Tawfiq's Blog

Reflections on Umrah

The beauty of umrah is that through pilgrimage to Allah’s house one’s soul is able to remove distractions and find peace. We return to our purpose in life and feel at home:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

“I did not create jinn and humans except for My worship” — Qur’an 51:56

“أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ”

“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” — Qur’an 13:28

House of Allah

One of the most moving aspects of the whole pilgrimage is seeing the House of Allah. The Kaaba in Makkah whose foundations were first completed by the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham).

Upon first seeing it we all stopped to pray and make dua, supplications. A truly moving experience, many were simply frozen by the majesty of the Kaaba.

The Kaaba is the object we pray towards every day, five times a day. An act of devotion and humility that is shared with the billions of Muslims, both in today’s age and in centuries gone by. How many of us have joined together in unity, worshipping God, while facing the Kaaba?

To finally to be present with the Kaaba itself was truly moving. One can’t help but feel humbled as they pour their heart out. I prayed for forgiveness and thanked God for everything in my life.

As I lowered my hands and turned around I saw friends walking away with red eyes from the tears that flowed so freely at such an occasion. Tears that flowed from feeling so near to God and so far from everything else. Tears of repentance, happiness and joy.

Prayer

The pilgrimage, Umrah, precedes with circling the Kaaba seven times, called tawwaf. This is followed by sa’ee, running between the two mountains, Safa and Marwa, seven times. These both come before the final act of men shaving their heads and women trimming their hair.

Whichever rite of umrah one is performing, the central part to the whole experience is prayer and supplication: Praising God and thanking Him for everything he has given to us; beseeching Him for His guidance and goodness; and begging of Him for protection.

حَسْبِىَ ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ ۖ وَهُوَ رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

“Allah is sufficient for me. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. In Him I put my trust. And He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.” — Quran 9:129

Pilgrimage and prayer in general is a time for us to be thankful and to reflect, a time to repent and apologise, and a time to pour one’s heart out with their hopes for the future.

Sa’ee and Tawakkul (reliance on Allah)

Nowhere is prayer better epitomised than by the Sa’ee, the running between the two mountains of Safa and Marwa.

Years ago Prophet Ibrahim’s wife, Hajar, was in the middle of the desert and in desperate need of water for her child Ismaeel. She prayed to God and ran between the two mountains of Safa and Marwa.

وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ

“And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He will suffice him “ — Qur’an 65:3

Out of desperation she had no other avenues, nowhere to turn, so she prayed to God for sustenance and then took every action she could to help her situation.

As a result of her prayer God blessed her with the well of Zamzam. A nutritious supply of water that began to flow from the ground and still flows until this day, nourishing pilgrims to Mecca.

As we repeated this rite of umrah our Ustadh advised us to follow in Hajar’s footsteps and pray for our “water in the desert”. What seems impossible in our lives but we really need? Nothing is impossible for God, we just need to believe, and ask of Him. He will give us what we need.

Tawaaf

The most iconic rite of umrah is the tawwaf, the circumambulating of the Kaaba. This act of worship is truly unique to Mecca and has been performed by Muslims for centuries. Be it the middle of the day or the middle of the night, there were constantly thousands of people doing tawwaf of the Kaaba. Come rain or sun, there will always be Muslims performing tawwaf around Allah’s sacred house.

We walked in the footsteps of countless generations of Muslims before us, performing the prayer that never sleeps.

Unity and one ummah

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

O mankind, indeed We have created you all from male and female, and made you into races and tribes so that you may know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah are the ones most mindful of Him: Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware. — Qur’an 49:13

Part of what beautifies the whole pilgrimage is seeing the multitude of different nationalities, all coming together without hierarchy or prejudice. Muslims come from across the world, from America, to West Africa to far East Asia. Young and old, the complete corpus of the human experience is represented in the pilgrimage — all praying side by side and aiming to help each other in their pilgrimage wherever possible.

وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍۢ ۚ يَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥٓ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌۭ

“The believers, both men and women, are guardians of one another. They encourage good and forbid evil, establish prayer and pay alms-tax, and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is they who will be shown Allah’s mercy. Surely Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.” — Quran 9:71

People trying to help each other and give each other food, prayers and their best regards, despite not always having a common tongue.

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم  ” لاَ تَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا وَلاَ تُؤْمِنُوا حَتَّى تَحَابُّوا . أَوَلاَ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ إِذَا فَعَلْتُمُوهُ تَحَابَبْتُمْ أَفْشُوا السَّلاَمَ بَيْنَكُمْ “

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ may peace and blessing be upon him) said: “You shall not enter Paradise until you believe and you will not believe until you love one another. Should I not direct you to something which, if you do it, it will foster love amongst you: spread the salaams (greeting of peace) between yourselves”

إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌۭ فَأَصْلِحُوا۟ بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

“The believers are but one brotherhood, so make peace between your brothers. And be mindful of Allah so you may be shown mercy.” — Quran 49:10

Regardless of age, race or status everyone comes together in Makkah. This multitude of people come together with the common purpose of prayer and worshipping God. Seeking his nearness, and tranquility, thanking Him for all he has provided and asking him for continued sustenance and gratitude.

وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءًۭ فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًۭا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

“Hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you—by His grace—became brothers. And you were at the brink of a fiery pit and He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may be ˹rightly˺ guided.” — Quran 3:103

Magnificent Masjid

Accompanying their pilgrimage to Mecca most pilgrims will stop for some time in Madinah. This beautiful city is the home to the Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) noble masjid and his final resting place on earth.

The masjid, having been recently extended in the 1980’s and 90’s now has capacity for a million people. Spacious clean and magnificent, it is a truly wonderful place to pray. Having such a majestic place to pray really brings honour to the prayer in a way that it deserves.

The prayers in the noble masajid of Makkah and Madinah are only further elevated by hearing such beautiful Qur’anic recitation several times a day from the imams of the Haram. Such beautiful recitation is delivered in a way that moves one’s heart and seeks to deliver the noble message of the Qur’an in the most beautiful way possible.

That isn’t to diminish prayer offered anywhere else – but when one is praying in such a beautiful and tranquil masjid, listening to excellent recitation, one is compelled to likewise try and beautify their prayer.

When the Prophet Muhamamd (ﷺ) first came to Madina in 622 CE it was not as comfortable a place however. The companions got sick and were wondering why they had fled the persecution in Mecca to become so sick in Madinah.

The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) then prayed to Allah, asking him to make the city a place of peace and tranquility. Allah answered the dua and blessed the city with a tranquility that lasts until today.

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم  ” اللَّهُمَّ حَبِّبْ إِلَيْنَا الْمَدِينَةَ كَحُبِّنَا مَكَّةَ أَوْ أَشَدَّ، اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا فِي صَاعِنَا، وَفِي مُدِّنَا، وَصَحِّحْهَا لَنَا وَانْقُلْ حُمَّاهَا إِلَى الْجُحْفَةِ ”.

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “O Allah! Make us love Medina as we love Mecca or even more than that. O Allah! Give blessings in our Sa and our Mudd (measures symbolizing food) and make the climate of Medina suitable for us, and divert its fever towards Aljuhfa.“ [Sahih]

Ease of Practice

Being in such a peaceful city, one’s heart feels peaceful. Removed from distractions and perversions it is easy to focus on what is important. The peacefulness of Madinah is mirrored in how natural everything feels while on Umrah and Hajj. It becomes so easy to pray five times a day, read Qur’an, remember Allah and make dhikr.

While working a full-time job and juggling other commitments we may find that praying five times a day becomes a struggle. While we know that the ideal is to pray as soon as a prayer-time comes in, we may find ourselves delaying prayer or praying after our other commitments are done.

قَالَ سَأَلْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَىُّ الْعَمَلِ أَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ قَالَ ” الصَّلاَةُ عَلَى وَقْتِهَا “

Abdullah asked the Prophet (ﷺ): “Which deed is the dearest to Allah?” He (ﷺ) replied: “To offer the prayers at their early stated fixed times.” [Sahih]

While on pilgrimage we are blessed to not have many other distractions. We are able to easily centre our day around prayer. It becomes natural to make sure that we are in the masjid for each of the five daily prayers. On top of that ensuring that one prays their sunnah prayers and reads some extra Qur’an after the prayer.

With so much time and peacefulness, one can only spend it thanking Allah for all he has given us and thanking Him for inviting us to perform this blessed pilgrimage.

وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍۢ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ

“Whatever blessings you have are from Allah.”— Quran 16:53

Universal Purpose

Performing pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah is truly an experience of a lifetime. I highly recommend everyone to try and embark on this sacred voyage. It is important to remember however that we don’t have to go to Mecca to find nearness to Allah.

Remembering Allah and pleasing Him is our universal purpose, a goal we should be journeying towards at all times, not just when we’re on pilgrimage.

There are many things we can do in our daily lives to remember Allah and to stay close to him. What are some practices from the pilgrimage that we can take away to improve our every day lives?

Lessons from Umrah

1 – Daily Obligatory Prayers

Allah tells us in a sahih hadith qudsi:

مَا تَقَرَّبَ إلَيَّ عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إلَيَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُهُ عَلَيْهِ

“My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than the (fard) religious duties I have obligated upon him.”

We can offer our five daily prayers at home or goto the local masjid to ennoble our prayers. If we make sure we have a nice prayer mat at home and a travel mat with us at work or when we travel, then while going about our daily lives we can attend to our prayers with the same nobility and diligence we give them while on pilgrimage. We can keep the prayer as a priority in our day and a chance to connect with our creator.

“قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم  ” مِفْتَاحُ الْجَنَّةِ الصَّلاَةُ

Allah’s Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ) said: “The key to Paradise is prayer (salaat)” [Tirmidhi]

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

“Indeed, those who believe, do good, establish prayer, and pay alms-tax will receive their reward from their Lord, and there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.” — Quran 2:277

2 – Fulfilling the Sunnah

When we’re praying it’s easy to rush and just finish the obligatory fard prayers, we may also want to finish the sunnah prayers as well. Often only 1-2 minutes extra after the prayer, in doing so we ensure that we’re not just fulfilling the bare minimum, rather we give the prayer its right in completeness.

In terms of drawing closer to Allah, the fard obligatory actions are like the foundations to a house. They are the backbone and the main support of our relationship with Allah. The sunnah is like the walls and the roof that completes the house and perfects our worship. Finally the voluntary extra nafil actions are akin to the decorations that complete the house, making our connection with Allah something we love and enjoy.

Which of us would feel joy and love to live in a house without a roof? Or a house without decorations and furnishings? It would be difficult and unpleasant. Likewise if we want our relationship with Allah to flourish and to be beautiful we should do more than the bare-minimum; we should take steps to ennoble and beautify our relationship through extra good actions.

3 – Supplication after salaah

Part of enriching our prayer and deepening our connection with Allah comes through the dua, invocations, we make after salaah.

We all ask Allah when we are in need of help and going through hardship. Only He can help us, so we ask of Him, from our neediness and our reliance on Him.

فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى لِمَآ أَنزَلْتَ إِلَىَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ

“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.” — Qur’an 28:24

This dua shows our complete neediness of Allah for all goodness in life, big or small.

اللهم أعني على ذكرك، وشكرك، وحسن عبادتك

“Allahumma a’inni ala dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ‘ibadatika”

“Oh Allah, help me to be in your remembrance, to be grateful to You, and to worship You in an excellent manner.”

— Taken from a dua that the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) gave to Muadh ibn Jabal [Sahih]

I love this dua as I feel that it cuts straight to our purpose in life. That on a day-to-day basis we aim to build our relationship with Allah, remembering Him, being thankful to Him for everything and aiming to be the best servants and worshippers of Allah that we can possibly be.

4 – Remembering Allah in the little things

Beyond just our prayers, we aim to build a connection with Allah throughout our daily activities. Living a life centred around worshipping our creator and sustainer.

Whenever we are blessed with some ease or something pleasant, every time something goes well, we should say thank you for everything – and say alhumdulillah (all praise and gratitude belongs to Allah).

When we look around at the word, we see all the little miracles around us and every time we’re amazed we should say subhanallah (how far is Allah from every imperfection).

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:“الحمد لله تملأ الميزان، وسبحان الله، والحمد لله تملآن ما بين السماوات والأرض”

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “‘Al-hamdulillah’ fills the scales, and ‘subhan-Allah and ‘Al-hamdulillah’ fill that which is between heaven and earth.” [Sahih]

When we’re struggling or in need, we should remember to say bismillah and ask Allah for help:

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ قَالَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي لَا يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي السَّمَاءِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ شَيْءٌ.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever says:

(Bismillahil-lazi la yadhurru ma’asmiHi syai’un fil ardhi wa la fis-sama’i wa Huwas-Sami’ul ‘Aleem) ’In the Name of Allah, with whose name nothing on earth or in heaven can cause harm, and He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing’ nothing will harm him.” [Musnad Ahmad]

With His permission we may draw close to Allah through these little adhkar, remembrances, throughout our day insha’Allah.

There are many other duas we can say throughout our day for little things; at each and every juncture. Some of my favourite are here and can be found in the amazing book “Fortress of a Muslim”.

5 – Being with our beloved Prophet (ﷺ)

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا

“Indeed, Allah showers His blessings upon the Prophet, and His angels pray for him. O  believers! Invoke Allah’s blessings upon him, and salute him with greetings of peace.” — Quran 33:56

One of the most beautiful part of umrah and pilgrimage is visiting Madinah. The noble masjid and final resting place of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). We don’t however have to be in Medina to give salaams to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). We learn from one of his hadith that he hears us wherever we may be:

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم  ” إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلاَئِكَةً سَيَّاحِينَ فِي الأَرْضِ يُبَلِّغُونِي مِنْ أُمَّتِي السَّلاَمَ “

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Allah (SWT) has angels who travel around on Earth conveying to me the Salaams of my Ummah.’” [Sahih]

Our noble Prophet who sacrificed so much to bring us this perfect message of Islam. Blessing us and enlightening our hearts and souls with divine knowledge. We should seek to know him and his noble example through studying his life and the Prophetic Biography, the seerah.

