Saturday, 23 March 2013
Friday, 15 March 2013
Islamic Information: MORAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM
Islamic Information: MORAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM: MORAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM Islam has laid down some universal fundamental rights for humanity as a whole, which are to be observed and respecte...
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Benefits of Prayer
Benefits of Prayer
You should know - My dear Brother and Sister Muslim that the following has been authentically reported from our Messenger (sas) regarding the lessons, benefits and rewards of the five daily prayers:
1. That Allah the Exalted wipes away sins by the five prayers.
2. That the five prayers are an expiation for what occurs between them, if major sins are avoided.
3. That sins burn and destroy a person and thus it is necessary to extinguish that with the prayers.
4. That the Muslim reaches the level of the truthful and the martyrs on account of his prayers, charity and fasting.
5. The superiority of prayer[1] over other actions.
6. That Allah the Exalted bestowed a favor upon that companion by entering him into Paradise before his brother who died as a martyr because he prayed more than him.
7. That the prayer is light which illuminates the path of the servant in this world and the hereafter.
8. That an abundance of prostrations and prayers is the way to accompany the Messenger (sas) in Paradise.
9. That a two rakah prayer is more loved by the dead person than the world and what is in it.
10. That emptying the heart for Allah in the prayer puts a person in the same condition as the day when his mother gave birth to him.
11. That should a person enter the Fire - refuge is sought from that - the angels will remove him from it and will recognize him by the marks of prostration.[2]
12. That the prayer participates in undoing the knots which Shaytaan places at the top of ones head.
13. That the night prayer is the most excellent prayer after the obligatory prayers.
14. That the one who prays at night obtains a reward which most of mankind do not.
15. Gratitude is shown to Allah with the (obligatory) prayer and night prayer.
16. That the prayer most loved by Allah is the prayer of Daawood (as) which is to pray for a third of the night and to sleep for two thirds of the night.[3]
17. That has Allah has bestowed a favor upon His servant by the hour during the night in which the supplication is answered. It is befitting for the Muslim that he aspires for it and seeks to find it so that he is given the good of this world and the Hereafter.
18. That the night prayer is an evidence for righteousness and taqwaa and it expiates the sins and prevents one from falling into them.
19. That Allah Azzawajall covers the husband and wife who help each other in performing the night prayer with His mercy. If one of them refuses the other sprinkles water on his or her face.
20. That two rakahs of prayer at night makes a person amongst the men who remember Allah often or the women who remember Allah often.
21. That Allah is amazed by the man who gets up from his sleep, leaving his bed sheet, his wife and his love for her in order to perform prayer. Allah laughs at him and informs the angels about him.
22. That there is no jealousy or competition except with regard to two men, one of whom prays at night reciting the koran which Allah has bestowed upon him.
23. That whoever recited ten verses in the night (in prayer) will not be written amongst the heedless, a Qintaar of reward will be written for him and Allah the Exalted will say to him: "Recite and rise by one degree with every verse", until he comes to the last verse he knows. Allah favors him by giving him eternity.
24. That whoever prays at night with a hundred verses is written amongst the devout worshippers and whoever prays with a thousand verses is written amongst the Muqantareen and whoever prays with two-hundred verses is written amongst the devout worshippers and sincere ones.
25. That the one who walks to the prayer (in the mosque) is raised in ranks and has his sins removed, both while he goes to the mosque and when he returns from it.
26. That for every step he takes he receives ten good deeds.
27. That the Muslim is written amongst the worshippers from the time he leaves the house till he returns to it.
28. That the one receiving the greatest reward for the prayer is the one who walks the furthest towards it and and then the one further than him (from the mosque).
29. That one step which a servant takes to the prayer in congregation is counted as an act of charity for him.
30. That taking many steps towards the mosque is from ar-Ribaat (guarding the frontiers)
31. That every time a servant leaves for the mosque in the morning or the evening Allaah prepares for him a feast in Paradise.
32. That Allah makes the light of those who walk thought the darkness to the mosques complete and perfect on the Day of Judgment.
33. That the reward for the one who leaves his house in a state of purity for the obligatory prayer is like the reward of the pilgrim in the state of ihraam.
34. That the one who leaves for the mosque has a guarantee from Allah in that he should provide for him sustenance and suffice him (in his affairs).
35. That the one who walks for the prayer in congregation, after having beautified his wudhoo and travels to visit Allah the Exalted, is bestowed with a great favor in that Allah honors those of his servants who visit Him, and Allah's honoring of them is increasing their Eemaan, showing benevolence to them, rewarding them, raising their ranks, removing their difficulties and making their hearts content and happy.
36. The obligation to pray in congregation.
37. That the Prophet (sas) did not make a concession for the old blind man by allowing him to leave the congregational prayer. How then can those who are fit and well be allowed a concession?
38. That whoever abandons the congregational prayer has been threatened with heedlessness and having a seal placed on his heart.
39. That staying away from the congregational prayer is a sign of hypocrisy.
40. The extreme striving of the Companions (ra) for attending the congregational prayer inspite of difficult circumstances.
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Footnotes
1 Its condition is that the Aqeedah of the person is correct, sound and in accordance with the Pious Predecessors of this Ummah.
2 The condition for being removed from the fire due to the intercession of the angels (and others) is that a person should be from the People of Tawheed. Intercession is only for the People of Tawheed.
3 Due to his (sas) saying: "...He used to sleep half the night, then prayer for a third and then go to sleep for a sixth of it." When a half is added to a sixth they give two-thirds.
You should know - My dear Brother and Sister Muslim that the following has been authentically reported from our Messenger (sas) regarding the lessons, benefits and rewards of the five daily prayers:
1. That Allah the Exalted wipes away sins by the five prayers.
2. That the five prayers are an expiation for what occurs between them, if major sins are avoided.
3. That sins burn and destroy a person and thus it is necessary to extinguish that with the prayers.
4. That the Muslim reaches the level of the truthful and the martyrs on account of his prayers, charity and fasting.
5. The superiority of prayer[1] over other actions.
6. That Allah the Exalted bestowed a favor upon that companion by entering him into Paradise before his brother who died as a martyr because he prayed more than him.
7. That the prayer is light which illuminates the path of the servant in this world and the hereafter.
8. That an abundance of prostrations and prayers is the way to accompany the Messenger (sas) in Paradise.
9. That a two rakah prayer is more loved by the dead person than the world and what is in it.
10. That emptying the heart for Allah in the prayer puts a person in the same condition as the day when his mother gave birth to him.
11. That should a person enter the Fire - refuge is sought from that - the angels will remove him from it and will recognize him by the marks of prostration.[2]
12. That the prayer participates in undoing the knots which Shaytaan places at the top of ones head.
13. That the night prayer is the most excellent prayer after the obligatory prayers.
14. That the one who prays at night obtains a reward which most of mankind do not.
15. Gratitude is shown to Allah with the (obligatory) prayer and night prayer.
16. That the prayer most loved by Allah is the prayer of Daawood (as) which is to pray for a third of the night and to sleep for two thirds of the night.[3]
17. That has Allah has bestowed a favor upon His servant by the hour during the night in which the supplication is answered. It is befitting for the Muslim that he aspires for it and seeks to find it so that he is given the good of this world and the Hereafter.
18. That the night prayer is an evidence for righteousness and taqwaa and it expiates the sins and prevents one from falling into them.
19. That Allah Azzawajall covers the husband and wife who help each other in performing the night prayer with His mercy. If one of them refuses the other sprinkles water on his or her face.
20. That two rakahs of prayer at night makes a person amongst the men who remember Allah often or the women who remember Allah often.
21. That Allah is amazed by the man who gets up from his sleep, leaving his bed sheet, his wife and his love for her in order to perform prayer. Allah laughs at him and informs the angels about him.
22. That there is no jealousy or competition except with regard to two men, one of whom prays at night reciting the koran which Allah has bestowed upon him.
23. That whoever recited ten verses in the night (in prayer) will not be written amongst the heedless, a Qintaar of reward will be written for him and Allah the Exalted will say to him: "Recite and rise by one degree with every verse", until he comes to the last verse he knows. Allah favors him by giving him eternity.
24. That whoever prays at night with a hundred verses is written amongst the devout worshippers and whoever prays with a thousand verses is written amongst the Muqantareen and whoever prays with two-hundred verses is written amongst the devout worshippers and sincere ones.
25. That the one who walks to the prayer (in the mosque) is raised in ranks and has his sins removed, both while he goes to the mosque and when he returns from it.
26. That for every step he takes he receives ten good deeds.
27. That the Muslim is written amongst the worshippers from the time he leaves the house till he returns to it.
28. That the one receiving the greatest reward for the prayer is the one who walks the furthest towards it and and then the one further than him (from the mosque).
29. That one step which a servant takes to the prayer in congregation is counted as an act of charity for him.
30. That taking many steps towards the mosque is from ar-Ribaat (guarding the frontiers)
31. That every time a servant leaves for the mosque in the morning or the evening Allaah prepares for him a feast in Paradise.
32. That Allah makes the light of those who walk thought the darkness to the mosques complete and perfect on the Day of Judgment.
33. That the reward for the one who leaves his house in a state of purity for the obligatory prayer is like the reward of the pilgrim in the state of ihraam.
34. That the one who leaves for the mosque has a guarantee from Allah in that he should provide for him sustenance and suffice him (in his affairs).
35. That the one who walks for the prayer in congregation, after having beautified his wudhoo and travels to visit Allah the Exalted, is bestowed with a great favor in that Allah honors those of his servants who visit Him, and Allah's honoring of them is increasing their Eemaan, showing benevolence to them, rewarding them, raising their ranks, removing their difficulties and making their hearts content and happy.
36. The obligation to pray in congregation.
37. That the Prophet (sas) did not make a concession for the old blind man by allowing him to leave the congregational prayer. How then can those who are fit and well be allowed a concession?
38. That whoever abandons the congregational prayer has been threatened with heedlessness and having a seal placed on his heart.
39. That staying away from the congregational prayer is a sign of hypocrisy.
40. The extreme striving of the Companions (ra) for attending the congregational prayer inspite of difficult circumstances.
-------------------------
Footnotes
1 Its condition is that the Aqeedah of the person is correct, sound and in accordance with the Pious Predecessors of this Ummah.
2 The condition for being removed from the fire due to the intercession of the angels (and others) is that a person should be from the People of Tawheed. Intercession is only for the People of Tawheed.
3 Due to his (sas) saying: "...He used to sleep half the night, then prayer for a third and then go to sleep for a sixth of it." When a half is added to a sixth they give two-thirds.
Message of Islam
Message of Islam
Let me begin by clarifying that for us Islam is not the name of some unique faith presented for the first time by Mohammad (peace be upon him) who should, on that account be called the founder of Islam. The Qur’an makes it abundantly clears that Islam—the complete submission of man before God—is the one and only faith consistently revealed by God to mankind from the very beginning. Noah, Abraham, Moses and Christ—prophets who appeared at different times and places—all propagated the same faith. They were not founders of faiths to be named after them. They were each reiterating the faith of their predecessors.
II. What distinguishes Mohammad from the other Prophets?
(i) He was the last Prophet of God.
(ii) God revived through him the same genuine faith, which had been conveyed by all the Prophets.
(iii) This original message was corrupted, and split into various religions by people of different ages, who indulged in interpolations and admixture. God eliminated these alien elements and Islam, in its pure and original form, was transmitted to mankind through Mohammad.
(iv) Since there was to be no messenger after Mohammad, the Book revealed to him was preserved word for word2 so that it should be a source of guidance for all times.3
(v) The life of Mohammad, and the manner in which he conducted himself, was also recorded in a unique manner by his companions and by later compilers of the Tradition. A more complete and authentic account of the life, sayings, and actions, of any Prophet or historical personage, has never been compiled.4
(vi) In this way, the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet together became a reliable source of knowing what is Islam, what it stands for, what guidance it provides, and what obligations it places upon us.
III. As Muslims, we believe in all the Prophets who preceded Mohammad— not only those who are mentioned in the Qur’an, but also those who are not so mentioned and this is such an integral part of our faith that if we were to abandon it we should cease to be Muslims. But for instruction we turn to Prophet Mohammad alone Not on account of any prejudice, but because
a) As the last of God's Prophets he brought us the latest divine dispensation,
b) The Word of God which reached us through Mohammad is pure divine language, free of human admixtures, and preserved in its original form Its language is a living language, spoken, written and understood by millions of people, and whose grammar, vocabulary, idiom, pronunciation, and script have remained unchanged from the time of revelation till today
c) As 1 have said earlier, we have a complete historical record of the life, character, conduct, sayings, and actions of the Prophet Mohammad, preserved with meticulous care, accuracy and detail since this cannot be said of other prophets we can believe in them but we cannot emulate them
IV. It is our belief that Mohammad's mission was for the world as a whole and for all times, for,
(i) Its universality has been clearly confirmed by the Qur’an,
(ii) It is a logical consequence of the finality of his prophet hood. A prophet, after whom there was to be no other, had to be a guide and leader for all men and for all ages,
(iii) God has provided through him a complete code which man needs to follow the right path, and this in itself, supports the concept of finality, because without completeness the need for other prophets would remain
(iv) It is a fact that during the last 1400 years no man has arisen whose life and work bears even the slightest resemblance to that of a prophet. Nor has anyone presented a book, which could be remotely considered as divine communication. Still less has there been a man to claim legitimate authority as a lawgiver for mankind.
V. It must, at this point, be understood why the need arose for God to communicate with man through His prophets. This has to be examined in the context of the sources of human knowledge .At the preliminary stage we gain knowledge through empirical observation. At higher levels comes deductive reasoning accompanied by scientific investigation. Man is sufficiently well equipped in these fields not to require direct divine assistance. Though, no doubt, there is an ever present divine will help man in his research and innovative endeavors and revealing to him progressively the mysteries of His creation. Some gifted individuals achieve, in moments of rare inspiration, new insights or discover new laws of nature. But there is another type of knowledge, which is beyond the reach of our senses or scientific study. This sphere of knowledge does not submit to any instrument of scientific examination. Philosophy and science can only speculate about it. Human theories about ultimate realities, based on reason, never achieve the level of certainty, and their authors, conscious of their limitations do not present them as conclusively proved. In respect of these realities man is dependent on whatever knowledge is communicated to him by God. How is this knowledge conveyed? Not through the operations of some publishing house, where books are printed and handed over to each man, with instructions to read them, and to discover the truth about himself, about the universe, and about the manner in which he should organize his life. To convey this knowledge to mankind, God chooses prophets as His messengers. He reveals the truth to them and they communicate it to the people.
VI. The work of a prophet is not limited to communication of the knowledge alone. He has to explain, according to what is revealed to him, the relationship between God and man and man and man as it factually is, and, as it actually should be He has to prescribe a moral code, enunciate the principles of culture and civilization, lay down the mode of worship, establish a frame-work of belief, and define the moral imperatives, which must govern our life. The Prophet determines the rules, which should form the basis of social and cultural relationship, economic. Judicial, and political dealing, matters of war and peace, and international affairs. The Prophet does not transmit merely a code of rituals commonly regarded as 'religion'. He brings with him a whole system of thought and action, which is called Al-Deen (a complete way of life) in Islamic terminology.
VII. The mission of a prophet does not end with the announcement of this way of life to the world at large. He has to guide the people who follow him, explaining to them the implications of the Islamic creed, the moral code, the divine injunctions and commandments, and the form of worship that sustains the whole system. He has to demonstrate, by practice, the faith he preaches, and his life should be a model which people may be able to follow to organize his own lives. He must give training to the individuals and the Muslim society as a whole to prepare them for practical participation in the evolution of Islamic culture and civilization. The believers must grow under his guidance into an organized community engaged in establishing the Islamic system of life so that God's word should prevail upon all other words.
Not all the Prophets completely succeeded in this mission. There were many who failed not because of any personal fault or inadequacy. They did not succeed because of the prejudice and intolerance of the people or because the circumstances were not favorable. But every prophet had the same mission, and it is a fact of history that Mohammad succeeded in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, as it is in the heavens.
