Thursday, April 30, 2009

Qudrah and Tabarruk



Ustaz Zakaria shared some more stories during last Risalah Tauhid lesson:


Yesterday I was in Kelantan to visit an acquaintance building a masjid. All has been completed except the floor. Trying to see if I could raise more fund to finish it. A person there showed me 3 small stones, all bearing natural marking representing the Arabic character “Lam-Alif”. Such stones don’t have power, but they may bring tabarruk to the owner:

  • They (the enemy) shall NOT see you.
  • They shall NOT argue against you.
  • They shall NOT scheme against you.

This brings a story how after shaving his noble head, Nabi (saw) gave a strand of his hair to each sahabah as tabarruk. Once Khalid al-Walid (ra) remembered a shirt he had dropped in a battlefield contained Nabi’s hair.

He returned to battlefield and fought back just to get that very shirt and the hair in its pocket. This story related in a kitab by Kiyai Sirajuddin bin Abbas (rh), an Indonesian ‘alim who studied under Shaykh Wan Ahmad Fatani (rh).

Regarding effort and do’a:

A few years Cikgu ‘Abdul Rahman, Committee Member (CM) #1, CM #2, and myself started voluntary project to construct a masjid in Kampung Bahagia, Kemboja. Finding it difficult to raise RM200k, eventually CM#1 dropped out, and CM#2 later did the same. Cikgu ‘Abdul Rahman said no way he would back out, him being married to a local woman.

Nothing short of miracle, a generous man lather phoned up and pledged RM50k, and he promised to give more bit by bit. We eventually completed the masjid, and we currently on our 5th project!

Wallahu a'lam

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Ta’luq of Iradah(RT 28/9 - 2/11/08)

Risalah Tauhid 28th Sept – 2nd Nov 2008

Like qudrah, God’s will (iradah) also holds pertinence only on ‘possible’ subjects.

Say God is about to create Zayd into being. His will with Zayd’s destiny happens in 3 phases:
  1. God determines how long Zayd will live, how he will sustain himself and his family etc.
  2. God affirms the destiny he has in store for Zayd.
  3. God fulfills Zayd’s destiny on the day Zayd is created.
There is a general misconcept that once God has made up his iradah on us, then our life will be beyond our control. We thus become fatalists and refuse to improve our destiny.

Know that in ta’luq matters - for qudrah and iradah - God has written our destiny in Loh Mahfuz, yet there is chance that He will later change them. All these based on our own effort, supplication, and tawakkal. Never sit back and passively accept bad luck. Practice faith correctly, you can still work to increase your wealth, health, and good behavior – as long as you are content with God’s will should things turn out badly.

Remember that ta’luq for both qudrah and iradah are valid only on ‘possible’ subjects. It never transgress the boundaries of haqiqi (ultimate).
(In other lessons, Ustaz Zakaria had said: Qudrah is not applicable to those that negate God’s supreme characteristics. It is impossible that God has the power to create a second God – this would contradict the principle of oneness - wahdaniah.)

Said Ustaz Zakaria:
  • Iradah is the cause to turn a concept into being. While Qudrah empowers it. Iradah is takhsis and qudrah is ta’sir. When we say “the pot is boiling” we actually mean “the content of the pot is boiling”.
  • There is qada and qadr, but Allah Himself asks us to make effort to change our qadr from bad to good. There are 2 types of qada and qadr written on the Loh Mahfuz:
    Mu’alat – destiny that still is subject to change
    Mubram – destiny that is unchangeable.
  • Before you open your store in the morning, don’t forget to recite surah al-Waqi’ah. However, it is Allah’s iradah that you make a good sale or not. Surah al-Waqi’ah does not control your destiny.
  • Mistakes of muslims today:
    - They think religious lessons are exclusively for those interested.
    - They pursue fard kifayah too much while neglecting the all-important fard ‘ain.

Wallahu a'lam
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Friday, April 24, 2009

Ta’luq of Qudrah (RT 6/9/08)

Risalah Tauhid 6th September 2008

Qudrah holds ta’luq on everything mumkin (possible), while never holds ta’luq on subjects of haqiqi (ultimate).

Consider a mumkin – Zayd - about to come into existence. Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (rh) broke down this ta’luq into 2 phases:

1. God’s power to determine Zayd’s existence.
2. God’s power to realize Zayd.

Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari was of opinion there has to be a 3rd phase:

3. God’s power to prolong Zayd’s existence or non-existence.

From here we can convince ourselves that a man is always governed by the power of God before he is created, during his lifetime, in his grave, and even in the heaven or the hellfire. With this in mind, it is hoped everyone be induced to correct his or her ways so that one acts according to one’s faith. That is iman.

Said Ustaz Zakaria:
  • Men live in eternity after being raised from the grave. This eternity is of type ‘arodi (temporary) while God’s eternity is of type haqiqi (ultimate).
  • You have to be Islamic in both faith and practice.


Wallahu a'lam

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Sifats Ma’nawiyyah, Ta'luq (RT 31/8/08)

Risalah Tauhid 31st August 2008

Sifats Ma’nawiyyah
Ma’nawiyyah as a word derives from ‘ma’ani’. It shows the state of God respective to Sifats Ma’ani. Example: God has power (qudrah) therefore the state of Allah at all times is all-powerful (Arabic: kaunuhu qadiran).

  • Qudrah -> Kaunuhu Qadiran
  • Iradah -> Kaunuhu Muridan
  • ‘Ilm -> Kaunuhu ‘Aaliman
  • Hayah -> Kaunuhu Hayyan
  • Sama’ -> Kaunuhu Sami’an
  • Basor -> Kaunuhu Basiran
  • Kalam -> Kaunuhu Mutakalliman
As opposed to Sifats Ma’ani, Sifats Ma’nawiyyah are perceptible only to our intelligence.

Sifats and Ta’luq

All of sifats ma’ani except ‘hayah’ not only stand on their own, but has ta’luq over other subjects. In other words, those sifats have ‘degrees of pertinence’.

For example, God stands on His own with qudrah (power). But with qudrah also God exerts control over everything else. With it God has the power to make everything else into existence.

Inherent with this concept, God’s will (iradah) has ta’luq over every creation. If He wills that a certain subject to be, then it should come into being. In contrast if He wills that the subject not to be, then it would be impossible to be.

Wallahu a'lam


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Monday, April 13, 2009

Donate To the Madrasah


Help little Mustaqim and his friends with their Islamic studies, and you will be rewarded as per Allah’s promises in the Qur’an and hadith.

Your donations will be used to pay for :
  • Food
  • Textbooks
  • General maintenance of the madrasah
  • Building other madrasah / masjid / other projects for the cause of Allah


Donations are LHDN income-tax deductible. Upon your request , we can produce MOF-approved receipt to help you with income-tax filings. Donate to Madrasah Diniah Ahmadiah either as zakat or sadaqah. Or as a payment for your kifarat or fidyah.

-> You can leave some $$$ into the madrasah safe box.

-> You can also email pondokbatu10 (at) gmail.com, or contact the principal Ustaz Zakaria Awang at 013-6331347.

-> You can inquire by leaving comment on this blog (click comments below and leave your name/email/phone number).

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Wallahu a'lam