Islam is not a religion!

‘It must be explicitly clear that Islam is not merely a religion.

This is especially so as the religion is defined as a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

Islam is a Dīn.  That is, religion PLUS a complete way of life. It provides guidance for each and every aspect of human life.

The Holy Quran and the blessed sayings of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace)  repeatedly mention that Islam is a Dīn and not merely a religion (madhab).

‘Today, I have perfected your Dīn (religion and a way of life) for you, and have completed My blessing upon you, and chosen Islam as Dīn (religion and a way of life) for you.[5:3]

‘Whoever seeks a Dīn (religion and a way of life) other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers. [3:85]

Struggle for (seeking the pleasure of) Allah, a struggle that is owed to Him. He has chosen you and did not impose any hardship on you in the Dīn, the  faith (religion and a way) of life of your father Ibrāhīm. He (Allah) named you as Muslims earlier and also in this (Qur’ān), so that the Messenger becomes a witness to you, and you become witnesses to (other) people. So establish Salāh, pay Zakāh and hold fast to Allah. He is your patron. So, how excellent He is as a patron, and how excellent as a supporter![22:78]

Dīn is the exact correlate of Shari’a.

Therefore we as a Muslim have to live a life following the ways prescribed by Shari’a.

Shari’a rulings have been categorized in five subsections,

1. The article of belief (‘aqaid),

2. The methods of worship (‘ibadaat),

3. The social dealings (ma’asherat),

4. The financial & business dealings (ma’amlaat) and

5. The moral values (‘ikhlaqiyat, including siyasah).

To be a true Muslim we have to follow all these rulings in our life.’

Source: Sh Muhammad R. Usmani

Backbiting

In the Name of Allah; Most-Merciful, Most-Compassionate.

"O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful." (49:12)

Often times we are not clear as to what gheebah (backbiting) actually is, which may result in us engaging in it without knowledge. al-Muttalib ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Gheebah (backbiting, gossip) means that a man mentions about a person something which is true, behind his back." (al Suyuti, Malik). And, abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do you know what gheebah is?" They said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "mentioning about your brother something that he dislikes." (Muslim, abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ahmed).

al Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The scholars agree that it is a major sin" and ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "backbiting is forbidden by consensus, and in general there is no exception to that, save in circumstances where it is necessary to speak about people, such as establishing the status and authenticity of hadeeth narrators and giving advice." And we have many Prophetic narrations explaining how dangerous gheebah is, and how one must strive to avoid backbiting. For example, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a person had spoken about another after he left, whereupon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Clean the bits of meat from between your teeth!" The man said: "What should I clean from between my teeth? I haven't eaten any meat! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have eaten the flesh of your brother." (al Tabarani).

And what greater warning than the following narration, wherein the person who commits and engages in backbiting will be exposed on the greatest of all days, the Day of Judgement, by Allah Himself, Most-Just and All-Knowing:

abu Barzah al Aslami and al Bara' ibn Azib (may Allah be pleased with them) narrate that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O you people who pay lip service to faith when it has not entered your hearts! Do not gossip about the Muslims and do not expose their faults. Whoever exposes the faults of his Muslim brother, Allah will expose his faults, and if Allah exposes his faults it will be open for everyone to see, even if he hid in the innermost part of his house." (Tirmidhi, Hibban).

Conversely, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever defends the honour of his brother in his absence, Allah will protect his face from the fire on the Day of Resurrection." (Tirmidhi).
Source: alhumdulillah.info

Why Justin from Texas accepted Islam?

Check Your Bag Before You Leave!

Doing good is commendable in Islam. Do good and you meet good. When you do good in your life, you will certainly find it in this life and the next. 

A journey is the act of moving from the place where we are to the place where we are going to.  Everyone cautiously plans to guarantee comfort and safety when setting for a journey.

When you decided to travel to a place for a long or short time, did you ever think of just putting all things randomly inside your suitcase, and when you arrived at the airport you discovered that your luggage was overweight?

Life is the same. This world is no more than a temporary journey where a person is to fulfill a certain purpose then returns back to his original place.

In Islam, life is not created aimlessly; rather it is a place of purpose and hard work. A Muslim has a task to accomplish in this life, according to Islamic rules and guidance.

So what are the rules that allow you to have a safe trip back to the Abode of Peace?

What necessary elements are you going to put in your life valise? 

Only Goodness Will Benefit You

Doing good is commendable in Islam. Do good and you meet good. When you do good in your life, you will certainly find it in this life and the next. When you treat people with kindness, bring happiness to their hearts, help them, alleviate their grief… all these good acts elevate your position among them and makes you win their hearts.

Doing good deeds doesn't just benefit others. Knowing the rewards of being kind to others, and the fact that you are the one who benefits most should give you a motivation boost. God says in the Quran:

{Whoever acts righteously, it is for [the benefit of] his own soul.} (Al-Jathiyah 45: 15)

The Prophet commands us to have a good character and extend kindness to ourselves and to others; this certainly determines our position in this world and before God in the Hereafter.

