no matter what you do.
Son of Adam, I do not care if your wrong actions reach to the clouds of heaven and then you ask Me for forgiveness, I will forgive you.
Son of Adam, if you were to come with sins equivalent in weight to the whole earth and then meet Me having not associated anything with Me, I would come to you with the same amount of forgiveness.'” [at-Tirmidhi]