Indeed, all praise and thanks are due to Allaah. We praise Him; seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek protection from Him from the evils of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomever He sends astray, there is no other guide for him. I testify that nothing has any right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, having no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger-may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:
Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuuh.
Welcome to the month of Muharram 1438AH, a month that enjoys the honor of being associated with the glorious name of Allaah:
“…………………………………… Allaah’s month of Muharram……….” (Narrated by Muslim, 1163)
Apart from that special status, it is one of the four sacred months:
“Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allaah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein” [al-Tawbah 9:36]
And a month in which good deeds are enjoined:
“The best of fasts besides the month of Ramadhan is the fasting of Allah’s month of Muharram ………” (Narrated by Muslim, 1163)
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) so keen to make sure he fasted any day and preferring it over another except this day, the day of ‘Ashoora’, and this month – meaning Ramadaan. (al-Bukhaari, 1867)
Its been almost 4 years since I last put up a post on this blog. Just about 4 years ago, I got a scholarship to study a 4-year B.A Islamic Studies online and suddenly, blogging became a herculean task ; ). Alhamdulillaah, I’m all but done with the B.A and the start of new month and the start of a new year seemed like the perfect time to start blogging again.
One of the things I came across while I was away was a post on “A Better Way to Divide Recitation of the Qur’ān over a Month” by Ibn Taymiyyaah, may Allāh have mercy on him. He divided the recitation by the chapters rather than by the ajzaas as we commonly do. He describes this schedule as being closer to the way of the Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them all), and hey, who doesn’t want that! So should you find my daily post not inline to the commonly known ajzaas, remember you have been warned.
For this month, I am picking a relatively easy theme, so as to ease myself gently back into blogging and to leave room for completing my degrees. So the theme is the starting verses bi’idhnillaah. So, I will be posting the verse of each daily portion (aka juz)along with the translation of its meaning and the tafseer of some key parts of it from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, bi’idhnillaah. I ask Allaah to make this a good returning, a good start and to grant me a good end too. May HE forgive my shortcomings and excesses too, aameen.
AnAayahAtATime 