Fiqh of Love

assalamu alaikum :)
bismillah.

"Of Love--may God exalt you!--the first part is jesting, and the last part is right earnestness. So majestic are its diverse aspects, they are too subtle to be described; their reality can only be apprehended by personal experience. Love is neither disapproved by Religion, nor prohibited by the Law; for every heart is in God's hands."
- Ibn Hazm

as some of you might know, this past month i attended a class entitled "Fiqh of Love," which was offered by the AlMaghrib Institute. sheik yasir birjas, the instructor for this particiular class, graduated as class valedictorian with highest honors from Madinah University's College of Shariah (Fiqh and Usul) in 1996. suffice it to say, this guy knew his stuff.
the focus of the class encompassed everything related to love in islam: the Sunnah of RasoolAllah saw (treatment of his wives RA); the rulings of love from an islamic perspective; love stories from the Prophet SAW's companions RA; the marriage contract; the wedding night, etc.

the topic of love, which sadly is almost always equated with "sex" here in the west, holds a place of its own in islam. scholars of past have dissected this natural desire or passion called "love" for centuries, but due to cultural beliefs and restrictions, its almost become a taboo for us to discuss "love." due to our own ignorance when it comes to understanding our religion, many of us percieve love as something diabolical, or something "haraam." if you take love, and see it from the islamic perspective, you will know that there is nothing further from the truth than this. in fact there are countless ahadith detailing the love of RasoolAllah saw for his wive's, especially Khadija RA and Aisha RA. these ahadith tell us of his life as a family man, how he would help with the housework: Aisha RA narrated that RasoolAllah SAW would often times sweep the floor, stitch his own shoes, and do whatever else was needed to be done around the house." we arent talking about an ordinary man, rather one who was on the receiving end of divine revelation! the messenger of Allah Ta'ala would do these things!

i could go on and on, and inshallah ill post some more later, but for now id like to share some memorable quotes from sheikh yasir birjas:
sheik: okay, and now on to chapter five: the wedding night and intimacy. i know some of you have been looking forward to this chapter the whole weekend.

sheik: okay guys, so you get the nikkah done, come home from the wedding reception, all the guests have left, and now youre all alone and you dont know what youre gonna be doing...

sheik: ...you know, change it up a little...take it to the garage or some place...

sheik: oh my, i feel so sorry for those of you who arent married. please do dhua that you soon get to experience this...

you know the old phrase "there is no such thing as a stupid question." well, untill last week i was a believer, but then that whole notion was suddenly dismissed when...
question: so if i dont have a wali nearby, and i live on campus, can the local MSA president be my wali?
sheik: ...

and id like to close with reference to an earlier blog post of mine:

May Allah grant glory and eternal salvation to those who know how to stroke a soft cheek in an accomplished manner, to give just accolade to a slender waist, and to enter the sweetest farj with a befitting skill!
~Imam al-Suyuti

and when they came to him and begged "ya faqih! ya faqih of love, share with us what you know, so that we may know what you know, and know not to do that which is disliked when it comes to love! apportion your knowledge, share it with us! educate us so that we may learn to love like you."

and Allah Almighty knows best.

ma'salama
sheik speare, faqih of love.

thurzday, furburrry 17, 2005.

assalamu alaikum :) (my mom cant say feb-u-wary)

bismillah.

ring ring ring. "please, let this be a dream." but no, this was reality. my old brick sized SIM-less cell phone, which now doubled as my alarm clock, sat there ringing nonstop. damn that annoying bell. i heeded its call to awaken but it paid no attention to my desire to have five more minutes of sleep! i had to put an end to it. eyes still half shut, i somehow managed to overcome my lethargic state and pull my arm out from underneath my blanket, which by the way felt like 7565 lbs. with it outstretched, the quest to locate that phone had begun. wherever my arm would reach i patted, for the limits were not endless (obviously, seeing that my arm couldnt extend over a certain distance due to the length of my bones): i inspected the crevice between the headboard and mattress; i dove deep in and explored the pile of clothes sitting on my bed (i didnt find my the phone but i did manage to find the remote control teeheee); i...i... knocked over my glass of water. all this hard work however was done in vain. where could it be? where was that damn sound coming from?!?!?!? i tried to tune it out for a second but i just couldnt overcome it! there i lay, lost in absolute darkness with my face resting in a pool of my own saliva. i felt pathetic, but what choice did i have? i was too tired to do anything. finally, the phone shut up. the misery, pain, and anguish had ended. i soon forgot about my expericence and managed to doze off. that period of sleep though was short-lived, seeing how my mother barged in yelling at me to wake up. "five more minutes" i cried out. she threatened to slap so i jumped up. lo and behold, there was the phone. it was under me the whole time. i wanted to throw it across the room, but good thing i didnt because by the colossal size of that antique, it would have gone straight threw the wall and hit my mother in the head. and you do not want to hit my mother in the head with an old cell phone. especially at 6 am. because she WILL chase you with a shoe in one hand, and chai cup in the other.

so i got up, prayed fajr, decided not to go to my 8 am islam class, then went back to sleep. a couple hours later i woke up to the playful laughter of my nephews hiding in my closet. music to my ears. they often come into my room in the morning and just goof around. im so lucky, alhamdulillah.

the rest of my day was just like any other typical day, except for the sensation which occurred around zhur time. yes, a sister joined haffiz morebeans and myself in jamaat. later on morebeans messaged me on AIM with the following:

more beans: dude, we should always pray zuhr over there, good things are bound to happen

the kid cracks me up sometimes.

we then got a chance to meet akbar mohammad, son of elijah muhammad and friend of malcolm x aka hajji malik shabazz. now thats not an everyday occurrence.

an updated they wanted, and an update they got.

ma'salama
sheik speare, faqhi of love.

