Good God it's true!!!

ne ne ne ne ne neeee...... i told ja!!!!

bow to your honorary mistress now!

hehehehe

Thank you Afif!!!!!! I love being the honorary member of this clan, along with Samms!!!!!

I still don't know what it is lol

Here is the advice of the week

Displaying Good Manners

Al Bayhaqiyy has related in his book Al-Adab that Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said what means:
“I guarantee a dwelling on the side of Paradise for the one who avoids arguing even when right, a dwelling in the centre of Paradise for the one who avoids lying even when joking, and I guarantee a house in the highest level of Paradise for those with good manners.”

Avoiding arguments as mentioned in the first phrase of this Hadith, is to avoid arguing with no purpose of bringing up the truth or refuting what is false.

Avoiding lying as mentioned in the second phrase of this Hadith, is to avoid lying whether one was joking or being serious which in both cases is Islamically not permissible.

The Prophet guarantees a dwelling in the centre of Paradise for the one who avoids lying in these two cases, knowing that a dwelling in the centre of Paradise is yet better than a dwelling on the side of Paradise.
Evidently, a patch anywhere in Paradise is invaluable compared to this world and what is in it.

The final phrase of this Hadith is about displaying good manners, i.e. to avoid harming others, to bear the harm of others, and to do good deeds with those who appreciate it and those who don’t.

Honorary membership is conferred upon an individual whose contribution to the organisation has been so outstanding as to merit this honor.

Assalamualaikum~

Plz add me in yea

-salam from Brunei-

Welcome Ae-YuL!

Nice Thanks again



wa 3alaikom assalaam


The Existence of Allaah is unlike the existence of the creations

Surat ash-Shooraa, Ayah 11:



It means: {Nothing resembles Allaah in any way whatsoever and He is Attributed with Hearing and Sight.}

Clearly this Verse in the Qur’aan shows us that the Attributes of Allaah do not resemble the attributes of His creations. So even if we might use the same word about the Creator and a creation, it definitely carries a different meaning in each situation.

When we say Allaah is Attributed with Hearing and Sight, we know for sure that it is without organs, without a beginning, without an end and unimaginable. However when we say the hearing and sight of humans, it is with an organ, with a beginning, with an end, and is imaginable.

Likewise, when we say Allaah Exists and the creations exist, the word ‘exists’ in these 2 contexts has a different meaning. The Existence of Allaah is without a beginning, without an ending and is not subject to place. Our existence however is with a beginning, with an ending and subject to place.

When a group of jews came to ask him about Allaah, Imaam ^Aliyy, cousin of the Prophet, said what means: {“Where” does not apply to the One Who created the whereabouts, and “how” does not apply to the One Who created the how.}


Some people think that by saying that Allaah Exists without a place we are saying that God does not exist. That is not true. The body is the one which can not exist if it was not in a place, not Allaah.

A body is created but God, the One Who has no creator is not a body.

Imaam al-Bayhaqiyy (a famous narrator of Hadeeth) said:

“The Prophet said what means: {O Allaah, You are ath-THaahir and there is nothing above You & You are al-Baatin & there is nothing underneath You.}

Al-Bayhaqiyy said: “so if there is nothing above Him & nothing underneath Him, He is not in a place.”


If a person says Allaah is everywhere - meaning Allaah knows about everything then that is not blasphemy (kufr) but if he thinks that Allaah occupies everywhere that is blasphemy of likening God to the creations (kufr tashbeeh).

If a person says Allaah exists everywhere, they liken Him to the air; that is tashbeeh and is against the Qur'aan. The mushabbiha are not Muslim; they worship something which they imagine to be God, but Allaah is not like the air and not like any other creation. Allaah is the Creator. He created place & He is not in it.

It is every CREATION which exists in a place but Allaah, the CREATOR, Exists without a place.

Allaah is Perfect & He doesn't change. A famous saying in Arabic is: subHaan al-lathee yughayyir walaa yataghayyar, which means: Allaah changes things but He does not change.

Al-Bukhariyy, al-Bayhaqiyy and Ibnul-Jarud related that the Messenger of Allah said what means: << Allah existed eternally and nothing else existed. >> This hadith proves that only Allah existed without a beginning, i.e., before creating any of the creation. There was nothing with Allah: no place, no space, no sky, no Earth, no light, and no darkness. It is determined in the rules of the Religion and the judgments of the sound mind that Allah, the Exalted, does not change. Hence, it is impossible that after having been existing without a place, Allah will change and dwell in a place.

Every Muslim believes that Allaah’s Existence is unlike the existence of the creations. Creations all exist in a place, Allaah Exists without a place.

Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy related in his book, Al-Farqu Baynal-Firaq, that Imam ^Aliyy, the fourth of the caliphs, may Allah reward his deeds, said what means: << Allah existed eternally and there was no place, and He now is as He was. [i.e., without a place]>>

Imam Abu Hanifah, who is one of the authorities of Salaf, said in his book Al-Fiqh al-Absat: << Allah existed eternally and there was no place. He existed before creating the creation. He existed, and there was no place, creation, or thing. He is the Creator of everything. >>

Imam Muhammad Ibn Hibah al-Barmakiyy, wrote a book called Hadaa'iqul-Fusool wa Jawaahirul-^Uqul. It came to be known as Al-^Aqeedatus-SalaaHiyyah, after he gave it as a gift to Sultaan SalaaHud- Deen al-Ayyoobiyy, who ordered that this book be taught to the children in schools and broadcast from the top of minarets. In his book he said what means: << Allah existed eternally and there was no place, and the judgment about His existence now is that He is as He was [i.e., without a place]>>.

A Somali just sent me the link to this article :

What really sparks my interest is how local islamic traditions differ from people to people, nations to nations. There is obviously no one standard of law yet, and Somalis have to unlearnt their local traditions and follow the standard set down by the Qu'ran.

Even so, they acknowledge they have to balance the modern day issues from women's liberty to non-violent political solutions rather than medieval concepts of jihad.

Some friends who work in the humanitarian field are suggesting that perhaps Islamic council is the only thing that will keep Somalia's various ethnic clans and their warlords at peace. Perhaps one can see the conditions that gave rise to Islam is not far from what is happening in present day Somalia.



That said, things could blow up in that region as Ethiopia and Eritrea attempt to play their war games with Somalia as catalyst.

So what do you think of the Pope's call for an "authentic dialogue" between Islam and Christianity? What does he mean 'authentic dialogue'? Between who and how?

Also, what do you think about his bid to make a reconciliation between Orthodox Christianity and Latin Christianity?

The choice of Turkey, which used to the seat of Orthodox Christianity (Constantinople) makes his visit very symbolic for all christians, does it also have any symbolicism for muslims too? What is your feeling about this?







It is indeed a scandal that there are divisions amongst Christians. Even more scandalous is how the Peoples of the Book are today so divided and at odds with one another. I wonder if this Pope will really be able to kickstart the healing of so many rifts.

back to this

1) Prophet MuHammad is not the first Prophet of Islam, he is the last Prophet of Islaam. Islaam didn't come from the people, it was revealed to the Prophets by Allaah.

2) From Messenger to Messenger, some rules differed by Revelation from God. Since Prophet MuHammad is the last Messenger, the rules revealed to him will be practised until the Day of Judgement.

3) A tradition specific to a group of Muslims rather than another group is not an Islamic tradition, it's that group's tradition.

4) The people of the Book are today divided because many of those who were originally following Prophet Moses and Prophet Jesus changed their scriptures and hence became non-Muslims. Had they not changed them, none of them would have been in conflict, there would be no jews and christians - they would all be Muslim as the Messengers of God were.

Hmmm... sams, by the time Prophet Muhammed had his revelations written down in the 7th century, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity had already been written or translated for centuries.

How would the peoples of the book have become muslims if the Qu'ran does not allow compulsion in islam?

hmmm I think you didn't understand my sentence.

What I was saying was that since all Messengers of God came with the same message about God - No one is God except Allaah and to believe in all the messengers of God - then that means that the followers of Prophet Jesus were Muslim, the followers of Prophet Moses were Muslim and so on. But after for example, Prophet Jesus was raised to the second sky, his Muslim followers started becoming less and less and people started to change the teachings of Prophet Jesus and they made what they now call christianity. Had they not made those changes, they would have been Muslims following the same belief system as Muslims today.

That's what i meant.

sorry dear, I don't think any christian will agree with your statement that "No one is God except Allaah and to believe in all the messengers of God - then that means that the followers of Prophet Jesus were Muslim, the followers of Prophet Moses were Muslim and so on. "

And what you say that "But after for example, Prophet Jesus was raised to the second sky, his Muslim followers started becoming less and less and people started to change the teachings of Prophet Jesus and they made what they now call christianity", that sounds like a big mistake because 300 years before Prophet Muhammad was born, the Roman Emperor Constantine had declared christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul).

I think you got to study history objectively, my dear.

It doesn't make sense that God would send different belief systems about Him. So all Messengers of God came with one belief system - that there is only 1 God and to believe in the Messengers of God and they are supported by miracles. This is called being Muslim.

At the time of constantine the people had corrupted the teachings of Prophet Jesus so much that there were tens of books which they claimed to be the true bible. Constantine made them choose from them and destroyed the rest.

Hey Sams, being a christian today is not the same as being muslim because there are fundamental doctrinal differences between the two faiths. But maybe the Pope is recognising the differences needs to be reconciled...not juz between muslims and christians, but also, between the christian orthodox and latins.

When you say that the Christians have corrupted their gospels, you must realise that throughout history, Jesus was persecuted by his own people as well as the roman empire.

Not many facts were known about him. His followers were preaching the christian faith as if it was an underground religion for 3 centuries after his death. They were known as Gentiles and they were persecuted by the Romans for 3 centuries. By the time the Roman Emperor Constantine enacted their christian faith as the official religion for the entire Holy Roman Empire, he did that as a astute political move in order to save his Holy roman empire from breaking apart. At that time, his empire was threatened by barbarian tribes in the western part of his empire (Germany, France etc..) who had become christians already.

Many of those gospels that were written by Jesus' gentile followers had doctrinal differences depending on where the followers were based. Some of them wrote different things, for e.g. the Nestorians, the Gnostics, etc... all wrote different doctrines about the relationship of Jesus with God. Hence it is only logical that the Roman Emperor Constantine would destroy these gospels and kept those that help to solidify his control over the Roman empire.

The Prophet Muhammad, on the other hand was luckier in that his followers were no longer persecuted by anyone after his death. When the Prophet was alive, he was persecuted by his own tribe, but he overcame their threat and converted them to Islam. After his death, his followers (the caliphs) were able to spread the word of Allah through an effective expansionist military campaign throughout many centuries afterwards.

And, unlike the Bible which took several centuries to be compiled, the Qu'ran was compiled within several decades after the death of the Prophet. If there were any errors to correct, it was merely arabic accents or punctuations that had to be corrected. It seems that the Prophet had alot of contact with the Jewish communities living in Arabia at the time. He actually studied the history of how the Christian gospels were developed and he came to the view that the gospels had been corrupted with too many theological artifice especially regarding the death of Jesus and the nature of his relationship with God. It's obvious he was influenced by the Jewish philosophers who told him how the Jews have always rejected the Prophet Jesus as the false messenger from God for the Jews.

Despite that, the Prophet proved to be a reasonable man in that he considered the Jewish rejection of Jesus as the Messenger of God as wrongful thing to do. The Prophet accepted Jesus to be a prophet in the long line of prophets since Abraham. Thats why christians and jews are considered by the Prophet to be the People of the Book. However, because of the history of how the Bible was compiled, his followers made sure that their compilation of the Quran would be preserved as authentic as possible to the Prophet's revelations.

Sorry for the mini history lesson....

You know, with the above explanation of history, I now understand why you are always emphasizing about the need for establishing the unbroken link to the Quran and hadiths. In many ways, this makes alot of sense and I don't understand why this simple fact is not appreciated by non-muslims more widely. The only thing i can think of to explain is how many non-muslims might consider that the emphasis on an unbroken link to the Quran may be obsolete in the face of changes in our modern living. The emphasis on an unbroken link does not allow for innovation and changes in our lives, hence we are chained to a way of life that is stuck in the 7th century when the Prophet was alive. Many non-muslims view that our way of life has changed, so our religious practice should also evolve to reflect that change. But I can also understand now why many who don't accept this modern way of life would reject that call for change, and insist on going back to the way of life of the Prophet. They want a total solution for the difficulties they are facing in this modern living. A solution that is within their control. And not in the hands of nations states and leaders who are seen to be unpious, corrupt or hypocritical.

Anyways, as a non-muslim, I am beginning to understand why muslims learn their Quran in a different way from Christians. Most Christians learn about the Bible through Bible study groups, where they read the parables and discuss with their bible study leader. While most Muslims would learn to recite the Qu'ran in arabic from young and memorise the revelations by hard. It is expected that they would understand the meaning of these revelations only when they grow older and experienced with the hard knocks in life.



By the way, sams, you may be pleased to know the news today mentioned how the Pope faced Mecca during one of his important prayers in Turkey, like a true Muslim.

I had read that in the beginning, the Prophet Muhammad used to face Jerusalem for prayers, but when his Jewish compatriots rejected his teachings, he began to instruct all his other muslim followers to face Mecca where there was already a pre-Islamic shrine known as the Ka'ba. This ancient arabic shrine which was already a focus of pilgrimage by arab tribes before the arrival of Islam, was cleansed by the Prophet of all idols and became the focus of pilgrimage of muslims thereafter.

Well, what do you think of this unprecedented gesture by the Pope, the head of the Catholic church in facing the direction of Mecca in one of his historic prayers at the Blue Mosque?

See news extract below..