Also in a hadith reported by Anas ibn Malik that Prophet Muhammad said:

"Three things follow the bier of a dead man. Two of them come back and one is left with him. His family, wealth and his good deeds: The members of his family and wealth return back, and only his deeds remain with him." (Al Bukhari)

Validate Every Deed With Intention

Everyone has an ultimate goal and destination he strives to attain; each one of us wants to live a comfortable life, have a decent career with a good salary, a luxurious car… and nothing is wrong with that. Sometimes we do something just to please ourselves and to reach happiness in this life while it is required from a Muslim, before doing anything, to formulate the right intentions for the purpose of his deeds.

So, in Islam, all deeds should be based on good intentions and the true believer has to purify his intentions and make them, sincerely, for the sake of God alone. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

"Actions are but by intentions, and every person will have only what he intended." (Al Bukhari & Muslim)

According to intentions, the deed is either valid or unacceptable. For example when a person donated charity or built a mosque, only his intention will determine whether he will be rewarded for it or not; if his intention was free from show off and pleasing other than God, then surely it will be accepted and rewarded.

Seek Knowledge

Seeking knowledge has a high importance in Islam. It is the central part of Islamic creed. The first verse in the Quran was {Read in the name of your Lord} (Al-Alaq 96: 1)

Prophet Muhammad emphasized the importance of seeking knowledge by saying:

"If Allah wants to do good to a person, He makes him very knowledgeable." (Al Bukhari & Muslim)

He also said:

"Whoever seeks a way to acquire knowledge Allah will make easy his way to Paradise." (Muslim)

Prophet Muhammad instills us to seek knowledge; as knowledge is the foundation of all good. Through knowledge, we are able to search and research the nature and truth about everything; it enables us to increase our love for God, to contemplate His creation and most importantly, to value our life.

With these basics, you are set for a safe journey to the ultimate destination, Paradise.

Source: F. Hakkou Reading Islam

Find your Role Model in the Sahabah

In the Name of Allāh, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

May Allāh send His peace and blessings upon His final Messenger, and upon his family and companions.

Because of the comprehensive culmination of their unique yet coexistent personalities, the Ṣaḥābah were the greatest generation in human history. While the Prophets and Messengers of Allāh were more beloved by Him, higher ranking in Jannah, and more pure in their īmān (faith), they did not all live during the same period to form a single generation. The companions of Muhammad (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), who are the highest caliber believers after the Prophets, lived together in the same lifetime as the Messenger of Allah (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), enabling them to be the greatest generation.

“The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter…” Sahih Bukhāri

But they were not all identical to one another. They did not all have the same exact personalities, backgrounds, mindsets, outlooks, and tastes. They were all unique in their own way, but were united upon Islam and its implementation. The fact that they were different was a mercy of Allāh to this Ummah, and the reason is simple. Had all of the Ṣaḥābah been identical, or even remarkably similar, then there would be no point in taking them all as role models. Rather, taking any of them would suffice, and no need would even exist to study them individually.

Their individuality is critical to our Ummah because we, as Muslims, are not all the same. When we see how they differed, we are able to take distinct lessons from each of them. We learn from the experiences of some, and acquire various understandings of the different areas of Islam in which creative thinking is permitted. Allāh and His Messenger (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) have declared their pleasure and satisfaction with the Ṣaḥābah, and in order to attain our highest objective, there is no generation more deserving of our admiration and humility than them.

The Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was ideally balanced in every way, but the Ṣaḥābah typically had elements of their personalities which stood out and identified them. These were the areas in which they were most known for and specialized in.

For example, Abu Bakr was known for being the most well-rounded of the Ṣaḥābah. He had the most īmān and was the first grown man to believe in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said that if weighed, the īmān of Abu Bakr would outweigh the rest of the Ummah. He was the most knowledgeable, and was the closest companion of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). He excelled in every form of worship, and was therefore known as “As-Sabbaaq” – meaning the one who wins in every competition. Umar Ibn Al-Khattab one time famously donated half of his wealth to fund the Battle of Tabuk, hoping to outdo Abu Bakr, only to find that Abu Bakr donated his entire fortune. When asked by the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) what he had left for his family, Abu Bakr replied, “I left for them Allāh and His Messenger!”

‘Umar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb was known for his power, and praiseworthy might. He used his vigorous strength, bold intellect, and far-sighted wisdom for the sake of Islam and for the empowerment of Muslims. The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) titled him as “Al- Faruq”—the Criterion between good and evil. If there was anyone known for bringing strength to the Ummah, it was ‘Umar. When the Muslims were making Hijrah (migration) from Makkah to Madīnah, all but ‘Umar would perform it in secret, for fear of oppression. When his time came, he strapped his sword around his neck, marched to the Ka’abah in broad daylight, and performed ṭawāf. He then stood up and announced, “I am about to make Hijrah to Madīnah. Whoever wants their mothers to be bereft of their son, their wives to be widowed, and their children to be orphaned, then meet me behind this mountain at such time.” The Ṣaḥābah said that no one dared to meet ‘Umar except the fools of Makkah, and he taught them all very valuable lessons before he sent them back home.

