General Info

A Message from Talib

"Allah is pleased with one who hears my words, heeds [and internalises] them, and then conveys them as they heard them."

All praise is for Allah, who brought humanity out from the blinding darknesses of ignorance into the life-giving light of faith, out of pure mercy and love for them. And endless peace and blessings upon His most blessed and beloved Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa, whom He sent as a universal mercy unto all of creation, and whom He created in a state of complete inward and outward perfection as a exemplar, teacher and model for all people.

I have a confession: this is an accidental album. After Songs of Innocence, Nur al-Habib Productions and myself had begun working on an entirely different follow-up. That all changed during a visit to South Africa, in December 2005, upon hearing a delightful group of brothers known as Aswat al-Ilham singing an arabic nasheed. I suddenly realised that this 'song' was in fact the last hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (adapted and reproduced here with permission).

These initial seeds of inspiration came to fruition sometime later when, trying to introduce my children to hadith, I would sing the wording to help them memorize it. This album is my attempt to share some of the results with you, my respected listeners.

Most of the nasheeds on this album are based directly on the wisdom-filled words of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s). They are structured around the actual text of several ahadith - either in complete or partial form. In addition, I have made an attempt to translate, in verse form, either the literal meaning or the transmitted understanding of the narration.

Upon listening to a particular Nasheed, you will actually be performing audition (sam`a) of the very words spoken by Rasulullah (s), as well as gaining an understanding of the guidance contained within them. Although you may not immediately recognise any of the tracks or melodies, every song on this album is 'traditional' in the truest sense of the word. It is my prayer that through this, Allah may illuminate all of our hearts with the light of faith, love and compassion, after the life-model of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s). May Allah bless you and forgive me.

The Tracks

For your convenience, some information about each of the tracks on the album has been collected. This hopefully will provide information about the source, background and context to the tracks, each of which has either a direct or indirect connection to the words of Rasulullah (S), and allow you to appreciate them more fully as you listen. And with Allah lies all success.

Light of the Dawn: this is the only completely original work on the album. It is a song in praise of Allah, wondering at how the body, the mind and the heart can unite in worship and contemplation of Allah. It begins the album in deference to the words of Rasulullah (s), ‘any important matter that does not begin with praise of Allah and blessings upon his Prophet (s) will be devoid of blessedness.’

Rahma – the Hadith of Mercy: (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud) this beautiful narration commences the ahadith of the album, in keeping with its truly unique quality. For over 1200 years, through unbroken chains, it has been the very first hadith a master transmits to seekers of knowledge, and so has become known as al-hadith al-musalsalat bi’l awwaliyya. It emphasises the need for a believer to extend universal compassion in all of his dealings with Allah’s creation.