What I am saying is that the reason for the differences in belief system between Muslims, christians and jews is that somewhere along the line, scriptures were changed. Because logically, all Messengers of God taught the same about God and hence the Holy Books revealed to them would not have differed in belief system.

These days you might see common concepts such as Judgement Day. But the basis of the belief differs and that can only be through corruption of the teachings revealed to Prophets of God (who were supported with miracles by the way).

If the pope wants to look at the differences and see which is the corrupted and which is not then I hope that he can do that honestly - keeping in mind that the pope does not believe Prophet MuHammad was a Prophet.



Who gave any one of those gentiles to write what they want about Prophet Jesus. If they were truthful then none of their writings would have differed. That shows that there was corruption involved here.



No, not all of Prophet MuHammad's people were converted. His uncle Abu Taalib refused to become Muslim because he was scared of what the idol-worshipper Arabs would say about him.

The amount of time here does not matter. Those who love the Prophets memorise what they said and they record it. So even though the Qur'aan was not written altogether in one book - which was one of the good innovations by the way, the Companions had the parts of it written separately and they had it memorised including the order of arrangement of the chapters which was taught to them by Prophet MuHammad. It was so widespread among the Muslims that it was mutawaatir - that means definitely accurate because of the large amount of people narrating it. As for the Hadeeths, some are mutawaatir and others are of other classes - a whole classification system is there to tell you which Hadeeth is strong or weak.

The lack of any evidence of tracing Prophet Jesus's teachings to the source by the christians who claim to have a bible these days shows that there has been corruption. When you don't have mutawaatir at all - as in the situation you outlined for me - and as well you do not have chains of narration, you leave a HUGE opportunity for corruption to happen anytime between you and the time of Prophet Jesus. And the lack of agreement between the belief systems of the Muslims, christians and jews who all say they are following the Messengers of God shows that there must have been corruption.



Prophet MuHammad was revealed to through the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) and that is how he knew that Prophet Jesus was not crucified but was raised to the second sky and will return as a sign of Judgement Day and will rule with the rules revealed to the last Messenger, Prophet MuHammad.




Correction. Long line of Prophets since Prophet Adam.

In Islaam the innovations are classed into 2 groups - good and bad.

Or more precisely into 5 groups: obligatory, optional and rewardable, permissible, disliked, sinful.

Obligatory innovation is for example what happened when many deviant groups started arising after the Prophet's time and scholars were required to produce proofs against them taken from the Qur'aan and Hadeeth and further explained through teachings such as teaching details in tawHeed.

Optional and rewardable innovation is for example to pray taraweeH prayers of RamaDaan in congregation. This was done after the Prophet's time.

Permissible innovation is for example driving a car.

Disliked innovation is for example to say (S) after the Prophet's name instead of Sallallaahu 3alayhi wa sallam.

Sinful innovation is for example to introduce something into the Religion which is against it such as the wahhabis saying that there is no such thing as a good innovation.



The way of learning for a young Muslim is to learn step by step the obligatory knowledge starting from the age of mental discrimination which is usually at 7 lunar years. After that, when the young person hears this knowledge again, he or she will be more prepared and will absorb more of its meaning. This goes on for as long as the student keeps learning. On the other hand just memorising when young and then going off into life without understanding anything beforehand is not the way of Islam. Rather before one does something, one must learn about it.



The Quiblah of Prayers (direction to face while doing the Prayer) was changed by revelation.

Before Prophet MuHammad, from the time of Prophet Adam, the Muslims used to pray while facing the Ka^bah in Makkah.

Some scholars said it was built by Prophet Adam and some said it was built by Angels. It was destroyed in the flood of Prophet Noah except for its bases. It was rebuilt by Prophet Ibraaheem with his son. Prophet Ibraaheem (Abraham) was ordered to call the people to Hajj (pilgrimage) - he was a Muslim as all Prophets were -some rules differed - but not the belief system.



So does he believe in Prophet Muhammad's revelation now?

I am quite sure many Christians are debating this Sunday whether the Pope had broken the First Commandment, which says: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

For me though, it would seem to me that the Pope was praying to an omnipresent God. It matters not that he was facing Mecca - it was who he was praying to. And I’m reasonably certain that the Pope can be relied upon to pray to God/Allah.

BUT there'll always be those proud and egotistic types who will ask if the Pope was being heretical in praying to a false god, because for them religion is mixed up with power and politics. If they think the Pope had been heretical by breaking from orthodoxy to show a degree of conciliation to Muslims, all I can say is it is with good reason that he did this and not blind reason.

I don't think anyone can say that the Pope believes in the Prophet's revelations, for that requires him to recite the 'Shahadah', is that right? Beware of egotism, samss.

Today, I read the news that a 70 year old grandma became the first suicide bomber for Hamas in Palestine. If this is not good enough reason for the Pope to make that move to reconcile the christians with muslims, I don't know what other reason is good enough.

There was a thread in the Islamic forum about whether when Muslims say God, are they referring to the same God as christians and jews.

http://talkaboutislam.com/forums/index.php...7.html#msg42537

Of course the belief system in God differs between them because Muslims do not believe that God exists in the sky or above it or everywhere. Muslims believe that God is not subject to place and that He is not a body or shape.

http://talkaboutislam.com/forums/index.php/topic,3809.0.html



But you see, if the pope does not believe in what he is doing then it means nothing. If he is directing himself to the Quiblah is it because he believes that Prophet MuHammad was revealed to by God to face the Quiblah when he prays? You said he does not believe in the revelation of Prophet MuHammad, so what is he doing? Outwardly agreeing with what he inwardly disagrees?



To go to Paradise he would need to say the shahaada while believing in it. That is already required from him to go to Paradise because he is sane and pubescent and I'm pretty sure he has heard the basic message of Islam: There is only one God and MuHammad is His Messenger.



If she deliberately went and committed suicide then she deserves to be punished for her sin in the Hereafter.

But what has that got to do with the pope? It is the jews who are kiling Palestinians.

Weekly advice:

The Five Obligatory Prayers

Allah ta^ala said:

حافِظُوا على الصَّلوَات
which means: “Perform the [five obligatory] prayers” (al-Baqarah, 238).

The Messenger of Allah said what means:

“There are five prayers that Allah obligated the slaves to perform. Whoever performs them properly without belittling their obligation, Allah promised to admit him into Paradise. Whoever leaves them out does not have a promise from Allah to have Paradise without torture before. If He willed, He tortures him, and if He willed, He forgives him”.

Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad.


It is obligatory to perform each of these five prayers in its due time. It is better to perform each prayer early in its time.

The five prayers are among the best acts of worship that the Muslim performs. Performing them is the best deed after having the correct belief in God and His Messenger.

The prophets from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad, may Allah raise their rank, ordered their followers to pray as per God’s orders.

Since the prayer is the most important matter of Islam after having the correct belief in God and His Messenger, one must plan his life around the prayer. It is a special time where all the obedient and practicing Muslims around the world face one direction and pray to their Creator.

It's a moment of detaching oneself from the worldly luxuries and commitments and purifying one's heart and soul with complete humbleness and devotion to Allah.

Asking Allaah by the Prophet

In defence of the Muslims who are wrongly accused of blasphemy by a group that claims to follow the Prophet



Asking Allaah by the Prophet is deemed permissible by the consensus of the top scholars (mujtahids).



AT-Tabaraaniyy narrated & classified as SaHeeH that the Prophet taught a blind man to go to the place of wudoo’ and make an optional prayer of 2 cycles then to supplicate: “O Allaah, I ask You & direct myself to You by Your Prophet MuHammad, the Prophet of mercy. O MuHammad, I direct myself to my Lord by you in my need (then mention your need).”



The narrator of this Hadeeth (^Uthmaan ibn Hunayf) said what means when he was narrating this Hadeeth: “By Allaah, we did not separate and it was not long before the blind man entered and he could see.”



So that blind man was not present with the Prophet and ^Uthmaan ibn Hunayf when he was making the supplication.





Now, after the Prophet’s death:



^Uthmaan ibn Hunayf taught a man this supplication (mentioned above) because that man needed something from ^Uthmaan ibn ^Af-faan (during his caliphate) and that man was not being able to meet with the caliph. Until he recited this supplication and quickly him and the caliph met and the caliph fulfilled his need. This was related by at-Tabaraaniyy who classified it as SaHeeH.





Imaam Abu al-Wafaa’ ibn ^Aqeel al-Hanbaliyy (who is one of the pillars- as they say- of the Hanbaliyy school of thought) said that among what is liked to say when visiting the Prophet’s grave is what means:



“O Allaah, You said in Your Book to Your Prophet:

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّاباً رَّحِيماً

(Verse 64, Surat an-Nisaa’ means: {If only, when they are unjust to themselves, they come to you and ask Allaah for forgiveness, and the Messenger asks forgiveness for them, they will find that Allaah is Forgiving and Most Merciful.}) and I have come to Your Prophet repented and asking for Your forgiveness, so I ask You to forgive me as You gave forgiveness to those who came to Your Prophet during his lifetime. O Allaah, I direct myself to You by Your Prophet Sallallaahu 3alayhi wa sallam, the Prophet of mercy, O Prophet of Allaah, I direct myself by you to my Lord for Him to forgive my sins.”





Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated with a SaHeeH chain from Maalik ad-Daar (a trustworthy person appointed by ^Umar during his caliphate) that he said what means:



“There was a drought (for 9 months) in the time of the caliphate of ^Umar. A man from the companions came to the grave of the Prophet Sallallaahu 3alayhi wa sallam and said: ((O Prophet of Allaah, ask rain for your nation for they are in ruins)). That companion saw the Prophet in his dream saying to him what means: ((Send my salaam to ^Umar and tell him that it will rain and tell him to try his best to serve the nation.)) The companion went to ^Umar and told him. ^Umar cried and said what means: ((O Allaah, I will not fall short in trying to serve the nation.))”



This companion was said to be Bilaal ibn al-Haarith al-Muzaniyy.





The caliph al-Mansoor when he made Pilgrimage and visited the Prophet asked Imaam Maalik ((O father of ^Abdillaah, should I face the Quiblah and supplicate or should I face the Prophet of Allaah Sallallaahu 3alayhi wa sallam?)). Imaam Maalik said: “And why would you not face him when he is the one you ask Allaah by and the one your father Adam ^alayhis-salaam asked Allaah by? Face him and seek his intercession and Allaah will allow him to intercede.”



This was mentioned by Qaadee ^IyaaD in the book “Ash-shifaa”.





Asking Allaah by the Prophet = seeking to gain benefit or alleviate harm, from Allaah, by mentioning a Prophet in honour of the mentioned, with the firm belief that Allaah is the Creator of benefit and harm.



In the Hadeeth related by al-Bukhaariyy in al-Adab al-Mufrad: when Ibn ^Umar’s leg became paralysed, in his call for help he said: “O MuHammad.” His call was answered with a cure.

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

On a day which only Allah (meaning: the One Who has the Godhood) knows, Allah will make all the creatures who are still living on the Earth and in the skies die. Then Allah will resurrect them all. Then He will judge humans and jinn on what they did during their lives. They will be rewarded or punished, by Allah's will, for what they believed, said, and did by their own choice.


PARADISE

Those of mankind and jinn who believe corrrectly in Allah, and believe in the Messenger sent to them and profess their belief (i.e., becoming followers of the true Religion) and die with that status will dwell forever in Paradise, which Allah has created for them. The life in Paradise is better than what any human living on Earth can imagine. Those in Paradise will experience it in body and soul, but the body will be a new body with no defects. Paradise is not allegorical. It is a very real and actual place. Therein will be wonderful riches, foods, joys, and peace. People will be married and have interaction with one another. Those in Paradise will be in various ranks according to their piety. Those who are rewarded with Paradise will never be sent out of it.


HELL

Hell, another creation of Allah, is the dwelling place for those of humans and jinn who reject the revelations of the prophets. Hence, they disbelieve in Allah and His messengers. Hell is also a particular place and its torture is not experienced here on Earth. The suffering will also be in body and soul. Some of the followers of the true Religion, who sinned but did not repent during their lifetime, will suffer in Hell for some time. Being believers of the true Religion, they will get out of Hell after a time which Allah wills. Then they will enter Paradise and dwell there forever and receive no further punishment. Some believers of the true Religion who die as sinners will be forgiven by Allah on the Day of Judgment and will not go to Hell before entering Paradise.


LIFE AND DEATH

This life of a human or jinn always ends with death and there is no exception. Humans do not choose their race, sex, parents, or birthplace. Thus, they will not be held accountable for those aspects of their life on the Day of Judgment. No human is doomed to Hell because he was born from a certain sex or race. Allah, the Merciful, has promised that any human or jinn who dies as a follower of the true Religion will receive Paradise forever.

The correct belief in Allah does not change. Every prophet and messenger has said the same concerning belief in Allah: No one is God but Allah, and mankind is to believe in Him and worship Him only. The prophet for the people on Earth at present is Muhammad, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, and the laws for the present population are the laws that Prophet Muhammad was given by Allah for mankind. There will be no new laws given, for there will be no new messenger or prophet.


PROPHETS

Prophets are the greatest men that ever lived. Prophets received Revelation from Allah and conveyed it to the people. The prophets received the Revelations and conveyed them in the language that Allah ordered. A messenger is a prophet who comes with abrogating some of the laws brought by the previous messenger or receives a new set of laws. Prophets were intelligent, trustworthy, and truthful. They never commit major sins and never leave their Religion. Many prophets have lived in the past. Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, who lived some 1400 years ago, was the last and greatest prophet.

Other prophets before Muhammad include: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph (son of Jacob), David, Solomon, Moses, and Jesus, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon all of them.

