The Likeness of Ramadan and Prophet Yusuf
ibn al Jawzi

“The month of Ramadan to the other months is like Yusuf to his brothers. So, just like Yusuf was the most beloved son to Ya’qub, Ramadan is the most beloved month to Allah.

A nice point for the nation of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) to ponder over is that if Yusuf had the mercy and compassion to say {“There is no reproach for you today…”} [Yusuf; 92], Ramadan is the month of mercy, blessing, goodness, salvation from the Fire, and Forgiveness from the King that exceeds that of all the other months and what can be gained from their days and nights.

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Ten Lessons Ibn al-Mubarak Taught Us
ibn al Jawzi

‘Abdullah bin al-Mubarak was a scholar known for simultaneously combining numerous traits of virtue. In fact, his friends would sit and count all of the good things that were part of his character and personality. adh-Dhahabi related that they said: “Let’s sit and count the good traits that Ibn al-Mubarak has.” So, they ended up listing: “Knowledge, Fiqh, literature, grammar, language, zuhd, eloquence, poetry, praying at night, worship, Hajj, Jihad, bravery, instinct, strength, speaking little in what doesn’t concern him, fairness, and lack of conflict with his companions.”

Reading through his life story, one sees exactly this and cannot help but to derive brief yet heavy lessons from how this man lived:

1- No matter how bad you think you are, you can always become better.

In ‘Tartib al-Madarik’ (1/159), al-Qadi ‘Iyad mentioned that Ibn al-Mubarak was asked about the circumstances in which he began studying. He replied: “I was a youth who drank wine and loved music and singing while engaging in these filthy acts. So, I gathered some friends to one of my gardens where there were sweet apples, and we ate and drank until we passed out while drunk. At the end of the night, I woke up and picked up the stringed oud and began singing:
Isn’t it time that you had mercy on me * And we rebel against those who criticize us?

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Dispelling Anxiety
by Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi

[As things happen one after the other] If you look deeply into worldly matters you will become melancholy and will end by reflecting upon the ephemeral nature [the passing nature] of everything here below, and the fact that truth lies only in striving for the hereafter, since every ambition to which you might cling will end in tears; either the goal is snatched from you, or you have to give the attempt up before you reach it. One of these two endings is inevitable except in the search for Allâh, the Almighty and Powerful. Then the result is always joy, both immediate and eternal. The immediate joy is because you stop worrying about the things that usually worry people; this leads to an increase in the respect paid to you by friends and enemies alike. The eternal joy is the joy of Paradise.

I have tried to find one goal, which everyone would agree to be excellent and worthy of being striven after. I have found one only: to be free from anxiety. When I reflected upon it, I realized that not only do all agree in valuing it and desiring it, but I also perceived that, despite their many different passions and aspirations and preoccupations and desires, they never make the slightest gesture unless it is designed to drive anxiety far away. One man loses his way, another comes close to going wrong, finally another is successful - but he is a rare man, and success is rare, [O, all-knowing Allâh].

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Benefecial Knowledge
Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah

Abul `Aasim al-Qaasim bin Yoosuf bin Muhammad at-Tajeebee as-Sabtee al-Maghribee says:

I requested our leader, the shaykh, faqeeh, imaam, respected scholar, vanguard of the predecessors, leader of the later generations, reviver of the Deen, expresser of rare and wonderful ideas with great eloquence and literacy, the most knowledgeable person I have met in the lands of the East and West, Taqi ud-Deen Abul-`Abbaas Ahmad bin Taymiyyah (may Allaah enable us to continue benefiting from him):

- To point me towards those books which I may rely upon regarding knowledge of hadeeth, and other sciences of the sharee`ah.

[...]

Ibn Taymiyyah answered:

All praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds.

As for which books one may depend on for the different branches of knowledge, then this is a vast topic, and again, the answer to this varies according to people’s backgrounds in different lands. This is because in each land, one field of learning or way or mode of thinking may be easier than another, but the source of all good and blessings is that one seeks help from Allaah in acquiring knowledge inherited from the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, because that is what is truly fit to be named knowledge. Anything else is either not knowledge at all even though people call it so, or it is knowledge which is not beneficial, or it is beneficial knowledge, in which case it is necessarily true that there exists in the inheritance of Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, that which replaces it, being similar to it or better than it.

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Helping a dying Person to Pronounce ‘La Ilaha Illahllah’
Imam Nawawi
917. Mu`adh bin Jabal (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “He whose last words are: `La ilaha illallah’ (There is no true god except Allah) will enter Jannah.”
[Abu Dawud].

Commentary:  This Hadith says that if a man’s tongue spontaneously starts uttering the basic testification of Islam: “None has the right to be worshipped but Allah” just before his death, he will undoubtedly enter Jannah. However, it is not definite whether he will go to Jannah in the first phase or will be admitted to it in the second phase after undergoing a purification process. This depends on the Will of Allah. Yet, admission to Jannah is subjected to his thorough understanding of monotheism and its conditions, that is to say, a complete abstinence from a polytheistic conduct of life. Otherwise, Jannah is likely to be denied to many of the so-called Muslims overtly indulging in polytheism.

918. Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Exhort your dying men to recite: `La ilaha illallah’ (There is no true god except Allah).”
[Muslim].

Commentary:  This Hadith implies the Prophet’s instruction to his followers to recite the testification of Islam: La ilaha illallah (There is no true god except Allah) beside the dying people so that they may also recite it after hearing it. Yet, they should not be urged to recite it (i.e., by saying to the dying person: say it, say it) lest they refuse in embarrassment involving an affront to Faith. May Allah guard us against such a thing!