January 28, 2025 · Seerah
The background and significance of the Isra and Mi'raj
The event of the Mi'raj of the Prophet ﷺ is a great miracle in human history. In a single night, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was taken from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem, and from there through the heavens into the presence of his Lord.
سُبْحَٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا
"Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa." (17:1)
The Year of Sorrow
The journey came after the hardest period of the Prophet's life in Makkah. His beloved wife Khadijah and his protective uncle Abu Talib had both passed away, and the people of Ta'if had rejected him with stones. The Isra and Mi'raj was a gift of comfort and honour from Allah after that grief: a reminder that when the earth closes its doors, the heavens open theirs.
What happened that night
The Prophet ﷺ led all the previous prophets in prayer at al-Aqsa, ascended through the seven heavens meeting Adam, 'Isa, Yahya, Yusuf, Idris, Harun, Musa and Ibrahim (peace be upon them all), saw the Lote Tree of the utmost boundary, and was given the gift of the five daily prayers, originally fifty, reduced by the mercy of Allah while retaining the reward of fifty.
Lessons for today
The salah is the believer's own daily mi'raj, a direct meeting with Allah. Al-Aqsa is bound to the heart of every Muslim by this journey. And the response of Abu Bakr, who believed without hesitation and earned the title as-Siddiq, teaches us that faith in what Allah's Messenger says is the foundation of everything.
May 18, 2023 · Akhlaq
Charity: every act of kindness is sadaqah
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: كُلُّ مَعْرُوفٍ صَدَقَةٌ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Every good deed is charity." (Bukhari)
When we hear the word charity we think of money. Yet the Prophet ﷺ widened the meaning so far that no believer is ever too poor to give. A smile in your brother's face is charity. Removing a harmful thing from the road is charity. Guiding someone who has lost their way is charity. Even a kind word is charity.
Why the definition matters
Islam wants the habit of giving to live in the heart, not only in the wallet. When a child learns that helping a sibling with homework is sadaqah, or that sharing a du'a is sadaqah, the whole day becomes an opportunity for reward. This is the spirit we try to build in our students alongside their recitation.
Three charities that cost nothing
Teach someone a verse you have learned. Visit or call someone who is sick. Make sincere du'a for a person who does not know you are doing so. Each one is written in your record as sadaqah, and the best of them continue after you.
May 17, 2023 · Seerah
The childhood of Muhammad ﷺ
The Prophet ﷺ was born in Makkah in the Year of the Elephant. His father 'Abdullah had passed away before his birth, and following the custom of the Quraysh nobility he was sent to the desert to be nursed by Halimah as-Sa'diyyah among the Banu Sa'd, where he learned pure Arabic and the open honesty of desert life.
A shepherd among the tribe
As a young boy he tended the sheep and goats of his foster family. Years later he would say that every prophet had been a shepherd, for it teaches patience, watchfulness and gentleness with the weak: the very qualities he would need to lead a community.
Loss and protection
At six he lost his mother Aminah, and at eight his grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib. His uncle Abu Talib then took him in and loved him as his own son, taking him on trade journeys to Syria where the monk Bahira recognised the signs of prophethood upon him.
Al-Amin
Long before revelation, Makkah knew him as al-Amin, the trustworthy. His childhood of loss, simplicity and honesty prepared a heart that would one day carry the final message to all of mankind. Our Seerah course walks children through these stories so they grow up loving the man ﷺ they are asked to follow.
