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".. admonish them & speak to them a far-reaching word." (Al-Quran) Read & reflect. Repair, then share.
Dancing on the edge of collapse
I used to struggle with two narrations we grew up hearing about the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in the year 1258. Two scenes that, for me, felt almost impossible to believe.
The first was about the final days of the Abbasid caliphate. In the court of al-Mustaʿṣim, the last Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, there was dancing, amusement, and distraction, where a performer was swaying before the ruler while the walls of Baghdad trembled under the relentless drums of the merciless Mongol army. In fact, this was the case until their arrows tore through the palace window and killed the dancer.
I used to read that and think: how? How can a city stand on the edge of annihilation, and life in the palace continues as usual? Laughter, music, sin, denial, routine, while occupation is literally knocking at the gates?
Then there was the second narration we grew up hearing: that when the Mongols entered Baghdad and sacked it, a lone Mongol woman walked into a masjid and found people huddled together. She told them, “Stay right here until I return with an axe.” She left, came back, and killed them one by one, and not a single man moved.
Both scenes baffled me. I couldn’t process it.
How does paralysis reach that level? How does fear swallow a person so completely that even self-preservation disappears?
But life has its ways of helping us understand things.
Today, entire nations are threatened openly and explicitly: “We’re busy here for now, but you’re next. Then you. Then you.” Named by region. Named by timeline. Announced publicly, shamelessly. Yet the response is denial, disunity, numbness, and business as usual.
Suddenly, those old narrations no longer feel exaggerated at all.
How true were the words of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ:
شرُّ ما في الرجلِ شُحٌّ هالِعٌ وجُبنٌ خالِعٌ
“The worst traits in a man are frantic greed and crippling cowardice.”
And how comprehensive was his prayer that we should hold onto this Ramaḍān:
اللَّهمَّ إنِّي أعوذُ بِكَ منَ البُخلِ، وأعوذُ بِكَ منَ الجُبنِ، وأعوذُ بِكَ أن أُرَدَّ إلى أرذلِ العمرِ، وأعوذُ بِكَ مِن فتنةِ الدُّنيا، وأعوذُ بِكَ مِن عذابِ القبرِ
“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from stinginess, and I seek refuge in You from cowardice. I seek refuge in You from being returned to the most decrepit stage of life. I seek refuge in You from the trials of this world, and I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave.”
The distance between us and them is measured in miles, but the pain feels immediate..
Through Waqforever, your money has already reached them!
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For nearly a hundred years, the Muslim world has been living in a grey zone — outwardly independent, but inwardly under occupation.
The positive side is that Trump will force the Muslim world out of this grey zone — either into open subjugation or toward the beginning of genuine independence.
Dr. Nayif Nahar
A Waqf for Palestine that doesn't just heal, but defends, advocates and represents!
Take a look:
https://youtu.be/0NhAhcvCWnA
🗞️ Two years ago, we began building something to outlive the headlines.
🏠 Today, 11 waqf properties are feeding, healing and advocating for Palestine every single month. This Ramadan, we’re working towards the twelfth.
⚖️ Watch to see why the next step matters more than ever.
Please join us!
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Your Last Entourage
[Episode 4]
Cars, suits, friends and employees. For a moment it looks like you brought your entire world with you to the cemetery. Then the engines start, and you’re left with what you sent ahead. In this episode, we tour the ḥadīth: “Three follow the deceased…”
https://youtu.be/PBLQ0nfi0W4?si=jaDW2Jx-xTSq93Kj
Longing at the Edge of Life
[Episode 3]
What do you feel when you hear, “You’re going to meet Allah”?
This episode continues our journey through the ḥadīth: “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him,” and explores how the righteous trained their hearts to long for that meeting.
https://youtu.be/CG8hrK4mfXo?si=Mwqw4RmFDOhVVp7T
Note the date. Looking forward to seeing you there.
