Shab-E-barat is a festival celebrated by the Muslim community. This event is celebrated on the 15th of the Islamic month of Sha’aban which is the eighth month of the calendar.

The night of Shab-E-barat celebrates the entry of Prophet Mohammed into the city of Mecca. The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show around the world by the Muslim community. They believe that on this day God writes the destinies of all men for the coming year by taking into account the good deeds and misdeeds committed by them in the past. It is considered one of the holiest night on the Islamic calendar.

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CAIRO – A few days after the announcement of Indian actress Monica’s reversion to Islam, rumors have spread across Indian media claiming that actor Jai has joined a list of Indian celebrities who accepted Islam recently, after photos spotted him inside a mosque.

“Actor Jai was recently spotted praying at a mosque in T Nagar, Chennai,” Times of India reported on Tuesday, June 10, posting a photo for the actor putting a skull cap inside a mosque.

“The Vaamanan actor was seen along with music director Yuvan Shankar Raja, who had said that he had a special affection toward the religion.”

The Times is not the first newspaper to publish the photo which spread rumor’s across the actor’s reversion to Islam.

Earlier on June 8, Deccan Chronicle published two photos for the actor inside the same mosque.

The paper noted that the actor was currently involved in shooting a film about Hindu and Muslim marriages.

Similar rumors have been circulated earlier by rejected by actor Jai who denied the news, saying “I haven’t converted to Islam”.

However, the actor’s messenger status reading ‘Alhamdhulillah’ has added fuel to the gossip.

“Jai has been following Islam for the past one year. He had even kept the fast during Ramadan last year. We don’t know the actual reason behind his change of mind,” the TOI reported earlier in April, quoting a source close to the famous actor.

“All we know is that he has been following the religion and has not officially converted yet. And also, he has not changed his name,” the source added.

If confirmed, Jai’s reversion to Islam would join other Indian celebrities who chose the peaceful religion recently.

Last month, young Indian actress Monica reverted to Islam changing her name to MG Rahima.

Earlier in February, reports said that both musicians AR Rahman and Yuvan Shankar Raja have taken the same decision to revert to Islam.

There are some 180 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India.

Source:Onislam.net

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As per official statistics just released, Dubai has seen over 1,000 new Muslims at the Islamic Information Centre of the Dubai government-run Dar Al Ber Society this year so far.

A senior official at the Centre said as many as 1,063 residents from different nationalities converted to Islam.

Rashid Aljunaibi, Director of the centre located at the December 02 road by Al Satwa Roundabout, Bur Dubai, said hundreds of people visited the centre on a daily basis.

“About 205 of them embraced Islam in January 2014 in comparison to 238 in February, 237 in March, and 383 in April.”

He said the Dubai International Peace Convention saw the conversion of over 250 people. “Our staff, scholars and preachers at the Islamic Information Centre helped 48 of them to convert to Islam during the three-day event.”

Aljunaibi said the centre spares no effort in introducing Islam to non-Muslim communities in the easiest, most tolerant and persuasive way.

He added that people are attracted to the merciful and rational teachings of Islam which orders its followers to be honest, fair and kind to all.

Aljunaibi said the new Muslims hailed from the Philippines, China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cameron, Kenya, Nigeria, USA, Italy, Germany, Britain, Ireland, Australia, Myanmar, Syria, Jordan, as well as Latin American countries.

“A unified certificate is issued to authenticate the conversion of any new Muslim to Islam in association with the Dubai Courts, and the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai.”

“More than 120 people from various countries are voluntarily cooperating with the Centre which is reachable at hotline: 0566576611 or website: www.islamicinfo.org.ae,” he added.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

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Celine (now, Um-Khalthum) has nearly the same story as it has been with several women before her: Disenchanted with rituals and not so convincing ideologies in their faiths, they embarked on a spiritual journey in search of Truth… ultimately leading them to Islam. In Celine’s case, as she narrates the story here, however the search took her over 30 years to make her revert to become Um-Khalthum.

My spiritual search lasted over 30 years. I was born a Catholic and found many things I did not agree with: I believe in Jesus, but did not believe that he was the son of God. I concluded on my own that he was a rabbi, since he was a learned Jew and a teacher. Because of this I went and studied under rabbis and learned the Tanakh, the Torah and some of the laws of Judaism. I learned the Kosher laws and the proper way of cooking, and the rules of being a woman. It became natural that men and women prayed separately. Though Judaism was not the answer for me, I gained an understanding of its religious and spiritual ways.

I then looked into women spirituality but found that it was lacking something. It was not always monotheistic in practice because they believe in a goddess, and disclaimed many teachings by re-inventing a new way of life. I had a great deal of problems with God being a woman since I did not believe he was a man either. I liked the Judaic way that god was unseen and unknown. Because of this I could not understand their teachings but I did agree in the equality of men and of women. Because of that I respected their search but their methods did not appeal to me.

In 1990, I learned about native spirituality. Though they believe in the Creator and the oneness of the world I could not become native; I had to find my own spirituality. I was shocked when my country Canada went to war against Mohawks in 1990. I fought side by side with them for about five years. I was working but at that time I was offered a choice, I saw two paths in front of me: One, the path of God, the other the path of man. I made a conscious commitment toward God, that I would serve Him and use my talents to propagate His word and His message, that is, one of peace and of justice through His laws.

I chose the path of God instead of that of “man” — in this case human. When the crisis was finished after five years, God guided me back to my spiritual roots.
Most of my life I had friends that came from North Africa and the Middle East. They were Jewish, Christian and Muslim, but whether they observed their religion or did not, it mattered little to me, as I did not believe in organized religion. I strongly believed all my life that I should talk directly to God and ask what I needed and thank Him for what He gave me. I also strongly believed in the equality of men and women, and the equality of all races in front of God and of people. Christianity taught me about Jesus (peace be upon him), whom I believed in. Judaism showed me I could pray to God directly, that men and women should worship separately, and that God had dietary laws. Mohawks showed me that men and women were equal though they had different obligations. Where could I find all of this? No religion, no teachings could offer me all of this, but God was there to guide me.
When I was 25 years old, I met and fell in love with a young man. He was Iraqi by birth, Jewish by religion, and lived in Israel for many years. He came to Canada in the 1970’s, and we met and fell in love. Then there was a war between Israel and Lebanon. We were to get married and he decided to go back and fight in the army. Sadly, he was killed. For many years I kept the hurt bottled up inside of me. But Allah protected my heart and gave me a great gift. I met a Lebanese Muslim girl. She was not very religious but was proud to be Muslim. I told her about what had happened to me. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and told me she lost her brother during that same war. To this day we do not know if her brother killed my boyfriend or vice versa, maybe they did not kill one another that too is a possibility. What came out of this, after the tears and the hurt is that we became very good friends, and she helped me heal my aching heart. I also saw the horrors of war and its evilness, how people get hurt.

In 1995 there was a controversy in Montreal about women wearing Hijab, so I decided to document this myself, and look for interviews since I had a spot on the radio for about 4 years, doing Native, North African and Middle Eastern news. I met through a friend this very kind woman, she is Iraqi — Allah does work in unusual ways — who spoke about the importance of wearing Hijab and what it meant to her. What struck me was her deep commitment toward God whom she called Allah. I was impressed by her truthfulness and her kindness of heart.

She explained to me what was Islam about. She told me that “There is no other god but God” and that “Men and women were equal; that all races were equal in front of God; that Jesus was a Prophet not a rabbi; that Maryam his mother was a great example; and that the dietary laws were less strict than in Judaism.

To my astonishment this is what I believe in. I started being friends with her and within one month I became Muslim like her. I recited my Shahada with her.
This was three years ago. I now wear Hijab and I am very happy. I have gone back to University and am studying religions. My field is Islam, and I would like to go as far as my doctorate and become proficient in law for women, and Hadith. I am presently writing a book about women and Islam in the 7th Century in English. I now have a radio show which I co-produce with my friend through whom I became Muslim.

It lasts half an hour. We talk to women from around the world and from various religious denominations. I try with the help of teachers and religious leaders to de-mystify Islam and the message of Islam. I am also trying to document in film the life of Muslim women and their role in society.
Allah guided me and gave me what I was looking for through Islam. Because of this I try to use my pen and the airwaves to give a broad picture of all the facets of Islam and see the unity in the diversity that is Islam.
My Muslim name is Um-Khalthum, the name of the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She has inspired me to be a good Muslim.
This is my story. My first love was for an Iraqi Jewish young man, who died stupidly in a war, my heart was broken. I was left in pieces in Lebanon, yet a Lebanese Muslim woman started the mending process. But my heart was healed by another Iraqi, this time a Muslim woman, because she introduced me to Islam and invited to become Muslim. From the pain of loss to the joy of finding a way of life that brings me closer to Allah.
May Allah guide all of those who have a broken heart. And remember that the message of Islam is that of peace and of harmony. Before we heal we must talk about the hurt, and Allah does heal our hearts by putting people in our path that are there to guide us to Him.

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Pakistani actress Veena Malik has announced she is quitting commercial films and will only take part in projects with religious and social messages as an Islamic cleric has changed her life completely.

“I have quit the show-biz industry. From now onwards, I will not perform in Pakistani and Indian movies and plays,” said the 29-year-old actress who created a storm by posing topless for an Indian magazine.

“I am also going to refuse Indian film producers with whom I had agreed to work in their movies,” she said in an interview to a Pakistani journalist in Saudi Arabia, where she had gone to perform ‘Umrah’ with her Dubai-based husband Asad Bashir Khan Khattak and his family.

Malik said she would continue to “engage in any project which aims for welfare or social development” but would not be part of any new films.

She said religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel had changed her life completely. “Maulana sahib made me promise not to take off my dupatta (head scarf). And I will fulfil this promise for the rest of my life,” she said.

Malik said well-wishers from across the globe, including Indians and Pakistanis, have been congratulating her and Khattak on her decision.

“Like other humans I have also committed mistakes. I have sought forgiveness of my mistakes from God. Now I want to work for the welfare of the people of Pakistan,” she said.

Malik asked people to pray that she would be able to stick to the change in her life.

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Have you ever tried watching an old sitcom years later and found yourself identifying more with the parents and less with the teens? I find myself in this position now as a father of two daughters. I went from identifying with the guy trying to get the girl while moving past the crazy dad to being the responsible father who protects his girls from men who want to take advantage of them.

As a witness to the number of problems leading to divorce among both the religious and non-religious, it’s become readily apparent that beyond “religion and character” there are other characteristics potential suitors need to bring to the table before I’ll sign off with a recommendation to my daughters, as their wali.  Here are a few that have come to mind

1. No Umbilical Cord

Unfortunately, a number of mothers have done a poor job of raising their boys.  Rather than teaching them to help around the house, they’ve shown their sons that Jannah is not just at their mother’s feet, but also in her hands as she labors away daily doing her son’s laundry, cooking, bed-making, and more.  Marriage then becomes the transfer of the umbilical cord from mother to wife. While I do appreciate the value of a “traditional” home wherein a husband is the main breadwinner and the wife a homemaker (if that’s the arrangement a couple chooses), there is certainly room for a man to be in the service of his family as well, following the sunnah of the Prophet .  If the guy thinks that his only role is to work and then laze around the home thereafter, contributing nothing to the family in terms of spending time with the children or helping around the home, he’s not welcome to join our family.

2. Financial Responsibility

This potential suitor must have a plan to support himself and his wife financially.  What is his career? How is he planning to support his future family? Is he expecting my daughter to work as well?  I don’t have any particular requirement related to what career this guy has (no, he doesn’t have to be a doctor) but whatever he chooses should allow him to live on his own as well as pay his rent and bills in the long-term (in the beginning it’s understandable if some help is needed from family just to get started). Additionally, does this guy know how to run a budget and balance his checkbook? Does he have a plan to stay out of debt? I realize the majority of people want to plow headfirst into debt in order to keep up with contemporary standards associated with “the American Dream” (I think it’s a nightmare), so I’ll definitely look for the person who knows how to, practically speaking, live a cash-only existence. In my personal experience, it seems the baraka gets sucked out of a family when there is debt looming over their heads, particularly when it’s riba-based.

3. Chivalrous, Honorable, and a True Gentleman

When I read of the Prophet’s treatment of his wives, and then see Muslim men denigrating or belittling women, I am astounded.  On the one hand, we have individuals who make their wives into show pieces to parade around the community as trophies and are embarrassed if their wives are religious and want to wear hijab (and think that as the “man” they can order her to remove the hijab). On the other hand, we have a number of insecure individuals who can’t fathom having a conversation in which their wives disagree with them, and somehow believe this is disobedience and will destine the wives to be denizens of the Hellfire for their disagreement. These weak-minded individuals believe this despite the fact that, even though the wives of the Prophet would argue with him, he controlled his anger and continued to deal with them in the best of manners because he was strong and was the model for maturity. This is how we expect any mature adult to be in a situation of disagreement. If I could sum it up, it’s the manners you would expect a man who is completely secure in his masculinity to have with the woman he loves.  In some cultures, it can be something as simple as holding a door open, to holding a standard whereby a man could not fathom hitting a woman (unless his life was threatened or he was defending himself, of course) keeping in mind that what Sūrat’l-Nisā’ verse 34 permits is already limited in scope and need not be resorted to.

4. My Daughter Should Like Him

Allowing my daughter to marry someone she wants to marry?  What a concept!  Yes, I won’t resort to forcing her to marry someone she doesn’t like just so I can steal her dowry later. I won’t force her to marry a guy from a particular village my family grew up in that happens to be a medical doctor with a JD. She should genuinely like the guy, have chemistry with him, and have no doubts in her mind that this is the guy she wants to marry. This should be not only because he has many good characteristics, but also because she wants to be with him – she’s attracted to him, they have chemistry, and she feels confident, post-istikhārah prayer, that this is “the” dude.

5. Automatic Disqualification

While I don’t have any requirement for this person to be an uber-imām who studied at the feet of and gained ‘ijazāhs from 1000 scholars, I do expect this person to be a practicing Muslim, maintaining what Allāh has required upon all of us, and staying away from what He has forbidden. Islam has to be his top priority above all else. Naturally, people who are embarrassed by their faith are losers and, thus, automatically disqualified. Can’t handle a woman who wears hijab?  See ya! Come back when you have a spine, thank you.  No interest in practicing Islam?  I have no interest in seeing you as my son-in-law. Excessively bookish views on marriage (i.e. my understanding of how a good marriage functions comes from books of fiqh and online discussions)? Come back when you know a thing or two about how real human beings interact. There are, of course, the preferences others have for automatic disqualification which aren’t mine.  For example, race will not be a disqualifier, nor will occupation (unless it’s something blatantly wrong), or tribe/caste considerations.

