Tuesday, November 24, 2009

What Makes a Book a Classic?

What makes a book a classic? Why is it important to read classic books? While you may know that certain books are classics and that you should read them, you may not be able to articulate the answers to these two questions.

The Associated Press posted an online article that discussed this same question and came up with five basic elements that each piece of literature must contain in order to be considered a classic. These elements are morality, effective language, truthfulness, universality, and timelessness. In my quest to discover what makes a book classic, many of the other sources that I perused contained some or all of these elements. Basically, a book must say something worthwhile and believable, not beat around the bush saying it, and be interesting and influential over a long period of time.

Books such as Huckleberry Finn and Pride and Prejudice have certainly stood the test of time to stand out as classics. Some of Shakespeare’s plays such as Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream remain so popular that they have been made into modern movies. Lest you think that only literature written before 1900 can be considered classic, consider such works as George Orwell’s 1984, C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series, or J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series. These are undeniably classics written in the 1900s. It remains to be seen which books written in the twenty-first century will earn the designation of true classic literature.

Reading lists of classic books abound, and you will find that they differ somewhat in the exact titles they choose; however, they will have many books that are the same. I’ve compiled a list of online sources with various genres of classic books: The Cincinnati Library, The Art of Manliness, Info Soup (classics for teens), Page by Page Books (classic books FREE online), The Well-Trained Mind, Marianchs and another, and Wikipedia. There are many other sites from which to choose lists of classic books; these are just a few to get you started. If you’re looking for a real book (as opposed to a Web site) that lists classic books, I would recommend starting with Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt, The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer, and Invitation to the Classics, ed. Louise Cowan and Os Guinness.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! How do you read classic books if you’re more used to reading comic books? One book at a time! I’m sure you would agree that the most important thing is to READ.

~ Bethany S. LeBedz of The Tutor and Codex Publishing

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Virtues of the First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah

=======================

Virtues of the First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah
------------------------------

How do the first ten days of the Month of Dhul Hijjah differ from other days
of the year?

Praise be to Allaah Who has created Time and has made some times better than
others, some months and days and nights better than others, when rewards are
multiplied many times, as a mercy towards His slaves. This encourages them
to do more righteous deeds and makes them more eager to worship Him, so that
the Muslim renews his efforts to gain a greater share of reward, prepare
himself for death and supply himself in readiness for the Day of Judgement.

This season of worship brings many benefits, such as the opportunity to
correct one's faults and make up for any shortcomings or anything that one
might have missed. Every one of these special occasions involves some kind
of worship through which the slaves may draw closer to Allaah, and some kind
of blessing though which Allaah bestows His favour and mercy upon whomsoever
He will. The happy person is the one who makes the most of these special
months, days and hours and draws nearer to his Lord during these times
through acts of worship; he will most likely be touched by the blessing of
Allaah and will feel the joy of knowing that he is safe from the flames of
Hell. (Ibn Rajab, *al-Lataa'if*, p.8)

The Muslim must understand the value of his life, increase his worship of
Allaah and persist in doing good deeds until the moment of death. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty." [al-Hijr
15:99] The *mufassireen* (commentators) said: "'The certainty' means death."

Among the special seasons of worship are the first ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah,
which Allaah has preferred over all the other days of the year. Ibn 'Abbaas
(may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There are no days in
which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these ten days." The
people asked, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?" He said, "Not even
jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to
fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with
nothing." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).

Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) also reported
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There is
no deed more precious in the sight of Allaah, nor greater in reward, than a
good deed done during the ten days of Sacrifice." He was asked, "Not even
jihaad for the sake of Allaah?" He said, "Not even jihaad for the sake of
Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and
his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing." (Reported by
al-Daarimi, 1/357; its *isnaad* is *hasan* as stated in *al-Irwaa'*, 3/398).

These texts and others indicate that these ten days are better than all the
other days of the year, with no exceptions, not even the last ten days of
Ramadaan. But the last ten *nights* of Ramadaan are better, because they
include *Laylat al-Qadr* ("the Night of Power"), which is better than a
thousand months. Thus the various reports may be reconciled. (See *Tafseer
Ibn Katheer*, 5/412).

