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Hajj of the Saintly Elders - 1

2011-10-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

Story No. 1: (Episode)

Hazrat Zun Noon Misri R.A.says: “I was once performing tawaaf around the Ka’bah.Everybody’s eyes were fixed on the Ka’bah when suddenly a manapproached the Ka’bah and prayed:
“O my Lord, I am Your poorservant who is astray from Your court and who has run away from Yourdoor; I beg of You that thing which is nearest to You and I beg ofYou that I be allowed such worship of You which You love most: OAllah I beg of You through those saintly ones and Your Nabis that Yougrant me to drink the wine of Your love; O Lord remove from me theignorance that prevents me from reaching knowledge (Ma’rifat) ofYou that I may eagerly reach unto You, and converse with You silentlyin my desire.”

Thereafter having saidthis prayer, he cried bitterly for a long while. He cried so muchthat his tears fell on the ground. Then suddenly he started laughingand went away. Hazrat Zun Noon Misri R.A. says: ” I followed himand thought within myself that this man must either be a perfect sufior a madman. He went out of the mosque towards the outskirts of thetown. He became aware of me and said: “What do you want? Why do youfollow me; Please leave me alone.”
I said: “May Allah havemercy on you. What is your name?”
He replied: “Abdullah(servant of Allah).”
I asked: “What is your father’sname?”
He replied: “Abdullah (Servant of Allah)”
I asked:“Everyone is a servant of Allah. But what is your real name.”
Hereplied: “My father name me Sa’doon.”
I asked: “Are youthen not he who is know as ‘Sa’doon, the mad one?”
Hereplied: “Yes, I am he.”
I asked: “Who are those saintlyones through whom you prayed to Allah?”
He replied: “They arethe ones who walk towards Allah in a similar manner as he who walksthat has made the attaining of Allah’s love their aim in life. Andthey have separated themselves from this world in the same manner ashim whose heart has been snatched away.

Then he continued: O ZunNoon, I have heard you say that you would like to know the AsbaabeMa’rifat.”
I replied: “Yes, for I want to benefit from yourknowledge.”
Then he recited two couplets in Arabic:
Thehearts or the Aarifeen are sunk in the remembrance of the Lord at alltimes;
And so does the heart become involved that near Him itmakes it home.
And I have with such sincerity fallen love withHim;
That nothing can now remove from my heart the love I bear forHim. (Rowdh-23)

Story NO. 2: (Episode)

Hazrat Junaid Bahgpati R.Asays: “Once I went for Haj all alone. I remained in Mecca for awhile. It was my habit that whenever it became very dark at night, Iused to perform tawaaf. On one occasion like this I was in tawaaf wenI heard a young girl singing this while performing tawaaf:
Howmuch did I not conceal my love, yet it refuses t hide;
And now ithas openly proclaimed itself aloud.
When my yearnings increase, myheart shakes on remembering Him;
And when I desire to be near Him,hastily does He oblige by being near me.
When He appears I die inHim and for His sake live again;
And indeed does He cares for metat ecstasy do I feel.

Hazrat Junaid R.A. says:“I said to her: “O girl, do you not fear Allah? How can yourecite such words in this Holy Place?”
She replied:
“If Idid not fear Allah you would not see me here; for I would then havebeen lying down fast asleep.
Verily did the fear of Allah send meforth and brought; me here from my motherland.
His love is with methat flea about and its His love that; has caused me to be confusedand sad.
Then she asked: “O Junaid, do you perform tawaaf ofAllah or tawaaf of Baitullah?”
I replied: “I perform tawaafround the Baitullah.” Then she turned her face to the heavens andexclaimed: ‘Subhanallah!’ How strange you are! A created beinglike a stone, performing tawaaf round a stone!’ Then she recited afurther poem:
They seek Thy nearness while performing tawaaf roundstones;
Indeed are their hearts harder than stones.
Indeed arethey troubled and confused; as they imagine themselves near toThee.
Were they true in their love, they would forget their ownattributes; and only concern themselves with attribute of Thy love.

Hazrat Junaid R.A. says:“On hearing these words from her, I fell down unconscious and whenI woke up she was gone. (Rowdh)

Story No. 3: (Episode)

Hazrat Bishr al Haafi R.A.says: “On the plain of Arafaat I once saw a man weepinguncontrollably and in this state he recited a few lines thus: “HowGreat is Allah” free from all faults; even though we should expressthanks to Him by performing sujood on thorns and heated needles, thentoo we shall never be able to praise Him for one tenth of His favors.No, not one hundredth of one hundredth thereof.”

Then he quoted:
“Lord,how often have I not sinned against Thee and never remembered Theewhile in my sin;
and Thou, O Lord, have ever remembered me inunseen ways.
How often, Lord have I not in ignorance removed theveil from myself when I sinned;
Yet in Thy grace Thou hast mercyon me and covered my misdeeds.

Hazrat Bishr R.A. says:“Thereafter I lost sight of him I inquired from people as to who hewas and was told it was Hazrat Abu Ubaid Khawaas R.A. one of thegreat saints.” It is said about him that for seventy years he neverlifted his face up to the sky and when asked the reason he said: “Iam ashamed, how can I lift up this sinful face to such a greatBenefactor?”

It is something to ponderabout that such obedient servants of Allah can be so humble and thatin spite of their continuous life in Ibaadat, they can still be soashamed of themselves before Allah, while the real sinners have noshame. May Allah not deprive us on the day of Qiyaamah from lookingat His Holy Countenance and bless us and benefit us through theblessings of His righteous servants. And may Allah cause us to treadin their shadow in this world and to be in the protection of theirshadow in the hereafter. (Rowdh)

Story No. 4: (Episode)

Hazrat Maalik bin DinaarR.A. says: “When I once went for Haj I met a young man walking onfoot. With him he had no means of conveyance, no provisions and nowater. I greeted him and he replied. Then I asked him: “Young manfrom where are you?”
He replied :”I come from Him.”
Iasked : “Whither are you going?”
He replied : “I go toHim.”
I asked : “Where are your provisions for thejourney?”
He replied : “It is under His guarantee.”
Isaid : “This is an arduous journey which cannot be undertakenwithout food and water for
The way. You must surely havesomething!”
He said :”When I started this journey I took withme five letters as food for the way. They
Are the Holy words ofAllah: Kaaf, Haa, Yaa, Ain, Suaad.
I asked : “What do youmean?”
He replied : “Kaaf stands for Kaafi, which means He whois sufficient as Sustainer and Maintainer. Haa means Haadi, whichmeans Guide. Yaa stands for Mo’addi, means He who grants refuge.Ain stands for Aalim meaning All-Knower. Suaad stands for Saadiq,which means He who carries out His promise. Hence how can such aperson perish whose companion is Kaafi, Guide, Refuge, All-Knower andTruthful. With such companionship, what provisions are needed?”

Hazrat Maalik R.A. says :“Hearing him speak like that I intended giving my shirt to him buthe refused it and said: “Dear elder, it is better to remain nakedthan to acquire worldly shirts. For all halaal possessions one shallbe called to account and for every haraam possession one shall bepunished.” When evening came he lifted his face up to heaven inprayer: “O Thou most Holy Lord who is pleased at the obedience ofservants and who does not diminish in rank at the sins of others,grant to me that thing which pleases Thee-obedience. And forgive mefor that which cause Thee no harm. (sin)”

Later when the Hajis puton ihraam, and the air re-echoed with their ‘Labbaik’, heremained silent. I asked him: “Why do you not recite theTalbiya?”
He replied: “I fear that on reciting ‘Labbaik’ areply from on high may be heard ‘Laa Labbaik, Laa Saadaik’ Yourcry is not heard and we do not turn to you in pleasure.”
Thereafterhe disappeared from my sight and all along the way I did not see him.At last I saw him again at Mina. There he recited some lines ofpoetry:
Should that Beloved desire that I shed my blood, then Hemay shed it inside this haram as well as outside it.
By Allah,should my soul realize with whom it is connected?
Then instead ofon my feet, on my face I shall gladly stand in His presence.
Andblame me not for this love for Him, for if thou knowest the thing Isee then surely will you never speak.
On the morn of Eid theirsheep and goats they offer while my Lord my very life did sacrifice.Their Haj they have made and offer they brought. And I for His sakemy life did give.

Then he recited this duaa:“O Lord, people have brought their animals to sacrifice for Thee.Lord, I have nothing except my life, which I offer to Thy door. Dokindly accept it.”
Immediately thereafter he uttered a piercingcry and fell down, dead. From the unseen came a voice: “This isAllah’s friend and Allah’s martyr.”

Hazrat Maalik R.A. saysfurther: “I performed his ghusl and dressed him in his kaf’n andburied him. Throughout the night I was troubled, thinking about him.Then I feel asleep and saw him in a vision, I asked him: “What didAllah do to you?”
He replied: “I have gained a reward likethat of the martyrs of the Battle of Badr-nay even more.”
Iasked : “But why more than them?”
He replied: “They died atthe swing of the swords of infidels while I died by the sword ofAllah’s love.” (Rowdh)

This does not mean thathis rank was higher than the Badr Martyrs. He could have excelledthem in only one aspect. Because they were companions of Rasulullah s.a.w which puts them away above this young man.

Virtues of Ramadan - 1

2011-07-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

Salmaan r.a reports, “On the last day of Sha-baan Rasulullah s.a.w addressed us and said, ’0 people there comes over you now a great month, a most blessed month in which lies a night more greater in virtue than a thousand months. It is a month in which Allah has made Fasting compulsory by day. And has made sunnah the Taraweeh by night. Whosoever intends drawing near to Allah by performing any virtuous deed, for such person shall be the reward like the one who had performed a fardh in any other time. And whoever performs a fardh, shall be blessed with the reward of seventy faraaidh in any other time.

This is indeed the month of patience, and the reward for true patience is Jannah ( paradise. It is the month of sympathy with one’s fellowmen. It is the month wherein a true believer’s rizq is increased. Whosoever feeds another who fasted, in order to break the fast at sunset, for the feeder there shall be forgiveness of sins and emancipation from the fire of Jahannam (hell}, and for such feeder shall be the same reward as the one who Fasted (who he fed) without that persons reward being decreased in the least.”

Thereupon we said, “0 messenger of Allah, not all of us possess the means whereby we can give a fasting person to break his fast.” Rasulullah s.a.w replied, “Allah grants the same reward to the one who gives a fasting person to break the fast a mere date, or a drink of water, or a sip of milk.”

“This is a month, the first of which brings Allah’s mercy, the middle of which brings His forgiveness and the last of which brings emancipation from the fire of Jahan-nam.”

“Whosoever lessens the burden of his servants (bonds-men) in this month, Allah will forgive him and free him from the fire of Jahannam.”

“And in this month four things you should continue to perform in great number, two of which shall be to please your Lord, while the other two shall be those without which you cannot do. Those which shall be to please your Lord, are that you should in great quantity bear witness that there is no deity to worship except Allah (i.e. recite the Kalimah Tayyibah Laa llaaha illallaah) and make much Istighfaar beg Allah’s forgiveness with Astagirfirul-laah).” And as for those without which you cannot do, you should beg of Allah, entrance into paradise and ask refuge in Him from Jahannam.”

“And whoever gave a person who fasted water to drink, Allah shall grant that giver to drink from My fountain, such a drink where after that person shall never again feel thirsty until he enters Jannah.”

Reported by ibn Khuzaimah in his ‘Saheeh.

COMMENTARY

All the points which this Hadith draws attention have been further emphasized in numerous other Ahaadith on the great virtues of Ramadan. Quite a number of important points are brought to our notice.

Firstly, it should be noted that Rasulullah s.a.w delivered this sermon at the end of the month of Sha-baan the obvious reason being that he intended to put into our minds the great importance of Ramadan so that we could remember and not allow one second of this month to go by without giving it the full importance it deserves. Thereafter attention is drawn to Laylatul Qadr, about which more is said later. Then attention is drawn to the fact that fasting has been made compulsory by Allah who also made sunnah the Taraweeh ‘salaah by night.

From this Hadith it is noted that the command for Taraweeh prayers too comes from Allah Himself. Besides this in all the Ahadith wherein Rasulullah s.a.w says, I have made it sunnah”, is mainly to emphasize its importance. All the authorities of the Ahlus sunnah wal Jamaa’ah are agreed upon the fact that Taraweeh is sunnah. (Bur-haan mentions that only the Rawaafidh deny this.)

Maulana Shaah Abdulhaq Dehlawi wrote in his book: “Maa Thabata Bis sunnah” that should the people of any town fail to perform Taraweeh prayers, the Muslim ruler should make them do so by force.

Isra' and Mi`raj

2011-07-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

The Collated Hadith of Isra' and Mi`raj

In the name of Allah Most Merciful Most Beneficient Blessings and Peace upon the Messenger of Allah and his Family and Companions, as the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, was in al-Hijr at the House (the semi-circular space under the waterspout which is open on both sides on the Northwest side of the Ka`ba), lying down at rest between two men (his uncle Hamza and his cousin Ja`far ibn Abi Talib), Jibril and Mika'il came to him. With them was a third angel (Israfil). They carried him until they brought him to the spring of Zamzam, where they asked him to lie on his back and Jibril took him over from the other two. (Another version says: "The roof of my house was opened and Jibril descended.")

He split the Prophet's chest from his throat to the bottom of his belly. Then Jibril said to Mika'il: "Bring me a tast (a vessel, usually made of copper) of water from Zamzam so that I will purify his heart and expand his breast." He took out his heart and washed it three times, removing from it what was wrong. Mika'il went back and forth to him with the vessel of water from Zamzam three times.

Then he brought him a golden vessel filled with wisdom and belief which he emptied into his chest. He filled his chest with hilm (intelligence, patience, good character), knowledge, certainty, and submission, then he closed it up. He sealed it between his shoulders with the seal of Prophethood.

Then he brought the Buraq (lightning-mount), handsome-faced and bridled, a tall, white beast, bigger than the donkey but smaller than the mule. He could place his hooves at the farthest boundary of his gaze. He had long ears. Whenever he faced a mountain his hind legs would extend, and whenever he went downhill his front legs would extend. He had two wings on his thighs which lent strength to his legs.

He bucked when the Prophet came to mount him. Jibril put his hand on his mane and said: "Are you not ashamed, O Buraq? By Allah, no-one has ridden you in all creation more dear to Allah than he is." Hearing this he was so ashamed that he sweated until he became soaked, and he stood still so that the Prophet mounted him.

The other Prophets used to mount the Buraq before. Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib said: "It is the beast of Ibrahim which he used to mount whenever he travelled to the Sacred House."

Jibril departed with him. He placed himself on his right while Mika'il was on his left. (In Ibn Sa`d's version:) The one holding his stirrup was Jibril and the one holding the reins of the Buraq was Mika'il.

They travelled until they reached a land filled with datepalms. Jibril said to the Prophet: "Alight and pray here." He did so and remounted, then Jibril said: "Do you know where you prayed?" He said no. Jibril said: "You prayed in a tayba (land of pastures) and the Migration will take place there.

The Buraq continued his lightning flight, placing his hooves wherever his gaze could reach. Jibril then said again: "Alight and pray here." He did so and remounted, then Jibril said: "Do you know where you prayed?" He said no. Jibril said: "You prayed in Madyan (a city on the shore of the Red Sea bordering Tabuk near the valley of Shu`ayb) at the tree of Musa" (where Musa rested from fatigue and hunger during his flight from Fir`awn).

The Buraq continued his lightning flight, then Jibril said again: "Alight and pray here." He did so and remounted, then Jibril said: "Do you know where you prayed?" He said no. Jibril said: "You prayed at the mountain of Sina' (Mount Sinai) where Allah addressed Musa."

Then he reached a land where the palaces of Syria became visible to him. Jibril said to him: "Alight and pray." He did so and remounted, then the Buraq continued his lightning flight and Jibril said: "Do you know where you prayed?" He said no. Jibril said: "You prayed in Bayt Lahm (Bethlehem), where `Isa ibn Maryam was born."

As the Prophet was travelling mounted on the Buraq he saw a devil from the jinn who was trying to get near him holding a firebrand. Everywhere the Prophet turned he would see him. Jibril said to him: "Shall I teach you words which, if you say them, his firebrand will go out and he will fall dead?" The Prophet said yes. Jibril said:

Say: a`udhu bi wajhillahi al-karim
wa bi kalimatillahi al-tammat
al-lati la yujawizuhunna barrun wa la fajir
min sharri ma yanzilu min al-sama'
wa min sharri ma ya`ruju fiha
wa min sharri ma dhara'a fi al-ard
wa min sharri ma yakhruju minha
wa min fitani al-layli wa al-nahar
wa min tawariq al-layli wa al-nahar
illa tariqin yatruqu bi khayrin ya rahman

I seek refuge in the Face of Allah the Munificent
and in Allah's perfect words
which neither the righteous nor the disobedient overstep
from the evil of what descends from the heaven
and the evil of what ascends to it
and the evil of what is created in the earth
and the trials of the night and the day
and the visitors of the night and the day
except the visitor that comes with goodness,
O Beneficent One!

At this the devil fell dead on his face and his firebrand went out.
They travelled until they reached a people who sowed in a day and reaped in a day. Every time they reaped, their harvest would be replenished as before. The Prophet said: "O Jibril, what is this?" He replied: "These are al-mujahidun -- those who strive -- in the path of Allah the Exalted. Every good deed of theirs is multiplied for them seven hundred times, and whatever they spend returns multiplied."

The Prophet then noticed a fragrant wind and said: "O Jibril, what is this sweet scent?" He replied: "This is the scent of the lady who combed the hair of Fir`awn's daughter and that of her children. As she combed the hair of Fir`awn's daughter the comb fell and she said: bismillah ta`isa fir`awn -- In the name of Allah, may Fir`awn perish! whereupon Fir`awn's daughter said: Do you have a Lord other than my father? She said yes. Fir`awn's daughter said: Shall I tell my father? She said yes. She told him and he summoned her and said: Do you have a Lord other than me? She replied: Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah. This woman had two sons and a husband. Fir`awn summoned them and he began to entice the woman and her husband to renege on their religion, but they refused. He said: Then I shall kill you. She said: Be so good as to bury us all together in a single grave if you kill us. He replied: Granted, and it is your right to ask us. He then ordered that a huge cow made of copper be filled with boiling liquid (oil and water) and that she and her children be thrown into it. The children were taken and thrown in one after the other. The second and youngest was still an infant at the breast. When they took him he said: Mother! fall and do not tarry for verily you are on the right. Then she was thrown in with her children."

He (Ibn `Abbas) said: "Four spoke from the cradle as they were still infants: this child, Yusuf's witness (cf. 12:26), Jurayj's companion, and `Isa ibn Maryam."

Then the Prophet saw people whose heads were being shattered, then every time they would return to their original state and be shattered again without delay. He said: "O Jibril, who are these people?" He replied: "These are the people whose heads were too heavy (on their pillows) to get up and fulfill the prescribed prayers."

Then he saw a people who wore loincloths on the fronts and on their backs. They were roaming the way camels and sheep roam about. They were eating thistles and zaqqum -- the fruit of a tree that grows in hell and whose fruit resembles the head of devils (37:62-63) -- and white-hot coals and stones of Gehenna. He said: "Who are these, O Jibril?" He replied: "These are the ones who did not meet the obligation of paying sadaqa from what they possessed, whereas Allah never kept anything from them."

Then he saw a people who had in front of them excellent meats disposed in pots and also putrid, foul meat, and they would eat from the foul meat and not touch the good meat. He said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "These are the men from your Community who had an excellent, lawful wife at home and who would go and see a foul woman and spend the night with her; and the women who would leave her excellent, lawful husband to go and see a foul man and spend the night with him."

Then he came to a plank in the middle of the road which not even a piece of cloth nor less than that could cross except it would be pierced. He said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is what happens to those of your Community who sit in the middle of the road and cut it" and he recited:

wa la taq`adu bi kulli siratin tu`iduna wa tasudduna `an sabilillah man amana bihi wa tabtaghunaha `iwajan
Lurk not on every road to threaten wayfarers and to turn away from Allah's path him who believes in Him, and to seek to make it crooked (7:86).

The Prophet saw a man swimming in a river of blood and he was being struck in his mouth with rocks which he then swallowed. The Prophet asked: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is what happens to those who eat usury."

Then he saw a man who had gathered a stack of wood which he could not carry, yet he was adding more wood to it. He said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is a man from your Community who gets people's trusts when he cannot fulfill them, yet he insists on carrying them.

He then saw people whose tongues and lips were being sliced with metal knives. Every time they were sliced they would return to their original state to be sliced again without respite. He said: "Who are these, O Jibril?" He replied: "These are the public speakers of division in your Community: they say what they don't do."
Then he passed by people who had copper nails with which they scratched their own faces and chests. He asked: "Who are these, O Jibril?" He replied: "These are the ones who ate the flesh of people and tarnished their reputations."

Then he saw a small hole with a huge bull coming out of it. The bull began to try entering the hole again and was unable. The Prophet said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is the one in your Community who tells an enormity, then he feels remorse to have spoken it but is unable to take it back."