Final Thoughts

These are some thoughts I’ve had on this issue – my question to all the other fathers out there, what will you be looking for in the years ahead for your daughters?

Source: muslimmatters.org

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Islam is a fast-growing religion, especially in the Western world. Christians increasingly need to be aware of Islam and, most importantly, how to engage its adherents with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are 10 things I learned about Islam during my 20 years as a missionary in a Muslim-majority country.

1. “Muslim” and “Arab” are not the same thing.

“Muslim” is a religious term. A Muslim is someone who adheres to the religion of Islam. “Arab,” on the contrary, is an ethno-linguistic term. An Arab is a member of the people group who speak the Arabic language. It is true that Islam originated among the Arabs, and the Qur’an was written in Arabic. However, some Arabs have historically been part of the ancient orthodox Christian churches. On the other hand, Islam spread far beyond the Arab world, and today most Muslims are not Arabs. This includes the Turks, the Kurds, the Iranians, the Pakistanis, other South Asian Muslims, the Malaysians and the Indonesians, almost all of whom are Muslim but none of whom is Arab.

2. The word “Islam” means submission.

A Muslim is someone who submits to God. The Islamic conception of who God is, and how he is to be worshiped and served, is based on the teaching of Muhammad. Thus the Islamic creed is: “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.”

3. There are two major denominations of Muslims.

The two major denominations of Muslims are Sunni and Shi’a. Sunnis are the vast majority, at 85 percent of all Muslims. The split occurred in the first generation after Muhammad’s death and was based on a dispute over who should succeed him as leader of the Islamic community.

4. Islamic theology could be summarized as belief in one God, his prophets, his books, his angels, his decrees, and the final judgment.

Islam teaches that humans are born spiritually neutral, perfectly capable of obeying God’s requirements completely, and that they remain this way even after they’ve personally sinned. The need of humanity, therefore, is not salvation but instruction; hence Islam has prophets, but no savior.

5. Islam teaches that Jesus was a great prophet.

Islam affirms that Jesus was born of a virgin, that he lived a sinless life, that he performed mighty miracles, and that he will come again at the end of history. It even calls him a word from God. However, it explicitly denies the deity of Christ and repudiates the title “Son of God” as blasphemous. It also (according to the majority view) denies he died on the cross, claiming that Jesus’ visage was imposed on someone else, who was then crucified, and that Jesus was taken up into heaven without tasting death. Islam explicitly denies the possibility of substitutionary atonement.

6. Islamic practice can be summarized by the Five Pillars of Islam.

These are composed of the confession of faith (“There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet”), prayer (the ritual prayers said in Arabic five times a day while facing Mecca and performing the prescribed set of bowings, kneeling, and prostrations), alms (taken as a tax in some officially Islamic countries), fasting (the lunar month of Ramadan, during which Muslim believers fast during daylight hours but can eat while it’s dark), and pilgrimage (the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which every Muslim believer should make once in his or her lifetime).

7. The vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists.

In fact, normal Islamic religious law forbids the intentional killing of non-combatants in battle. It also forbids suicide. It’s a small minority view that allows these things, and it’s a small minority who engage in terrorist activities.

8. Muslims can be some of the friendliest, most hospitable people on earth.

They make great neighbors and great friends. No Christian should be afraid to build a relationship with a Muslim.

9. Muslims need salvation through Jesus Christ.

They are lost exactly like any other non-Christian—neither more nor less than anyone else. Furthermore, Muslims do come to faith in Jesus Christ. It usually takes time, and extended exposure to the Word of God and the lives of Christians, but more Muslims are coming to faith today than at any other point in history.

10. God loves Muslims, and so should we—even those few who are our enemies.

We should love them enough to befriend them, love them enough to make them welcome in our homes, and love them enough to share the gospel with them.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2013 issue of Southern Seminary Magazine.

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Qaṣīdat al-Burda (“Poem of the Mantle”) is an ode of praise for Prophet Mohammad composed by the Imam al-Busiri of Egypt.

The poem, whose actual title is al-Kawākib ad-Durrīya fī Madḥ Khayr al-Barīya (“Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation”), is famous mainly in the Sunni Muslim world.

Sheikh Imam Sharfuddin Abi Abdullah Mohammed bin Sa’eed Al-Misree was born in 608 A.H or 1212 C.E. in Egypt. He was well known by his surname Busiri.

Imam Al-Misree also got a compound surname of Dalasaree. He studied in Cairo, where he specialized in hadith and Arabic literature; two disciplines that helped make him the foremost exponent of Muslim religious poetry.

Read Chapter One of the Poem. (And read the full poem by clicking here):

Is it because of your remembrance of the neighbours of Dhi-salam.

That tears mixed with blood are flowing (from your eyes).

Or is it because of the breeze blowing from Kaazimah.

Or it is the lightning struck in the darkness of the night Idam

What has happened to your eyes, (the more) you tell them to stop, the more they continue flowing.

What is the matter with your heart, (the more) you tell it to come to its senses, (the more it is distracted).

Does the lover think that his love can be concealed.

While his eyes are shedding tears and his heart is glowing.

Had it not been for the love, you would not have shed tears at the ruins (of your beloved).

Nor would you become restless at the remembrance of the cypress (tree) the high mountain.

How do you deny love after the testimony.

Borne against you by (such) reliable witnesses as your yours and your illness.

Love has ingrained two lines of fear, and withered your face.

On your cheeks like yellow rose and the reddish tree.

Yes! Thoughts of the beloved came to me at night and kept me awake.

And love transforms pleasure into pain.

O you who reproach me, regarding my love, excuse me.

From me to you if you do justice, you would not reproach me.

My state (of love) has been expressed to you, (now) my secret is no longer concealed.

From those who malign (me), nor is there (something to) check my agony.

You have sincerely advised me , I did not heed it.

For verily a lover is deaf to those who advise him.

I regarded with suspicion the advice of the elders in reproaching me.

(Wisdom) in the advice of the elders is above suspicion.

Source: onislam.net

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Islam is the religion of humanity and peace. The core of Islam is based on mutual respect and humanity. Glorious Quran as well as the life of beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH is full of the lessons of humanity and mutual respect. ALLAH swt has directed us to be polite with everyone, even with our enemies. Islam teaches us to honor others, and never fell down to the level of arrogance no matter what the case is.

ALLAH swt says in Glorious Quran; 16:125

“Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious”

One should not take this verse in the meaning of preaching only. Remember, a good Muslim is teacher. He teaches others with his behavior before he uses his words. Also, in case of argument, one should not let the talk go into uselessness. When talk drifts to the loose end, better is to let go of it.

In another verse, ALLAH swt says; 41:34

“And O prophet: goodness and evil are not equal. Repel evil with what is best. You will see that, he with whom you had enmity has become your closest friend.”

In this verse, ALLAH swt says that evil should not be answered with another evil. Enmity is the most common trait of most societies. People try to give teeth shattering replies to their enemies. In some areas, people live by hate for generations. When asked why they hate their neighboring tribes or people or countries, their answer mostly is that they were betrayed or harmed such and such time ago, hence the hatred.

This beautiful verse unveils a most important fact. Whenever hate is responded by love, enmity ends. There are plenty of examples in history which ended on the same fact. The biggest example of this is the life of our beloved prophet Muhammad PBUH. No matter how much people hurt Him, He never abused back. He always remained in the state of honor. This is why even His enemies could never find any mistakes in him. Such was the moral character of our beloved prophet PBUH.

Mutual respect can be achieved only with high morality. Those who do not respect others do not respect their own selves either. In order to expect others to honor you, you must yourself be respectful to others. Change always starts from home. To see a beautiful world around, one should be beautiful from inside.

ALLAH swt says in Glorious Quran; 13:11

“Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if Allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him.”

Always seek ALLAH’s forgiveness and try your best to remain distant from the evils.

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Imagine that one day you know everything that people say behind your back. What could it be? How bad could it be? Most people will say that all that is said behind their back would be most negative and hurtful. Why? It is because it is one of the most common and most ignored evil called Back Biting. People back bite each other so often that they do not know its evils and how morally bad it could be.

Islam is very strict about morality. There are clear cut rules devised by ALLAH swt on moral values. Back biting is considered one of the biggest sins. It is one of those sins, whose punishment is made known to us. ALLAH swt has stopped Muslims from doing this act on many places in Quran.

Al-Quran 49:12

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate Back Biting). And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.

In this noble verse, ALLAH swt has equated backbiting with eating flesh of a dead person. This is the best explanation of this moral illness. Just like the prospect of eating flesh of a dead person, particularly, eating flesh of a dead brother is so hateful, so does talking behind the back of a person. This verse explains another aspect of back biting. Just like is almost impossible in most cases to hurt a person physically when he is alive but easy when he is dead, telling a person that he is bad is difficult but easy when he is not around.

Back biting is common. Whenever people sit and talk, mostly there talk drifts towards backbiting. They make fun of people, how they walk, how they talk, and then it goes towards what bad a person has in him. Such talks are never confined and they eventually reach the concerned person. This kind of thing is so hurtful. No one of us likes to know how bad we are, from other people. Islam protects the feelings of the people and anything that hurts others is not liked in Islam. Swear punishment for back biting in hereafter has been mentioned in following hadith.

SUNAN ABU-DAWUD, Book 41, Number 4860:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: When I was taken up to heaven I passed by people who had nails of copper and were scratching their faces and their breasts. I said: Who are these people, Gabriel? He replied: They are those who were given to back biting and who aspersed people’s honor.

This tradition tells us that backbiting does not only hurt others on personal level but also means dishonoring them in front of non-concerned people. For these reasons, avoid back biting. do not discuss people instead talk about Islam and emaan boosters.

Source: www.islam44.net

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Concept of Devil Shaytan exists in all religions Including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Quran he is called as Iblis. Holy Quran tells us that Iblis was made by Fire. Allah SWT told all the angels Including Iblis to do Sujood to Adam but he refused to do so and from that day he was Included in the disbelievers. Hadiths tells us that there is a Shaitan with every human being who keeps Inviting him towards Sins. So Question that arises here is that can we blame Shaytan for our wrong actions?

The Answer to this question Is no because Shaytan only Invites us towards wrong acts but he has no control over us. we are free to do whatever we want. We can choose to do a good deed or a bad deed. however when we do lots of good deeds the Shaytan with us becomes weaker and we keeps on doing sins he becomes stronger.

So always try to stay away from the Haram deeds and start doing good deeds on regular basis. The Shaytan with you will become weaker when you will do this. Remember Shaytan is an enemy of Human beings who is trying hard to take every human being to hell with himself.

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Among the dilemmas of Muslim Ummah One dilemma is that they believe in everything which they see in the name of religion and they start considering It to be true with the blind eyes. There are hundreds of So called Islamic Miracles Images that are spread all over Internet and are very popular among Muslims. Most of these Images are fake but Innocent Muslims starts considering them to be true and shares them with each other on social sites. People names those pictures as Miracles of Allah.

Many Big Islamic Pages On Facebook shares those Images to get more Likes and Shares on their pages without verifying that either the Images are true or fake. One of the those Fake Pics is of Stone In Air In Jerusalem.

Following are two Fake Images Of this Stone In Air that are popular on Social Media:

along with these fake pics people also spreads many fake stories related to this stone like this Stone went in Air when Prophet Muhammad SAW went to Masjid Al Aqsa. some people claims that its a stone in Saudi Arabia.

Now Lets see the original Pics of this Stone In Air which proves that above pics are actually fake. The stone is present in Al-Ahsa Saudi Arabia.

Now the reality of this Flying stone is clear so I would request all my brothers and sister to not spread the fake pics of this stone. Also try to avoid sharing other fake Miracles Pics. Remember Islam not needs such pics to prove its truthfulness. Quran Is itself a miracle. If you want to spread Islam then spread it through Quran and Sunnah.

Source: islam44.net

The post Stone In Air (Flying Stone) Is a Hoax With Fake Images appeared first on Muslim Blog.

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Sins are classified into two categories, the major sins and the minor sins. It is easy to abstain from major sins because we know them and we will never like to go near them, but to abstain from minor sins is the real issue because sometimes we do not even know if we have committed sins and we do not even repent due to our ignorance.
According to scholars, 80 percent of all the acts we do come neither into the category of reward nor into the category of punishment. They are called mutahab. Since the topic is about major sins so will concentrate on them only.

Major sins are those acts which will be replaced with great deal of punishment not only in this world, but in hereafter as well. Below are given few of major sin;

1: Shirk

Shirk or ascribing partners with ALLAH is that sin which will never be pardoned because when a person commits shirk, he associates partners with ALLAH and goes beyond the concept of oneness of ALLAH. With the passage of time, humanity lost itself into the matters of worldly affairs and forgot the message of ALLAH and who their GOD was. Shirk comes with suspicions. When a person is suspicious that something might not hurt him or cause him any other damage he starts to seek ways to get rid of it, by sometimes praying it and sometimes praying others against it. This shows the weakness of iman.

4:48. Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.

2: To not call Kafir, a Kafir

It is another big sin to call a kafir a Muslim or a right person. A kafir is one who does not believe in ALLAH. Thus a kafir is not be made friend nor he should be taken as kin. In Quran, ALLAH swt even told us to disown even the parents who are kafirs because living with a kafir wil weakens the iman of a Muslim. But this must not be confused with dawah. To do dawah means to invite others towards Islam. But making friends with kafirs or taking them as relatives’ means that you do not care for the honor of ALLAH and thus you commit a grave sin.

3: Blasphemy

Though blasphemy is not even considered as a minor sin today, but it is a major sin., and those who made fun of Muhammad s.a.w.w in the life time of Muhammad s.a.w.w and even after Him, most of them were killed for this. To love and respect Muhammad s.a.w.w is the most important thing for every Muslim to do. If we cannot listen a bad word about our own parents, how could we make our ears listen to the filth against our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w?

4: Renouncing Islam

Apostasy is another major sin and in most cases apostates are killed no matter if one comes up with thousands of explanations. It is written in Quran and explained from sahih hadith that those apostates who renounce Islam for the sake of some rewards or to defame Islam, they should be killed. These people become a danger for the imans of even other people and sometimes we see them given protection by non Muslims and their filthy works are rewarded by them. Slamn rushdi, taslima nasrin and some others are the prominent apostates who instead of clearing their misconceptions relied on their personal opinions about Islam and they are still under protection of non Muslims.

5: Innovation

To innovate new things in Islam and to reject few things from Islam and hadith as well as from Quran is another major sin. The innovators are the people who change the shariat according to their damned wishes and while doing so, they do not understand for a second that they have not only ruined their own imans but they have ruined their follower’s iman as well. Today we see many innovators misleading people and people too follow them blindly.

