Watch the Highlights from The Waqf Summit 2026 youtu.be/DIpz9XlCcJs For more information, visit our website: nationalwaqf.org/

🔥Finally arrived alhamdulillah 🎙️ LIVING INK | Shaykh Joe Bradford 💰 Navigating Contemporary Finance In this episode, we explore: 🏦 Understanding Modern Wealth & Markets Financialisation, pensions, ETFs, index funds, private equity and debt markets. ⚖️ Beyond Halal & Haram Risk, speculation, wealth creation, financial behaviour and the deeper questions behind financial decisions. 🔍 Form vs Substance Understanding economic realities, financial incentives and the analytical frameworks that inform sound scholarly guidance. 📈 Building Financially Healthy Communities Financial resilience, entrepreneurship, retirement planning, intergenerational wealth and waqf. 🤖 The Future of Finance AI, digital assets, tokenisation, wealth inequality and the emerging challenges facing Islamic scholarship. 🧠 The Scholar's Financial Toolkit. What every imam and scholar should understand about modern finance, and how to approach new financial questions before examining their fiqh. ▶️ Watch the full episode: youtu.be/V09lXvV9eVw?si=3h1Y… Foundations of Legacy | Living Ink

May Allah guide him to Islam... Ameen

#CapturedThoughts | Are We Working Towards a Life We No Longer Have Time to Live? I have been thinking about how easily our understanding of what constitutes a good life changes as we become increasingly occupied with earning a living. When we are younger, we often imagine that financial success will eventually give us greater freedom over our time. We hope to spend more time with family, pursue interests we have neglected, travel, seek knowledge or simply enjoy a day without constantly thinking about the next responsibility. But somewhere along the way, the goalposts can begin to move. The income we once hoped to achieve becomes our new starting point. The lifestyle we once considered comfortable becomes ordinary, and opportunities to earn more become increasingly difficult to decline. I think many of us can relate to this, particularly when we consider how frequently we postpone relatively simple things. We tell ourselves that we will visit our parents when work settles down, spend more time with our children once a particular project is completed, or return to a consistent routine of Qur'an and personal development when life becomes less demanding. And sometimes those are perfectly reasonable decisions. Responsibilities are real, and providing for a family often requires considerable sacrifice. The difficulty arises when postponement becomes our normal way of living, because there will almost always be another project, another financial target or another responsibility requiring our attention. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: *«نِعْمَتَانِ مَغْبُونٌ فِيهِمَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ: الصِّحَّةُ وَالْفَرَاغُ»* “There are two blessings concerning which many people suffer loss: health and free time.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 6412) I find the word *مَغْبُونٌ* particularly interesting because of its association with commercial loss. It describes someone who has come away from an exchange having received less value than what they surrendered. Most of us would be concerned if we discovered that we had made a poor financial investment. We would want to understand where we went wrong and how to avoid repeating the mistake. But what about the exchanges we make with our time? An extra few hours at work may increase our income, but those hours also have an alternative value. They might have been spent with a child who has been waiting all week for our attention, a parent who would appreciate our company, or in attending a class that contributes to our relationship with Allah. This does not mean that working those hours is necessarily the wrong decision. Rather, it means the decision involves more than its financial return. And I think that is something we can easily overlook when we are busy. There is also an important difference between having time available and using it meaningfully. Islam does not teach us to pursue leisure as an end in itself. Our time is an amānah, and its value lies in how we use it, whether in worship, earning lawfully, fulfilling responsibilities, resting or strengthening relationships. Perhaps a useful question to ask ourselves occasionally is whether the financial progress we are making is actually improving our ability to live according to our priorities. Because if every increase in income requires a corresponding increase in commitments, we may find ourselves financially better off without becoming any more available to the people and responsibilities that matter to us. And I suspect that for many of us, the things we keep promising ourselves we will make time for deserve some of that time now.

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Guidance regarding the HSBC Palantir revelation... youtube.com/shorts/0o0pjb7wk…

Sights and sounds from the Scholars and Masaajid Dinner with Mufti Muhammed Taqi Usmani courtesy of National Waqf. Please do visit our project: nationalwaqf.org/

I would say that it's compulsory for you all to watch this video with your children before they start the new week... youtu.be/x5s3Qu3PVhY?si=i1Sc… May Allah forgive me and you 😢