‘Ā’ishah was known for her scholarly mind and her well-developed wisdom driven by her youthful curiosity. She was the young wife of Rasul Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and the daughter of his best companion, Abu Bakr. Out of her curiosity, she would ask a plethora of questions, which made her a priceless resource for knowledge and rulings. More than 2,000 hadith narrations trace back to her, ranking her amongst the highest hadith narrators. Due to her vast knowledge, she was a primary source for Ijtihad, or determining what is Halal or Haram based on evidences from Qur’an and Sunnah. Since she lived long after the death of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), she was able to teach the Muslims their religion for many years before she returned to Allāh.

When it came to business and making money, the first of the Ṣaḥābah to come to mind is ‘Abdur-Raḥmān ibn Auf. He was known as the man of golden fingers. Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold, as money poured in from any business of the businesses he invested in. He would spend vast fortunes in the way of Allāh. At the time of his death, he owned an astonishing 1 billion dīnār of purely Ḥalāl wealth. It was so much that part of it was divided amongst every living member of the Ṣaḥābah who participated in the Battle of Badr.

These are just a few examples of the greatness we can learn from the Companions of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). One may say that our best example is the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), so why should we look beyond him as role models? The answer is that the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was the greatest of all examples for us to follow, and no Muslim can deny this. However, that does not mean that we cannot follow those who he has taught directly as well.

In fact, by following the Ṣaḥābah, we are following the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), because they did not learn the religion from anyone other than him. Both the Qur’an and the Sunnah arrived at our hands through their transmission, so they were the ones who most deeply understood the revelations after Allāh and His Messenger (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). The Ṣaḥābah were present at the exact time of revelation, and were often the triggers for why parts of Islam were revealed when they were. Not only that, but if there were any questions, they would turn directly to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) to clarify. The Ṣaḥābah therefore had a greater, and more complete depth of understanding of the Deen than anyone who came after them. For these reasons, among many others, we take them as our role models.

May Allāh send his peace and blessings upon his final Prophet, and be pleased with all of his companions. All praise is due to Allāh.

source: R. Noaman muslimmatters

Origins of New Year's Eve

Happy Birthday God !!!!!!

Happy Birthday God !!!!!! Can You Digest This Phrase?

 Christmas is here and so the marketing of  Jesus’s godship through festivals, wine, dance parties, Christmas cards and Christmas cakes will be in full boom.

In my school days, Christmas was celebrated with a teacher becoming Santa Claus and giving us gifts. Story books about the wonderful help of Santa Claus towards young children were given to us to read in order to  cultivate an affectionate bond with Santa.
There are thousands of  English schools run by the Missionaries in Mumbai alone where cultural Christianity is inserted through festivals.

A couple of years back I was invited to share the stage in a huge Cathedral school in Mahim. It was a few days before the Christmas vacation. I thought it was a good opportunity to do daw’ah to Christian students by talking to them in their own church. So when my turn came, I rose up and said : “Assalamualaikum…”

To my surprise, I received a thick chorus of Walaikumussalam….More than half the students were Musims assembled in the church !

 Have you considered this ?  The Christians ruled the entire Indian subcontinent for almost a century. They built railways, started postal services, ran schools,colleges, hospitals and orphanages, yet by the time they left India they could  not convert the Hindus and the Muslims to Christianity in large numbers! They still happen to be in micro minority.

A new Muslim, who was earlier a Hindu, was approached by a Christian to become a Christian. The revert responded : “Can you give me a few reasons why I should leave Krishna and Rama and instead worship Jesus ?”, “ I used to worship human gods in a large number, Islam made me leave them and now you want to add one more human in the list of  the human gods I have already left?“
Islam is the only religion which has protected the original concept of  God. It has structured the fundamentals of Touhid in no less than one third of the verses of the Qur’an.

The longest Surah that was revealed at a time with 165 verses, was Surah al An’am and almost all  of them spoke about Touhid, the Islamic Monotheism. Those who want to introduce Allah in detail should present Surah al An’am. This Surah is  stuffed with the wonderful qualities of Allah which no one in His creations can possess. Not even Jesus.

If you study Judaism and Christianity  you will notice two  extremes in the terms of the concept of God.
The Jews have made god so low that he can be defeated by his slave Jacob in wrestling (Genesis 22 : 14), he can  regret for creating the universe…where as the Christians have raised the position of Jesus to such a height that he was taken up as god.

Among the finest, easiest and most logical arguement that refutes the godship of Jesus, comes from Ahmed Deedat in his debate with Anis Shorrosh ” Is Jesus God “.

The wise man put forth a simple question : “If Jesus is god or if all the three in the Trinity , The Father, The Holy Ghost and the son are one, then can we address Father (God ) as Jesus ? Can we call Holy Ghost as Father ? Can we  call Jesus as Father ?” Ahmed Deedat himself replied ” NO !!! In the entire churchdom this would be counted as a blaspheme , a heresy”
He concluded to which Anis Shorrosh had no answer and I am sure none of the Christian Missionary would also have an answer.

Source: Author: Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on socio-relgiious issues from Islamic perspective and he actively participates in the interfaith dialogues. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com
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