VIII. The audience of the Qur’an and the Prophet Mohammad was the whole of mankind from the very outset, and those who accepted the Word acquired the status of believers without any distinction. At no time was the invitation of the Qur’an addressed to the people of any particular area, race, tribe, colour or language .The Qur’an always calls upon the "progeny of Adam” or "the mankind” to accept Islam. The specific instructions and injunctions are meant for those who have come to believe in Islam, and they are always addressed as "those who believe " That the message of Islam was universal in character is proved by the fact that those who accepted the message acquired equal rights and status as believers, regardless of all differences of origin. The Qur’an says, “The believers are all like brothers”. The Prophet said: "those who subscribe to our beliefs, and adopt the Islamic way of life, have the same rights and the same obligations as we have. The Prophet announced, “Listen! You have one God as you have one father (Adam). There is no distinction between an Arab and a non-Arab. There is no preference for the black over the fair, or the fair over the black. There is distinction only in submission to God. The most virtuous among you is the most honourable in the eyes of God”.
IX. Among the fundamentals of Islam, the most important is belief in one God, —not just the conviction that He exists or that He is one—but that He alone is the Creator, Master, Ruler, and Administrator of all that exists. The universe exists because God wills it to exist, it functions because God wills it to function, and God provides the sustenance and the energy, which everything of the universe requires for its existence and growth. All the attributes of Sovereignty reside in God alone, and no one else has a share in them in the slightest degree. He alone possesses all the attributes of Divinity, and no one other than God possesses any of those attributes. He views the whole universe, and all that it contains, in a single instantaneous glance. He has direct knowledge of the universe, and all that is there in the universe. He knows not only its present, but its past and its future as well. This omnipresence and omniscience is an attribute of God alone and of no other. There was no ‘before’ him and there is no ‘after’ him. He has been there always and will be there always—eternal and abiding. All else is transient. He alone is eternally living and present. He is no one’s progeny and He has no progeny. Whatever exists, besides His self, is His own creation, and no other can identify himself in any manner with the Lord of the universe, or claim to be his son or daughter. He is man's single Deity. To associate anyone in His worship is as great a sin as it is an act of infidelity. He responds to man's prayers and He alone has the power to accept or reject them. Not to ask of him is senseless arrogance, and to turn to others is sheer ignorance. To seek of him and also of others, is to associate equals with him.
X. The sovereignty of God in Islam is not just a supernatural phenomenon. It covers all aspects of political and legal sovereignty also and in these too no one other than God has any share. In God alone vests the rightful authority to exercise power on this earth, and over those whom God has created in it. No monarch, no royal family, no elite class, no leader of any religious group, no demkcracy established on the basis of the sovereignty of the people, can participate in God's sovereignty. Whoever claims such a position is a rebel, as are those who leave God and turn to other people in obedience. Similarly, any institution or individual attempting to assume political and legal sovereignty and restrict the jurisdiction of God to spheres of personal law or religious duties is really a usurper and a rebel. The truth is that no one can claim to be a lawgiver on God’s earth, and no one can challenge the supreme authority of God Almighty in any sphere.
XI. Certain natural consequences flow from this Islamic concept of God.
(a) God alone is the real Deity and no one other than God has any right to be worshipped by man.
(b) God alone has authority over the forces of the universe, and he alone can fulfill or frustrate man's hopes. Man should turn to Him alone in prayer. He should never imagine that prayers could be addressed to anyone but God.
(c) God is the Master of man's destiny and no one else can interfere with the fate of others or with his own fate. Man’s hopes and fears must, therefore, be directed only to God. No one else should be an object of fear or source of favour.
(d) God is the Creator of the world and He alone has complete and direct knowledge of the reality of man and of the world. Only He can guide man through the complicated course of life and instruct him regarding good and evil. Since God alone is the Creator and the Master He has exclusive authority over the universe and man. It is an act of blasphemy for man to become independent or claim authority over other men. For man to become his own lawgiver to accept the authority of any other individual or institution as such is equally blasphemous. The ultimate Lawgiver and Master of His creation on this earth is no other than God, and His law has the status of the supreme law. Man can legislate subject to his Supreme law. Beyond that he has no legislative authority.
XII. We now come to our second most important belief---belief in Mohammad's prophet hood. God conveyed His message to man through Mohammad. This took two forms:
(a) God revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet in his own language.
(b) The Sunnah of the Prophet, which is an unerring guide to man in respect of all that, is permissible and all that is prohibited in the eyes of God. Without this belief in the Prophet, belief in God would become a mere theoretical proposition. It is the example of practical leadership, and the ideological guidance provided by the Prophet, which transforms belief in God into a culture and a civilization, and enables man to evolve a way of life. We get through the Prophet not only rules of guidance, but a complete scheme of values and a practical code of conduct. No one can be a practicing Muslim unless he believes in the Prophet as he believes in God.
XIII. The position of the Prophet has been so clearly defined in Islam that we can know what he was and what he was not. The Prophet is no more than a servant of God. He was to make people servants of God and not servants of himself. At least seventeen times a day Muslims recite in their prayers: “1 bear witness that Mohammad is a servant of God and is His prophet.” The Qur’an leaves no doubt that the Prophet is but a human being and has no share whatever in Divinity. The Prophet is neither superhuman nor is he free of human weaknesses. He owns no treasure of God, nor does he possess knowledge of the unknown that he should become all knowing like God Almighty. Leave alone being able to benefit others or cause them harm, the Prophet cannot do so even in respect of himself. The precise task of the Prophet is to communicate the message of God. He has no powers to make people righteous and faithful. Nor can he call to account those who refuse to believe, and he certainly has no power to punish them for their disbelief. Should the Prophet himself choose to defy God or fabricate things on behalf of God or make any change in the message revealed to him, he will incur divine displeasure and punishment. Mohammad is one of the Prophets of God, and above that he has no status. He cannot by himself prohibit or permit anything. Without a mandate from God he cannot legislate for the people. He has to strictly conform to Divine commandments. Islam ensured that the believers should not turn the Prophet into a demi-god. Some of the earlier prophets suffered this fate at the hands of their followers. They attributed all kinds of supernatural powers to their leaders and made them into God's equals or progeny or incarnation. By discouraging such exaggeration Islam has established the true position of the Prophet as follows:
No one can claim to be a believer without believing in the Prophet. He who obeys the Prophet, in fact, obeys God. God has not designated any Prophet except to be obeyed according to His will. The path of the Prophet is the path of Divine guidance. Whatever the Prophet ordains must be accepted, and whatever he instructs to avoid, must be avoided. The Prophet clarified this when he said: I am a mortal like you. In matters revealed to me by God, you must obey my instructions. But you know more about your own worldly affairs than I do so my advice in these matters is not binding. The Sunnah of Mohammad is, in fact an exposition of the purpose of the Qur’an, and this exposition too was conveyed lo the Prophet by God Himself, as the author of the Qur’an. The Prophet’s explanation of the Qur’an enjoys divine sanction, and no one else can interpret Qur’an which may be in conflict with or repugnant to the explanation given by the Prophet. God declared the life of Mohammad as a model life. No one can be a true believer unless he accepts the decision of the Prophet. Muslims have not an independent position in a matter determined by the Prophet. Before deciding any matter Muslims must first ascertain whether God and His Prophet decided any analogous matter earlier, and if a precedent exists they must follow it.
I hope I have clarified that God conveyed, through the Prophet, to mankind not only a supreme law but also a permanent scheme of values. That which is good, according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah, is good for all times, and that which is evil, shall remain evil forever. That which is enjoined as duty, in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, shall always be a duty. What is declared permissible is permissible forever, and what is prohibited is prohibited for all times. In this law no amendment, deletion, addition, or abrogation, is possible unless some person or community decides to renounce Islam. So long as Muslims remain Muslims, it is impossible in their social and legal system that something, which was evil yesterday, turns into good today, and reverts to evil tomorrow
XIV. The third fundamental creed of Islam is belief in the hereafter (Akhirah). Denial of the hereafter is the denial of Islam even though one may have belief in God, in the Prophet, and in the Qur’an. In its detailed form, this belief is composed of the following essential elements:
(i) Man has not been unleashed on the earth as an irresponsible savage. He is accountable to God for his actions. Today's life is only a test and an examination At the end we will all be called upon to render a complete account of our acts of commission and omission to God.
(ii) The time for accountability is fixed by God The tenure Allotted to mankind, on this earth, shall terminate on the doomsday, when the present order will be annihilated and replaced by another The whole human race will rise once again in the new world.
(iii) That will be the time when they will appear before God Almighty, and every one will face the consequences of his personal acts in his individual capacity.
(iv) I he Judgment will rest not on God's own knowledge alone. The requirements of due process of justice will be fully observed. A complete record of the actions of every individual, without the slightest alternation, will be put in the open Court, and evidence, of different categories, will be presented to prove what was done by man in private or in public, and the motives which inspired his conduct.
(v) 1 here will be no undue intercession. Neither bribery, nor advocacy against the truth will be tolerated No one will be able to shift his burden to another. Even the closest relations, friends, leaders, religious guides, or self-styled deities, will not be able to offer any help to anyone man will stand by himself—helpless and alone and render his account, and await the pronouncement of the judgment, which shall be in the power of God alone.
(vi) The judgment will rest on one question Did man conduct himself, in submission to God, in strict conformity with the truth revealed to the Prophets, and with the conviction that he will be held responsible for his conduct in life on the Day of Judgment? If the answer is in the affirmative, the reward will be Paradise, and if in the negative, Hell will be the punishment.
XV. Belief in the hereafter divides people into three distinct categories. First, there are those who do not believe in the hereafter and regard life on this earth as the only life. Naturally, they judge good and evil by the results which manifest themselves in this world If an action produces beneficial results it is good, and if it brings about harmful results it is evil. Quite often the same action is regarded as good when the results are good, and bad when its results are bad. Second, those people who do not deny the hereafter, but who depend on the intercession or atonement of some one to absolve them of their sins. Among them there are some, who regard themselves as God's chosen people, who will receive only nominal punishment however grave their sins. This deprives them of the moral advantage, which they could have derived from their belief in the hereafter. As a result they also become very much like the people who deny the hereafter. Third, arc those people who believe in the hereafter in the form in which Islam presents it. They do not delude themselves that they have any special relationship with God, or that anyone can intercede on their behalf. They know that they alone are responsible for their actions. For them the belief in the hereafter becomes a great moral force. A person who has the conviction that he is fully accountable for all his actions finds a permanent guard, stationed within himself, who cautions him and admonishes him whenever he deviates from the right path. There may be no court to summon him, no policemen to apprehend him, no witnesses to accuse him, and no public opinion to press him, but the guard within him is ever on the alert, ready to seize him whenever he transgresses. The consciousness of this inner presence makes man fear God even when he is all by himself. He discharges his duties honestly, and refrains from doing anything, which is prohibited. Should he succumb to temptation, and violate the law of God, he is ever ready to offer sincere regrets, and to enter into a firm contract with the future that he will not repeat the mistake. There can be neither greater instrument of moral reformation nor any better method to help man to develop a sound and stable character. It is the hereafter, which helps men, under all circumstances, to conform to God's scheme of permanent values. It is for this reason that Islam attaches great importance to the belief in the hereafter, and without it even the belief in God and the Prophet is not sufficient for man's guidance.
XVI. A little earlier, I mentioned that Islam represents a whole civilization, a complete culture, and a comprehensive world order. It provides moral guidance in all walks of life. That is why Islamic values arc not for the ascetic who renounces the world, but for him who actively participates in different spheres of life, and works within them. The moral values which people look for in convents, monasteries, and cloisters, arc presented by Islam right in the current of life. Heads of governments, governors of states, judges, members of the armed forces and police services, elected representatives of the people in the parliaments, leaders of finance, trade and industry, college and university teachers, and students alike receive guidance to organize their lives according to the principles of Islam. There is no distinction in Islam between private and public conduct. The same moral code, which one observes at home, applies to one's conduct in public. Every institution of society and every department of Government must conform to the laws of Islam. Politics must be based on truth and justice. Nations should deal with one another, on the basis of mutual recognition of rights, and due discharge of obligations. Even if there has to be war, those engaged in it should conduct themselves not as barbarians but as civilized human beings. When man decides to submit to the will of God, and accepts His law as the supreme law, and organizes his life in accordance with the revealed moral code, on the principle of accountability to God, the quality and character of his life cannot be limited to the precincts of prayer halls. It must extend itself to every sphere of his work as a man of God.
Let me begin by clarifying that for us Islam is not the name of some unique faith presented for the first time by Mohammad (peace be upon him) who should, on that account be called the founder of Islam. The Qur’an makes it abundantly clears that Islam—the complete submission of man before God—is the one and only faith consistently revealed by God to mankind from the very beginning. Noah, Abraham, Moses and Christ—prophets who appeared at different times and places—all propagated the same faith. They were not founders of faiths to be named after them. They were each reiterating the faith of their predecessors.
II. What distinguishes Mohammad from the other Prophets?
(i) He was the last Prophet of God.
(ii) God revived through him the same genuine faith, which had been conveyed by all the Prophets.
(iii) This original message was corrupted, and split into various religions by people of different ages, who indulged in interpolations and admixture. God eliminated these alien elements and Islam, in its pure and original form, was transmitted to mankind through Mohammad.
(iv) Since there was to be no messenger after Mohammad, the Book revealed to him was preserved word for word2 so that it should be a source of guidance for all times.3
(v) The life of Mohammad, and the manner in which he conducted himself, was also recorded in a unique manner by his companions and by later compilers of the Tradition. A more complete and authentic account of the life, sayings, and actions, of any Prophet or historical personage, has never been compiled.4
(vi) In this way, the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet together became a reliable source of knowing what is Islam, what it stands for, what guidance it provides, and what obligations it places upon us.
III. As Muslims, we believe in all the Prophets who preceded Mohammad— not only those who are mentioned in the Qur’an, but also those who are not so mentioned and this is such an integral part of our faith that if we were to abandon it we should cease to be Muslims. But for instruction we turn to Prophet Mohammad alone Not on account of any prejudice, but because
a) As the last of God's Prophets he brought us the latest divine dispensation,
b) The Word of God which reached us through Mohammad is pure divine language, free of human admixtures, and preserved in its original form Its language is a living language, spoken, written and understood by millions of people, and whose grammar, vocabulary, idiom, pronunciation, and script have remained unchanged from the time of revelation till today
c) As 1 have said earlier, we have a complete historical record of the life, character, conduct, sayings, and actions of the Prophet Mohammad, preserved with meticulous care, accuracy and detail since this cannot be said of other prophets we can believe in them but we cannot emulate them
IV. It is our belief that Mohammad's mission was for the world as a whole and for all times, for,
(i) Its universality has been clearly confirmed by the Qur’an,
(ii) It is a logical consequence of the finality of his prophet hood. A prophet, after whom there was to be no other, had to be a guide and leader for all men and for all ages,
(iii) God has provided through him a complete code which man needs to follow the right path, and this in itself, supports the concept of finality, because without completeness the need for other prophets would remain
(iv) It is a fact that during the last 1400 years no man has arisen whose life and work bears even the slightest resemblance to that of a prophet. Nor has anyone presented a book, which could be remotely considered as divine communication. Still less has there been a man to claim legitimate authority as a lawgiver for mankind.
V. It must, at this point, be understood why the need arose for God to communicate with man through His prophets. This has to be examined in the context of the sources of human knowledge .At the preliminary stage we gain knowledge through empirical observation. At higher levels comes deductive reasoning accompanied by scientific investigation. Man is sufficiently well equipped in these fields not to require direct divine assistance. Though, no doubt, there is an ever present divine will help man in his research and innovative endeavors and revealing to him progressively the mysteries of His creation. Some gifted individuals achieve, in moments of rare inspiration, new insights or discover new laws of nature. But there is another type of knowledge, which is beyond the reach of our senses or scientific study. This sphere of knowledge does not submit to any instrument of scientific examination. Philosophy and science can only speculate about it. Human theories about ultimate realities, based on reason, never achieve the level of certainty, and their authors, conscious of their limitations do not present them as conclusively proved. In respect of these realities man is dependent on whatever knowledge is communicated to him by God. How is this knowledge conveyed? Not through the operations of some publishing house, where books are printed and handed over to each man, with instructions to read them, and to discover the truth about himself, about the universe, and about the manner in which he should organize his life. To convey this knowledge to mankind, God chooses prophets as His messengers. He reveals the truth to them and they communicate it to the people.
VI. The work of a prophet is not limited to communication of the knowledge alone. He has to explain, according to what is revealed to him, the relationship between God and man and man and man as it factually is, and, as it actually should be He has to prescribe a moral code, enunciate the principles of culture and civilization, lay down the mode of worship, establish a frame-work of belief, and define the moral imperatives, which must govern our life. The Prophet determines the rules, which should form the basis of social and cultural relationship, economic. Judicial, and political dealing, matters of war and peace, and international affairs. The Prophet does not transmit merely a code of rituals commonly regarded as 'religion'. He brings with him a whole system of thought and action, which is called Al-Deen (a complete way of life) in Islamic terminology.