The true scriptures were Revelations received by the prophets. Moses and Jesus both received scriptures, but what are now called the Torah and the Bible have been tampered with by man and are not the true Revelations received by the great messengers Moses and Jesus. The only scripture which is unchanged and will never be changed is the Qur'an, which is the scripture Allah revealed to Muhammad, His last prophet, in clear and eloquent Arabic. Allah has promised to protect the Qur'an from any changes by man. Hence, it has remained unchanged since it was revealed some 1400 years ago. Unlike the prophets before him who were sent to a particular people, Muhammad was sent to all people who lived at his time and all people who would live after him until the Day of Judgment.


JESUS

Jesus, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, is dearly loved by Muslims, for he is one of the greatest messengers and he is one of the most loved creations to Allah. Jesus has no father; he was created within his mother, Mary, a woman chosen above others.

By Allah's will, Prophet Jesus performed many miracles and was obedient to Allah in every way. Jesus spoke only the truth and his followers were Muslims. Never did Jesus say he was Allah, "the son of Allah", or that his followers should pray to him or to anyone other than Allah. Jesus is a man, but had no father; Adam was a man but had neither a father nor a mother. The Qur'an tells us that the Jews did not crucify Jesus as some believe. He was not crucified at all. By Allah's will, Jesus was raised from Earth. Jesus is alive in the second Heaven. Allah will send Jesus back to Earth before the Day of Judgment. Jesus will attest that Islam is the true faith and that Prophet Muhammad is the last messenger. He will follow the laws that Allah gave to Muhammad, and slay the one-eyed impostor.


Allah (meaning: the One Who has the Godhood)

Everything that exists, except Allah the Creator, is created by Him(1). Allah has full power over every bit of His creation. Allah is not created; He existed always, having His attributes. Allah will never perish, nor will His attributes diminish. The attributes of Allah are uncountable, among which are: He has knowledge of all His creation; He sees the seeable things; and He hears the hearable things. His knowing, seeing and hearing are in no way similar to ours. Allah's Kalam (Speech) is not made up of language or sound, nor does it resemble the speech of man in any way. Allah does not need any of His creation for His existence and He does not resemble any of His creation in any way. This means that Allah is not a man or a woman; He is not "a Father" or "a Mother". Allah does not have a wife, a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter; He has no equal or partner. Allah does not divide into parts. No creation has "a part of Allah" in him, nor can any creation become like Allah. He is the only God.

Allah existed eternally before He created any of the places, such as Paradise, the skies, Earth, or the planets. Hence, we know Allah is now as He was before He created all these places; He does not need any place for His existence. Allah has always known about every part of His creation; there is no thing in His creation which escapes His knowledge or defeats Him. No thing goes against the will of Allah . Both good and evil occur by Allah's will. However, Allah orders humans to do only the good; humans make the choice to obey or disobey Allah. Our ability to do good or evil is given to us by Allah, the Exalted.

1 The words "He", "His", and "Him" used in reference to Allah must not be construed to refer to gender.


BECOMING A MUSLIM

A person becomes a Muslim by leaving all that contradicts the meaning of the following Two Testifications of Faith, believing in the heart and declaring with the tongue(4).

"No one deserves worship but God, the Creator. And Muhammad is the Messenger of God"

4 Saying any statement equivalent to the Two Testifications of Faith in any language is also valid.

Believing in all this implies that: Allah, the Creator, has perfect attributes; only Allah must be worshipped; Prophet Muhammad, the last prophet, was truthful in all that he conveyed from Allah; all the prophets, peace be upon them, before him (the first of whom was Adam) conveyed the same message of belief to their people; they are to be loved and respected, yet in no way do prophets (or any creation) have Allah's attributes.

A person can become Muslim, as aforementioned, in the solitude of a forest or in a crowded subway; he does not need to go to a mosque or have Muslims witness his profession. Allah knows the hearts of His creation. However, when the person becomes Muslim, he may declare his belief to some fellow Muslims so that he will be known as a Muslim among the people.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the heavens and earth. Allah knows best.

HUMANITY

Men and women are creations of Allah. They are distinct from plants, animals, jinn, and angels. They were created after the angels and jinn. The first man was created from clay. Allah puts a soul, which He created, in the human being, but in no way is man's soul Allah , or "a part of Allah ". The first man was Adam, and all human beings come from his family. Adam had no mother or father; he was created and given life by Allah. Allah created a wife for Adam who bore his children. Allah created the human beings to order them to believe, profess the truth about Allah and His messengers, worship Allah only, and follow His orders during their life on Earth. Some of mankind do worship Allah correctly and obey His orders. These will be rewarded beyond imagination in Paradise. Some of mankind do not worship Allah correctly and will be severely punished by Allah in Hellfire.


Jinn

Jinn are distinct creations of Allah, who are invisible to humans. The ancestor of all jinn is Satan. He was first a believer, then he blasphemed. Allah created him from the pure flame of fire. The jinn are male and female and have offspring. They exist here on Earth and elsewhere. Like the humans, some jinn worship Allah , but some do not. The ones who do not are known as the devils, whose head is Satan.


ANGELS

Angels are another distinct creation of Allah. They are not male or female and have no children. Allah created them from light. They never sin. They obey Allah in every matter. Humans have angels near them that record all they do. Some angels have appeared to people in the form of men(2), but they never take a woman's shape. Some angels protect people from jinn by Allah's will. Gabriel (Jibril) was the angel who conveyed the Revelations to the prophets.


SATAN

Satan, the first jinn, was present with the angels when Allah ordered him and the angels to bow down in respect before Adam. Satan did not bow down in respect. He objected to Allah and said he was better than Adam, because he was made from fire whereas Adam was made from clay. Because of this objection, Allah damned Satan and banished him. Satan vowed that he would try to persuade humans to accept false belief and to perform false worship and shameful conduct. Allah promised that Satan and those who follow him will go to Hell on the Day of Judgment.

Satan is man's accursed enemy. His vow to ruin many of mankind is not to be taken lightly. He attempts to confuse and ruin man by his prompting and making bad deeds seem good. A person is not sinful when Satan whispers to him; he is sinful if he believes and/or acts on the prompting. Although humans must believe that Satan exists and take the warning about him very seriously, we must remember that Allah has full power over Satan. Satan can do nothing against the will of Allah . When a believer of the true Religion strives to follow Allah's orders and asks Allah for protection from Satan, he must not doubt Allah's great protection and mercy.


RELIGION

There is only one true Religion, that of holding the correct belief in Allah and His messengers, worshipping Allah only, and loving, respecting, and following the prophet of the time and loving and respecting the other prophets. Every prophet and messenger followed and called people to the same Religion; this Religion is called ISLAM. A believer in ISLAM is called a MUSLIM. The meaning of the word Islam is "to submit to Allah ". The meaning of the word Muslim is "one who submits to Allah ."The name Allah is the name of the only true God. It means the one who is attributed with the power to create things. Although prophets and messengers spoke different languages, what they called people to was the same Religion, Islam. A person can declare that he believes and follows the true Religion, Islam, in any language. Belief is known to Allah regardless of the language. Those who say they are Muslims, yet deny the true belief in their heart, with their tongue, or by some actions, are surely not Muslims. Allah knows fully who are the ones who truly believe in Islam. Both messengers Moses and Jesus called their people to the true Religion, Islam. This fact is clearly described in the Qur'an, the last and preserved scripture for all of mankind on Earth.


SINS

When a person goes against Allah's orders (which are conveyed by His messenger), he sins. The worst sin is blasphemy. It is caused by any belief, saying, or action that contradicts Islam. When a person becomes Muslim he leaves all blasphemy. A Muslim must learn about blasphemy to avoid commiting any of them as he proceeds through life. If a Muslim commits blasphemy, he becomes non-Muslim (apostate) and must become Muslim again. If a Muslim commits a sin which is less than blasphemy and dies without repenting to Allah of the sin, then this sin is counted against him on the Day of Judgment, unless Allah forgives it for him. On the other hand, if a Muslim follows Allah's orders, in obedience to Him, this is counted in his favor. All of this is known by Allah and no thing escapes Him.

When a Muslim commits sins, he must repent of them immediately. To repent of blasphemy, one must utter the Two Testifications of Faith, with the intention to clear oneself of the committed blasphemy. The Testifications of Faith (Shahadahs) can be stated as follows:

"I testify that I only worship my Creator and I testify that Muhammad is God's Messenger."

Any statement equivalent to the Testifications of Faith is also accepted.
For a sin less than blasphemy, one must stop doing the sin, regret having done it, and have the intention not to commit the same sin again. If the sin is stealing from a person, for example, then the stolen goods must be returned as well. Allah is ever-merciful to the Muslim. No matter how many times the Muslim sins in his life, if he stops it, regrets having done it, and intends not to do it again, he will be forgiven by Allah. However, for those who are non-Muslim, no matter what good deeds they do, they receive no credit in the Hereafter; they must first become Muslim.

A few examples of blasphemy are: believing that Allah has a son, worshipping an idol, and saying that Allah does not know everything. Some examples of sins less than blasphemy are: killing a person unjustly, adultery, drinking alcohol, and stealing. When a Muslim makes sincere repentance, as was described, it is as though he did not sin, in that he will not be punished for what he repented of, for Allah is ever-merciful to the Muslims. Also, when a person becomes a Muslim for the first time, Allah forgives all his past sins.


PRAYER

Upon the order of Allah, Prophet Muhammad commanded the Muslims to pray five times a day. This order applies since the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad until the Day of Judgment. The prayers have a specific format with the one praying praising and thanking Allah, asking for His help and guidance, and asking Him to bless the prophets and the pious Muslims. A Muslim knows that at any moment of his life he can ask Allah for help and guidance, and he is encouraged to do so. However, supplicating Allah does not replace the five prescribed prayers, which have a specific format to be followed.

How many minutes do you spend in each of the 5 daily prayer rituals, Sams? Do u pray on a carpet?

I do yoga on the mat almost daily.. I guess it's like a prayer ritual in some aspects.

alHamdu lillaah I spend varying times for the Prayers.

As for the preparations for Prayers such as Ablution (WuDoo') I'm pretty sure you have heard of it, it just takes about 2 minutes. And for each Prayer if I do just the obligation then it will take about 1 minuter per cycle so for example for the Nightfall Prayer which has 4 cycles - that's about 4 minutes.

But of course the way that a Muslim should Pray if they want to earn a lot more reward is to recite from the Qur'aan for a long time during the Prayer and to not think of any worldly matters during the Prayer.

I used to Pray on a mat but now I'm allergic to dust mites lol

Maybe one day I can get a mat that does not have dust mites lool.

That's the same as the chanting my grandma used to do reciting a mantra and clacking her beads..



Hey, why don't u try using yoga mats? They are dust free, easy to keep clean and sterilized! Light weight and comfy! Try them!!

thanks for the informative photo

^ISA (JESUS), A PROPHET OF GOD

As a mercy from Him, Allah (meaning: the One Who has the Godhood) sent many messengers to humans. They were all sent to teach people the correct and acceptable way of worshipping God, their Creator and the Creator of everything. All the prophets of Allah, the first of whom is Adam, and the last of whom is Muhammad, came with one Religion--Islam, one creed--the belief in the Oneness of Allah. They all taught that Allah is attributed with all the perfect attributes, one of which is that He does not resemble any of His creations. They taught what Allah ordered us to perform and to avoid in this life. They taught about the Judgment Day on which all of us will be judged as to whether or not we fulfilled our obligations in this life. None of them taught their people what contradicts the belief in the Oneness of Allah. Each one of them ordered his followers to believe in the rest of the prophets.

Imam al-Bukhariyy related that Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said what means: <<The prophets are like brothers from the same father with different mothers. Their Religion is one, although their Shari^ahs (rules of the Religion) differed. I am the most deserving of ^Isa (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary). There was no other prophet between us. >>

Eternally, Allah chose Prophet ^Isa (Jesus) to be revealed to as a messenger before Prophet Muhammad. He was one of the five best messengers of Allah, called Ulul-^azm(1), those with the highest status, who were the most patient. He was ^Isa, the son of Maryam, the daughter of ^Imran, from the children of Israel(2). Prophet ^Isa like all the prophets, was truthful in what he conveyed from Allah. Although today Muslims follow the Shari^ah of Prophet Muhammad, they respect, love, and believe in ^Isa and in his prophethood.

1 Ulul-^azm are the messengers of Allah who have the highest status. In order, they are: Prophet Muhammad, Prophet lbrahim (Abraham), Prophet Musa (Moses), Prophet ^Isa (Jesus), and Prophet Nuh (Noah).

2 Israel was another name given to Prophet Ya^qub (Jacob), who was the son of Ishaq (Isaac), the son of Ibrahim (Abraham). It means <<the righteous slave>>.


MARYAM, THE MOTHER OF ^ISA (Jesus)

Maryam (Mary), the mother of ^Isa, was a pious Muslim woman from the offspring of Israel who lived during the time of Prophet Zakariyya. Prophet Zakariyya was a prophet of Allah. He ordered people to follow the Shari^ah revealed to Prophet Musa. In the Qur'an, there are two surahs (chapters) named Al ^Imran and Maryam referring to Maryam (Mary), the mother of ^Isa. In these surahs, issues relating to Maryam: her birth and her high status, and the birth of her son, Prophet ^Isa are stated.

Maryam's mother conceived and delivered Maryam when she was at an advanced age, when women usually can no longer have babies. When one day, Maryam's mother saw a bird feeding its young, she longed for a baby herself. She made a supplication to Allah to bless her with a child. She vowed that she would make him a servant for the Holy House in Jerusalem, dedicated for worship, because she hoped the child would be male. Allah answered her supplication and Maryam's mother conceived. However, she delivered a baby girl. She named her Maryam and asked Allah to protect her and her offspring from evil.