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Your deeds don’t have to end when you do. Build something that keeps giving, in this life and beyond 🌱
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Your First Glimpse of Tomorrow | Episode 1 | Tomorrow As though You can See it
When does the journey to the next life begin? It starts during those final breaths, as the veils starts to thin, and the unseen begins to come into view.
https://youtu.be/WqdI7l9mK8A
Much like a long-awaited guest who still believes in you even after a year of distraction, Ramadan has returned.
It arrives to soften what has hardened, to illuminate what has dimmed, and to repair what has been slowly cracking inside. This is your month to breathe again. To sit with the Qur’an without rush. To stand before Allah without filters and comments. To begin again without any shame.
Welcome Ramadan as the Prophet PBUH would welcome it, saying:
قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ شَهْرٌ مُبَارَكٌ افْتَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ صِيَامَهُ يُفْتَحُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَنَّةِ وَيُغْلَقُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَحِيمِ وَتُغَلُّ فِيهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ فِيهِ لَيْلَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ مَنْ حُرِمَ خَيْرَهَا فَقَدْ حُرِمَ
“The month of Ramadan has come to you—a blessed month. Allah has made its fasting obligatory upon you. In it, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hellfire are closed, and the devils are chained. Within it is a night better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its goodness has truly been deprived.”
Make it, O Allah, a month of relief for our Ummah and liberation.
SubhanAllah. A land that doesn't stop giving, even under extermination.
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The sudden collapse of tyranny and corruption
When has Allah ever brought down injustice or tyranny while it was weak? His way has always been the same; to strike injustice – whether the purveyor was a Muslim or non-Muslim - at its height, when it is arrogant, defiant, seemingly untouchable, and drunk on its own power.
[30 mins]
https://youtu.be/yE9MkOChpLA
We seek refuge in You, O Allah, from the devils of humans and Jinn, guide us to their plotting, and inspire us with the clarity and strength to push back against Shaytan and his allies.
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My advice to charities and donors
The cries of the poor are an unavoidable sound in our lives today. Whether caused by natural disasters, wars, or economic systems that forever widens the gap between the rich and poor, it’s impossible to ignore. With images of poverty flooding our screens multiple times a day, charity appeals are relentless, and organisations are multiplying fast, but with that comes confusion, and even exploitation. How should we engage with this new reality?
[33 mins]
📹 https://youtu.be/IblOFB0M-js
Father, I'm sorry..
“The father is the middle gate of Paradise, so if you wish, neglect that gate or protect it.” (Prophet Muhammad PBUH)
Yet in many modern societies, this central gate to Paradise has been pushed from the heart of the home to its margins. Reduced to “helper”, treated as a “back-up,” a “nice addition,” or even an optional guest in their own children’s lives. This is how countless fathers describe their reality today.
[30 mins]
📹 https://youtu.be/iZRCBA1grxs
Duty to the Dead
[Episode 6]
The moment a soul enters Barzakh, the dunya’s courtroom closes. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Do not revile the dead…” and warned that such words only hurt the living. In an age of online funerals and instant verdicts, we revisit the Sunnah's guidance towards the dead.
https://youtu.be/zeqx6WwRuPI
Clinging to What Can't Stay
[Episode 5]
As humans, we cling to what can’t stay and we ache for what’s eternal. The good news is that some portfolios do cross dimensions. In this episode, we continue our tour of the ḥadīth: “Three follow the deceased…”
https://youtu.be/wfIZKLiFieI?si=0IIJxAGyvNUSRg1q
No matter how righteous you become, someone will still dislike you. Even the Prophets were hated by some. Likewise, no matter how corrupt a person becomes, someone will still admire them. Millions admired Epstein. Many more will admire the Dajjāl.
So don’t let people’s praise delude you, and don’t let their hatred break you. Crowds are unstable, crowning you in the morning and crucifying you in the evening.
Your only priority this Ramadan is to repair what is between you and Allah. Hold onto the plea of the Prophet ﷺ from the Day of Ṭā’if:
إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ بِكَ غَضَبٌ عَلَيَّ فَلَا أُبَالِي
“If You are not angry with me, then I do not care.”
