Fasting on the Day of 'Arafah

The ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah (the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar) is the day of 'Arafah. It is the day when pilgrims stand on the plain of 'Arafah to pray. On this day, Muslims all over the world who do not witness the annual hajj should spend the day in fasting, in preparation for the three days festivity following 'Eid ul-Adha (the celebration marking the end of the hajj commemorating the Prophet Ibrâhîm's willingness of sacrifice).

Abû Hafsah, may Allâh be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said:

"Fasting on the day of 'Arafah absolves the sins for two years: the previous year and the coming year, and fasting on 'ashûra, (the tenth day of Muharram) atones for the sins of previous years." [Reported by all except al-Bukhârî and Tirmidhî]

In another saying the Prophet's wife Hafsah, may Allâh be pleased with her, said:

"Four things the Messenger of Allâh never neglected: Observing fast on the day of 'ashûra, 'Arafat, three days every month, and offering fajr sunnah prayers early in the morning." [Muslim]

These statements are proof that fasting on the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah, the day before 'Eid ul-Adha was a lifelong practice of the Prophet, peace be upon him, as his wife reported.

There are some reports that fasting is prohibited on the day of 'Arafah. However, it must be understood that this refers to a person performing the hajj. If a person is on the hajj, there is no fast for him or her on the day of 'Arafah. That is undoubtedly a blessing for him because of the hardships of the pilgrimage. In a saying reported by Umm al-Fadl, may Allâh be pleased with her, she said:

"The companions doubted whether the Prophet was fasting on 'Arafah or not. She decided to prove to them that he was not, so she said, 'I sent to him milk, which he drank while he was delivering the khutbah (sermon) on 'Arafah.' " [Recorded by al-Bukhârî]

Prohibiting the pilgrims from fasting on these days is a great mercy for them, for fasting will exert undue hardship on the person performing the hajj, while they are primarily concerned with their pilgrimage. Above all, the pilgrim would not be fasting anyway because he is traveling.

Spread this message with you family, friends and relatives.

Jazak Allah Kahiran!

How Zardari's handshake with Palin is justified?

After watching this video, He is completely justified.

Salat-l-Istikhara

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For English version click here.

Dua-e-Istikhara Recittation:

Post your comments if you need more help in performing Salat-l-Istikhara (prayer for guidance).

JazakAllah Kahiran.

Quranic Verses appearing on child's body....

SubhanAllah!

Nawaz Shariff's Asserts......

I couldn't imagine a national leader who does not have the courage to declare what belongs to him but still considered to be a savior in cruicial time.I still remember his word when he was exiled from Pakistan back in 1999 on his request stating I cannot stay behind bars.

Identifying Pakistani.....................