VII. The mission of a prophet does not end with the announcement of this way of life to the world at large. He has to guide the people who follow him, explaining to them the implications of the Islamic creed, the moral code, the divine injunctions and commandments, and the form of worship that sustains the whole system. He has to demonstrate, by practice, the faith he preaches, and his life should be a model which people may be able to follow to organize his own lives. He must give training to the individuals and the Muslim society as a whole to prepare them for practical participation in the evolution of Islamic culture and civilization. The believers must grow under his guidance into an organized community engaged in establishing the Islamic system of life so that God's word should prevail upon all other words.
Not all the Prophets completely succeeded in this mission. There were many who failed not because of any personal fault or inadequacy. They did not succeed because of the prejudice and intolerance of the people or because the circumstances were not favorable. But every prophet had the same mission, and it is a fact of history that Mohammad succeeded in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, as it is in the heavens.
VIII. The audience of the Qur’an and the Prophet Mohammad was the whole of mankind from the very outset, and those who accepted the Word acquired the status of believers without any distinction. At no time was the invitation of the Qur’an addressed to the people of any particular area, race, tribe, colour or language .The Qur’an always calls upon the "progeny of Adam” or "the mankind” to accept Islam. The specific instructions and injunctions are meant for those who have come to believe in Islam, and they are always addressed as "those who believe " That the message of Islam was universal in character is proved by the fact that those who accepted the message acquired equal rights and status as believers, regardless of all differences of origin. The Qur’an says, “The believers are all like brothers”. The Prophet said: "those who subscribe to our beliefs, and adopt the Islamic way of life, have the same rights and the same obligations as we have. The Prophet announced, “Listen! You have one God as you have one father (Adam). There is no distinction between an Arab and a non-Arab. There is no preference for the black over the fair, or the fair over the black. There is distinction only in submission to God. The most virtuous among you is the most honourable in the eyes of God”.
IX. Among the fundamentals of Islam, the most important is belief in one God, —not just the conviction that He exists or that He is one—but that He alone is the Creator, Master, Ruler, and Administrator of all that exists. The universe exists because God wills it to exist, it functions because God wills it to function, and God provides the sustenance and the energy, which everything of the universe requires for its existence and growth. All the attributes of Sovereignty reside in God alone, and no one else has a share in them in the slightest degree. He alone possesses all the attributes of Divinity, and no one other than God possesses any of those attributes. He views the whole universe, and all that it contains, in a single instantaneous glance. He has direct knowledge of the universe, and all that is there in the universe. He knows not only its present, but its past and its future as well. This omnipresence and omniscience is an attribute of God alone and of no other. There was no ‘before’ him and there is no ‘after’ him. He has been there always and will be there always—eternal and abiding. All else is transient. He alone is eternally living and present. He is no one’s progeny and He has no progeny. Whatever exists, besides His self, is His own creation, and no other can identify himself in any manner with the Lord of the universe, or claim to be his son or daughter. He is man's single Deity. To associate anyone in His worship is as great a sin as it is an act of infidelity. He responds to man's prayers and He alone has the power to accept or reject them. Not to ask of him is senseless arrogance, and to turn to others is sheer ignorance. To seek of him and also of others, is to associate equals with him.
X. The sovereignty of God in Islam is not just a supernatural phenomenon. It covers all aspects of political and legal sovereignty also and in these too no one other than God has any share. In God alone vests the rightful authority to exercise power on this earth, and over those whom God has created in it. No monarch, no royal family, no elite class, no leader of any religious group, no demkcracy established on the basis of the sovereignty of the people, can participate in God's sovereignty. Whoever claims such a position is a rebel, as are those who leave God and turn to other people in obedience. Similarly, any institution or individual attempting to assume political and legal sovereignty and restrict the jurisdiction of God to spheres of personal law or religious duties is really a usurper and a rebel. The truth is that no one can claim to be a lawgiver on God’s earth, and no one can challenge the supreme authority of God Almighty in any sphere.
XI. Certain natural consequences flow from this Islamic concept of God.
(a) God alone is the real Deity and no one other than God has any right to be worshipped by man.
(b) God alone has authority over the forces of the universe, and he alone can fulfill or frustrate man's hopes. Man should turn to Him alone in prayer. He should never imagine that prayers could be addressed to anyone but God.
(c) God is the Master of man's destiny and no one else can interfere with the fate of others or with his own fate. Man’s hopes and fears must, therefore, be directed only to God. No one else should be an object of fear or source of favour.
(d) God is the Creator of the world and He alone has complete and direct knowledge of the reality of man and of the world. Only He can guide man through the complicated course of life and instruct him regarding good and evil. Since God alone is the Creator and the Master He has exclusive authority over the universe and man. It is an act of blasphemy for man to become independent or claim authority over other men. For man to become his own lawgiver to accept the authority of any other individual or institution as such is equally blasphemous. The ultimate Lawgiver and Master of His creation on this earth is no other than God, and His law has the status of the supreme law. Man can legislate subject to his Supreme law. Beyond that he has no legislative authority.
XII. We now come to our second most important belief---belief in Mohammad's prophet hood. God conveyed His message to man through Mohammad. This took two forms:
(a) God revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet in his own language.
(b) The Sunnah of the Prophet, which is an unerring guide to man in respect of all that, is permissible and all that is prohibited in the eyes of God. Without this belief in the Prophet, belief in God would become a mere theoretical proposition. It is the example of practical leadership, and the ideological guidance provided by the Prophet, which transforms belief in God into a culture and a civilization, and enables man to evolve a way of life. We get through the Prophet not only rules of guidance, but a complete scheme of values and a practical code of conduct. No one can be a practicing Muslim unless he believes in the Prophet as he believes in God.
XIII. The position of the Prophet has been so clearly defined in Islam that we can know what he was and what he was not. The Prophet is no more than a servant of God. He was to make people servants of God and not servants of himself. At least seventeen times a day Muslims recite in their prayers: “1 bear witness that Mohammad is a servant of God and is His prophet.” The Qur’an leaves no doubt that the Prophet is but a human being and has no share whatever in Divinity. The Prophet is neither superhuman nor is he free of human weaknesses. He owns no treasure of God, nor does he possess knowledge of the unknown that he should become all knowing like God Almighty. Leave alone being able to benefit others or cause them harm, the Prophet cannot do so even in respect of himself. The precise task of the Prophet is to communicate the message of God. He has no powers to make people righteous and faithful. Nor can he call to account those who refuse to believe, and he certainly has no power to punish them for their disbelief. Should the Prophet himself choose to defy God or fabricate things on behalf of God or make any change in the message revealed to him, he will incur divine displeasure and punishment. Mohammad is one of the Prophets of God, and above that he has no status. He cannot by himself prohibit or permit anything. Without a mandate from God he cannot legislate for the people. He has to strictly conform to Divine commandments. Islam ensured that the believers should not turn the Prophet into a demi-god. Some of the earlier prophets suffered this fate at the hands of their followers. They attributed all kinds of supernatural powers to their leaders and made them into God's equals or progeny or incarnation. By discouraging such exaggeration Islam has established the true position of the Prophet as follows:
No one can claim to be a believer without believing in the Prophet. He who obeys the Prophet, in fact, obeys God. God has not designated any Prophet except to be obeyed according to His will. The path of the Prophet is the path of Divine guidance. Whatever the Prophet ordains must be accepted, and whatever he instructs to avoid, must be avoided. The Prophet clarified this when he said: I am a mortal like you. In matters revealed to me by God, you must obey my instructions. But you know more about your own worldly affairs than I do so my advice in these matters is not binding. The Sunnah of Mohammad is, in fact an exposition of the purpose of the Qur’an, and this exposition too was conveyed lo the Prophet by God Himself, as the author of the Qur’an. The Prophet’s explanation of the Qur’an enjoys divine sanction, and no one else can interpret Qur’an which may be in conflict with or repugnant to the explanation given by the Prophet. God declared the life of Mohammad as a model life. No one can be a true believer unless he accepts the decision of the Prophet. Muslims have not an independent position in a matter determined by the Prophet. Before deciding any matter Muslims must first ascertain whether God and His Prophet decided any analogous matter earlier, and if a precedent exists they must follow it.
I hope I have clarified that God conveyed, through the Prophet, to mankind not only a supreme law but also a permanent scheme of values. That which is good, according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah, is good for all times, and that which is evil, shall remain evil forever. That which is enjoined as duty, in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, shall always be a duty. What is declared permissible is permissible forever, and what is prohibited is prohibited for all times. In this law no amendment, deletion, addition, or abrogation, is possible unless some person or community decides to renounce Islam. So long as Muslims remain Muslims, it is impossible in their social and legal system that something, which was evil yesterday, turns into good today, and reverts to evil tomorrow
XIV. The third fundamental creed of Islam is belief in the hereafter (Akhirah). Denial of the hereafter is the denial of Islam even though one may have belief in God, in the Prophet, and in the Qur’an. In its detailed form, this belief is composed of the following essential elements:
(i) Man has not been unleashed on the earth as an irresponsible savage. He is accountable to God for his actions. Today's life is only a test and an examination At the end we will all be called upon to render a complete account of our acts of commission and omission to God.
(ii) The time for accountability is fixed by God The tenure Allotted to mankind, on this earth, shall terminate on the doomsday, when the present order will be annihilated and replaced by another The whole human race will rise once again in the new world.
(iii) That will be the time when they will appear before God Almighty, and every one will face the consequences of his personal acts in his individual capacity.
(iv) I he Judgment will rest not on God's own knowledge alone. The requirements of due process of justice will be fully observed. A complete record of the actions of every individual, without the slightest alternation, will be put in the open Court, and evidence, of different categories, will be presented to prove what was done by man in private or in public, and the motives which inspired his conduct.
(v) 1 here will be no undue intercession. Neither bribery, nor advocacy against the truth will be tolerated No one will be able to shift his burden to another. Even the closest relations, friends, leaders, religious guides, or self-styled deities, will not be able to offer any help to anyone man will stand by himself—helpless and alone and render his account, and await the pronouncement of the judgment, which shall be in the power of God alone.
(vi) The judgment will rest on one question Did man conduct himself, in submission to God, in strict conformity with the truth revealed to the Prophets, and with the conviction that he will be held responsible for his conduct in life on the Day of Judgment? If the answer is in the affirmative, the reward will be Paradise, and if in the negative, Hell will be the punishment.
XV. Belief in the hereafter divides people into three distinct categories. First, there are those who do not believe in the hereafter and regard life on this earth as the only life. Naturally, they judge good and evil by the results which manifest themselves in this world If an action produces beneficial results it is good, and if it brings about harmful results it is evil. Quite often the same action is regarded as good when the results are good, and bad when its results are bad. Second, those people who do not deny the hereafter, but who depend on the intercession or atonement of some one to absolve them of their sins. Among them there are some, who regard themselves as God's chosen people, who will receive only nominal punishment however grave their sins. This deprives them of the moral advantage, which they could have derived from their belief in the hereafter. As a result they also become very much like the people who deny the hereafter. Third, arc those people who believe in the hereafter in the form in which Islam presents it. They do not delude themselves that they have any special relationship with God, or that anyone can intercede on their behalf. They know that they alone are responsible for their actions. For them the belief in the hereafter becomes a great moral force. A person who has the conviction that he is fully accountable for all his actions finds a permanent guard, stationed within himself, who cautions him and admonishes him whenever he deviates from the right path. There may be no court to summon him, no policemen to apprehend him, no witnesses to accuse him, and no public opinion to press him, but the guard within him is ever on the alert, ready to seize him whenever he transgresses. The consciousness of this inner presence makes man fear God even when he is all by himself. He discharges his duties honestly, and refrains from doing anything, which is prohibited. Should he succumb to temptation, and violate the law of God, he is ever ready to offer sincere regrets, and to enter into a firm contract with the future that he will not repeat the mistake. There can be neither greater instrument of moral reformation nor any better method to help man to develop a sound and stable character. It is the hereafter, which helps men, under all circumstances, to conform to God's scheme of permanent values. It is for this reason that Islam attaches great importance to the belief in the hereafter, and without it even the belief in God and the Prophet is not sufficient for man's guidance.
XVI. A little earlier, I mentioned that Islam represents a whole civilization, a complete culture, and a comprehensive world order. It provides moral guidance in all walks of life. That is why Islamic values arc not for the ascetic who renounces the world, but for him who actively participates in different spheres of life, and works within them. The moral values which people look for in convents, monasteries, and cloisters, arc presented by Islam right in the current of life. Heads of governments, governors of states, judges, members of the armed forces and police services, elected representatives of the people in the parliaments, leaders of finance, trade and industry, college and university teachers, and students alike receive guidance to organize their lives according to the principles of Islam. There is no distinction in Islam between private and public conduct. The same moral code, which one observes at home, applies to one's conduct in public. Every institution of society and every department of Government must conform to the laws of Islam. Politics must be based on truth and justice. Nations should deal with one another, on the basis of mutual recognition of rights, and due discharge of obligations. Even if there has to be war, those engaged in it should conduct themselves not as barbarians but as civilized human beings. When man decides to submit to the will of God, and accepts His law as the supreme law, and organizes his life in accordance with the revealed moral code, on the principle of accountability to God, the quality and character of his life cannot be limited to the precincts of prayer halls. It must extend itself to every sphere of his work as a man of God.
Zakat (Charity towards man)
Zakat
Charity towards man, in the widest sense of the word, is the cornerstone of the Islamic society and a constant theme in the Quranic teachings. There are two kinds of charities in Islam: the obligatory and the voluntary. The obligatory charity is called Zakat while the voluntary charity is called Sadaqah.
The concept of Zakat was not totally new to Islam; similar alms giving had been enjoined upon the Israelites and the Christians as well. In Islam, the Zakat takes the form of a prescribed contribution based on a person's wealth and income. The rate of contribution varies with the kind of property owned but, on an average, works out to two and one half percent of the total value. The proceeds of Zakat are supposed to be devoted towards:
- relieving poverty and distress
- helping those in debt
- providing comfort and convenience for travelers
- providing stipends for scholarships
- providing ransom for prisoners of war
- propagation of Islam
- meeting the expenses for the collection of Zakat
- other things beneficial for the society
Zakat, therefore, is a duty enjoined by God in the interest of the society as a whole. While on one hand these charitable contributions provide for the needs of the society, on the other hand the act of giving in the name of God purifies the heart of the contributor from selfishness and greed
Charity towards man, in the widest sense of the word, is the cornerstone of the Islamic society and a constant theme in the Quranic teachings. There are two kinds of charities in Islam: the obligatory and the voluntary. The obligatory charity is called Zakat while the voluntary charity is called Sadaqah.
The concept of Zakat was not totally new to Islam; similar alms giving had been enjoined upon the Israelites and the Christians as well. In Islam, the Zakat takes the form of a prescribed contribution based on a person's wealth and income. The rate of contribution varies with the kind of property owned but, on an average, works out to two and one half percent of the total value. The proceeds of Zakat are supposed to be devoted towards:
- relieving poverty and distress
- helping those in debt
- providing comfort and convenience for travelers
- providing stipends for scholarships
- providing ransom for prisoners of war
- propagation of Islam
- meeting the expenses for the collection of Zakat
- other things beneficial for the society
Zakat, therefore, is a duty enjoined by God in the interest of the society as a whole. While on one hand these charitable contributions provide for the needs of the society, on the other hand the act of giving in the name of God purifies the heart of the contributor from selfishness and greed
Why do Muslims Pray Five Times a Day
Why do Muslims Pray Five Times a Day?
Articles - Understanding Islam
Wednesday, 01 Sha'ban 1428
The Catholic Prime Minister of the Caribbean island of St. T Vincent is reported (Trinidad Guardian, May 8th, 2004) to have entered into the Mt. St. Benedict (Catholic) Monastery in Trinidad for a spiritual retreat during which “ he would join the monks in praying five times a day”. There are many people in the Caribbean who have chosen to become Muslims by proclaiming that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. When they do so they are taught, first of all, to pray ‘five times a day’. What is the origin of ‘five times’ daily prayers? We feel certain that there will be many, apart from the Prime Minister and the monks in the monastery, who will find this subject to be of compelling and abiding interesting.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was forty years of age when Angel Gabriel appeared to inform him that he was a Prophet of the One God. Prior to that event he was, himself, unaware of this status of his, yet he never worshipped the idols of Arabia. There were others, known as Hunafa, who also refused to worship idols. They worshipped One God, made the annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to His Holy Temple in Makkah built by Abraham. And they sacrificed animals annually in commemoration of Abraham’s trial of sacrifice of his (then) only son, Ishmael, peace be upon him.