There are many introductory books, lectures and podcasts that all aim to make the seerah easy to understand:

  • Qalam podcast (23 episodes) – “The Chosen One” by Mufti Hussain Kamani – short and concise but very moving and aims to capture the emotion of the journey.
  • Qalam podcast (200 episodes) by Sheikh Abdul Nasir – Very detailed and thorough exploration of the seerah — exploring the emotions and the reality of the Seerah in depth. An amazing series.
  • Yasir Qadhi Seerah series – Another huge and detailed work of Seerah that comes highly recommended.
  • Qalam podcast – “Heartwork:The Messenger” – Beautiful and touching podcast by Ustadh Abdel Rahman Murphy. Very accessible and engaging, aimed at students and young professionals with relatable anecdotes. (Also available on Facebook + Youtube)
  • “In The Footsteps of the Prophet by Tariq Ramadan” – Engaging and concise book on the seerah aiming to capture the emotion of the journey and the key events. Very accessible for people reading the Seerah for the first time.
  • “Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings” – a detailed telling of the Seerah based on early sources from the Islamic tradition. Presented in modern English, well written and easy to read. Very detailed and informative but can be a bit hard to keep track of all the details.
  • “The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad by Tariq Ramadan” – “Really straightforward to understand and insightful at the same time. Encourages you to reflect on the different aspects of prophetic character” recommended by my good friend Dr Haroon
  • “Revelation: The Story of Muhammad by Meraj Mohiuddin” — A compilation of other texts of seerah, this book is an excellent study companion that brings a multitude of well-produced diagrams and appendices. Provides an excellent text-book and study companion when reading other texts.

Through understanding the lives, practice and sacrifices of the early Muslims too, we also come to appreciate how they understood the religion and the high status it held in their lives. We set a high bar for ourselves and think about what we want for ourselves, what we hope to achieve and how we best seek to serve Allah sincerely, as the early Muslims did.

6- Continued learning and study

In addition to learning the Seerah and increasing our love for our noble Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), we should aim to increase our overall knowledge of the deen so that we know best how to worship Allah and draw close to Him.

Reminders continue to reinforce positive messages in our lives. Often we have already heard a pertinent hadith or we have grappled with similar tests in our lives but we forget the key messages and advice when they may be helpful and comforting to us again. Regular reminders help to resurface things we may have forgotten and insha’Allah solidify them in our long-term memory.

Insha’Allah throughout our day whenever we face a test, a trial or even a blessing we remember the lesson and seek Allah appropriately. In times of blessings we aim to be thankful to Him and in times of hardship we aim to be patient and seek help from Him.

Nowadays with the internet it’s even easier than ever to access great material with organisations such as SeekersGuidance and Qalam-Institute providing so much excellent content online for free.

It’s beneficial to keep up regular reminders of what we learn insha’Allah. This can come in the form of books, articles, Islamic talks, podcasts, the Friday khutbah or even regular study circles at our local mosque & community spaces.

7 – Building Community and being with others

One of the most beautiful parts of pilgrimage is meeting people from so many walks of life. There is a beauty in the multitude of different nationalities that come together from across the globe for the shared purpose of worshipping Allah.

وَتَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ

Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression. And be mindful of Allah. Surely Allah is severe in punishment. — Quran 5:2

Allah doesn’t just enjoin us to be good to Muslims, rather He commands us to do good for others and to be good to all of mankind. There is a shared human condition that we all experience as people walking on this Earth.

Every one of us has to eat, sleep and interact with others. We all feel desires and emotions. Human emotions are some of the most powerful forces that we feel and these are a universal part of the human experience. These emotions, experiences and feelings are often manifested through a different cultural context but at its core the human experience remains the same.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

O mankind, indeed We have created you all from male and female, and made you into races and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah are the ones most mindful of Him: Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware. — Qur’an 49:13

Perhaps through interaction and striving to know one another we can elucidate something of what it means to be human. Spreading peace and joy while striving to leave the world a better place than we found it insha’Allah.

Through service to one another we aim to please Allah and ultimately serve and know Him as intimately and as best we can.

We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path and to help us to rectify our intentions. May He allow us to know Him and love Him intimately and sincerely and may Allah accept any of our good deeds, grant us success in our efforts and forgive us for all of our shortcomings.

“اللهم أعني على ذكرك، وشكرك، وحسن عبادتك”

“Allahumma a’inni ala dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ‘ibadatika”

“Oh Allah, help me to remember You, to be grateful to You, and to worship You in an excellent manner”

— Taken from a dua that the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) gave to Muadh ibn Jabal [Sahih]

Further reading:

Unity in Islam:

Ahadith with the dua for Madinah:

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