WHY PAKISTANIS ARE EASY TO IDENTIFY... 1. Everything you eat is savoured in garlic, onion and tomatoes. 2. You try and reuse gift wrappers, gift boxes, and of course aluminium foil. 3. You are always standing next to the two largest size suitcases at the Airport. 4. You arrive one or two hours late to a party - and think it's normal. 5. You peel the stamps off letters that the Postal Service missed to stamp. 6. You recycle Wedding Gifts, Birthday Gifts and Anniversary Gifts. 7. You name your children in rhythms (example, Shameem, Naeem, Ajmal, Akmal etc.) 8. All your children have pet names, which sound nowhere close to their real names. 9. You take snacks anywhere it says 'No Food Allowed' 10. You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving some one's house. 11. You load up the family car with as many people as possible. 12.You use plastic to cover anything new in your house whether it's the remote control, VCR, or new couch. 13. Your parents tell you not to care what your friends think, but they won't let you do certain things because of what the other 'Uncles and Aunties' will think. 14. You buy and display crockery, which is never used. as it is meant for a special occasion that never happens. 15. You use vinyl table cloth on your kitchen table. 16. You use grocery bags to hold the garbage. 17. You keep leftover food in your fridge in as many numbers of bowls as possible. 18. Your kitchen shelf is full of jars, varieties of bowls and plastic utensils (got free with purchase of other stuff) 19. You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel (and travel means any car ride longer than 15 minutes). 20. You own a rice cooker or a pressure cooker or both. 21. You fight over who pays the dinner bill. 22. You live with your parents and you are 40 years old. (And they prefer it that way). 23. You don't use measuring cups when cooking. 24. You never learned how to stand in a queue. 25. You can only travel if there are 5 persons at least to see you off or receive you whether you are travelling by bus, train or plane. 26. You only make long distance calls after 11pm 27. Your conversation is laced with constant references to God even while talking about the most mundane and insignificant matters.   28. You call an older person you never met before Uncle or Auntie. 29. When your parents meet a stranger and talk for a few minutes, you discover another distant cousin. 30. You have bed sheets on your sofas so as to keep them from getting dirty. 31. Its embarrassing if you're  invited  to a wedding with less than 600 people. 32. You have mastered the art of bargaining in shopping. 33. You don't engage in dialogue. You don't pay the slightest attention to what the other person is saying. You impatiently wait for them to stop speaking so you can blurt out your piece. 34. You have strong opinions on everything under the sun. But when it comes to decision making, you allow issues to reach a crisis point and panic set in before you decide to act. 35. If you have really enjoyed reading this mail - forward it to as many Pakistanis as possible. THE AUTHOR IS PROUD TO BE A PAKISTANI AND SO I

Thanks for sharing it with me.

Wayla Baba - Extremely Funny Punjabi Poem

A superb Punjabi Poem about the life of a 70 year old man. How he does everything at home but still he is considered to be useless person. Really a treat for punjabi lovers!

Let’s Learn How to Make Wudu (Ablution)

(Click image to enlarge)

Thanks to Mustapha Elturk (Ameer of Islamic Organization of North America, IONA) for sharing this poster with us.

For Rulings of wiping over socks you can either email your specific question to email address given above on the poster or click here to read the Fatwaa about it.

How Come Thomas Failed Again?

with this paper yeah he will fail again and again.

Salahudin Ayyubi - Animated Movie Trailer

It looks great and great source of information for our children's. I am looking forward to it.

Who is leading us and where?

I am stunned and astonished to see the above photograph. The whole winning team along with our respected President and Prime Minister is present but did somebody realize what are we missing here? We are missing our respectable founder and thinker who has given us this country. Without whom we are not able to call ourselves “Proud Pakistanis”. Lets say Benazir Bhutto and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto deserve these spots for there scarifies towards our country but how can you justify Mr. 100% and his son picture to be there who doesn’t even reside in Pakistan and I am sure both of them have done nothing for our country.

I must say we are as Pakistanis' responsible for all this as we have taken them to this place.

Comments are always welcome but please grow up don’t just use abusive language.

Kaaba's Inside Video

Every muslim wishes to see what's inside Kaaba. How does it look like from inside? what is inside Kaaba? May be in reality some of us will be able to see it at some point of their life but not all of us. But don't worry a saudi muslim has made a video about it and I feel very blessed to share this one with you all.

Please keep me in your prayers and spread this video to all the muslims so that they can also watch this life time opportunity.

Jazak Allah Hairan

Seven Common Mistakes While Performing The Salath (Namaz, Prayer)

Mistake 1: Reciting Surat al-Fatiha fast without pausing after each verse.

The Prophet (SAW) used to pause after each verse of this surah. (Abu Dawood)

Mistake 2: Sticking the arms to the sides of the body, in rukoo or sujood, and sticking the belly to the thighs in sujood.

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: 'Let not one of you support himself on his forearms (in sujood) like the dog. Let him rest on his palms and keep his elbows away from his body.' (Sahih Muslim). The Messenger of Allah (SAW) used to keep his arms away from his body during rukoo and sujood that the whiteness of his armpits could be seen (Sahih Muslim).

Mistake 3: Gazing upward during prayer.

