Seekersguidance Podcast - Islam, Islamic Knowledge, Quran, And The Guidance Of The Prophet Muhammad

In this lesson of Renewal by the Book, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, reflects upon verses of the Quran that correspond to the chapter on reflection and the end of life from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَاءٍ أَنزَلْنَاهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الْأَرْضِ مِمَّا يَأْكُلُ النَّاسُ وَالْأَنْعَامُ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَخَذَتِ الْأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَازَّيَّنَتْ وَظَنَّ أَهْلُهَا أَنَّهُمْ قَادِرُونَ عَلَيْهَا أَتَاهَا أَمْرُنَا لَيْلًا أَوْ نَهَارًا فَجَعَلْنَاهَا حَصِيدًا كَأَن لَّمْ تَغْنَ بِالْأَمْسِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ وَاللَّهُ يَدْعُو إِلَىٰ دَارِ السَّلَامِ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb - [those] from which men and livestock eat - until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or

In this lesson of Renewing Religion, Shaykh Faraz gives an overview of the chapters on faith in Divine Oneness and trusting in Allah as well as the chapters on love, longing and intimacy from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. Shaykh Faraz begins by explaining that knowing Divine Oneness in its true meaning entails certitude within your heart and trust and reliance upon Allah when it comes to dealing with all that happens. This begins by realizing that Allah is the necessary existant and everything else is dependent on Him. As such everthing in existance is necesserily in a state of slavehood to Allah; this is the essence of Tawheed and understanding Divine Oneness. This understanding should lead one to complete reliance on Allah. Shaykh Faraz reminds us that reliance on Allah is not limited to times of difficulty rather it is only if one relies on Allah in all their times including those of ease can they truly rely on Him during times of difficulty. The Prophet, peace be upon him, says know Allah at the times of ease and

In this lesson of Renewal by the Book, Shaykh Faraz reviews verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapters on love of Allah and sincerity in Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion - Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favor of Allah ; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing. [Quran 5:54] Shaykh Faraz comments on this verse saying, the major cause of people turning away from Allah is

In this lesson, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin, gives an overview of the chapters on patience and thankfulness, fear and hope, poverty and abstinence from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. In this chapter, Imam Ghazali explains that faith is of two halves: half is patience and half is gratitude and having certainty of Allah is the whole of faith. Ustadh Amjad explains that everything that one goes through in life is neither a blessing or punishment rather our response to it is what matters. That is why the Prophet would pray to Allah not to turn away His decree but to have gentleness in His decree. The next section of the lesson deals with the chapter on thankfulness. Allah says that if you are thankful then Allah will increase you. Ustadh Amjad advises that we should be especially thankful when we have things to complain about, turn to your numerous other blessings and be thankful for them. Ustadh Amjad then speaks to the chapter on fear and hope and explains that one should have a balance of both. On fear, he says that some of t

In this lesson of Renewal by the Book, Shaykh Faraz reviews verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapters on Divine Oneness, hope and fear in Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. There are verses that focus on hope and others on fear in the Quran and both are equally important to consider. The companions used to discuss the most hope inducing verses in the Quran and the most fear inducing verses in the Quran, so will this lesson. From each one can derive what this expresses about the Oneness of Allah and our relationship with him. قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [Quran, 39: 53] In this verse Allah guarantees that He forgives all sins if one repents from them and even if one

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, gives an overview of the chapters on condemnation of the Dunya; pride; conceit and delusion; and on repentance. These chapters are part of Imam Ghazali’s Ihya and a series of sessions on renewing religion. Shaykh Faraz begins by explaining that each person has a self that requires affirmation and that affirmation can manifest in the form of pride or delude oneself into thinking that you are doing well. It is common for people to be heavily concerned with the progression of their worldly matters and along with it with their selves, however, when it comes to matters of the deen they don’t feel the urgency and the need to change to improve. For that reason, the condemnation of the dunya in this chapter refers to everything that busies you from Allah. One should strive in this dunya but consider what you really need of this life to get you to the hereafter. Thus one should always remember the lowliness and fleetingness of this life and the vastness of the Hereafter in compari

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz, continues the series Renewal by the Book giving an overview of the chapter on repentance, patience and gratitude from Imam Ghazali’s along with a tafsir of the verses of the Quran that correspond to it. In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz looks at verse 13 from chapter 34 in the Quran. Often times these three qualities: repentance, patience and gratitude are thought of to be enacted at specific times, like repenting when one does something wrong. However, one should be in all three states at all times and shouldn’t tie them to life events. اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا ۚ وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ "Work, O family of David, in gratitude." And few of My servants are grateful. [Quran, 34:13] All the Prophets came with one call, that to Allah, and all the virtues of that call are shared, thus the call to Prophet David extends to us as well. Imam Ghazali explains that Gratitude has three integrals: to recognize the blessing as being from Allah, appreciating the blessing, and then