Sometime after that first visit, the Angel came one day and taught the Prophet how to perform ablution before prayer, i.e., wash hands, mouth, nostrils and entire face, then wash arms up to the elbows, then pass wet hands on the head, and, finally, wash the feet. The angel also taught him how to stand bare-footed in prayer, to bow down and to prostrate before the Lord-God. Some eleven years later, the Prophet was summoned in a miraculous celestial journey by night from Makkah to Jerusalem and then into the heavens to the special Divine presence. He then received the obligation of ‘five times daily prayers’ directly from the Lord-God Himself, and he returned to announce to all those who had faith in Allah Most High that the institution of (five times daily) prayers was the vehicle through which they, too, could journey to the divine presence.
Angel Gabriel subsequently came to him one day and led him in prayer five times - once in the early morning (after dawn but before sunrise), once in the early afternoon (after the sun had crossed the zenith but before mid-afternoon), once in the later afternoon (but before the setting of the sun), once after the sun had set, and finally in the early hours of the night (after twilight had ended). On each occasion he led the prayers at the earliest time possible. He then returned the next day and again led the Prophet in the same five times prayers, but this time he chose the latest possible time for each prayer. He then announced that these were the five times of compulsory prayer, and that each prayer was to be performed within the timeframe just established. In addition to these compulsory prayers there are, of course, voluntary prayers that could be performed at any time, but best of all in the early hours of the morning before dawn.
Since there is but One God, and hence but one Truth, and only one true religion (i.e., the religion of ‘Abraham’ from whose name the name ‘Brahma’ appears to have originated) the implication is that whoever worships the One true God must pray these five times compulsory prayers every day. Anyone who does not perform the five times daily prayers would eventually live an essentially pagan life since the compulsory five times daily prayers are the very foundation of the religious way of life.
When Jesus, the true Messiah, peace be upon him, returns, he, also, will pray to Allah Most High five times a day in the same way that Angel Gabriel taught Prophet Muhammad to pray, and in the same way that Muslims pray to this day (without chairs, benches, pews, etc.) They stand barefooted before Allah Most High in prayer, then bow down, sit flat, and prostrate themselves with their faces on the blessed earth. They do so ‘five times a day’, and will continue to do so, Insha Allah, in defiance of that godless world-order that is waging war on them, and regardless of the price they pay for that defiance. And they do so with the absolute conviction that Truth must eventually triumph over its wicked godless enemies.
They also recite in every prayer the opening Surah (chapter) of the Qur’an in which they ask to be guided “on the straight path – the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not the path of those who earn Thine anger, nor of those who go astray.” It should be clear to our readers that those who are today waging unjust war on Islam in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Holy Land and elsewhere, most certainly earn Allah’s anger, and those misguided Muslims or non-Muslims who support such people, while worshipping at the alter of a US Visa, or for whatever other foolish reason, are most certainly a people who have gone astray.
Articles - Understanding Islam
Wednesday, 01 Sha'ban 1428
The Catholic Prime Minister of the Caribbean island of St. T Vincent is reported (Trinidad Guardian, May 8th, 2004) to have entered into the Mt. St. Benedict (Catholic) Monastery in Trinidad for a spiritual retreat during which “ he would join the monks in praying five times a day”. There are many people in the Caribbean who have chosen to become Muslims by proclaiming that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. When they do so they are taught, first of all, to pray ‘five times a day’. What is the origin of ‘five times’ daily prayers? We feel certain that there will be many, apart from the Prime Minister and the monks in the monastery, who will find this subject to be of compelling and abiding interesting.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was forty years of age when Angel Gabriel appeared to inform him that he was a Prophet of the One God. Prior to that event he was, himself, unaware of this status of his, yet he never worshipped the idols of Arabia. There were others, known as Hunafa, who also refused to worship idols. They worshipped One God, made the annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to His Holy Temple in Makkah built by Abraham. And they sacrificed animals annually in commemoration of Abraham’s trial of sacrifice of his (then) only son, Ishmael, peace be upon him.
Sometime after that first visit, the Angel came one day and taught the Prophet how to perform ablution before prayer, i.e., wash hands, mouth, nostrils and entire face, then wash arms up to the elbows, then pass wet hands on the head, and, finally, wash the feet. The angel also taught him how to stand bare-footed in prayer, to bow down and to prostrate before the Lord-God. Some eleven years later, the Prophet was summoned in a miraculous celestial journey by night from Makkah to Jerusalem and then into the heavens to the special Divine presence. He then received the obligation of ‘five times daily prayers’ directly from the Lord-God Himself, and he returned to announce to all those who had faith in Allah Most High that the institution of (five times daily) prayers was the vehicle through which they, too, could journey to the divine presence.
Angel Gabriel subsequently came to him one day and led him in prayer five times - once in the early morning (after dawn but before sunrise), once in the early afternoon (after the sun had crossed the zenith but before mid-afternoon), once in the later afternoon (but before the setting of the sun), once after the sun had set, and finally in the early hours of the night (after twilight had ended). On each occasion he led the prayers at the earliest time possible. He then returned the next day and again led the Prophet in the same five times prayers, but this time he chose the latest possible time for each prayer. He then announced that these were the five times of compulsory prayer, and that each prayer was to be performed within the timeframe just established. In addition to these compulsory prayers there are, of course, voluntary prayers that could be performed at any time, but best of all in the early hours of the morning before dawn.
Since there is but One God, and hence but one Truth, and only one true religion (i.e., the religion of ‘Abraham’ from whose name the name ‘Brahma’ appears to have originated) the implication is that whoever worships the One true God must pray these five times compulsory prayers every day. Anyone who does not perform the five times daily prayers would eventually live an essentially pagan life since the compulsory five times daily prayers are the very foundation of the religious way of life.
When Jesus, the true Messiah, peace be upon him, returns, he, also, will pray to Allah Most High five times a day in the same way that Angel Gabriel taught Prophet Muhammad to pray, and in the same way that Muslims pray to this day (without chairs, benches, pews, etc.) They stand barefooted before Allah Most High in prayer, then bow down, sit flat, and prostrate themselves with their faces on the blessed earth. They do so ‘five times a day’, and will continue to do so, Insha Allah, in defiance of that godless world-order that is waging war on them, and regardless of the price they pay for that defiance. And they do so with the absolute conviction that Truth must eventually triumph over its wicked godless enemies.
They also recite in every prayer the opening Surah (chapter) of the Qur’an in which they ask to be guided “on the straight path – the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not the path of those who earn Thine anger, nor of those who go astray.” It should be clear to our readers that those who are today waging unjust war on Islam in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Holy Land and elsewhere, most certainly earn Allah’s anger, and those misguided Muslims or non-Muslims who support such people, while worshipping at the alter of a US Visa, or for whatever other foolish reason, are most certainly a people who have gone astray.
Monday, 4 March 2013
The Quran on Human Embryonic Development
Description: The miracle of embryonic development is mentioned in the Quran in such minute detail, much of which was unknown to scientists until only recently. It mentions the first stages of life after conception, the second stage of life after conception, and witnesses of scientists about these scientific facts of the Quran.
By islam-guide.com
Published on 02 Mar 2006 - Last modified on 13 Mar 2011
Viewed: 103658 (daily average: 40) - Rating: 4.3 out of 5 - Rated by: 183
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Category: Articles > Evidence Islam is Truth > The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran
Category: Articles > The Holy Quran > The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran
In the Holy Quran, God speaks about the stages of man’s embryonic development:
“We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)…” (Quran 23:12-14)
Literally, the Arabic word alaqah has three meanings: (1) leech, (2) suspended thing, and (3) blood clot.
In comparing a leech to an embryo in the alaqah stage, we find similarity between the two[1] as we can see in figure 1. Also, the embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the mother, similar to the leech, which feeds on the blood of others.[2]
Figure 1: Drawings illustrating the similarities in appearance between a leech and a human embryo at the alaqah stage. (Leech drawing from Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 37, modified from Integrated Principles of Zoology, Hickman and others. Embryo drawing from The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 73.)
The second meaning of the word alaqah is “suspended thing.” This is what we can see in figures 2 and 3, the suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.
Figure 2: We can see in this diagram the suspension of an embryo during the alaqah stage in the womb (uterus) of the mother. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 66.)
Figure 3: In this photomicrograph, we can see the suspension of an embryo (marked B) during the alaqah stage (about 15 days old) in the womb of the mother. The actual size of the embryo is about 0.6 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore, 3rd ed., p. 66, from Histology, Leeson and Leeson.)
The third meaning of the word alaqah is “blood clot.” We find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the alaqah stage is similar to that of a blood clot. This is due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo during this stage[3] (see figure 4). Also during this stage, the blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.[4] Thus, the embryo at this stage is like a clot of blood.
Figure 4: Diagram of the primitive cardiovascular system in an embryo during the alaqah stage. The external appearance of the embryo and its sacs is similar to that of a blood clot, due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo. (The Developing Human, Moore, 5th ed., p. 65.)
So the three meanings of the word alaqah correspond accurately to the descriptions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.
The next stage mentioned in the verse is the mudghah stage. The Arabic word mudghah means “chewed substance.” If one were to take a piece of gum and chew it in his or her mouth and then compare it with an embryo at the mudghah stage, we would conclude that the embryo at the mudghah stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance. This is because of the somites at the back of the embryo that “somewhat resemble teethmarks in a chewed substance.”[5] (see figures 5 and 6).
Figure 5: Photograph of an embryo at the mudghah stage (28 days old). The embryo at this stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance, because the somites at the back of the embryo somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance. The actual size of the embryo is 4 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 82, from Professor Hideo Nishimura, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.)
Figure 6: When comparing the appearance of an embryo at the mudghah stage with a piece of gum that has been chewed, we find similarity between the two.
A) Drawing of an embryo at the mudghah stage. We can see here the somites at the back of the embryo that look like teeth marks. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 79.)
B) Photograph of a piece of gum that has been chewed.
How could Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, have possibly known all this 1400 years ago, when scientists have only recently discovered this using advanced equipment and powerful microscopes which did not exist at that time? Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatozoa) using an improved microscope in 1677 (more than 1000 years after Muhammad). They mistakenly thought that the sperm cell contained a miniature preformed human being that grew when it was deposited in the female genital tract.[6]
Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore[7] is one of the world’s most prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology and is the author of the book entitled The Developing Human, which has been translated into eight languages. This book is a scientific reference work and was chosen by a special committee in the United States as the best book authored by one person. Dr. Keith Moore is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. There, he was Associate Dean of Basic Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy. In 1984, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists. He has directed many international associations, such as the Canadian and American Association of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biological Sciences.
In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Professor Moore said: “It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God.”[8] (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment click here).
Consequently, Professor Moore was asked the following question: “Does this mean that you believe that the Quran is the word of God?” He replied: “I find no difficulty in accepting this.”[9]
During one conference, Professor Moore stated: “....Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous process of change during development, it is proposed that a new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (what Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said, did, or approved of). The proposed system is simple, comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological knowledge. The intensive studies of the Quran and hadeeth (reliably transmitted reports by the Prophet Muhammad’s companions of what he said, did, or approved of) in the last four years have revealed a system for classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh century A.D. Although Aristotle, the founder of the science of embryology, realized that chick embryos developed in stages from his studies of hen’s eggs in the fourth century B.C., he did not give any details about these stages. As far as it is known from the history of embryology, little was known about the staging and classification of human embryos until the twentieth century. For this reason, the descriptions of the human embryo in the Quran cannot be based on scientific knowledge in the seventh century. The only reasonable conclusion is: these descriptions were revealed to Muhammad from God. He could not have known such details because he was an illiterate man with absolutely no scientific training.”[10] (View the RealPlayer video of this comment).
Footnotes:
[1] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.
[2] Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 36.
[3] Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, pp. 37-38.
[4] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 65.
[5] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.
[6] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 9.
[7] Note: The occupations of all the scientists mentioned in this web site were last updated in 1997.
[8] The reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy of this videotape, please visit www.islam-guide.com/truth.htm
[9] This is the Truth (videotape).
[10] This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy, see footnote no. 9.
By islam-guide.com
Published on 02 Mar 2006 - Last modified on 13 Mar 2011
Viewed: 103658 (daily average: 40) - Rating: 4.3 out of 5 - Rated by: 183
Printed: 2638 - Emailed: 401 - Commented on: 8
Category: Articles > Evidence Islam is Truth > The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran
Category: Articles > The Holy Quran > The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran
In the Holy Quran, God speaks about the stages of man’s embryonic development:
“We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)…” (Quran 23:12-14)
Literally, the Arabic word alaqah has three meanings: (1) leech, (2) suspended thing, and (3) blood clot.
In comparing a leech to an embryo in the alaqah stage, we find similarity between the two[1] as we can see in figure 1. Also, the embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the mother, similar to the leech, which feeds on the blood of others.[2]
Figure 1: Drawings illustrating the similarities in appearance between a leech and a human embryo at the alaqah stage. (Leech drawing from Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 37, modified from Integrated Principles of Zoology, Hickman and others. Embryo drawing from The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 73.)
The second meaning of the word alaqah is “suspended thing.” This is what we can see in figures 2 and 3, the suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.
Figure 2: We can see in this diagram the suspension of an embryo during the alaqah stage in the womb (uterus) of the mother. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 66.)
Figure 3: In this photomicrograph, we can see the suspension of an embryo (marked B) during the alaqah stage (about 15 days old) in the womb of the mother. The actual size of the embryo is about 0.6 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore, 3rd ed., p. 66, from Histology, Leeson and Leeson.)
The third meaning of the word alaqah is “blood clot.” We find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the alaqah stage is similar to that of a blood clot. This is due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo during this stage[3] (see figure 4). Also during this stage, the blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.[4] Thus, the embryo at this stage is like a clot of blood.
Figure 4: Diagram of the primitive cardiovascular system in an embryo during the alaqah stage. The external appearance of the embryo and its sacs is similar to that of a blood clot, due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo. (The Developing Human, Moore, 5th ed., p. 65.)
So the three meanings of the word alaqah correspond accurately to the descriptions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.
The next stage mentioned in the verse is the mudghah stage. The Arabic word mudghah means “chewed substance.” If one were to take a piece of gum and chew it in his or her mouth and then compare it with an embryo at the mudghah stage, we would conclude that the embryo at the mudghah stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance. This is because of the somites at the back of the embryo that “somewhat resemble teethmarks in a chewed substance.”[5] (see figures 5 and 6).
Figure 5: Photograph of an embryo at the mudghah stage (28 days old). The embryo at this stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance, because the somites at the back of the embryo somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance. The actual size of the embryo is 4 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 82, from Professor Hideo Nishimura, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.)
Figure 6: When comparing the appearance of an embryo at the mudghah stage with a piece of gum that has been chewed, we find similarity between the two.
A) Drawing of an embryo at the mudghah stage. We can see here the somites at the back of the embryo that look like teeth marks. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 79.)
B) Photograph of a piece of gum that has been chewed.
How could Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, have possibly known all this 1400 years ago, when scientists have only recently discovered this using advanced equipment and powerful microscopes which did not exist at that time? Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatozoa) using an improved microscope in 1677 (more than 1000 years after Muhammad). They mistakenly thought that the sperm cell contained a miniature preformed human being that grew when it was deposited in the female genital tract.[6]
Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore[7] is one of the world’s most prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology and is the author of the book entitled The Developing Human, which has been translated into eight languages. This book is a scientific reference work and was chosen by a special committee in the United States as the best book authored by one person. Dr. Keith Moore is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. There, he was Associate Dean of Basic Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy. In 1984, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists. He has directed many international associations, such as the Canadian and American Association of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biological Sciences.
In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Professor Moore said: “It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God.”[8] (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment click here).