Those closest to Yusuf said, “Kill Yusuf — or throw him somewhere far away.” (Qur’an 12:9)
But the stranger said: “Treat him with honour, and make his stay generous.” (Qur’an 12:21)
In your darkest hour, He can support you from where you least expect. Allah’s mercy is always there, but not always in the form you imagined.
Notice it, then thank Him for it.
Not all Muslims celebrated Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn
When Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn rose to power, did you know that not all parts of the Muslim world celebrated him? In fact, some fought him.
Today, we all implore Allah for “another Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn.” Yet, seeing how committed to fault-finding some of us are, magnifying mistakes, downplaying the necessity of unity, policing and condemning every effort of Muslims to guide others or fight against injustice, I’m certain that this saviour would not be welcomed today, condemned by some and even fought by others.
In every delay in our Du'aa, Allah is Most Wise.
A Rehearsal for Tomorrow | Episode 2 | Tomorrow As though You can See it
Your ending isn’t random. It’s being shaped right now by your everyday choices. This episode unpacks the Prophet’s ﷺ words, “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him,” showing how Allah responds to your love, remembrance, and repentance with even greater mercy. It’s a rule of divine reciprocity, where the heart leans first, actions testify, and then Allah responds in greater ways.
https://youtu.be/6TVmPzZyB3Y
Today brings together:
The honour of two times:
Friday and Ramaḍān.
The honour of two words:
sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ and the Qur’an.
And the honour of two Du'aa:
at the time of breaking fast and during the last hour of Jumuʿah.
Invest heavily!
The Elites of Our Ummah
The Ummah today is desperate for men and women raised for the great moments of life, for the hour when truth is costly. Men and women of refined character and disciplined souls, who guard unity the way a mother guards her child, and who despise division the way they despise a cruel enemy at the gate. They understand that anger for the sake of Allah is not a license for cruelty, not permission for injustice, and never a justification to violate the honour of a Muslim in the name of “setting things right.”
They are people of high aspiration and long horizons. Patient when hardship sinks its claws, distant from temptation when others crumble, organised when chaos descends. Their minds are balanced, their hearts are tender, their opinions are wise, their presence is calming, their faces are reassuring, and their mistakes are few. When Allah is mentioned, they visibly tremble. When His verses are recited, their Iman soars, and when corrected, they smile in genuine gratitude. Their eyes are quick to shed a tear, and their hearts carry a grief for their Ummah, an ache that keeps them awake, and a softness that keeps them human.
They endure a short day for the sake of a long tomorrow. They are not crushed by what they miss of this world, and not intoxicated by what they gain from it. They breathe with the patience of people who know the road is long, and they speak with the wisdom that long roads teach.
You won’t truly recognise them when the air is calm and people agree. You recognise them when the air burns, when people clash, when pressure rises, when voices sharpen, when it becomes easy to be unfair and tempting to be harsh. In such moments, they remain just, restrained, prophetic. They are the front lines of our Ummah’s causes, because they are its elites, its conscience, its mind, its caring parent, its protective shade, and its watchful eye. They defend it when it’s attacked, they heal it when it is injured, they veil it when it is exposed, and hold the compass towards the Hereafter when everyone loses direction.
Every age has needed such people.
But today, the need is urgent.
They are the people of Allah, the people of the Qur’an, and the people of life-defining stances.
While I was on my way home, an elderly woman in her seventies stopped the car I was riding in. It was clear on her face that she was exhausted and unwell. She told the driver, “Take me to Tel al-Hawa, I just don’t have any money.”
The driver replied, “Get in, my aunt. Your provision is from the provision of my children.”
I felt a tightness in my chest and reached to pay her fare out of compassion for the poor driver. But a man sitting in the back seat beat me to it. He insisted on giving the driver the fare. The driver refused firmly. Despite that, the man placed the money on the seat and got out of the car with me near my home.
I asked him, “Are you our neighbour?”
He said, “No.”
“I’m from Nuseirat,” he said. “I only got out so the driver wouldn’t return the money.”
Here is post genocide #Gaza, still giving lessons to the world.
