The Mind Builders

By Kolade Malik Ademola I got to ask a group of students what success is, and behold, I was astounded by their responses; the book types replied, having excellent or outstanding academic grades, while the bling bling types replied, using iPhone 7, driving a Jaguar, and living in a mansion. Weren't they right? Of course they'd defined success base on their exposures. Should we hold them accountable for that? No, there's only need to change their orientation. What orientation? In real conception, success goes beyond having academic grades or possessing the luxuries you desire to live an affluent live, but success as possession of luxuries isn't the topic for discussion today. In a broader perspective, (success lies) beyond academic excellence, but apparently these days, the procreative minds of individuals have been tainted with the conjecture that all around academic excellence is where success lies comfortably, but could they be right with this perception? I...

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RAMADAN By Yusuff Ademola Adesina Episode 12: What Next After Ramadan? All praise and adoration is to Allah. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon the last messenger, Prophet Muhammad, his households, his companions, and those who are following the path of righteousness until the Last Day. During the month of Ramadan, one will notice that everyone is actively engaged in one good deed or the other. When you went into any Masjid during Ramadan, you will definitely find people engaging in various different acts of worship; as some were reading Qur’an, some were doing dhikr, some were observing voluntary prayers, whilst others were reading Islamic books – they were actually doing all these to straighten their faith in Allaah, and seek His guidance and forgiveness. And, of course, that is the spirit of Ramadan – the month of all good deeds and good characters. Now that the month of Ramadan has slowly come to an end, the most important q...

By Yusuff Ademola Adesina Episode 11: The Etiquette of Eid-el-Fitr Indeed, all praise and adoration is to Allah. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon the last messenger, Prophet Muhammad, his households, his companions, and those on the path of righteousness until the Day of Judgment.   The life of this world is finite, and our time in the earth is predetermined and limited. It wasn’t long ago that everyone was excited about the commencement of Ramadan, but now, Ramadan has come and ready to leave. Everyone is now waiting in anticipation to celebrate the joyful Day of Eid. Eid-el-fitr day is the first of day of the month of Shawwal. It marks the end of Ramadan, which is a month of fasting. Muslims are required to attend communal prayer, listen to the Khutubah (Sermon) and give zakatul-fitr. It is a day of worship, a day of peace and thanksgiving, and a day of festive. Muslims are thus permitted to spend money on foods, drinks, clothes and other permissible acti...

By Yusuff Ademola Adesina EPISODE 10: THE OBLIGATION OF AND MATTERS RELATED TO ZAKATUL-FITR All praise and adoration is to Allaah – the Lord of the worlds. May His Peace and Blessings be upon the noble soul of Muhammad, his households, his companions, and those on the path of righteousness until the Day of Resurrection. The Obligation of Zakatul-Fitr Zakatul-Fitr is often referred to as Sadaqatul-Fitr. The word Fitr means the same as Iftar, breaking a fast and it comes from the same root word as Futur which means breakfast. Islamically, Zakatul-Fitr is the name given to charity which is distributed at the end of the fast of Ramadan. This is prescribed for the Muslims to purify and support their fasting and as well as to make up for the wrong deeds committed during the month of fast. It’s again to enable the poor to participate in the rejoicings of Eide-l-fitr. Zakatul-fitr is obligatory on every Muslim whether male or female, minor or adult, provided that he/she has...

By Abdul-Wahab Mubarak The Holy month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed as guidance for the mankind, and criterion for distinguishing the truth from falsehood; the light from darkness; and the right conducts from the wrongs. The Quran says: “The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion, so whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” (Q2:185 cited from Sahih International Translation) Ramadan is a highly venerated month that comes only once in a year and lasts for twenty-nine or thirty days. The enormously blessed month has a special, magnificent night, which is better than a thou...

By Yusuff Ademola Adesina The Search for the Night of Decree (Laylatul-Qadr)   Indeed all praise be to Allaah. We praise Him, seek His help, His guidance and forgiveness.We seek refuge in Him from the evils of our souls and our evil deeds. Whomever Allah guides, no one can lead astray, whomever He allows to go astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah, and that He has no partner. I also bear witness that Muhammad [PBUH] is His servant and messenger. A Majority of Muslims are conscious of how they spend their time in the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. As it is undisputable and well known to everyone that there is a distinguished night among the last ten nights of Ramadan which is better than a thousand months! The precious night, in which the noble Qur’an wa s revealed to the noblest of the sons of Adam, Muhammad (PBUH). This exceptional and magnificent night is the one in which the ...

By Yusuff Ademola Adesina EPISODE 8: I’tikaaf: Seclusion in the Month of Ramadan Indeed all praise be to Allaah. We praise Him and seek His help, we seek His forgiveness and guidance. We seek refuge in Him from the evils of our souls and deeds. Whomever Allah guides, no one can lead astray, whomever He allows to go astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah, and that He has no partner. I also bear witness that Muhammad [PBUH] is His servant and messenger. Whenever the month of Ramadan approaches its last ten days, one will observe that there are usually two categories of Muslims.The first category consists of those who are in suspense and waiting in anticipation to witness the end of Ramadan, so that they could return to their normal lifestyle which they have modified because of Ramadan, and thus slacken in their acts of worship. Contrarily, the second category is of those who heighten and endeavour to reach the peak of their spiritual objectiv...

By Yusuff Ademola Adesina EPISODE 7: The Significance and Etiquette of Making Supplication – 2 All praise be to Allaah, may His peace and blessings be upon the Last Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his households, his companions, and those on the path of righteousness until the Day of Judgement. The month of Ramadan is well known to everyone for its blessings. However, supplication is   essential to the acquisition of these blessings. But, it is one thing to make supplication; its admissibility is another issue. Hence, understanding the concept of making supplication is insufficient without comprehending how they are answered. Having discussed the significance and some etiquette related to supplication_making in the previous episode, this episode aims to provide insight on acceptance of supplications which is essentially the goal of making supplication. Acceptance of Supplication Although, some people may choose to supplicate to other than Allaah (the onl...