You should know, my brother in Islaam, that the virtue of these ten days is
based on many things:

1. Allaah swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by something is
indicative of its importance and great benefit. Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning): "By the dawn; by the ten nights" [al-Fajr 89:1-2]. Ibn
'Abbaas, Ibn al-Zubayr, Mujaahid and others of the earlier and later
generations said that this refers to the first ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah. Ibn
Katheer said: "This is the correct opinion." (*Tafseer Ibn Katheer*,
8/413)
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) testified
that these are the best days of this world, as we have already quoted above
from *saheeh ahaadeeth*.
3. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) encouraged
people to do righteous deeds because of the virtue of this season for people
throughout the world, and also because of the virtue of the place - for the
*Hujjaaj* (pilgrims) to the Sacred House of Allaah.
4. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded
us to recite a lot of *Tasbeeh* ("*Subhan-Allaah*"), *Tahmeed* ("*Al-hamdu
Lillaah*") and *Takbeer* ("*Allaahu akbar*") during this time.
'Abdullaah ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father)
reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"There are no days greater in the sight of Allaah and in which righteous
deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time
recite a great deal of *Tahleel* ("*La ilaaha ill-Allaah*"), *Takbeer*and
*Tahmeed*." (Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shaakir stated that it is
*saheeh*).
5. These ten days include *Yawm 'Arafaah* (the Day of 'Arafaah), on
which Allaah perfected His Religion. Fasting on this day will expiate for
the sins of two years. These days also include *Yawm al-Nahar* (the
Day of Sacrifice), the greatest day of the entire year and the greatest day
of Hajj, which combines acts of worship in a way unlike any other day.
6. These ten days include the days of sacrifice and of Hajj.

Question: What must the Muslim avoid during these ten days if he wants to
offer a sacrifice?

The Sunnah indicates that the one who wants to offer a sacrifice must stop
cutting his hair and nails and removing anything from his skin, from the
beginning of the ten days until after he has offered his sacrifice, because
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When you see
the new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah, if any one of you wants to offer a sacrifice,
then he should stop cutting his hair and nails until he has offered his
sacrifice." According to another report he said: "He should not remove
(literally, touch) anything from his hair or skin." (reported by Muslim with
four isnaads, 13/146)

The Prophet's instruction here makes one thing obligatory and his
prohibition makes another haraam, according to the soundest opinion, because
these commands and prohibitions are unconditional and unavoidable. However,
if a person does any of these things deliberately, he must seek Allaah's
forgiveness but is not required to offer (an extra) sacrifice in expiation;
his sacrifice will be acceptable. Whoever needs to remove some hair, nails,
etc. because it is harming him, such as having a broken nail or a wound in a
site where there is hair, should do so, and there is nothing wrong with
that. The state of *ihraam* is so important that it is permitted to cut
one's hair if leaving it will cause harm. There is nothing wrong with men or
women washing their heads during the first ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah, because
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) only forbade cutting
the hair, not washing it.

The wisdom behind this prohibition of the one who wants to offer a sacrifice
from cutting his hair etc., is so that he may resemble those in *ihraam* in
some aspects of the rituals performed, and so that he may draw closer to
Allaah by offering the sacrifice. So he leaves his hair and nails alone
until the time when he has offered his sacrifice, in the hope that Allaah
will save him in his entirety from the Fire. And Allaah knows best.

If a person has cut his hair or nails during the first ten days of
Dhu'l-Hijjah because he was not planning to offer a sacrifice, then he
decides later, during the ten days, to offer a sacrifice, then he must
refrain from cutting his hair and nails from the moment he makes this
decision.

Some women may delegate their brothers or sons to make the sacrifice on
their behalf, then cut their hair during these ten days. This is not
correct, because the ruling applies to the one who is offering the
sacrifice, whether or not he (or she) delegates someone else to carry out
the actual deed. The prohibition does not apply to the person delegated,
only to the person who is making the sacrifice, as is indicated in the
hadeeth. The person who is sacrificing on behalf of someone else, for
whatever reason, does not have to adhere to this prohibition.

