The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs’ Qur’an summer courses for students will start on Sunday in a number of Qur’an centres affiliated to the ministry across the country.
The aim of these courses is to utilise the summer vacation period and help students memorise the Holy Qur’an, improve their reading performance, increase their educational skills, and enhance their values and good morals.
In a press statement, the ministry said it has registered a large number of students wishing to benefit from the well-prepared programmes. Registration for the courses ends on Thursday.
The ministry confirmed that it provided all the means to ensure the success of these courses.
The courses, which will last for a full month, will be held in 30 of the ministry’s Qur’an centres, which have been chosen for geographical distribution, population density and the ability to accommodate the largest number of students during the summer vacation.


Loving and glorifying the Sunnah

Do you truly love the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam? A fundamental of our religion, and a tenet of our faith, is to love him. 
Allah Says what means: “Say [O Muhammad]: ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihaad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.” [Qur’an 9: 24] 
Al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyaadh said: “This verse is enough of an evidence to prove the obligation of loving the Prophet because Allah dispraised in it those whose wealth, family or children are dearer to them than the love of Allah and His Messenger  describing them as defiantly disobedient at its conclusion.”
Love of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, branches from Allah’s love of him; our love of the Prophet is due to the fact that Allah loves him, and because Allah sent him to us as His Messenger, as well as the fact that Allah instructs us to make him dearer to our hearts than our own souls. He Almighty Says what means: “The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves…” [Qur’an 33: 6] 
This means that the believer should love the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, more than he loves his own self. 
This love entails full obedience, submission and acceptance; it also entails favouring the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, over oneself, one’s family and one’s wealth, and to surrender to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, the controlling direction that one has over himself.
The influence that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, should have over us is greater than that which a master has over his slave, or a father has over his child. We should have no control over ourselves except in acting in accordance with the way he directed us to. 
It is for every Muslim to prove his love for him, which can be determined according to the following narration of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam: “There are three qualities; whoever has them will taste the sweetness of faith: To love Allah and His Messenger more than anyone else…” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] 
One will never taste the sweetness of faith except after achieving this, as he, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said in another narration: “I swear by the One in whose Hand my soul is! None of you will truly believe until I become dearer to him than his child, his father and all of mankind.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
This love is not simply an emotion that is confined to the heart, but rather it has implications and effects. This love makes the slave achieve a rank that he would not otherwise achieve by means of his bodily deeds, as in the narration of Ibn Mas’ood, radhiallah ‘anhu, who said: “A man came to the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! When will the Hour (i.e., the Day of Resurrection) come?’ He  replied: “What have you prepared for it?” The man said: ‘Only my love of Allah and His Messenger.’ The Messenger of Allah then said: “You will be with those whom you love.”” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
It is not as important to know when the Hour will occur as it is to prepare for its arrival, and this is the reason why the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, drew this to the attention of the man by asking him that question.
Anas, radhiallah ‘anhu, said: “After being blessed by embracing Islam, we never rejoiced at anything as much as we did about this answer of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, to that man. I love Allah, His Messenger, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and hope to be with them (in the Hereafter) even if I cannot perform the good deeds they did.” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]
The Companions had great love for the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, to the extent that they would face arrows that were being fired in his direction to shield him. They would risk their lives for him and sacrifice everything for his rescue. ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, radhiallah ‘anhu, said: “There was no one dearer to me or more glorified than the Prophet; I could never look him directly in the eye due to the extent of my glorification, and if someone were to ask me to describe him, I would not be able to, as I never looked at him for long enough to be able to describe him.” [Muslim]
When Abu Sufyaan, radhiallah ‘anhu, was still a disbeliever, he asked Zayd ibn Thaabit, radhiallah ‘anhu, who was taken as a hostage and being brought out by the people of Makkah to execute: “Do you not wish that Muhammad was in your place and that we killed him instead, while you could go to your family and be with them?” He replied: “I swear by Allah! I would rather be here facing this than have him even being pricked by a thorn.” Upon hearing this, Abu Sufyaan, radhiallah ‘anhu, said: “I never saw a people who love a man more than the Companions of Muhammad love him.”
Such incidents greatly affected the disbelievers and caused many of them to embrace Islam.
A man from the Ansaar came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and said: “You are dearer to me than myself, my child, my family and my wealth, and I feel as if I am dying when I do not see you.” Then he began to cry. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, asked: “Why are you crying?” The man replied: “I remembered that we will die and you will die, then you will take your place in Paradise with the other Messengers and Prophets, while we, if indeed we do enter Paradise, will be lower in rank than you, and thus we will not be able to see you in Paradise.”
Note how much they loved him; they were worried about not seeing him, despite the fact that they may also be in Paradise.
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, did not comment on his words until Allah revealed the following verses which mean: “And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger – those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favour of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions. That is the bounty from Allah…” [Qur’an 4: 69-70] Thereupon the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, summoned him and said: “Glad tidings to you!” [Al-Bayhaqi]
Once, a female companion was waiting at the approach to Al-Madinah for the return of the Muslim army from the battle of Uhud. She was informed that her husband, brother and father were killed, but her only reply was: “What happened to the Prophet?” They told her that he, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was fine and unharmed, but she insisted to seeing him so that she would be sure that he was truly safe. When she did see him, she remarked: “Any affliction, after seeing that you are safe, is minor.”
Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/