Hisham al-Kalbi:
“I memorised what no-one has memorised and I forgot what no-one has forgotten.
I had an uncle who used to admonish me with regards to memorisation of the Qur’aan. So I entered the house and made an oath to never come out until I memorised the Qur’aan. So I memorised it in 3 days…
And one day I looked into the mirror to cut what was below a fistful (of my beard) but I cut what was above the fistful!”
– ‘Uluww al-Himmah
Sometimes, we become too busy trying to remember a particular task or memorise a particular text so much so, that we forget something that’s right in front of us! 🙂
salaam alaikum,
ukhti i bought this book “Uluww al-Himmah” few days back from an arab friend. I intend to read it after my arabic improves to a level. Whats your feedback on the book?
Asalam mu alaikum wr wb. Sister could you give some info on Hisham al- Kalbi.
As salaam ‘alaikum wa rahamatullah,
I just came across this video a couple of hours ago, and it brought a lot of thoughts to mind. From them:
1- People have been giving da’wah from the time some of us were kids (I was 11 years old when this talk took place) and some of us weren’t even born! Yet some how we are very quick to criticize our predecessors, even though most of the times it is only a perceived error.
2- How much the realm of da’wah has changed! We took a lot of our freedoms for granted, and da’wah is no longer as easy as it used to be.
2a- At those times it was sufficient for a da’ee to be educated in the sciences of Islam alone. In our times in order for a da’ee to even be relatively successful he has to be clued up not only in the most detailed matters of Islam, but in the world around him as well.
2b- Even though there is a revival of Islamic education and thought, there seems to be a decline in the Muslim identity and personality. There is an increase in the number of du’aat, yet a decrease in the quality and Iman of the Muslims.
2c- The commercialization of da’wah! A lot more money is put into advertising and getting better facilities, but has it necessarily made the da’wah any better?
3- The need to learn from the mistakes of our predecessors. Instead of trying to re-invent the wheel, we just need to find ways to improve it.
4- The da’wah was deemed so great back then, why can’t we make it even better today? We need to have high hopes and aspirations to make it even better! Dedication and sincerity definitely come a long way.
5- We will not be in this dunya forever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be remembered. We dictate the way we live our lives, and make a conscience decision if we want to make an impact in the lives of others or not. Those that want to should hasten towards righteousness and goodness, as you never know how or when you just might change someones life.
Lastly, I ask Allah to hasten the release of our imprisoned(the translator), help the weak and those in need, and to grant us the tawfeeq to fulfill the potential that this ummah has been blessed with.
Without any further delay:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=IFEPajRmvpg
Wa `alaykumusalaam wa rahmatullaah
Joyhamza, this book is really nice masha’Allah. It displays the high aspirations and goals that those before us had, particularly the scholars and students of knowledge. There’s many narrations in there of how hard they used to work and it also has incredible stories/accounts. I think the author Muhammad Isma’il al-Muqaddam has audios on this topic too. Check here for some quotes I’ve been translating: http://forums.islamicawakening.com/showthread.php?t=3848
Abu Emaan, I’m not actually sure. I think it could be Hisham ibn Akhbari al-Kalbi who was a Shi’i from Kufa. If it’s him, then this is a short bio: http://islamweb.net/ver2/library/showalam.php?id=1546 (yeah, I should’ve checked this before quoting right!)
Barakallahu feek Navaid for the link & your points – I think that was a very good observation. No. 1 I find hard to quench in our society. I guess it illustrates the nature of many of our youth having little sense of tadarruj in ‘ilm and also a lack of precaution in judgment.
Yes, absolutely. The times and situations we’re living in definitely call for some brainstorming on how we can cater for the da’wah platform and particularly our target audience etc, there’s a need now to think outside of the box and further the effort as subhanallah I believe we are living in unprecedented times/place.
Ameen!
3 days How?
is that possible? How many Chapters did he knw prior to making an oath? What techniques did he use? Man this is the Man why aint we studying his Bio??
I wana do this. lock myself up. not that im gna memorise the entire Qur’an. Jus wana see my memo Capabilities. Ain that Cool. Why dnt we all do a challenge lock rooms and sit there for , 3 days dnt have any connections with the otusidworld. Jus 2 see how much we do. more like a Memory test. And then make a poll and everybody selects how much they cud memorise.
Let us know how it goes insha’Allah : )
I don’t know how if he knew some Qur’an prior, but generaly when people truly put their minds to something and work hard for it, the results are often amazing and surpass expectations. Not just for something like memorisation as in this case, but any achievement/goal.
اللهم ارزقنا همة عالية – ننالها وليس ما دونها فحسب
آمـــــــــين