This prohibition appears to apply only to the one who is offering the
sacrifice, not to his wife and children, unless any of them is offering a
sacrifice in his or her own right, because the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) used to sacrifice "on behalf of the family of
Muhammad," but there are no reports that say he forbade them to cut their
hair or nails at that time.

If a person was planning to offer a sacrifice, then he decides to go and
perform Hajj, he should not cut his hair or nails if he wants to enter *
ihraam*, because the Sunnah is only to cut hair and nails when necessary.
But if he is performing *Tamattu'* [whereby he performs 'Umrah, comes out of
*ihraam* and enters *ihraam* anew for Hajj], he should trim his hair at the
end of his 'Umrah because this is part of the ritual.

The things that are described above as being prohibited for the person who
is planning to offer a sacrifice are reported in the hadeeth quoted above;
the person is not forbidden to wear perfume, have marital relations, wear
sewn garments, etc.

Concerning the types of worship to be performed during these ten days: one
must understand that these days are a great blessing from Allaah to His
slave, which is appreciated properly by the actively righteous. It is the
Muslim's duty to appreciate this blessing and make the most of the
opportunity, by devoting these ten days to paying more attention to striving
hard in worship. Among His blessings to His slaves, Allaah has given us many
ways in which to do good and worship Him, so that the Muslim may be
constantly active and consistent in his worship of his Lord.

Among the good deeds which the Muslim should strive to do during the first
ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah are:

1. Fasting. It is Sunnah to fast on the ninth day of Dhu'l-Hijjah,
because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) urged us to
do good deeds during this time, and fasting is one of the best of deeds.
Allaah has chosen fasting for Himself, as is stated in the *hadeeth
qudsi*: "Allaah says: 'All the deeds of the son of Adam are for him,
except for fasting, which is for Me and I am the One Who will reward him for
it.'" (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1805).

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to fast
on the ninth of Dhu'l-Hijjah. Hunaydah ibn Khaalid reported from his wife
that some of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used
to fast on the ninth of Dhu'l-Hijjah, on the day of 'Aashooraa', on three
days of each month, and on the first two Mondays and Thursdays of each
month." (Reported by al-Nisaa'i, 4/205 and by Abu Dawud; classified by
al-Albaani as *saheeh* in *Saheeh Abi Dawud*, 2/462).
2. *Takbeer*. It is Sunnah to say *Takbeer* ("*Allaahu akbar*"), *
Tahmeed* ("*Al-hamdu Lillaah*"), *Tahleel* ("*La ilaha ill-Allaah*")
and *Tasbeeh* ("*Subhaan Allaah*") during the first ten days of
Dhu'l-Hijjah, and to say it loudly in the mosque, the home, the street and
every place where it is permitted to remember Allaah and mention His name
out loud, as an act of worship and as a proclamation of the greatness of
Allaah, may He be exalted.

Men should recite these phrases out loud, and women should recite them
quietly.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"That they might witness things that are of benefit to them (i.e.,
reward of Hajj in the Hereafter, and also some worldly gain from trade,
etc.), and mention the name of Allaah on appointed days, over the beast of
cattle that He has provided for them (for sacrifice)..." [al-Hajj 22:28]

The majority of scholars agree that the "appointed days" are the first
ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah, because of the words of Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allaah be
pleased with him and his father): "The 'appointed days' are the first ten
days (of Dhu'l-Hijjah)."

The *Takbeer* may include the words "*Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, la
ilaaha ill-Allaah; wa Allaahu akbar wa Lillaahi'l-hamd* (Allaah is
Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, there is no god but Allaah; Allaah is Most
Great and to Allaah be praise)," as well as other phrases.

*Takbeer* at this time is an aspect of the Sunnah that has been
forgotten, especially during the early part of this period, so much so that
one hardly ever hears *Takbeer*, except from a few people. This *
Takbeer* should be pronounced loudly, in order to revive the Sunnah
and as a reminder to the negligent. There is sound evidence that Ibn 'Umar
and Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with them) used to go out in the
marketplace during the first ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah, reciting *
Takbeer*, and the people would recite *Takbeer* when they heard them.
The idea behind reminding the people to recite *Takbeer* is that each
one should recite it individually, not in unison, as there is no basis in
Sharee'ah for doing this.