Since Maryam's father had died, Prophet Zakariyya (who was the husband of Maryam's sister) became Maryam's guardian. From him, Maryam learned the Religion. She grew up as a righteous, pure, and pious Muslim woman worshipping Allah and endeavoring greatly in performing obedience to Him. Before she turned fourteen (14) years old, Maryam was a waliyyah (a very pious woman with a special high status). She became the best of the women in the world. It is mentioned in the Qur'an that the angels said that Allah chose Maryam and preferred her to the other women of the world (Al ^Imran, 42).


THE BIRTH OF ^ISA

The great scholar Ibn Jarir and other scholars narrated that one day, Maryam ran out of water. She asked her cousin, Yusuf, to go with her to get some water. He declined, saying he had his water for that day. So Maryam went to fetch water alone. There, she found Angel Jibril, whom Allah had sent to her in the shape of a man. Thinking he was a human who might harm her, she asked refuge with Allah from him. Jibril told her, ‘’I am the Messenger of your Lord to you. I was sent to give you a pious child who is pure from sins.'' Maryam told him, ‘’How would I have a son? I have no husband, and I am not an adultress or a fornicator.'' Jibril told her, ‘’Creating a son without a father is an easy matter to Allah. Allah will make him for the people a sign of the Power of Allah. He will send him as a mercy from Him and an endowment to those who follow him and believe in him. Creating him is a matter Allah willed and destined, so it will not be blocked or changed.''

Jibril blew the soul of ^Isa into Maryam and ^Isa’s soul entered into her womb. Maryam became pregnant with ^Isa, peace be upon him. There is a difference of opinion as to the term of her pregnancy. Some scholars said it was nine months long, some said eight and some said otherwise. However, when the signs of pregnancy became apparent on her, her cousin, Yusuf, the Carpenter, was disturbed and did not know how to interpret that matter. He knew how pious she was, so he could not accuse her of fornication. On the other hand, the signs of pregnancy called for attributing fornication to her. So he decided to open the subject with her. He asked her, ‘’Tell me, would plants grow without seeds? Would trees grow without rainfall? Would there be a child without a male?'' To all these questions Maryam said ‘’Yes.'' Then she asked him, ‘’Did you not know that Allah made the plants emerge without seeds on the day He created them? Did you not know that Allah created the trees the first time without rain? Did you not know that Allah created Adam and Hawwa' (Eve) without a father or a mother?'' Yusuf knew all these things and when she responded in this way, he felt assured of her innocence and that this was something special given to her by Allah.

When the signs of her pregnancy became apparent, Maryam went away from her people. The pangs of birth led her to the trunk of a dead palm tree. Out of her shyness from the people, and fearing they would accuse her of having done an ugly act, she wished she was dead and not a trace of her could be found. Jibril called her to comfort her. He told her that Allah made a small river run under her from which she could drink, and should she shake the trunk of the dead palm tree next to her, it would turn green. Then moist dates would fall down, from which she could eat and be nourished. Jibril told her that when she faced her people with her son to tell anyone who questioned her about him that she had made a vow(3) not to talk to any human for that day. That day, Maryam gave birth to her son, ^Isa, peace be upon him. Forty (40) days later she carried him back to her people. They accused her of having fornicated. In response, Maryam pointed to her son, telling them to talk to him. They were angered at this and thought she was mocking them by asking them to speak with a 40-day old baby lying in a small cradle. At this, Allah made ^Isa speak. He said what was mentioned in verses 30-33 of Surat Maryam and they mean: [I am a slave of Allah. He will reveal the Book to me and make me a prophet. He blessed me wherever I am. In the rules revealed to me there will be a special attention given to Prayers and Zakah. Allah has predestined that I will be kind to my mother and not a tyrant with a bad ending. Peace was on me the day I was born. Peace will be on me on the day I will die and on the day I will be resurrected.]

When Maryam's people heard that, they refrained from harming her or Prophet Zakariyya, about whom they had made ugly accusations. After baby ^Isa spoke these words, he did not speak again until he became at an age when children normally begin to speak. ^Isa's speaking from the cradle was a preparation and a sign of his creed and coming prophethood, when he would call the people to believe in Allah, the One Who does not have a partner, and to believe in the message of ^Isa -that he was the slave and messenger of Allah. The first words he spoke were, ‘’I am the slave of Allah.''

3 Although this is no longer the case, in the rules revealed to the prophets before our Prophet Muhammad it was an acceptable act of worship to vow to refrain from speaking to anyone for a period of time.


EARLY LIFE OF PROPHET ^ISA

Lady Maryam took ^Isa to Egypt where they stayed for a period of time. Then, they returned to the countries of ash-Sham- to a city known as an-Nasirah (Nazareth). ^Isa, peace be upon him, studied the Tawrah (Torah) in the schools and memorized it. He spoke Syriac, the language of the people of Palestine at that time, and the language in which the Heavenly Book, called the Injil, was revealed to him. He was a pious worshipper of Allah, following the rules of the Torah revealed to Prophet Musa.


THE PROPHETHOOD of ^ISA

Allah gave the Prophethood to ^Isa when he was thirty years old. Allah revealed to him new laws which abrogated some of the laws revealed to Prophet Musa. Prophet ^Isa conveyed the revelation to the people and called them to believe in his message.

Prophet ^Isa, like all the prophets of Allah, performed miracles. Allah sent all the prophets with miracles(4) as a proof to their prophethood. People would witness the miracles and believe in their prophethood. Many of Prophet ^Isa's miracles were in curing illnesses, to be a stronger proof of his truthfulness, since the people at his time were famous for their knowledge in the field of medicine.

4 A miracle is an extraordinary event performed by a man who claims prophethood, which no one can imitate or match to discredit the prophet, and which supports his claim of prophethood.

Prophet ^Isa cured those with seemingly incurable illnesses. Prophet ^Isa cured a man inflicted with leprosy. He put his honorable hand on the face of a man who was born blind and cured his blindness. Once, Prophet ^Isa supplicated to Allah to bring back to life one person who had died and was being carried to the burial place, and Allah brought this person back to life.

Prophet ^Isa had other kinds of miracles also. He formed the shape of bats from clay and then, by the Will of Allah, they flew away a distance. One of the miracles of ^Isa is mentioned in the Qur'an in Surat al-Ma'idah, Verses 112-115 which tell about one time when Prophet ^Isa and the people who were with him reached to a place where there was not enough food for all the people with him. The students of ^Isa asked him to supplicate to Allah for food which would come down on them from the sky. ^Isa made supplication to Allah and the angels brought down the food on a piece of material before the eyes of the people.

Hundreds and hundreds of people ate from that food, and there was no sign the food had diminished in quantity. This miracle increased the belief of the believers. The blasphemers however, claimed ^Isa had performed sorcery on their eyes.

After his revelation, Prophet ^Isa lived on Earth for about three years. He used to travel from place to place calling people to the proper worship of Allah. He was so detached from the worldly matters that he did not worry about not having a house to return to at night. He used to sleep wherever the night would fall on him, whether he was in an open land or in a sheltered place. He wore clothing made out of unwoven wool. He ate from the raw plants of the Earth, without desiring to cook them. He did not marry and did not have children.


THE INJIL

^Isa received a Heavenly Book, the Injil, which contained the Shari^ah, (rules of the Religion) revealed to him. In it was the prohibition of associating partners with Allah. In it was the prohibition to consume the usurious gain (riba), pig meat, blood, and the meat of animals slaughtered improperly. It contained the order to perform the Prayer (with bowing and prostration) twice a day. It had the order to fast (but other than the month of Ramadan), and the order to perform taharah (purification). Prophet ^Isa came with a Shari^ah that made permissible some of the things which had been forbidden upon the children of Israel in the Torah. Although what is called ‘’The Bible'' today contains some true stories and alleged sayings of Prophet ^Isa, it does not contain the true Injil which was revealed to him.


THE ASCENSION OF PROPHET ^ISA

When Prophet ^Isa was 33 years old, the blasphemers among the offspring of Israel plotted to kill him, but Allah saved him from their harm. Ibn Abi Hatim and an-Nasa'iyy narrated from the route of lbn ^Abbas that he said:

Prophet ^Isa was in session with twelve of his elite companions in a house. He told them that some of them would blaspheme in the future. Then he asked them, ‘’Who among you would volunteer to be made to look like me, be killed in my place, and be my companion in Paradise.'' The youngest among them stood up and said, ‘’I.'' Prophet ^Isa told him to sit, then repeated his same question. Again, the same young man said, ‘’I.'' Again, Prophet ^Isa told him to sit, then asked the same question. After the same young man volunteered for the third time, Prophet ^Isa told him <<you are the one>>. Prophet ^Isa was raised to the sky from an opening in the ceiling of the house. When the Jews came after Prophet ^Isa, they saw that young man, whom Allah made to look similar to ^Isa. They took him, thinking he was Prophet ^Isa and crucified him.

It should be noted here there are two widespread false stories about this matter. In one, it is claimed that one of ^Isa's students was paid a great sum of money to lead those Jews to ^Isa. However Allah made this student look like ^Isa, so they thought he was ^Isa and they crucified him. In another, it is said that the person killed in place of ^Isa was the leader of the Jews. Both of these stories are false.

After Prophet ^Isa was raised to the heaven, his nation lived following his guidance, teaching, and methodology for two hundred (200) years. However, the nation of Prophet ^Isa did not remain steadfast to Islam. Many people who claimed to follow the rules of ^Isa perverted those rules and changed the statements of the Injil. Three hundred (300) years after Prophet ^Isa was raised to the sky, those who were following the ones who had perverted the teachings of Prophet ^Isa became very numerous, and those who were truly following the Religion of Islam were few and weak. After some five hundred (500) years, none of the believing Muslims of ^Isa's nation were left. When Prophet Muhammad began receiving Revelation, he was the only Muslim living among people on Earth, worshipping solely Allah.


PROPHET ^ISA'S DESCENT TO EARTH

Prophet ^Isa, peace be upon him, is still alive- in the second heaven- worshipping Allah. He will descend to Earth before the Day of Judgment and his descent will be one of the great signs of the nearing of that Day. Prophet Muhammad informed us that ^Isa will descend to Earth at a place on the eastern side of Damascus, with his hands on the wings of two angels. He will meet a group of Muslims getting ready to perform the prayer, with the Mahdiyy as their Imam. The Mahdiyy will ask Prophet ^Isa to lead them in that prayer. However, ^Isa will ask the Mahdiyy to stand Imam for them- as a sign that Prophet ^Isa will rule with the rules revealed to Prophet Muhammad. After this one time, ^Isa will lead the people in prayers because he has a higher status than the Mahdiyy.

After he descends, Prophet ^Isa will rule the Earth with the Shari^ah of Prophet Muhammad, the Shari^ah which Muslims are ordered to follow until the Judgment Day. He will kill the Dajjal, an ugly, evil blasphemer who claims himself as God, and who misleads many people to blaspheme. Prophet ^Isa will perform Hajj and travel to visit the grave of Prophet Muhammad to salute him. He will greet him by saying, ‘’As-Salamu ^alaykum ya Rasul- Allah '', as narrated by Abu Dawud at-Tayalisiyy and others. This means: ‘’Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah''.

During his time, the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) will appear and cause great destruction to Earth and devastation to Muslims. Prophet ^Isa will take the believers to Mount at-Tur where they will supplicate Allah to relieve them from these people. Allah will answer their du^a' and destroy all the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj. After that, Prophet ^Isa will rule the Muslims and there will be a time when peace, comfort, and safety prevail.

After he descends, Prophet ^Isa will live for forty (40) years on Earth. He will marry and have children. Then, he will die and be buried. ^Abdullah Ibn Salam said, ‘’It is written in the original Torah that Prophet ^Isa will be buried next to Prophet Muhammad.'' (In the chamber of Lady ^A'ishah)


CONCLUSION

Prophet ^Isa was a messenger of Allah revealed to convey to the people the religion of Islam and to call them to worship Allah, their Creator. Muslims believe in his prophethood and in his truthfulness in conveying that message. Prophet ^Isa is still alive in the second heaven, worshipping Allah. He will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment and will rule the Muslims with the Shari^ah of Prophet Muhammad. Peace be upon this respected, honored, and beloved Messenger of Allah.



Praise be to Allah, and Allah knows best.

PRAYER IN ISLAM

During times of deep trial, despair, and sadness, Muslims seek comfort and guidance in the words of Allah, the Qur'an. Allah reminds us that people will be trialed and tested in life, and Allah also calls upon all to bear these trials with patience, perseverance and prayer.


Linguistically as-salat (prayer) is to make supplication to Allah. However, according to the convention of the scholars it is a set of verbal praises and specific actions started with at-takbir by saying Allahu Akbar which means (God is of greater status than anything else.) and ended by as-salam by saying Assalamu ^alaykum which means (peace be upon you) with certain conditions.

The five prayers are among the best acts of worship that the Muslim performs. Performing them is the best deed after having believed in ALLAH and All His Messengers. Prophet Muhammad may Allah raise his rank was asked what the best deed was and he said it was performing the obligatory prayers at the beginning of their times (The scholar Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated).


The prophets from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad, may Allah raise their rank, ordered their followers to pray as per God’s orders.


Since the prayer is the most important matter of Islam after believing in God and His Messengers, one must plan his life around the prayer. It is a special time where all the obedient and practicing Muslims around the world face one direction and pray to their Creator. A Muslim is obligated to pray five times a day. It's a moment of detaching oneself from the worldly luxuries and commitments and purifying one's heart and soul with complete humbleness and devotion to the Creater Almighty Allah.

