Alhuda Bolton

Authentic Adhkar: Lesson 33

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Saturday 24th November 2018

Lesson 33: Asking Allah for Al-`Āfiyah and the Importance of Islamic clothing

    • It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never abandoned these supplications, every morning and evening: Allaahumma inni as’alukal-‘afwa wal-‘aafiyah fid-dunya wal-akhirah. Allahumma inni as’alukal-‘afwa wal-‘aafiyata fi dini wa dunyaaya wa ahlii wa maali. Allahum-mastur ‘awraati, wa aamin raw’aati, Allahumma-ahfadhnii min bayni yadayya, wa min khalfi, wa ‘an yaminii wa ‘an shimaalii, wa min fawqi, wa ‘audhu bika an ughtaala min tahtii (O Allah, I ask You for forgiveness and well-being in this world and in the Hereafter. O Allah, I ask You for forgiveness and security in my religion and my worldly affairs, in my family and my property. O Allah, conceal my faults, calm my fears. O Allah! protect me from before me and behind me, from my right and my left, and from above me, and I seek refuge in You from being taken unaware from beneath me).” [Sunan Ibn Majah and Abi Dawud]
  • What is meant by “Al-`Āfiyah”?
        • Al-`Abbas bin `Abdul-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, teach me something that I may ask Allah, [Mighty and Sublime] for.’ He (saws) said: ‘Ask Allah for Al-`Āfiyah.’ Then I remained for a day, then I came and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, teach me something that I may ask Allah for.’ So he (ﷺ) said to me: “O Abbas, O uncle of the Messenger of Allah! Ask Allah for Al-`Āfiyah in the world and in the Hereafter.” [At-Tirmidhi]
        • The hadith of Abu Bakr regarding asking Allah for Al-Afiyah and forgiveness
        • Asking for Al-`Āfiyah (safety, security, preservation) in five matters:
          • In your religion: this is asking Allah to preserve you from all of that which causes deficiency in your religion
          • In your worldly affairs: this is asking Allah to keep you safe from all of the trails and calamities of this world which may harm you
          • In your Hereafter: This is asking Allah to safeguard you from the terrors of the resurrection and the Afterlife
  • In your Family: This is asking Allah to protect your family and keep them safe from trials and tribulations
          • In your Property: This is asking Allah to preserve your wealth from destruction (e.g drowning of wealth, flooding, fire, theft etc)
        • Al-`Āfiyah is a comprehensive matter to ask for and indeed after having been granted Eemaan (faith) then there is nothing better to be granted than Al-`Āfiyah in your affairs
        • The Prophet (ﷺ) would always ask for this every morning and evening
  • What is meant by “O Allah, conceal my faults”?
        • Linguistically, the word used “Awra” means the area one covers up for dignity, as a minimum for a man this would be from the navel to the knee and for a woman this would be all of her body except her face and hands. This is also true and it is within the meaning of this supplication
        • The meaning also covers asking Allah to keep your shortcomings concealed and for this not to be spread amongst the people
        • What is the minimum area required to be covered for children?
        • Question: When women are amongst themselves (sisters only), what is the ruling on the area to be covered?
        • Issue: What have the scholars said about women wearing tight clothes exposing one’s figure when amongst other sisters?
        • Issue: The influence of western society on muslim dress
        • Question: what about Muslim sisters wearing trousers?
        • Issue: Covering one’s Awra does not just mean placing cloth over one’s skin, one needs to cover the shape of their body also
        • Question: what about men wearing tight trousers?
        • NOTE: This dua is especially beneficial for women as generally speaking across the world there is a degradation of the dignity and privacy of women in these times we live
        • Issue: These days some women dress in an undignified way which expose their awra in order to “look better”, but for whom are they doing this?

  • What is meant by “calm my fears”?
      • This is asking Allah to keep you safe and secure from all causes of fear or worry in this world
    • What is meant by the final part of the dua asking for Protection?
      • “O Allah! protect me from before me and behind me, from my right and my left, and from above me, and I seek refuge in You from being taken unaware from beneath me”
      • Indeed no one knows from which place danger may come, therefore asking Allah for protection from the various trials and tribulations of the world
      • Question: Why was “from beneath” given more emphasis than all of the other directions?
  • The hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) from Imam Ahmad
  • Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): “Allah’s Apostle said, “If one says one-hundred times in one day: “None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the Alone Who has no partners, to Him belongs Dominion and to Him belong all the Praises, and He has power over all things (i.e. Omnipotent)”, one will get the reward of manumitting ten slaves, and one-hundred good deeds will be written in his account, and one-hundred bad deeds will be wiped off or erased from his account, and on that day he will be protected from the morning till evening from Satan, and nobody will be superior to him except one who has done more than that which he has done.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
    • This shows the tremendous virtue of Tawhid (islamic monotheism)
  • Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): “Allah’s Apostle said, “Whoever says, ‘Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi,’ one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]