In this lesson, visiting scholar, Shaykh Walead Mosaad, gives an overview of Imam Ghazali’s chapters on condemnation of miserliness, love of wealth, status; and the condemnation of ostentation. These chapters fall in the third quarter of Imam Ghazali’s opus magnum that focuses on the vices of person. All these vices are primarily about how one interacts with these things, wealth status, etc. Wealth in and of itself is not wrong, however, it can’t be all consuming such that it distracts you from everything else. One of the principal objectives of zakat to force you to give something you love for the sake of Allah. Shaykh Walead counsels us to make a regular habit of taking stock of our shortcomings and identifying ways to improve upon them. One is either on a path of increase or decrease in their deen and iman and as such one should always strive to improve because if you stand still you will inevitably be on a downward trajectory. The nature of the world is that one is never satiated of it and thus one has t

In this lesson, visiting scholar, Shaykh Walead Mosaad, gives an overview of select verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapter on condemnation of the dunya (worldliness) from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. This chapter is the only chapter in the Ihya where Imam Ghazali says there are too many verses to mention on this subject, as if hinting to the fact that most of the Quran points to this theme in general. The Dunya intended in this chapter is not to condemn one’s living in this world but the Dunya here is in reference to the heart’s love for appetites and desires. Thus the point is to question one’s relationship to the Dunya and be aware that you are in it but not of it. Shaykh Walead explains that this is why at a time of calamity one is enjoined to say we are from God to Him we return as a reminder that this Dunya is not our final abode. As we go along in life Allah sends us reminders of the pershing nature of the Dunya. اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَ

In this lesson, visiting scholar, Shaykh Walead Mosaad, reviews the chapters on holding one’s tongue and condemnation of rancour and envy. These chapters are originally written by Imam Ghazali in his book Ihya Ulum al-Din. Shaykh Walead begins with the chapter on holding one’s tongue and the criteria for one should or should not speak. One should know that there speech is significant and has an effect. In addition, speech is not limited to what we say, but also what we propagate on social media. We have gotten into the habit of naming and shaming online in order to showcase that they’ve made a mistake. However, the sunnah of the Prophet was about having wisdom, and his speech was always measured. As such, we should follow his example and not what we have become used to in our cultures or current state of affairs. The Quran and Sunnah give us very vivid descriptions of the punishments people are given for the sins of the tongue because of the gravity of those actions in the eyes of Allah. Imam Ghazali lists t

In this lesson, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin, gives an overview of select verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapter on breaking desires from Imam Al-Ghazali’s Ihya. Allah tells us that our salvation is connected to not giving in to one’s lower self and that is why it is crucial for one to control their desires. The lesson will overview the verses 40-41 from Chapter 79 of the Quran. وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination, Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge. [Quran, 79:40-41] The Prophet, peace be upon him, told us that at the end of time is sanctifying choice and that people should do anything that they wish. However, this goes against the core values of our religion that require one to discipline their desires and whims. The verses show us that our path to paradise is through withholding the things our lower self desires and that wi

In this lesson, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin, gives an overview of three books from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya: Marvels of the Heart, Discipling the Soul, and Breaking Desires. Struggling against one’s lower self is an obligation that Allah talks about in the Quran, that whoever purifies their heart is successful and whomever doesn’t is at loss. The importance of this purification is displayed in the example of the Shaytan, despite his certitude of the existence of God, his lower self and ego still got the best of him and pushed him to disobey Allah. Ustadh Amjad explains that by treating the diseases of the heart it becomes purified and by leaving it to its devices it becomes ugly. The path to purifying the soul is through beautiful character and that is why the Prophet was sent to perfect noble character. In addition, there are some characters that are naturally innate to a person and others that need to be cultivated. So one should be mindful of their innate good characters and cultivate others that they might not have.

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, gives an overview of select verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapters on understanding the heart and disciplining the self from Imam Al-Ghazali’s Ihya. This topic is at the heart of our deen and is important to understand. The lesson will overview the verse 7-10 from Chapter 91 of the Quran. The 91st chapter of the Quran includes the longest chain of oaths, where Allah swears by His signs to emphasize what is being sworn about because it’s real, important and urgent. In this chapter, the oaths lead up to an oath about the self and how He formed it. وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it; And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness; He has succeeded who purifies it, And he has failed who instills it [with corruption]. [Quran, 91: 7-10] Allah swears by the self and how He has formed it. The reason this is in