Hey sams, i am going on vacation and juz wanna wish u and all the folks on Islamic Society a Peaceful and Happy New Year...!!!


It's been nice chattin' with yer all! Party hard during the countdown!

Have a safe time tangawizi.

Take care of yourself.

Don't forget us when you come back :p

Cleaning Oneself after Defecation and Urination (Istinjaa’)

Istinjaa’ is obligatory after the emission of any wet material from the eliminatory outlets, except maniyy.

Istinjaa’ is performed with water by rinsing the soiled area until it becomes pure, or else by wiping the soiled area three times or more until the area is clean (although a trace that can only be removed with water may be left), with an uprooting, pure, solid, and unrespectable material such as stone or paper. Istinjaa’ may be performed in this way even if water is present, provided the wet najas-filth (najaasah) is not displaced or has not dried before cleaning it, or else water must be used.


The Purificatory Bath (Ghusl)

Among the conditions of prayer is purification from the state of major ritual impurity (Hadath akbar) by performing the purificatory bath (ghusl).

Dry purification (tayammum) is performed when one cannot perform ghusl.

Purification is a condition for the validity of prayers. Just as one who is in the state of minor ritual impurity (Hadath aSghar) must clear oneself of that state for the prayers by performing wuDoo’ or the dry purification (tayammum) when unable to use water, the one who is in a state of major ritual impurity must clear oneself of that state for the validity of the prayer.

To purify oneself from the major ritual impurity (Hadath akbar) one performs the purificatory bath (ghusl). When one cannot perform the purificatory bath, one instead performs the dry purification (tayammum) using soil to enable one to pray (although performing tayammum does not purify one from the state of major ritual impurity).

One is required to perform the purificatory bath after any of these five (5) matters occurs:

1.The emission of maniyy;
2.Sexual intercourse;
3.Termination of menses (HayD);
4.Termination of postpartum bleeding (nifaas);
5.Childbirth.

The occurrence of any one of these five matters causes the person to be in a state of major ritual impurity and obligates the person to purify himself from that state for the validity of his prayer. The occurrence of other than these five matters does not make the purificatory bath (ghusl) an obligation on one.

Washing the dead Muslim is not a matter pertaining to purifying him from the state of major ritual impurity. Moreover, performing this ghusl is not an obligation on the dead person himself, because he is no longer accountable. Rather, this ghusl is performed for him out of honouring him. Performing the ghusl for the dead Muslim is a collective obligation on the Muslim community.


The emission of maniyy and sexual intercourse are matters common between the man and the woman, i.e., if either of these matters occurs to the man or the woman, then the ghusl becomes an obligation on them. There are three matters specific to the woman that cause her to be in a state of major ritual impurity and require, once they terminate, a purificatory bath (ghusl) to clear herself of this state. They are:

3. menses (HayD);
4. postpartum bleeding (nifaas);
5. childbirth.

The purificatory bath (ghusl) becomes an obligation on the woman when her menses or post partum bleeding terminates. That is, when the blood of the menses stops (terminating the menses) or the blood that exits after delivery stops (terminating the postpartum bleeding period—even from a caesarean birth), then it becomes obligatory on the woman to perform the purificatory bath (ghusl) in order for her to pray.

The menses is defined as the usual blood that exits from the womb of the woman, neither as a result of illness, nor as a result of childbirth. The minimum time of the menses is the duration of a day and a night, i.e., twenty-four (24) hours of bleeding. So, if the duration of the bleeding adds up to less than twenty-four (24) hours, it is not considered blood of the menses. The maximum period is fifteen (15) days. So, bleeding which continues past fifteen (15) days is not considered blood of the menses.

The postpartum blood is the blood that comes out of the woman after delivery, because of delivery. It may last for only a moment. The maximum bleeding period after delivery is sixty (60) days. Bleeding after that time is not considered a postpartum bleeding, i.e., the blood of nifaas. Also, if the woman bleeds while giving birth, it is not considered the blood of nifaas.

Giving birth renders ghusl obligatory on the woman, whether or not she delivered at term or before, and whether or not she delivered a live or dead child. If the woman delivers and does not bleed afterwards, she still must perform ghusl for the prayers. Since the child originally developed from the combination of the maniyys of the man and the woman, its exit is similar to the exit of maniyy, which requires ghusl.


Integrals of the Purificatory Bath

The integrals of the purificatory bath are two (2):

1.To have the intention to clear oneself of the state of major ritual impurity (Hadath akbar), or a similar intention;

2.To wash the whole body with water, including the skin and the hair, even if the hair is thick.

Be warned of the mujassimah (those who claim Allaah is a body)

The author of the famous Hanbaliyy book “al-khiSaal” related that Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal judged as a blasphemer the person who says, ‘Allaah is a body not like other bodies.’

The one who says “Allaah is a body” is attributing to Allaah a non-befitting attribute and his qualifying phrase, “not like other bodies” does not clear him of having committed blasphemy.

A body by definition is something which has a format and a shape and takes up space. All these are attributes of the creation and are not befitting to ascribe to the Creator – as is understood from Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s statement.

The believers see Allaah while they are in Paradise without a how or a resemblance or a direction. They will see Allaah – not the way the creatures are seen – rather they see Allaah without Allaah being in a direction. They see Allaah without having a distance between them and Him. This was explicitly mentioned by Imaam Abu Haneefah in al-Fiqh al-Akbar and other scholars.

Be warned of the mujassimah and don’t just believe any author.

The book 7aadi al arwaa7 ilaa bilaad al afraa7 by ibn qayyim aljawziyya (the son of qayyim aljawziyyah) contains beliefs which contradict the belief of Muslims. In it he says that ibn taymiya said Hellfire ends.

To say that Hellfire ends is against the explicit text of the Qur’aan and Sunnah and the consensus of the Muslim nation.

Explanation pertaining to the Integrals of the Purificatory Bath

The integrals of the purificatory bath are two matters; matters other than these two are not obligatory. The first of the two integrals of the purificatory bath is the intention. The intention is established in the heart. One establishes the intention in one’s heart to clear oneself of the major ritual impurity when the water first touches one’s body. If one establishes the intention before pouring the water on one’s body, without having it when the water came in contact with one’s body, this washing is not valid. Note, however, that this is not a case of consensus. Rather, according to Imaam Maalik, for example, if one makes the proper intention shortly before starting to pour the water, one’s ghusl is still valid.

A valid intention is to establish in one’s heart, I now perform the ghusl to purify myself from the major ritual impurity (Hadath akbar), or to establish in one’s heart the intention to perform the obligatory ghusl, or what is similar to these intentions.

The second integral is to wash once the whole body, including the skin and the hair, with purifying water. One needs to let the water reach to the skin under the hair, even if the hair was thick. Washing three times is a recommended matter (sunnah). Any tangible najaasah on the body must be removed from the contaminated part of the body first for the lifting of the major ritual impurity from that part to be valid.

The Blessed Prophetic Migration – Stories and Morals


Wednesday, 17 January 2007
All praise is due to Allah, our Lord, whose existence is eternal without a beginning, without an end, and without being subject to a time or place. May Allah, the All Mighty, raise the rank of the best of all His Messengers, Prophet Muhammad, and raise the rank of all the brethren Prophets and Messengers, and the blessed and virtuous kin and companions of our dear Prophet.

Surat At-Tawbah verse 40 means: “Allah did indeed help him [Muhammad] when he left due to the unbelievers. They were two, and they were in the cave, as he [Muhammad] said to his companion ‘Do not dismay for God will support us’ ”.

Brothers and sisters in Faith, Prophet Muhammad called for justice, goodness, morality and ethics. He forbade all forms of vice and injustices. He was the man known to his people, before the revelations of Prophethood, as the trustworthy who was no thief, no immoral deviant, and no womanizer. He roamed the successive gatherings of people while repeating: “O people, say there is no God but Allah, as such leads to success” not losing his resolve and determination, despite some unbeliever who pursued him with sinister lies and falsehoods.

May Allah raise his rank. Prophet Muhammad persevered despite the harassment he faced from the idolaters, who were astounded by his level of patience. This bewilderment drove them to ask his paternal uncle Abu Talib about what his nephew was after, for if it were fame then they were ready to consult him in their daily affairs, or if it were wealth then they were ready to make him their wealthiest, or if it were kingship then they were ready to grant him the reigns of power. Despite all this, the Prophet who was revealed to by God responded to his uncle by saying: “By my Lord, O uncle, for if they were to place the sun in my right and the moon in my left, I shall not stray from this path, and I shall relentlessly persevere on it until my moment of death; so that the words of Faith do propagate and spread”.

It was in the face of such strong commitment and resolve that the idolaters agreed upon assassinating the Prophet, and they decided to do so by assigning one brutal man from each tribe so that his blood is dispersed amongst them all. But despite such evil plots, the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) came to the Prophet informing him and telling him to avoid his usual sleeping place. The Prophet then called upon Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, asking him to take his sleeping bed and to cover himself with a green cloak, which the Prophet had. The Prophet then emerged to them, as he was veiled from their sights, and as they stood at his door he threw over their heads a grasp of soil while reciting from the Book some verses from Surat Y asin beginning with what means: “Yasin, by the Qur’an full of wisdom” until the verse which means: “And we have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further We have obstructed their sight; so that they cannot see”.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, then selected his beloved Abu Bakr Assiddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, to be his travel companion on the migration trip to Madinah. During their trip they entered the cave of Thawr, which had cavities in its walls. Abu Bakr attempted to cover these cavities with his outfit, until there remained a last cavity, which Abu Bakr concealed with his foot. Abu Bakr was stoutly committed to protecting his beloved Muhammad. It is then that a serpent bit him in the foot, but he held his position bearing the pain, until he cried shedding a tear that softly dropped waking the Prophet peace be upon him. The Prophet then compassionately got up and wiped away these glittering tears, consequentially leaving Abu Bakr a cured man by the will of Allah.

Furthermore, Allah protected his beloved by the spider web, and thus Muhammad peace be upon him was protected by the weakest and frailest of houses, the house of a spider. Allah brought about a dove, which laid an egg at the mouth of the cave, and the spider which spun the web.

Meanwhile, the Muslims of Madinah were affectionately awaiting the arrival of the Prophet. And so one day in searing midday heat, and while reporters were heading back and forth, a man emerged with the news to which he yelled at full voice: “O people of Madinah, the person you have been waiting for has arrived”. These echoing words caused an affectionate amassing of people driven by their love for the Prophet. This blessed scene has been captured and remembered through the resonating words of tala^al badru ^alayn a min Thaniyy atil-wad a^; the full moon [Muhammad] has shone upon us from the spot known as Thaniyy atil-wad a^.

The Prophetic migration, dear brothers and sisters, was not an act of cowardice fleeing from the idolaters, nor was it an act of betrayal towards standing up for justice and rebuttal of falsehood. In fact, the Prophet’s migration was due to an order from his Creator, Allah the All Mighty

What happened on ashuraa'?

God forgave Prophet Adam

God saved Prophet Noah's ark

Battle called thaatul Riqaa^ (Islamic event)

Assassination of Al-Hussein bin Ali (grandson of Prophet Mohammad – peace upon him)


It is good to fast this day.

Imam ash-shafi^i advised to fast the 11th of Muharram.

Imam Nawawiyy said about ashura' it is expiation for the small sins and it is estimated that it rubs off all the sins except the big ones. Fasting the day of Arafat is expiation-kaffarah for 2 years and the day of ashura is expiation for 1 year'

THE ESSENTIALS OF BELIEF

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his Al and Companions, and protect his nation from that which he fears for it.

A "prophet" is a man who receives the Revelation from Allah and conveys it to the people.

A "messenger" is a prophet who comes with some new laws.

The prophet who is not a messenger follows the laws of the messenger who came before him.

Every messenger is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger.

Islam is the Religion of all Prophets of Allah, starting with Adam and ending
with Muhammad.

In Arabic, Islam means submission. To believe in the heart and declare with the tongue: "No one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" is how one becomes Muslim.

Uttering the Two Testifications (Shahadatan) is required of the person who is not already a Muslim.

A Muslim is a believer and a follower of Islam.

The First Testification (Shahadah), i.e., "No one is God except Allah" means nothing deserves to be worshipped except Allah."

Allah is the name of the Creator in Arabic which means "The One Who has Godhood, which is the power to create the entities."

The Second Testification, i.e., "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" includes believing that Muhammad was the last of the prophets, that he was truthful in all he told about and conveyed from Allah (as were all the prophets before him), and that the Creator gave us prophets and messengers to guide us to worship Him correctly.

The words "He", "His", and "Him" used in reference to Allah must not be construed to refer to gender. Allah created males and females. Hence, "He" does not resemble "His" creations, and they do not resemble "Him".

A Muslim must believe in all the prophets and messengers.

The Two Testifications are the essentials of belief in Islam; they are the foundation of the faith. The analogy of constructing a building is useful in explaining the importance of this basic belief. There will be no building without a concrete foundation. Likewise, there will be no benefit and fruitful results in the Hereafter without first having the correct belief. This analogy illustrates the need to start from the beginning and build upward; before one can remain steadfast in the Religion, one must have the proper belief.

Muslims firmly believe that only one Creator exists, Whose name is Allah, and Muhammad is His prophet and messenger. Knowledge of and belief in this are the foundation of the faith, and all Muslims are united by this basic belief.

The Muslim uses the mind as a guide, because the mind and faith go hand-in-hand. Knowledge is essential, since learning gives one strength and purpose.

The sound intellect and the explicit statements revealed to Prophet Muhammad affirm the belief in God's existence and His other attributes. One must understand that Allah is neither His attributes nor is He other than them. For example: One can say: "Allah has the attribute of Power." However, one cannot say: Allah is power."