(al-Shami added:) He then came to a valley in which he breathed a sweet, cool breeze fragrant with musk and he heard a voice. He said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is the voice of Paradise saying: O my Lord, bring me what You have promised me for too abundant are my rooms, my gold-laced garments, my silk, my brocades, my carpets, my pearls, my coral, my silver, my gold, my goblets, my bowls, my pitchers, my couches, my honey, my water, my milk, my wine! And He says: You will have every single Muslim and Muslima, every Mu'min and Mu'mina, and everyone who has believed in Me and My Messengers and did excellent deeds without associating a partner to Me nor taking helpers without Me. Anyone who fears Me will be safe, and whoever asks Me I shall give him, and whoever lends Me something I shall repay him, and whoever relies on Me I shall suffice him. I am Allah besides Whom there is no god. I never fail in My promise. Successful indeed are the believers! Blessed is Allah, therefore, the best of Creators! And Paradise answered: I accept."

Then he came to a valley in which he heard a detestable sound and smelled a stench-carrying wind. He said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is the sound of Gehenna saying: O Lord, give me what You promised me, for abundant are my chains, my yokes, my punishments, my fires, my thistles, my pus, my tortures! My depth is abysmal, my heat is extreme, therefore give me what You promised me! And He replied: You will have every idolater and idolatress, every male and female disbeliever and foul one, and every tyrant who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning."

The Prophet saw the Dajjal in his actual likeness. He saw him with his own eyes not in a dream. It was said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, how was he when you saw him?" He replied: "Mammoth-sized (faylamaniyyan), extremely pale and white (aqmaru hijan), one of his eyes is protuberant as if it were a twinkling star. His hair is like the branches of a tree. He resembles `Abd al-`Uzza ibn Qatan (who died in Jahiliyya)."

The Prophet saw a pearl-like white column (`amud) which the angels were carrying. He said: "What is this you are carrying?" They replied: "The Column of Islam. We have been ordered to place it in Syria." (End of al-Shami's addition.)

- (The Prophet called Syria the purest of Allah's lands, the place where Religion, belief and safety are found in the time of dissension, and the home of the saints for whose sake Allah sends sustenance to the people and victory to Muslims over their enemies:

1. Ibn `Asakir in Tahdhib tarikh Dimashq al-kabir relates from Ibn Mas`ud that the Prophet compared the world to a little rain water on a mountain plateau of which the safw had already been drunk and from which only the kadar or dregs remained. al-Huwjiri and al-Qushayri mention it in their chapters on tasawwuf, respectively in Kashf al-mahjub and al-Risala al-qushayriyya. Ibn al-Athir defines safw and safwa in his dictionary al-Nihaya as "the best of any matter, its quintessence, and purest part." The quintessence spoken of by the Prophet is Syria, because he called Syria "the quintessence of Allah's lands" (safwat Allah min biladih). Tabarani related it from `Irbad ibn Sariya and Haythami authenticated the chain of transmission in his book Majma` al-zawa'id, chapter entitled Bab fada'il al-sham.

2. Abu al-Darda' narrated that the Prophet said:

As I was sleeping I saw the Column of the Book being carried away from under my head. I feared lest it would be taken away, so I followed it with my eyes and saw that it was being planted in Syria. Verily, belief in the time of dissensions will be in Syria.

al-Haythami said that Ahmad narrated it with a chain whose narrators are all the men of the sahih -- sound narrations -- and that al-Bazzar narrated it with a chain whose narrators are the men of sound hadith except for Muhammad ibn `Amir al-Antaki, and he is thiqa -- trustworthy.
In the version Tabarani narrated from Ibn `Amr in al-Mu`jam al kabir and al-Mu`jam al-awsat the Prophet repeats three times: "When the dissensions take place, belief will be in Syria." One manuscript bears: "Safety will be in Syria." al-Haythami said the men in its chain are those of sound hadith except for Ibn Lahi`a, and he is fair (hasan).

3. al-Tabarani relates from `Abd Allah ibn Hawala that the Prophet said:

"I saw on the night that I was enraptured a white column resembling a pearl, which the angels were carrying. I said to them: What are you carrying? They replied: The Column of the Book. We have been ordered to place it in Syria. Later, in my sleep, I saw that the Column of the Book was snatched away from under my headrest (wisadati). I began to fear lest Allah the Almighty had abandoned the people of the earth. My eyes followed where it went. It was a brilliant light in front of me. Then I saw it was placed in Syria." `Abd Allah ibn Hawala said: "O Messenger of Allah, choose for me (where I should go)." The Prophet said: alayka bi al-sham -- "You must go to Syria."

al-Hafiz al-Haythami said in Majma` al-zawa'id: "The narrators in its chain of transmission are all those of sound hadith, except Salih ibn Rustum, and he is thiqa -- trustworthy."

4. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal relates in his Musnad (1:112):

The people of Syria were mentioned in front of `Ali ibn Abi Talib while he was in Iraq, and they said to him: Curse them, O Commander of the Believers. He replied: No, I heard the Messenger of Allah say: "The Substitutes (al-abdal) are in Syria and they are forty men, every time one of them dies, Allah substitutes another in his place. By means of them Allah brings down the rain, gives (Muslims) victory over their enemies, and averts punishment from the people of Syria."

al-Haythami said in Majma` al-zawa'id: "The men in its chains are all those of sound hadith except for Sharih ibn `Ubayd, and he is trustworthy (thiqa)." There are more hadiths on the abdal which we cite elsewhere in the present work.)

As the Prophet was travelling he heard someone calling him from his right: "O Muhammad, look at me, I want to ask you something!" But the Prophet did not respond. Then he said: "Who was this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is the herald of the Jews. If you had answered him your Community would have followed Judaism."
The Prophet continued travelling and he heard someone calling him from his left: "O Muhammad, look at me, I want to ask you something!" But the Prophet did not respond. Then he said: "Who was this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is the herald of the Christians. If you had answered him your Community would have followed Christianity."

The Prophet continued travelling and then passed by a woman with bare arms, decked with every female ornament Allah had created. She said: "O Muhammad, look at me, I need to ask you something." But he did not look at her. Then he said: "Who was this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This was the world, (al-dunya). If you had answered her, your Community would have preferred the world to the hereafter."

As the Prophet travelled on, he passed by an old man who was a distance away from his path saying: "Come hither, O Muhammad!" But Jibril said: "Nay, go on, O Muhammad!" The Prophet went on and then said: "Who was this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This was Allah's enemy, Iblis. He wanted you to incline towards him."
He went on and passed by an old woman on the roadside who said: "O Muhammad, look at me, I need to ask you something." But he did not look at her. Then he said: "Who was this, O Jibril?" He replied: "The world has as much left to live as the remaining lifetime of this old woman."

(al-Shami added:) As he went on he was met by some of Allah's creatures who said: "Peace be upon you, O First One! Peace upon you, O Last One! Peace be upon you, O Gatherer!" Jibril said to him: "Return their greeting," and he did. Then he saw them another time and they said the same thing. Then he saw them a third time and again they greeted him. He said: "Who are they, O Jibril?" He replied: "Ibrahim, Musa, and `Isa."
The Prophet then passed by Musa as he was praying in his grave at a place of red sandhills. He was tall, with long hair and brown complexion, similar to one of the shanu'a -- the (Yemeni) men of pure lineage and manly virtue. He was saying with a loud voice: "You have honored him and preferred him!" Then the Prophet greeted him and he returned his greeting. Musa said: "Who is this with you, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is Ahmad." He said: "Welcome to the Arabian Prophet who acted perfectly with his Community!" and he made an invocation for blessing on his behalf. Then he said: "Ask ease for you Community."

They continued travelling and the Prophet said: "O Jibril, who was this?" He replied: "This is Musa ibn `Imran." The Prophet asked: "Who was he reprimanding?" He said: "He is reprimanding his Lord." The Prophet said: "He reprimands his Lord and raises his voice against his Lord?!" Jibril said: "Allah the Exalted knows Musa's bluntness."

He passed by a large tree whose fruit seemed like a thornless berry (of the kind that gives shade to men and cattle). Under it an old man was resting with his dependents. There were lamps and a great light could be seen. The Prophet said: "Who is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "Your father Ibrahim." The Prophet greeted him and Ibrahim returned his greeting and said: "Who is this with you, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is your son Ahmad." He said:

Welcome to the unlettered Arabian Prophet who has conveyed the message of his Lord and acted with perfect sincerity with his Community!
O my son, you are going to meet your Lord tonight, and your Community is the last and the weakest of all Communities -- therefore, if you are able to have your need fulfilled concerning your Community, or most of it, be sure to do it!

Then he invoked for goodness on his behalf.
They continued travelling until they reached the valley that is in the city -- that is: the Hallowed House (Jerusalem) -- when lo and behold! the Gehenna was shown to them like a carpet unfolded. They (the Companions) said: "O Messenger of Allah, how was it?" He replied: "Like cinders."

He continued travelling until he reached the city of the Hallowed House and he entered it by its Southern gate. He dismounted the Buraq and tied it at the gate of the mosque, using the ring by which the Prophets tied it before him. One narration states that Jibril came to the Rock and placed his fingers in it, piercing it, then he tied the Buraq using the spot he had hollowed out.

The Prophet entered the mosque from a gate through which the sun and the moon could be seen when they set. He prayed two cycles of prayer and did not tarry long before a large throng of people had gathered. The Prophet recognized all the Prophets, some standing in prayer, some bowing, some prostrating. Then a caller called out to the prayer and the final call to prayer was made. They rose and stood in lines, waiting for the one who would lead them. Jibril took the hand of the Prophet and brought him forward. He led them in two cycles of prayer.

- (Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi said:

This took place before his ascension according to the highest probability. Najm al-Din al-Ghiti said: "The narrations agree to the fact that the Prophet prayed among the other Prophets in Jerusalem before his ascension." This is one of the two possibilities mentioned by Qadi `Iyad. Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: "This is apparently the case. The second possibility is that he prayed among them after he came down from the heaven, and they came down also." Ibn Kathir also declared the former scenario as the sound one. Some said: "What is the objection to the possibility that the Prophet prayed among them twice, since some of the hadiths mention that he led them in prayer after his ascent?")

The following is related from Ka`b: Jibril raised the call to prayer. The angels descended from the heaven. Allah gathered all the Messengers and Prophets. Then the Prophet prayed as the leader of the angels and Messengers. When he left Jibril asked him: "O Muhammad, do you know who prayed behind you?" He said no. Jibril said: "Every single Prophet whom Allah has ever sent."
(Al-Shami adds:) Abu Hurayra’s narration related by al-Hakim who declared it sound, and by al-Bayhaqi, states: Then the Prophet met the spirits of the Prophets. They glorified their Lord, after which Ibrahim said:

Praise to Allah Who has made taken me as His intimate friend, Who has given me an immense kingdom, Who has made me a prayerful Community and one by whom prayer is led, Who has rescued me from the fire and made it cool and safe for me!

Then Musa glorified his Lord and said:

Praise be to Allah Who has spoken to me directly, Who has brought to pass the destruction of Fir`awn and the salvation of the Children of Israel at my hands, and Who has made from among my Community a people who guide others through truth and establish justice upon it!

Then Dawud glorified his Lord and said:

Praise be to Allah Who has brought me an immense kingdom, Who has softened iron for my hands, and subjected to me the mountains and the birds which laud Him, and has given me wisdom and unmistakable judgment in my speech!

Then Sulayman glorified his Lord and said:

Praise be to Allah Who has subjected the winds to my command as well as the devils, so that they did as I wished and constructed for me elevated sanctuaries, images, large bowls the size of ponds, and vessels fixed in their spot (due to their size), Who has taught me the language of birds and has brought me a part of every good thing, Who has subjected to me the armies of the devils and the birds and has preferred me over many of His believing servants, Who has brought me an immense kingdom which no one after me may possess, and Who has made my kingdom a goodly one wherein there is no reckoning nor punishment!

Then `Isa ibn Maryam glorified his Lord and said:

Praise be to Allah Who has made me His word, Who has fashioned me after Adam’s likeness whom He created out of earth then said to him: Be, and he was, Who has taught me the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Evangel, Who has caused me to heal the blind and the leper and to raise the dead by Allah’s permission, Who has raised me and cleansed me and granted me and my mother protection against the cursed devil, so that the devil had no path by which to harm us! (End of al-Shami’s addition).

Every Prophet then glorified his Lord in the best of language, and the Prophet said:

All of you have glorified their Lord and I am going to glorify my Lord also:
al-hamdu lillah al-ladhi arsalani rahmatan li al-`alamin
wa kaffatan li al-nasi bashiran wa nadhira
wa anzala `alayya al-qur’ana fihi tibyanun li kulli shay’
wa ja`ala ummati khayra ummatin ukhrijat li al-nas
wa ja`ala ummati wasatan
wa ja`ala ummati hum al-awwaluna wa al-akhirun
wa sharaha li sadri wa wada`a anni wazri
wa rafa`a li dhikri
wa ja`alani fatihan khatiman!
Praise belongs to Allah Who has sent me, a mercy to the worlds
Sent to all without exception, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner,
Who has caused to descend upon me the Qur’an in which there is a perfect exposition of all things,
Who has made my Community the best Community ever brought out for the benefit of mankind,
Who has made my Community a mean and a middle,
Who has made my Community in truth the first and the last of all Communities,
Who has expanded my breast and has relieved me of my burden,
Who has exalted my name,
And has made me the Opener and the Sealer!

Upon hearing this Ibrahim said: "In this has Muhammad bested you!"
Then they brought up the matter of the Hour and referred it to Ibrahim, but he said: "I have no knowledge of it." They turned to Musa but he said: "I have no knowledge of it." They turned to `Isa and he said:

As for the time when it shall befall, no one knows it except Allah. As for what my Lord has assured me (concerning what precedes it), then: the Dajjal or Antichrist will come forth and I will face him with two rods. At my sight he shall melt like lead: Allah shall cause his destruction as soon as he sees me. It will be so that the very stones will say: O Muslim, behind me hides a disbeliever, therefore come and kill him! And Allah shall cause them all to die.
People will then return to their countries and nations. At that time Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) shall come out. They will come from every direction. They will trample all nations underfoot. Whatever they come upon they will destroy. They will drink up every body of water.
At last the people will come to me complaining about them. At that time I will invoke Allah against them so that He will destroy them and cause their death until the whole earth will reek of their stench. Allah will send down rain which shall carry their bodies away and hurl them into the sea.
I have been assured by my Lord that once all this takes place then the Hour will be as the pregnant mother at the last stages of her pregnancy. Her family does not know when she shall suddenly give birth by night or by day. (End of al-Shami’s addition)

The Prophet then felt the greatest thirst that he had ever felt, whereupon Jibril brought him a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk. He chose the latter. Jibril said: "You have chosen fitra – natural disposition – and if you had drunken the wine, your Community would have strayed from the right way and none but a few of them would have followed you."

- The Prophet said, "Every child is born with a natural disposition (kullu mawludin yuladu `ala al-fitra); then his parents convert him to Judaism, or Christianity, or Zoroastrianism. It is the same with the animal which delivers a perfect baby animal. Do you find it missing anything?" Bukhari narrates it. Muslim omits the mention of the animal. Tirmidhi’s narration (hasan sahih) also omits it, but adds: "O Messenger of Allah, what if the child dies before that?" He replied: "Allah knows best what they would have done."

The hadith master al-Zabidi said in his commentary on Ghazali’s Ihya’ entitled Ithaf al-sadat al-muttaqin bi sharh ihya’ `ulum al-din (The gift of the godwary masters: commentary on Ghazali’s "Giving life to the sciences of the Religion"): "Born with a natural disposition: the definite case indicates that it is commonly known, and it consists in Allah’s disposition with which He endows all people, that is, the innate character with which He creates them and which predisposes them to accept Religion and to differentiate between the wrong and the right."

Another narration states: There were three vessels and the third contained water. Jibril said: "If you had drunk the water your Community would have perished by drowning."

Another narration states that one of the vessels presented to him contained honey instead of water, and that he then saw the wide-eyed maidens of Paradise to the left of the Rock. He greeted them and they returned his greeting. Then he asked them something and they replied with an answer that cools the eyes.
Then the Prophet was brought the ladder by which the spirits of the children of Adam ascend. Creation never saw a more beautiful object. It had alternate stairs of silver and gold and came down from the Highest and Amplest Garden of Paradise, Jannat al-firdaws. It was incrusted with pearls and surrounded with angels on its right and left.

The Prophet began his ascent with Jibril until they reached one of the gates of the nearest heaven called Bab al-hafazha. There an angel stood guard, named Isma`il, who was the custodian of the nearest heaven. He inhabits the wind. He never ascends to the heaven nor descends to earth except on the day that the Prophet died, blessings and peace upon him. In front of him stood seventy thousand angels, each angel commanding an army of seventy thousand more.

Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. When they came in they saw Adam, peace be upon him, the father of humanity, as he was on the day Allah created him in his complete form. The spirits of the Prophets and of his believing offspring were being shown to him, whereupon he would say: "A goodly spirit and a goodly soul, put her in the Highest! (`illiyyin)." Then the spirits of his unbelieving offspring would be shown to him and he would say: "A foul spirit and a foul soul, put her in the lowest layer of Hell! (sijjin)."

The Prophet saw to Adam’s right great dark masses and a gate exuding a fragrant smell, and to his left great dark masses and a gate exuding a foul, malodorant smell. Whenever Adam looked to his right he would smile and be happy, and whenever he looked to his left he would be sad and weep. The Prophet greeted him and Adam returned his greeting and said: "Welcome to the righteous son and the righteous Prophet!"

The Prophet said: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is your father Adam and the dark throngs are the souls of his children. Those on the right are the people of Paradise and those on the left are the people of the Fire. Whenever he looks to his right he smiles and is glad, and whenever he looks to his left he is sad and weeps. The door to his right is the gate of Paradise. Whenever he sees those of his offspring enter it he smiles happily. The door to his left is the gate of Gehenna. Whenever he sees those of his offspring enter it he weeps sadly.

(al-Shami added:) Then the Prophet continued for a little while. He saw a tablespread on which there were pieces of (good) meat which no one approached, and another tablespread on which were pieces of rotten meat which stank, surrounded by people who were eating it. The Prophet asked: "O Jibril, who are these?" He replied: "These are those of your Community who abandon what is lawful and go to what is unlawful."

(One version says:) The Prophet saw a great deal of people gathered around a tablespread on which was set grilled meat of the best kind one had ever seen. Near the table there was some carrion decaying. The people were coming to the carrion to eat from it, and they were leaving the grilled meat untouched. The Prophet asked: "Who are they, O Jibril?" He replied: "The adulterers (al-zunat): they make lawful what Allah has made unlawful, and they abandon what Allah has made lawful for them."

Then the Prophet went on for a little while. He saw groups of people who had bellies as large as houses, and there were snakes in them which could be seen through their skins. Every time one of those people stood up he would fall again and he would say: "O Allah, don't make the Hour of Judgment rise yet!" Then they meet the people of Fir`awn on the road and the latter trample them underfoot. (The Prophet said:) "I heard them clamoring to Allah." He asked: "O Jibril, who are these?" He replied: "They are those of your Community who eat up usury. They cannot stand up except in the manner of those whom the Shaytan touches with possession."

Then the Prophet went on for a little while. He saw groups of people whose lips resembled the lips of camels. Their mouths were being pried open and they would be stoned. One version says: A rock from Gehenna was placed in their mouths and then it would come out again from their posteriors. (The Prophet said:) "I heard them clamoring to Allah." He asked: "O Jibril, who are these?" He replied: "They are those of your Community who eat up the property of orphans and commit injustice. They are eating nothing but a fire for their bellies, and they shall be roasted in it."

Then the Prophet went on for a little while. He saw women suspended by their breasts and others hanging upside down, (and the Prophet said:) "I heard them clamoring to Allah." He asked: "Who are these, O Jibril?" He replied: "These are the women who commit fornication and then kill their children."
Then the Prophet went on for a little while. He saw groups of people whose sides were being cut off for meat and they were being devoured. They were being told: "Eat, just as you used to eat the flesh of your brother." The Prophet said: "O Jibril, who are these?" He replied: "They are the slanderers of your Community who would bring shame to others." (End of al-Shami's addition.)

Then the Prophet continued for a little while, and he found the consumers of usury and of the property of orphans, and the fornicators and adulterers, and others, in various loathsome states as those that have been described, and worse.

Then they ascended to the second heaven. Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. When they came in they saw the sons of the two sisters: `Isa ibn Maryam and Yahya ibn Zakariyya. They resembled each other in clothing and hair. Each had with him a large company of their people. `Isa was curly-haired, of medium build, leaning towards fair complexion, with hair let down as if he were coming out of the bath. He resembles `Urwa ibn Mas`ud al-Thaqafi.

