The following is a translation of a lecture delivered in Urdu by Shaykh al-Islam Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (hafizahullah) on Friday 18th December 2015 in Karachi, Pakistan. Translated by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam

I am sharing this story because firstly, I know how lonely it is for those suffering from mental illness and how comforting it is for us to hear from others who have had similar experiences. Secondly, I’ve learned a lot from the past 4 years that I think will be useful for those who have just started experiencing symptoms. Thirdly, understanding mental illness from a theoretical perspective doesn’t do justice to what people suffering from it feel, especially when we consider how the suffering is invisible on the outside. The list of symptoms for these illnesses can often sound generic or trivial, but the person suffering from it distinctively knows that something is tangibly wrong with them. Lastly, I want to emphasize how much we Muslims need to take mental illness seriously, not just in confronting the stigma, but in approaching diagnosis, treatment, management and prevention as seriously as we would do any other health issue we encounter in our own lives.

Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, “The number of the months according to Allah is twelve (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified.”

I graduated from the ʿalim program in 2006. I spent the first few years making all kinds of crazy mistakes. Although I’ve learned from my mistakes over time, I have noticed a trend. In general, a lot of ‘fresh graduates’ make the same mistakes as I did, or even worse mistakes. (Fresh graduate here includes anybody who recently graduated from any ʿalim program or BA in Islamic Studies)

By the grace of Allāh, we have been blessed with one of our most long-awaited holidays – the summer break! It’s been a long year, but alhamdulillah, we’ve all made it through, and for this, we need to express our gratitude to Allāh, for He tells us in the Qur’ān:

لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ

“If you are thankful, surely I will increase you”^[1]

The following is an excerpt taken from Islamic Months authored by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani.

The Urdu and persian word Qurbani (Sacrificial slaughter) is derived from the Arabic word Qurban. Lexically, it means an act performed to seek Allah’s pleasure. Originally, the word Qurban included all acts of charity because the purpose of charity is nothing but to seek Allah’s pleasure. But, in precise religious terminology, the word was later confined to the sacrifice of an animal slaughtered for the sake of Allah.

Title: Easy Good Deeds 

Author: Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani

Translation: Javed Iqbal

Editing: Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Madge Conlan 

Hadith Referencing: Shaykh Muhammad Tayyab and Javed Iqbal

General Editor: Yahya Batha

Publisher: Turāth Publishing

Pages: 160

Cover, Size, and Weight: Paperback, 18.8cm x 12.7cm, at 195g

All praises are for Allāh ﷻ who has sent to us the best discourse, a book containing subjects resembling each other, mentioned again and again, from which the skins of those who have awe of their Lord shiver. Then, their skins and their hearts become soft enough to tend to the remembrance of Allāh. This is the Guidance of Allāh with which He brings to the right path whomsoever He wills. As for the one whom Allāh lets go astray, for him there is no one to guide. And peace and blessings upon Muḥammad; al-Musṭafā ﷺ, the best example and role model to whom the best Book; the Qur’ān was revealed to and upon his family, companions, and those who follow him until the Last Day.

The following is merely intended as food for thought for students of sacred knowledge (tullab al-ilm), teachers and those in charge of madrasas/Dar al-Ulums. It is not to undermine the services (khidma) carried out by madrasas and we are thankful to Allah for being able to even do this much, given the times we are living in. However, it is never a bad thing to introspect and analyse where improvements can be made.

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Despite its relatively recent publication, Dr. Meraj Mohiuddin’s Revelation: The Story of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) has quickly become one of the more popular, publicized, and widely-distributed additions to the growing corpus of English literature on the prophetic biography (sīrah). Boasting an aesthetically-pleasing, simple, and modern design, Revelation enjoys a long list of endorsements by well-recognized Muslim personalities in the West and a foreword by the American Muslim academic Dr. Sherman Jackson.