Live Class 1 Discussions

Please share your gems from the first live class here. 

I am serious... You guys had such blank faces in the class that I have no idea if it the 5 hours were of any benefit. If you didn't like the class, please tell me what you didn't like so that I can improve next time. I really work on feedback guys! 

AM.

Dream of Imam Ahmad: Quran is the Speech of Allah and is not Created

The strength of his faith in Allah and the steadfastness on his understanding of the Deen were tested when under Khalifah al-Mu’tasim, a Fitnah or a kind of ‘inquisition court’ was created to deal with people among whom were many acknowledged scholars who would not profess the doctrine of “the creation of the Qur’an”. Imam ibn Hanbal too, suffered as a result when he was arrested and brought in chains before the court. But he patiently submitted to corporal punishment and imprisonment and resolutely refused to deviate from his beliefs. His trial, and the Ummah’s for that matter, were to come to an end on the hands of the Khalifah al-Mutawakkil who did not believe in the doctrine of ‘the creation of the Qur’an’. From then onwards the Imam was accorded honour befitting his greatness. His steadfastness helped preserve the correct Islamic belief regarding the Book of Allah. His fame spread far and wide. His learning, piety and unswerving faithfulness to traditions gathered the Ummah and its scholars around his understanding and teachings. He died in Baghdad in the year 855 CE (241 AH).
 
Sulaymaan said, ‘He was then carried to the prison and the people departed, so I departed with them. Then when the next day arrived the people came (to the door of al-Mu’tasim) so I came with them and stood in front of the chair. Then al-Mu’tasim appeared and sat on the chair and said, ‘Bring Ahmad ibn Hanbal.’ So he was brought and when he stood in front of him al-Mu’tasim said to him,
 
‘How were you in your cell during the night, 0 son of Hanbal?’ He said, “In goodness, and all praises are due to Allaah.” Al-Mu‘tasim said, ‘0 Ahmad, I saw a dream yesterday.’ He said, “And what did you see, 0 Ameerul-Mu’mineen?” He said, ‘I saw in my dream as if there were two lions approaching me and they desired to tear me apart. And then two angels appeared and repelled them from me. They gave me a hook and said to me, ‘This written (piece) is the dream that Ahmad ibn Hanbal saw in his cell.’ So what is it that you saw, 0 son of Hanbal?’
 
So Ahmad faced al-Mu’tasim and said, “0 Ameerul-Mu’mineen, is the book with you?” He said, ‘Yes, and when I awoke, I read what was in it.
 
So Ahmad said to him, “0 Ameerul-Mu’mineen, I saw as if the Day of Judgement had been established, and as if Allaah had gathered the first and the last (of people) in a single plain and He was calling them to account. Whilst I was standing, I was called for, so I proceeded until I stood in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and He said to me, ‘0 Ahmad, for what were you beaten?’ I said, “On account of the Qur’aan.” He said, “And what is the Qur’aan?” I said, “Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You.” He said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ I said, “0 Lord, ‘Abdur-Razzaaq narrated to me.”
 
So ‘AbdurRazzaaq was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 ‘Abdur-Razzaaq?’ He said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, ‘Ma’mar narrated to me.’
 
So Ma’mar was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 Ma’mar?’ He said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, ‘Az– Zuhree narrated to me.’
 
So az-Zuhree was called for and he was Brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 Zuhree?’ He said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You,’ So Allaah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, “Urwah narrated to me.’
 
So ‘Urwah was brought, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan?’ He said, ‘Your Words, 0 AIIaah, belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘0 ‘Urwah, from where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, “Aa’ishah [r], the daughter of Aboo Bakr as-Siddeeq[r], narrated to me.’
 
So ‘Aa’ishah[r] was called for and she was brought, until she was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to her, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 ‘Aa’ishah[r]?’ She said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ She said, ‘Your Prophet Muhammad [s] narrated to me.’
 
He said, ‘So Muhammad [s] was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 Muhammad[s]?’ He said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ So the Prophet [s] said, ‘Jibreel narrated to me.’
 
So Jibreel was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 Jibreel?’ He said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ He said, ‘Such did Israafeel narrate to me.’
 
So Israafeel was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and Allaah, the Sublime, said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’aan, 0 Israafeel?’ He said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You,’ so Allaah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ He said, ‘I saw that in the Lawhul-Mahfooz (the Preserved Tablet).’
 
So the Preserved Tablet was brought and stood in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said, ‘0 Lawh, what do you say about the Qur’aan?’ And it said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You.’ Then Allaah, the Exalted said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ And the Lawh said, ‘Such did the Qalam (the Pen) inscribe upon me.’
 
Then the Pen was brought until it stood in front of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, so Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, said to it, ‘0 Qalam, what do you say about the Qur’aan?’ The Qalam said, ‘Your words, 0 Allaah, belonging to You.’ So Allaah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ The Qalam said — ‘You dictated and I wrote.’
 
Then Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, said, ‘The Qalam has spoken the truth. The Lawh has spoken the truth. Israafeel has spoken the truth. Jibreel has spoken the truth. Muhammad[s] has spoken the truth. ‘Aa’ishah [r] has spoken the truth. ‘Urwah has spoken the truth. Az-Zuhree has spoken the truth. Ma’mar has spoken the truth. ‘Abdur-Razzaaq has spoken the truth. Ahmad ibn Hanbal has spoken the truth. The Qur’aan is My Speech, it is not created.’
 