6: Rejection of hadith

Rejection of sunnah and only believing in Quran is also a major sin. Muhammad s.a.w.w predicted about such people who will reject hadith. Also, it is against the orders of ALLAH to obey Him and to obey His Messenger s.a.w.w. such people are excluded from the folds of Islam.

7: Murder

Murder is a grave sin which is condemned in Islam is very clear words. Quran says that one who kills an innocent has killed a whole humanity. Thus Quran condemns it and does not restricts unjust killing to Muslim but also to non Muslims. Such a person is punished in this world and he will be on the mercy of ALLAH In this matter in the hereafter too.

8: Suspicions

Suspicions are the human perceptions about the things he sees. These perceptions made him sometimes to disbelief and sometimes to harm other. Thus false perceptions and suspicions without any reason are restricted in Islam. They have no ground in Islam and they are always baseless.

9: lies and back biting

Lies and backbiting also come under major sins. Lies can never be hidden and backbiting is as if somebody eats his dead brother’s meat which is degusting. When a person lies he cuts his good deeds and when a person backbites, he gives a part of his good deeds to the person about whom he backbite and takes his sins as reward. Backbiting is to tell a truth (a negative thing) about a person in his absence.

10: Jadu-magic

Magic is a grave sin and it comes under shirk. Magic is a knowledge which is to invoke evil jins and devils for fulfilling a purpose. The magician might not even know that he is committing a sin, but he actually calls upon jins instead of Allah and that too to harm other. Magic was never used for good from the day first. It was always taken as an easy source to sow the seed of hatred between people thus magic is not only a shirk but also a sin of discomforting others because of one’s evil desires.

The post 10 Major Sins according to Islam appeared first on Muslim Blog.

The Dilemma of today’s Muslim Is that he follows what Quran and Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon has not taught and What Quran and Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon has taught is not followed by him. We have Involved Ourselves In Biddah (Innovations) In the Deen which has taken us away from the true path. Rasool Allah SAW clearly told that If you want to stay on right path then follow Quran and My Sunnah and If you left the Quran and My Sunnah then you will go astray from right path.

Even The Bollywood Film Industry has started showing Muslims as grave worshipers and we ourselves are also responsible for this. Tauheed was a thing of proud for Muslims that we Worship non but One God and we only bow down to him but Alas we have forgotten the path of Tauheed.

Now Lets see What Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon him has taught his Ummah regarding graves.

Here is a collection of Sahih Hadiths:

Abul Hayyaj Asadi told that Ali ibn Abu Talib said to him: Should I not send you on the same mission as Allah’s Messenger Peace be upon him sent me? Do not leave an image without obliterating it, or a high grave without leveling it. Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 2115

Jabir ibn Abdullah Narrated Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade that graves should be plastered with gypsum, have any writing on them, or be trodden on. Tirmidhi Hadith No. 1709

Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The whole earth is a place of prayer except public baths and graveyards. Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 492

Fadalah ibn Ubayd said I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commanding (us) to level the grave. Sahih Muslim Hadith 2114

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “It is not appropriate for a human being to bow to another.” Narrated by Ahmad, 3/158

Prophet Muhammad PBUH said ‘O Allaah, do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped.’ Tahdheer al-Saajid min Ittikhaadh al-Quboor Masaajid, p. 24-26. 

There are dozens of more Hadiths that can be quoted. Some People asks from dead for help by going on their graves which is clear act of Shirk as we can make Dua only from Alliah SWT. Imam Ghazali says that Indeed Kissing and touching of graves is habit of Jews and Christians in his book Ihya Ul Uloom.

The post Bowing Down To Graves and Kissing Them Is Not Islam appeared first on Muslim Blog.

The Battle of Badr was fought in the 2nd year after the Hijra in the month of Ramadan (13 March 624 CE)in the Hejaz region of western Arabia.It was the first significant combat between the Muslims and Quraysh, the most powerful tribe in Mecca.

When Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) migrated with his companions to Madina, they left Makkah in secret, leaving behind their property and their money.

The Kuffar in Makkah were very annoyed by this successful migration. And in Madinah, the Muslims were thinking of a way to get their property back.

However, at that time, the Muslims were weak, and not well equipped to fight the Quraysh tribes. Moreover, the Prophet (pbuh) would not take such an action until Allah allowed him to do so. Then one day he received the revelation from Allah,
“Permission to fight is given to those, who are fighting them, because they have been wronged, and surely Allah is Able to give them victory.” (22:39)

Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) received information that Abu Sufyan ibn Harb was coming with a large trading caravan belonging to the Quraysh from Syria to Mecca. The Muslims planned to raid the caravan in retaliation for Quraysh’s taking the property that Muslims could not take with them to Medina.

Abu Sufyan heard that the Messenger of Allah was coming towards him he sent to Makkah for help from the Quraysh to protect him from the Muslims. The people of Makkah prepared themselves quickly and departed.

The disbelievers came out of Makkah with 1,000 men, 100 horses, and 700 camels, greatly outnumbering the poorer Muslim army.The Muslims were materially unprepared for any large scale battle and they did not even intend to engage in a battle.

Now, Abu Sufyan’s caravan was able to escape, so it seemed that there may be no armed conflict.However, Abu Jahl, the leader of the Quraysh commented, “No, by Allah! We will not go back until we proceed to the Wells of Badr, slaughter camels there, drink alcohol, and female singers dance and sing to us. In this way, all the Arabs will always talk about us and what we did on that day.”

Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) consulted with his followers, telling them that Allah had promised them one of the two parties either the caravan or the army.

Muhaajiroon, stated: “O Messenger of Allah! March on as Allah guides you, and we are with you.I swear by the Being Who sent you with the truth, that if you order us, we will follow you to the extremity of the earth and fight with you until your goal is attained.”

After this Ansaar spoke: “We have believed in you and regard you as the true Messenger of Allah, and on this we have given you our binding promise, to hear and obey. March on as you desire and we are with you! We will be perfectly content with whatever may happen to us tomorrow, at the hands of our enemies for surely, we are patient in war, fierce in battle, and truthful in our company.”

Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) left Madina with a small band of men numbering between 313 and 319. There were roughly 80 to 100 Muhaajiroon. And the rest of the men were Ansar. They had only 2 horses, but some say that it was actually 3.

The Quraysh who had arrived earlier, had taken over the the main wells. The Muslims began to worry about how they would get water, so Allah sent down a heavy rain, allowing the Muslims to drink and use it for purity.

The battle began on Jumu’ah morning Allah sent down, in support of the Prophet and the Muslims, 1,000 angels! On one side, 500 angels were under the command of Jibreel, and on the other, 500 angels were under the command of Meekaa’eel.

Shaytaan as well as his devil army also came on the Day of Badr. Shaytaan appeared in the shape of Suraaqah Ibn Maalik, who was actually the Chief of a great and powerful tribe, Banu Mudlij and he said to the pagans, “None can defeat you today, and I will help you.”

When Shaytaan, who was holding the hand of a pagan man, saw Jibreel, he let go of his hand, and ran away with his soldiers.

That man asked him, “O Suraaqah! You claimed that you would aid us!!”

And Shaytaan said as he was running, ”Verily, I see what you do not see! Verily, I fear Allah for Allah is severe in punishment!”

When the disbelievers faced the Muslims, the Muslims attacked their faces with swords. When they fled, the angels smote their rear ends. In this battle, the greatest chiefs of the idolators was slain. The Muslims were victorious.

Abu Sufyaan returned to Makkah and told , “The fact is that we met our enemy and turned our backs. They made us to flee. And I cannot blame our tribesmen because they faced not only them, but also men wearing white robes riding horses, who were between the skies and earth. They spared nothing, and no one ever had a chance.”

The Prophet and the Muslims returned from Badr. About 14 or so Muslims were martyred on that day while many of the idolaters were killed.

This battle laid the foundation of the Islamic State and made out of the Muslims a force to be reckoned with by the dwellers of the Arabic Peninsula.

The post Battle of Badr appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Ritual acts of worship, as fasting, are deemed invalid, and are not accepted unless we act correctly. Thus:

Fasting and Perjury:

“Whoever does not abandon false speech and acting by it; then Allah is not in need of him abandoning his food and drink.”

“How much of the fasting is not from his fast, except hunger and thirst.”
(Narrated by  Abu Hurayra)

Verily, the fast of common people is to abandon food and drink, ant the fast of believers is to abandon sins and wrongdoings, while the fast of righteous worshipers is to abandon everything except Allah.

“All the works of Adam are for him, but fasting is for Me and I shall reward him for it.”
(Al-Baqarah, 2:183)

Piety:

“Piety”, broadly speaking, means obedience to Allah. Actually, when you ask Allah His forgiveness, repent to Him and perform righteous deeds, you are close to Allah during your salah. Then, what are the results of this salah? It is that Allah Almighty will cast a light in your heart that shows you the righteous things as righteous and the wrong things as wrong.

“O you who believe! Fear Allah, and believe in His Messenger, and He will give you a double portion of His Mercy, and He will give you a light by which you shall walk (straight). “
(Al-Hadid, 57: 28)

This light shows you the righteous things as righteous and the wrong things as wrong. Verily, this light is piety.

“O you who believe! Observing as-saum (fast) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become al-muttaqun (those who fear and practise  self-restraint).”
(Al-Baqarah, 2:183)

Piety, as it was defined by Imam al-Ghazzali, may Allah Almighty grant mercy upon his soul, is: “A light that Allah casts in your heart.” It shows you good and evil as they are. In fact, in regard to those people who commit sins and wrongdoings, what did they see before they committed them? They saw them as achievement and pleasure. So whoever disobeys Allah has a wrong vision (a false perception) and there is blindness in his heart. Allah the Almighty says:

“But whosever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and  We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment. He will say: O my Lord, why have You raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)? (Allah) will say: Thus did you…”
(Taha, 20: 124-126)

Which means: thus you were blind (to the truth) in the worldly life, because:

“Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but the hearts which are in their breast.”
(Al-Hajj, 22:46)

Verily, just when you are away from Allah (when you disobey Him), you will lose that light; you see the good as evil, and the evil as good. You will see spending on sadaqah as foolishness; stinginess as prudence, satisfying illicit lusts as intelligence, and
avoiding them as stupidity.

Therefore, in order to see good and bad as such, Allah obliged us to fast in the month of Ramadan.

“O you who believe! Observing as-saum (fast) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become al-muttaqun (those who fear and practise self-restraint).”
(Al-Baqarah, 2:183)

“(Observing saum) for a fixed number of days…”
(Al-Baqarah, 2: 184)

The post Ramadan- The Rites of Adoration appeared first on Muslim Blog.

THE concept of charity assumes new dimension in the blessed month of  Ramadan, especially because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to be most  generous during this month.

Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was the most generous of the men; and he was the most generous during the month of Ramadan when Jibril visited him every night and recited the Qur’an to him. During this period, the generosity of Messenger of Allah (PBUH) waxed faster than the rain bearing wind.

Imam Ahmad added to this narration, “And nothing he was asked for but he would give it.”

Furthermore, Al-Bayhaqi reported that ‘Aaishah, may Allah be pleased with her, had said, “When Ramadhan would start, the Prophet would release all prisoners of war and  fulfill the need of every person who would ask him for something.”

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Spend and don’t count lest Allah counts for you, and don’t hoard up lest Allah withhold from you. Spend what you can.”

If you keep strict account of your charity, Allah will also keep strict account of  His gifts and wealth on you. This principle applies everywhere.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah s.a.w said: “The Almighty Allah says: O son of Adam! Spend, you will then be spent for.”

You will be given wealth and rewards from the treasures of Allah, in case you give away  in charity, because a cistern when vacated is usually filled up and that which remains filled up without consumption is not at all filled up. The Qur’an says: “And whatever thing you spend, it will be given in exchange.”

Abu Omamah reported that the Messenger of Allah s.a.w said: “O son of Adam! That you spend wealth is good for you and that you withhold it is bad for you, and you should not be backbitten for miserliness. Begin with those who are in you family.”

First of all, every man should provide the necessities to his family members and then there is the question of charity in case of surplus. In such a case, a gift to family members will bring greater rewards than a gift to strangers.

For Muslims the joy of giving in this holy month knows no bound. And it is during this month that the obligatory charity, called Zakat, is distributed to the poor and needy. It enables them to spend the fasting month in peace and comfort.

Spending out of whatever has been given to man stands for charity in a broad sense, i.e., for acts of benevolence to humanity in general. For what Allah has given to man is not only the wealth, which he possesses but all the faculties and power with which he has been gifted.

The most frequently recurring words for charity in the Holy Quran are ‘Infaq’, which means spending benevolently, ‘Ihsan’, which means the doing of good, Zakat which means growth or purification, and ‘Sadaqah’ which is derived from the root ‘Sidq’, meaning truth, and comes to signify a charitable deed.

Charity, in the sense of giving away one’s wealth, is of two kinds, voluntary and obligatory. Voluntary charity is generally mentioned in the Quran as ‘Infaq’ or ‘Ihsan’ or ‘Sadaqah’, and though the Holy Book is full of injunctions on this subject, and hardly a leaf is turned which does not bring to mind the grand object of the service of  humanity as the goal of man’s life.

A charitable deed must be done as a duty which man owes to man, so that it conveys no idea of the superiority of the giver or the inferiority of the receiver. Love of Allah should be the motive of all charitable deeds, so that the every doing of them fosters the feeling that all mankind is but a single family. Only good things and well-earned money should be given in charity.

Charity has value only if something good and valuable is given, which has been honorably earned or acquired by the giver or which is produced in nature and can be referred to as bounty of Allah.

Charitable deeds may be done openly or secretly, although the latter form is better.  Those who do not beg should be the first to receive charity.

Zakat is wealth which is taken from the rich and given to the poor, being so called because it makes the wealth grow, or because the giving away of wealth is a source of  purification. In fact, both these reasons hold true.

It is however, true that the same stress has not been laid on this principle in previous religions, and, moreover the institution of charity, like every other principle of religion, has been brought to perfection, along with the perfection of
religion, in Islam.

The post Charity In Ramadan appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Niyyah (intention) is a required condition in fasts, because the Prophet (pbuh) said:

“There is no fast for the person who did not intend to fast from the night before.”

The intention may be made at any point during the night, even if it is just a moment before Fajr. Niyyah means the resolution in the heart to do something; speaking it aloud is bid’ah (a reprehensible innovation), and anyone who knows that tomorrow is one of the days of Ramadan and wants to fast has made the intention.

If a person intends to break his fast during the day but does not do so, then according  to the most correct opinion, his fast is not adversely affected by this; he is like a person who wants to speak during the prayer but does not speak. Some of the scholars think that he is not fasting as soon as he stops intending to fast, so to be on the safe side, he should make up that fast later on. Apostasy, however, invalidates the intention; there is no dispute on this matter.