/channel/SarimBlog
Da'wah events and Salāh
Ibn ʿAbbās set out on one of the most serious missions of his life, entering the camp of the Khawārij to debate them and pull people back from extremism. This was a major public responsibility, with real consequences for the Ummah. Yet even at that moment, ṣalāh in congregation was non-negotiable for him. He said to the Caliph, ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib:
يا أمير المؤمنين، أبرد بالصلاة فلا تفتني حتى آتي القوم
“O Commander of the Believers, I don’t want to miss the prayer (in congregation). Let the prayer be delayed slightly, until I return.” (Al-Nasa’i)
It is heart-breaking to see how prayer in many modern daʿwah settings is squeezed in awkwardly. People scattered in corners and corridors, praying alone in their hotel rooms, rushing between talks, no space for sunnah, no sense of gravity. It’s as if Ṣalāh hasn’t been factored into the programme or travel arrangements of speakers, becoming an interruption to the programme rather than the axis around which the programme turns. The tragedy is that it is not even about beginners, but – at times - scholars, students of knowledge, representatives of Islam and workers of religion who are meant to model priorities.
If Ibn ʿAbbās would not compromise congregational prayer while walking into a confrontation with the Khawārij, then surely this must reflect on our conferences, retreats and public events. Being busy, being a traveller, or running a “high-impact event” does not justify sidelining the most basic assumption of Islam; the glorification of Allah through Ṣalāh.
A centred and visible Ṣalāh.
[Sh Haitham]
Epstein’s exposure of Godlessness
The people who appear in the photos, in addition to Epstein, are:
1. Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, a leading atheist whose life mission is to convince people that life has no purpose, that there is no God, and no Hereafter.
2. Lawrence Krauss, author of A Universe from Nothing, who was dismissed from Arizona State University after being accused of harassment.
3. Steven Pinker, who has interviews in which he openly promotes atheism, such as “Proud Atheists.”
4. And finally, Stephen Hawking, author of The Grand Design, in which he denies that the universe needs a Creator, and who is now accused—after his death—of having attended vile group orgies and having indecent photos circulating of him.
Regardless of the exact extent of each one’s involvement in the Epstein file, the point here is that “birds of a feather flock together.”
Denying the existence of Allah and the Home of the Hereafter leads inevitably to the conclusion that there is no basis and no justification for morality at all. The moral impulse then becomes nothing but an absurd feeling produced by random changes and blind selection. Consequently, there is no right and wrong, no good and evil, no ḥalāl and no ḥarām.
This is precisely the moral slide that the Qur’an describes: first the loss of dīn, then—always—the surrender to desire. Allah says:
فَخَلَفَ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَاتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوَاتِ
“Then there came after them successors who neglected prayer and followed desires...” (Al-Qur’an 19:59)
When Allah is abandoned and—in the cases above—argued against, the natural vacuum is filled by unrestrained shahawāt (desire).
But what pains me most is the thought that there was a time when these very figures—the so-called “new atheists”—held real sway over some Muslim minds and were treated as intellectual authorities who threatened the Islamic identity and certainty of some. These same faces were being pushed to some of our youth as brave thinkers and liberators of the mind. Remember?
The very people who now stand tied, directly or indirectly, to these kinds of scandals are the same ones who were once platformed to interrogate our Islamic morality—to question our sense of ḥayā’ (healthy shame), our boundaries around sexuality, our family structure, our ḥalāl and ḥarām, our Prophet’s marriages (PBUH)—as if they were ever on some higher moral ground.
What is even more tragic is that it took scandals, leaks or ugly headlines of this nature to expose what should have been clear from their worldview alone: that a philosophy built on the denial of God and mockery of revelation and prophets can never offer a coherent alternative for dignity, restraint, or morality.
In the end, this isn’t about gloating in any way. It’s about two things:
The first: recognising the pattern that when you cut the cord that ties you to your Lord, you don’t hover in neutral, but drift towards arrogance and unrestrained desire.
The second: recognising the enormity of what it means to be a Muslim.