Sulaymaan as-Sijzee said, ‘Al-Mu’tasim leapt upon hearing that and said, ‘You have spoken the truth, 0 son of Hanbal.’ Then al- Mu’tasim repented, ordered the necks of Bishr al-Mareesee and Ibn Abee Duwaad to be beaten and revered Ahmad ibn Hanbal and bestowed upon him, but (Ahmad) refrained from that. He was then ordered to be taken to his house and was taken.’
 
~ Taken from Usool as-Sunnah by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal

Slides and Notes from today's class: 

https://www.box.com/s/abbcd5zw9vol7fv4aonr

Assalamu alaikum wrwb

The entire lecture was pretty good. Here's some of the things i took away, along with my personal reflections:
1- Our souls are more dangerous than iblees himself, for it was his nafs that caused him to disobey Allah. We are more in need of saving ourselves from what is within us, then from shaytan or other external factors that we like to blame- peer pressure, environment, upbringing etc. 
2- Story of Imam Sahfi'ee complaining to Waqee' about his memory, and him saying "ilm is a noor from Allah and this light is not bestowed on those who commit sins". In this is a great lesson for anyone who is struggling to attain knowledge or trying to memorize portions of the Qur'an. We need to purge ourselves from within- from bad characteristics and useless knowledge- in order to acquire and benefit fully from the knowledge of this deen.
3- "What you learn is not as important as how you learn it" - subhan Allah! The more effort we put in attainting knowledge and the more we ask for Allah's help in attaining beneficial knowledge, the more we will be able to learn. 


My only feedback on the class itself would be: time management- start on time, end on time in sha Allah (i'm personally always irritated by events not starting on time. I did not mind staying over the given time, but I can see how that would be a problem for someone with prior commitments)

I absolutely loved the beginning! The definition of the Quran was very interesting and something completely new to me. The review on the three types of souls was also very beneficial and allowed me to evaluate myself. 

I completely dozed off when we started to discuss accidents and how people deviated. Although it was very interesting, I lost focus because sadly (and please don't kill me) it doesn't interest me and it is so complicated. 

Looking forward to the assignment though. Good way to really test my relationship with the Quran. 

Thank you for a good class and your time.

Jazakumullahu Khairan for the honest feedback. 

Inshallah, in the next two classes, I will try my best to stick to the time. I agree it was really not right on my part to keep you for extra two hours! I ave very bad estimate of how much time I need to cover a subject, but Inshallah I will start and end on time. 

Regarding Aqeedah, I had to go into it for two reasons: 1. It is part of the definition. 2. Sh. Yasir Qadhi dedicated 50 pages to just that discussion. He also at several other places (specially when discussing Muhkam and Mutashabih verses) went into that discussion in detail. Therefore, I found it necessary to talk about the subject. However, I agree I went into too much detail and a tangent of rant! I apologize for that. 

People seem to be liking the introduction more than the content!!! Alhamdullilah! 

Others, please comment.

Assalamualaikum wrwbr

Although the lecture session was long, it was very educational and interesting. Alhamdulillah those extra hours only earned us reward and more knowledge about the Quran which is the purpose of this class. Personally, every bit of what we learned was all new for me, so Alhamdulillah in just a couple of hours ive learned so much, yet there's still a lot more to learn inshaAllah! I loved every bit of what i learned and reflected on the following:

1. Learning the difference between Ruh and Nafs and that there are 3 different types of Nafs.

Nafs-el-Ammarah- sort of reminded me of the influence of media these days and how it controls people into making them commit a sinful act slowly and slowly until one is lost into the sin whether it be music, drugs, physical desires and makes them believe that the sin is normal....i know this isn't the best example...but that's what it kind of reminded me of

Nafs-ul-awwam- this i feel like at least half the muslims are at this stage..we sin then we feel bad, repent, then do it again and it keeps going in circles. But ofcourse we must try to improve by putting in effort, the will and trust in Allah that taking each step closer to the things that please Him will in the end only benefit us in the dunya and the akhira insha'Allah.

and finally Nafs-ul- Mutmaa'in- this should be every muslim's goal..

2. when we learned the "Benefits of reciting Quran" and when you had mentioned that without the Quran the heart is dead...personally, on the days when i read the Quran, it makes a huge difference to my attitude and personality throughout the entire day. Also i wanted to add, on the days when im upset and have a million questions in my head i feel like when i turn to and open the Quran and the ayahs that i read in a way answer my questions and encourages me to stay strong without negative feelings and thoughts.

3. I found all the stories and examples of the times of our Prophet(saw) very interesting The one that i couldn't get out of my head was the story of Amr Ibn Salima and his passion to learn and memorize the Quran. Just imagining a 6 or 7 year old leading the salah makes your heart melt. We must encourage and teach our children or younger siblings so they as well could be passionate about learning the Quran like Amir Ibn Salimah. However this is not the case today, most parents often worry only about the wordly benefits for the child with the excuse that they are "too young". Many parents also find it a lot more important to wake up the child for school, but not for fajr, remind them for homework but not salah. I feel like we have to work extra hard on keeping our children on the straight path especially with the increasing level of fitnah everywhere. The future generations to come will only learn what we pass on to our children.

Looking forward to attending next class inshaAllah!

Also, please correct me if i said something wrong. jazakallah khayr.

Surah Fatiha in 10 different qirat: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jqtj5OFUuZE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Djqtj5OFUuZE