Consequently, Professor Moore was asked the following question: “Does this mean that you believe that the Quran is the word of God?” He replied: “I find no difficulty in accepting this.”[9]
During one conference, Professor Moore stated: “....Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous process of change during development, it is proposed that a new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (what Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said, did, or approved of). The proposed system is simple, comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological knowledge. The intensive studies of the Quran and hadeeth (reliably transmitted reports by the Prophet Muhammad’s companions of what he said, did, or approved of) in the last four years have revealed a system for classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh century A.D. Although Aristotle, the founder of the science of embryology, realized that chick embryos developed in stages from his studies of hen’s eggs in the fourth century B.C., he did not give any details about these stages. As far as it is known from the history of embryology, little was known about the staging and classification of human embryos until the twentieth century. For this reason, the descriptions of the human embryo in the Quran cannot be based on scientific knowledge in the seventh century. The only reasonable conclusion is: these descriptions were revealed to Muhammad from God. He could not have known such details because he was an illiterate man with absolutely no scientific training.”[10] (View the RealPlayer video of this comment).
Footnotes:
[1] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.
[2] Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 36.
[3] Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, pp. 37-38.
[4] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 65.
[5] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.
[6] The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 9.
[7] Note: The occupations of all the scientists mentioned in this web site were last updated in 1997.
[8] The reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy of this videotape, please visit www.islam-guide.com/truth.htm
[9] This is the Truth (videotape).
[10] This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy, see footnote no. 9.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Pointers on Choosing Marriage Partners
Pointers on Choosing Marriage Partners
By Rabi'ah Hakeem
In light of the experience of the past years, it is time to take stock and try to halt the ever-mounting tide of divorces among Muslims. It is not unusual today to find Muslim women (and even an occasional Muslim man) who, by the time they are 30 or 35, have been married three or four times, their children suffering again and again through the trauma of fatherless and broken homes. Accordingly, we may list a few essential points to be considered by both brothers and sisters in the process of choosing a partner in life (although the masculine
pronoun has been used throughout for the sake of simplicity, the following is generally equally applicable to both men and women).
1. Du'a. Unceasingly ask help and guidance from Allah, Most High, in the matter of finding and choosing a mate. As often as you feel it necessary, pray Salaah al-Istikhara, Islam's special prayer for guidance, in order to reach a suitable decision.
2. Consult your heart. Listen to what your inner voice, the 'radar' which Allah has given you to guide you, tells you about the prospective partner. It is likely to be more correct than your mind, which often plays tricks and can rationalise almost any- thing. For many people, first impressions are often the most accurate.
3. Enquire. Find out the reason why this man wants to marry you. Is he interested in you as an individual or will just any person do? Why is he not doing the logical thing, that is, to marry someone from his culture? If there is evidence that the primary reason for this marriage, despite claims to the contrary, is for convenience (greencard, money, property, etc.), forget it. This spells trouble.
4. Get to know your prospective partner, within the limits of what is permissible in Islam, before deciding on marriage. Just ' seeing' someone once or twice in the company of others, who may be anxious for this marriage to take place, is simply not enough under today's conditions, where two per- sons of totally dis-similar backgrounds are meeting each other without the safeguards of families. Without violating Islam's prohibition about being alone, try to understand his nature, what makes him tick, his temperament, what he might be like to live with.
5. Talk to several people who know your prospective partner, not just one, or have someone whom you can trust do this for you. Ask about him from various people, not just from his friends because they may conceal facts to do him a favour. And ask not only about his background, career, Islamicity, etc., but about such crucial matters as whether he gets angry easily; what he does when he is 'mad'; whether he is patient, polite, considerate; how he gets along with people; how he relates to the opposite sex; what sort of relationship he has with his mother and father; whether he is fond of children; what his personal habits are, etc. And find out about his plans for the future from people who know him. Do they coincide with what he has told you? Go into as much detail as possible. Check out his plans for the future - where you will live and what your lifestyle will be, his attitudes toward money and possessions and the like. If you can't get answers to such crucial questions from people who know him, ask him yourself and try to make sure he is not just saying what he knows you want to hear. Too many people will make all kinds of promises before marriages in order to secure the partner they want but afterwards forget that they ever made them, (this naturally applies equally to women as to men).
6. Find out about his family, his relations with his parents, brothers and sisters. What will his obligations be to them in the future? How will this affect where and under what conditions you will live? What are the character and temperament of each of his parents? Will they live with you or you with them? And are they pleased with his prospective marriage to you or not? Although it may not be the case in most Western marriages, among Muslims such issues are often crucial to the success or failure of a marriage, and answers to these questions need to be satisfactory to ensure a peaceful married life.
7. Understand each other's expectations. Try to get a sense of your prospective partner's under- standing of the marriage relationship, how he will behave in various situations, and what he wants of you as his spouse. These are issues which should be discussed clearly and unambiguously as the negotiations progress, not left to become sources of disharmony after the marriage because they were never brought up beforehand. If you are too shy to ask certain questions, have a person you trust do it for you. At an advanced stage of the negotiations, such a discussion should include such matters as birth control, when children are to be expected, how they are to be raised, how he feels about helping with housework and with the children's upbringing, whether or not you may go to school or work, relations with his family and yours, and other vital issues.
8. See him interacting with others in various situations. The more varied conditions under which you are able to observe your prospective partner, the more clues you will have as to his mode of dealing with people and circumstances.
9. Find out what his understanding of Islam is and whether it is compatible with your own. This is a very important matter. Is he expecting you to do many things which you have not done up to this point? If he emphasises " Haraams", especially if you are a new Muslimah, and seems unable to tolerate your viewpoint, chances are your marriage will be in trouble unless you are flexible enough to accommodate yourself to his point of view and possibly a very restrictive lifestyle. Let him spell out to you clearly how he intends to practise Islam and how he wants you to practise it as his wife so there will be no misunderstandings later.
10. Don't be in a hurry. So many marriages have broken because the partners are in such haste that they don't take time to make such vital checks as the ones outlined above and rush into things. Shocking as it may seem, marriages between Muslims which are contracted and then broken within a week or a month or a year have become common place occurrences among us. Don't add yourself to the list of marriage casualties because you couldn't take time or were too desperate for marriage to find out about or get to know the person with whom you plan to spend the rest of your life.
11. Ask yourself, Do I want this man/woman to be the father/mother of my children? If it doesn't feel just right to you, think it over again. Remember, marriage is not just for today or tomorrow but for life, and for the primary purpose of building a family. If the person in question doesn't seem like the sort who would make a good parent, you are likely to find yourself struggling to raise your children without any help from him or her - or even with negative input - in the future.
12. Never allow yourself to be pressured or talked into a marriage. Your heart must feel good about it, not someone else's. Again, allegations of "Islamicity" - he is pious, has a beard, frequents the Masjid, knows about Islam; she wears Hijab, does not talk to men- are not necessarily guarantees of a good partner for you or of a good marriage, but are only a part of a total picture. If an individual practises the Sunnah only in relation to worship or externals, chances are he /she has not really understood and is not really living Islam. Possessing the affection and Rahmah (mercy) which Islam enjoins between marriage partners is vital for a successful relationship, and these are the important traits to be looked for in a prospective partner.
13. Never consent to engaging in a marriage for a fixed period or in exchange for a sum of money. (Mut'a marriage). Such marriages are expressly forbidden in Islam and entering into them is a sinful act, as marriage must be entered into with a clear intention of it being permanent, for life, not for a limited and fixed duration.
If these guidelines are followed, Insha' Allah the chances of making a mistake which may mar the remainder of your life may be minimised.
Choosing a marriage partner is a most serious matter, perhaps the most serious decision you will ever make in your life since your partner can cause you either to be successful or to fail miserably, in the tests of this life and, consequently, in the Here- after. This decision needs to be made with utmost care and caution, repeatedly seeking guidance from your Lord.
If everything checks out favourable, well and good, best wishes for happiness together here and in the Hereafter. If not, better drop the matter and wait. Allah your Lord knows all about you, His servant, and has planned your destiny and your partner for you. Be sure that He will bring you together when the time is right. As the Qur'an enjoins, you must be patient until He opens a way for you, and for your part you should actively explore various marriage leads and possibilities.
Two words addressed to brothers arc In order here. If you are marrying or have married a recent convert to Islam, you must be very patient and supportive with her. Remember, Islam is new to her, and chances are that she will not be able to take on the whole of the Shari'ah at once - nor does Islam require this, if you look at the history of early Islam. In your wife 's efforts to conform herself to her new faith and culture, she needs time and a great deal of support, love, help and understanding from you, free of interference from outsiders. It is best to let her make changes at her own speed when her inner being is ready for them rather than demanding that she do this or that, even if it means that some time will elapse before she is ready to follow certain Islamic injunctions. If the changes come from within herself, they are likely to be sincere and permanent; otherwise, if she makes changes because of pressure from you or from others, she may always be unhappy with the situation and may look for ways out of it. You can help her by being consistent in your own behaviour. So many Muslims apply those parts of the Qur'an or Sunnah which suit them and abandon the rest, with resulting confusion in the minds of their wives and children. Thus, while firmly keeping the reins in your hands, you should look at your own faults, not hers, and be proud and happy with the efforts she is making. Make allowances, be considerate, and show your appreciation of the difficult task she is carrying out by every possible means. This will cause her to love and respect you, your culture, and Islam to grow infinitely faster than a harsh, dominating, forceful approach ever could.
Finally, a word of warning. Certain situations have occurred in which women, posing as Muslims (or perhaps actually having made Shahaadah), have deceived and made fools of numbers of Muslim men. Such women may
be extremely cunning and devious, operating as poor, lonely individuals in need of help and/or husbands. The brothers who fall into this net may be shown false photos, given false information or promises, cheated in all sorts of ways, and finally robbed of anything the conniving lady can manage to take from them. As was said, it is wise to check out any prospective partner with local Muslims who know her.
Keep your eyes open and take your time. Since marriage is for life, for eternity, hurrying into it for any reason whatsoever is the act of a foolish or careless person who has only himself or herself to blame if things go wrong.
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Socialization with Non-Muslims: Permissible
Socialization with Non-Muslims: Permissible?
Question:
Are we ever allowed to socialize with non-Muslims? How do we tell our non-Muslim friends that we cannot be their friends anymore, without hurting their feelings?
Answer by Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kutty:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother in Islam, we highly appreciate your interesting question and seize the chance to shed light on some of the Islamic teachings that are mostly misconceived. We implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.
First of all, Muslims are allowed to socialize with non-Muslims within limits. Muslims should have good relations with all people of every religion. At school, at work, in the neighborhood, et cetera, a Muslim should be kind and courteous to everyone. Islam teaches its adherents to interact with all people and cooperate for the good and betterment of the whole mankind. Muslims are taught to care for all people regardless of their faith or their opinions. In their relation with non-Muslims, Muslims should be aware of and observe their religious duties.
In his response to your question Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
"It is not all correct or accurate to say that we are not allowed to socialize with non-Muslims at all. Therefore, instead of saying that all forms of socialization with non-Muslims are forbidden, we should be more specific, and make distinctions and say: while there are some types of socialization that are considered either permissible or recommended, while there are others that are considered impermissible and still there are certain others that are considered undesirable.
Islam encourages Muslims to cooperate with everyone regardless of his/her religion or creed in all projects that are virtuous or beneficial to humanity or other creatures of God; so we must cooperate with everyone on projects intended to restore justice, peace and betterment of humans or God's creation. We learn from the sources that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as well as his Companions never stayed away from forging such relations with the non-Muslims. In fact, the Prophet fondly cherished his memories of a pact he had entered during the pre-Islamic times, which was related to siding with the oppressed against the oppressors and restoring the rights of those who have been victimized. His words in this context are almost axiomatic: "If I were to be invited to a similar pact by anyone, I would certainly hasten to join it!" We also learn from his seerah (biography) that he entered into a relationship of mutual cooperation and partnership with the Jews of Madinah. Although later on, they broke their part of the covenant, he never initiated such a breach.
So ask yourself what kind of socialization you are talking about. If it falls in the above category of virtue, piety or even things that are beneficial for worldly and other-worldly considerations, then we are certainly allowed to join in solidarity with them. Allah says, "Cooperate on virtue and God-consciousness and do not cooperate on sin and aggression." (Al-Ma'idah: 2)
If, on the other hand, by socialization you mean joining them in drinking, dancing, or any such activities that are considered unlawful, then we can never do so regardless of whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims. To think that we may do so with Muslims and not with non-Muslims is sheer ignorance, for haram shall remain haram, no matter who practices it, and halal shall remain halal, no matter who practices it.
Then there is yet another type of socialization which also falls under the forbidden or undesirable category. If, for instance, you are a weak Muslim and you are afraid of losing or compromising your values and morals while socializing with the non-Muslims, then you must not do so out of love for preserving your religion intact.
In light of the above, let me conclude by saying: We should consider our actions as well their effects carefully before we embark on them.
It is important for us Muslims to join with our fellow citizens in all laudable and beneficial projects that are intended for the betterment of the country and people. To do so is not only our duty as citizens but a religious duty since, as Muslims, we must always serve as instruments of goodness, mercy and compassion to all people and to all of Allah's creation. Among such noble and laudable projects we can include the following: working to eradicate poverty and homelessness; to save the children; to make our streets free of drugs, alcoholism, prostitution and homosexuality; to fight cruelty against animals; and to work for a cleaner environment, et cetera. We must never have any hesitation or reservation about cooperating with our non-Muslim neighbors for such causes.
As a matter of fact, this is our mandate as Muslims, for Allah states in the Qur'an, "O you who believe! Bow down, prostrate and worship your Lord and do good works in order for you to prosper." (Al-Hajj: 77)"
Allah Almighty knows best.
http://www.islamonline.net/fatwaapplication/english/display.asp?hFatwaID=100762
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Ramadan teaches restraint, patience
Ramadan teaches restraint, patience
By Leon Lagerstam, Staff writer
Ramadan, a month-long Islamic fast, ends with a new moon, and hopefully a new understanding.
A lot of rage, anger, oppression and talk of war is heard around the world, but Ramadan seeks to replace aggressive thoughts and behaviors with ideals of peace and charity, according to Imad Benjelloun, prayer leader and chairman of the Islamic Center of the Quad Cities.
"Ramadan is all about abstaining from doing what is wrong, and training oneself to do what is righteous,'' he said.
Ramadan is the month of the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from dawn to sunset, according to materials provided by the center. It ended with the sight of a new moon earlier this week.
Members of the Quad-Cities Muslim community gathered Friday night at the Clarion Hotel in Davenport for an "Eid ul-Fitr'' fast-breaking feast. Muslims worldwide observe Ramadan and its concluding feast.
Demographers say Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions, estimating about 1.2 billion Muslims exist in the world, including seven million in America. The Quad-Cities Muslim community totals several hundred people, but less than 1,000, Mr. Benjelloun said.
Some people were worried about how Ramadan would fit into the picture of instability and insecurity in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, and the turmoil and unrest seen around the world, he said.
However, no negative impact was seen locally, Mr. Benjelloun said. In fact, people from the community have asked many more questions about Ramadan and Islam since the terrorist tragedies, "and we're reaching out more and making many bridges,'' he said.
The numbers of people converting to Islam have skyrocketed since 9/11, said Khadija Evans of East Moline. She and her husband, Muhammad Evans, were among them.
"I converted Dec. 11 last year, which was about halfway through Ramadan, so I didn't fulfill the obligations, and didn't understand it yet,'' Mrs. Evans said. Since then, she's learned to read the Quran and prayers in Arabic and studied her new faith, saying it has answered many more questions she had in her life, making it fuller, and giving her a clearer understanding of the purpose of her existence.
"After 9/11, the media were saying a lot of things portraying Islam in a negative light,'' she said. "After reading many different things and looking it up on the Internet, I came to the conclusion the media were wrong, and I came to realize Islam was the true religion, and, in my heart, I knew I had to convert.''
Medical conditions, however, prevented her from observing Ramadan fasting requirements this month. Exemptions are granted for a variety of reasons, including medical ones. Other exemptions are given to children, menstruating or pregnant women, nursing mothers, mentally incapacitated people, elderly folks and travelers journeying more than 50 miles.
Those people have to either make up the fast on other dates or donate money to feed the hungry, Mrs. Evans said. She and her husband previously worked at the River Bend Food Bank, so they chose to donate to local hunger efforts.
"Ramadan helps you care about people,'' Mr. Benjelloun said. "It reminds you that other people are hungry and are suffering, and it pushes you to contribute more. It really contributes to solving a big problem in society -- narrowing the gap between the poor and healthy.''
A lot of fundraising takes place during Ramadan, he said, and "Muslims tend to give money from the bottom of their heart.''
Mr. Benjelloun compared Ramadan to a "training station.''
"It trains a person to be patient and righteous,'' he said. "It trains you to be a better person in your family and in your community, and to be a better servant to God the Almighty.''
He summarized Ramadan's importance by using the term "taqua,'' which he says means to be "on guard.''