- (One of the dignitaries of the town of Ta'if. Ibn Hajar in his Isaba relates that he alone responded to the Prophet's invitation to that city by following him and declaring his acceptance of Islam. Then he asked for permission to return to his people and speak to them. The Prophet said: "I fear lest they harm you." He said: "They would not even wake me up if they saw me sleeping." Then he returned. When he began to invite them to Islam, they rejected him. One morning as he stood outside his house making adhan, a man shot him with an arrow. As he lay dying he was asked: "What do you think about your death now?" He replied: "It is a gift given me out of Allah's generosity." When news of this reached the Prophet he said: "He is like the man of Ya Sin when he came to his people," a reference to 36:20-27.

Ibn Hajar also mentions that it is from `Urwa that Abu Nu`aym narrated (with a weak chain) that the Prophet took the women's pledge of allegiance at Hudaybiyya by touching the water of a pail in which they had dipped their hands.)

The Prophet greeted them and they returned his greeting. Then they said: "Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous Prophet!" Then they invoked for goodness on his behalf.

After this the Prophet and Jibril ascended to the third heaven. Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. When they came in they saw Yusuf, and with him stood a large company of his people. The Prophet greeted him and he returned his greeting and said: "Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous Prophet!" Then he invoked for goodness on his behalf.

Yusuf had been granted the gift of beauty. One narration says: He was the most handsome creation that Allah had ever created and he surpassed people in beauty the way the full moon surpasses all other stars. The Prophet asked: "Who is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "Your brother Yusuf."

Then they ascended to the fourth heaven. Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. When they came in they saw Idris. Allah exalted him to a lofty place. The Prophet greeted him and he returned his greeting and said: "Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous Prophet!" Then he invoked for goodness on his behalf.

Then they ascended to the fifth heaven. Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. When they came in they saw Harun. Half of his beard was white and the other half was black. It almost reached his navel due to its length. Surrounding him were a company of the children of Israel listening to him as he was telling them a story. The Prophet greeted him and he returned his greeting and said: "Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous Prophet!" Then he invoked for goodness on his behalf. The Prophet asked: "Who is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "This is the man who is beloved among his people, Harun ibn `Imran."

Then they ascended to the sixth heaven. Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. The Prophet passed by Prophets who had with them less than ten followers in all, while others had a large company, and others had not even one follower.
Then he saw a huge dark mass (sawad `azhim) that was covering the firmament. He said: "What is this throng?" He was told: "This is Musa and his people. Now raise your head and look." He raised his head and saw another huge dark mass that was covering the firmament from every direction he looked. He was told: "These are your Community, and besides these there are seventy thousand of them that will enter Paradise without giving account."

As they went in the Prophet saw Musa ibn `Imran (again), a tall man with brown complexion, similar to one of the shanu'a -- the (Yemeni) men of pure lineage and manly virtue -- with abundant hair. If he had two shirts on him, still his hair would exceed them. The Prophet greeted him and he returned his greeting and said: "Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous Prophet!" Then he invoked for goodness on his behalf and said: "The people claim that among the sons of Adam I am more honored by Allah than this one, but it is he who is more honored by Allah than me!"

When the Prophet reached him Musa wept. He was asked: "What is it that makes you weep?" He replied: "I weep because a child that was sent after me will enter more people in Paradise from his Community than will enter from mine. The children of Israel claim that among the children of Adam I am the one most honored by Allah, but here is one man among the children of Adam who has come after me in the world while I am in the next world (and is more honored). If he were only by himself I would not mind, but he has his Community with him!"

-(This is the proof of the famous saying of the master Abu Yazid al-Bistami: "We have crossed an ocean on the shore of which the Prophets stood befuddled." That is: We -- the Last Community -- have been granted, in the person of the Seal of Prophets, levels of knowledge, election, and divine favor which previous Prophets have longed to receive. This does not contradict the tenet of Ahl al-Sunna expressed by Imam al-Tahawi in his `Aqida whereby "A single Prophet is higher in rank than all awliya' put together.")

Then they ascended to the seventh heaven. Jibril asked for the gate to be opened. Someone said:
– "Who is this?"
– "Jibril."
– "Who is with you?
– "Muhammad."
– "Has he been sent for?"
– "Yes."
– "Welcome to him, from his family! May Allah grant him long life, a brother (of ours) and a deputy (of Allah), and what excellent brother and deputy! What an excellent visit is this!"

The gate was opened. The Prophet saw Ibrahim the Friend sitting at the gate of Paradise on a throne of gold the back of which was leaning against the Inhabited House (al-Bayt al-ma`mur). With him were a company of his people. The Prophet greeted him and he returned his greeting and said: "Welcome to the righteous son and the righteous Prophet!"
- (Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi said: "ma`mur means inhabited with the remembrance of Allah and the great number of angels.")

Then Ibrahim said: "Order your Community to increase their seedlings of Paradise for its soil is excellent and its land is plentiful." The Prophet said: "What are the seedlings of Paradise?" He replied: la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah al-`ali al-`azhim "There is no change nor might except with Allah the High, the Almighty."

Another version says:

Convey my greetings to your Community and tell them that Paradise has excellent soil and sweet water, and that its seedlings are:
subhan allah: Glory to Allah
wa al-hamdu lillah: and Praise to Allah
wa la ilaha illallah: and there is no god but Allah
wallahu akbar: and Allah is greatest.

With Ibrahim were sitting a company of people with pristine faces similar to the whiteness of a blank page, and next to them were people with something in their faces. The latter stood and entered a river in which they bathed. Then they came out having purified some of their hue. Then they entered another river and bathed and came out having purified some more. Then they entered a third river and bathed and purified themselves and their hue became like that of their companions. They came back and sat next to them.

The Prophet said: "O Jibril, who are those with white faces and those who had something in their hues, and what are these rivers in which they entered and bathed?" He replied: "The ones with white faces are a people who never tarnished their belief with injustice or disobedience; those with something in their hues are a people who would mix good deeds with bad ones, then they repented and Allah relented towards them. As for these rivers, then the first is Allah's mercy (rahmatullah), the second his favor (ni`matullah), and the third and their Lord gave them a pure beverage to drink (wa saqahum rabbuhum sharaban tahuran) (76:21)."

Then the Prophet was told: "This is your place and the place of your Community." He saw that his Community were divided into two halves: one half were wearing clothes that seemed as white as a blank page, the other were wearing clothes that seemed the color of ashes or dust. He entered the Inhabited House and those who were wearing the white clothes entered with him. Those that wore ash-colored clothes were no longer able to see him, and yet they were in the best of states. The Prophet prayed in the Inhabited House together with those of the believers that were with him.

Every day seventy thousand angels enter the Inhabited House, who shall never return to it until the Day of Resurrection. This House is exactly superposed to the Ka`ba. If one stone fell from it it would fall on top of the Ka`ba. The angels who have entered it never see it again.
One version states that the presentation of the three vessels, the Prophet's choice of the vessel of milk, and Jibril's approval took place at this point.

(al-Shami adds:) al-Tabarani cites this hadith with a sound chain: "The night I was enraptured I passed by the heavenly host, and lo and behold! Jibril was like the worn-out saddle-cloth on the camel's back from fear of his Lord." One of al-Bazzar's narrations states: "like a saddle-blanket that clings to the ground."
- (Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi said: "Of the same meaning is the hadith: kun hilsan min ahlasi baytik Be one of the saddle blankets of your house, that is: keep to it in times of dissension.)

The Lote-Tree of the Farthest Limit (Sirathul Muntaha)

Then the Prophet was raised up to the Lote-Tree of the Farthest Limit. There ends whatever ascends from the earth before it is seized, and whatever descends from above before it is seized.

- (al-Dardir said: "This is the eighth ascension, meaning that it is the ascension to what is higher than the Lote-tree by means of the eighth step, so that the Prophet reached the top height of its branches in the eighth firmament which is called al-Kursi -- the Chair, or Footstool -- which is made of a white pearl. This is found in al-Qalyubi, and it is the apparent sense of the account. However, it is contradicted by what is mentioned later: "Then he came to the Kawthar," because the Kawthar, like the remainder of the rivers, flows from the base of the Tree, not from its top, and the account goes on to say after this: "Then he was raised up to the Lote-tree of the Farthest Limit." It follows that the raising up to the Lote-tree took place more than once, but undoubtedly this is dubious for whoever ponders it. I saw in al-Ajhuri's account here: "Then he came to the Lote-tree of the farthest boundary, there ends etc." and this is correct as it does not signify being raised up. This makes it clear that he came to the Tree and saw at its base the rivers -- which are soon to be mentioned -- and he travelled towards the Kawthar. What the narrator said later: "Then he was raised to the Lote-tree of the Farthest Limit etc." indicates that the eighth ascension took place at that later point and that the present stage is only an exposition of his coming to the base of the Tree which is in the seventh heaven. Another narration states that it is in the sixth heaven. What harmonizes the two is that its base is in the sixth heaven while its branches and trunk are in the seventh.")

It is a tree from the base of which issue rivers whose water is never brackish (it does not change in taste, or color, or smell, and the sweat of those who drink it in Paradise has the fragrance of musk); and rivers of milk whose taste does not change after it is drunk; and rivers of wine which brings only pleasure to those who drink it; and rivers of purified honey. Someone on his mount could travel under its shade for seventy years and still not come out of it. The lotus fruit that grows on it resembles the jars of Hijar (near Madina). Its leaves are shaped like the ears of the she-elephant, and each leaf could wrap up this Community entirely. One version says: One of its leaves could wrap up all creatures.

On top of each leaf there was an angel who covered it with colors which cannot be described. Whenever he covered it by Allah's order it would change. One version says: It would turn into sapphire and chrysolite the beauty of which it is impossible for anyone to praise according to what its merit. On it were moths of gold.
From the base of the tree issued four (more) rivers: two hidden rivers and two visible ones. The Prophet asked: "What are these, O Jibril? He replied: "As for the hidden ones, they are two rivers of Paradise. The visible ones are the Nile and the Euphrates."

-(Ibn Kathir said: What is meant by this, and Allah knows best, is that these two rivers (the Nile and the Euphrates) resemble the rivers of Paradise in their purity and sweetness and fluidity and such of their qualities, as the Prophet said in the hadith narrated by Abu Hurayra: al-`ajwa min al-janna "Date pastry is from paradise," that is: it resembles the fruit of Paradise, not that it itself originates in Paradise. For if that were the meaning then the senses would testify to the contrary. Therefore the meaning which imposes itself is other than that. Similarly the source of origin of these rivers is on earth.)

(al-Shami added:) One version says: At the base of the tree ran a source called Salsabil. From it issued two rivers: one is the Kawthar. (The Prophet said:) "I saw it flowing impetuously, roaring, at the speed of arrows. Near it were pavilions of pearl (lu'lu'), sapphire (yaqut), and chrysolite (zabarjad) on top of which nested green birds more delicate than any you have ever seen. On its banks were vessels of gold and silver. It ran over pebbles made of sapphire and emerald (zumurrud). Its water was whiter than milk."
The Prophet took one of the vessels and scooped some water and drank. It was sweeter than honey and more fragrant than musk. Jibril said to him: "This is the river which Allah has given you as a special gift, and the other river is the River of Mercy." The Prophet bathed in it and his past and future sins were forgiven. (End of al-Shami's addition.)

One version says: At the Lote-tree of the Farthest Limit the Prophet saw Jibril (in his angelic form). He had six hundred wings. Every single wing could cover the entire firmament. From his wings embellishments were strewn in all directions, such as rare pearls and sapphires of a kind Allah alone knows. Then the Prophet was taken to the Kawthar and entered Paradise. Lo and behold! It contains what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor human mind ever imagined. On its gate he saw written:

al-sadaqatu bi `ashrin amthaliha
wa al-qardu bi thamaniyati `ashara
Charity is repaid tenfold,
and the loan eighteenfold.

The Prophet said: "O Jibril, how can the loan be more meritorious than charity?" He replied: "Because one asking for charity may still have some need left, while the borrower does not borrow except his need is fulfilled."

The Prophet continued to travel until he reached rivers of milk whose taste does not change, and rivers of wine which bring only pleasure to those who drink it, and rivers of honey purified, and overhanging those rivers were domes of hollowed pearl whose circumference is like the Aquarius star.

Another narration says:

Above the rivers were pommels resembling the hides of the humped camels. Its birds were like the Bactrian camel. Upon hearing this Abu Bakr said: "O Messenger of Allah, they are certainly delicate!" The Prophet replied: "And daintier to eat yet, and certainly I hope that you shall eat from them."

- (This is an indication of the rank of Abu Bakr in Paradise, as the Prophet's hope, like his petition, is granted. Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi said: "From all this it can be known that Paradise and the Fire exist already, that the Lote-tree of the Farthest Boundary is outside Paradise,)

The Prophet then saw the Kawthar and on its banks were domes of hollowed pearl. The soil of its banks was overfragrant musk. Then the Fire was shown to him. In it he saw Allah's wrath and His punishment and sanction. Were rocks and iron to be thrown into it the Fire would consume them completely. In it were a people who were eating carrion. The Prophet said: "Who are these, O Jibril?" He replied: "Those who ate the flesh of people." Then the Prophet saw Malik, the custodian of the Fire. He was a grim figure whose face expressed anger. The Prophet greeted him first. Then the gates of the Fire were closed as he stood outside, and he was raised up beyond the Lote-tree of the Farthest Limit, and a cloud concealed him from everything else, and Jibril stayed back.

- (Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi said: The Prophet's greeting of Malik before Malik greeted him first agrees with the subsequent wording of more than one narrator whereby the Prophet said: "I greeted him and he returned my greeting and welcomed me, but he did not smile at me" etc. and this is found in some of the narrations. However, the correct narration, as the compiler and others have said, is that it is Malik who greeted the Prophet first in order to dispel the harshness of his sight since his face showed severity and anger. It is possible to harmonize the two versions with the fact that the Prophet saw Malik more than once, so that Malik was first to greet the Prophet the first time, as we said, while the Prophet was first to greet Malik second time, in order to dispel estrangement and to inspire familiarity. Know also that the Prophet's sight of Malik was not in the same form that those who are being punished see him.)

The Prophet was taken up to a point where he heard the screeching of the Pens (writing the divine Decree). He saw a man who had disappeared into the light of the Throne. He said: "Who is this? Is this an angel?" It was said to him, no. He said: "Is it a Prophet?" Again the answer was no. He said: "Who is it then?" The answer was: "This is a man whose tongue was moist with Allah's remembrance in the world, and his heart was attached to the mosques, and he never incurred the curse of his father and mother."

Then the Prophet saw his Lord, the Glorious, the Exalted, and he fell prostrate, and at that time his Lord spoke to him and said: "O Muhammad!" He replied: "At your service, O Lord!" Allah said: "Ask! (sal)."

The Prophet said:

You have taken to Yourself Ibrahim as a friend, and You have given him an immense kingdom. You have spoken to Musa directly, and have given Dawud an immense kingdom and softened iron and subjected the mountains to him. You have given Sulayman an immense kingdom, and subjected the jinn and men and devils to him, as well as the winds, and You have given him a kingdom the like no one may have after him. You have taught `Isa the Torah and the Evangel, and made him heal those born blind and the lepers, and raise up the dead with Your permission, and You have protected him and his mother from the cursed devil so that the devil had no path by which to harm them!

Allah said: "And I have taken you to Myself as My beloved." The narrator said: It is written in the Torah: habibullah "Allah's Beloved." Allah continued:

And I have sent you for all people without exception,
a bearer of glad tidings and a warner;
and I have expanded your breast for you
and relieved you of your burden
and exalted your name;
and I am not mentioned except you are mentioned with Me;
and I have made your Community the best Community ever brought out for the benefit of mankind;
and I have made your Community a mean and a middle;
and I have made your Community in truth the first
and the last of all Communities;
and I have made public address (al-khutba) impermissible for your Community unless they first witness that you are My servant and Messenger;
and I have placed certain people in your Community with Evangels for hearts (i.e. repositories of Allah's Book);
and I have made you the first Prophet created and the last one sent and the first one heard in My court;
and I have given you Seven of the Oft-Repeated which I gave to no other Prophet before you (i.e. Surat al-Fatiha);
and I have given you the last verses of Surat al-Baqara which constitute a treasure from under My Throne which I gave to no other Prophet before you;
and I have given you the Kawthar; and I have given you eight arrows (i.e. shares in good fortune): Islam, Emigration (hijra), Jihad, Charity (sadaqa), Fasting Ramadan, Ordering Good, and Forbidding Evil;
and the day I created the heavens and the earth I made obligatory upon you and upon your Community fifty prayers: therefore establish them, you and your Community."

(al-Shami added:) Abu Hurayra said: Allah's Messenger said:

My Lord has preferred me over everyone else (faddalani rabbi):
He has sent me as a mercy to the worlds and to all people without exception,
a bearer of glad tidings and a warner;
He has thrown terror into the hearts of my enemies at a distance of a month's travel;
He has made spoils of war lawful for me while they were not lawful for anyone before me;
the entire earth has been made a ritually pure place of prostration for me;
I was given the words that open, those that close, and those that are comprehensive in meaning (i.e. I was given the apex of eloquence);
My Community was shown to me and there is none of the followers and the followed but he is known to me;
I saw that they would come to a people that wear hair-covered sandals;
I saw that they would come to a people of large faces and small eyes as if they had been pierced with a needle;
nothing of what they would face in the future has been kept hidden from me;
and I have been ordered to perform fifty prayers daily.

And he has been given three particular merits: He is the master of Messengers (sayyid al-mursalin), the Leader of the Godwary (imam al-muttaqin), and the Chief of those with signs of light on their faces and limbs (qa'id al-ghurr al-muhajjalin). (End of al-Shami's addition.)

One narration says:

The Prophet was given the five daily prayers and the last verses of Surat al-Baqara, and (for his sake) whoever of his Community does not associate anything with Allah is forgiven even the sins that destroy.

Then the cloud that cloaked him was dispelled and Jibril took him by the hand and hurried away with him until he reached Ibrahim, who did not say anything. Then the Prophet reached Musa who asked: "What did you do, O Muhammad? What obligations did your Lord impose on you and your Community?" He replied: "He imposed fifty prayers every day and night on me and my Community." Musa said: "Return to your Lord and ask Him to lighten your burden and that of your Community for in truth your Community will not be able to carry it. Verily I myself have experienced people's natures before you. I tested the Children of Israel and took the greatest pains to hold them to something easier than this, but they were too weak to carry it and they abandoned it. Your Community are even weaker in their bodies and constitutions, in their hearts, in their sight, and in their hearing."

The Prophet turned to Jibril to consult him. The latter indicated to him that yes, if you wish, then return. The Prophet hurried back until he reached the Tree and the cloud cloaked him and he fell prostrate. Then he said: "Lord, make lighter the burden of my Community for verily they are the weakest of all Communities." He replied: I have removed five prayers from their obligation."

Then the cloud was dispelled and the Prophet returned to Musa and told him: "He has removed five prayers from my obligation." He replied: "Go back to your Lord and ask him to make it less, for in truth your Community will not be able to carry that." The Prophet did not cease to go back and forth between Musa and his Lord, while Allah each time reduced it by five prayers, until Allah said: "O Muhammad!" The Prophet said: "At Your service, O Lord!" He said: "Let them be five prayers every day and night, and let every prayer count as ten. That makes fifty prayers. This word of Mine shall not be changed nor shall My Book be abrogated. Let whoever is about to perform a good deed, even if he does not ultimately do it, receive the reward of doing it, while if he does it, he shall receive it tenfold. Let whoever is about to commit a bad deed, and he does not ultimately do it, let not anything be written against him, while if he does it, let one misdeed be written against him."

Then the cloud was dispelled and the Prophet returned to Musa and told him: "He has removed five prayers from my obligation." He replied: "Go back to your Lord and ask him to make it less, for in truth your Community will not be able to carry that." The Prophet said: "I have gone back again to my Lord until I feel shy from Him. Rather, I accept and submit." At this a herald called out: "I have decreed My obligation and have reduced the burden of My servants." Musa then said to the Prophet: "Go down in the name of Allah."
The Prophet did not pass a throng of angels except they said to him: "You must practice cupping (`alayka bi al-hijama)," and in another version: "Order cupping to your Community."

- (Cupping / Hijama: The process of drawing blood from the body by scarification (scratches or superficial incisions in the skin) and the application of a cupping glass (in which a partial vacuum is created, as by heat) without scarification, as for relieving internal congestion.)

As the Prophet was descending he asked Jibril: "Why did I not see any of the people of heaven except they welcomed me and smiled at me except one: I greeted him and he greeted me back and welcomed me, but he did not smile at me?" He replied: "That was Malik the custodian of the Fire. He never smiled once since the day he was created. If he had ever smiled for anyone, it would have been you."

When the Prophet reached the nearest heaven he looked below it and he saw a dense cloud of smoke filled with din. He asked: "What is this, O Jibril?" He replied: "These are the devils that swarm over the eyes of human beings so that they will not think about the dominions of the heavens and the earth, or else they would have seen wonders."