Reviving aspects of the Sunnah that have been virtually forgotten is a
deed that will bring an immense reward, as is indicated by the words of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): "Whoever revives an
aspect of my Sunnah that is forgotten after my death, he will have a reward
equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in
the least from their reward." (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 7/443; this is
a hasan hadeeth because of corroborating *asaaneed*).
3. Performing Hajj and 'Umrah. One of the best deeds that one can do
during these ten days is to perform Hajj to the Sacred House of Allaah. The
one whom Allaah helps to go on Hajj to His House and to perform all the
rituals properly is included in the words of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): "An accepted Hajj brings no less a reward
than Paradise."
4. Doing more good deeds in general, because good deeds are beloved by
Allaah and will bring a great reward from Him. Whoever is not able to go to
Hajj should occupy himself at this blessed time by worshipping Allaah,
praying (*salaat*), reading Qur'an, remembering Allaah, making
supplication (*du'aa'*), giving charity, honouring his parents,
upholding the ties of kinship, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is
evil, and other good deeds and acts of worship.
5. Sacrifice. One of the good deeds that will bring a person closer to
Allaah during these ten days is offering a sacrifice, by choosing a
high-quality animal and fattening it, spending money for the sake of Allaah.

6. Sincere repentance. One of the most important things to do during
these ten days is to repent sincerely to Allaah and to give up all kinds of
disobedience and sin. Repentance means coming back to Allaah and foregoing
all the deeds, open and secret, that He dislikes, out of regret for what has
passed, giving it up immediately and being determined never to return to it,
but to adhere firmly to the Truth by doing what Allaah loves.

If a Muslim commits a sin, he must hasten to repent at once, without delay,
firstly because he does not know when he will die, and secondly because one
evil deed leads to another.

Repentance at special times is very important because in most cases people's
thoughts turn towards worship at these times, and they are keen to do good,
which leads to them recognizing their sins and feeling regret for the past.
Repentance is obligatory at all times, but when the Muslim combines sincere
repentance with good deeds during the days of most virtue, this is a sign of
success, in sha Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "But as
for him who repented, believed and did righteous deeds, then he will be
among those who are successful." [al-Qasas 28:67]

The Muslim should make sure that he does not miss any of these important
occasion, because time is passing quickly. Let him prepare himself by doing
good deeds which will bring him reward when he is most in need of it, for no
matter how much reward he earns, he will find it is less than he needs; the
time of departure is at hand, the journey is frightening, delusions are
widespread, and the road is long, but Allaah is ever watchful, and to Him
will we return and render account. As the Qur'aan says (interpretation of
the meaning):

"So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it,

And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it."

[al-Zalzalah 99:7-8]

There is much to be gained, so make the most of the opportunity afforded by
these invaluable and irreplaceable ten days. Hasten to do good works, before
death strikes, before one can regret one's negligence and failure to act,
before one is asked to return to a place where no prayers will be answered,
before death intervenes between the hopeful one and the things he hopes for,
before you are trapped with your deeds in the grave.

O you whose hard heart is as dark as the night, is it not time that your
heart was filled with light and became soft? Expose yourself to the gentle
breeze of your Lord's mercy during these ten days, for Allaah will cause
this breeze to touch whomever He wills, and whoever is touched by it will be
happy on the Day of Judgement. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and all
his Family and Companions.

--

"Know, dear son, that days are but hours, and hours are but breaths, and every soul is a container, hence let not any breath pass without any benefit, such as on the Day of Judgement you find an empty container and feel regret!

Be aware of every hour and how it passes, and only spend it in the best possible way; do not neglect yourself, but render it accustomed to the noblest and best of actions, and send to your grave that which will please you when you arrive to it."

- Imam Ibn al-Jawzi rahimallahullah in his letter of advice to his son, "Laftat al-Kabid fee Naseehat al-Walad.