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ
“All praise is for Allah, who guided us to this; and we would never have been guided had Allah not guided us..” (Al-Qur’an 7:43)
Epstein, Shayṭān and Gaza
For so long, we have spoken about Shayṭān (Satan) as theory, as though he’s a metaphor, like a poetic label for “bad vibes,” without treating him as a real operating force in practice. Of course, we believe in his existence but fail to see how much of what we complain about—governments, media, lobby groups, or their likes—are but tools in Shayṭān’s hands, and allies of the Dajjāl’s greater cause.
Yet, the Qur’an offers a completely different framing, telling us that Iblīs (the chief Shayṭān) is a distinct creature with a name, nickname, children, a physical form, strategy, memory, human and Jinnī allies, troops, traps, banners, and a long war to ruin mankind. It tells us that his role isn’t confined to whispers in prayer or nagging thoughts, but has key influence on governments, societies, economics, politics, military affairs, cultures, and trends.
Read how Allah says: أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا
“Do you not see that We send the devils upon the disbelievers, inciting them with constant incitement?” (Al-Qur’an 19:83)
And Iblīs himself declared his project: لَأَحْتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُ
“I will surely seize control of his descendants…” (Al-Qur’an 17:62)
The point is not to obsess over him, but to stop underestimating him and to actively notice his marks on the world around us. Some of the ugliest features of modern life must be read as the fingerprints of this ancient enemy: the organised destruction of family, systematic breakdown of religion, the normalizing of pornography, the altering of God’s creation, the centralizing of entertainment and distraction, and trapping people in cycles of desire and despair.
The Sīrah mentions how Shayṭān was physically present in Quraysh’s meeting as they discussed what to do with the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He actively participated in the discussion in human form, offering suggestions that raised the ceiling of brutality beyond what disbelievers and idolaters might have imagined on their own. So yes, in person, Shayṭān is present amid lobby groups, private parties, secret meetings, forums, and fundraisers. When someone describes today as “the civilization of the devil”, they’re not being dramatic at all.
The newly released “Epstein files” are nothing but one manifestation of this Shayṭān–Dajjāl–human alliance. Not in the childish sense of blaming the devil to excuse criminals, no, Islam never lets a sinner outsource responsibility. But in the Qur’anic sense, yes: it bears all the fingerprints of Shayṭān himself; the weaponization of lust, the promotion of perversion, the monetization of bodies, the normalization of the abnormal, the politics of blackmail and domination—and then laughs as people argue about “freedom” and “liberty” while quietly tightening his chains around them.
The men and women of Gaza are standing against this Satanic alliance and continue to demonstrate their willingness to pay the price for doing so today, for Paradise tomorrow. Their struggle against the invader’s killing machine does not cancel out the unseen demonic dimension of their plight. In fact, its signs are written all over it and, with every scandal, every file released, are clearer today than ever before.
With the above said, this is precisely why the scholars of Islam never wrote about Shayṭān as a character outside history, but as a living metaphysical creature, present from the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep. In fact, even in your sleep, he stalks, utilizing every possible moment of vulnerability to harm you.
Since his war is staged and intelligent, our response, as Muslims, must match that energy. This begins by learning his entrances, because when you can name the tactic, you can break it, and when you do that, you can confidently recite:
إِنَّ كَيْدَ الشَّيْطَانِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا
“Indeed, the plotting of Shayṭān is ever weak.” (Al-Qur’an 4:76)
"Trump’s worst un-American impulses and intellectual laziness were contained in his first term in the White House by a group of serious advisers. This time around, there is no one to contain them. He has surrounded himself with sycophants. So, Trump is now basically running our country the way he ran his companies — as a one-man show free to make terrible deals.
That management style led to six bankruptcy filings by his companies. Unfortunately, today we’re all his shareholders, and I fear he is going to bankrupt us as a nation — morally for sure, if not one day financially and politically."
Thomas Friedman
https://archive.vn/kWyK2#selection-721.0-741.181
Painful. Scathing.
Necessary. Healing.
https://www.islam21c.com/opinion/on-the-harms-of-muslim-influencers/