Then he mounted the Buraq again (which he had tied in Jerusalem) and departed. He passed by a caravan of the Quraysh in such-and-such a place (the narrator forgot the name) and saw a camel upon which were tied two containers, a black one and a white one. When he came face to face with the caravan there was a stampede in which the caravan turned around and that camel was thrown down to the ground and its freight broke.

Then the Prophet passed by another caravan who had lost one of their camels which the tribe of So-and-so had rounded up. The Prophet greeted them and one of them said: "This is the voice of Muhammad!" after which the Prophet returned to his Companions in Mecca shortly before morning.

When morning came he remained alone and, knowing that people would belie him, sat despondently. The enemy of Allah Abu Jahl was passing by and he approached and sat down next to him, saying in the way of mockery: "Has anything happened?" The Prophet replied: "Yes." Abu Jahl said: "And what is that?" The Prophet replied: "I was enraptured last night." Abu Jahl said: "To where?" The Prophet replied: "To the Hallowed House." Abu Jahl said: "Then you woke up here among us?" He replied: "Yes."

Abu Jahl decided not to belie the Prophet for fear the Prophet would deny having said this to him if he went and told the people of Mecca, so he said: "What do you think if I called your people here? Will you tell them what you just told me?" The Propeht said yes. Abu Jahl cried out: "O assembly of the Children of Ka`b ibn Lu'ay, come hither!" People left their gatherings and came until they all sat next around the two of them. Abu Jahl said: "Tell your people what you just told me." Allah's Messenger said: "I was enraptured last night." They said: "To where?" The Prophet replied: "To the Hallowed House." They said: "Then you woke up here among us?" He replied: "Yes." There was no one left except he clapped his hands, or held his head in amazement, or clamored and considered it an enormity.

Al-Mut`im ibn `Adi (he died a disbeliever) said: "All of your affair before today was bearable, until what you said today. I bear witness that you are a liar (ana ashhadu annaka kadhibun). We strike the flanks of the she-camels for one month to reach the Hallowed House, then for another month to come back, and you claim that you went there in one night! By al-Lat, by al-`Uzza! I do not believe you."

Abu Bakr said: "O Mut`im, what an evil thing you said to the son of your brother when you faced him thus and declared him a liar! As for me I bear witness that he spoke the truth (ana ashhadu annahu sadiqun)."
The people said: "O Muhammad, describe the Hallowed House for us. How is it built, what does it look like, how near is it to the mountain." There were some among them who had travelled there. He began to describe it for them: "Its structure is like this, its appearance like this, its proximity to the mountain is such-and-such," and he did not stop describing it to them until he began to have doubt about the description. He was seized with an anxiety he had not felt before, whereupon he was immediately brought to the mosque itself (in Jerusalem) and saw it in front of him. He was placed outside the gate of `Aqil or `Iqal. The people said: "How many gates does the mosque have?" He had not counted them before. He looked at the gates and began to count them one by one and to inform them. All the while Abu Bakr was saying: "You have spoken the truth. You have spoken the truth. I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah (sadaqta sadaqta ashhadu annaka rasulullah)."

The people said: "As for the description, then, by Allah, he is correct." They turned to Abu Bakr and said: "But do you believe what he said, that he went last night to the Hallowed House and came back before morning?" He replied: "Yes, and I do believe him regarding what is farther than that. I believe the news of heaven he brings, whether in the space of a morning or in that of an evening journey (na`am inni la usaddiquhu fima huwa ab`adu min dhalika usaddiqu bi khabari al-sama'i fi ghudwatin aw rawhatin)." Because of this Abu Bakr was named al-Siddiq: the Most Truthful, the One Who Never Lies.

Then they said: "O Muhammad, tell us about our caravans." He replied: "I saw the caravan of the tribe of So-and-so as I was coming back. They had lost one of their camels and were searching for it everywhere. I reached their mounts and there was no one with them. I found a water bottle and I drank from it."

- (Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi said: Doubt has been raised about this report on the basis of the question how could he allow himself to drink the water without permission from its owner? The answer is that he acted according to the custom of the Arabs whereby they never refuse milk to whomever passes by and takes it, a fortiori water, and they used to instruct the herdsmen not to prevent wayfarers from taking milk from the herd (i.e. without asking the owner), and this applies even more to water. Furthermore, the Prophet comes before the Believers' own selves and properties, and this applies even more to the unbelievers.)

(The Prophet continued:) "Then I reached the caravan of the tribe of So-and-so in such-and-such a place. I saw a red camel carrying one black container and one white one. When I came face to face with the caravan there was a stampede and that camel fell and its freight broke. Then I reached the caravan (not previously mentioned) of the tribe of So-and-so in al-Tan`im. It was headed by a grayish camel on which was a black hair-cloth and two blackish containers and here are the (three) caravans about to reach you from the mountain pass." They said: "When will they arrive?" He replied: "On the fourth day of the week." On that day the Quraysh came out, expecting the caravans. The day passed and they did not arrive. The Prophet made an invocation and the day was extended one more hour during which the sun stood still, and the caravans came.

They went to meet the riders and asked them: "Did you lose a camel?" They said yes. They asked the second caravan: "Did one red camel of yours shatter her freight?" They said yes. They asked (the first caravan): "Did anyone lose a water bottle?" One man said: "I did, by Allah, I had prepared it but none of us drank it nor was it spilled on the ground!" At this they accused the Prophet of sorcery and they said: "al-Walid spoke the truth." And Allah revealed the verse:

wa ma ja`alna al-ru'ya al-lati araynaka illa fitnatan li al-nas
We appointed not the vision which we showed you but as a test for mankind. (17:60)

Ibn Hisham narrates: When the fair was due, a number of the Quraysh came to al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, who was a man of some standing, and he addressed them in those words: "The time of the fair has come round again and representatives of the Arabs will come to you and they will have heard about this fellow of yours, so agree upon one opinion without dispute so that none will give the lie to the other." They replied: "You give us your opinion about him." He said: "No, you speak and I will listen." They said: "He is a kahin (seer or giver of oracles)." He said: "By Allah, he is not that, for he has not the unintelligent murmuring and rhymed speech of the kahin." "Then he is possessed," they said. "No, he is not that," he said, "we have seen possessed ones, and here is no choking, spasmodic movements and whispering." "Then he is a poet," they said. "No, he is no poet, for we know poetry in all its forms and meters." "Then he is a sorcerer." "No, we have seen sorcerers and their sorcery, and here is no blowing and no knots." "Then what are we to say, O Abu `Abd al-Shams?" they asked. He replied: "By Allah, his speech is sweet, his root is a palm-tree whose branches are fruitful, and everything you have said would be known to be false. The nearest thing to the truth is your saying that he is a sorcerer, who has brought a message by which he separates a man from his father, or from his brother, or from his wife, or from his family."

At this point they left him, and began to sit on the paths which men take when they come to the fair. They warned everyone who passed them about the Prophet's doings. Allah revealed concerning al-Walid:

Leave Me to deal with him whom I created lonely,
and then bestowed upon him ample means,
and sons abiding in his presence
and made life smooth for him.
Yet he desires that I should give more.
Nay, for lo! He has been stubborn to Our revelations.
On him I shall impose a fearful doom.
For lo! He did consider; then he planned --
Self-destroyed is he, how he planned!
Again, self-destroyed is he, how he planned! --
Then looked he,
Then frowned he and showed displeasure.
Then turned he away in pride
and said: This is naught else than magic from of old;
This is naught else than speech of mortal man.
Him shall I fling unto the burning. (74:11-26)]

The account is finished with praise to Allah and by His grace.

The harm of alcohol

2011-05-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

It is stated in the Qur’an: “They ask you regarding wine and gambling. Say, in both of them is major sin, and there is some benefit for men, but the sin of them is far greater than benefit ”
(Surah Baqarah)

THE PROPHET CONCERN OF ALCOHOL

During the early days of Islam, consumption of liquor, just like other ills and evils of society, was also prevelent.

When Rasulullah migrated from Makkah to Madinah he found that the Madinites were also indulging in drinking. The masses were so attracted by the superficial and deceptive benefits offered by drinking that their minds became oblivious of the harmful effects and the evils lurking within these addictions.

Our Prophet was the finest model who set the best example of his sublime characteristic, so much that whatever was yet to be declared Haram, His habit and nature made him detest it from the very outset. Besides Rasulullah other Sahabahs also refrained from consuming alcoholic beverages even when these were Halaal.

On Reaching Madinah some of Sahabah s.a.w realised the evil in liquor. So, Hazrat Umar Farooq ., Maaz Ibn Jabal .and some of the other Sahabah approached Rasulullah and questioned him regarding alcohol and gambling, which they thought were ruining not only man’s intelligent but also his wealth.

In response to this query, the above verse was revealed and it constituted the first of a series of revelations leading to the final and conclusive verse, which prohibited and declared Haram both gambling and liquor. Some of the Sahabah , after hearing this verse immediately stopped consuming alcohol.

STORIES REGARDING ALCOHOL

On the other hand some of the other Sahabah resumed that this verse did not declare alcohol Haram, so they declared that it overtakes full precaution and law, that a mediate consumption of alcohol would not be harmful.

However, shortly an incident occurred which brought about a sudden change in the situation. One day, Hazrat Abdur-Rahman Ibn Auf had invited some of his companions, and as was the custom of the Arabs they had consumed alcohol after their needs.

Thereafter, while still in a state of intoxication, the Maghrib Salah was performed. The Imam who was also drunk made an error in his recitation of Surah Kafiroon. Upon this, the second step was taken to prevent the consumption of alcohol, by the revelation of the following verse: “O Believers’ do not approach Salah while intoxicated.” (Surah Nisaa)

This verse now declared alcohol Haraam in clear-cut terms but the consumption was for the duration of Salah times, and at other periods it was still permissible. With this second warning many more of the Sahabahs refrained completely from drinking Alcohol, reasoning that what good can there be in something that deprives one from Salah.

There were others however, who drank liquor during the intervening periods of salah until the following incident took place: Uthmaan Ibn Maalik invited a few Sahabahs for a meal. After the meal, as was customary liquor was served. Thereafter, they became involved in another Arab custom, reciting poetry praising oneself, family and clan and simultaneously teasing and belittling others who didn’t belong to that group.

During this gathering, Hazrat Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas recited a few lines of poetry in which he criticized and belittled the Ansars of Madinah. Hearing this, an Ansari youth became enraged and threw a bone at him, which inflicted a severe wound on the head of Saad Ibn Waqqas .

He then complained against the youngster to Rasulullah , after which he made dua’a to Allah:

“O Allah! Grant us a clear cut for regarding alcohol.”

In response to this the 3rd and 4th verses concerning the complete prohibition of alcohol, were revealed as part of Surah Ma’idah:

"O you who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and arrows (for seeking help on decision) one an abomination of order that you may be successful.
Shaytan seeks only to cast amongst you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from his worship, will you then not refrain? ”

(Surah Ma’idah 90)

Allah in his wisdom, firstly disclosed the evils in alcohol, then prohibited it at Salah times and finally declared it absolutely HARAAM.

ALCOHOL THE MOTHER OF ALL SINS

Just as there lies great wisdom in the gradual revelation of laws prohibiting alcohol, there is also wisdom in the strait enforcement of severe punishment for drinking alcohol. Therefore, the Prophet referred to alcohol as the mother of sins because after consuming it, man can indulge in other major sins.

Once a pious man met a woman, who invited him towards committing a sin (adultery). The man flatly refused. After her constant insisting, she still failed. Thereafter, she gave him a choice of options, 1. Committing adultery with her or 2. To murder her newly born child, whom had she begot from her previous husband. Or 3. To consume some alcohol which she possessed. If he were not willing to comply then she would scream and falsely inform the inhabitants of that place that he had raped her. The man upon pondering decided to consume the alcohol, taking it to be least harmful of the three sins. Upon the consumption of alcohol, he became intoxicated, and then consequently, he killed the child and also committed adultery with the woman.

In one Hadith, Rasulullah has said that Iman and alcohol cannot gather (are not compatible) with a person. (Nasai)

THE BENEFITS AND HARMS OF ALCOHOL

People generally are quite well acquainted with what benefits are attributed to alcohol, for instance enjoyment of temporary happiness, strength increase of a short time, colour becomes clearer, initially (as to some medical claim).

Compared to the few limited benefits of alcohol its risks and harms are so varied that, perhaps so many disadvantages may not be present in any other thing.

1. Through alcohol, the stomach gradually loses its ability to function properly.
2. Causes loss of appetite.
3. It spoils ones facial features (Appearance)
4. Makes one age quicker.
5. Weakens and reduces the ability to think and speak properly.
6. Causes heart failure
7. The progeny of alcohol are weaker.
8. Creates fights and enmity between people
9. Leads towards grave sins, often adultery and murder are the direct results of drinking.
10. Thousands of pounds are wasted in this vice

PREVENTING ALCOHOL

Dr M Robertson states, “If half the pubs and bottle stores were closed, I guarantee that half the hospitals and jails will remain closed.”

Those who have stopped repented sincerely have not failed to arrive to the conclusion that alcohol is the mother of all evils, a deadly poison from which one must abstain.

May Almighty Allah save the Ummah, especially the youth from this sin and everything, which calls upon His wrath. Ameen.

- http://www.inter-islam.org/Prohibitions/alcohol2.htm

Why pork/pig is prohibited in Islam

2011-04-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah.

Following text give you reasons why Allah (SWT) has forbidden eating pork. There are many other reasons which we do not know of but ALLAH (SWT) knows.

You are what you eat" - Native American proverb

In folklore terms, eating the meat of the pig is said to contribute to lack of morality and shame, plus greed for wealth, laziness, indulgence, dirtiness and gluttony. We insult a person by calling him or her a "Pig" when they demonstrate these characteristics. Muslims are forbidden by God to eat the meat of the pig (pork).

This is detailed in verses 2:173, 5:3, 6:145, and 16:115 of the Qur'an. An exemplary verse is quoted here: "He has only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and any (food) over which the name of other than Allah has been invoked. But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Is Pork Forbidden to Muslims Only?

The Jews and Christians are also forbidden from eating pork. Here is a quote from the Old Testament to that effect: "And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase." Deuteronomy 14:8

Many Christians believe that this verse was directed only at the Jews. But Jesus himself says during the Sermon on the Mount; "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Some Christians say that, after a vision by St. Peter, God cleansed all animals and made them fit and lawful for human consumption. If ALL animals are cleansed by Peter's vision, this includes dogs, cats, vultures, and rats: but you just don't see people getting excited about a cat-meat sandwich like they do over barbecued pork or bacon. Others say that it was Paul who rescinded the law forbidding pork to humans, in order to appease the Romans, who enjoyed the taste of pig-meat. Many excuses have been given, but none are very sound.

Many Far Eastern traditions also discourage the eating of pork. The 3,000 year old Confucian Book of Rites says, "Agentleman does not eat the flesh of pigs and dogs." Although many Chinese are avid eaters of pork today, physicians of ancient China recognized pork-eating as the root of many human ailments. Buddhists, Jains and Hindus usually avoid eating any kind of meat.

Bad effects of pork consumption

Pig's bodies contain many toxins, worms and latent diseases. Although some of these infestations are harbored in other animals, modern veterinarians say that pigs are far more predisposed to these illnesses than other animals. This could be because pigs like to scavenge and will eat any kind of food, including dead insects, worms, rotting carcasses, excreta (including their own), garbage, and other pigs.

Influenza (flu) is one of the most famous illnesses which pigs share with humans. This illness is harbored in the lungs of pigs during the summer months and tends to affect pigs and humans in the cooler months. Sausage contains bits of pigs' lungs, so those who eat pork sausage tend to suffer more during epidemics of influenza. Pig meat contains excessive quantities of histamine and imidazole compounds, which can lead to itching and inflammation; growth hormone, which promotes inflammation and growth; sulphur-containing mesenchymal mucus, which leads to swelling and deposits of mucus in tendons and cartilage, resulting in arthritis, rheumatism, etc.

Sulfur helps cause firm human tendons and ligaments to be replaced by the pig's soft mesenchymal tissues, and degeneration of human cartilage. Eating pork can also lead to gallstones and obesity, probably due to its high cholesterol and saturated fat content. The pig is the main carrier of the taenia solium worm, which is found it its flesh. These tapeworms are found in human intestines with greater frequency in nations where pigs are eaten. This type of tapeworm can pass through the intestines and affect many other organs, and is incurable once it reaches beyond a certain stage.

One in six people in the US and Canada has trichinosis from eating trichina worms which are found in pork. Many people have no symptoms to warn them of this, and when they do, they resemble symptoms of many other illnesses. These worms are not noticed during meat inspections, nor are they killed by salting or smoking. Few people cook the meat long enough to kill the trichinae. The rat (another scavenger) also harbors this disease. There are dozens of other worms, germs, diseases and bacteria which are commonly found in pigs, many of which are specific to the pig, or found in greater frequency in pigs.

Pigs are biologically similar to humans, and their meat is said to taste similar to human flesh. Pigs have been used for dissection in biology labs due to the similarity between their organs and human organs. People with insulin-dependent diabetes usually inject themselves with pig insulin.

Kindness to animals

Every creature was created by Allah for a purpose. The Prophet always encouraged being kind to animals. Although we should not eat the meat of the pig, it doesn't mean that we should hate pigs. We should show them the same kindness as any other animal, and not abuse or torture them. Pigs score high on tests devised to determine animal intelligence; in other words, they are very smart. It used to be that Europe people believed that pork would taste better if the pigs were kept in a state of filth, but this is not the natural inclination of the pig. When left to their own devices, it is said that pigs do not like to soil their sleeping quarters. As for their tendency to wallow in mud, that is done mainly to keep cool.

References:

"Animals in Islam", by Al-Hafiz B.A. Masri,
"Diet for a New America", by John Robbins,
"Islamic Dietary Laws and Practices", by M.M. Hussaini, M.S. and A.H. Sakr, Ph.D.
"Homotoxicology", by Dr. Hans-Heinrich Reckweg
"Muslims in Alien Society", by Muhammad Samiallah

Ten Major Signs of the Last Day - Maulana Imran Nazar Hosien

2011-03-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

LAST DAY MEANS LAST AGE

The term ‘Last Day’ in reality stands for the ‘Last Age’, or the age which would culminate in the end of history—when the true Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary (not son of God), would return to rule the world from Jerusalem with justice and ‘eternal’ rule. It would be ‘eternal’ in the sense that history would end with that event. Life on earth beyond that event, and after Jesus dies a human death and is buried next to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon them both) in Madinah, would not qualify as history.

This would be so since the modern secular rope would have reached its predictable end in total godlessness, and with such a consequent collapse of morals, and of moral consciousness, that people would forget their human status and “would engage in sexual intercourse in public like donkeys”. Already it is quite clear (particularly at the time of Trinidad’s Carnival) that we are quite close to the fulfillment of that ominous prophecy made by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

So much so then, for the spurious claims of the one-eyed Judeo-Christian western civilization and its ‘colored house slaves’ around the world. They claim that mankind is witnessing unprecedented progress, that the present is the best of all ages, that the world keeps on growing better and better, and that modern western civilization has rendered all previous civilizations, including Islam, moribund and obsolete!

So much so, then, for the local one-eyed ‘house slave’ here in my native island of Trinidad who insists that Muslims must remain a part of ‘mainstream society’ -even when that mainstream is heading for the hell-fire.

When a ship is sinking and you cannot prevent it from sinking, you have to get off that ship, and urge others as well to do so. The ship of the world is now sinking! The evidence is all around us as plainly visible as daylight! But those who are blind cannot see that the ship is sinking. They use their checkbooks, or the barrels of their guns, to impose themselves around the world as leaders. The blind then lead the blind until all are lost and will be drowned like the people of Noah (peace be upon him).

Prophet Muhammad prophesied many more signs of the Last Day other than public ‘donkey sex’. Most of these are known as the ‘minor’ signs. Let us describe some of them (randomly selected) before we turn to the ten ‘major’ signs in which we venture to include the major underwater earthquake and resultant Tsunami in South East Asia that occurred in late December 2004.

MINOR SIGNS

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) prophesied of the Last Age that:

• “People would follow a way of life other than mine, and give guidance other than mine”…“I fear for my people only the leaders who lead men astray”…“Before the Last Hour there will be great liars, so beware of them”…“When the most wicked member of a tribe becomes its ruler, and the most worthless member of a community becomes its leader, and a man is respected through fear of the evil he may do, and leadership is given to people who are unworthy of it, expect the Last Hour”. All of these warnings have already been dramatically and ominously fulfilled. Around the world today, with but few exceptions, and even here in my native Caribbean island of Trinidad, people, including Muslims, now have the worst leaders. This ominous sign of the Last Day has come to pass, yet there are so many who do not, or cannot see, and they blindly rush as dumb cattle to endorse or to follow such leaders for personal gain, or fear, or due to sheer ignorance; • “Women would arrange their hair to look like the hump of a camel”, and this sign has already occurred, we see it everyday;

• “Women would dress like men”, and we already see them today with trousers, jacket and, perhaps, a tie; and “women would be dressed and yet be naked”, and this prophecy, also, is now fulfilled. When women parade in public “dressed, yet naked”, as they do today, and when Muslims cannot prevent such, they should then seek to flee from such mainstream society rather than to remain a part of it until the women are fully naked and “donkey-like” sexual intercourse is on public display. If they foolishly choose to remain a part of such corrupt and decadent society then they or their children would eventually be ruined by such a society.