"Basically, you must be on guard in every action you perform in your life,'' Mr. Benjelloun said. "Before you do anything, you need to make sure it pleases God the Almighty, and if it pleases God, it won't hurt anyone.''
Ramadan focuses on individual human beings, he said. If a human being learns to restrain himself from making wrong decisions, it carries on through his family, community and country, and could make the planet Earth entirely peaceful, he said.
World peace, however, is unlikely, when 100 people try to destroy what one person is trying to build, Mr. Benjelloun said.
"Our world lacks justice everywhere, especially at the international level,'' said Moutaz Kotob of Bettendorf. Many people don't realize that Muslims actually believe in "justice for all,'' he said.
Giving presentations at schools, churches and organizations help reduce such misunderstandings, making it easier to know and live with each other, Mr. Kotob said.
Living in the Quad-Cities makes it easier to practice her faith, Mrs. Evans said.
"In other parts of the country, there have been attacks on people,'' she said. "I'm lucky to live in this area. I'm not sure whether it's a case of tolerance, but I think it's actually more of a case of acceptance.''
The worst she's heard from people are comments under their breath, but said she felt sorry for them, not angry.
Mr. Benjelloun admits some Muslims may have forgotten what Ramadan is really about, saying "you'll always find people who are not going to do what they are supposed to be doing, but generally, people do know what it is and act accordingly.''
Ramadan, he said, is one of the "five pillars'' of Islam. Not eating or drinking is not the goal of Ramadan, Mr. Benjelloun said. "It's just a means. If you can train yourself not to eat or drink, you can train yourself some patience. If you have patience, you have power to be a better person in the community and to God the Almighty.''
Friday's fast-breaking feast "celebrates all the righteous acts and good behaviors we have been able to train ourselves during the month of Ramadan,'' he said.
It's one of two big feasts for Muslims, Mr. Benjelloun said. The other one "Eid Adha'' celebrates the pilgrimage to Mecca, scheduled two months and 10 days after Eid ul-Fitr.
Source: http://www.qconline.com/
By Leon Lagerstam, Staff writer
 |
Photo: John Greenwood
Muhammad, right, and Khadija Evans converted to Islam last year This is the first Ramadan they've observed. Ramadan is a month of fasting. |
Ramadan, a month-long Islamic fast, ends with a new moon, and hopefully a new understanding.
A lot of rage, anger, oppression and talk of war is heard around the world, but Ramadan seeks to replace aggressive thoughts and behaviors with ideals of peace and charity, according to Imad Benjelloun, prayer leader and chairman of the Islamic Center of the Quad Cities.
"Ramadan is all about abstaining from doing what is wrong, and training oneself to do what is righteous,'' he said.
Ramadan is the month of the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from dawn to sunset, according to materials provided by the center. It ended with the sight of a new moon earlier this week.
Members of the Quad-Cities Muslim community gathered Friday night at the Clarion Hotel in Davenport for an "Eid ul-Fitr'' fast-breaking feast. Muslims worldwide observe Ramadan and its concluding feast.
Demographers say Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions, estimating about 1.2 billion Muslims exist in the world, including seven million in America. The Quad-Cities Muslim community totals several hundred people, but less than 1,000, Mr. Benjelloun said.
Some people were worried about how Ramadan would fit into the picture of instability and insecurity in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, and the turmoil and unrest seen around the world, he said.
However, no negative impact was seen locally, Mr. Benjelloun said. In fact, people from the community have asked many more questions about Ramadan and Islam since the terrorist tragedies, "and we're reaching out more and making many bridges,'' he said.
The numbers of people converting to Islam have skyrocketed since 9/11, said Khadija Evans of East Moline. She and her husband, Muhammad Evans, were among them.
"I converted Dec. 11 last year, which was about halfway through Ramadan, so I didn't fulfill the obligations, and didn't understand it yet,'' Mrs. Evans said. Since then, she's learned to read the Quran and prayers in Arabic and studied her new faith, saying it has answered many more questions she had in her life, making it fuller, and giving her a clearer understanding of the purpose of her existence.
"After 9/11, the media were saying a lot of things portraying Islam in a negative light,'' she said. "After reading many different things and looking it up on the Internet, I came to the conclusion the media were wrong, and I came to realize Islam was the true religion, and, in my heart, I knew I had to convert.''
Medical conditions, however, prevented her from observing Ramadan fasting requirements this month. Exemptions are granted for a variety of reasons, including medical ones. Other exemptions are given to children, menstruating or pregnant women, nursing mothers, mentally incapacitated people, elderly folks and travelers journeying more than 50 miles.
Those people have to either make up the fast on other dates or donate money to feed the hungry, Mrs. Evans said. She and her husband previously worked at the River Bend Food Bank, so they chose to donate to local hunger efforts.
"Ramadan helps you care about people,'' Mr. Benjelloun said. "It reminds you that other people are hungry and are suffering, and it pushes you to contribute more. It really contributes to solving a big problem in society -- narrowing the gap between the poor and healthy.''
A lot of fundraising takes place during Ramadan, he said, and "Muslims tend to give money from the bottom of their heart.''
Mr. Benjelloun compared Ramadan to a "training station.''
"It trains a person to be patient and righteous,'' he said. "It trains you to be a better person in your family and in your community, and to be a better servant to God the Almighty.''
He summarized Ramadan's importance by using the term "taqua,'' which he says means to be "on guard.''
"Basically, you must be on guard in every action you perform in your life,'' Mr. Benjelloun said. "Before you do anything, you need to make sure it pleases God the Almighty, and if it pleases God, it won't hurt anyone.''
Ramadan focuses on individual human beings, he said. If a human being learns to restrain himself from making wrong decisions, it carries on through his family, community and country, and could make the planet Earth entirely peaceful, he said.
World peace, however, is unlikely, when 100 people try to destroy what one person is trying to build, Mr. Benjelloun said.
"Our world lacks justice everywhere, especially at the international level,'' said Moutaz Kotob of Bettendorf. Many people don't realize that Muslims actually believe in "justice for all,'' he said.
Giving presentations at schools, churches and organizations help reduce such misunderstandings, making it easier to know and live with each other, Mr. Kotob said.
Living in the Quad-Cities makes it easier to practice her faith, Mrs. Evans said.
"In other parts of the country, there have been attacks on people,'' she said. "I'm lucky to live in this area. I'm not sure whether it's a case of tolerance, but I think it's actually more of a case of acceptance.''
The worst she's heard from people are comments under their breath, but said she felt sorry for them, not angry.
Mr. Benjelloun admits some Muslims may have forgotten what Ramadan is really about, saying "you'll always find people who are not going to do what they are supposed to be doing, but generally, people do know what it is and act accordingly.''
Ramadan, he said, is one of the "five pillars'' of Islam. Not eating or drinking is not the goal of Ramadan, Mr. Benjelloun said. "It's just a means. If you can train yourself not to eat or drink, you can train yourself some patience. If you have patience, you have power to be a better person in the community and to God the Almighty.''
Friday's fast-breaking feast "celebrates all the righteous acts and good behaviors we have been able to train ourselves during the month of Ramadan,'' he said.
It's one of two big feasts for Muslims, Mr. Benjelloun said. The other one "Eid Adha'' celebrates the pilgrimage to Mecca, scheduled two months and 10 days after Eid ul-Fitr.
Source: http://www.qconline.com/
From WASP to a Muslim
From WASP to a Muslim
Jonathan Brown
05/03/2003
From Washington DC to California
I would like to start the story of how I became Muslim with a bit about my background prior to embracing Islam. I come from a white, upper-middle-class Anglo Saxon American family from Washington DC. Growing up I would accompany my parents to soiree’s, potato-salad laden outdoor luncheons at friends’ houses and church on Sundays. My parents were very well educated and both successful in their respective fields. My days were spent in a coat and tie at private schools. I was not exposed to much diversity, unless by diversity you mean different kinds of rich white people.
Despite my excellent education, I certainly had little real understanding of how people from other countries or other religions perceived the world. I was religious as a child, but I did not care too much about the Protestant doctrine my Sunday school teachers tried to teach their students. I was religious, I suppose, because I believed in God in the same way so many people in this world do: I called upon Him when I needed Him, pledging my undying service and devotion if only He’d grant me whatever wish I desperately wanted at the time, only to forget Him later. But I suppose I really did believe in God, for throughout my life I always knew that some higher truth existed and going off to California for boarding school further constricted the role of religion in my life. My father could no longer make me go to church, and California’s rich and liberal environment has never been known to welcome any religious expression other than vapid adulterations of Eastern faiths such as Buddhism and Hinduism. When a teacher at my school suggested having a private Bible study at his house after formal dinner for any students interested he drew criticism from faculty and students alike.
With such issues cast aside, then, I spent my high school days studying, drinking when I could and desperately trying to hook up with whatever female would let me near her. Time slipped by as my friends and I knocked tennis balls back and forth in the warm California sun, hoping to impress girls and reaping the inevitable heart-aches with which spoiled youths are constantly stricken. Beyond my English classes, clumsy attempts at getting drunk and days at the beach I knew in both my heart and mind that my life was not complete. I knew, with perhaps too much perspicacity, that all the fleeting delights of my life and all its momentary agonies could come to an end with the wrong turn on a highway or a freak accident. I knew that all my hopes and dreams as a person had to have more significance than simply the transitory whims of an animal born and bound to perish without history even noticing. I knew all this, so I kept looking for the truth that could grant my life meaning.
Encountering Islam
Soon I went off to college. There, among stacks of required readings and friends smart and arrogant enough to provide stimulation conversation for each other, I pondered these questions. Motivated and excited by my classes, my mind was always racing from thinker to thinker, from book to book. My university had a theology requirement, so I decided to take a class on Islamic Thought and practice. My professor was a Palestinian Muslim woman who made no apologies for her faith. She presented Islam in a fair and reasonable light, stating on the first day of class that she expected her students to “step into the shoes of a Muslim in order to understand Islam.” I was initially averse to sympathizing for a religion spread by the sword and so closely associated with terrorism, and I took every opportunity I could to argue with the professor about the merits of the religion. As the semester progressed, however, I found myself identifying more and more with the image of Islam that she presented: One God, totally beyond our comprehension, the Creator and Shaper of a rational and ordered universe; a message sent from on high, over and over again to the various human communities that had thrived on and then vanished from the earth; men corrupting this message out of the desire to hasten felicity, out of greed or the lust for power; one last messenger, sent to the dry earth of Arabia, that Near-Eastern crucible of human faith, to deliver the pronouncement one last time; God is, and you must worship Him, when you do, you will be free from fear and pain, and all the trials and vicissitudes of this life will gain meaning; one last book, intact, preserved for all time for the generations that would ponder it as the centuries passed.
Surrendering to God
This was the God I had believed in as a child, the God and the message cleansed of human accretions and worldly corruptions. This was the message that sat peacefully both in man’s heart and mind, bringing reason and faith together in submission to God. Yes, the manifestation was foreign; I knew no Arabic, barely understood the world into which the Qur’an was revealed and could hardly grasp the manifold transformations that would affect the Islamic tradition as time and space moved Muhammad’s revelation away from its origins. Nonetheless, I felt that I had alighted upon the truth that had evaded me for so long and that at last my nagging fears and doubts had come to an end. I spent the summer traveling in Europe and Russia and was able to ponder these questions with the seriousness and depth that only long hours of traveling afford. When I returned home to Washington to start my sophomore year of college, I decided that I had already become Muslim. I believed in God’s message, as delivered through the Prophet Muhammad, and all that remained was to formalize my commitment and begin living as a Muslim. I had already weaned myself off liquor and, quite unwillingly, put a stop to my attempted womanizing. I said the shahada (testimony of faith) in front of some of the Muslim friends I had made while learning about the religion and began to pray. God made this transition very easy for me. My family gradually understood the change that had occurred in my life, and they have never been anything but supportive and sympathetic. They are very result-oriented; when they saw that I no longer came home drunk or acted like an idiot they realized that my life had improved.
Little can be compared to the euphoria of those first days. With every step I took and every glance at the green trees around me I felt that I had begun life anew. My life and everything in it took on a new purpose. Gone were the doubts and fears of yesteryear. All I wanted to go was serve God and worship Him…all I asked was that He grant me peace in this world and the next. I continued to take classes on Islam and gradually focused on Middle Eastern history. As my college career continued it occurred to me that studying and research were my forte and that pursuing graduate studies in the study of Islam and Islamic civilization would allow me to best serve God.
Understanding Islam
But I suppose I had another reason. It is difficult to explain to someone who has not experienced it, but Muslims have long conflated culture and religion. As a convert to Islam it is thus very difficult to distinguish between Arab, Indian or Iranian culture and the actual faith and practices of Islam. Moreover, Muslims have not exactly carried themselves well in the modern era. Their societies and states are poor, uneducated, backward, decadent, and torn by pathetic and pedantic racial or class conflicts. In addition, it is difficult to know when a Muslim is actually committed to their religion, when he is just waving it as some kind of flag to make himself feel better in a world in which secularism, modernity and the West have become paramount. Studying the history and development of the Islamic community helped me answer the important questions “How should I live as a Muslim in the modern world? What elements of Islamic tradition are authentic and which are just the cultural additions of Muslim cultures?”
These problems are all interesting, but the Muslim ailment that has affected me most personally is the parochial visions of marriage that abound in the Muslim world. In Islam race should mean nothing. A person’s merit is determined by their belief in God, good deeds, and character alone. Unfortunately, many Muslims are overly concerned with race when it comes to marriage. Whether they are Muslim immigrants in the United States or families that have remained in their countries of origin, an alarmingly large percentage of Muslim parents are only interested in marrying their children to members of their ethnic community. Syrian immigrants in the United States want their children to marry other Syrians, Indian Muslim immigrants want their children to marry Indian Muslims, etc. This is all well and good for those people involved, but it presents somewhat of a dilemma for an American convert to Islam.
This attitude is completely antithetical to the original spirit of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad was cast out of his hometown of Mecca because his preaching irked the city’s elite. He was welcomed in the city of Yathrib by noble folk who had embraced his message. As more and more Meccans converted, they made the journey to Yathrib, newly named al-Medina, to be welcomed into an emerging believing community. The Prophet wove these new emmigrants into the fabric of the community and, although tribal divisions did remain, the fraternity of Islam trumped them. Like these early immigrants I long to be accepted and welcomed into a Muslim family.
Nonetheless, these problems amount to little when compared to the blessings that God has given me as a Muslim. He has allowed me to explore new peoples and cultures far removed from the white suburban fences and gin-and-tonic cocktail parties of my youth. He has given me a passion for learning and a mission to fulfill in contributing to man’s understanding of history and the world of Islam. He bestowed dignity upon me by leading me away from habits and vices not befitting an upstanding man. He has given my life meaning and saved me from the fear that plagues those whose mortality and life styles haunt them. He has given me brothers and sisters in faith who have embraced me as one of their own.
For feedback contact: MyjourneytoIslam@islam-online.net
Jonathan Brown
05/03/2003
From Washington DC to California
I would like to start the story of how I became Muslim with a bit about my background prior to embracing Islam. I come from a white, upper-middle-class Anglo Saxon American family from Washington DC. Growing up I would accompany my parents to soiree’s, potato-salad laden outdoor luncheons at friends’ houses and church on Sundays. My parents were very well educated and both successful in their respective fields. My days were spent in a coat and tie at private schools. I was not exposed to much diversity, unless by diversity you mean different kinds of rich white people.
Despite my excellent education, I certainly had little real understanding of how people from other countries or other religions perceived the world. I was religious as a child, but I did not care too much about the Protestant doctrine my Sunday school teachers tried to teach their students. I was religious, I suppose, because I believed in God in the same way so many people in this world do: I called upon Him when I needed Him, pledging my undying service and devotion if only He’d grant me whatever wish I desperately wanted at the time, only to forget Him later. But I suppose I really did believe in God, for throughout my life I always knew that some higher truth existed and going off to California for boarding school further constricted the role of religion in my life. My father could no longer make me go to church, and California’s rich and liberal environment has never been known to welcome any religious expression other than vapid adulterations of Eastern faiths such as Buddhism and Hinduism. When a teacher at my school suggested having a private Bible study at his house after formal dinner for any students interested he drew criticism from faculty and students alike.