The person who is fasting Ramadan does not need to repeat the intention every night during Ramadan; it is sufficient to have the intention at the beginning of the month. If the intention is interrupted by breaking the fast due to travel or sickness – for example – he has to renew the intention to fast when the reason for breaking the fast is no longer present.

If a person embarks on an obligatory fast, such as making up for a day missed in Ramadan, or fulfilling a vow, or fasting as an act of expiation (kafaarah), he must complete the fast, and he is not permitted to break it unless he has a valid excuse for doing so. In the case of a naafil fast, “the person who is observing a voluntary fast  has the choice either to complete the fast or to break it” – even if there is no reason to break it.

If a prisoner or captive knows that Ramadan has begun by sighting the moon himself or by being told by a trustworthy person, he has to fast. If he does not know when the  month is beginning, he must try to work it out for himself (ijtihaad) and act according  what he thinks is most likely. If he later finds out that his fasting coincided with Ramadan, this is fine according to the majority of scholars, and if his fasting came after Ramadan, this is fine according to the majority of fuqahaa’, but if his fasting came before Ramadan, this is not acceptable, and he has to make up the fast. If part of his fasting coincided with Ramadan and part of it did not, what coincided with it or came after it is fine, but what came before is not OK. If the matter never becomes clear to him, then his fasting is fine because he did the best he could, and Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.

The post Ramadan-Niyyah (intention) in fasting appeared first on Muslim Blog.

There are many things that the fasting person must avoid because if he does them during the daytime of the month of Ramadan his fast would be void, and he would have increased his sins. The following are things that break the fast:

• Eat, drink or indulge in cohabitation intentionally.
• If water goes down the throat while gargling.
• Deliberate inhalation of smoke.
• Vomit mouthful intentionally.
• Any injection which has some nutritional value.
•  Eating deliberately after having eaten mistakenly.
• To swallow something edible, equal to or bigger than a grain of gram, which was stuck between the teeth. However, if it is first taken out of the mouth and then swallowed, it will break the fast whether it is smaller or bigger than the size of the grain.
• Swallow the blood from gums with saliva. However, if the blood is less than the saliva and its taste is not felt then the fast will not break.
• Breaking (iftar) fast without the intention of doing so.
• Lustful kissing of ones spouse.
• Ejaculation, either by masturbation or any other method of ejaculating short of  intercourse, whether the cause was kissing the wife, or hugging her, or by use of the hands, etc.
• Remaining in the state of janabah (uncleanliness due to seminal discharge) till dawn.
• Menstruation and post-partum bleeding. Even if the bleeding starts just before the sun sets.

Other things that break the fast are only considered to do so, if the following three conditions apply:

• If a person knows that it breaks the fast and is not ignorant
• If he is aware of what he is doing and has not forgotten that he is fasting
• If he does it from his own free will and is not forced to do it

The post Ramadan- Things that break the fast appeared first on Muslim Blog.

‘Last Age’ in reality stands for the age which would culminate in the end of the world— when the true Messiah, Esa, the son of Mary (not son of God), would return to rule the  world 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 would not qualify as history.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) prophesied of the Last Age that:

• “People would follow a way of life other than mine, and give guidance other than mine”
• “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 Age”
• “Women would arrange their hair to look like the hump of a camel”
• “Women would dress like men”
• “women would be dressed and yet be naked”
• “Men would dress like women”
• “Homosexuality would become commonplace”
• “Children born outside of marriage would become commonplace”
• “Fornication and adultery would become commonplace”
• “Universal consumption of alcoholic beverages”
• “Religious knowledge would disappear”
• “Extravagant mansions will be constructed”
• “Singers will be considered respectable”
• “War shall be prevalent”
• “Gambling will be prevalent”
• “A killer would not know why he is killing and the one who is killed would not know why he is being killed”
• “Time would move swiftly—a year passing like a month—a month like a week—a week like a day”
• “Earthquakes and Volcano’s and other natural disasters shall be common”
• “Good deeds will be few and far between”
• “Mosques will be decorated profusely but urge towards adoration will be absent”
• “The rate of accidental deaths will be on the rise”
• “The rich will become godless and the devout will become sinful”
• “False witnesses will be accepted and true ones rejected”
• “A person spending money on sinful purposes will not be criticized”
• “Human beings will be followers of selfish desires”
• “A wealthy person will command more respect then a pious person”
• “Children will curse their parents and will pray for their early death”
• “There will be two eclipses in the Month of Ramadan”
• “ Universal consumption of Riba (i.e, money lent on interest, and transactions which ‘rip off’ people through deception in business, etc.) ”
• “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”

So many of these Signs have already occurred in the modern world

Here, then are the major Signs of the Last Day

• Dajjal — the false Messiah

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.

• Yajuj and Majuj

Wall of Dhul Qarnayn will collapse, and Yajuj & Majuj will rush out in all directions spreading violence, uprooting plants, killing people and no one will be able to resist them.

• Smoke

Smoke will rise and cover the whole world. The smoke will affect both the believers and non-belivers alike remaining for a period of 40 days and night.

• The Beast of  The Earth

The beast will appear very near the end of time. When disintegration, corruption, kufr and evil prevail, commands of Allah are ignored, the Deen changed and made a mockery of, it is then Allah will take out the Beast from the earth.

• The sun would rise from the west

The sun will rise from the west; and when the people see it, then whoever will be living on the surface of the Earth will have faith, and that is (the time) when no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before.

• Earthquake/Landslides/Sinking of the earth

There will be three landslides before Qiyamah like never seen before.
One in the East,
One in the West and
One in Arabia.
The Earth will swallow everything above it and as a result, many people will die.

• A fire that will drive the people to their gathering place

The fire which will come out from the Yemen and gather the people in the place of their assembly.

• The Return of the True Messiah, Esa

When Prophet Esa he descends on the Earth for the second time, he will destroy the Dajjal. He will protect the Muslims from the barbarous tribes of Yajuj and Majuj, Praying for their destruction.

The post The End of Times- Signs Before The Judgement Day appeared first on Muslim Blog.

The political turmoil engulfing many Muslim-majority countries has left many people wondering, what does the ideal Muslim leader look like? Tyrants like Saddam Hussein and Muammar al-Gadhafi have demonstrated the depths of human cruelty, while elected leaders like Mohamed Morsi struggle to maintain their legitimacy in the wake of increasing democratization.

While classical Islamic political theory focuses on the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his successors (usually caliphs or imams, depending on Islamic sect) as political exemplars, I believe that the story of Dhul-Qarnayn in The Holy Quran also provides insight into the characteristics of an ideal leader.

Dhul-Qarnayn, translated as “the possessor of the two horns,” is a legendary king mentioned in Chapter 18 of The Quran, Sura al-Kahf (“The Cave”). The Quran narrates the story of how Allah establishes Dhul-Qarnayn as a powerful ruler on earth and allows the king the freedom to do with his subjects as he pleases. Immediately, Dhul-Qarnayn creates a straightforward legal code wherein the righteous will be rewarded and praised, while the evil will be punished. However, he also acknowledges that punishments on earth can be imperfect, and that Allah is ultimately the final judge of mankind.

In this way, Dhul-Qarnayn demonstrates humility, an essential quality of an ideal leader. He recognizes that his power and authority come from God, and that his kingdom on earth is an ultimately flawed attempt to replicate the justice of the Kingdom of Heaven. If only real-world leaders could follow this example. Even though the concept of God’s judgment is not universally applicable in the modern world, politicians should acknowledge that virtually every political system is flawed in some way. An ideal modern ruler would understand that his/her political power — regardless of its origin — ultimately carries with it a responsibility to establish justice and improve the existing system.

Dhul-Qarnayn exemplifies other good leadership qualities in his dealings with a nation being terrorized by the monsters Gog and Magog (N.B.: these monsters are also referenced in the biblical books of Ezekiel and Revelation). First, when the people offer Dhul-Qarnayn tribute in exchange for helping them, he responds that God’s rewards are better than earthly ones. He exhibits self-restraint and does not succumb to greed. Since God has already blessed him with a powerful kingdom, Dhul-Qarnayn considers the tribute unnecessary and decides to help this nation solely due to his sense of justice. However, Dhul-Qarnayn motivates the people to help themselves rather than allowing them to accept a handout.

While he supplies the technical expertise necessary to forge a barrier preventing the entry of Gog and Magog, he instructs the people to bring their own raw materials and aid in the construction. In this way, Dhul-Qarnayn models the importance of collective action in tackling nationwide problems. In the modern world, it is clear that governments are not the solution to all societal ills; instead, people from all walks of life must work together to resolve these issues. Politicians may be necessary to supply the required leadership or expertise, but in many cases, the will of a nation’s people will dictate an initiative’s success or failure.

Dhul-Qarnayn’s story ends rather abruptly after the above example, but Quranic exegesis and analysis reveal other important features of his leadership. Since Dhul-Qarnayn is alleged to be a historical figure, scholars over the centuries have continuously debated his identity. Interestingly, a large number of scholars agree that he was a pre-Islamic figure not associated with Jews or Christians, the traditional “Peoples of the Book.” In fact, most schools of thought consider him to be either Alexander the Great, a pagan, or Cyrus the Great, a Zoroastrian. In any case, this means that Dhul-Qarnayn’s principles of good governance are widely applicable to diverse societies, not only Abrahamic ones. This also references a message of religious pluralism; even though Dhul-Qarnayn may not have been one of the “People of the Book,” he still exhibited traits like justice and humility that are central to Islam.

Was Dhul-Qarnayn actually Alexander, Cyrus or a completely different person? We may never know. But since his true identity is a mystery, we can analyze his actions without historical bias. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself must have believed that Dhul-Qarnayn’s story was worthy of frequent reading and reflection, since he strongly recommended that believers read Sura al-Kahf every Friday. Indeed, Muslims can be inspired by Dhul-Qarnayn’s respect for God’s justice and his pious commitment to God’s commands. Even non-Muslims (and the non-religious) can learn from this legendary king by striving to emulate his personal qualities of humility, self-restraint and his commitment to justice.

As the “Arab Spring” and its aftermath continue to upset the historical order in many countries, future Muslim leaders would do well to follow the example of Dhul-Qarnayn. Acknowledging the limits of their own political systems and promoting collective action are central to good governance in this increasingly pluralistic age. While it is impossible for anyone to be a perfect leader, Muslims everywhere can benefit from a sincere commitment to Dhul-Qarnayn’s governing ideals. After all, The Quran declares, “Let there arise out of [mankind] a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones [who] attain success” (3:104).

The post Dhul-Qarnayn: An Ideal Muslim Leader appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Yajuj and Majuj were two two disbelieving  tribes of  Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth), the father of Turks, one  of the son of Noah. According to the descriptions they have small eyes, small, flat noses and wide faces. Their faces look like hammered-out shields.They were t0o powerful but barbarous tribes causing prejudice and chaos on the Earth , killed God-fearing men and devastated all their provisions and plantation.

At the time of Ibrahim(pbuh) there was a king called Dhul Qarnayn. He performed Tawaf around the Kabah with Ibrahim(pbuh), when he first built it; Dhul Qarnayn believed and followed him. Dhul Qarnayn was a good man and a great king. Allah gave him great power and he ruled the east and the west.

He was travelling towards east, he reached a pass between two mountains, through which people were coming out.They did not understand anything, because they were so isolated.

Yajuj and Majuj were spreading mischief on earth and were harming people. So the people sought help from Dhul Qarnayn.

They said: ‘O Dhul-Qarnayn! Verily! Yajuj and Majuj are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?’

He said: ‘That (wealth, authority and power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than your tribute). So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier.’

So Dhul Qarnayn built a wall by mixing iron, copper and tar. Thus, Dhul Qarnayn restrained Yajuj and Majuj behind the wall.

They tried to penetrate the wall or to climb it but they could not succeed as the wall was so huge and smooth. They began to dig and they have been digging for centuries. They will dig the wall every night trying to escape, only to find each morning that the wall has been restored by Allah. They will continue to do so until the time when Allah decrees that they come out.

At that time the wall will collapse, and Yajuj & Majuj will rush out in all directions in large numbers,spreading violence, uprooting plants, killing people.

They will spread mischief on earth and no one will be able to resist them. Their appearance will be one of the signs of the end times.

Yajuj and Majuj will shoot at the sky, hoping to destroy heaven. When Esa(pbuh) prays against them, Allah will send a kind of worm in the napes of their necks that will fill their ears and noses and they will be killed.

The post Yajuj and Majuj and wall of Dhul Qarnayn appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Muslims have been fasting in Ramadan for more than 1430 years since they were ordered by God Almighty through the Glorious Qur’an:

Oh you who believe! Fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you, so that you may learn self-restraint
(2:183).

The purpose of the fast is meant to purify oneself from thoughts and deeds that counter Islam.

Allah prescribed fasting on many nations before Muhammad (pbuh) was sent as a prophet.

The Qur’an tells us that when Zakariyah (pbuh) prayed and asked Allah to give him offspring, he was commanded to fast three days by abstaining from talking.
Likewise,Maryam the mother of Esa(pbuh) was also ordered by Allah to fast the same way when she became pregnant.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) told us that Daud (pbuh) used to fast every other day.

Ramadan has a number of significant relations to the Muslims in general.

For it was in Ramadan that the Holy Prophet was first informed of his prophethood

The first revelation of the divine book Al Quran came down in the month of the month of Ramadan wherein the Sura ”Iqra’ bismi Rabbikalla thee khalaq” was revealed .

The connection we have with the month of Ramadan other than fasting is the illustrious battle of Badr which was fought in this month. The first formal military confrontation took place between the idol worshipers of Mecca and the Muslims in Medina.

Before  Hijra, when fasting was practiced by the Prophet in Makkah, there was no such thing as Ramadan. The only kind of fasting that the Holy Prophet and his Meccan companions performed during that period was the ancient form of fasting that had been enjoined upon all the prophets that had come before him namely, to fast three days in each of the twelve months of the year.

Upon his Hijra to Madinah, the fast of Ramadan was made compulsory on the believers in the second year of the Hijra in the form of the ayah that was initially recited.

The post THE HISTORY OF RAMADAN appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Shaddad was historical king of lost Arabian city of Iram of the Pillars. Various sources suggest Shaddad was the son of Ad.

Allah took away the life of Shaddad’s mother in a boat where no one else was there but  He sustained him even there. Shaddad became the foremost ruler of the world. He was mighty king and his conquests extended to Syria, Iraq and the frontier of sub-continent of  Indo-Pakistan. He gained such power that the east and the west paid obeisance to him.