• “Men would dress like women”, and already this sign also has come to pass. Almost no one can tell that ‘she’, the so-called ‘crossdresser’, is really a man;

• Homosexuality (and lesbianism) would become commonplace, and that is now happening before our very eyes. Social acceptance and legal protection for this abominable sexual perversion is gaining ground. Indeed those who hold fast to the divine prohibition of such sexual perversion are now demonized as a people who suffer from a disease called ‘homophobia’;

• Children born outside of marriage would become commonplace, in fact marriage itself now seems destined to become obsolete;

• Fornication and adultery would become commonplace, that, also, appears to have already been fulfilled in a modern world in which virginity and marital fidelity are becoming old-fashioned;

• Disproportion in balance of men and women to such an extent that “one man would have to maintain (not marry) fifty women”, that is yet to occur but could be linked to the impact on male sperm production of such things as environmental pollution and genetically modified food;

• Universal consumption of alcoholic beverages, this “mother of all evils” has already become a horrendous plague in which no one is safe from the drunk driver; the unborn baby drinks when his mother drinks and suffers unimaginably for such; people, including Prime Ministers, drink and become drunk, and then behave in public like asses;

• “Religious knowledge would disappear”, since the rightly-guided scholars of Islam are demonized, marginalized, “banned”, or declared to be “great security risks”. Only those scholars who can skillfully skip and dance to the tunes of those who control power are allowed the unfettered freedom to preach a sanitized cosmetic version of Islam acceptable to the godless rulers of the world. Institutions of Islamic learning are forced to submit to the control of those waging war on Islam. If they do not submit, they are shut down. Foreign students are prohibited from studying Islam in certain so-called Islamic Republics;

• “Time would move swiftly—a year passing like a month—a month like a week—a week like a day” etc., and already the perception of swiftly moving time is a universal experience;

• Such prevalence of random killing, murder and violence that “a killer would not know why he is killing and the one who is killed would not know why he is being killed”, and “every age is followed by one which would be worse”—already around the world senseless random killing has arrived and is constantly escalating;

• “Nothing would remain of Islam but the name, and nothing would remain of the Qur’an but the traces (of its writing) (i.e., the Qur’an would not be studied, no one would follow its guidance, it would be recited mechanically etc.); the Masajid (mosques) would be grand structures but would be devoid of guidance; and the Ulama (religious scholars of Islam who represent such people) would be the worst people beneath the sky. From them would emerge Fitnah (trials) and they would be the centers of Fitnah (since they betray Islam)” — there are many distinguished scholars of Islam who declare that this prophesy, also, has today found fulfillment. The evidence of such is overwhelming. The Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) has been long destroyed, Zakat is no longer collected and distributed by the state, money itself is now corrupted, the universal Shirk of the modern state has corrupted all of mankind, Riba is universally prevalent, the Hajj would probably soon be abandoned;

• Universal consumption of Riba (i.e, money lent on interest, and transactions which ‘rip off’ people through deception in business, etc.) Around the world today Riba in modern banking and insurance, as well as in the monetary system, has already taken total control over the market and over economic life. There are some minor signs which have been couched inenigmatic language such as,

• “A slave woman would give birth to her mistress”, made possible through a combination of Riba and the modern feminist revolution, and; • “Naked barefooted shepherds would vie with one another in the construction of high-rise buildings”. This is already being fulfilled when wealth is wasted in grandiose and expensive public relations construction projects commissioned by people who hanker for visible symbols of status in a modern world which recognizes the rich as a ‘somebody’ and the poor as a ‘nobody’ (see story of the rich man and the poor man in Surah al-Kahf of the Qur’an).

And then there are minor signs which have not as yet occurred such as:

• “The Last Hour would not come until there issues from the land of the Hejaz (which is in Saudi Arabia) a fire which will illuminate the backs of the camels in Busra”. But for the exchange of Basra for Hejaz, this prophecy perhaps, anticipates a nuclear attack in or around Iran which would formally launch Israel into the club of nuclear powers. So many of these minor Signs of the Last Day, and so many more not here mentioned, have already occurred, that we can now turn to the major Signs with a clear recognition that we are already living in that Last Age.

MAJOR SIGNS

Hudhayfah ibn Usayd Ghifari, the companion of the Prophet, said, “Allah’s Messenger came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He asked: What are you discussing? (The Companions) replied: We are discussing (the subject of) the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs. And (in this connection) he made a mention of the ‘smoke’, ‘Dajjal’, the ‘beast’, the ‘rising of the sun from the west’, the ‘descent of Jesus son of Mary’, ‘Gog and Magog’, ‘sinkings of the earth in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia’ at the end of which ‘fire would burn forth from Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly’ (i.e., the place where mankind will be assembled for judgment).” (Sahih Muslim)

Here, then, are the ten major Signs of the Last Day as prophesied by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him):

• Dajjal — the false Messiah or Anti-Christ,
• Gog and Magog,
• Smoke,
• The beast of the earth or land (most likely the holy land),
• The sun would rise from the west,
• Three sinkings of the earth
      • one in the east
      • One in the west
      • and One in Arabia,
• A fire would come out of Yemen and would drive people to their place of assembly (for judgement),
• The son of Mary would descend. Although these signs were not given by the blessed Prophet (peace and blessings of

Allah Most High be upon him) in their chronological order of occurrence I have made an effort to put them in that order, with the ones that have not as yet occurred at the bottom of the list. How did I arrive at the above order? We know from the prophecies of the blessed Prophet that the third major ‘sinking of the earth’, i.e., the one that would occur in Arabia, would swallow an army that would be heading south to Makkah. That army would be on its way to attack Imam al-Mahdi, the descendent of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him). It was prophesied that he would restore the Islamic Caliphate (or Islamic model of a state) in the Arabian peninsula. It is after that sign has occurred (i.e., the third major earthquake) that the son of Mary would descend from the sky with his hands resting on the wings of two angels, and would kill Dajjal the False Messiah or Anti-Christ. The Qur’an itself has described Jesus (i.e., the return of Jesus) as the ‘ilm (which here means the very key to the subject) of the Last Hour:

“And he (i.e., Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow Me: this is a Straight Way.” (Qur’an, Zukhruf, 43:61)

It follows that his return must come chronologically at the end of the list. We also know that the ‘fire’ from Yemen would follow the third earthquake. And so now that it appears that the major earthquake in the East has occurred, we await four more major signs that still remain to occur. When did the first six ‘major’ signs occur?

DAJJAL

I have argued in my book, ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an – An Islamic View of the Destiny of Jerusalem’, that Dajjal the False Messiah or Antichrist was released into the world in the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him). He has already completed the first stage of his mission that lasted for “a day like a year”, and is about to complete the second stage that lasts for “a day like a month”. The third and last stage of his mission (of impersonation of the true Messiah) that would last for just “a day like a week” would, I believe, commence when Israel replaces USA as the ruling state of the world. And that would occur when Israel wages a big war that would result in dramatic territorial expansion “from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates”. Israel would then seize control of the Suez Canal and all the oil of the Arabian Gulf.

By the end of that third stage, Dajjal the false Messiah or Antichrist would have been born into the world of Jewish parents, would have risen to become ruler of Israel and, hence, would have completed his mission to rule the world from Jerusalem. And Allah Knows best!

An entire chapter of the book is devoted to explaining the subject of Dajjal. I am now writing a quartet of books on Surah al-Kahf of the Qur’an, and one of the four books would be entirely devoted to a comprehensive explanation of the subject of Dajjal, the false Messiah or Anti-Christ in Islam Insha Allah.

GOG AND MAGOG

I have also argued in my book that Gog and Magog were released into the world in the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him). The Qur’an itself has made mention (Qur’an, al-Anbiyah, 21:94-5) of a ‘town’ which was destroyed by Allah Most High, and the people of the town expelled, and then banned from returning to reclaim their town until Gog and Magog were not only released but, also, had spread out (around the world) in all directions.

“But there is a ban on a town which We have destroyed: that they (the people of the town) shall not return (to reclaim that town as their own); until Gog and Magog are let through (their barrier), and they swiftly spread out in every direction (replicating themselves amongst all the peoples of the world).” (Qur’an, al-Anbiyah, 21:95-96)

I identified that ‘town’ to be Jerusalem. And since the Jews have already returned to Jerusalem to reclaim it as their own, it follows that Gog and Magog, like Dajjal, are also close to the end of their mission. And Allah Knows best!

Another entire chapter of ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’ is devoted to explaining the subject of Gog and Magog. In addition, the fourth of the quartet of books on Surah al-Kahf will be devoted to a comprehensive explanation of this subject Insha Allah.

DUKHAN (SMOKE)

This appears to be totality of environmental pollution (not just smog and haze) that is already wreaking havoc on the earth itself and is bringing about global warming with the consequent impact of earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding etc. The modern industrial economy that Dajjal has authored, appears to be the greatest culprit of environmental pollution in the world today. In other words, we have been tricked into causing Dukhan (smoke) which in turn spawns global warming and eventual climatic disaster. And Allah Knows best! However, it is important that we note that there are several Ahadith in Sahih Bukhari that declare the sign of Dukhan (smoke) already appeared in the lifetime of the blessed Prophet.

D’ABBATUL ARD (THE BEAST OF THE LAND OR EARTH)

I have argued in ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’ that the beast of the earth’ is, in fact, the imposter State of Israel that now occupies the Holy Land. The learned Shaikh, Safar al-Hawali, holds the view that the ‘beast’ is the Zionist Movement. And Allah Knows best!

THE SUN WOULD RISE FROM THE WEST

Those who interpret this sign literally assume that the order of nature would be reversed despite the Qur’anic declaration that there can be no change in Allah’s creation (of that natural order):

“So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the faith: (establish) Allah’s handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (can there be) in Allah’s creation: that is the standard religion: but most among mankind understand not.” (Qur’an, al-Rum, 30:30)

They also do so despite the specific declaration of Prophet Abraham (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) that his Lord-God causes the sun to rise from the East. Abraham then proceeded to challenge the King to cause the sun to rise from the West if he possessed power greater than Allah’s:

Hast thou not turned thy vision to one who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because Allah had granted him power? Abraham said:

“My Lord is He Who giveth life and death.” He said: “I give life and death.” Said Abraham: “But it is Allah that causeth the sun to rise from the East do thou then cause it to rise from the West!” Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected Faith. Nor doth Allah give guidance to a people unjust. (Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:258)

And so they wait for that western sunrise as an event that would literally occur, while ignoring the basic rule that no Hadith can contradict the Qur’an.

But this sign has provoked numerous other non-literal interpretations, all of which agree that it has already occurred. Our view is that the rising of the sun from the West symbolizes an upside– down world in which mankind is led by their noses to a way of life which would be the very opposite of that natural way ordained by Allah. Natural money, for example, so identified in the Qur’an, is derived from precious metals. When such money is in short supply in a market such as Madina’s, then a substitute in the form of commodities such as wheat, barley, dates, salt, etc., can temporarily take its place. Around the world today that natural money with intrinsic value has been displaced by artificial money with no intrinsic value and it is used as an instrument of oppression. That upside-down unnatural way of life has already been accepted by most of mankind. In this sense, therefore, the sun is already rising from the West. And Allah Knows best!

THREE SINKINGS OF THE EARTH

Many terrible earthquakes have already occurred in history. They have no relevance to our subject. We are concerned with three major ‘sinkings of the earth’ that would occur at a specific moment in history, i.e., they would occur at a time that would herald the return of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of Mary, and Messenger of Allah Most High. One would occur in the East, the second in the West, and the third in Arabia. When the third one takes place, the world of Islam would suddenly and dazzlingly reenter the affairs of the Arabian peninsular, as well as of the world, in the same revolutionary way that it did in the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him). This appears to be the meaning of the last of the major signs (prior to the return of Jesus) mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him), i.e., that a fire would come out of Yemen and drive people to their place of assembly (i.e., for judgment) which is Arafat in Arabia.

THE EARTHQUAKE IN THE EAST

I believe that the recent massive earthquake and resultant Tsunami in South East Asia which has claimed many more than 100,000 lives, is the earthquake of the East mentioned by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) in the ten major Signs of the Last Day. It could thus be the first of three such earthquakes heralding the return of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him). I came to this conclusion because of the following reasons:

Firstly, the prophecy of the blessed Prophet is that a ‘khasf’ would occur in the East, i.e., the earth sinks down or caves in. A ‘Tsunami’ is defined as a sea wave of local or distant origin that results from large-scale seafloor displacements associated with large earthquakes, major submarine slides, or exploding volcanic islands. When this recent displacement of the earth occurred under the sea, and consequently resulted in the massive Tsunami, it ensured that those who have maliciously concealed the Truth time and again in history could not conceal this major Sign of the Last Day. The magnitude of the event, i.e., the severity of the earthquake (9 on the Richter scale) and, more importantly, the massive damage already done and still unfolding, makes it absolutely unique for mankind today.

Secondly, I am impressed by the location of the event - it occurred in that East which is clearly east of Madinah.

Thirdly, and most important of all, I would like to direct attention to the time that it occurred. This was after the liberation of the Holy Land (1917), and return of the Jews to reclaim the Holy Land as their own (1918-1948). It was also after the restoration of a State of Israel in the Holy Land (1948) and the growth of Israel to become a superpower in the world (i.e., the present). Finally it occurred at precisely that time when Israel is about to wage her big war of massive territorial expansion after which Israel would replace USA as the ruling state in the world. Jesus cannot return until all these things have occurred. It has also occurred at that time when the prophecy of the Prophet concerning the abandonment of the Hajj seems about to be fulfilled. The Hajj would pose a gigantic security threat to the present Saudi ruling elite whenever Israel wages its big war and assumes rule over the world. And it has occurred at just that time when the US dollar has begun its perhaps irreversible decline that might culminate in its collapse. Such a collapse would also bring down all the paper-money in the world and electronic money, controlled by the Jewish-controlled banking system, would then control all the money in the money-system of the world.

This momentous Sign in the East that occurred at the end of December 2004 appears, therefore, to be a sign to mankind warning that dangerous change in the world will soon take place.

It appears to be the first of the three major earthquakes, or ‘sinkings of the earth’, as prophesied by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him), which would herald the return of the true Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah Most High. If we are correct, and Allah Knows best, then the world has to await only two more such major events before the son of Mary returns to liberate us from the oppressors who now rule the world.

THE SECOND EARTHQUAKE IN THE WEST

When a second massive earthquake (with a sinking down, caving in, or displacement of the earth) eventually occurs in the west, after the recent one in the east, that would further confirm the analysis presented in this essay. All that would then remain to occur for Jesus to descend from the clouds would be the third earthquake in Arabia that would swallow an entire army, and the fire that would come out of Yemen. We are so close to that event that we can already feel the heat of that fire. Although what appears to be the first of the three major earthquakes occurred underwater and resulted in the massive Tsunami in South East Asia, it is not necessary that the second that would occur in the west would be similar. After all, we know that the third and last major earthquake would have its epicenter on land just north of Makkah in Arabia. But it would seem that the mid-Atlantic (rather than the Pacific) may be the location of the major earthquake of the west that is to come. In case the second major earthqake occurs in the mid-Atlantic, the islands of the Caribbean and the eastern coast of USA and Canada as well as South America would be likely to be affected. It could also be a big earthquake in California along the fault.

THE THIRD EARTHQUAKE IN ARABIA

Narrated Aisha: Allah’s Apostle said, “An army would invade the Ka’aba and when the invaders reach Al-Baida’, all the ground would sink and swallow the whole army.” I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! How would they sink into the ground while amongst them would be their markets (the people who worked in business and not invaders) and the people not belonging to them?” The Prophet replied, “All of those people would sink but they would be resurrected and judged according to their intentions.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu’minin: The Prophet said: “Disagreement will occur at the death of a Caliph and a man of the people of Madina would come flying forth to Makkah. Some of the people of Makkah would come to him, bring him out against his will, and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An expeditionary force would then be sent against him from Syria but would be swallowed up in the desert between Makkah and Madina.” (Sunan Abu Daud)

It is quite clear from the above prophecy of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) that the third earthquake would take place at the time of the advent of Imam al-Mahdi. But the Imam cannot emerge to liberate the Arabian heartland of Islam until Israel has become the ruling state in the world. And Allah knows best!

THE RETURN OF THE TRUE MESSIAH, JESUS, THE SON OF MARY

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) has spoken extensively and in minute details about the event of the return of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him). But that event is so rich and complex that it lies beyond the scope of this paper. However, my book, ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’ has dealt with the subject in some detail, and it is to that book that I now refer the gentle reader.

ONE FINAL WORD

The destiny of Jerusalem is such as to give to Muslims the greatest confidence and hope that Truth will triumph over falsehood and oppression. ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’ was written for precisely this purpose — i.e., to explain to Muslims the strange world in which we live today. It is a world in which the cause of Islam appears to be a lost cause. But having read the book the reader would know, if he or she had not already known it, that the reality is quite different. When they know for certain that it is the destiny of Jerusalem to give a spectacular validation of Islam’s claim to truth, Muslims should be able to summon the strength to resist the present war on Islam in which the godless world is making the greatest possible effort to destroy their faith in Allah Most High.

Jesus/Isa a.s in The Islam

2011-02-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

In Islam, Jesus (Arabic: عيسى‎ `Īsā) is considered a messenger of God who had been sent to guide the Children of Israel (banī isrā'īl) with a new scripture, the Injīl (gospel). The Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be God's final revelation, states that Jesus was born to Mary (Arabic: Maryam) as the result of virginal conception, a miraculous event which occurred by the decree of God.

Jesus in Islam

The Islamic view of Jesus lies between two extremes. The Jews, who rejected Jesus as a prophet, called him an imposter, while the Christians, on the other hand, considered him to be the son of God and worship him as such. Islam considers Jesus to be one of the greatest and most forbearing of prophets, in addition to Noah, Abraham, Moses and Muhammad, may God praise them. Jesus is also considered to be the Messiah as well. This is in conformity with the Islamic view of the Oneness of God, the Oneness of Divine guidance, and the complementary role of the subsequent mission of God’s messengers.

The message of God to humanity, which is to worship God and God alone and to live according to His instruction, was revealed to Adam (peace be upon him), who passed it on to his children. All the subsequent revelations to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and, finally, Muhammad are in conformity with that message. Thus, Islam views any contradictions among revealed religions as man-made elements introduced into these religions. The position of Jesus in the three major creeds- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam- is not an exception.

Although the Quran does not present a detailed life-story of Jesus, it highlights the important aspects of his birth, his mission, his ascension to heaven. It also passes judgment on the Christian and Jewish beliefs concerning him. We will look at some of the truths which God revealed about Jesus in the Quran.

Born of a Virgin Mother

Like Christians, Muslims believe that Mary, Maria in Spanish, or Maryam as she is called in Arabic, was a chaste, virgin woman, who miraculously gave birth to Jesus. Jesus’ birth in itself was a miracle in that he had no father. God describes his birth in the Quran as follows:

“And mention in the Book (the Quran), Mary, when she withdrew in seclusion from her family to a place facing east. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her a spirit from Us, (the angel Gabriel), and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects. She said: ‘Verily, I seek refuge with the Most Gracious (God) from you, if you do fear God.’ (The angel) said: ‘I am only a messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.’ She said: ‘How can I have a son, when no man hath touched me, nor am I unchaste?’ He said: ‘So (it will be), your Lord said That is easy for Me (God): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (God), and it is a matter (already) decreed (by God).’” (Quran 19:16-21)

This fact, however, does not necessitate that Jesus is divine in essence or spirit, nor is he worthy of worship, for Adam’s existence was more miraculous than that of Jesus. If his miraculous birth were a proof that Jesus was God incarnate or His son, then Adam would have more right over this divinity than him. Rather, both are prophets who were inspired with revelation from God Almighty, and both were servants to Him living according to His commandments.

“Indeed, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said to him: ‘Be!’ and he was.’” (Quran 3:59)

Miracles

Muslims, like Christians believe that Jesus performed miracles. These miracles were performed by the will and permission of God, Who has power and control over all things.

“Then will God say: ‘O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favor to you and to your mother. Behold! I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit (the angel Gabriel) so that you did speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught you the Book and Wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel. And behold: you make out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and you breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by My leave, and you heal those born blind, and the lepers by My leave. And behold! You bring forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to you) when you did show them the Clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: ‘This is nothing but evident magic.’” (Quran 5:110)

God sent all prophets with miracles specific to the nation to whom they were sent to prove the veracity of their message. These miracles were not performed of their own accord; rather, they were only manifest in their hands by God's will. The miracles performed by Jesus were no different. The Jews were well advanced in the field of medicine, and the miracles which Jesus brought were of this nature, proving the truth of His message and in order to convince the Jews.