#CapturedThoughts | When Responsibility Becomes a Title There is a warning from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that deserves the attention of anyone entrusted with the well-being of others. 📌Maʿqil ibn Yasār رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: «مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَسْتَرْعِيهِ اللَّهُ رَعِيَّةً، يَمُوتُ يَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَهُوَ غَاشٌّ لِرَعِيَّتِهِ، إِلَّا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ» “There is no servant whom Allah entrusts with the care of others, who dies while betraying that trust, except that Allah forbids Paradise for him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) Although this narration is frequently quoted in discussions about political leadership, its underlying principle should cause us to reflect upon responsibilities much closer to home. A husband may spend considerable time thinking about his rights within marriage, just as parents may emphasise the obedience and respect owed to them by their children. These rights are established in Islam, but they exist alongside responsibilities that are no less serious. The Prophet ﷺ said: «كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ» “Every one of you is a shepherd, and every one of you will be questioned concerning those under your care.” He went on to identify the man as responsible for his household and the woman as responsible for her husband's home and children. What interests me is the language of riʿāyah, the responsibility of tending, protecting and caring for what has been entrusted to us. A shepherd does not measure his success by how obediently the flock follows him. His responsibility is to ensure that those under his care are protected, provided for and not exposed to harm through his negligence. Consider how this changes the way we understand marriage and parenthood. A husband may fulfil the financial obligations of his household while remaining largely absent from the emotional, educational and spiritual lives of his family. Parents may provide excellent schooling, comfortable homes and opportunities they themselves never enjoyed, yet devote little attention to understanding the character, struggles and spiritual development of their children. Providing materially is an important responsibility, and its value should never be diminished. But the trust of family extends beyond what can be purchased. Allah says: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا﴾ “O you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire.” (al-Taḥrīm 66:6) The verse places the spiritual well-being of our families within the responsibilities we carry before Allah. Perhaps one of the difficulties of family life is that authority is immediately visible, while accountability is easier to overlook. We know when our instructions are ignored, when our expectations are unmet and when we feel insufficiently appreciated. It takes greater self-examination to recognise when those entrusted to us have been deprived of something they had a right to receive. The warning of Maʿqil's narration concerns betrayal of an entrusted responsibility, not the ordinary imperfections of a husband or parent sincerely striving to fulfil it. Marriage and parenthood confer an honourable position, but they also place human beings in our care whose rights Allah will ask us about.

Glory be to the Lord of the Worlds. May Allah save us when Qiyaamah arrives. Subhanallah!

😢 صلى الله عليه وسلم May Allah help us honour him... Ameen.

#CapturedThoughts | Do You Work to Live, or Live to Work? Have you noticed how easily work can move from being something we do to becoming the way we understand who we are? Ask someone what they do and they will almost always tell you how they earn their living. Rarely will someone answer that they are raising three children, caring for elderly parents, studying the Qur'an, serving their community or trying to become a better husband or wife. Somehow, occupation has become one of the principal ways through which modern life defines a person. Islam gives work considerable dignity. The Prophet ﷺ said that nobody has eaten food better than that which they earned through the work of their own hands, and he mentioned Dāwūd عليه السلام, who ate from what he earned himself. So earning is not something from which the believer should feel detached. Providing for a family, fulfilling obligations, building something beneficial and becoming financially independent can themselves become acts of worship when the intention and means are sound. But Islam never made work the purpose of life. Allah says: ﴿فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَانتَشِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَابْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ﴾ “When the prayer has concluded, disperse through the land and seek from the bounty of Allah.” (al-Jumuʿah 62:10) There is a worldview contained in that movement. We leave our businesses for Allah, and then return to our businesses seeking from Allah. Work has its place, but it sits within something much larger. I think this becomes particularly important as responsibilities increase. There will be periods when work demands more from us. Businesses need building, careers require effort and families need providing for. The problem is not simply that someone works long hours. It is when, over time, everything else begins receiving whatever is left after work has taken what it wants. There is a beautiful incident involving Salmān and Abū al-Dardāʾ رضي الله عنهما. Salmān noticed that Abū al-Dardāʾ's devotion to voluntary fasting and night prayer was affecting other parts of his life. He advised him: «إِنَّ لِرَبِّكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَلِنَفْسِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَلِأَهْلِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، فَأَعْطِ كُلَّ ذِي حَقٍّ حَقَّهُ» “Your Lord has a right over you, your self has a right over you, and your family has a right over you, so give every possessor of a right their due.” Abū al-Dardāʾ later mentioned what had happened to the Prophet ﷺ, who replied: «صَدَقَ سَلْمَانُ» “Salmān has spoken the truth.” If even voluntary worship was not meant to consume a person's life at the expense of other rights, then there is something here worth considering about work. Perhaps the better measure of a successful life is not simply how much we managed to earn or build, but whether, while doing so, we continued to give each part of our life its due. Work deserves our excellence... It was never meant to become everything....

Bismillāh — we’ve launched a new Islam21c series: 40 Questions We Never Ask . In the first episode, we put 40 questions to Shaykh Dr Sajid Umar — from his favourite duʿā and the Ṣaḥābī he’d most like to meet, to AI, burnout, parenting, the Qur’an and advice for daʿwah organisations. Some of the simplest questions produced the deepest answers. 🎥 Watch here: youtu.be/DGyIHswvpjA Let us know which answer stood out most — and who you’d like us to put the 40 questions to next.

The marriage series 📌 Part Two Are we raising a generation who are marriage material. sajidumar.com/blog/are-we-ra… If you missed part 1; access it here: sajidumar.com/blog/dont-fall…

AI doesn't make you smarter; it makes you faster

What was the most thought-catching part of the blog titled: Out-Organised? 📊 Vote below 👇