He was an avid reader of books. When he came across the description of Paradise, the inlaid rubies and pearls and other bounties, he wanted to construct a Paradise at par with the Paradise of Allah.

Thus he appointed one hundred people for building the ‘Paradise’. And under each one of  them he deputed a thousand workers. Then he ordered them to look for a vast tract of  land in the wilderness and construct a city of gold, silver, rubies, emeralds and pearls. To construct pillars of emeralds. To construct palaces and fix windows to them and windows upon these windows. Below the palaces, they should plant fruit orchards and make streams flow underneath.

Then for three hundred years continued the construction of the palatial city.Its four sides were one hundred and twenty miles long. The bricks of the buildings were of gold and silver. The trees were also made of silver and gold. Diamonds and precious stones were fixed in the place of fruits. The upper surface of soil was made of pieces of  coral and pearls. They were spread as this way that soil was not seen.

Iram, the city was built by King Shaddad as an imitation of the Earthly paradise and was truly the most splendid and magnificent city ever seen on Earth. It was known as the Garden of Iram.

When Shaddad was informed that his heaven is completed, he went to enjoy himself inside but he could not enter, one step in side and his last time approached and he died. The total age of Shaddad was 900 years.

The post King Shaddad -Self Made Paradise appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Hud was appointed to be the Prophet of Ad tribe. Ad, a fourth generation descendant of Noah. Hud and his people lived in the Yemeni province of Hadramawt. This region is at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, in an area of curved sand hills.

The lineage of Prophet Hud is as follows: He is Hud, the son of ^Abdullah, the son of Rabah, the son of al-Jalud, the son of ^Ad, the son of ^Aws, the son of Iram, the son of Sam, the son of Noah.

People of Ad were skillful masons and were mostly well off. Having abundant wealth as well as a long life made them proud of their achievements and considered themselves to be invincible. The people of the tribe of  Ad were very tall and strong. The tallest among them was 100 cubits in height and the shortest was 60 cubits in height (~90 feet).

Since Hud was a man from amongst them, it was certain that they would be more inclined to listen to him.He was enjoying a great patience in guiding people.

“To the ‘Ad People (We sent) Hud, one of their own brethren. He said: “O my people! Worship God! Ye have no other god but Him. You are only forgers. “O my people! I ask of you no reward for this (Message). My reward is from none but Him who created me: Will ye not then understand? “And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him (in repentance): He will send you skies pouring abundant rain, and add strength to your strength: So turn ye not back in sin!” They said: “O Hud! No clear (Sign) hast thou brought us, and we are not the ones to desert our gods on thy word! Nor shall we believe in thee! “We say nothing but that (perhaps) some of our gods may have seized thee with evil.” He said: “I call God to witness, and do ye bear witness, that I am free from the sin of ascribing to Him, “Other gods as partners!”
(11:50-55)

He then stood up and prayed: “Give me victory on what they called me a liar.” Then the order of God came – The punishment of no more rain. There was a terrible drought for three years. The grass and cattle were destroyed. Then a huge black cloud appeared. The people of ‘Ad were very happy when they saw this cloud because they assumed that it contained much rain. They declared that this cloud would bring back the land and the rivers would flow again. Little did they know what was in store for them. Instead, this black cloud brought a terrible wind that would lift men up and then drop them with such force that they would crush. Many men even tried to escape this wind by hiding in the mountain caves. However, there was no escape from this wind. This wind would even follow them in the caves.

The people of ‘Ad used to boast that there was none stronger than they. God surely proved them wrong for their disobedience. God destroyed not only the people of ‘Ad, but the entire city as well.

They did not heed the warnings and were punished with hurricanes so fierce that nothing could withstand it. The people of Ad were punished with the severest of hurricanes, which was unrelenting and smashing their cities for 8 days and 7 nights, continuously!

Afterwards the remnant who survived established themselves in Yemen.

The Story of Prophet Hud (as) is a major lesson for all of us. It is a prime example of  how civilizations grow arrogant, haughty and proud and then are brought down with the severest of punishments.

The post Hud- The Prophet appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Idris is the third of the Prophets.He was the 5th generation of the Prophet Adam. He was born and raised in Babylon following the teachings and religion of Prophet Adam (pbuh) and his son Seth (pbuh). Then God made him a Prophet and Messenger.

Prophet Idris called the people to be good Muslims, following all the rules of the Religion revealed to him. He told them to perform the prayers and showed them how to pray. They were ordered to fast certain days every month. He called the people back to his forefathers religion, but only a few listened to him, while the majority turned away.

Idris was directed to migrate to Egypt and settle on the bank of the river Nile. He preached the religion of Allah among various tribes and admonished them to be good and civilized.

He was the first to warn people that a flood would come as a punishment (as it did come in the time of Noah).

God revealed 30 short booklets (suhuf) to Idris. God gave him the knowledge of  Astronomy and Arithmetic. It is reported that he was the 1st to invent the basic form of writing.

Prophet Idris was friend of one of the angels of heaven. At the age of 365 years the angel friend took Idris up into the heavens and when they arrived in the fourth heaven, they met the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death said: Where is Idris because I have been commanded to end his life. Prohet Idris (pbuh) then stayed in the fourth heaven and died in the wings of his angel friend.

Some of his wise sayings,

“None can show better gratitude for Allah’s favors than he who shares them with others. Do not envy people for what they have as they will only enjoy it for a short while. He who indulges in excess will not benefit from it. The real joy of life is to have wisdom.”

“Happy is he who looks at his own deeds and appoints them as pleaders to his Lord.”

“Do not feel jealous of the prosperity of others.”

“He who has unlimited desires, is deprived of the wealth of contentment.”

“One should be sincere in acts of devotion.”

“It is an act of grave sin to take false oaths.”

“Being patient, while believing in God, leads one to victory. “

“He who controls his passions, is fortunate. Only a good act will be a living intercessor before Allah on the Day of Judgment.”

“One who is desirous of attaining perfection in knowledge, should have no concern with immoral acts.”

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Sheth was the third son of the Prophet Adam (pbuh). When Sheth was born, his father, the Prophet Adam (pbuh), had attained the age of 130 years.

Sheth was born five years after the death of Habil. Prophet Adam (pbuh) was very sad that Habil was dead. But Allah, in great mercy and kindness, gave Prophet Adam another beloved son. Allah told Prophet Adam (pbuh) that he would have a son and from the decedents of this son would come Prophet Muhammad. This made Prophet Adam very happy. Allah’s mercy was so great to Prophet Adam that Allah made Sheth look like his father. Prophet Adam loved Sheth very much. Prophet Adam taught Sheth the hours of the day and night and told Sheth of a flood that was to come.

When Prophet Adam (pbuh) was on death bed, he appointed Sheth (pbuh) as his successor and advised his descendants to follow him and live peacefully in perfect harmony.

Sheth conveyed the message of Islam to the people, telling the people the correct belief  in God and the way to perform acceptable worship. All the humans were Muslim at that time, but still God gave the Revelation to Seth, and he taught and reminded the people.

It is said that The Almighty revealed to him fifty small portions of the Scripture.

Seth received a new ruling from God, different from the time of Prophet Adam. This ruling was that it is forbidden for the brother to marry his sister, whether she is his twin sister, or his sister who is not his twin.

He tried to guide his followers on the right path, but some of them were strayed by the Satan. They began to worship Satan’s self-made portrait. Prophet Sheth (pbuh) passed away at the age of 912 years.

The post Prophet Seth- Second Prophet of Islam appeared first on Muslim Blog.

In Times Of Success We Presume That It Was Predictable

Most of us presume that success in predictable when we are constantly successful, and we forget that it was Allah who had blessed us with success. And in times of success we forget about Allah and think that the success that we achieve was bound to come. In those moments of success we should remember that Allah can turn success into failure in the blink of an eye.

And there have been many examples in the past where rulers and businessmen who were confident of their success have lost everything. In the Quran, Allah has provided an example of a person who was very wealthy that when he entered in his own built paradise and he was not even justified to himself  he said I don’t think that my this wealth and richness will ever finish.

We Attribute Our Success To Our Own Intellect And Efforts

When most of us achieve success after making many efforts, we tend to think we are solely responsible for our success and we forget about Allah. We forget that it was Allah who blessed us with success. This was exactly was Qarun used to do; he attributed his wealth and success to his intellect. Surah Al-Qasas highlights how arrogant he was.

He (Qarun) said that he claimed, “all this I have is only given to me because of my own intellectual abilities and knowledge” and he forgot how many generations Allah had destroyed in front of him and those who were stronger than him and also they had collected the people who were greater in number according to richness point of view. Allah says that such people are sinners and criminals and they will not be queried and will directly send to be punished without any accountability.

In Times Of Success And Happiness We Forget About The Poor And Needy

According to our religion Islam, we have to give a portion of our wealth to the poor. And doing this is a favor we do on the poor and needy, it is an obligation and we are bound to give a portion of our wealth to the poor. But in times of success we forget about the poor, we are so intoxicated with our success that we don’t even look towards the poor.

In Quran, Allah reminds us of the people who are the righteous in Surah Adh-Dhariyat and one of their attributes is the following:

And in their properties there was the right of the beggar, and the Mahroom (the poor who does not ask the others)

Quran (Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Verse 19)

Quran says that people have a part in their properties there was the right of the beggar, and the Mahroom (the poor who do not ask the others).  It was described from Abu Hurayrah (R.A) that the Prophet (PBUH) said that without missing any day, when people get up and two angels come down and one among them says O Allah bless a person with compensation who spend in your way and punish them who withholds.

While giving from our wealth in charity is a recipe for success, withholding charity can lead us to destruction. Whether Allah destroys the wealth that one has or deprives one from other blessings is up to Him. Consider the following hadith of the prophet (s):

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no day on which the people get up but two angels come down and one of them says, ‘O Allah, give in compensation to the one who spends (in charity),’ and the other says, ‘O Allah, destroy the one who withholds.’” 

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1374; Muslim, 1010.

The point to remember is that charity is quite essential and the future of our blessings and provisions can be tied to our giving or withholding. The One who has the power to grant, not only can grant more but also has the power to take it away.

Happiness And Wealth Do Not Necessarily Mean That Allah Is Happy With Us

If we have wealth in this world we should not imply that Allah is happy with us, wealth has no value in front of Allah. Today most of the corrupt people have a lot of wealth, but they will have to answer for their wrong doings on the Day of Judgment.

The post Mistakes To Avoid During Times Of Success And Happiness appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Wisdom is the solution to all problems in our life. Immanuel Kant, a renown philosopher has laid emphasis on wisdom by claiming it to be an organized way of life. The crucial experience one gains from life can be the key to success. It is no surprise that Quran treats wisdom as an important part of a person’s life.

There is no shortage of examples being mentioned particular emphasis on the life of prophet Muhammad (saw). However, there was one person whose wisdom was so special that an entire chapter in the holy book was named after him. There is no particular proof that says Luqman was a prophet. Historians say that he belonged to Jerusalem and was a carpenter by profession but it was due to his wisdom, that he was used to be a judge to settle people’s affairs.

His Famous Words Of Wisdoms:

According to the Quran, Luqman was offered prophethood, but he refused to believe his character was weak to become one. The Quran describes his wisdom through his words to his son which were as follows:

1. Do not associate anyone with All
2. Being respectful to parents
3. The obliging duty to parents unless they prevent from the right path
4. A person is accountable for their deeds
5. Offering prayers
6. Avoid being arrogant
7. Learn to be humble and lower your voice

Prove Of His Wisdom Other Than Quran:

Sources other than Quran have also praised the wisdom of Luqman saying he often used to cite wisdom as a reason for people calling him for judgement in their affairs. He also stressed the importance of wisdom to others by asking them to be serious about it. He regarded the heart and tongue to be the most important parts of a person’s character stressing that a pleasant heart and tongue make a better man.

Furthermore, he said it is better to be silent if words to be spoken are not pleasant. He had strong feelings for mercy kindness and charity stating that they were all part of wisdom. On friendships, he said that a person should not only love his friend but also their father. Luqman told his son to keep company with wise men and to consult scholars in religious and worldly matters.

Way Of Spending Life:

Some sources such as Abu ad-Darda stated Luqman was granted wisdom because he owned all the attributes of piousness such as kindness, mercy and he did not indulge in any foolish activities. He stated that the one who observes patience and doesn’t be unthankful when any calamity befalls him is the one who is among the best. Many of his children died but he never complained or became impatient.

He had many children and wives but he was never proud of their numbers. In case he had fought with someone, he didn’t hold any grudges and looked to make peace with them. He used to have many good habits, such as people never used to smell odor from his body nor did anyone saw his bath. He prevented mocking anyone and used to inquire in detail about the explanations of wise sayings he heard. He remained patient through poverty and thankful through wealth.

The post Words Of Wisdom By Hazrat Luqman (A.S.) appeared first on Muslim Blog.

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة و سلام على رسول الله

In the name of Allah, and all praise and thanks is due to Allah, and may He send peace and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad

It is quite true that—historically—the prevalent (جمهور) opinion in Islamic jurisprudence regarding the use of and listening to musical instruments is that of prohibition (حرام).

It is the official opinion of the four schools of thought, although various scholars from different schools held it is only disliked (مكروه) and many others deemed it permissible with the condition that the song is not immoral. It is not true that there is a consensus on it or that the opinion of permissibility is a strange opinion, which is a divergence from clear teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah. In today’s world there are a growing number of prominent scholars that allow listening to instruments that don’t accompany sinful poetry (song).

We will—with divine support—show that this issue is a matter of legitimate disagreement based on scholarly derivation and interpretation (اجتهاد). Unfortunately, one of the main reasons for this research is that there is actually a movement among modern scholars to dismiss, suppress, or misrepresent the opinion of permissibility!

There is a claim that no prominent scholars ruled for the permissibility of musical instruments except for Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is purported to solely rely on a strange opinion of Imam Ibn Hazm. This is false. There are hundreds, dare I say thousands, of scholars who held the permissibility of listening to music as long as the song is morally upright. The following are some of the most prominent scholars (mujtahideen) in our history who, not only deemed it permissible, but in some cases wrote a whole research to prove it!