His Divinity

Muslims believe in the Absolute Oneness of God, Who is a Supreme Being free of human limitations, needs and wants. He has no partners in His Divinity. He is the Creator of everything and is completely separate from His creation, and all worship is to be directed towards Him alone.

This was the same message brought by all prophets of God, including Jesus. He never claimed any qualities of divinity, nor did he claim that he deserved to be worshipped. He did not say that he was the “son” of God or part of the “Trinity”, but rather that he was only a servant of God sent to the Jews to bring them back to the true religion, worshipping One God and following his instruction. The majority of the verses in the Quran which mention Jesus discuss this aspect. They prove that he was only taken as an object of worship as a result of lies which people invented against him. It confirms accounts of his life where Jesus himself clearly denies that he deserved any worship, and it supports the notion that the parables and examples which God has given showed his mortal nature, not his divinity or filial relationship to God. God narrates of Jesus in the Quran:

“They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘God is the Messiah, the son of Mary’ while the Messiah has said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord...’” (Quran 5:72)

God says about the belief that Jesus is part of a “Trinity”:

“They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘God is the third of three.’ (Rather) there is none worthy of worship except One (God). And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment. So will they not repent to God and seek His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving and Merciful. The Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger before whom many Messengers have passed away; and his mother adhered wholly to truthfulness, and they both ate food (as other mortals do). See how We make Our signs clear to them; and see where they are turning away!” (Quran 5:73-75)

And also:

“O People of the Book (Jews and Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and attribute to God nothing except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His command that He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and in His Messengers, and do not say: ‘God is a Trinity.’ Give up this assertion; it would be better for you. For God is indeed (the only) One God. Far be it from His glory that He should have a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. And God is sufficient for a guardian.” (Quran 4:171)

God deems this belief as an enormity against His Essence:

“And they say: ‘The Most Merciful (God) has taken (for Himself) a son.’ Assuredly you utter a hideous thing, whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains fall in ruins; That they ascribe unto the Most Merciful a son, when it is not suitable for (the Majesty of) the Most Merciful that He should take a son. There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Merciful as a slave.” (Quran 19:88-93)

On the Day of Judgment, Jesus again will free himself from this false attribution. God gives us a glimpse of what he will say when he is asked about why people worshipped him:

“And (beware the Day) when God will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides God?’” He will say, ‘Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen. I said not to them except what you commanded me – to worship God, my Lord and your Lord…’” (Quran 5:116-117)

In these verses, God proclaims that ascribing to Jesus the attribute 'son of God' or 'part of a Trinity' is indeed a great blasphemy. The reason for this returns to the key fundamental assertion that God is Unique and unlike any of his creation; as well as in His Essence, He is Unique in His Divinity, His Attributes and His Lordship. All of the above make up the strict monotheism which He revealed in His Scriptures, from them the first of the Ten Commandments:

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3)

Ascribing a son to God is in clear opposition to that principle for which He created the Creation and sent prophets. God says in the Quran:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Quran 51:56)

He also said:

“And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, (saying), ‘Worship God and avoid all false objects of worship…’” (Quran 16:36)

His Mission

As discussed earlier, the Quran clearly affirms that Jesus was a prophet, as well as the fact that he was no more than that. Prophets are indeed the best of creation. They are those whom God chooses to receive His revelation, yet at the same time, they are mere emissaries of God and do not deserve to receive worship. Jesus, as mentioned in the Quran, is no different than any of them in this respect.

Throughout the Quran, Jesus is identified fundamentally as a prophet of God sent to the Jews who had over time deviated from the teachings of Moses and other messengers.

“And (remember) when Jesus, son of Mary, said: ‘O Children of Israel, I am the Messenger of God sent to you, confirming the Torah (which came) before me...’” (Quran 61:6)

Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, was the last in the line of Jewish prophets. He lived according to the Torah, the Law of Moses, and taught his followers to do likewise. In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus stated:

“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the (way of) the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

In this aspect, he and his message was no different than the previous prophets chosen by God, who all called to the worship of God and God alone, as well as to obedience to His commandments. As he was miraculously supported by God in his conception, birth, and childhood, he was also supported by numerous miracles to prove that he was a messenger from God. However, the majority of the Jews rejected his prophethood.

Not only did Jesus affirm the scriptures revealed before him, but he also foretold of another prophet to come after him. God says:

“And when Jesus, son of Mary, said: ‘O Children of Israel! Indeed I am the messenger of God unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is the Praised One.’” (Quran 61:6)

This fact is also mentioned in the New Testament. Careful study shows that Jesus, peace be upon him, refers to the same prophet in John 14:16-17:

“And I will give you another Counselor (the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him), to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth.”

His Crucifixion

God clarified in the Quran that Jesus was not crucified; rather, it was made to seem that way to the Jews, and that God raised him to the Heavens. The Quran does not explain, though, who was the person crucified instead of Jesus, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.

“…They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but (another) was made to resemble him to them…” (Quran 4:157)

“God lifted him up to His presence. God is Almighty, All-Wise.” (Quran 4:158)

As such, Islam denies that Jesus came to this earth with the purpose of sacrificing himself for the sin of Adam, Eve, and the rest of humanity, freeing them from its burden. Islam strictly rejects the notion that any person bears the sin of another. God says:

“No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another.” (Quran 39:7)

Also, Islam stresses the notion that God is able to and forgive all sins, if a person truly repents and then refrains from repeating it. God does not need any blood sacrifice for that, let alone descend in the form of man himself and die for every man's sins. Rather, God’s mercy extends to all creatures, believers and disbelievers alike. The door to forgiveness is open to anyone who seeks it.

The Second Coming of Christ

As Christians do, Muslims also believe in the return of Jesus the Messiah to earth, although his role and reason for his return does differ from what the Christians propose. He will return to earth first and foremost to prove his mortality and refute the false beliefs people held about him. He will live a normal life, marry, and also die as any other human. At that point, the matter will be clear concerning him, and all people will have believed that he was truly mortal.

“There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him (Jesus) before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.” (Quran 4: 159)

Jesus will also fight the false Christ, who will call people to the belief that he is God, and who will appear just before he returns. Jesus will defeat the antichrist, and all people will accept the true religion of God. The world will see a type of peace and serenity unfelt in history, all worshipping the same God, subservient to Him alone, and at peace with one another.

Conclusion

What has preceded was just a brief introduction to the truth which God revealed about Jesus in His final Book, the Quran, which he revealed to Muhammad. There is only One God who created one race of human beings and communicated to them one message: submission to the worship of God and God alone and following His instruction – known in Arabic as Islam. That message was conveyed to the first human beings on this earth, and reaffirmed by all of the prophets of God who came after them throughout all the ages.

Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, performed miracles and invited the Israelites to the same message of submission (Islam) as did all of the prophets who preceded him. He was not God, nor was he the ‘Son of God’, but was the Messiah, an illustrious prophet of God. Jesus did not invite people to worship himself; rather, he called them to worship God, Whom he himself worshipped. He confirmed the laws of the Torah which Prophet Moses taught; he lived by them, and instructed his disciples to follow them to the finest detail, after allowing those things which the Jews made illegal upon themselves. Before his departure, he informed his followers of the last prophet, Muhammad of Arabia, who would come after him, and instructed them to observe his teachings.

In the generations after Jesus’ departure from this world, his teachings were distorted and he was elevated to the status of God. Six centuries later, with the coming of Prophet Muhammad, the truth about Jesus Christ was finally retold and preserved eternally in the last book of divine revelation, the Quran. Furthermore, many of the laws of Moses, which Jesus followed, were revived in their pure and unadulterated form and implemented in the divinely prescribed way of life known as Islam, while many other aspects and injunctions of the laws which had been brought by the earlier prophets were lightened or dropped altogether.

Consequently, the reality of the prophets, their uniform message, and the way of life which they followed, can only be found preserved in the religion of Islam, the only religion prescribed by God for man. Furthermore, only Muslims today actually follow Jesus and his true teachings. Their way of life is much more in tune with the way of life Jesus practiced than any of the modern day “Christians.” Love and respect of Jesus Christ is an article of faith in Islam, and God stressed the importance of belief in Jesus in numerous places in the Quran.

Miracle of Qur'an

2011-01-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

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Part - 7

Fourteen centuries ago, God sent down the Qur'an to mankind as a book of guidance. He called upon people to be guided to the truth by adhering to this book. From the day of its revelation to the day of judgement, this last divine book will remain the sole guide for humanity.

The matchless style of the Qur'an and the superior wisdom in it are definite evidence that it is the word of God. In addition, the Qur'an has many miraculous attributes proving that it is a revelation from God. One of these attributes is the fact that a number of scientific truths that we have only been able to uncover by the technology of the 20th century were stated in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago.

Of course the Qur'an is not a book of science. However, many scientific facts that are expressed in an extremely concise and profound manner in its verses have only been discovered with the technology of the 20th century. These facts could not have been known at the time of the Qur'an's revelation, and this is still more proof that the Qur'an is the word of God.

In order to understand the scientific miracle of the Qur'an, we must first take a look at the level of science at the time when this holy book was revealed. In the 7th century, when the Qur'an was revealed, Arab society had many superstitious and groundless beliefs where scientific issues were concerned.

Lacking the technology to examine the universe and nature, these early Arabs believed in legends inherited from past generations. They supposed, for example, that mountains supported the sky above. They believed that the earth was flat and that there were high mountains at its both ends. It was thought that these mountains were pillars that kept the vault of heaven high above.

However all these superstitious beliefs of Arab society were eliminated with the Qur'an. In Sura Sad, verse 2, it was said: "God is He who raised up the heavens without any support..."(The Qur'an, 38:2). This verse invalidated the belief that the sky remains above because of the mountains. In many other subjects, important facts were revealed at a time when no one could have known them. The Qur'an, which was revealed at a time when people knew very little about astronomy, physics, or biology, contains key facts on a variety of subjects such as the creation of the universe, the creation of the human being, the structure of the atmosphere, and the delicate balances that make life on earth possible.

Al Quran dan terjemahannya

2010-12-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

Surah Al-Imran - S.Abdul Rashid Sufi

2010-12-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

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Surah Aal-Imran (Family of Imran) of the Noble Qur'an. Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 - recited by Syeikh Abdul Rashid Sufi with English translation.

News: Hajj pilgrimmage

2010-11-14T06:58:00.001-08:00

Every year, millions of Muslims from around the world make the journey to Mecca, dressed in the same simple white clothing to represent human equality, for the annual pilgrimage (or Hajj). Hajj is considered one of the five "pillars" of Islam. Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage once in a lifetime, if they are physically and financially able to make the journey to Mecca.

Dhul-Hijjah (the Month of Hajj) is the 12th month of the Islamic lunar year. It is during this month that the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as Hajj, takes place. The actual pilgrimage rites take place on the 8th to 12th days of the month.

Music in Islam - S.Nuh Ha Mim Keller

2010-11-03T03:11:00.000-07:00

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Commentary:

According to most, majority of scholars of Islam (ulama), all musical instruments are not allowed, are haram, sinful, illegal, impermissible; with the exception singing and the playing of the daff. And this kind of music is permitted in occasions or situation like Eids, marriage, struggle for haq (in war time or againts the tyranny and etc).

The overwhelming majority of scholars consider music to be Haram, based on the following verse:

"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.) to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah without knowledge, and takes it (the Path of Allah, the Verses of the Quran) by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment (in the Hell-Fire)". (Surah Luqman 31:6)

Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood used to swear that the meaning of idle talk was singing. This view was held by Ibn Abbas (r.a) and other Sahabah as well. Ibn Mas’ood used to say that music is to the hypocrisy as water is to a plant. The scholars are agreed that when singing is accompanied with music, then the prohibition is even stronger.

The other major proof is the Hadith reported by Al-Bukhari with a partial isnad (mu’allaq):

"From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcohol, and the use of musical instruments as lawful. Allah will destroy them during the night...and will change the rest of them to monkeys and pigs and they will remain so until the Day of Resurrection".

This Hadith was narrated with a connected chain of narrators by other scholars of Hadith such as Al-Ismaili, Abu Dhar, Abu Nuaim, and Al-Tabarani. It is authentic.

The theologians of the Shafi’i school of thought express the following opinion:”Singing and listening to songs without instrumental accompaniment is not advisable, although it is not prohibited (haram)”. They refer to the adduced hadith transmitted by ‘Aisha r.a: ” I had two servant girls who sang. Once Abu Bakr looked in at our house and on hearing them singing he exclaimed:”Satan’s pipe is in the house of God’s Apostle!” The Prophet said:”Leave them! Verily, we have feast days”. In addition to this hadith there is an authentic statement of the second pious caliph ‘Umar r.a who said:”Singing is the food of a traveller”

Other scholars of the Hanafi and Hanbali schools of thought, as well as the theologians of the Maliki school of thought assert that “singing without accompaniment is permitted”. Theologian Wahba az-Zuhayli affirms:”This opinion is obviously more correct”. Imam al-Ghazali asserts in his book “Ihya ‘ulum ad-din” that “scholars are unanimous (al-idjma’) that singing without instrumental accompaniment is permitted (halal)”.

As far as musical accompaniment is concerned most theologians of the four main philosophical and legal schools of fiqh (the Hanafi’is, the Malikis, the Shafi’is, the Hanbalis) believe that instruments which lend an entertainment character to singing are prohibited (haram). This category is like the wind-instruments and the strings.

Abu Amir or Abu Malik Al Ashari narrated that the Prophet s.a.w saying, "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, 'Return to us tomorrow.' Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection." [Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol.7 Hadith No.5590]

There is an interesting statement of one of the most prominent scholars of the 20^th century Bediuzzaman Said Nursi on the subject. Taking into consideration the opinions and conditions stipulated for by earlier scholars he gives a rather audacious interpretation of the issue. Said Nursi believes that human soul is to a certain extent in need of music:”Just as people need Truth, they need pleasures. Yet the latter should account for no more than one fifth”. Said Nursi also said:”The sounds and voices awoking in man loftiness and love for God are permitted (halal). Whereas those sounds that arouse grief, loneliness, despair, selfishness or animal passion are prohibited (haram). If the permissibility or impermissibility of something is not clearly defined by Shariat, it is defined by the inner state of man and by its impact on his behaviors”.

- Becoming heedless of Allah as the music avoid insan to keep zikirullah, remembering Allah. Music serves as a temporary means of pleasure and satisfaction, which makes one forget who he really is and why he was created, as also most of the music entertaiment will fullfill the moment of insan life time in wasted. This is the reason why musical instruments are known in the Arabic language as ‘malaahi’ meaning instruments that prevent one from the remembrance of Allah Almighty. And each insan need to beware of all things or means which can make him/her distracts from his Creator.

Wake Up - S.Hamza Yusuf

2010-10-03T04:02:00.000-07:00

A Tree Knelt In Praise

I know that I shall never see
A poem that bows quite like our tree
A tree who like us loved to pray
In adoration every day

A tree who humbly knelt in praise
To God and never chose to raise
Itself above the other trees
Instead remained as if on knees

A tree who gave our scholars shade
And never asked that it be paid
A tree whose needles never hurt
But gently fell upon the dirt

A tree whose worth cannot be told
Or ever lent or bought with gold
A tree who showed us all its height
With God by bowing with delight

It taught us all to clearly see
A Garden lies beneath a tree
And then it showed us with a sigh
That trees, like us, must also die

In an age of folly, play and mirth
A tree has died with brow on earth

-Hamza Yusuf / March 2005

Takbir Eidul Fitri

2010-09-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

اللّهُ أكبر اللّهُ أكبر

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar
Allah is Great, Allah is Great

اللّهُ أكبر

Allahu Akbar
Allah is Great

لا إلَهَ الا اللّه

La illaha il Allah
there is no God, but Allah

اللّهُ أكبر اللّهُ اكبر

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar
Allah is Great, Allah is Great

و لِلّه الحمدَ

walilahil Hamd
to Him belongs all Praise

اللّهُ أكبرُ كَبيِرَا

Allahu Akbaru Kabeera
Allah is the Greatest

وَالحَمدُ لِلّهِ كَثِيرا

wal-Hamdulilahi katheera
And all Praise is due to Him

وَ سُبحَان اللّهِ

wa Subhan allahi
And Glory to Allah

بُكرَةً وَأصْيِلا

bukratan wa aseila
eventide and in the morning

لا إلَهَ الا اللّه

La illaha il Allah
there is no God, but Allah the Unique

صَدَقَ وَعدَه

sadaqa wa'dah
He has fulfilled His Promise

وَنَصَرَ عبده

wa nasara abda
and made Victorious His servant

وأعزَ جُنَده

wa a'azza jundahu
and made Mighty His soldiers

وَهزم الأحْزَابَ وحْدَه

wa hazamal-ahzaaba wahdah
and defeated the confederates

لا إلَهَ الا اللّه

La illaha il Allah
there is no God, But Allah

وَلا نَعبُد الا أياه

wa laa na'budu illa iyyah
He alone we worship

مُخلِصِّينَ لَهُ الدّيِنَ

mukhlessena lahud-deena
with sincere and exclusive devotion

وَلوْ كَرِهَ الكَافِروُن

walaw karehal-Kafeeroon
even though the idolaters hate it

اللّهمَ صَلِّ على سيْدنَا مُحَمد

Allahumma salli ala sayyedna Muhammad
O Allah, have Mercy on our Prophet Muhammad

وَعَلى آلِ سيْدنَا مُحَمد

wa ala aalie sayyedna Muhammad
and on the family of our Prophet Muhammad

وَعَلى اصْحَابِ سيْدنَا مُحَمد

wa ala as-haabie sayyedna Muhammad
and on the companions of our Prophet Muhammad

وَعَلى أنصَارِ سيْدنَا مُحَمد

wa ala ansari sayyedna Muhammad
and on the helpers of our Prophet Muhammad

وَعَلى أزوَاجِ سيْدنَا مُحَمد

wa ala azwajie sayyedna Muhammad
and on the wives of our Prophet Muhammad

وَعَلى ذُرِّيَةِ سيْدنَا مُحَمد

wa ala dhurreyatie sayyedna Muhammad
and on the progeny of our Prophet Muhammad

وَ سَلّم تَسْلِيماَ كَثّيرا

wa sallim tasleeman katheera
and Bestow upon them much peace.

Doa Qunoot by Sheikh Ali Al-Hudhaify

2010-09-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Madinah Dua Al Qunoot (3rd Night) 12th August 2010 ~ 3rd Ramadaan 1431 led by Sheikh Ali Al-Hudhaify

Never forget - Harun Yahya

2010-08-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Just consider of how many times a day you have to force yourself to remember something. Already by the time you get out of bed, there are many issues with which you have to keep your mind occupied. You might have taken notes or placed a reminder somewhere so as not to forget about any of them. At times, even the thought of forgetting is worrisome…

What if, though, you had actually forgotten about something greatly more important than anything else in your daily life?

Our purpose in writing this book is to remind you of those issues in your life that are most important. Never forget that, forgetting those things of which you will be reminded in this book will cost you immeasurably more than forgetting what you attempt to remember throughout the day, no matter how valuable that issue may seem.

The purpose of this book is to remind you of the reason of your existence in this world. We feel the need to remind of this because man is forgetful. Engrossed in everyday routines, unless he wills otherwise, he may easily become distracted from the real issues to which he actually needs to pay attention. He may easily forget that Allah encompasses him all around, that He watches him at every moment, that He listens to him, and that he will one day have to give an account of his actions to Allah. He may well forget about the certainty of death, the grave, Paradise and Hell, that nothing happens other than that which is Allah's Will, and that there is ultimately a reason for everything.

Man is prone to forgetfulness. In forgetfulness, he may not remember the purpose of his life, and thus, temporarily fail to conduct himself correctly and commit a mistake. For sincere people, such forgetfulness does not last more than a second; by the time they recognize their failings, they immediately repent, turn towards Allah, and continue observing the limits set by Him. Believers pray to Allah in the following way:

...Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake!... (Surat al-Baqara: 286)

The kind of forgetfulness meant here, though, is actually not the ordinary forgetfulness we are likely to experience in our daily lives. Man is, by nature, forgetful and is inclined to make mistakes. However, the sort of forgetfulness treated in this book is the kind that contributes to spiritual numbness, inattention and ignorance, even though one's mental faculties allow him to continue with the regular course of his day.

So, what is it that a person disregards and therefore forgets?

No doubt, the most crucial matter a person is inclined to forget is the existence of his Creator, and his accountability to Him… the reality of an eternal life to be spent either in Paradise or in Hell… The existence of Hellfire and the eternal blessings of Paradise are as real as you reading this page. However, despite their knowledge of these truths, those who have allowed themselves to become forgetful have become unconcerned, and falsely assume that deliberately forgetting these matters will help them avoid the truth.