With such issues cast aside, then, I spent my high school days studying, drinking when I could and desperately trying to hook up with whatever female would let me near her. Time slipped by as my friends and I knocked tennis balls back and forth in the warm California sun, hoping to impress girls and reaping the inevitable heart-aches with which spoiled youths are constantly stricken. Beyond my English classes, clumsy attempts at getting drunk and days at the beach I knew in both my heart and mind that my life was not complete. I knew, with perhaps too much perspicacity, that all the fleeting delights of my life and all its momentary agonies could come to an end with the wrong turn on a highway or a freak accident. I knew that all my hopes and dreams as a person had to have more significance than simply the transitory whims of an animal born and bound to perish without history even noticing. I knew all this, so I kept looking for the truth that could grant my life meaning.
Encountering Islam
Soon I went off to college. There, among stacks of required readings and friends smart and arrogant enough to provide stimulation conversation for each other, I pondered these questions. Motivated and excited by my classes, my mind was always racing from thinker to thinker, from book to book. My university had a theology requirement, so I decided to take a class on Islamic Thought and practice. My professor was a Palestinian Muslim woman who made no apologies for her faith. She presented Islam in a fair and reasonable light, stating on the first day of class that she expected her students to “step into the shoes of a Muslim in order to understand Islam.” I was initially averse to sympathizing for a religion spread by the sword and so closely associated with terrorism, and I took every opportunity I could to argue with the professor about the merits of the religion. As the semester progressed, however, I found myself identifying more and more with the image of Islam that she presented: One God, totally beyond our comprehension, the Creator and Shaper of a rational and ordered universe; a message sent from on high, over and over again to the various human communities that had thrived on and then vanished from the earth; men corrupting this message out of the desire to hasten felicity, out of greed or the lust for power; one last messenger, sent to the dry earth of Arabia, that Near-Eastern crucible of human faith, to deliver the pronouncement one last time; God is, and you must worship Him, when you do, you will be free from fear and pain, and all the trials and vicissitudes of this life will gain meaning; one last book, intact, preserved for all time for the generations that would ponder it as the centuries passed.
Surrendering to God
This was the God I had believed in as a child, the God and the message cleansed of human accretions and worldly corruptions. This was the message that sat peacefully both in man’s heart and mind, bringing reason and faith together in submission to God. Yes, the manifestation was foreign; I knew no Arabic, barely understood the world into which the Qur’an was revealed and could hardly grasp the manifold transformations that would affect the Islamic tradition as time and space moved Muhammad’s revelation away from its origins. Nonetheless, I felt that I had alighted upon the truth that had evaded me for so long and that at last my nagging fears and doubts had come to an end. I spent the summer traveling in Europe and Russia and was able to ponder these questions with the seriousness and depth that only long hours of traveling afford. When I returned home to Washington to start my sophomore year of college, I decided that I had already become Muslim. I believed in God’s message, as delivered through the Prophet Muhammad, and all that remained was to formalize my commitment and begin living as a Muslim. I had already weaned myself off liquor and, quite unwillingly, put a stop to my attempted womanizing. I said the shahada (testimony of faith) in front of some of the Muslim friends I had made while learning about the religion and began to pray. God made this transition very easy for me. My family gradually understood the change that had occurred in my life, and they have never been anything but supportive and sympathetic. They are very result-oriented; when they saw that I no longer came home drunk or acted like an idiot they realized that my life had improved.
Little can be compared to the euphoria of those first days. With every step I took and every glance at the green trees around me I felt that I had begun life anew. My life and everything in it took on a new purpose. Gone were the doubts and fears of yesteryear. All I wanted to go was serve God and worship Him…all I asked was that He grant me peace in this world and the next. I continued to take classes on Islam and gradually focused on Middle Eastern history. As my college career continued it occurred to me that studying and research were my forte and that pursuing graduate studies in the study of Islam and Islamic civilization would allow me to best serve God.
Understanding Islam
But I suppose I had another reason. It is difficult to explain to someone who has not experienced it, but Muslims have long conflated culture and religion. As a convert to Islam it is thus very difficult to distinguish between Arab, Indian or Iranian culture and the actual faith and practices of Islam. Moreover, Muslims have not exactly carried themselves well in the modern era. Their societies and states are poor, uneducated, backward, decadent, and torn by pathetic and pedantic racial or class conflicts. In addition, it is difficult to know when a Muslim is actually committed to their religion, when he is just waving it as some kind of flag to make himself feel better in a world in which secularism, modernity and the West have become paramount. Studying the history and development of the Islamic community helped me answer the important questions “How should I live as a Muslim in the modern world? What elements of Islamic tradition are authentic and which are just the cultural additions of Muslim cultures?”
These problems are all interesting, but the Muslim ailment that has affected me most personally is the parochial visions of marriage that abound in the Muslim world. In Islam race should mean nothing. A person’s merit is determined by their belief in God, good deeds, and character alone. Unfortunately, many Muslims are overly concerned with race when it comes to marriage. Whether they are Muslim immigrants in the United States or families that have remained in their countries of origin, an alarmingly large percentage of Muslim parents are only interested in marrying their children to members of their ethnic community. Syrian immigrants in the United States want their children to marry other Syrians, Indian Muslim immigrants want their children to marry Indian Muslims, etc. This is all well and good for those people involved, but it presents somewhat of a dilemma for an American convert to Islam.
This attitude is completely antithetical to the original spirit of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad was cast out of his hometown of Mecca because his preaching irked the city’s elite. He was welcomed in the city of Yathrib by noble folk who had embraced his message. As more and more Meccans converted, they made the journey to Yathrib, newly named al-Medina, to be welcomed into an emerging believing community. The Prophet wove these new emmigrants into the fabric of the community and, although tribal divisions did remain, the fraternity of Islam trumped them. Like these early immigrants I long to be accepted and welcomed into a Muslim family.
Nonetheless, these problems amount to little when compared to the blessings that God has given me as a Muslim. He has allowed me to explore new peoples and cultures far removed from the white suburban fences and gin-and-tonic cocktail parties of my youth. He has given me a passion for learning and a mission to fulfill in contributing to man’s understanding of history and the world of Islam. He bestowed dignity upon me by leading me away from habits and vices not befitting an upstanding man. He has given my life meaning and saved me from the fear that plagues those whose mortality and life styles haunt them. He has given me brothers and sisters in faith who have embraced me as one of their own.
For feedback contact: MyjourneytoIslam@islam-online.net
How I came to embrace Islam
How I came to embrace Islam
My name is Khadija and this is the story of how my husband and I came to embrace Islam.
I can remember standing in the kitchen of the house I lived in when I was just 7 or 8 years old and looking towards the door that went outside. I prayed to a god whom I wasn't sure existed and I begged Him to show himself to me if He was really there. Nothing happened.
I can remember being 9 or 10 years old and writing a letter to God and hiding it in the heat register in my bedroom, thinking God, if He existed, would come and retrieve it and answer my prayers. But the next day, the letter was still there.
I had always had a hard time accepting the existence of God, and of understanding the beliefs taught in Christian churches. Even though my parents weren't very religious, and rarely went to church, they thought it was best that my two brothers and I go. We were allowed to choose our religion when we very young. I think I was about 6 or 7, and my brothers were 1 and 2 years older then I. I chose a Methodist church for no other reason then it was a few blocks away from our house, and my
brothers chose a Lutheran church because it was also close, and I hadn't chosen it.
I went to the church until I was 13 years old. I was baptized and confirmed there when I was 11. I went along with the baptism and confirmation because all children who were 11 received confirmation, and if they hadn't already been baptized, that was done at the same time. Even then I knew that doubts about God and Chirstian teachings were things best kept to myself.
When I was 13 my family moved to another town with no churches within walking distance, and my parents weren't eager to get up early and drive us kids to church, and so our religious training stopped until I was 15 and my mom suddenly found religion. She began attending an Assembly of God church, occasionally dragging my dad along. I went willingly. I had already begun a search for God that wouldn't end until I was 42 years old.
I remember being "born again". Caught up in the fervor of the hell and damnation that the minister preached at the Assembly of God church. I became "high on religion" thinking I had finally found "Him." Little did I know, but the high would be short lived, as I again began to have doubts and unanswered questions.
When I was 17 I met the daughter of an assistant Baptist minister and began going to their church. I had been sexually abused by my dad from the time I was at least 6 years old and I told the assistant minister about it. He arranged with my parents to let me live with him and his family in a type of "private foster care." My dad paid him $100 a week. My parents also attended the church for a brief time, until the minister announced on the pulpit that my dad was a child molester. Before that though, my mom, dad and I were each baptized at the church.
One day after spending the day with my parents I returned to my foster home only to find the house empty. Cleaned out. Not a stick of furniture. We found out that the minister had been caught embezzling from the church and he and his family had left town in a hurry. I returned to my parents home and the abuse.
As a result of what that minister had done, what little faith I had in God was totally lost and I became an atheist. For the next 25 years I would fluctuate between believing, Agnosticism, and Atheism.
When I was 26 I went to 3 months of Rights of Initiation for Catholic Adults and then was baptized and confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church. I had been allowed to by-pass the full year of classes because I hadn't called the church to inquire about converting until 3 months before the Easter Vigil Mass when confirmation for adults was held.
I had entered the Catholic religion with the same philosophy that I had once heard Alcoholics Anonymous has, "Bring your body, your mind will follow." I didn't really believe in God, or in the core teachings of the Catholic Church, but I wanted so badly to believe in a power higher then myself, that I went faithfully to mass 7 days a week, hoping that somehow I would start to believe. But after several months, I began to realize that it wasn't going to happen, and my mass attendance became a once a week thing, then once a month, until when I was 30 and met the man who today is my husband and who wasn't Catholic, I stopped attending mass altogether.
I had never told anyone, before my husband, that I didn't believe in God. I don't think he took me seriously at first. I don't think he had ever known an Atheist. And he couldn't understand why I would have been going to church if I didn't believe in God.
My husband is 29 years older then me. We've had a wonderful marriage for these last 10 years. When we first met, I still
desperately wanted to believe, and kept making him promise me that "Wen you get to Heaven" he would ask God to give me the strength to believe, and he if at all possible, he would give me a sign, one that I couldn't chalk up to my imagination, so I would know there really was a god. He always promised me he would.
We were living in rural Alabama when I was 32 years old. I developed ulcerations on both corneas and when they healed, I was legally blind. Because of damage from infection that had been done to the tissue that donated corneas would have to adhere to, I couldn't find an eye surgeon who believed that transplanted corneas wouldn't be rejected.
I was still searching for God. I was searching for hope of something better then what this world had to offer. Some kind of
evidence of the chance for existence after death. Some way to achieve it.
As a teenager I had watched Pat Robertson on the 700 Club, and as a young adult I listened to faithfully Jimmy Saggert. In my 30's I watched programs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. All the while hoping that one of the ministers would say something that would click in my mind, and I would finally know, "Yes, there really is a god." None of them ever said anything that caused that connection to happen, though many said things that confused me even more.
During the first 10 years after I became legally blind, I tried attending different churches, Baptist again, Assembly of God
again, non-Denominational, Church of God, Mormon, and even studied up on Wicca. But I always lost interest after just a few months. Things the religions taught just didn't add up. There were just too many things left to faith. Things that had no proof other then one's faith. I couldn't believe something when the only proof were some words in a book that in large part didn't make sense.
I remember one night when I was about 35 years old, lying in bed and praying to God, whom I still wasn't sure existed, and asking Him that if He did exist to lead me to someone who could help me to believe. But I found no one.
At age 36 I acquired a braille Bible and started reading it, once again hoping to find proof of God's existnace. But with the Bible being so hard to understand, with so much of it not really being explainable, I lost interest after reading just a few of its books. At about that time, though still wanting to find God, I gave up my search. I had become completely disallusioned with religion.
On September 11, 2001 I was sitting at my computer. It was before 9 a.m. and as usual the televsion, which was sitting to my right, was turned on for background noise. I heard the sound that is made to notify viewers of an important news announcement. I stopped and turned towards the TV. A reporter began talking and one of the towers of the World Trade Center showed in the background. He said an accident had happened. A small plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I'm legally blind, but I could see well enough to know that it wasn't a small plane that had hit the tower. The hole was massive. And I didn't think it was possible to accidently hit something so big.
As I watched, another plane flew into the other tower. I couldn't see the plane itself, it was too small for me to see even during the instant replays with my face practically pressed up against the screen, but I saw the fireball that exploded away from the building.
I jumped up and ran into the bedroom and told my husband to hurry and get up because terrorists were flying planes into the World Trade Center buildings! He immediately got out of bed and came in to the living room and sat in his recliner and began to watch. It was about 9 a.m.
As time went by it was announced that a plane had been flown into the Pentagon and another hijacked plane had crashed in
Pennsylvania. I wondered when it would end? And what in the world was going on??? At one point the reporter said it looked like "debris" was falling from the buildings. My husband said it was people jumping. Something he has never been able to forget. I was grateful that my vision was to bad for me to be able to make out what even looked like "debris." The reporter said a part of the first tower had fallen away from the building. He spoke in a kind of hesitant voice. Now I wonder if he was unsure of what he was seeing. Because we later found out that a part of the building hadn't fallen away. The building had completely collapsed.
A female reporter was crying and a male reporter hugged her. I was crying too. And my husband hugged me.
For weeks afterward I would start crying for no apparent reason. I'd be riding on the bus and have to turn my head towards the window and pretend I was looking out so that other riders wouldn't see the tears escaping my eyes.
When we were in a restaurant, I'd have to use my napkin to dab the tears welling up in my eyes before the other diners noticed and wondered if I was some kind of a nut.
I was Christian then and I cared. And I was devastated. I couldn't understand how a religion could promote such violence, as the media was saying Islam did. It made no sense to me. So I decided to find out for myself. One way or another I wanted to know the truth. Because of my partial blindness I was limited to information from the internet. Finding braille books about Islam
in braille or ink print that was large enough for me to read was impossible. I was able to use a computer because I had magnification software installed so I could enlarge the font on the screen to a size that I could read.
I did searches and I began to read about Islam. I went to web sites that taught the basics of Islam, and I joined Muslim women's e-groups where I was able to ask and get answers that I confirmed through further research.
I've always been a skeptic. It's always been hard for me to believe something that I didn't understand. I was never one to
believe something simply because someone said it was so. I had to know it in my mind as well as in my heart.
While studying Islam I learned that the god Muslims worship is the same god as that of Christians and Jews. The god of Abraham and Moses. I found that Islam doesn't promote or condone hatred of non- Muslims, nor does it condone the killing of innocent people.
By studying Islam I found the answers that the media wasn't telling us and I came to know that Islam is the True Religion. I
read a lot of convincing evidence, but the things that proved to me that there is a god, and that Islam is the True Religon and
that that the Qur'an is the Word of God, were those in the Qur'an itself. The things that are of a scientific nature. Things that
have only been discovered by scientists only in the last 100 years. The only one who could have known those things 1400 years ago was God.
For example, One day I was at a web site that was about some of the scientific proofs in the Qur'an. One of the verses in the
Qur'an tells about the death of our own solar system.
Al-Rahman 37-38 "When the sky is torn apart, so it was (like) a red rose like ointment. Then which of the favors of your lord will you deny?"
There was a link that went to the NASA web site. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991031.html
When I clicked the link I had no idea what was going to be on the next page, but what I saw took my breath away. Tears came to my eyes. I knew - if I had had any doubts left - I knew at the moment, that Islam is the True Religion of God.
The page the link took me to showed what looked like a red rose. It was the "Cat's Eye Nebula." Which was an exploding star 3000 light years away. It had been photographed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists say that it is the same fate that awaits our own solar system. Muslims refer to it as the "Rose Nebula." It had been described in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. People back then had no way of knowing about it. Only God could have known.
On September 12, 2002, the day of my birthday, scientists again using the Hubble Space Telescope found a second Rose Nebula. A gift from God to all mankind. This time the scientists called it by its rightful name, "The Rose Nebula."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/09/12/hubble.rose/index.html
After accepting in my mind as well as in my heart that Islam is the True Religion, I knew that I was already a Muslim and the only thing left to do was to profess my faith.
I looked in an internet directory for mosques in my community. I called the one in the next town and told the person who answered the phone that I wanted to convert to Islam, and asked him when I could make my Shahada. He told me to be there at 4 p.m. on Saturday when the imam would also be there. I told him that I ride the bus everywhere and it wouldn't be running late enough for me to be able to get back home and so could I come earlier? He said not to worry, someone would give me a ride home. I arrived as scheduled, and as God had scheduled, so began my new life.