1. Abdullah bin Ja’far bin Abi Talib (al-Aqd al-Fareed 6/12)
2. Sh. Abu Hamed al-Ghazali (vol. 6 pg. 1150 al-Ihyaa’)
3. Imam al-Shawkani (Ibtal da’wa al-Ijmaa ala mutlaq al-Sama’)
4. Imam ibn Hazm (Al-Muhallah)
5. Imam Abdul-Ghani al-Nablusi (Idaahat al-Dalalaat fee sama’ al-alaat)
6. Sultan al-Ulema al-Iz ibn Abdul-Salam (Rislat al-Sama’)
7. Al-Qadi Ibn Qutaiba al-Daynoor (al-Rukhsah fi al-Sama’)
8. Imam Ibn Tahir al-Qaysirany (pg. 31 al-Sama’)
9. Imam al-Thahabi (al-Rukhsah fil-Ghinaa wa al-Turb)
10. Abu Talib al-Makky (Qoot al-Quloob)
11. al-Qady Ibn Al-Araby al-Makky (Ahkam al-Quran vol. 3 pg. 1494)
12. Sh. Yusuf al-Majishoon the prominent Muhaddith (#3399 ibn al-Khuthayma)
13. Ibn Daqeeq al-Eid (Iqtinas al-Sawanih)
14. Sh. Jad Ali jad al-Haqq (fatawah #3280)
15. Sh. Mahmood Al-Shaltoot (pg. 375 fatawaah)
16. May God shower them all with His Mercy!

Some scholars try to say that many of these scholars were simply saying that it is permissible to listen to songs a cappella—and some of their works do make that point in addition to the permissibility of also using musical instruments. Each one of these references refers to the opinion of permissibility for songs with instruments.

The following are the juristic proofs used to illustrate prohibition and the response from the scholars who are not convinced by the evidence or who see the evidence in a different way:

From the Qur’an: There are two verses which are interpreted as justifying prohibition supporting the clearer hadith (narration) on the subject. They are as follows:

“There are some people who buy distracting/entertaining speech without knowledge in order to mislead people from the path of God…” (Qur’an 31:6)

Only a couple out of the dozens of exegetes thought this had anything to do with musical instruments.

Many exegetes took the more common path of general meaning in the absence of an authentic text and said it refers to preferring or liking to listen to false speech, thus distracting one from Islam.

The vast majority of exegetes said it is talking about the singing of jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic days). Imam al-Qurtubi said that this and the other verse are those that the scholars use as evidence for the disliked (مكروه) nature of singing. Imam al-Qurtubi also narrates that this verse was revealed in the life of the Prophet ﷺ when a man bought a slave known for singing unIslamic songs of jahiliyyah (ignorance).

Many exegetes pointed out a weak hadith that is strengthened by the aforementioned circumstantial cause of revelation. The weak hadith states:

“.لا يحل بيعُ المُغنّياتِ ولا شِراؤهنّ وثمنهنّ حرامٌ”

“It is prohibited to buy or sell women singers of jahiliyyah. The price of such transaction is prohibited.”

The evidence for prohibition of Islamic Music in this verse is very weak. Any true scholar will surely admit that the verse is not evidence in and of itself; rather it is supportive to a couple hadiths and the position of many Companions.

The second verse is:

“(God is saying to Satan) Incite whoever you can among them with your voice…” (Qur’an 17:64)

Some scholars from the early generations said this is literal and it means that Satan is whispering to us to follow him and disobey God as is mentioned in the famous verse in Surah Ibrahim, “I had no authority over you except that I called you and you followed me…” (Qur’an 14:22). The great Imam of tafsir (exegesis) al-Tabari took the position as is his style that it is general and since there is no clear evidence specifying what is meant by “your voice” then it is taken literally and generally.

Many other scholars noted that the verse is talking about playing (لعب) and wasting time (لهو). Once again, no real scholar will claim that this verse in and of itself can be used to prohibit listening to music.

Let’s see what evidence we can find from the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet ﷺ):

There is a hadith mentioned as an attachment (معلق) to a section in the authentic collection of Bukhari under the chapter of drinks #5590 titled those who seek permission of drinking alcohol by calling it another name. Imam al-Bukhari did not put the Hadith as an official Hadith in his authentic collection. According to Imam al-Muhallab the reason was because Hisham was not sure of the name of the companion (Al-Ibtal Al-Shawkani pg. 9) The hadith goes:

“…ليكونَنَّ من أمَّتي أقوامٌ ، يستحلُّونَ الحِرَ والحريرَ ، والخمرَ والمعازِفَ”

“There will be a group of people from my nation who will deem silk, alcohol and musical instruments as permissible…”

Some hadith scholars found a connected chain for this type of hadith. The most famous is the book by Ibn Hajr in his book “closing the attachments” (تغليق التعليق). There are scholars who argued against his assertions, but even if we were to accept his findings about a connection between al-Bukhari and Hisham bin Ammar there is still a problem with Hisham as a narrator among some prominent hadith scholars.

There are many concerning issues with this hadith. According to Imam al-Thahabi in his famous 4-volume book Mizan al-I’tidaal which accounts for all the weak narrators he could gather. Imam al-Thahabi mentions that Hisham bin Ammar used to be a veracious narrator, then he changed. He has narrated 400 hadiths that have no basis. He used to not narrate unless someone paid him. He was accused of changing the text. Imam Ahmad said he was reckless. Some narrated that he said the Qur’an has words from Gabriel and Muhammad ﷺ and is created speech.

Ibn Hajar acknowledges this, but justifies his ruling of the hadith through a different narration that has someone else narrating it other than Hisham. That hadith varies in text but does mention the people deeming musical instruments as permissible (which linguistically and logically doesn’t necessarily mean that it is prohibited). The next problem with this hadith, which is not solved by Ibn Hajar’s book, is a narrator named Atiyah bin Qays.

Atiyah bin Qays was a righteous man who hadith scholars agreed regarding his character and honesty (عدالة), but there is an issue among some scholars about his precision of memory and narrating (ضبط). Some famous scholars of hadith call him trustworthy (ثقة) just because he is a known pious man while the issue of his precision with hadith is unknown (مجهول). Some of them said although he is acceptable (far from Saheeh ) to be careful in narrating from him. This is mentioned by the hadith scholar Abu Hatem al-Razi in his book al-Jarh wa al-Ta’deel 2/37 and by Abu Bakr al-Bazzaar in his book Kashf al-Astar 1/106.

This is the best proof that the proponents of prohibition bring forth according to them. Other hadiths are relying on this one. For example:

“.ليكونن في هذه الأمة خسف، وقذف، ومسخ، وذلك إذا شربوا الخمور، واتخذوا القينات، وضربوا بالمعازف”

“There will be disgrace and defamation in this nation when they will drink alcohol and listen to music (literally female singers while beating on instruments).” (al-Suyooti al-Sagheer 7720)

Even a layman can see that the linguistic connotation does not in any way show a prohibition for listening to music, but rather a prohibition of the “party” scene. There are many other hadiths like this one that show that the combination of alcohol and music is a shameful and immoral scene. On this fact there is a consensus among scholars. Even in the narration of the other hadith seen as the strongest proof, there are variations which focus on drinking alcohol by a different name and don’t even mention musical instruments. Thus Imam Bukhari’s precise classification.

Many people feel that even though we see the issues in the proofs used for prohibiting music, still it is the official opinion of the 4 main schools of thought and that shows that it was clear to those scholars who know better than us. The assumption here is that every scholar from the different schools of thought over the centuries was a mujtahid and was willing to challenge the opinion and evidence of his own school. This was simply just not the case as Dr. Mana’ al-Qattan narrates in his book on the history of legislation in Islamic history. He elucidates on the well-known unfortunate part of our history known as the closing of the doors to juristic reasoning (إغلاق باب الاجتهاد). For close to 8 centuries, most of the scholars passed down by memory and book most of the rulings of Islamic Law. For various reasons, they were uncomfortable with people changing or questioning popular rulings. Some of those who didn’t agree with this methodology like Ibn Taymiyyah (ra) or al-Suyooti (ra) were seen as dissidents. There is also some historical evidence that this ruling of prohibition of all music was heavily promoted toward the end of the Abbasi Caliphate because of the widespread immorality with music and drinking as many of the hadiths indicate. In my research, which really requires a whole book, there is more than meets the eye on the prevalence of the opinion prohibiting all instrumental music.

Proofs for the Permission of Good, Morally Upright Music:

There is a false claim that the Companions all prohibited it. Abdullah bin al-Zubair used to keep women playing guitars (lutes) and singing in his presence. (Idahaat al-Dalalat al-Nablusi 96)
There is no disagreement about the Ibrahim bin Sa’d bin Abdul Rahman bin Awf listening to songs with guitars (al-Sama’ Ibn Tahir 63) Jews have always attributed music to Prophet David ‘alahi assalatu wassalam (peace and blessings be upon him). It is in the Bible, “The priests stood in waiting at their assigned places, along with the descendants of Levi who carried musical instruments used in service to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD—because his gracious love is eternal…” (2 Chronicles 7:6). So in the following hadith and commentary we have some solid evidence for the praise of good music: “

يا أبا موسى ، لقد أوتيتَ مِزمارًا مِن مزاميرِ آلِ داود”

“Abu Musa, Surely you have been given a voice like the music of David.” (Bukhari 5048)

Many scholars want to say that this hadith is simply referring to a beautiful voice. When we look into Ibn Hajar’s explanation of this hadith he comments with another sound hadith, “I entered Abu Musa’s house and I have not heard a cymbal, lute or a flute better than his voice.” (al-Fath)

The clear linguistic indication here is that the Prophet ﷺ is talking about musical instruments as though they are beautiful and delightful. That cannot be the case in something prohibited. It would be like him saying to his companion who earned a lot of money, “That’s even better than hijacking a caravan!”

Imam al-Thahabi’s recordings about scholars in his book on prominent Muslims. Here are two examples:
“Ishaaq al-Nadeem an Imam who was a great scholar master of many sciences. Known for music with untainted poetry…” (Siyar 11/118)

“Ulayyah sister of the commander of the faithful Haroon al-Rasheed ‘Well-refined poetess known for singing and music with a pleasant voice. A modest pious women of precedence…’” (Siyar 10/187)

There are hadiths that led many scholars from the schools of thought to permit listening to drums. Other prominent Malikis and Shafi’ees (two different schools of thought) allowed trumpets, flutes and tambourines. Those are all musical instruments and the Islamic legal practice of analogy (قياس) allows other instruments in the absence of a clear text prohibiting them.

Whichever opinion you feel is stronger, you are welcome to follow. Please don’t judge someone else because they follow a different opinion than you. Our scholars teach us the following principle in dealing with law—there shall be no rebuking in matters of legitimate disagreement.

.لا إنكار في مسائل الاختلاف

Islam has a rich tradition of knowledge that by divine decree has differing interpretations as to the details of law. Only God owns the absolute truth.

If you choose to listen to music, observe piety and do not listen to immoral music or choose to be in immoral environments. There is no doubt that much of today’s music is prohibited by Islam and even some Islamic music still brings bad environments.

Source: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/society/entertainment/regarding-the-permissibility-of-music/

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All admiration and glorification goes to Allah who sent Prophet Muhammad [saws] as blessing upon us to go on the right way of life until the death what is the great kindness for us by the merciful Allah. I have selected a great topic to write in this day about the great women in Islam named Aisha who has a great contribution in Islam.

There many biography or lifestyle on the great male people who have done may thing but there are only few topics as the biography or lifestyle on female characteristics and for this I am here to write something on this great woman in Islam.

I think you will not ask this question that who is Aisha [ra] because it is well known to us that she is the only Muslim wife of our Prophet Muhammad [saws] who did not convert into Islam as she was Muslim by born.

Aisha [ra] was the daughter of Abu Bakr Siddiq [ra] and she was born after 3 years of getting the power of prophet hood by Prophet Muhammad [saws]. By born she was the the daughter of the greatest sahabah and on of the most respected man after Prophet Muhammad [saws].

And from the beginning Prophet Muhammad [saws and Abu Bakr Siddiq [ra] were very best friends so luckily and fortunately Aisha [ra] started to grow up knowing Prophet Muhammad [saws]. Unfortunately we did not get introduction of her and she married with Prophet Muhammad [saws] at the early age of life which got many complexity by the non Muslim.

As an accurate summary we can say that Aisha [ra] got married with our Prophet Muhammad [saws] at the age of 6 and after many years of marriage she entered into adolescence of life. And for this at the modern system this marriage is very much problematic.

But you can not forget that the time and place I am talking about is the time in Arabia and in that time this kind of imbalance marriages was available. In this sense our Prophet Muhammad [saws] was not enemy of her but it had created a very adverse affect on her mind.

It is simple when a little girl is forced to be got married then she have to face some mental depression and she must start to dislike him with whom she got married and not only dislike but she must hate that man. But in the case of our Prophet Muhammad [saws] the overall situation was totally different because Aisha [ra] loved our Prophet Muhammad [saws] very much and for this she is the dearest wife of him.

Not only this after passing our Prophet Muhammad [saws] she became the most prominent leader of our religion. According to serial number she was the 3^rd wife of Prophet Muhammad [saws] and before her he got married with Khadija bint Khuwaylid [ra] and Saudah bint Zam’ah [ra]. After this tow woman he got married with Aisha [ra] because she got a dream presented by angel Gabriel.

The post A Glimpse at the Life of Aisha Bint Abi Bakr appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Many of us are very much popular with the Gems extraction from the Quran. This grateful thing can be made possible by only the people who have lot of experience on the Quran and tafsir session. These tafsirs are very much powerful and strong and in some ways are unrivaled. And for this Gems extraction from the holy Quran you need to do a great research and analysis on this holy book.

This research and analysis will give you the basic identification of every word and it must be known to us that every single word of holy Quran is valuable you cannot miss the single one. And for this you have to find out the root of these every valuable word. You cannot do anything with jest or summary you must have the pure explanation for every speech.

Through this you can make the perfect focus of the strength of the words. You can not miss any harf  what is placed on the word because if you don’t place the harf at the right place then the meaning may be opposite that means you may not get the exact answer.

While you going to do this all things you may face some difficulties and problem then you can join the Islamic discussions, Islamic Dawah, Islamic articles, Islamic responses/refutations which can help you a lot to develop your basic for the holy Quran. Besides these we must keep praying to our Allah that he kindly give us the ability into us which will give the power of understanding the holy Quran properly.

Once you can understand this holy Quran you will see that in every step of life this holy book is helping you to solve any problem at any time. We must keep praying that when we open the holy Quran we must have the ability to understand the linguistic beauty it has and maintains.

When we start to read this holy book we can feel an awesome feelings what Allah is is doing to conveying us. If we want and demand to lead a peaceful life then we must read the holy Quran. Not just read we have to understand this book by extracting the every single meaning of the every single word. When you recite this you must follow the repeated places this is like rhythmic style.

Here is not enough you have to discuss wit   others in the mazlish or other places where you can easily share and collect the right opinion. This also helps you to make your basic strong about the holy Quran. You must maintain a communication with the scholars in this sector which will help you to make clear idea about any ayath or surah.