AIM Convo II: Hafiz Morebeans and Hajji Iballufall

assalamu alaikum :)
bismillah.

iballufall21:are you taking fiqh of love?
more bean s: no
iballufall21: why not?
more beans: my mom said no
more beans: u?
iballufall21: HELL YES.
more beans: you can teach me the stuff tth 2:30-4

sheik speare.

sheik speare = static-x? i think not.

assalamu alaikum :)
bismillah.

recently someone noted that i resembled the lead singer of some band called static-x. " what the hell is a static-x," i asked myself. unable to answer my own question, i became inquisitive. i inquired, google image answered. the result was rather amusing:



lol. inshallah one day my beard will be that long. ameen.

and Allah Almighty knows best.

sheik speare.

rain.

assalamu alaikum :)

bismillah.

i stood there waiting patiently. i stood and i stood. the elevator never came. the button was lit, but still the urge to press it got the best of me. so i pressed, hoping that itd somehow get to my floor quicker (dont ask, its a desi trait). i pressed and pressed. but that damn elevator never came.

realizing what i had to do next, i turned to make way towards the stairwell. yes, that dreaded lonely walk down the stairwell. all three floors of it. but as i turned, i was captivated by what i saw outside. itd been raining for a couple days now, but at that exact moment something dawned upon me. subhanallah, it was so beautiful. illuminated by the light from the towering lamposts, the rain fell to the earth with such peaceful grace. perhaps it was all the more beautiful because the time for maghrib had arrived. whatever it the reason was, i was in awe. i stood there for a few more moments praising the name of Allah, for only He could create such beauty.

there i was, basking in the miracles of Allah Ta'la, when i suddently heard someone yelling "dude, dude, the elevator is here." what seemed like an eternity turned out to be a period of mere seconds. but alhamdulillah, the elevator had arrived.

RasoolAllah SAW lived in Arabia, a desolate desert peninsula which was often deficient of precipitation. it was not uncommon for the drought-stricken lands to go without water for months and even years at a time. in fact, at times conditions got so bad that the Sahaba RA would ask RasoolAllah SAW to pray to Allah Ta'ala to send forth rain:

“Once I visited Makkah at a time of scarcity. The Quraishites approached Abu Talib, saying: 'O, Abu Talib, the valley has become barren and the young children hungry. Go forth and pray for water for the people’. Abu Talib headad for the Ka’bah, taking with him a young boy (Muhammad). Abu Talib made the boy stand with his back close to the Ka’bah, where the boy then lifted his finger towards the sky, which was cloudless. But soon clouds appeared in the sky and rains fell down heavily. The valley became fertile and crops later harvested”.

-Sahabi RA

also:

And We send down from the sky rain chartered with blessing, and We produce therewith gardens and grain for harvests."

Surah Qaf, 9

take not for granted the fact that we often see rain. tis truly a blessing from Allah.

and inshallah the rain will continue to fall, giving sustenance to all which Allah created.

and Allah Almighty knows best.

sheik speare.

RasoolAllah saw

assalamu alaikum :)
bismillah. im compelled to share the following:

"Anyone who saw him suddenly stood in awe of him, and anyone who made his acquaintance loved him. Those who described him said they had never seen anyone like him before or since."
-Sahabi RA

and Allah Almighty knows best.

sheik speare.

milk (milluk)

assalamu alaikum :)
bismillah.
its 11.45 and im driving home from work. relieved that the day is over, and realizing that tomorrow is going to another long day, i just want to go straight home and relax. and then the phone rings. the caller id displays "home." immediately my brain triggers "DO NOT PICK UP." what do i do? i answer.

me:salamalaikum ami ji.
mom: SALAMALAIKUM ATIF?!?!
me: haan ji ami ji, its atif.
mom: OH HELLO ATIF??!?!??!
me: AMI, haan ji its atif!
mom: oh, acha, acha, teri avaaz naye aundi (i cant hear you.)
me: okay, but dont yell.
mom: acha, kar dood naye haiga. (okay, we dont have milk at home)
me: ami ji, its almost 12, plus its cold and rainy. can we not make it through the night?
mom: bachiyan ney dood peena hain, tay main subha chaa peeni hain.(the kids it, plus i need it for chai in the morning)
me: mannnnn
mom: oye, 'man man' na kar! chal, sun, randall tay dood sale tay hain: do gallon chaar dallar day. tay naal bread vi laikay aye. (don't 'man man' me! listen, its on sale at randalls for two for 4 dollars. get bread while youre at it,)
me: okay, okay.
mom: pulli na! (dont forget)

and so goes the story of my life...

sheik speare.