"Maka yang mana satu di antara nikmat-nikmat Tuhan kamu, yang kamu hendak dustakan?"

This verse is one of my favourite because this verse talks about what are the (nikmat) that you've wasted on. This one helped me to always to do right things in life and appreciate everything Allah gave to us and use it on the right way.

Every act of worship in Islam consists of both an outer manifestation (‘action of the limb’) and an inner reality (‘action of the heart’), which is its essence and core.

The outer manifestation of ṣalāh consists of rukūʿ and sujūd, whilst its essence is khushūʿ.

The outer manifestation of fasting is to stay away from anything that invalidates the fast, whilst its essence is taqwā.

The outer manifestation of ḥajj consists of ṭawāf, standing in ʿArafah and the pelting, whilst its essence is to honour the symbols of Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā).

The outer manifestation of duʿā’ is to raise the hands and utter words, whilst its essence is humility and an utmost need for Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā).

The outer manifestation of dhikr is to utter Subḥānallāh, Alḥamdulillāh, Allāhu Akbar etc. whilst its essence is loving, fearing and having hope in Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā); and contemplation upon His creation and blessings.

That's all from me. We'll see you in the next one!

Khushūʿ is a state in which you constantly weigh up your sins against the greatness of Allah, leaving you overwhelmed with humility and a desperate need for Him.

I think that's all for this session of reflection. I'll see you guys in a next one!

Khushūʿ magnifies and multiplies the rewards of good deeds. Ibn Taymiyyah (raḥimahullāh) explains that even though there is a great reward in reciting Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ (as it equates to one third of the Qur’ān), if one was to read any other āyah with khushūʿ, the reward of it would be greater.

In Sūrah al-M’uminūn, Allah mentions that the first trait of the successful is khushūʿ in ṣalāh. Allah says, “Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their ṣalāh” (23:1-2).

Thus, if you want true success, firstly, you must have īmān and secondly, you should perform ṣalāh with khushūʿ.

2. Becoming sin-free like a newborn

Amr b. ʿAbasah (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) narrated a long ḥadīth in which he described the virtues of wuḍū’. He reported the Prophet ﷺ saying, “And if he stands to pray and praises Allah, extols Him and glorifies Him with what He is most deserving of; and shows wholehearted devotion to Allah, he will revert to being sinfree (as pure) as he was on the day his mother gave birth to him.”

ʿAmr b. ʿAbasah (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) states that he heard this from the Prophet ﷺ more than seven times (Muslim).

3. Having previous sins forgiven

ʿUthmān (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) performed wuḍū’ and then said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ perform wuḍū’ like this and he then said, ‘Whoever performs wuḍū’ like this wuḍū’ of mine, then performs two rakʿah of prayer during which he does not let his thoughts wander, Allah will forgive all of his previous sins’” (Bukhārī).

4. Earning a guarantee of Paradise

ʿUqbah b. ʿĀmir (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “If any Muslim performs wuḍū’, and does so properly, then stands and performs two rakʿah of prayer in which he focuses with his heart as well as his face [i.e. is not physically distracted], Paradise is guaranteed for him” (Muslim).

When ʿAbdullāh b. al-Zubayr (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) stood up to pray, he was described as being ‘like a stick (i.e. motionless) with khushūʿ’. Once, during the siege of the Kaʿbah, whilst he was prostrating, a catapult struck him and tore part of his garment, but he did not even raise his head!

I think that's all for now. We'll see you in the next one!

Sawm or 'fasting' is an ` ibadah, an act of worship in Islam, regarded as its pillar and sign. The merits of fasting are too numerous to be taken up at this point.

Past communities and the injunction to fast

The verse makes it obligatory for the Muslims to fast in a specified period, but the command in this respect has been accompanied by the statement that the obligation of fasting is not peculiar to them. The fasting had also been enjoined upon the earlier Ummahs (communities of the past prophets). The reference to the earlier Ummahs in the verse shows the importance of fasting on the one hand, and gives an encouragement to the Muslims on the other. It indicates that although there may be some inconvenience in fasting but the same inconvenience was also faced by the earlier communities. This brings a psycho-logical comfort to the Muslims, because if an inconvenience is faced by a large number of people, it becomes easier to bear. (Rub al-Ma` am)

The words of the Qur'an, لَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ (those before you) have been used in a general sense including all religious communities from Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) to the last of the Prophets ﷺ . This tells us that, like Salah, fasting has also been enjoined upon every .Ummah of every prophet without an exception.

Commentators who interpret مِن قَبْلِكُمْ (before you) to mean the Christians' take it just as an example, not aiming to exclude other communities. (Ruh al-Ma` ani)

The verse simply says that fasts have been enjoined on Muslims as were enjoined on past communities. From this it does not necessarily follow that the fasts enjoined upon the earlier communities were fully identical in all respects with the fasts enjoined upon this Ummah. There may have been differences in the number and the timings of the fasts etc. and, actually, there has been such a difference. (Ruh al Ma’ ani)

By saying لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (so that you be God-fearing), the text has pointed out to the inherent quality of fasting which contributes significantly to one's ability to become abstaining from the sins and God-fearing. Fasting grows into man a power which helps him control his desires, which is really the foundation of Taqwa تقویٰ , the very special term of the Holy Qur'an which has been tentatively translated as fear of God, abstinence, and the warding of evil.

I think that's all for now. We'll meet again in the next one!

In addition to that, the name “Sadiq”, a Quranic name for boys which also shares the same root word, means “honest”, “truehearted”, “sincere”, “faithful” and “devoted”.

And that's for Sadaqah, but how about Zakāh?

Zakat Derived from the Arabic word "al-Zakat" which means holy, blessing, blessing, bloom, fertilize, grow and charity. In terms of terminology, the obligatory means of delivery which must be done on the part of the wealth of resources that one has a good Muslim to those who deserve it.

The literal, or denotative, definition of the word zakat (sometimes spelled zakah) is “increase,” as in growth (nama). The word also connotes “betterment” (tahsun), “righteousness” (salah), “praise” (hamd), “blessings” (barakah), “purification” (taharah), or “commendation” (madh), in the sense of laudation, meaning to extol with praise.

The word zakah also holds the senses of “justness, integrity, and honesty,” along with “justification and vindication,” while zaka means to “sweeten” something.