This may cause loss of concentration. We are commanded to lower our gaze, and look at the point at which the head rests during sujood. The Prophet (SAW) warned: 'Let those who raise their gaze up during prayer stop doing so, or else their sights would not return to them. i.e., lose their eyesight. (Muslim) Mistake 4: Resting only the tip of the head on the floor during sujood.

The Prophet (SAW) said: 'I am commanded to prostrate on seven bones the forehead and the nose, the two hands [palms], the two knees, and the two feet.' (Sahih Muslim) Applying the above command necessitates resting the forehead and the nose on the ground during sujood.

Mistake 5: Hasty performance of prayer which does not allow repose and calmness in rukoo' or sujood.

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) saw a man who did not complete his rukoo' [bowing], and made a very short sujood [prostration]; He (SAW) said: 'If this man dies while praying in this manner, he would die upholding a religion other than the religion of Muhammad.'

Abu Hurairah (RA) said: 'My beloved friend, Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) forbade me to perform postures of prayer copying the picking of a rooster; (signifying fast performance of prayer), moving eyes around like a fox and the sitting like monkeys (i.e. to sit on thighs).' (Imam Ahmad & at-Tayalisi)

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: ' The worst thief is the one who steals from his own prayer.' People asked, 'Messenger of Allah! How could one steal from his own prayer?' He (SAW) said: 'By not completing its rukoo' and sujood.' (At Tabarani & al-Hakim).

To complete rukoo' is to stay in that posture long enough to recite 'Subhana rabbiyal Adtheem' three times, SLOWLY, and 'Subhana rabbiyal-a'ala' three times, SLOWLY, in sujood. He (SAW) also announced: 'He who does not complete his rukoo' and sujood, his prayer is void.' (Abu Dawood & others)

Mistake 6: Counting tasbeeh with the left hand The Prophet (SAW) used to count tasbeeh on the fingers of his right hand after salah. Ibn Qudamah (RA) said: ' The Messenger of Allah (SAW) used his right hand for tasbeeh.' (Abu Dawood). The above hadeeth indicates clearly that the Prophet (SAW) used only one hand for counting tasbeeh. No Muslim with sound mind would imagine that the Prophet (SAW) used his left hand for counting tasbeeh. Aa'ishah (RA) said that the Prophet (SAW) used his left hand only for Istinjaa', or cleaning himself after responding to the call of nature. He never used it for tasbeeh. Yasirah (RA) reported: The Prophet (SAW) commanded women to count tasbeeh on their fingers.

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: 'They (the fingers) will be made to speak, and will be questioned (on the Day of Resurrection.)' (At-Tirmidhi). The above Hadeeth indicates that it is preferable to count tasbeeh on the fingers of the right hand than to do so on masbahah (rosary).

Mistake 7: Crossing in front of a praying person. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) warned: 'Were the one who crosses in front of a praying person to know the consequences of doing so, he would have waited for *forty better than to cross in front of him.' (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim). *The forty in the tradition may be days months or even years. Allah knows best. Common Errors in Prayer That MUST Be Avoided - Please inform your near and dear ones to take care of the above. Remember Muslim Ummah in your supplications.

IF POSSIBLE PLZ SHARE THIS TO YOUR MATES AND RELATIVES, SO THEY TOO CAN LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR MISTAKES.

One should note the point that. The above of praying Salaat is common for human being, there is no difference showing between man women, so those who are telling the Salaat is different for men and women is wrong. Please study if you have any doubt and correct your Iman .

JazakAllah Khair.

I didn't know...........

This video was adapted by Sony BMG at an executive meeting they held in Rome 2008. worth sharing information. Isn't it?

Kadi Te- Zahid Fakhiri's Punjabi Poem...

This is hilarious only if you understand Punjabi language. Zahid Fakhiri is at his best form. Enjoy!!

Are you depressed?

Then this is the cure for it. You will realize it once you listen to it for couple of times and alone. Share the words.

Qualities of History's Greatest Leader

Is this the talent we are looking for?

Please answer it ?