Assalamu Alaikum,
 
Pray this message finds you all in the best of health and Iman.
 
 On the authority of Ibn Mas'ud, the Prophet (saw) said:

 "There was not a single Prophet among those who were sent before me who did not have apostles and companions and followed his sunnah and obeyed his commands. But afterwards, other generations came whose words belied their deeds, and whose deeds were not in accordance with what they commanded others to do. Whoever struggles against them with his hand is a believer. Whoever struggles against them with his tongue is a believer. And whoever struggles against them with his heart is a believer. But when none of these things are done, then not a single mustard's seed weight of faith is present."

 Why? Because they said enough is enough and decided to struggle against the evil of Gaddafi with their hands.
 
Whenever something like this happens anywhere in the world, I try to imagine my own family being in the shoes of the brothers and sisters suffering from whatever disasters occur at the time! If you were to do that, you would see a sight you wouldn't be able to get over! Then, think of the verse in which Allah (swt) says:

"Surely the believers are brothers (in faith)"

"You would realise that the sight of these Libyans being oppressed should ache just as much as the sight of our own blood relatives suffering. This is because the bond between those Libyans and us is much stronger than the bond that brings us closer to our own families. It is so much stronger that loving your own sibling for being your sibling is a good deed, which Allah (swt) rewards for on the Day of Judgement. But loving someone who has no blood relation to you whatsoever, purely for the sake of Allah, grants you protection from the Sun on the Day of Judgement when there is no shade but the shade of Allah to protect you from the Sun. The Sun would be so hot that people would drown in their own sweat - if anything, this stresses the importance of that bond that brings us together with our fellow believing brothers and sisters in Libya whom we see suffering from a ruthless leader who is willing to do anything within his power to keep his position. 

What can WE do?

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1. Make Istighfar and get closer to Allah ourselves - this would make our Dua' more and more effective.
2. Speak to our families and ask them to do the same.
3. Make Dua' for our brothers and sisters in Libya.
4. Do something beneficial for our brothers and sisters in Libya:

• Organise a Jum'ah collection for Friday 4th March to raise money for Libya.
• Organise Cake Sales at your local Masaajid and fund raising events with your local, as well as student community.
• Organising Qiyam-ul-layl for your ISoc and make lots of Dua'.
• Reciting Qunoot in each of the Fardh prayers you pray.
• Praying Salat-ul-gha'ib - The vast majority of Scholars today and classical Scholars agree that the Janaza could be prayed over the death of a brother/sister even if you were in a different country. Our brothers and sisters in Libya who have been killed whilst protecting their honour have the right upon us to pray for them and to ask for their entry into paradise and for us to ask Allah (swt) to accept them as martyrs inshaAllah.

Islamic Relief in Libya

A convoy of medical supplies and baby milk worth $45,000 is on route to the eastern city of Benghazi. Additionally 25 doctors from Egypt have joined the convoy and will assist in hospitals in liaison with the Libyan Medical Syndicate. Preparations are being made on the Tunisian border in anticipation of a large influx of refugees to Tunisia.

Donate NOW! 

The Libyan people need our help. Please donate whatever you can to support them. They are currently completely isolated. No amount is too small- £5or£10will go a long way to help those in need. You can DONATE and follow theIslamic Relief Blog here.  
 

Etiquettes of Dua'

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1. To start off by praising Allah the Almighty using His names as well as His attributes, which are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an and the Hadiths of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw).

2. To mention Allah's promises in the Holy Qur'an that He would accept the Dua's of believers. Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur'an, which (the meaning of) translates to the following -"And if my slaves were to ask you about me, then tell them that I am near, and that I answer the supplication of those who supplicate, if they supplicate to me. So let them answer to me and believe in me so that they may be successful". Thus, an example of something you may say is: 

"Oh Allah, You have commanded us to supplicate to You, and have promised us to answer our supplications"

3. BEG! The Messenger of Allah (saw) was once reported to have said that Allah (swt) loves the slave that INSISTS when making supplication. He was also reported to have said that Allah (swt) loves hearing the voice of his slave when he supplicates, and that (sometimes) when the angels tell Him "Oh Allah, this person is asking you for so and so", He would tell them "Grant him that, but delay it a bit, as I like to hear his voice".
 
Some may wonder why Allah (swt) delays the acceptance of the Dua' – the answer is simple. Dua' is a form of worship and has been described as "the CORE of worship" and by delaying the acceptance, Allah is granting you more and more reward for giving you the chance to make more and more of that supplication.
 
4. Finally, for Dua's to be accepted, we need to act upon our Dua's. Therefore, we need to match our Dua's for our brothers and sisters in Libya with ACTION!
 
Allah (swt) in the Holy Qur'an says that which (the meaning of it) translates to "And tell them to do that which is within their abilities to do. I will work with them and they will see (the results)". So our responsibility here is to do whatever we can and have the ability to do. Once we have done that, our Du’as are now being complemented with our actions. More importantly, we would then know that Allah is involved in our affairs, and His involvement can only lead to one outcome, success – there would be NO other options on the table to be quite frank!
 
So the question to you is - How difficult is it really to make a positive change?
 
Answer: Not difficult at all, if we follow the simple steps, we can change the world to the better. We just have to start!