Besides these you may also download and read many Islamic Book for making deep sense .Whtat I have told above if you follow these perfectly then you can extract Gems from the Quran very easily. You need huge analysis on the book named holy Quran.

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In every religion, there are always one or two foundations on which beliefs and values are based on. Such is the same with the Muslims who can be regarded as the descendants of Prophet Muhammad. Thus, they ensure that their everyday life is guided by Sunnah as they tend to see it as the perfect bench mark to follow.

But what does it really mean?

The word Sunnah has its origin from Islam and it is an Arabic word which simply means the ways of life of our holy Prophet Muhammad. It can be seen as the second in command when it comes to the root of Islamic religion as most of the Islamic laws which are practiced today are based on it. Thus, it tends to be integrated into the Koran which is the first in command.

There are different types of Sunnah that form the belief of most Muslims that you see today and they range from; Sunnah of eating, drinking, toilet, sleeping, clothing etc. however, for the purpose of this write up; we shall take a surface look at 3 of the sunnah.

Sunnah of eating

This attempts to teach every muslim the qualities that they are expected to exhibit towards food each and every time. It can be regarded as the commandments of eating as laid down by Prophet Muhammad. Some of them include; making use of the right hand to eat, not eating unnecessarily, moderate food and drinking, always giving thanks to Allah for the food provision.

Sunnah of clothing

This is aimed at guiding the muslims believers on how they can dress in public to uphold their faith and religion. It includes; wearing white clothes, putting on right shoes first before left, men should wear topee, females should wear scarves etc.

Sunnah concerning anger

This entails guiding muslims each time their patience is tested. It means staying calm when upset, being humble every time, forgiving those who offend you and so on.

From the above, it can be seen that belief and values been displayed by some muslims today has always been there right from time.

The post The Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad – Do They Really Hold Any Ground? appeared first on Muslim Blog.

There are mixed views of how Westerners tend to think of Islamic societies and how the Islamic societies perceive the Westerners as. In comparison to their own society, the Westerners think that the Islamic societies are backward-looking, oppressed by religion and inhumanely governed. This is because the Westerners practice enlightened secular democracies. Islam is not just a religion, nor is it some fundamentalist political movement.

Islam is a civilization, a way of life that is lived differently in every Islamic country. However, there is a common spirit amongst them all, which is much more humane than the Westerners realize. The Westerners often fail to realize how their own societies have been unable to live up to their liberal mythology. Westerners regard aspects of Islamic culture as medieval, without realizing that many of the aspects have prevailed in their own culture until fairly recently. Islamic societies might only be a few decades behind the Westerners in terms of technology.

With the progress in technology and society, much of the values have changed in the Western Society. With the developments in technology, much of the Islamic countries are also facing numerable changes. Until World War II, the West disapproved of pre-marital sex. Outside marriage, sex was against many of the laws. These laws are still prevalent in many of the books; nevertheless, it is rarely enforced. Sex before marriage is common today. According to the Islamic Shariah laws, indulging in sexual practices before marriage is a sin and is condemned.

Until the 1960’s, homosexual acts between males was a crime in Great Britain (lesbianism was not outlawed). Now, such acts between males and females have been legalized in most parts of the West. They argue that laws against the homosexuals are violation of gays and lesbians’ rights. The Islamic traditions do not support any kind of a relationship between gays and lesbians.

There is a stark contradiction between modernity and Islam. Most of the people of the West symbolize their customs and traditions as modern, whereas, those of the Islamic countries are seen as conservative and conventional. By definition, Islam and modernity are in conflict.

Modernity cannot compete with Shariah.

Many people argue that it is due to Western Imperialism that there is so much violence associated with the Islamic nations. Others are of a strong opinion that the resentment is because of the suffering of the Muslims at the hands of the Europeans during the colonialism. Their religion and the lands were distorted and the Muslims, who were once the rulers, were oppressed and treated as slaves.

Most of the Westerners associate increasing numbers of population with the crime. In recent years, the Muslim states have experienced an explosion in the population. In most cases this has resulted in unemployment which eventually leads to crime. This crime is because of the social disruption caused by the unemployed.

The Westerners largely blame the Muslim world and the various traditions and customs that they follow. Similarly, the Muslims blame the West for creating so many problems in their religion with the newly enlightened concept of modernity.

The post Islam and West, Two Poles Apart appeared first on Muslim Blog.

In Islam a woman has no financial obligation and the economical responsibility lies on the shoulders of the man. Before a woman is married it is the duty of the father or brother to look after the lodging, boarding, clothing and other financial requirements of the woman. After she is married it is the duty of the husband or the son.

Islam holds the man financially responsible for fulfilling the needs of his family. In order to do be able to fulfill the responsibility the men get double the share of the inheritance. For example, if a man dies leaving about Rs. One Hundred and Fifty Thousand, for the children (i.e one son and one daughter) the son inherits One Hundred Thousand rupees and the daughter only Fifty Thousand rupees.

Out of the one hundred thousand which the son inherits, as his duty towards his family, he may have to spend on them almost the entire amount or say about eighty thousand and thus he has a small percentage of inheritance, say about twenty thousand, left for himself. On the other hand, the daughter, who inherits fifty thousand is not bound to spend a single penny on anybody. She can keep the entire amount for herself.

Would you prefer inheriting one hundred thousand rupees and spending eighty thousand from it, or inheriting fifty thousand rupees and having the entire amount to yourself?

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The 5 Pillars of islam 1st episode animated IN ENGLISH

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A documentary presented by the boxer Prince Naseem Hamed looking at the religion of Islam, its’ articles of faith and its’ fundamental beliefs.

The post A Beginners’ Guide To Islam appeared first on Muslim Blog.

All Praise is due to Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most kind. Two brothers ( father and son ) have entered into the beautiful religion of Al-Islam after the Jumua’ah Khutbah at Masjid Ibrahim & Islamic Centre Barking road. Allahu Akbar

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Unity of the Muslim Ummah is no important, it cannot be emphasised enough. Likewise disunity amongst the Ummah can be disastrous.

Allah the Most wise, say: “And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves…” (Quran-3:103) While we are living and enjoying the comforts and luxuries of this world, our brothers and sister are suffering and being oppressed all around us. Has it become such that we have become immune and insensitive to such afflictions and find it so hard to assist the Ummah let alone shed even one tear.

Have we fogotten the Hadith of Rasullullah (saw) “The Muslim Ummah is like one body. If the eye is in pain then the whole body is in pain and if the head is in pain then then body is in pain”

The enemies of Islam are attempting to destroy this Ummah, piece by piece and for this to happen all we got to do is…….Nothing! 18

Once upon a time three bulls lived in the forest. One white, one brown and one black. They were brothers and lived together in harnony. In that forest also lived a lion that had his eye on the bulls. But every time he attacked one of them the others came to his aid and together they drove the lion away.

The lion decided that he needed to change his strategy. So one day when the Black Bull was away, he went to the other two and said, “You know, the Black Bull is black and dirty and evil.

Why do you keep him with you? His is a disgrace to you. You are beautiful and noble. If the Black Bull is no loger there, you will have all the grazing to yourself. He takes away your food and adds no value to you” The two bulls listened to the lion’s spiel and said, “Well, you know, he is our brother. What can we do?”

“You need to do nothing at all,” said the lion. “I am your friend. I will do what needs to be done. Just don’t come to the aid of the black bull when he calls you” The others agreed.

The next day, they heardthe voice of the black bull calling for help in anguish and fear. They listened to him and went back to their grazing.Gradually the calls stopped. The two brothers could not look each other in the eye but thin, nice green grass wipes away memories and after a little while it was as if the black bull never existed. Then one day the lion came to the White bull when he was alone and said, “So are you happy with the advice I gave you? Don’t advise you well? Now here is another advice.

You are the real king of the forest. you are white and clean, pure, holy and beautiful. You are wise and good. You deserve to live in splitary splendour like a king. Not some dirty brown trash who you have to share your food with. Why do you need him? He is a liability and an embrassment to you.”

“Well, what should I do?” “You know the score. Nothing at all. I am there to take care of everything for you. Just relax.”

Next day, White bull heard the dying screams of the Brown bull and closed his ears and went back to his grazing.

The white bull lived for a few days all by himself, grazing where he wanted and drinking from the clean streams of the forest. Then one morning the lion came again. From the look in eyes, the white bull knew that this visit was different. All his life flashed before his eyes.

He recalled the time when the three brothers stood together, shoulder to shoulder. Then he recalled all the incidents since then. As the lion sat before him, not in any hurry, knowing that the result was pre-determined, the white bull said to him, “I have one last wish. Will you grant it to me?

“Anything at all my friend” , said the lion. The white bull then climbed a hill and when he got to the top of it, he called out to the people of the forest, “O! People, I do not die today. I died the day black bull died.” So dear brothers and sisiters in Islam pay heed to the above story for in it lies a deep and important lesson for the Ummah. In Unity there is strength!

Let us be firm on the Quran and Sunnah and be not divided amongst ourselves. when a fellow Muslim person or country is being attacked by the enemies of Islam, be sure to be of some help and not to just sit back and do. . . NOTHING!

Allah Taala says: “O belivers, if you help Allah’s cause, He will help you an make your feet firm (Against your enemies) and those who disbelieved woe unto them and their actions are in vain.” (Quran-47:7,8)

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Islam is a religion of peace and harmony not only that Islam teaches us the lesson of being truthful and clears in all the matters of our life. If parents remain true to each other kids will automatically learn this lesson and will not lie or deceive their parents, siblings or friends. This is what Islam asks for us to be in every relationship. Islam teaches us to be true by all means this is the key to have peace and harmony and most importantly trust and respect in all of relationships.

Husband, wife relation is the most sensitive yet beautiful relationship one can have on this earth. Loving and being loved is one of the most beautiful desires a human being has. One can have a smooth can calm married life if he/she follows all the teachings of Islam and fulfills all the obligations on him/her. Respect is also another important pillar in making your marital life a lot more peaceful and harmonized. More you respect your partner more you will be respected in return. Trust is another main thing in making or breaking a relation. In married life if husband does not trust his wife or wife does not respect her husband it can eventually result in a disaster.

When any of these is missing in relationship things start getting bad leading to worst situation. Same is the case in married life there are many factors that can ruin your married life. Some of the illegal actions committed by any of them weather husband or wife it can result in separation or ultimately divorce.

One of the biggest things leading to end of marriage is to deceive your partner. This is done in a variety of ways. A woman or a man who loves her/his partner to the bottom of his/her heart when finds him or her partner cheating on her or him for anyone else results in hatred, arguments and many times to divorce. Islam does not favor any kind of extramarital affairs leading to adultery. There are clear instructions by

ALLAH in Quran the Holy book of Muslims also his messenger Holy Prophet S.A.W also forbade Muslim men and women of committing adultery or having interest in other men or women other than their husbands or wives.

Some of the laws and regulations mentioned in Quran are as follows:

• The unrestricted mingling of the sexes, which ultimately leads to adultery, must be prevented.
• Men and women are not to converse freely except in the presence of another person.
• Unless they have become mates through the institution of marriage, men and women are not to gaze at each other with lewd passion.
• They are not to speak, or flirt, in a manner that evokes lust.

At first Islam provides an open permission for the fulfillment of all the desires through the recourse of legal procedure.  Despite of all this, those who do not follow Islamic lessons not only destroy the fabric of Islamic society and also the family. Islam prescribes severe punishments to those who do not adhere to the Islamic rules and regulation.

The post What Does Islam Say About Extra Marital Affairs? appeared first on Muslim Blog.

Media has always been an integral part of our lives. It is not only a source of information, entertainment but also we can learn a lot about a number of things in and about our lives. In old times radio was one of the biggest sources of information and entertainment as well. However, as the time passed by with the invention of television their attention slithered towards this masterpiece. Gradually, with the arrival of new channels people’s attention moved to television and thus became an important part of our lives.

In the present age there are numbers of channels for all age groups. There are channels for ladies, for kids, news channels, historical channels, science and tech related channels, regional channels, food and cooking channels, religious channels and much more. There is a controversy about some of the religious channels especially Islamic channels that they are not portraying true face of Islam to the world.

After 9/11 majority of the world got a negative image of Muslims and unfortunately Islam being a religion of peace was considered to be a religion in favor of terrorism and extremism and thus electronic media started portraying Muslims as terrorists. A wave of hatred all across the world degraded Muslims as a whole. This was the time when Islamic world need to respond especially Islamic channels needed to tell the whole world about the teachings of Islam.

But unfortunately many of the Islamic channels not all, already being involved in creating a negative image of Islam since they are a result of dirty politics and are backed by many anti Islamic unions and countries like Israel  and America and many more. Apart from that there are many channels who are so called Islamic channels but sadly they are not delivering the actual lessons of Islam in Asia and some of them are telecasted all over the globe. Only few of the Islamic channels are unbiased and are trying to tell the whole world that Islam does not favor terrorism and extremist activities at all. It a religion of peace and brotherhood and favors harmony in the whole world.

Many of the Islamic channels are considered valuable for those who want to learn about the teachings of Islam whether they are Muslims or non Muslims. Different informative programs being telecasted are helping a huge number of people to wipe out their doubts and uncertainties about Islam. Different scholars are playing a vital role in helping people to solve their problems in the light of Islam with Quranic and Hadith references. Thus making their statements authentic for them.

Thus if there are some channels giving a picture of Islam to the whole world then on the other hand there are many who are a helping hand and playing their part for Islam to regain its glory and respect as a religion and Muslims as believers of Islam which they lost due to several reasons.