In this lesson, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin gives an overview of the chapter from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya on the etiquette of living and the prophetic mannerism. This chapter is the last in the section on worship and it details main life skills that one should utilize on a daily basis. One of the most damaging things to a community is people following the outward actions of religion having bad character. This is due to the self’s inclinations when first seeking the spiritual path and for this reason it is important to study and connect to the Prophet, peace be upon him. That is why Imam Ghazali says that having outward etiquette is a sign of having inward etiquette; and your deeds are the consequences of your character; and your etiquette is the sprinkles that come out of the knowledge of Allah; and the secret areas of the heart are the planting ground for good deeds; and the lights that are in the heart are the things that emanate on the limbs. Ustadh Amjad advises everyone to study the Prophetic character to understan

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, gives an overview of select verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapter son marriage and good character from Imam Al-Ghazali’s Ihya. The two chapter have been enjoined in one lesson because marriage is highly dependent on good character. The lesson will overview the verse 20-21 from Chapter 30 of the Quran on the purposes of marriage. وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ إِذَا أَنتُم بَشَرٌ تَنتَشِرُونَ وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ And of His signs is that He created you from dust; then, suddenly you were human beings dispersing [throughout the earth]. And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought. [Quran, 3:20-21] Marriage is not just a

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz, gives an overview of the chapter on spiritual music from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. In this chapter, the Imam’s reference to music is constrained only to spiritual music and should be understood as such for the remainder of the lesson. This is music that inspires to seek Allah and His messenger. WIthin the Islamic tradition there is a broad permissibility of singing. There are numerous examples of the companions singing spiritual poems as they dug trenches or during weddings. That is also the reason why the Prophet had his own poets. Thus there was a general understanding of the permissibility of spiritual singing. The Prophet also encourage beating the ‘duff’ at weddings. Conversely, however, many scholars believe that other musical instruments are not allowed within Islam. There are a minority of scholars that allowed music as long as the environment in which the music is, is not associated with other sinful acts such as dancing. Shaykh Faraz outlines in the lesson the etiquettes of

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, gives an overview of select verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapter on commanding the good from Imam Al-Ghazali’s Ihya. The lesson will overview the verse 104 from Chapter 3 of the Quran that encompasses all that one needs to know about commanding the good. وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ ۚ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. [Quran, 3:104] These verses explain the common principles that underlie commanding the good for any person. First, it identifies commanding good as a communal obligation that must be undertaken by some from within that community. Second, some from within the community who are able to and have the knowledge should be dedicated to this duty, while others are required to engage in it based on circumsta

In this lesson, visiting scholar, Shaykh Riad Saloojee gives an overview of the chapter on enjoining the good and forbidding the evil from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. This chapter is divided into a number of topics: [1] the importance of of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil [2] the conditions and etiquette of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil [3] the integrals of doing so. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Whoever of you sees a wrongdoing then let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then with his tongue. And if he is not able to do so, then let him feel it wrong with his heart. And that is the weakest of faith.” This hadith gives us an opportunity to understand the meanings of hadith from the text. The way this text has many lessons that have been derived from it by our scholars. In order to derive meaning from a text one must first have an understanding of fiqh theory and principles. The application of the text must produce benefit, because the whole religion is bring up

In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, gives an overview of select verses from the Quran that correspond with the chapter on travel from Imam Al-Ghazali’s Ihya. This chapter focuses on the purpose of travel, reflection in travel, and gratitude from it. The lesson will overview the verses 12-14 from Chapter 43 of the Quran on the duaas one should recite when travelling. وَالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَزْوَاجَ كُلَّهَا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ لِتَسْتَوُوا عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُوا سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ And who created the species, all of them, and has made for you of ships and animals those which you mount. That you may settle yourselves upon their backs and then remember the favor of your Lord when you have settled upon them and say. "Exalted is He who has subjected this to us, and we could not have [otherwise] subdued it. And inde

In this lesson, visiting scholar, Shaykh Riad Saloojee, gives an overview of the chapter on the etiquettes of travel from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya. The chapter begins by discussing the two types of travel, that of the body and that of the heart. Then, he continues to the purposes of travel, the etiquettes of travel and lastly, the fiqh of travel. The travelling of the body is really just a means for the travelling of our hearts. There are various purposes and reasons that one should travel for including: [1] Breaking bad habits [2] Gaining knowledge [3] Spending time with scholars and the righteous [4] Witnessing the miracles of Allah’s creation [5] Leave an environment that is harmful [6] Pilgrimage In addition, our religion is filled with instances of small journeying to Allah, such as having to leave one’s home to go to the mosque for congregational prayer or for Friday prayer. This is all for one to journey and to leave with the purpose of seeking Allah. The Prophet’s, peace be upon them, often journeyed as w