But, can man really avoid his responsibilities by forgetting about them? Certainly not. Man is responsible to Allah, his Creator; he will taste death sooner or later, and will then be called to account in His presence, all alone. As a consequence to this account, he will either spend the rest of eternity either in Paradise or in Hell. As the Qur'an reads, "We did not create heaven and earth and everything in between them as a game" (Surat al-Anbiya': 16); no being, including man, is created without a purpose. Man is not left to his own devices, but is created to "worship Allah." (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 56) However, if he becomes carried away by daily routines and fails to exercise his wisdom, then he may well come to forget this truth. Only those who reflect more deeply on the events and beings that surround them can arrive to this important conclusion.

Reflection upon one's own creation alone would make a person realize Allah's favours on him. It will eventually make him conscious of the necessity of making serious effort to show devotion to his Creator. Initially, he was nothing; then, he began life as a single cell invisible to the naked eye. This cell divided billions of times, and gradually grew into a man with all his organs intact. More importantly, this being acquired life, a soul, though he had been nothing. A drop of sperm developed into a lump, and then into a being, able to enjoy the faculties of thinking and speaking. It is His Lord Who created him from nothing. However, some people come to forget their creation, making paltry excuses, and dare to deny Him.

He makes likenesses of Us and forgets his own creation, saying, "Who will give life to bones when they are decayed?" Say "He Who made them in the first place will bring them back to life. He has total knowledge of each created thing." (Surah Ya Sin: 78-79)

If you too fear of being ungrateful, then you have to stop being distracted by every-day thoughts. Because, a person keeps himself occupied with the thought of his Lord only if he does so deliberately. Similarly, he becomes cognizant of his responsibility to Him, if he remembers that this world is a temporary place, and that he will have to give an account of everything he has done in this world.

Essentially, none of the issues discussed in this book are of a kind for which you would merely say, "I'd better not forget." No, you must not forget any single one of them. Only by remembering them can you worship Allah and earn His good pleasure. Most importantly, do not forget that it is the only way to salvation, both in this world and beyond.

Allah shows you two ways with which He tests you; you are free to make a choice, but remember that one of these ways leads to eternal punishment, while the other leads to eternal bliss...

And shown him the two highways? But he has not braved the steep ascent. What will convey to you what the steep ascent is? It is freeing a slave or feeding on a day of hunger an orphaned relative or a poor man in the dust; then to be one of those who believe and urge each other to steadfastness and urge each other to compassion. Those are the Companions of the Right. Those who reject Our signs, they are the Companions of the Left. Above them is a sealed vault of Fire. (Surat al-Balad: 10-20)

From: Harun Yahya book

Tawaf "Circumambulation" is a cosmic law

2010-07-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

A pilgrim circumambulates the Ka`bah as if he or she is a celestial body orbiting another greater body. Circumambulation of the Ka`bah is to be performed counterclockwise. Scientific discoveries have proved that we live in a huge universe that depends on revolution.

- Earth rotates around itself counterclockwise.
- Moon rotates around itself counterclockwise.
- Moon is orbiting Earth counterclockwise.
- Earth is orbiting Sun counterclockwise.
- Sun rotates around itself counterclockwise.
- Even sun orbits around the center of our galaxy "the Milky way".

Here the cytoplasm of the living cell rotates counterclockwise.And in the atoms electrons are orbiting the nucleus This proves the truthfulness of the call of Islam that there is no god but Almighty Allah. Thus, Islam is the true religion that provides humankind with a comprehensive view in conformity with the divine truth that is apparent in the natural laws of the universe.

Manzil

2010-06-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

سُوۡرَةُ الفَاتِحَة
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (١)
ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٢) ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (٣) مَـٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ (٤) إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ (٥) ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ (٦) صِرَٲطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا
ٱلضَّآلِّينَ (٧)

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
الٓمٓ (١) ذَٲلِكَ ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَ‌ۛ فِيهِ‌ۛ هُدً۬ى لِّلۡمُتَّقِينَ (٢) ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقۡنَـٰهُمۡ يُنفِقُونَ (٣) وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبۡلِكَ وَبِٱلۡأَخِرَةِ هُمۡ يُوقِنُونَ (٤) أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ عَلَىٰ هُدً۬ى مِّن رَّبِّهِمۡ‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ (٥)

وَإِلَـٰهُكُمۡ إِلَـٰهٌ۬ وَٲحِدٌ۬‌ۖ لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ (١٦٣)
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡحَىُّ ٱلۡقَيُّومُ‌ۚ لَا تَأۡخُذُهُ ۥ سِنَةٌ۬ وَلَا نَوۡمٌ۬‌ۚ لَّهُ ۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشۡفَعُ عِندَهُ ۥۤ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِهِۦ‌ۚ يَعۡلَمُ مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُمۡ‌ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىۡءٍ۬ مِّنۡ عِلۡمِهِۦۤ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ‌ۚ وَسِعَ كُرۡسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ‌ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُ ۥ حِفۡظُهُمَا‌ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَلِىُّ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ (٢٥٥) لَآ إِكۡرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِ‌ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشۡدُ مِنَ ٱلۡغَىِّ‌ۚ فَمَن يَكۡفُرۡ بِٱلطَّـٰغُوتِ وَيُؤۡمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱسۡتَمۡسَكَ بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَىٰ لَا ٱنفِصَامَ لَهَا‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (٢٥٦) ٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ يُخۡرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ‌ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓاْ أَوۡلِيَآؤُهُمُ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتُ يُخۡرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ ٱلنُّورِ إِلَى
ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ‌ۗ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ‌ۖ هُمۡ فِيہَا خَـٰلِدُونَ (٢٥٧)

لِّلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۗ وَإِن تُبۡدُواْ مَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِڪُمۡ أَوۡ تُخۡفُوهُ يُحَاسِبۡكُم بِهِ ٱللَّهُ‌ۖ فَيَغۡفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ ڪُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ (٢٨٤) ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ‌ۚ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيۡنَ أَحَدٍ۬ مِّن رُّسُلِهِۦ‌ۚ وَقَالُواْ سَمِعۡنَا وَأَطَعۡنَا‌ۖ غُفۡرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيۡكَ ٱلۡمَصِيرُ (٢٨٥) لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَا‌ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡہَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡ‌ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَا‌ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَآ إِصۡرً۬ا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُ ۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِنَا‌ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ‌ۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَآ‌ۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَٮٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرِينَ (٢٨٦)

سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
شَهِدَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّهُ ۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةُ وَأُوْلُواْ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ قَآٮِٕمَۢا بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ‌ۚ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَڪِيمُ (١٨)
قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلۡمُلۡكِ تُؤۡتِى ٱلۡمُلۡكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلۡمُلۡكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ‌ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلۡخَيۡرُ‌ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ۬ (٢٦) تُولِجُ ٱلَّيۡلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيۡلِ‌ۖ وَتُخۡرِجُ ٱلۡحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلۡمَيِّتِ وَتُخۡرِجُ ٱلۡمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلۡحَىِّ‌ۖ وَتَرۡزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ بِغَيۡرِ حِسَابٍ۬ (٢٧)

سُوۡرَةُ الاٴعرَاف
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ فِى سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ۬ ثُمَّ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ يُغۡشِى ٱلَّيۡلَ ٱلنَّہَارَ يَطۡلُبُهُ ۥ حَثِيثً۬ا وَٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ وَٱلنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَٲتِۭ بِأَمۡرِهِۦۤ‌ۗ أَلَا لَهُ ٱلۡخَلۡقُ وَٱلۡأَمۡرُ‌ۗ تَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٥٤) ٱدۡعُواْ رَبَّكُمۡ تَضَرُّعً۬ا وَخُفۡيَةً‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُعۡتَدِينَ (٥٥) وَلَا تُفۡسِدُواْ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ بَعۡدَ إِصۡلَـٰحِهَا وَٱدۡعُوهُ خَوۡفً۬ا وَطَمَعًا‌ۚ إِنَّ رَحۡمَتَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ (٥٦)

سُوۡرَةُ بنیٓ اسرآئیل / الإسرَاء
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلِ ٱدۡعُواْ ٱللَّهَ أَوِ ٱدۡعُواْ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنَ‌ۖ أَيًّ۬ا مَّا تَدۡعُواْ فَلَهُ ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءُ ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ‌ۚ وَلَا تَجۡهَرۡ بِصَلَاتِكَ وَلَا تُخَافِتۡ بِہَا وَٱبۡتَغِ بَيۡنَ ذَٲلِكَ سَبِيلاً۬ (١١٠) وَقُلِ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى لَمۡ يَتَّخِذۡ وَلَدً۬ا وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ شَرِيكٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡمُلۡكِ وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ وَلِىٌّ۬ مِّنَ ٱلذُّلِّ‌ۖ وَكَبِّرۡهُ تَكۡبِيرَۢا (١١١)

سُوۡرَةُ المؤمنون
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
أَفَحَسِبۡتُمۡ أَنَّمَا خَلَقۡنَـٰكُمۡ عَبَثً۬ا وَأَنَّكُمۡ إِلَيۡنَا لَا تُرۡجَعُونَ (١١٥) فَتَعَـٰلَى ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمَلِكُ ٱلۡحَقُّ‌ۖ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلۡعَرۡشِ ٱلۡڪَرِيمِ (١١٦) وَمَن يَدۡعُ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَـٰهًا ءَاخَرَ لَا بُرۡهَـٰنَ لَهُ ۥ بِهِۦ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ ۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦۤ‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ لَا يُفۡلِحُ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرُونَ (١١٧) وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱغۡفِرۡ وَٱرۡحَمۡ وَأَنتَ خَيۡرُ ٱلرَّٲحِمِينَ (١١٨)

سُوۡرَةُ الصَّافات
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
وَٱلصَّـٰٓفَّـٰتِ صَفًّ۬ا (١) فَٱلزَّٲجِرَٲتِ زَجۡرً۬ا (٢) فَٱلتَّـٰلِيَـٰتِ ذِكۡرًا (٣) إِنَّ إِلَـٰهَكُمۡ لَوَٲحِدٌ۬ (٤) رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَمَا بَيۡنَہُمَا وَرَبُّ ٱلۡمَشَـٰرِقِ (٥) إِنَّا زَيَّنَّا ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنۡيَا بِزِينَةٍ ٱلۡكَوَاكِبِ (٦) وَحِفۡظً۬ا مِّن كُلِّ شَيۡطَـٰنٍ۬ مَّارِدٍ۬ (٧) لَّا يَسَّمَّعُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡمَلَإِ ٱلۡأَعۡلَىٰ وَيُقۡذَفُونَ مِن كُلِّ جَانِبٍ۬ (٨) دُحُورً۬ا‌ۖ وَلَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ۬ وَاصِبٌ (٩) إِلَّا مَنۡ خَطِفَ ٱلۡخَطۡفَةَ فَأَتۡبَعَهُ ۥ شِہَابٌ۬ ثَاقِبٌ۬ (١٠) فَٱسۡتَفۡتِہِمۡ أَهُمۡ أَشَدُّ خَلۡقًا أَم مَّنۡ خَلَقۡنَآ‌ۚ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَـٰهُم مِّن طِينٍ۬ لَّازِبِۭ (١١)

سُوۡرَةُ الرَّحمٰن
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
يَـٰمَعۡشَرَ ٱلۡجِنِّ وَٱلۡإِنسِ إِنِ ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُمۡ أَن تَنفُذُواْ مِنۡ أَقۡطَارِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱنفُذُواْ‌ۚ لَا تَنفُذُونَ إِلَّا بِسُلۡطَـٰنٍ۬ (٣٣) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٣٤)يُرۡسَلُ عَلَيۡكُمَا شُوَاظٌ۬ مِّن نَّارٍ۬ وَنُحَاسٌ۬ فَلَا تَنتَصِرَانِ (٣٥) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٣٦) فَإِذَا ٱنشَقَّتِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ فَكَانَتۡ وَرۡدَةً۬ كَٱلدِّهَانِ (٣٧) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٣٨) فَيَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ لَّا يُسۡـَٔلُ عَن ذَنۢبِهِۦۤ إِنسٌ۬ وَلَا جَآنٌّ۬ (٣٩) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّڪُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٤٠)

سُوۡرَةُ الحَشر
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
لَوۡ أَنزَلۡنَا هَـٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍ۬ لَّرَأَيۡتَهُ ۥ خَـٰشِعً۬ا مُّتَصَدِّعً۬ا مِّنۡ خَشۡيَةِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۚ وَتِلۡكَ ٱلۡأَمۡثَـٰلُ نَضۡرِبُہَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (٢١)هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۖ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ‌ۖ هُوَ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ (٢٢)هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡمَلِكُ ٱلۡقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُ ٱلۡمُهَيۡمِنُ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡجَبَّارُ ٱلۡمُتَڪَبِّرُ‌ۚ سُبۡحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشۡرِڪُونَ (٢٣) هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡخَـٰلِقُ ٱلۡبَارِئُ ٱلۡمُصَوِّرُ‌ۖ لَهُ ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءُ ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ‌ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ ۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ (٢٤)

سُوۡرَةُ الجنّ
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ أَنَّهُ ٱسۡتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡجِنِّ فَقَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا سَمِعۡنَا قُرۡءَانًا عَجَبً۬ا (١) يَہۡدِىٓ إِلَى ٱلرُّشۡدِ فَـَٔامَنَّا بِهِۦ‌ۖ وَلَن نُّشۡرِكَ بِرَبِّنَآ أَحَدً۬ا (٢) وَأَنَّهُ ۥ تَعَـٰلَىٰ جَدُّ رَبِّنَا مَا ٱتَّخَذَ صَـٰحِبَةً۬ وَلَا وَلَدً۬ا (٣) وَأَنَّهُ ۥ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيہُنَا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ شَطَطً۬ا (٤)

سُوۡرَةُ الکافِرون
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرُونَ (١) لَآ أَعۡبُدُ مَا تَعۡبُدُونَ (٢) وَلَآ أَنتُمۡ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعۡبُدُ (٣) وَلَآ أَنَا۟ عَابِدٌ۬ مَّا عَبَدتُّمۡ (٤) وَلَآ أَنتُمۡ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعۡبُدُ (٥) لَكُمۡ دِينُكُمۡ وَلِىَ دِينِ (٦)

سُوۡرَةُ الإخلاص
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (١) ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ (٢) لَمۡ يَلِدۡ وَلَمۡ يُولَدۡ (٣) وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ ڪُفُوًا أَحَدُۢ (٤)

سُوۡرَةُ الفَلَق
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلۡفَلَقِ (١) مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ (٢) وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ (٣) وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّـٰثَـٰتِ فِى ٱلۡعُقَدِ (٤) وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ (٥)

سُوۡرَةُ النَّاس
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلنَّاسِ (١) مَلِكِ ٱلنَّاسِ (٢) إِلَـٰهِ ٱلنَّاسِ (٣) مِن شَرِّ ٱلۡوَسۡوَاسِ ٱلۡخَنَّاسِ (٤) ٱلَّذِى يُوَسۡوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ (٥) مِنَ ٱلۡجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ (٦)

Stories of the Sahabah (FAZA'IL-E-A'MAAL)

2010-04-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

Stories of the Sahabah (FAZA'IL-E-A'MAAL)

Stories of the Sahabah Chapter 1-6 from Fazail Amal written by Shaikhul Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakaria Kandhlawi rah.

Biograpy of Imaam Shafi’ee rah.

2010-02-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

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Part - 3

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. was a great scholar of his time. He acquired a great amount of knowledge at a very tender age. Imaam Shafi’ee rah. was highly ranked for his knowledge and understanding of jurisprudence.

He held teachings which due to their great effect, people from afar would come to attend. Imaam Shafi’ee rah. respected and honoured his pupils with utmost kindness.

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. did not commit himself to worldly affairs and was very intimate. He himself is the author of many momentous kitaabs, which due to their usefulness are read widely amongst people.

GENEALOGY:

Imaam Abu Abdullah Muhammed Ibn Idris Ibn Abbas Ibn Uthman Ibn Shafi’ee Ibn Saa’ib Ibn Ubayd Ibn Abd Yazeed Ibn Hashim Ibn Muttalib Ibn Abd Munaf Qurayshi Muttalibi Hashimi rah.

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD:

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. has stated that, "I was born in 150 A.H, in a town in Syria called Gaza (Palestine). When I was two years old I was brought to Makkah."

BLESSED FORETELLING:

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. mother reports of an incident before the birth of Imaam Shafi’ee rah. where in her dream she sighted the Jupiter star emerging from her womb and embarking in the province of Egypt. She distinguished a radiant light emitting from this star illuminating the entire city. She questioned the wise men of the city to interpret this dream, who notified her that in the near future she was due to give birth to a learned scholar whose knowledge would be beneficial far and wide.

PRIMARY EDUCATION:

In Makkah Imaam Shafi’ee rah. started an elementary religious school after which he gained education in Madinah. With the training of archery and horse riding and with the knowledge of religious education, he lived in the tribe of Banu Huzayl in Makkah, and he gained a high degree of Arabic poetry. Apart from this he listened to hadith narrated by his uncle, Muhammad Ibn Shafi’ee and Muslim Ibn Khalid Zanji.

ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE:

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. states, "I was an orphan, my mother used to support me, I never even used to have enough money to pay my fees. When the teacher used to teach the children I used to listen and learn it off by heart straight away. So in the teacher’s absence I used to teach, because of this the teacher was very happy with me, so in return he agreed on teaching me free.

As it was very hard for my mother to pay for my stationary I used to choose bones, stones and palm leaves to write on. At the age of seven I knew the whole Qur’an with knowledge of its meaning and I learnt Mu’atta Imaam Maalik at the age of 10.

A SMALL REPRESENTATION OF IMAAM SHAFI’EE’S rah. TEACHERS:

1). Muhammed Ibn Ali Ibn Shafi’ee, Imaam Shafi’ee rah. uncle. He narrated a hadith from Abdullah Ibn Ali Ibn Saa’ib Ibn Ubayd. 2). Sufyan Ibn Uyaynah Makki, Imaam Shafi’ee rah. teacher from Makkah. 3). Imaam Maalik Ibn Anas rah; Imaam Shafi'ee's oldest teacher from Madinah.

A few other teachers of Imaam Shafi’ee rah. : Muslim Ibn Khalid Zanji Haatim Ibn Ismail, Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abi Yahya, Hishaam Ibn Yusuf Sinani, Marwan Ibn Mu’aawiyah, Muhammad Ibn Ismail Dawood Ibn Abdul Rahman, Ismail Ibn Ja’far, Hisham Ibn Yusuf etc.

DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

Imaam Shafi'ee rah. keenly practiced upon attributes that were praised within Ahaadeeth and Qur’an, and was a flawless exemplary character. Many incidents have been recorded manifesting these attributes:

INDEPENDENCE AND GENEROSITY:

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. restrained himself from the rest of the world, he was independent, generous, broad-minded and very understanding.

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. left the Yemeni Government and came to Makkah, he had 10,000 dinars with him. On the outskirts of the city there was an encamp, people came out to meet Imaam Shafi’ee rah. , amongst them there was a group of poor, needy people. He distributed the whole amount to them and after entering Makkah he asked for a loan.

Rabi’ has related that Imaam Shafi’ee rah. used to give Sadaqah daily and in the Holy month of Ramadhan he used to give away clothes and large amounts of money to the poor and indigents.

INTELLIGENCE AND ELOQUENCE:

Abu Ubayd has related that, "I have never seen anyone as knowledgeable and talented as Shafi’ee rah. and no-one as perfect as him." Haroon Ibn Saeed Ayli states that if Imaam Sahib rah. wanted to prove that a stone pillar is a stick, it would be possible for him.

DESCRIPTION AND APPEARANCE:

Muzani has narrated, "I have never seen anyone as handsome as Imaam Shafi’ee rah. The complexion of his cheeks was fair, and when he used to stroke his beard it was never more than a handful. Imaam Shafi’ee rah. used to dye his hair with ‘henna’. He liked scent. Whichever pillar he used to lean against whilst teaching, the fragrance would linger onto the pillar."

WORSHIP AND MYSTIC EXERCISE:

Every night Imaam Shafi’ee rah. used to complete the Qur’an, and in Ramadhan throughout the day and night he used to complete the Qur’an twice. It is stated that in Ramadhan he used to finish the Qur’an 7 times in salaah.

AGE AND DATE OF DEATH:

58 years of age: 204 A.H. in the month of Rajab on Friday, in Egypt.

BURIAL:

Imaam Shafi’ee rah. spent his last days in the world with Abdullah Ibnul Hakam.

The Governor of Egypt led the Janazah prayers. His two sons Abul Hasan Muhammad and Uthmaan were present for the funeral rites. Imaam Shafi’ee rah. who has followers all over the world was buried near Mount Mukatram.

Hijab in Europe

2010-02-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

Hijab in Europe- 8 minute short film

A Spanish short film by Xavi Sala about Hijab in Europe and the discrimination young Muslim women face in a so-called "free" Europe where everything but religion is tolerated in the name of freedom of "religion".

Science and Islam

2010-01-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

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A BBC documentary examining the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.