Islamic Channels

Al Hiwar Al-Hiwar is an Arabic language Satellite TV Channel broadcasting from London. AlHiwar (means Dialogue in Arabic) was set..	Al Jazeera Documentary Al Jazeera Documentary Channel is an Arabic language documentary channel and a branch of the Al Jazeera network. It aims..
Al Majd Al Majd channel broadcasts religious and family related programs in Arabic. The Al Majd TV Network is a group of general..	Al Majd Holy Quran Al Majd Holy Quran channel is the first Quranic channel that officially started broadcasting on August 16th, 2004. Al ma..
Al Nas Al Nas is a social, cultural channel of a religious nature. Working to spread cultural awareness and knowledge among the..	Al Quran al Kareem Al Quran al Kareem TV broadcasts live transmission from Al Haram in Makkah while viewers are able to hear recitations of..
Al Resalah Al-Resalah is an Arabic language satellite television channel to present true Islam. The target audience is Arab, young ..	Al Sunnah Al Nabawiyah Al Sunnah Al Nabawiyah TV broadcasts live transmission from Al Haram in Madina while viewers are able to hear recitation..
Cordoba TV Islamic Lectures and discussion live from Spain.	Guide US TV Guide US TV – First all-English 24 hour channel for real Islam in America. All across the U.S.A. and Canada. Live sho..
Huda TV Huda TV is not a religious channel as religion is defined in the west; rather it is a window allowing viewers a glimpse ..	Iqra TV Iqra TV (literally recite in Arabic) is a television channel owned by Arab Media Corporation. The channel promotes itsel..
Iqra UK IQRA UK TV aims to be the premier broadcaster of quality Islamic and educational programming to better inform and improv..	Islam Channel Islam Channel is a UK based satellite channel. It is free to air English channel focused on Islamic programs. Islam Chan..
Learn Arabic Grammar TV Learn Arabic Grammar in Urdu Language. A specific video which is providing the complete knowledge about Arabic grammar t..	Learn Quranic Arabic TV Learn Arabic Grammar in Urdu Language. A specific video which is providing the complete knowledge about Quranic Arabic t..
Madani Channel Madani Channel or Madani Channel (Urdu) is a non-commercial TV channel started by Dawat-e-Islami, which broadcasts Islam..	Noor TV Noor TV provides quality television programmes for the 12 Million Muslims across Europe. The programmes are all inclusiv..
Peace TV Peace TV is an Islamic Satellite television network, which broadcasts globally 24/7 from Mumbai, India. Peace TV program..	Peace TV Urdu Peace TV is an Islamic Satellite television network, which is broadcast globally 24/7 from Mumbai India. In Urdu languag..
Prophets of Islam This channel shows 24/7 different documentaries about Prophets of Islam. There is list of some specific documentaries on..	QTV Quran TV is a Pakistani television channel with a religious focus, producing programs mainly focusing on the Ahle Sunnat..
Quran Urdu TV Quran Urdu TV is one of the Pakistani Islamic channels which is only dedicated to Quran recitation. This channel is well..	Saudi TV1 Saudi Arabia TV 1 is an official television station of the Saudi Government. Saudi 1 was established by the late King Fa..
Saudi TV2 Saudi TV2 is the English news and entertainment TV channel of Saudi Arabia. Established in 1982, the channel produces pr..	Sharjah TV Sharjah TV broadcast programs in different languages mainly related to religion and spirituality. The main aims of Sharj..
SN TV New Somali Channel	Somali Channel The Somali Channel is a TV channel from Somalia. Somali Channel broadcasts its programs in somali language.
Tafseer TV Tune into Tafseer TV to gain knowledge about Quran Al-Kareem.	Tanzeem TV English To provide his moral and spiritual fulfillment and salvation are the main objective of Deen, and the proposed collectivi..
Tanzeem TV Urdu Tanzeem channel Urdu provides his moral and spiritual fulfillment and salvation are the main objective of Deen, and the ..	Taraweeh TV This channel shows up taraweeh prayer. You can watch Live Taraweeh from Khana Kaba in the month of Ramadan. Its total Is..
Ummah Channel Ummah Channel is a new dimension of islamic television channel for all Muslims integrating an Islamic way of living with..	Universal TV Universal Television was established in 2005 with the primary aim of filling the information gap and providing reliable ..

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Disinformation is widespread and has become the topic of the people’s meetings to express their misgivings, jealousy and anger. Those who are indulging in disinformation campaign are oblivious about the fact as they are merely harming themselves. Because on the Resurrection day both wronged and wrongdoer will stand in front of God who will reward his good deeds to the person against whom he dispersed disinformation. Many times we have some information about our business dealings. It is permitted to us to deliver the information to the concerned person. But it is not permitted to hide some important information from that person and include something on your own, this comes under disinformation.

Islam teaches that if the people are being involved in dispersing disinformation in your presence, you ought to defend it. If you neglect the same you will deprive yourself from mercy and help of God. Islam grants the freedom for the expression but with some restrictions and limitations for the purpose of safety and dignity of the individuals. Everyone can enjoy this freedom but within the limit of true information and disallowed the disinformation where this freedom becomes exploitation. The purpose of these limitations and checks is to secure the human freedom but not to deprive him of his rights. For the prevention of exploitation of human, such limits on the freedom of individuals have been placed to eradicate the elements that cause uncertainties and insecurities among the people.

Generally, you should have to follow the determinations and decisions of the Holy prophet (PBUH) who delivered the great message for humanity to not to believe or follow the things except those that are revealed to you. Disinformation is the evil process of today’s modern world that is exercised by the followers of Iblees or satin through which they take advantage for their wrongdoings.

Many anti Islamic groups have been running the disinformation campaign with the name of information for the sake of their revenges. The need is existed to clarify these disinformation campaigns by presenting the facts. The facts that are written in Holy Quran but it is necessary for you to take full information about Islam. In Islam all human beings have equal social rights and no one is superior to another on the basis of background, status, profession or cast. Superiority only deserves to those who are better in character and aptitude. These teachings of Islam clearly indicate that there is no permission for anyone to disperse disinformation in the name of information about anyone who is deprived in status. These fundamental teachings of Islam are now the basis of the modern world human rights criteria and deal with the law named as the law of defamation.

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Commonly Europeans and Americans believe that they are civilized and good protectors of the rights of human-beings and it is impossible for their people to get involved in the terrorism. This self assumption completely controls their thoughts and on any terrorist activity they assume that the same is done by outsiders. Just like in the case of Oklahoma they suspect that the Muslims are behind this terrorist activity. Their leaders start the campaign against Muslims and this malaise remained till the real culprits got arrested. Nobody believes, he is purely native white American who has taken part in the operation of Iraq and killed thousands of Iraqi civilians.

This is the example case that is necessary to keep in mind to understand the root cause of terrorism. It is not caused by Muslims but it is the reaction of something else. Actually terrorism is a very complex phenomenon and for fighting, comprehensive approach is primarily required. Its suppression and condemnation is essential. But it is not enough to achieve complete success. Prevention of conditions that creates a terrorist is crucially important.

Some of the obvious conditions that make the spread of the terrorism are human rights violations, conflicts, under-development and poverty. It is very dangerous to deal these issues with the short-term repression, demagogy and simplistic solutions. It is more dangerous to declare any ethnic or religious group or individual as terrorist. Human rights are a powerful tool for the eradication of these factors together with observance of the rule of law. These are assets in the battle against terrorism.

In today’s scenario there is a visible division existed among the communities. Their repair and building of mutual respect and common interests through dialogue is very essential. Intercultural and interreligious dialogues can be helpful to change the existing conditions. Addressing the main root causes of terrorism is the key to success.

The dire need is existed to promote the tolerance through encouraging cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue. This will need the involvement of non-governmental organizations and civil society for raising public awareness in the sectors of media, culture and education. The development of continuous measures on these lines will not only thwart the existing conditions but can be conducive for the spread of terrorism.

To tackle terrorism, the most efficient way is to eliminate those conditions that can lead people to chose for terrorism. For this reason, International community and independent media should have to provide the best environment for the individuals who are deprived of their rights. To defeat the terrorists, sincerity and faithfulness in the values and ideas is prime requisite. It is not enough to declare anybody as terrorist without observing and addressing their root causes of terrorism.

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Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man thought responsible for anti-Islam footage that sparked days of rioting throughout the Muslim world earlier this month, was arrested late Thursday on charges of violating parole terms tied to a separate 2010 fraud case, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Nakoula was found guilty of fraud in a 2010 case and released in 2011 on probation terms that restricted, among other things, his use of the Internet, said the LA Times. However, his association with the anti-Islam footage released on YouTube prompted authorities to investigate whether or not he broke the rules of his parole.

More from GlobalPost: Muslim nations push for international blasphemy law

US Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal found Nakoula a flight risk and ordered him held without the possibility of bail, said Reuters.

“The court has a lack of trust in the defendant at this time,” Segal stated, denying Nakoula’s bail request at a US District Court, reported Reuters.

Prosecutors are charging the 55-year-old Egyptian-American with violating eight terms of his parole, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The footage for which Nakoula is thought responsible, a 14-minute trailer for a supposedly forthcoming film titled “Innocence of Muslims,” a clip recently subtitled in Arabic, openly mocks Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Those involved with the film claim to have been conned into it, and Nakoula — a Coptic Christian — is suspected of operating under the false name Sam Bacile.

However, Nakoula’s full involvement with the film is unclear and the case remains murky.

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The results of the 9/11 attacks have created havoc, distrust and counter terrorism operations, mostly against those of Muslim countries. Distrust, dislike and arrogance have been its impact for many Muslims living in the United States as consequences of these attacks.

After the 9/11 attacks, policy implications for Muslims in United States have become so diverse that  the low literacy rate among young Muslims living there has impacted on the educational status of Muslim students studying in that country. There have been debates against Muslims and their religious cultures and principles. Anti Islamic movements have become disastrous events, leading often to riots, for the Muslims as a whole in the United States as an aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Ten years after 9/11 attacks media has reflected on this time period as a decade of fear. Attackers were labeled as Muslims as a generality. Muslims were harassed and humiliated throughout the world and relations between Americans and Muslims after the 9/11 attacks became complicated and full of contradictions. Disparaging remarks about Muslims and Islam became the roots of disenchanted people in the United States.

Major reasons for Burma killings are religion and racism. Buddhists want Burmese Muslims to convert their religion to Buddhism as they are in minority. But Muslims are not accepting this act being forced on them, and so they are being killed. Unfortunately no religion in world can stop the killing of people on the basis of racism.  Muslims are brutally killed and murdered, but the media is quiet. No one tries to point their finger at this atrocity. Before the war in Burma, millions of Muslims were killed and are killing; in Palestine no leader or government is taking any action. Muslims have become as ordinary and cheap as human beings.  Human rights are advocated by organizations; don’t they include Muslims?

Minority Muslims in Burma are facing racism and discrimination. Anti Islamic forces have created trouble and unnecessary bloodshed all over most of  the world,  but they bow their heads in front of one God and follow teachings of their last prophet Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) on the other. Brotherhood should try to follow the Prophet Muhammad now. It’s time to stop this unnecessary dislike. War is the most horrible and the most barbaric act of man against man. It is nothing but an excuse for mass murder. The progress of human beings has always been challenged by wars.

War is the biggest enemy of man, despite being created by man. It is justified by killing millions of people who are not of one man’s thinking. War solves nothing. War is expensive and drains the resources of a country to an extent that the nation refusing to conform usually finds itself in a huge financial crisis and the innocent suffer. Muslims are killed almost everywhere in the world probably without even being noticed, as man turns on himself. Muslims are suspected as terrorists so they are harshly treated as a potential threat. Killing of Muslims are not even noticed by the world’s human rights. Only reason for these killings is the wrong perception of their religion and race.

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Being a Muslim, Allah only asks for one thing from his believer to surrender; prostrate in front of him only, and submit his body and soul on His true guided path. Human life is full of uncertainties. What will happen tomorrow or even in the next hour we cannot be sure of? The core reason behind this natural phenomenon is that we are not the owner of our lives. Allah has created us from a clot of blood and he is our true creator thus only him Subhana wa Tallah owns us. Therefore, every act that we perform in daily life should be seeking His blessings and enlighten path that will lead us to which he promised us to give.

A Muslim is well-occupied with defined beliefs. Whenever a Muslim has to perform a task in future or whenever a decision has to be made regarding foreseeable time; he/she always uses the word insha’Allah. This word has power and magic in its meaning. Because when by predicting a moment or taking a stance for future you say insha’Allah, it means you have full faith in the inevitable event whether it favors one’s resolution or he may face failure in the choice that he has picked up. In case of unaccomplished task, a person does not have to be hold back with Allah Subhana wa Tallah’s will and wish.

Something is always special in Allah Subhana wa Tallah’s decision that is not apparent at the spur of moment but afterwards when time passes, a Muslim truly understands why Allah Subhana wa Tallah has not pushed him/her towards a particular direction. The word insha’Allah is not an ordinary set of characters. When you are reciting these letters; it actually raises your stance in front of Allah Subhana wa Tallah that you blindly trust Him.

Allah Subhana wa Tallah has crafted everything of this world magnificently therefore, there are some special astounding creatyres made by Him which truly fascinate our minds.  Pure souls on earth occupied with love and affection for Allah Subhana wa Tallah and his messengers; especially his beloved Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H), always admire the beauty that has been all around us in the shape of flowers, fruits, mountains, valleys, lakes or even the stream of galaxies and stars in sky.

By seeing such wonderful things, if we say masha’Allah that means we are actually admiring Allah Subhana wa Tallah’s beautifully designed creatures on earth, comprised of splendor and full of brilliance. These holy words should be part of our prayers through which we can attain good virtues. Every time when we say these glorious words, they add in our good book of accounts that is kept by Allah Subhana wa Tallah. In Qur’an, Allah Subhana wa Tallah has said many times to use these words commonly throughout entire life in every verdict to become protected from wrong thoughts and perceptions.

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Honor of a woman has been granted due to emergence of Islam. Before the arrival of Islam, women were treated as a demoralized piece; some sort of a thing not a human. Numerous high class Arabs were involved in trading business of women. They humiliated females as they had no worthy existence on earth. Status of Arabian women was same like a painting that had been available for auction. The person who bid the highest would possess the ownership of the offered item.

Women had no rights to show their acceptance in choosing appropriate marriage proposal and had no share in property by her parents. After the emergence, Islam gave a woman full right to agree or disagree on marriage proposals. She has now option to choose the best man for rest of her life. Even if a woman doesn’t want to live with her husband due to his humiliating behavior then she can submit termination of marriage agreement in courts.

A woman has been encouraged by Islam to attain a fair share in the legacy of her parents and she can also transfer her legacy to siblings further which was totally prohibited before. After the introduction of Islamic beliefs and values by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), women were granted with equal position of supremacy like men.

Islam has provided full authority to women to participate in every appropriate area as in old times; Hazrat Fatima (R.A) and Hazrat Ayesha (R.A) were used to provide their valuable services to warriors. Before the revelation of Islam, Arabian women had been brought in the wars not for the purpose of fight equally with men but if the consequences were turned into defeat then women were offered as a compensation to conquer.

Islam has introduced the concept of (Hijab), which was not known before the emergence. Allah has considered Hijab as a protecting shield for women against the evil minds of men. He has chosen Hijab for women due to the honorable position Allah Almighty wants to bestow them with.

Allah has guided in Quran clearly that woman is not an ordinary individual. She is highly valuable creation of Allah due to her prestigious rank. A woman is not a piece to be offered for auction. She has rewarded with the strong relationship of Husband thus her body and beauty is only visible and touchable by her better half; not for whole world. Her husband has been ordered to behave well for her true rights and duties specifically conducted by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).

Arabian women before the commencement of Islamic values were not rewarded with any kind of mercy and nice behavior therefore women were treated like servants. Islam is the only religion who introduced to the world that women need to be treated with love and care.

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