God has no faults or weaknesses. Allah the Exalted is flawless. His attributes are without flaw and are unchanging. God does not resemble any of His creations. If Allah resembled any of His creations, then He would be susceptible to the same things to which the creations are susceptible. If Allah were susceptible to change, as the creations are, then He would be weak and created-- as they are-- and this is impossible. Allah is without shape, without form, and without limitations. He does not resemble anything we see in the universe or anything that can be imagined, since imagination is part of the creation.


Allah exists.

Without comparing Allah to the creation, one can use common sense to prove the existence of the Creator. When one sees a building, one knows there is a builder; when one sees a painting, one knows there is a painter; when one sees the creation, one knows there is a Creator. Allah is the Creator of everything in the universe. He created all places, including the heavens, Earth, and what is in between. Allah exists without a place. He existed before He created any of the places. Allah existed eternally and places did not. Allah exists now as He has been, i.e., without residing in a place, whether this place is the skies, Earth, Paradise, Hell, or any other place in the six directions.

The six directions are above, below, right, left, ahead, and behind.

Allah does not change. Change is a sign of need and need is not befitting to attribute to God. If a thing changes for the better then it was not perfect to begin with, and if it changes for the worse, then it is no longer perfect. It is a fact that Allah is perfect. Therefore, Allah does not change. He is not in Heaven. He is not inside everyone. He is not everywhere. He does not occupy a space now, He never did, and He never will. Allah exists without a place.

Allah is one; He is indivisible, i.e., He is not a body. Allah has no partner, no counterpart, no wife, and no offspring. This is understood by the sound mind, because if there were two partners and one partner willed for one thing to be and the other partner willed the opposite thing, then the one who willed what did not occur is weak. The common sense realizes that opposite matters do not occur at the same time and location. Weakness is not befitting to attribute to God; therefore, only one God exists.

For the same reason, the Devil does not have control over God, and evil occurs because Allah willed it. There is a wisdom behind everything-- even if we do not know the wisdom-- Allah knows.

Allah has no beginning to His Existence. Anything that has a beginning is a creation. Allah created every creation, every motion, every stillness, every thought, and every intention. To have a beginning is a sign of need, and Allah is not in need.

Allah has no end to His Existence. To have an end is weakness, and the Creator is not weak.

Allah does not need any of His creation. To need something means to be unable to perform without it, and this is weakness. The Creator is not weak-- it is impossible for need to be among His attributes.

Allah has the attribute of Power by which He affects the creation. He makes them exist, and He annihilates them.

Allah has the attribute of Will. Whatever Allah willed to be shall be, and whatever Allah did not will to be shall not be. Both good and evil happen according to God's Will.

Allah has the attribute of Knowledge. Allah knows everything: what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen.

Allah hears all hearable things and sees all seeable things without organs and without limitations. Man needs ears and air to transfer sound in order to hear; and he needs light to see. Allah does not need any of the creation.

Allah, with His eternal Kalam ,orders the obligations, forbids the prohibitions, promises the reward of Paradise, and threatens with the punishment of Hellfire without instruments, letters, languages, or sounds.

Allah has the attribute of Life because he who is dead cannot be attributed with knowledge, will, and power, and consequently, cannot create. Allah's Life is not like ours. We need flesh, bones, blood, and a spirit. Allah created all these; His Life is not in need of any of them.


Allah created all the creation, and this includes the Religion of Islam, which is the only valid and true Religion.

Islam began among humans with the first man, Adam, who was the first prophet and messenger. Islam continued through many prophets, some of whom were also messengers.

All the prophets and messengers taught "No one is God except Allah" and to believe in and follow the prophet and messenger of their time. All the prophets taught that only one God exists. They also taught aforementioned attributes of Allah, and the attributes of the prophets. They called the people to Islam, taught them how to worship Allah properly, and conveyed what Allah ordered and what Allah forbade.

The prophets had miracles to support their claim of Prophethood and to prove to the people what they were teaching was the truth.

Some of the rules changed from one messenger to another but the belief remained the same. The messengers came with new Laws. For example: at the time of Adam, Muslims used to pray once per day. They were ordered to pray twice each day at the time of Prophet Jesus (^Isa). Now, according to the rules of the last Messenger, Prophet Muhammad, Muslims pray five times per day. In previous Laws of the messengers, Muslims were ordered to pray in specific places. Now, in the rules revealed to Prophet Muhammad, Muslims are not required to pray in specific places.

Allah blessed the people with the prophets and messengers to guide them to obedience and warn them against disobedience.

Muslims must believe in all the prophets and messengers, because Allah blessed them all with Revelation which they conveyed to their people. However, now Muslims must follow the rules of the last Prophet and Messenger, Prophet Muhammad.

Allah ordered the Messengers to convey the Laws, and they did. They taught by words and example.

The prophets were attributed with truthfulness, trustworthiness, and intelligence. Consequently, lying, dishonesty, vileness, stupidity, and dullness were impossible to be among their attributes. They were also attributed with impeccability. They never commit blasphemy, enormous sins (such as drinking alcohol and unjustful killing), or abject, small sins (such as stealing one grape).

Blasphemy includes any belief, action, or saying which belittles Allah, His Books; His
Messengers; His Angels; His Rites, the well known practices (Ma^lams) of His Religion; His Rules; His Promise; or His Threat.

Prophet Muhammad taught his Companions, and those Companions taught their followers and so on until the knowledge of Islam reached the Muslims of the present day. The beliefs and teachings were passed from one trustworthy Muslim to another with a chain of reliable relators back to the Prophet.

”Trustworthy" as defined by Islam means the Muslim who does not commit enormous sins, does not commit small sins in a way that they will be more than his good deeds, and does not behave in violation of the behaviour of those who have his status.

In Islam, it is an enormous sin to judge without knowledge. If a Muslim does not know an answer to an Islamic inquiry, then he must not give his opinion or what he thinks the answer may be. Instead, he seeks the answer from someone more knowledgeable in the Religion who attained the knowledge in the aforementioned manner.

Allah created Adam, the first man, from a mixture of soils of different colours and different textures. All people are the descendants of Adam. This accounts for the various races and temperaments of people.

Muslim men and women around the world of all ages, races, colours, nationalities, social backgrounds, economic status, and languages are united by their belief that only one God exists, Whose name is Allah, and Muhammad is His last Prophet and Messenger, and by practicing the same rules of the Religion.

Islam is a belief system as well as a way of life.

Only the Creator knows the limits, the weakness, and the vulnerability of all His creation, and He has provided rules for them that are fair and just. Allah knows what is good for His creation as well as what is harmful; He knows what is beneficial and what is detrimental.


The following five matters constitute the foundation of Islam:

(1) Declaring and believing no one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah;

(2) Prayer;

(3) Zakah;

(4) Fasting;

(5) Hajj.

The belief in the truth of Islam is the same despite the colour of one's skin, gender, wealth and one's family and friends.

Prayer, five times each day, is required by all accountable Muslims.

Accountable in this context means sane and pubescent.

Zakah is paying a certain portion of one's money to specific types of people with certain conditions. This provides for the poor Muslims and those within the
Muslim community, whose basic needs are not being met.

Money in this context includes property, possessions, and wealth.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is an obligation on all Muslims who have reached puberty and who are physically able to fast. This helps the Muslim to feel what the poor feel, and in this way one remembers to care for those less fortunate than oneself. Fasting also disciplines the Muslim and brings Muslims together-- uniting them by a common, shared experience.

Hajj, pilgrimage as defined by Islam, is the journey to the Ka^bah to perform, at a specific period of the year, certain actions in Makkah and its vicinity. It is required at least once during the lifetime of each able, accountable Muslim. During Hajj, pilgrims leave their worldly possessions and perform the same religious obligations in the same way as those pilgrims with them and those pilgrims who performed Hajj before them.

Islam also requires a Muslim to be humble and to care about and to respect one's Muslim brother and sister. Islamically, it is not an acceptable behaviour to talk about other Muslims or to cause problems amongst them.

Learning the Obligatory Knowledge of the Religion puts the Muslim on the road to self-betterment and excellence. With knowledge, the Muslim differentiates between what is lawful and what is not, and what is an acceptable, valid worship and what is not. What differentiates one Muslim from another is the amount of Islamic Knowledge one attains and applies within one's own life.

"The Essentials of Belief" is an insight into the Religion of Islam.

Believing and uttering "No one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is the most important thing any person can do, and it is a condition for the acceptance of the good deeds.

The one who becomes Muslim and stays Muslim will have the enjoyment of Paradise without end in the Hereafter, and the one who rejects Islam will suffer the torture of Hellfire without end in the Hereafter.

It is certain that death will come to all of us.

The one who is prepared for the Day of Judgment is the one who knows, accepts, and applies the essentials of belief, and implements the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, in all sincerity to Allah, the Exalted.

The truth of Islam must be accepted and the Obligatory Knowledge of Islam must be acquired and taken if it is from reliable, trustworthy, Islamic sources-- regardless of whether the teacher is young or old, male or female, rich or poor, black or white, Arab, American, African, Indian, Chinese, Spanish, or of any other origin.

Praise be to Allah, and
Allah knows best.

To be in a state of taharah, one uses water to perform wudu’ and ghusl. However, one may need to perform taharah, yet not find water, or may have water but will be harmed if one uses it. In these cases, the person performs dry purification (tayammum), as the author said:

If one needs to pray, but one is in the state of ritual impurity (hadath), and one cannot find water or will be harmed upon using it, one performs dry purification (tayammum).

Explanation: From the author’s saying “one performs tayammum if one cannot find water” it is understood that if one performs dry purification (tayammum) because one does not have water, one’s tayammum is invalid, unless one first has sought the water. So, one must first seek the water—then, if one does not find it, one performs the dry purification. Also, one performs tayammum instead of using water to perform taharah if using water harms one. So, if using water to perform taharah will cause one’s death, or damage an organ, or lengthen the recovery time from an illness, or cause a disfigurement in any of one’s apparent body parts, like the hands or the face, then one performs tayammum—even if one has water.

There is a specific procedure that is applied for one to be considered as one who did not find water. For example, the traveler who cannot find water is the person who neither has water with him, nor do his companions have water with them, or they have water which they want to sell to him at a higher price than the norm, or he has just enough water to keep him alive so that he does not die of thirst, or he has just enough to keep his animal alive. If this person is in a land where he is certain there is no water within the distance of half a farsakh (9000 cubits, approximately 4 km or 3 US miles), he may perform tayammum. If he knows that there is water close to him (i.e., ½ a farsakh or less), it is an obligation on him to fetch the water.

If the person is in an unfamiliar land, i.e., he does not know whether or not there is water nearby, he must seek the water. To seek the water means for a person to physically look for the water, either by walking in the four directions for a distance that if he shouted for help, his companions would hear him, (about 300 cubits in each direction), or, if he was in a flat land and can see as far as that distance, he would look in each direction for the water. If he does either of these and does not find water, he is considered as one who sought the water and did not find it. Hence, he can perform tayammum.

Tayammum is performed after the time of the prayer, per se, sets in

Explanation: The person who wants to perform tayammum for a prayer must do so after the time of that prayer has begun. So if a person makes tayammum before the time of Dhuhr sets in to perform the Dhuhr Prayer, his tayammum is not valid. He must perform the tayammum for the Dhuhr Prayer after the sun declines from the center of the sky towards the west.

and after the unexempted najas-filth is removed.

Explanation: If able, one must remove any unexempted najas-filth on one’s body before performing tayammum. If one had an unexempted najas-filth on one’s body and had only a small amount of water—sufficient either to remove the unexempted najas-filth or to perform wudu’, one should use the water to remove the najas-filth, and then, if one did not have enough water left to perform wudu’, one would perform tayammum. If one had an unexempted najas-filth on one’s body and had no water at all, then one must attempt to lighten this najas-filth in some way before performing tayammum. If one was unable, one would perform the tayammum with the najas-filth still on oneself.

Tayammum is performed by using unmixed soil, which is purifying and dusty.

Explanation: Tayammum is valid only when performed using the dusty soil, i.e., soil that contains fine dust. Hence, it is not valid to make tayammum using a rock. Also, it is not valid to use the beach sand as soil, because these sand particles do not contain fine dust particles. It is not valid to use the dust particles that gather on the house furniture, for example, to perform tayammum, unless that dust was the fine dust of soil.

It is invalid to use a najas-filthy soil to perform tayammum or soil mixed with another pure (tahir) material, such as ashes. As well, it is invalid to reuse the soil which was previously used in performing tayammum. For example, if one were to collect the soil which had fallen from the face after using it to wipe the face, one cannot reuse that to wipe one’s arms or to perform a separate tayammum.

One strikes the soil with the inside part of the hands, then makes and maintains the intention of performing tayammum while transferring the dust of the soil from the ground until it is wiped on part of the face. One wipes the entire face and then strikes the soil a second time to wipe the hands and forearms.

Explanation: Performing tayammum involves transferring the soil (maintaining the intention during the transfer) and wiping the specific body parts. One strikes the soil with the inner side of one’s hands with the fingers spread. Then one lifts one’s hands up to begin transferring the soil to wipe one’s face. During the entire time of transferring the soil, from when one first lifts one’s hands from the first strike of the soil, until one wipes the first part of one’s face, one must hold the intention of performing tayammum. Hence, if one’s intention was interrupted between the time of the beginning of the transfer until the wiping of the first part of the face, the intention is invalid and by consequence, the tayammum is invalid. However, holding the intention for the entire duration of the transfer is a case of difference in opinion; some scholars, like Imam Malik, said if the intention was interrupted in the process of transfer, it would not affect the validity of the tayammum.