Example, Isaac Newton is, as most will agree, the greatest physicist of all time.
At the very least, he is the undisputed father of modern optics, or so we are told at school where our textbooks abound with his famous experiments with lenses and prisms, his study of the nature of light and its reflection, and the refraction and decomposition of light into the colours of the rainbow.

Yet, the truth is rather greyer; and it important to point out that, certainly in the field of optics, Newton himself stood on the shoulders of a giant who lived 700 years earlier.

For, without doubt, another great physicist, who is worthy of ranking up alongside Newton, is a scientist born in AD 965 in what is now Iraq who went by the name of al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham.

Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method.
As commonly defined, this is the approach to investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge, based on the gathering of data through observation and measurement, followed by the formulation and testing of hypotheses to explain the data.

- Presents this documentary Science and Islam by: Professor Jim Al-Khalili

The people of Aad

2009-12-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

Part - 2

In a very significant Quranic story about perished nations Quran mentioned the people called Aad, they had lived in a region called by Quran Al-ahqaf, and they had built a city with very huge pillars called iram.

Allah sent his messenger Hud to the "Aad's" people to call them not to worship Idols and believe in Allah the creator of the heavens and earth, but they denied and insisted on their ignorance and delusion. Hud said to them

O my people, worship God. There is no one other than Him. The other notions you have are all false. He is the only true God. I ask you to worship Him, I ask nothing for myself. My reward is with Him who has fashioned me. Will you not understand this? Seek His forgiveness and remember His bounties, and do not revert to your evil ways. [Quran 11:50-52]

But they persisted in their unbelief and told Hud: You have brought us no clear Signs save what you are telling us. How can we abandon our gods? It seems some of our gods have smitten you with evil so that you go on the wrong path. [Quran 11:53-54]

Hud answered them: I swear by my Lord that I am not guilty of your charge. I believe only in my Lord; To me no one else matters and none can delude me and make me go against Him. Nothing moves without His will; His path alone is the right path. If you do not respond to my call and turn away from the Lord, the loss will be yours, not His. In your place He will bring others, for He has control over all things, He watches over all that happens. [Quran 11:54-57]

In the Qur’an, ‘Ad are said to have perished through a "furious wind". In the verses of the Qur’an, it is mentioned that this furious wind lasted for seven nights and eight days and destroyed ‘Ad totally.

The 'Ad (people) (too) rejected (Truth): then how terrible was My Penalty and My Warning? For We sent against them a furious wind, on a Day of violent Disaster, Plucking out men as if they were roots of palm-trees torn up (from the ground). (Surat al-Qamar: 18-20)

And the 'Ad, they were destroyed by a furious Wind, exceedingly violent. He made it rage against them seven nights and eight days in succession: so that thou couldst see the (whole) people lying prostrate in its (path), as they had been roots of hollow palm-trees tumbled down! (Surat al-Haqqa: 6-7)

Though warned previously, the people had paid no attention to the warnings whatsoever and continuously refuted their messengers. They were in such delusion that they could not even understand what was happening when they saw the destruction approaching them and continued with their denial.

Then, when they saw the (Penalty in the shape of) a cloud traversing the sky, coming to meet their valleys, they said, "This cloud will give us rain!". Nay, it is the (Calamity) ye were asking to be hastened!- A wind wherein is a Grievous Penalty! (Surat al-Ahqaf : 24)

Islamic Art

2009-12-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

Halal Food Guide

2009-12-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

- Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah. that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, Allah is indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. [Al-Maeda 5:3]

In many additives fatty acids are used in the production. And it is a matter of concern for many Muslims where these come from. If these are from plant origin, they are halal, if they are from animal origin they may be halal or haram, depending on the animal, or how it get slaughtered in the prescribed Islamic way.

Fats, whether from plant or animal origin, consist of glycerol and generally 3 fatty acids. Fats can be split in fatty acids and glycerol (the same reaction also takes place in the intestine when fats are digested). The fatty acids can be purified and reconnected to glycerol as mono- di- of triglycerides (glycerol with 1, 2 or 3 fatty acids respectively). Many additives consist of these semi-natural fats, which act as emulsifiers.

The fall of Ottoman Empire

2009-11-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

Kesan kejatuhan Empayar Uthmaniyah

Part 2

Age of Disorder

2009-10-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Part 1

Part 4
Part 5

Ramadan-Eid Mubarak

2009-09-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Habib Ali : Sejarah karbala

2009-08-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Sejarah Karbala 3
Sejarah Karbala 4

- “I learned from Hussein how to be wronged and be a winner.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

- “The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of Karbala is that Hussain and his companions were the rigid believers of God. They illustrated that numerical superiority does not count when it comes to truth and falsehood. The victory of Hussein despite his minority marvels me!” (Thomas Carlyle)

- “Imam Husayn uprooted despotism forever till the Day of Resurrection. He watered the dry garden of freedom with the surging wave of his blood, and indeed he awakened the sleeping Muslim nation. Husayn weltered in blood and dust for the sake of truth. Verily he, therefore, became the bed-rock (foundation) of the Muslim creed; La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah).” (Muhammad Iqbal)

The secret beyond matter.

2009-07-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

The Secret Beyond Matter - Harun Yahya

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Human beings are in contact with the universe only through their five senses. No one can reach the real "external world" by going beyond these senses.So, how can we know that this world is not different from what we perceive it to be? This film invites you to ponder on this important question. When you watch this film, you will see how mistaken the materialist philosophy is when it denies God by assuming that matter is absolute. This film is based on the book "Timelessness and the Reality of Fate" by Harun Yahya.

Kalam and Islam

2009-07-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

- Few Muslims today know anything about the Ash‘ari and Maturidi schools or their relation to Islam. So I shall discuss their theology not as history, but as orthodoxy, answering the most basic questions about them such as: What are the beliefs of Sunni Islam? Who needs rational theology anyway? And what relevance does it have today? We mention only enough history to understand what brought it into being, what it said, what it developed into, what its critics said of it, and what the future may hold for it. - By Syeikh Nuh Ha Min Keller

Kalam and Islam -

Biomimetics Technology Imitates Nature

2009-06-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

Biomimetics Technology Imitates Nature - Harun Yahya

Imagine you’ve just bought an immensely detailed model airplane kit. How do you set about putting all the hundreds of tiny parts together? First, no doubt, you’ll examine the illustrations on the box. Then, following the instructions inside shortens the whole process of putting a model together in the best way possible, making no mistakes.

Even lacking any assembly instructions, you can still manage the task if you already possess a similar model airplane. The first plane’s design can serve as an important guide in assembling any later one. In the exact same way, using a flawless design in nature as a model provides shortcuts to designing technological equipment with the same functions in the most perfect possible manner. Aware of this, most scientists and research and development (R&D) experts study the examples of living things before embarking on any new designs, and imitate the systems and designs that already exist. In other words, they examine the designs God has created in nature and, then inspired, go on to develop new technologies.

This approach has given birth to a new branch of science: biomimetics, which means the imitation of living things in nature. This new study is being spoken of more and more often in technological circles and is opening up important new horizons for mankind.

As biomimetics emerges, imitating the structures of living systems, it presents a major setback for those scientists who still support the theory of evolution. From an evolutionist’s point of view, it’s entirely unacceptable for men—whom they regard as the highest rung on the evolutionary ladder—to try to draw inspiration from (much less imitate) other living things which, allegedly, are so much more primitive than they are.

If more advanced living things take the designs of “primitive” ones as models, that means that we’ll be basing a large part of our future technology on the structure of those so-called lesser organisms. That, in turn, is a fundamental violation of the theory of evolution, whose logic maintains that living things too primitive to adapt to their environments soon became extinct, while the remaining “higher” ones evolved and succeeded.

Biomimetics, while placing the proponents of evolution in a vicious circle, is expanding by the day and coming to dominate scientific thought. In the light of this, yet another new scientific branch has emerged: biomimicry, or the science of imitating the behavior of living creatures.

This film considers the advances that biomimetics and biomimicry have made by taking nature as their model. It examines the flawless but hitherto, little noted systems that have existed ever since living things were first created. It also describes how nature’s many varied and highly efficient mechanisms, which baffle the proponents of evolution, are all products of our Lord’s unique creation.

The Effort of Iman

2009-05-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

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Part 10

The Effort of Iman - Importance - By Maulana Saad Kandhlawi, Translated by Maulana Sulaiman Khatani on 31 March 2008 in South Africa ijtima.

சபார் அட் Tunisia

2009-04-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

So far at Malta

2009-03-30T15:26:00.001-07:00

Shaikh Ahmad Ali Ajmi - Surah Hadeed

2009-03-05T01:14:00.001-08:00

Seeing The Clear Proof

2009-02-08T01:10:00.000-08:00

Seeing The Clear Proofs of God's Existence (Harun Yahya)

From the moment man opens his eyes to this world a great order surrounds him. He needs oxygen to survive. It is interesting that the atmosphere of the planet on which he lives provides more than just the adequate amount of oxygen he needs. This way, he breathes without difficulty. For the existence of life on this planet, the existence of a source of heat is essential. In response to this need, the sun is located just at the right distance to emit just the exact amount of heat and energy man needs. Man needs nourishment to survive. Every corner of the world abounds in astonishingly diversified provisions. Likewise, man needs water. Surprisingly, three fourths of the planet is covered with water. Man needs shelter, and in this world, there is land on which it is suitable to build and all sorts of materials to make shelters. These are only a few among billions of details making life possible on earth. In brief, man lives on a planet perfectly designed for his survival. This is certainly a planet created for human.

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The truth about life 1

2009-02-08T01:05:00.000-08:00

Islam in China

2008-09-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Islam is still establishing itself in China under beijing's watchful eye and decades have been spent building a fragile trust between the country's Muslims and the Communist central government. People & Power profiles two key Chinese imams who walk a fine line between their followers and the political authorities.

Hijab

2008-07-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hijab or ħijāb (حجاب, pronounced: [ħi.ˈdʒæːb]) is the Arabic term for "cover" (noun), based on the root حجب meaning "to veil, to cover (verb), to screen, to shelter"

In some Arabic-speaking countries and Western countries, the common meaning of hijab currently is of "modest dress for women,". According to Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality.

Surah an-Nur ayah 31 states:

“ And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings (khimars) over their bosoms (jaybs), and not display their ornaments.......... "( Qur'an 24:31)

In the following verse, Muslim women are asked to draw their jilbab over them (when they go out), as a measure to distinguish themselves from others, so that they are not harassed.

" And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, bear on themselves the crime of slander and plain sin. O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e.screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever OftForgiving, Most Merciful ". ( Qur'an 33:58-59)

Narrated Safiya bint Shaiba: 'Aisha used to say: "When (the Verse): "They should draw their veils over their necks and bosoms," was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their faces with the cut pieces."[8] Sahih Bukhari 6:60:282, Sunnan Abu Dawud 32:4091

Inside History of Masjid an Nabi

2008-06-27T00:45:00.001-07:00

Part 2

This is the blessed history on the expansion of the best place, the resting place of
'Al - Mustafa'(Salla'hu'alihi'wa'salam)Al Madina Al-Munawara.

zikirul-maut

2008-05-27T19:45:00.001-07:00

Azan, calling to prayer

2008-04-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Rare azan from Madinah
Azan Baitul Muqadis
Azan Malaysia
Azan Yusuf Islam
Azan 24 jam diseluruh dunia

Stories Of the Quran By Ibn Khathir

2008-03-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

The 'it' Syndrome

2008-03-02T03:06:00.000-08:00

An extract from a talk by Shaykh Ahmed Ali, where he talks about the dangers of the me myself and I syndrome, also known as the 'IT'syndrome.

Solat Subuh (In Malay)

2008-02-22T06:50:00.000-08:00

Bayan Maulana Sulaiman Al-Khatani

2008-02-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

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Allah Taãla states that one reason for this Ummah being titled as the best of Ummahs, is the practice of 'commanding good and preventing evil'.

Rasulullah s.a.w states, "Whosoever from among you witnesses evil, he should change it with his hands. And if he is unable to do so then he should change it with his tongue. And if he is unable to do so with his tongue, then he should at least consider it to be wrong. And this is the weakest stage of Imaan." (Mishkãt)

Hadhrat Nuúmaan bin Basheer r.a says that Rasulullah s.a.w gave an example of people sailing on a boat having an upper deck and a lower deck. The people from the lower deck require water and request water from the people of the upper deck. The people from the upper deck refuse water so the people from the lower deck decide to make a hole on the floor of the ship and get water from the sea. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said, "If the people from the upper deck don't stop the people at the bottom from making a hole, the ship will sink and all the people travelling will drown." (Mishkãt vol. 2 p. 436)

Hadhrat Abu Hurayra r.a states that Rasulullah s.a.w said, "Command good and prohibit evil or else Allah will send such a punishment that will destroy everyone."

Juristic Differences - Riyadh ul-Haq

2008-02-11T00:31:00.000-08:00

Bayan Chicago Ijtima

2008-01-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Bayan at Chicago ijtima from Maulana Ehsanul Haq with English translate...

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Quran - about sky and orbits

2008-01-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

(37.36) And a sign for them is the night. We withdraw therefrom the day, and behold, they are in darkness. وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمُ الَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ النَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظْلِمُونَ

(38.36) And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَـا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

(39.36) And the moon, We have decreed for it stages, till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk. وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَـهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّى عَادَ كَالعُرجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ

(40.36) It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit. لاَ الشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تدْرِكَ القَمَرَ وَلاَ الَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

(32.21) - And We have made the heaven a roof, safe and well-guarded. Yet they turn away from its signs. وَجَعَلْنَا السَّمَآءَ سَقْفاً مَّحْفُوظاً وَهُمْ عَنْ ءَايَـتِهَا مُعْرِضُونَ

(33.21) - And He it is Who has created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each in an orbit floating. وَهُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَ الَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَـرَ وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ
- (And He it is Who has created the night and the day) - the night with its darkness and stillness, and the day with its light and human interaction. Sometimes the night is longer while the day is shorter, or the opposite way. (winter and summer season)
- (And the sun and the moon) - the sun with its own light and its own path and orbit and allotted time, and the moon which shines with a different light (reflecting light from the sun) and travels on a different path and has its own allotted time.
- (each in an orbit floating) - means, revolving. Ibn `Abbas said, "They revolve like a spinning wheel, in a circle.

(105.12) - And how many a sign in the heavens and the earth they pass by, while they are averse therefrom. وَكَأَيِّن مِّن ءَايَةٍ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ يَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهَا وَهُمْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضُونَ

(7.51) By the heaven full of Hubuk (paths and orbits)وَالسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ الْحُبُكِ
(Ad-Dahhak, Al-Minhal bin `Amr and others said, "The meandering of the water, sand and plants when the wind passes over them; carving paths out of them, that is the Hubuk (paths)." The sky is high above us, clear yet thick, firmly structured, spacious and graceful, beautified with stars such as the sun and orbiting planets such as the moon and the planets of the solar system)

Prayer - Solat

2007-12-19T00:50:00.001-08:00

A Journey to Allah

2007-12-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

60 Ways To Keep Wife's Love

2007-11-07T01:52:00.001-08:00

60 Ways To Keep Your Wife's Love

53 min 44 sec - Jan 9, 2005
- This is a very beautiful and touching talk. Infact even non-muslims would benefit so much from this talk that their relationships would be so much better. HIGHLY recommend you watch this if you don't want to end up in divorce.. Just the little things you do such as surprising your wife with gifts is how you can keep the romance alive.. Make good notes and study them well and you will see the happiness in your wife's eyes. Also sisters can watch this as the advice can be applied towards the husband too.

Tarawih - 2007

2007-09-17T12:08:00.001-07:00

Miracles of the Brain: Smell and Taste

2007-08-02T05:25:00.001-07:00

Miracles of the Brain: Smell and Taste

41 Min. 16 Sek. - 10.04.2006
- Medicine and biology books explain that we owe our senses of smell and taste to our nose, tongue and brain. It is true that we smell and taste with the help of these organs. But to whom do we owe our nose and brain? This supreme intelligence belongs to God, Who has created the whole human body down to its smallest detail.

Asma Ul-Husna

2007-07-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

The Names of Allah

2007-05-31T04:26:00.001-07:00

Harun Yahya

41 Min. 31 Sek. - 05.05.2004
- How well do you know Allah, who created us and the whole universe, down to the very tiniest detail? The purpose of this movie is to introduce Allah, the One closer to man than his jugular vein, the way He is related in the Qur'an. The intention here is to remove the blurred, uncertain and vague information people have in their minds and replace it with the true faith recounted in the Qur'an.

Maut

2007-04-25T10:38:00.001-07:00

maut.wmv

43 Min. 19 Sek. - 14.03.2007

Miracles of Quran

2007-03-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

Islam Moslem:Miracles of Quran full best movie

1 Std. 5 Min. 18 Sek. - 14.12.2006

Surat at-Takweer - Darkenning of the sun

2007-02-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

Meanings of: Surat at-Takweer - Darkenning of the sun

7 Min. 14 Sek. - 13.12.2006

Surat al-Infitar - Cleaving of the Sky

2007-02-06T08:15:00.001-08:00

Meanings of Surat al-Infitar - Cleaving of the Sky

4 min 18 sec - 14-Dec-2006

Surah Nisa Rezitation

2007-01-30T09:14:00.000-08:00

Rezitation mit Untertitel in Deutsch Sure (4) An-Nisa

1 Std. 22 Min. 7 Sek. - 28.11.2006
- Qur’an Rezitation von Meshary bin Rashid Al-'Afaasie mit deutschem Untertitel. Sure: (4) An-Nisa. http://islamische-datenbank.de/

Statistical wonder in Quran

2006-12-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Islam:Statistical wonder in Quran

4 Min. 19 Sek. - 13.12.2006

Death, are you ready?

2006-11-19T07:44:00.000-08:00

Death

35 Min. 28 Sek. - 09.01.2005
- DEATH - ARE YOU READY?? A scary talk about the end of your life according to the Islamic world view. Very good lecture, very intriguing. Makes you think about the real purpose of life. Really makes you think...Insha'Allah it will help us out and get our priorities straight.

Lets back to the roots..

2006-11-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

Islamic Youth Renaissance Part3

3 Min. 28 Sek. - 11.07.2006
Come, lets back to the way which Allah wants, as once, we need to go back to Him anyway, either we want or not..

HABIBALIRASULWAFAT-1

2006-10-22T04:49:00.001-07:00

HABIBALIRASULWAFATCD2_PART1.mp4

9 min 45 sec - Oct 16, 2006
Description: CD 2 Part 1 ( Malay subtitle ) - Bayan in Arab language from Al-Habib Ali Zainal Abidin bin Abdul Rahman Al-Jufri about the moment when the best ever man among the mankind left this world, as each life will test this moment, the moment when Death of Angel come. And only to Allah, all of us will return.

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6575758188601123567&q=maut&pr=goog-sl

Death and Prayer

2006-10-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Death and Prayer

1 Min. 25 Sek. - 14.05.2006
Most of us forget that one day we will die. This video is about the negligence and forgetfulness with which we regard prayer and death. We should never hesitate to pray. For when the world brings you down to your knees, you're in the perfect position to pray.

Darkness To Light

2006-10-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Darkness To Light (Part One)

16 Min. 55 Sek. - 15.02.2006
- A Short Documentary about the "reverts to Islam". Islam is the fastest growing Religion in the world with daily reverts into Islam in the West. The Documentary explores the before and After scenarious of Reverts....

"LAST BREATH"

2006-10-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Have ever we wonder, how is our "last breath", as everybody surely will face it?
No matter who we are, where we are, how we are etc, it surely come and when it
come no one can run from it. So, have we ever prepare ourself for it?

LAST BREATH

4 Min. 12 Sek.

Hakikat of Deen.

2006-10-02T03:34:00.000-07:00

The reality of Deen is to subjugate our desire and feelings to commandments of Allah. Only to understand the technicalities of the laws of Deen is not Deen. The Ulama of the Jews understood the propositions (masaa´il) of their syariat well but did not suppress their own whims to the orders of Allah. They therefore deserved the wrath of Allah and were rejected. So by means know the whole ilm of Deen, understand the propositions of Deen, remembering each word from the Holy Book but without bring the Deen and the syariat of the Deen in the life, the person still dont get the reality of Deen. There were a number of kitab (Holy Book) and the suhuf, where-in so much knowledge of the law of Allah, have send to Book-people (Ahli-Kitab), but still their deny their prophet, make things againts the law of their Deen, and even change the Deen law accordings their desire, until such stage that Allah have reject their faith. And as Allah have send prophet Muhamad s.a.w, with the Deen of Islam, as that, the only way to understand and get the reality of Deen which promise the succes in worldly and hereafter is lay by follow the order of Allah, in the way show by Prophet Muhamad s.a.w.

Peace in love to Allah

2006-09-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

The first and foremost object of knowledge is that man should take stock of his own life. He should realise his obligatory duties and execute them. Similary, he should realise his shortcomings and rectify them. If, instead, he takes stock of the deeds of others and their short comings, then it is a sign of pride and deception which is very destructive.
A poet says: "Do your own work, do not look at the short-comings of others".

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