I have since come to realize that on that day, the greatest event of my life occurred. I had always thought that the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me was the day that I married my husband. But I now know it wasn't. The most importnat day of my life was the day I made my Shahada and accepted Islam as the way of life God intended me to live. It was the day I acknowledged that Islam is the way to salvation, to Heaven, and I made a choice to practice it.
I can't say my husband was thrilled by my reverting to Islam. He believed what the media was saying about Muslims and the religion. He didn't like it that I went to the mosque several evenings a week and left him home alone to be bored. One night after he was finished complaining about me going yet again I sat down a few feet away from him and I calmly told him, "I will never ask you to practice a religion you don't believe in. I love you too much to try and force that on you. But I do want you to learn about Islam so that you will at least understand what it is that I believe." I then stood up and went into the bedroom and finished dressing to go to the mosque. I kissed him goodbye and I left.
When I returned home I found his whole attitude had changed. He was bright and cheerful. That night, before going to bed, he began to learn about Islam.
My husband began going to the mosque with me. While I studied with the sisters, he would talk with a brother and ask him questions. At home he read things on the internet, and books that he had borrowed from the mosque. We would discuss different things he was learning, and when a reporter on television would relate the latest lie or myth I would point things out to him and explain the truth.
When the day came and he told me about how some aspect of Islam was to be practiced, in a "know it all" tone of voice, as if it were a fact, something that I myself didn't know about, I asked him to tell me "How do you know that???" and he replied, "Because it's in the Qur'an!" I was stunned! He believed! He knew that Islam was True! If it was in the Qur'an, as far as he was concerned it was true! Thirty-six days after I publically professed my faith in God and His messenger, prophet Muhammad, my husband professed his. We had an Islamic marriage ceremony the same evening. I cried when my husband made his Shahada. I knew we would be in Eternity together!
A month before, a brother had asked me what I thought the chances of my husband converting were. I didn't want the brother getting his hopes up, or expecting more of me then I could deliver and so I bluntly told him, "Zero." I said, "I can't imagnine someone so dramatically changing their beliefs after having believed something else for 70 years." But 14 days before his 71st birthday he embraced Islam as his religion and his way of life.
In the Muslim community we have found another family. We have found friendship, love and acceptance that was taught in the Christian religions we practiced at different points in our lives, but that we felt never actually existed among most of the members of the churches we went to.
Most of the Muslims in our area are immigrants, but we have found no intolerance of Americans weather they are Muslim or not. We were both welcomed into the family of Islam the very first time each of us went to the mosque. We've always felt welcome and accepted.
Since embracing Islam We have found direction and purpose for our lives. We have found the meaning for our existance. We have come to realize that we really are here only for a short time and that what comes afterwards is far better then the fleeting pleasures that this world has to offer us.
I have found a sense of security concerning life after death that I had never known before. We have both come to see the problems that we once saw as being major as actually being opportunities to grow. We thank God for what we do have, as well for what we don't.
Today we are Muslim. We still care about 9/11. I still cry when I think a little too much about the events of that day. My husband still remembers the people jumping from the buildings. We wish all we could say about that day was where we had been when we "heard" that the WTC had been attacked. But we did see it happen, and it was the most devastating thing to ever happen in our lives. But from tragedy came victory. From death has come the knowledge that we will have life after our death. And it will be spent together.
My name is Khadija and this is the story of how my husband and I came to embrace Islam.
I can remember standing in the kitchen of the house I lived in when I was just 7 or 8 years old and looking towards the door that went outside. I prayed to a god whom I wasn't sure existed and I begged Him to show himself to me if He was really there. Nothing happened.
I can remember being 9 or 10 years old and writing a letter to God and hiding it in the heat register in my bedroom, thinking God, if He existed, would come and retrieve it and answer my prayers. But the next day, the letter was still there.
I had always had a hard time accepting the existence of God, and of understanding the beliefs taught in Christian churches. Even though my parents weren't very religious, and rarely went to church, they thought it was best that my two brothers and I go. We were allowed to choose our religion when we very young. I think I was about 6 or 7, and my brothers were 1 and 2 years older then I. I chose a Methodist church for no other reason then it was a few blocks away from our house, and my
brothers chose a Lutheran church because it was also close, and I hadn't chosen it.
I went to the church until I was 13 years old. I was baptized and confirmed there when I was 11. I went along with the baptism and confirmation because all children who were 11 received confirmation, and if they hadn't already been baptized, that was done at the same time. Even then I knew that doubts about God and Chirstian teachings were things best kept to myself.
When I was 13 my family moved to another town with no churches within walking distance, and my parents weren't eager to get up early and drive us kids to church, and so our religious training stopped until I was 15 and my mom suddenly found religion. She began attending an Assembly of God church, occasionally dragging my dad along. I went willingly. I had already begun a search for God that wouldn't end until I was 42 years old.
I remember being "born again". Caught up in the fervor of the hell and damnation that the minister preached at the Assembly of God church. I became "high on religion" thinking I had finally found "Him." Little did I know, but the high would be short lived, as I again began to have doubts and unanswered questions.
When I was 17 I met the daughter of an assistant Baptist minister and began going to their church. I had been sexually abused by my dad from the time I was at least 6 years old and I told the assistant minister about it. He arranged with my parents to let me live with him and his family in a type of "private foster care." My dad paid him $100 a week. My parents also attended the church for a brief time, until the minister announced on the pulpit that my dad was a child molester. Before that though, my mom, dad and I were each baptized at the church.
One day after spending the day with my parents I returned to my foster home only to find the house empty. Cleaned out. Not a stick of furniture. We found out that the minister had been caught embezzling from the church and he and his family had left town in a hurry. I returned to my parents home and the abuse.
As a result of what that minister had done, what little faith I had in God was totally lost and I became an atheist. For the next 25 years I would fluctuate between believing, Agnosticism, and Atheism.
When I was 26 I went to 3 months of Rights of Initiation for Catholic Adults and then was baptized and confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church. I had been allowed to by-pass the full year of classes because I hadn't called the church to inquire about converting until 3 months before the Easter Vigil Mass when confirmation for adults was held.
I had entered the Catholic religion with the same philosophy that I had once heard Alcoholics Anonymous has, "Bring your body, your mind will follow." I didn't really believe in God, or in the core teachings of the Catholic Church, but I wanted so badly to believe in a power higher then myself, that I went faithfully to mass 7 days a week, hoping that somehow I would start to believe. But after several months, I began to realize that it wasn't going to happen, and my mass attendance became a once a week thing, then once a month, until when I was 30 and met the man who today is my husband and who wasn't Catholic, I stopped attending mass altogether.
I had never told anyone, before my husband, that I didn't believe in God. I don't think he took me seriously at first. I don't think he had ever known an Atheist. And he couldn't understand why I would have been going to church if I didn't believe in God.
My husband is 29 years older then me. We've had a wonderful marriage for these last 10 years. When we first met, I still
desperately wanted to believe, and kept making him promise me that "Wen you get to Heaven" he would ask God to give me the strength to believe, and he if at all possible, he would give me a sign, one that I couldn't chalk up to my imagination, so I would know there really was a god. He always promised me he would.
We were living in rural Alabama when I was 32 years old. I developed ulcerations on both corneas and when they healed, I was legally blind. Because of damage from infection that had been done to the tissue that donated corneas would have to adhere to, I couldn't find an eye surgeon who believed that transplanted corneas wouldn't be rejected.
I was still searching for God. I was searching for hope of something better then what this world had to offer. Some kind of
evidence of the chance for existence after death. Some way to achieve it.
As a teenager I had watched Pat Robertson on the 700 Club, and as a young adult I listened to faithfully Jimmy Saggert. In my 30's I watched programs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. All the while hoping that one of the ministers would say something that would click in my mind, and I would finally know, "Yes, there really is a god." None of them ever said anything that caused that connection to happen, though many said things that confused me even more.
During the first 10 years after I became legally blind, I tried attending different churches, Baptist again, Assembly of God
again, non-Denominational, Church of God, Mormon, and even studied up on Wicca. But I always lost interest after just a few months. Things the religions taught just didn't add up. There were just too many things left to faith. Things that had no proof other then one's faith. I couldn't believe something when the only proof were some words in a book that in large part didn't make sense.
I remember one night when I was about 35 years old, lying in bed and praying to God, whom I still wasn't sure existed, and asking Him that if He did exist to lead me to someone who could help me to believe. But I found no one.
At age 36 I acquired a braille Bible and started reading it, once again hoping to find proof of God's existnace. But with the Bible being so hard to understand, with so much of it not really being explainable, I lost interest after reading just a few of its books. At about that time, though still wanting to find God, I gave up my search. I had become completely disallusioned with religion.
On September 11, 2001 I was sitting at my computer. It was before 9 a.m. and as usual the televsion, which was sitting to my right, was turned on for background noise. I heard the sound that is made to notify viewers of an important news announcement. I stopped and turned towards the TV. A reporter began talking and one of the towers of the World Trade Center showed in the background. He said an accident had happened. A small plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I'm legally blind, but I could see well enough to know that it wasn't a small plane that had hit the tower. The hole was massive. And I didn't think it was possible to accidently hit something so big.
As I watched, another plane flew into the other tower. I couldn't see the plane itself, it was too small for me to see even during the instant replays with my face practically pressed up against the screen, but I saw the fireball that exploded away from the building.
I jumped up and ran into the bedroom and told my husband to hurry and get up because terrorists were flying planes into the World Trade Center buildings! He immediately got out of bed and came in to the living room and sat in his recliner and began to watch. It was about 9 a.m.
As time went by it was announced that a plane had been flown into the Pentagon and another hijacked plane had crashed in
Pennsylvania. I wondered when it would end? And what in the world was going on??? At one point the reporter said it looked like "debris" was falling from the buildings. My husband said it was people jumping. Something he has never been able to forget. I was grateful that my vision was to bad for me to be able to make out what even looked like "debris." The reporter said a part of the first tower had fallen away from the building. He spoke in a kind of hesitant voice. Now I wonder if he was unsure of what he was seeing. Because we later found out that a part of the building hadn't fallen away. The building had completely collapsed.
A female reporter was crying and a male reporter hugged her. I was crying too. And my husband hugged me.
For weeks afterward I would start crying for no apparent reason. I'd be riding on the bus and have to turn my head towards the window and pretend I was looking out so that other riders wouldn't see the tears escaping my eyes.
When we were in a restaurant, I'd have to use my napkin to dab the tears welling up in my eyes before the other diners noticed and wondered if I was some kind of a nut.
I was Christian then and I cared. And I was devastated. I couldn't understand how a religion could promote such violence, as the media was saying Islam did. It made no sense to me. So I decided to find out for myself. One way or another I wanted to know the truth. Because of my partial blindness I was limited to information from the internet. Finding braille books about Islam
in braille or ink print that was large enough for me to read was impossible. I was able to use a computer because I had magnification software installed so I could enlarge the font on the screen to a size that I could read.
I did searches and I began to read about Islam. I went to web sites that taught the basics of Islam, and I joined Muslim women's e-groups where I was able to ask and get answers that I confirmed through further research.
I've always been a skeptic. It's always been hard for me to believe something that I didn't understand. I was never one to
believe something simply because someone said it was so. I had to know it in my mind as well as in my heart.
While studying Islam I learned that the god Muslims worship is the same god as that of Christians and Jews. The god of Abraham and Moses. I found that Islam doesn't promote or condone hatred of non- Muslims, nor does it condone the killing of innocent people.
By studying Islam I found the answers that the media wasn't telling us and I came to know that Islam is the True Religion. I
read a lot of convincing evidence, but the things that proved to me that there is a god, and that Islam is the True Religon and
that that the Qur'an is the Word of God, were those in the Qur'an itself. The things that are of a scientific nature. Things that
have only been discovered by scientists only in the last 100 years. The only one who could have known those things 1400 years ago was God.
For example, One day I was at a web site that was about some of the scientific proofs in the Qur'an. One of the verses in the
Qur'an tells about the death of our own solar system.
Al-Rahman 37-38 "When the sky is torn apart, so it was (like) a red rose like ointment. Then which of the favors of your lord will you deny?"
There was a link that went to the NASA web site. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991031.html
When I clicked the link I had no idea what was going to be on the next page, but what I saw took my breath away. Tears came to my eyes. I knew - if I had had any doubts left - I knew at the moment, that Islam is the True Religion of God.
The page the link took me to showed what looked like a red rose. It was the "Cat's Eye Nebula." Which was an exploding star 3000 light years away. It had been photographed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists say that it is the same fate that awaits our own solar system. Muslims refer to it as the "Rose Nebula." It had been described in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. People back then had no way of knowing about it. Only God could have known.
On September 12, 2002, the day of my birthday, scientists again using the Hubble Space Telescope found a second Rose Nebula. A gift from God to all mankind. This time the scientists called it by its rightful name, "The Rose Nebula."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/09/12/hubble.rose/index.html
After accepting in my mind as well as in my heart that Islam is the True Religion, I knew that I was already a Muslim and the only thing left to do was to profess my faith.
I looked in an internet directory for mosques in my community. I called the one in the next town and told the person who answered the phone that I wanted to convert to Islam, and asked him when I could make my Shahada. He told me to be there at 4 p.m. on Saturday when the imam would also be there. I told him that I ride the bus everywhere and it wouldn't be running late enough for me to be able to get back home and so could I come earlier? He said not to worry, someone would give me a ride home. I arrived as scheduled, and as God had scheduled, so began my new life.
I have since come to realize that on that day, the greatest event of my life occurred. I had always thought that the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me was the day that I married my husband. But I now know it wasn't. The most importnat day of my life was the day I made my Shahada and accepted Islam as the way of life God intended me to live. It was the day I acknowledged that Islam is the way to salvation, to Heaven, and I made a choice to practice it.
I can't say my husband was thrilled by my reverting to Islam. He believed what the media was saying about Muslims and the religion. He didn't like it that I went to the mosque several evenings a week and left him home alone to be bored. One night after he was finished complaining about me going yet again I sat down a few feet away from him and I calmly told him, "I will never ask you to practice a religion you don't believe in. I love you too much to try and force that on you. But I do want you to learn about Islam so that you will at least understand what it is that I believe." I then stood up and went into the bedroom and finished dressing to go to the mosque. I kissed him goodbye and I left.
When I returned home I found his whole attitude had changed. He was bright and cheerful. That night, before going to bed, he began to learn about Islam.
My husband began going to the mosque with me. While I studied with the sisters, he would talk with a brother and ask him questions. At home he read things on the internet, and books that he had borrowed from the mosque. We would discuss different things he was learning, and when a reporter on television would relate the latest lie or myth I would point things out to him and explain the truth.
When the day came and he told me about how some aspect of Islam was to be practiced, in a "know it all" tone of voice, as if it were a fact, something that I myself didn't know about, I asked him to tell me "How do you know that???" and he replied, "Because it's in the Qur'an!" I was stunned! He believed! He knew that Islam was True! If it was in the Qur'an, as far as he was concerned it was true! Thirty-six days after I publically professed my faith in God and His messenger, prophet Muhammad, my husband professed his. We had an Islamic marriage ceremony the same evening. I cried when my husband made his Shahada. I knew we would be in Eternity together!
A month before, a brother had asked me what I thought the chances of my husband converting were. I didn't want the brother getting his hopes up, or expecting more of me then I could deliver and so I bluntly told him, "Zero." I said, "I can't imagnine someone so dramatically changing their beliefs after having believed something else for 70 years." But 14 days before his 71st birthday he embraced Islam as his religion and his way of life.
In the Muslim community we have found another family. We have found friendship, love and acceptance that was taught in the Christian religions we practiced at different points in our lives, but that we felt never actually existed among most of the members of the churches we went to.
Most of the Muslims in our area are immigrants, but we have found no intolerance of Americans weather they are Muslim or not. We were both welcomed into the family of Islam the very first time each of us went to the mosque. We've always felt welcome and accepted.
Since embracing Islam We have found direction and purpose for our lives. We have found the meaning for our existance. We have come to realize that we really are here only for a short time and that what comes afterwards is far better then the fleeting pleasures that this world has to offer us.
I have found a sense of security concerning life after death that I had never known before. We have both come to see the problems that we once saw as being major as actually being opportunities to grow. We thank God for what we do have, as well for what we don't.
Today we are Muslim. We still care about 9/11. I still cry when I think a little too much about the events of that day. My husband still remembers the people jumping from the buildings. We wish all we could say about that day was where we had been when we "heard" that the WTC had been attacked. But we did see it happen, and it was the most devastating thing to ever happen in our lives. But from tragedy came victory. From death has come the knowledge that we will have life after our death. And it will be spent together.
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