With the fine soil-dust from the first strike, one wipes the whole face, the boundaries of which were previously defined. (It is not a condition that the soil reaches to the skin under the beard of the man, even if it was thin, because this involves a hardship.) Then one strikes the soil a second time to transfer (its dust) to wipe the forearms and elbows. One wipes the entire forearm, up to and including the elbow—that same area washed in wudu’—using the soil on the inner side of the left hand to wipe the right arm, and the soil on the inner part of the right hand to wipe the left arm.

It is invalid to wipe both the face and the hands with just one strike of the soil. It is invalid to use one tayammum to pray two obligatory prayers. Each obligatory prayer needs a separate tayammum—even if that obligatory prayer was a make-up. One may pray as many optional prayers as one wants with one tayammum.

What’s Islam and who do we listen to?

What’s unity among Muslims and does it mean supporting someone even if they’re wrong?

What did Prophet MuHammad teach and what does the Qur’aan say?


I want to answer all these questions in this article and any that may occur to you or have occurred to you.


Islam is a Religion.

The Testification of Faith uttered by every Muslim is “I testify that there is only one God, and I testify that MuHammad is the Messenger of God.”

This includes believing that there is only One Creator, that He is Attributed with all befitting Perfect Attributes, and that He sent Messengers to the people.

Muslims believe in all Messengers; and that all Messengers from Adam to MuHammad taught the same belief to the people.


Who do we listen to?

The knowledge about Islam is taken from the sound chain passed from trustworthy person to trustworthy person all the way back to Prophet MuHammad, peace be upon him.

The knowledge of Islam is not taken by reading books or surfing the internet or watching documentaries. Rather, it is taken from the mouths of trustworthy Muslims who acquired the knowledge from those like them and so on back to the Prophet.

The Qur’aan is preserved and the sayings of Prophet MuHammad documented as well as memorized (with their chains of narration back to the Prophet) by top scholars.


Islam can be studied formally by attending authenticated Islamic Universities. Examples of such universities are the Azhar University and its partner universities in countries like Yemen, Lebanon and other countries.

Such universities are not only restricted to Arab countries or Arab people. Rather many non-Arab countries have institutions which teach Islam. Examples include the teachings of the renowned scholar Beduizzaman Said Nursi who died in Turkey; and others like him in Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries.

Their excellence is apparent through their adherence to the path of the majority of Muslims.

This is known because of their consistency in producing evidences to prove that what they say has been said by Islamic scholars all along and is not something new.

By this we would be able to tell whether emerging personalities were radicals who come up with their own ideas or truly loyal students of the scholars of Islaam.

Question! And use the scale of reference to find out for yourselves who these people are.


What’s unity among Muslims and does it include standing behind someone even if they are wrong?

Unity among Muslims is something known, as evidenced in the Qur’aan.

Surat Al-^Imran, Ayah 103 means: [Adhere to the true Religion of Allah and do not disunite. Recall the endowment of Allah upon you- that you were enemies and Allah mended your hearts together.]

Before Prophet MuHammad and after Prophet Jesus, there was an era called the era of ignorance. It was a period of time when widespread ignorance prevailed. The followers of Prophet ^Isa (Jesus) who adhered to the Religion of Islam began to diminish in numbers after Prophet ^Isa was raised to the sky. This period of time, before Prophet Muhammad renewed the call to Islam, was called the era of ignorance because ignorance prevailed among the people. The Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula at that time were scattered tribes, dispersed throughout the land, fighting and plundering each other. The intensity of their wars drove some of them to bury their daughters alive, hoping to escape scandal should their daughters be captured by the enemy.

The strong did injustice to the weak. Women were considered worthless just because they were female. Drinking alcohol was prevalent. Some had dozens of wives. People unrightfully worshipped stones and idols. Some even worshipped idols made from dates, and when they felt hungry, they ate them!! Prostitution became widespread. People blindly adhered to their tribal judgements, even when these were unjust.

This was the situation that prevailed before the Prophet came with his Message.

People were living in ignorance and darkness.


When the Prophet received the Revelation of Prophethood, he began to call the people to Islam. As a result of the Prophet's call, people united, and their hearts and hands joined together.

The weak were protected from the injustice of the strong because of the knowledge that the Creator of both the weak person and the strong person threatened the unjust person with punishment in Hellfire, and promised the just person with reward in Paradise.

As a result, expressions of kindness and compassion became apparent among the Arabs who embraced Islam.

This unity was characterized by knowledge, whereas the preceding disunity was characterised by ignorance and blindly defending unjust tribal customs.

Islam in no way teaches that unity among Muslims is achieved by defending someone blindly.

Rather, the Prophet taught us that it is an obligation to order the lawful and forbid the unlawful. Al-Hakim related that the Prophet said what means: <<If you see my nation fearful of telling he who is unjust: ‘You are unjust', then know the support of Allah is withdrawn from them. >>

In the hadith related by Ibn Hibban, the Prophet said what means: <<He who does not respect the elderly among us, is not merciful to the youngsters among us, and does not command the lawful and forbid the unlawful is not following our methodology. >>

Knowing these hadiths makes it clear that when the people of truth stand up to defend the creed of the Prophet, they do so to fulfil the obligation of commanding the lawful and forbidding the unlawful. Commanding the lawful and forbidding the unlawful is an element protecting the unity of Muslims, not an element disuniting them.

So when people come up preaching un-Islamic things in the name of Islam, it is the duty of Muslims to speak up and say what is correct.

So, how do you know what someone says is un-Islamic?

Obviously it is by knowing the teachings of Islaam through the Qur’aan, Hadeeth, and sayings of the renownded scholars.


What did Prophet MuHammad teach and what does the Qur’aan say?

The message the Prophet brought to his people was that the only true and acceptable Religion to Allah is Islam, and he who chooses for himself a religion other than Islam is a loser in this life and in the Hereafter. The Prophet called the people to worship one and only one God Whose Name is Allah.

He taught the people that Allah exists, and His existence is without a beginning and without an end. He taught the people that Allah does not resemble any of the creation, and hence, He is not a body; He is not a soul; He does not occupy places; He is not subject to time; He cannot be imagined in the minds; and delusions do not define Him. He taught the people that Allah is attributed with the perfect, befitting attributes. He is attributed with Power, Will, Knowledge, Hearing, Sight, Life, and Kalam (Speech). None of His attributes are similar to the attributes of the creation. None of His attributes develop or change. None of His attributes are sequential, i.e. no attribute precedes or follows another. These Attributes were mentioned many times in the Qur’aan and Hadeeth; the Prophet concentrated on teaching them to the people.


Surat ash-Shura Ayah 11 means: [Nothing is like Allah in any way whatsoever.]

From this Verse, the scholars of Islam established a well-known statement: Dhun-Nun al-Misriyy and Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said what means: <<Whatever you imagine in your mind, Allah is different from it. >>

This is because what one imagines in one's mind is a creation, and Allah does not resemble the creation.

The Prophet taught the people he was the messenger and worshipper of Allah. The Prophet was truthful in all that he conveyed from Allah. He taught that all the Prophets before him were Prophets of Islam; they all came with the basic message: la ilaha illallah i.e. they all called the people to worship one and only one God, Allah.

Prophet Muhammad taught that all the Prophets have befitting attributes and are clear of all non-befitting attributes. Hence, they are attributed with befitting attributes, such as courage, handsomeness and intelligence; they are clear of the non-befitting attributes, such as stupidity, repelling illnesses, and vileness. They are also clear of handicaps which impede their ability to deliver their message to the people.

The Prophet taught that it was impossible for the prophets to commit blasphemy, enormous sins, or small mean sins before and after Prophethood.

The Prophet taught the people about the tortures as well as the enjoyments of the grave, and about the scale on which the deeds of every person will be weighed. He taught the people about the Resurrection, the Assembly and the Bridge (as-Sirat) that extends over Hellfire. The Bridge will connect the recreated earth to what is before Paradise, and all will come to this Bridge, some successfully, either walking on or flying over it, but others will fall from it into Hellfire.

The Prophet taught about Hellfire and Paradise. The enjoyments of Paradise and the tortures of Hellfire are not allegorical; rather they are experienced by the body and the soul. He taught the people about the Day of Judgment, after which there would be no more death. On that day, death will take on the shape of a lamb and will be slaughtered, and there will be no death afterwards. He taught that those who enter Paradise will be there forever, and those who are blasphemers are doomed to Hellfire forever. The Prophet taught the people about believing in the Revealed Books, in the Angels and the messengers of Allah; and the belief in destiny, created by Allah, whether good or bad.

The Prophet also taught that the believers will be rewarded in Paradise. Among the many rewards is that they will see Allah, not in a place or a direction and without distance between them and Allah, because Allah created the place and exists without a place. They would see Allah, not like creatures are seen, because Allah does not resemble any of the creation, and hence, Allah is not in a place. Allah is neither a body, nor is Allah light. Whatever one imagines in his mind, Allah is different from it.

The Prophet called the people to worship one and only one God. He planted in them the correct creed of truth and brought them the highest level of ethics and manners. He taught them how to deal with one another, observe the rights of others, fulfil one's obligations and responsibilities; how to be obedient to Allah and to refrain from all sins. The Prophet taught the people that those who have the correct belief in Islam and die with that belief shall be winners on the Day of Judgment. Those who carry this correct belief are obedient to Allah, and refrain from sinning are pious people and shall have great reward on the Day of Judgment.

The Prophet praised the status of knowledge. He gave the people incentives to acquire knowledge, to better themselves, and to excel. He taught them that with knowledge, implementation, and sincerity one can attain high levels of belief, and thereby earn high levels of reward on the Day of Judgment.

The Prophet brought to the people that which inspired and established change in the society. It did away with the enmity that existed during the Era of Ignorance and replaced it with a state of unity and bonding among the Muslims that led to a time of accomplishments as well as to the spread of Islam.

I hope that you did make it to the end of this article, as willingness to communicate is a step forward to the betterment of society.

And Allah Knows Best.

Can I join this Clan pls...
I need something to purifying myself with...

well,,samsparky,,religion is western product..and it's only talkin bout the relation between humans and God
Islam indeed is more than a religion..it's a dien..it doesn't only regulate botu the relation between humans and God but also regulate the relation between human and human, and between humans and goods..

hey! i am a Muslim and proud to be one.

Islam is not all the negative things being mentioned in the media. Islam is a religion of peace.

Anyway, is tattoo and piercing allowed in Islam?

i don't know bout piercing, but tattoo isn't allowed. becoz it closes the pores when you wudhu,,so the cleaning isn't finished.

Tattoo is not allowed. Peircing is allowed for a girl's ears once in each ear.



I start with the name of Allah, praise be to Him. I humbly ask Allah to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Al and Companions and to protect his nation from that which he fears for them.
________________________________________
Thereafter, Allah, the Exalted, endowed upon His slaves uncountable endowments. Allah said in Surat Ibrahim, Ayah 34:



which means: [Should you attempt to count your endowments from Allah, you would be unable.]


The tongue is one of many endowments Allah bestowed upon His slaves. Although the tongue is a tiny organ, the person who uses it to comply with the orders of Allah, the teachings of the Qur'an, and the teachings of the Prophet may earn blessings in this world and the in Hereafter. However, the one who uses his tongue in disobedience does not display thankfulness to Allah and leads to his own destruction. Certainly, being thankful to Allah means not using the endowments bestowed by Allah in what is forbidden.

One needs to know the sins of the tongue can be small or enormous. One should be aware some of these sins take the person out of Islam, as the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said in the hadith related by at-Tirmidhiyy which means:



This hadith clearly refers to the bottom of Hellfire--a place only the blasphemers will reach.


Included among the sins of the tongue are gossip (ghibah) and tale-bearing (namimah).

Ibn Abid-Dunyia related the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said what means:

<<One can greatly beautify himself with two habits--good manners and lengthy silence.>>

In this hadith lengthy silence means not speaking--except for what is good, such as remembering and praising Allah and teaching others what is good.


Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim related from the route of Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet said what means:

<<Let the one who believes in Allah and the Hereafter utter good words, or let him be silent.>>

We are responsible for our words. Allah said in Surat al-Isra’, Ayah 36:


which means: [One is responsible for what he hears, sees, and believes.]


At-Tirmidhiyy narrated a saying of the Prophet to the Companion, Mu^adh Ibn Jabal, in which he responded to Mu^adh by confirming that what makes the people fall into Hellfire on their faces is what their tongue reaps.


Hence, wisdom entails that one uses his tongue in remembering Allah, performing obedience, ordering the lawful, and forbidding the unlawful.

Let us remind ourselves of what Allah said in Surat Qaf, Ayah 18:



which means: [Raqib and ^Atid write down every uttered word.]
However, it is known that some of these sinful words will be erased if the person repents.

On the Day of Judgment wouldn’t each one of us want to have all good words in his record and not those disliked or sinful words?

Thus, it is important to emphasize on matters relating to the tongue. The Prophet advised us in a hadith related by at-Tirmidhiyy which means:



In the hadith related by al-Bayhaqiyy, the Prophet said what means:




Due to the importance of this subject the scholars of Islam were compelled to write extensively about it. Among the great scholars of Islam is Imam al-Ghazaliyy, who said about the tongue what means:

"The tongue is a great endowment from Allah; though small in size, its crime is enormous."


A person may utter words of praise and thankfulness to Allah for which he earns reward. One might also utter a word that takes him out of Islam--thereby loosing the reward of all his previous good deeds.
Reported in the texts of the scholars are narrations that highlight significant matters of the tongue. Among these is what Imam an-Nawawiyy reported:

Qiss Ibn Sa^idah and Aktham Ibn Saifiyy met together. One of them asked the other, "Generally how many errors have you found the sons of Adam commit?" The other replied, "I have counted 8000 such errors, but let it be known, we cannot count them all. However, there is one good trait that would cover up for all of these errors and mistakes: To have control over one’s tongue."


Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, in addressing his companion, ar-Rabi^, said what means:



That is, once you speak a word it will be to your benefit if it is good. However, if it is sinful, then it will be written against you and will require a valid repentance.


^Abdullah Ibn Mas^ud said what means:



Other scholars said what means:


Various scholars talked at length about issues related to the tongue to highlight for Muslims the importance of keeping control of one’s tongue.

When asked about the one who controls and protects his heart the most, Dhun-Nun al-Misriyy, (Ibrahim Ibn Tawbah) replied: "The one who controls his tongue the most."


Allah made the tongue witness to what is in the heart, as mentioned by the great scholars of Islam. Words of goodness reflect what is in the heart, as sinful or blasphemous words reflect what is in the heart.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hurting one's parents immensely (^uquq) is among the major sins. Allah threatened the one who does it with severe torture in Hellfire. This means to harm either or both parents immensely (causing them a lot of pain). Hurting one’s parents is unlawful whether it is severe or light.

Among the examples of harming one's parents is to: curse, or insult them both or either one.

Among what is also considered unlawful is if the son obeys his mother in doing injustice to his father or vice versa. It does not benefit him if he obeyed his mother and yet harmed his father, because there should be no obedience to a human by disobeying Allah, the Creator. In summary, helping either parent in doing injustice to the other is sinful.

Allah, ta^ala said in the Qur’an:

وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلاَهُمَا فَلاَ تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ وَلاَ تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلاً كَرِيمًا

(Wa qada Rabbuka alla ta^budu illa iyyahu wa bil-walidayni ihsana. Imma yablughanna ^indakal-kibara ahaduhuma aw kilahuma fala taqul lahuma uffiw wala tanharhuma waqul lahuma qawlan karima.)

Which means: {Allah orders not to worship except Him and to treat one’s parents kindly. If one of them is alive and old or both are alive (and old), do not say “uff” to them and do not address them with harsh words. Be humble and compassionate and address them with nice and gentle words.}

Allah, ta^ala, made it unlawful to say to one's parents “uff ”, which indicates one is bothered by them. Allah ordered one to say to one’s parents a generous and gentle saying, more so when they are old. Also, Allah orders to speak to one’s parents in a respectful manner.

The torture of one who hurts one’s parents immensely: The torture of the one who hurts one’s parents immensely is very great, to the extent that one will not be among the first people to enter Paradise. Rather, one will enter it after being tortured, if Allah did not forgive one; this is because it is among the major sins.

The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said:



Which means: “The one who harms one’s parents immensely will not enter Paradise,” i.e., this means that one is not among the first batch of people to enter Paradise. It does not mean that one is a blasphemer and will not be admitted to Paradise. (Narrated by al-Bukhariyy.)

The following are two ayahs from the Qur’an that encourage treating one's parents well:

Allah, ta^ala, said in the Qur’an:



Ayah 14 of Surat Luqman means: {Allah urges one to treat one’s parents nicely, for one’s mother carries one in her womb with all the weakness that she receives from that, and she nurses one up to two years. Hence, one needs to be thankful to God and thankful to one’s parents.}

Allah, ta^ala, also said:



Which means: {Worship God without associating any partner to Him, and treat your parents in a good way.}

Know that no matter how much one was keen to perform the five prayers, to fast, and to perform similar acts of obedience, if one inflicts immense harm to one’s parents by words or deeds, one will not be among the pious Muslims. So be careful to treat your parents right and be keen to avoid harming them.

Five matters of those recognized by the rules revealed to all the Prophets, from Adam to MuHammad, peace be upon them all, are:



1) Protecting one’s self (that is not to destroy one’s body).



2) Protecting one’s money.



3) Preserving one’s mind (not to consume things which destroy the mind).



4) Preserving one’s lineage (not to have a child out of adultery or fornication).



5) Preserving one’s ^irD (the man must protect his wife).



All Messengers of God taught one creed; to believe in God, the Creator of the world, Who is unlike the creations and hence Exists without a place.





Prophet MuHammad, peace be upon him said what means: << Allah existed eternally and nothing else existed. >> This hadith means that only Allah existed without a beginning, i.e., before creating any of the creation. There was nothing with Allah: no place, no space, no sky, no Earth, no light, and no darkness.





Imam Hafidh al-Bayhaqiyy said: “Some of our companions used, as a proof to refute attributing the place to Allah, the saying of the Prophet: <<You are adh-Dhahir and there is nothing above You, and You are al-Batin and there is nothing underneath You.>> Therefore, if there is nothing above Him and nothing underneath Him, He is not in a place."



al-Bayhaqiyy also said in his book, Al-Asma'u was-Sifat, on page 400: <<...What was mentioned towards the end of the hadith is an evidence for negating that Allah has a place and negating that the slave is alike to Allah. Allah, the Exalted, is adh-Dhahir. Hence, it is valid to know about Him by proofs. Allah is al-Batin. Hence, it is invalid that He dwells in a place. >>





Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy related in his book, Al-Farqu Baynal-Firaq, that Imam ^Aliyy, the fourth of the caliphs, may Allah reward his deeds, said: which means: << Allah existed eternally and there was no place, and He now is as He was. [i.e., without a place]>>





Imam Abu Hanifah, who is one of the authorities of Salaf, said in his book Al-

Fiqh al-Absat: << Allah existed eternally and there was no place. He existed before creating the creation. He existed, and there was no place, creation, or thing. He is the Creator of everything. >>





Imam Ahmad Ibn Salamah, Abu Ja^far at-Tahawiyy, who was born in the year 237 after Hijrah, wrote a very famous book called al-^Aqidah at-Tahawiyyah. He mentioned that the content of his book is an explantion of the creed of Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama^ah, which is the creed of Imam Abu Hanifah, who died in the year 150 after Hijrah, and his two companions, Imam Abu Yusuf al-Qadi and Imam Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaybaniyy and others. He said in his book which means: << Allah is supremely clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs, and instruments. The six directions do not contain Him, for these are attributed to all created things. >>





The linguist and scholar of Hadith, Imam Muhammad Murtada az-Zabidiyy, narrated by a continuous chain from himself back to Imam Zayn al-^Abidin

^Aliyy Ibn al-Husayn Ibn ^Aliyy Ibn Abi Talib, (who was among the best of

Salaf, who earned the title of as-Sajjad, i.e., the one who prays a lot), that

Zayn al-^Abidin, in his treatise as-Sahifah as-Sajjadiyyah, said about Allah what means: <<O Allah, You are clear of all imperfection. You are Allah, the One Who no place contains You. >>



He also said which means: <<O Allah, You are clear of all imperfection. You are Allah, the One Who is not within boundaries. >>





In the explanation of Al-Bukhariyy in the chapter on Al-Jihad, Hafidh Ibn

Hajar al-^Asqalaniyy said: "The fact that the two directions above and below are impossible to be attributes of Allah, does not necessitate that Allah would not be attributed with aboveness, because attributing aboveness to Allah is a matter of status and the impossibility lies in it being physical.”





The Hanafiyy scholar Zaynud-Din Ibn Nujaym, in his book Al-Bahrur-Ra'iq, on page 129 said: <<Whoever says it is possible for Allah to do a doing which has no wisdom commits blasphemy. Moreover, he commits blasphemy by affirming a place to Allah, the Exalted.>>





Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy al-Kabir, who lived around the year 600 after

Hijrah, said what means: <<The ultimate knowledge about Allah is to be certain that Allah exists without a how or a place. >>





Imam Muhammad Ibn Hibah al-Makkiyy, wrote a book called Hada'iqul-Fusul wa Jawahirul-^Uqul. It came to be known as Al-^Aqidatus-Salahiyyah, after he gave it as a gift to Sultan Salahud- Din al-Ayyubiyy, who ordered that this book be taught to the children in schools and broadcast from the top of minarets. In his book he said what means: << Allah existed eternally and there was no place, and the judgment about His existence now is that He is as He was [i.e., without a place]>>.





Imam Ja^far as-Sadiq said: <<He who claims that Allah is in something or on something or from something commits shirk (blasphemy). Because, if He was in something, He would be contained, and if He was on something, He would be carried, and if He was from something, He would be a creature. >>





Shaykh ^Abdul-Ghaniyy an-Nabulusiyy said: <<He who believes that Allah fills the heavens and Earth or that He is a body sitting above the ^Arsh (ceiling of Paradise; throne) is a kafir.>>





Imam Fakhrud-Din Ibn ^Asakir said in his ^Aqidah: <<Allah existed before the creation. He does not have a before or an after, an above or a below, a right or a left, an ahead or a behind, a whole or a part. It must not be said: When was He, Where was He, or how was He? Allah exists without a place. He created the universe and willed for the existence of time. He is not bound by time or designated with place.>>





Imam Abu Sulayman al-Khattabiyy said: <<What is obligatory upon us and upon every Muslim to know is that our Lord has no shape or form, because the shape has a <<how>>, and <<how>> does not apply to Allah or His Attributes. >>





Know beyond doubt that the question <<how>> (kayf: Ýíß : ) does not apply to Allah. <<How?>> is a question related to shapes, bodies, places, depths, and dimensions. Allah is clear of all such attributes. Also be firm that it is invalid to say about Allah <<... but we do not know how>>, because in essence, it falsely indicates that Allah has a color, shape, dimensions, body and place, but one is simply ignorant of its <<how>>.





Imam al-Ghazaliyy said: << Allah, the Exalted, existed eternally and there was no place. He is not a body, jawhar (minute indivisible particle), or bodily property, and He is not on a place or in a place. >>





And Allah Knows best.



English lessons:

http://www.2mfm.org/content/view/279/74/
Al-Jannah (Paradise) Part-1
Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Shafi^y

http://www.2mfm.org/content/view/279/74/
Al-Jannah (Paradise) Part-2
Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Shafi^y

New Islamic
madeeh in English:
http://www.2mfm.org/content/view/283/1/

Surat Al-^Imran, ayah 7:



This part of the Verse means:
[Allah is the One Who has sent down to the Prophet the Book that contains muhkam ayat, which are the foundation of the Book, and other ayat which are mutashabih.]



This part of the Verse means:
[Those who have perversity in their hearts, they follow the mutashabih ayat seeking discord and searching for unbefitting meanings based on their delusions.]



The final part of the Verse means:
[No one knows their true meanings except Allah and those who are firmly rooted in the knowledge of the Religion. The latter say, "We believe in it, all of it is from our Lord" and none will understand the message except men of comprehension."]

So, know firmly that the Qur'an contains two types of ayat:


• Muhkam ayat:
These are the ayat (verses) that, according to the rules of the Arabic language, have only one meaning or are those with a clear meaning.
Examples of this type of ayat are: the saying of Allah, ta^ala:



Surat ash-Shura,ayah 11 means: [There is absolutely nothing like Allaah]

His saying, ta^ala:



Surat al-Ikhlas, ayah 4 means: [Nothing is equal to Him], and His saying, ta^ala:



Surat Maryam, ayah 65 means: [Do you know of anything which is similar to Him? There is none.]


• Mutashabihat ayat:

These are the ayat that, according to the rules of the Arabic language, can have many meanings.

Assigning acceptable meanings to these ayat requires proper Knowledge of the Arabic language and thorough thinking.

Examples of this type of ayat are:

The saying of Allah, ta^ala, in Surat Taha, ayah 5:



and His saying, ta^ala, in surat at-taHreem, Verse 12:



According to the rules of the Arabic language, these ayat are mutashabih; so they can have many meanings.

Assigning meanings to them must be done in a manner which complies with the Arabic language and the Religion. The assigned meanings must not contradict the ayat that are muhkam.

Surely the ayat of the Qur'an do not contradict one another!

Likewise, the hadiths (sayings of the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam,) neither contradict one another, nor the ayat of the Qur'an.

If ayah 12 in Suratat-Tahrim:



was taken literally, it would mean that Allah blew part of His Soul into ^Isa (Jesus.).)

However, the scholars said that this ayah means: [Allah ordered Jibril to blow into ^Isa the soul which is honorable to Allah.]


Also, ayah 75 in Surat Sad:



if taken literally, would mean: "What has stopped you from performing sujud to what I have created with My hands?"

However, the scholars said that the word 'yadayn' in the ayah means the 'care' of Allah.
Yet, the mushabbihah insist that yadayn means hands.


Likewise, ayah 35 in Suratan-Nur:



if taken literally, would mean: "Allah is the light of the heavens and the Earth."

The scholars said that this ayah means: [Allah is the Creator of guidance in the occupants of the skies and the occupants of the earth.] However, the mushabbihah insist on taking the literal meaning and say that Allah is 'light.'

Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbaliyy explained the term al-istiwa', in SuratTaha, ayah 5:



as al-istila', which means subjugating.

When al-istila' is used to explain this ayah it means that Allah subjugated the ^arsh with a subjugation that is without a beginning, like all of the attributes of Allah. If the ayah is explained in this manner, it means that Allah was attributed with subjugating the ^arsh before the ^arsh was created in the same way that Allah was attributed with being the Creator before anything from the creation existed.

In this context, the scholars have used the term al-azal, which means the status of existing without a beginning. Thus it can be said that Allah subjugated the ^arsh in al-azal, meaning that Allah subjugated the ^arsh with a subjugation which is without a beginning.

Yet the mushabbihah insist on taking the literal meaning, and they say istiwa' means Allah 'sits' on the throne and 'firmly establishes' Himself on it.

Surat Taha,ayah 5,



means: [Allah subjugated the ^arsh in al-azal with a subjugation which is without a beginning, like all of the attributes of Allah.]