Ali Asadullah Ibn Mann
The great Western powers look down on Muslims and consider us the greatest threat to civilization today. Our brothers and sisters are being oppressed and killed overseas. Our private schools are having difficulties keeping their doors open because they lack the necessary finances. More Muslim children attend secular public schools than those with Islamic environments and teachings. Domestic violence runs rampant in our own homes, where women should be treated with equal rights and respect. Most converts to Islam in America de-convert within the same year. Countries where we are the majority suffer from dwindling resources, civil unrest, occupation, and corruption. We cry for the martyrs as the nightly news portrays more casualties. We become outraged when we hear that one of our own has been added to the terrorists watch lists or become a victim of the latest hate crime. We murmur about how our children are becoming more secular, losing their religion day by day. We live in the past nostalgia of our spiritual ancestors when we hear their names mentioned during a Khutbah, praying that one day we will live again in the “Golden Age” of Islam.
None of this is shocking, however, because we’ve heard it all before. We hear it echoing through our minds on a daily basis. These are not new statistics or problems, but realities we have known about and are constantly reminded of. We’ve been told time and again at various Halaqas and Jummahs that the solutions rests within our own community; that we cannot continue to point fingers at the West, laying blame on past grievances. The question is then: Why do we still have these problems?
Muslims, especially in America, have sold themselves into servitude to a new master. We have emancipated ourselves from the guidance of Allah (swt) only to believe that we can create our own paradise here on Earth. We have become slaves to the world. It is because of this that our Ummah and the future of our children, are in jeopardy. Only by understanding this enslavement will we be able to reprioritize our lives, our families, our finances, and most importantly, our faith.
Working for Nothing
One of the obligations from a follower of Islam is to offer charity. While some Muslims show exemplary service to this duty, many either give very little or misdirect their earnings towards over worldly affairs or ineffective causes. It seems that cultural heritage and the need to succeed financially has trumped the importance of worshiping Allah (swt) and following the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws). Take for instance the large sums of money that are dedicated each year to the construction of lavish Masjids. While this used to be a sign of a wealthy and sophisticated Islamically governed state, which held beauty and worship as mutual, it is not a necessary or even practical in our time when Muslims across the world are in more need of education and basic necessities, such as food and shelter. The Prophet (saws) remarked that such use of charity was a signal of the time prior to the Day of Judgment: ’The Hour will not come until people show off in building Masjids.” (Ahmad). The repulsion from the Prophet (saws) for this sort of activity is evident, yet Muslims in America invest millions of dollars a year in the construction and aesthetic renovation of extravagant places of prayer. Likewise, we seem to forget that the Prophets (saws) Mosque, at one of the earliest points in Muslim history, was nothing more than open walls of mud bricks and a palm tree canopy situated in the middle. While the Prophet (saws) was not opposed to beauty, he never compromised practicality or the needs of others.
Another point where our cultural and worldly ties overtake our religious obligations is in the Sunnah of marriage, which in our community has lost much of what makes it Sunnah to begin with. While we should always want what is best for our children, the best doesn’t always mean “the most expensive”. Aside from some of the questionable practices that occur at these weddings, parents from certain backgrounds will spend on average of 20-60 thousand dollars on just one ceremony. Calculate that with the hundreds of marriages that take place each year and you will be shocked as to how much money is being spent on mere exuberance. Of course, other factors contribute to these ghastly amounts, such as the need for some families to “outmatch” others in showing how classy or rich they really are. There is an inherent feeling of shame that comes over some Muslims when they learn that their neighbor’s daughter had a dress or centerpiece that costs twice as much as their own. It seems to elude us that the Prophet (saws) did not approve of this behavior when he clearly stated that, “The most blessed marriage (nikah) is the one with the least expenses” (al-Bayhaqi). In addition, some families tend to ask for mahrs that are unquestionably superfluous even though the Qur’an states explicitly that the mahr should be about making provisions for the wife, “…according to his [the rich] means and the poor according to his – this is the duty for those who do good.“ (2:236). The Prophet (saws) further stated that, “the best woman is the one whose mahr is the easiest to pay” (al-Haythami). The fact that we are not following these Sunnahs should make it apparent as to why there are such a great number of unhappy marriages, high divorce rates, and a growing number of domestic violence issues within our community.
In general, however, the focus on personal wealth is perhaps the greatest contributing factor to the lack of support for some of the most basic necessities of the Muslim community. While many first generation Muslim Americans valued strong work ethics and education, their children inherited a much different interpretation of these virtues. Though parents have a right to be concerned for their children’s wellbeing and future success, the reluctance of allowing them to step outside only a few careers may be proving a detriment to the Muslim community at large. Parents often think that the only careers that guarantee stability (even in an economy facing recession) are medical doctors, engineers, and lawyers. For those students who have ever dreamed to become teachers, journalists, or scientists, it is seen as almost universally unacceptable within the American Ummah. This sort of mentality carries with it heavy burdens, however. One of the greatest of these burdens is that it robs our youth of their capacity to assist our community. While doctors, engineers, and lawyers are certainly needed, we require more successful teachers to teach our youth, instructing them with the principles of Islam, so that they do not have to fall under the negative influence of secular institutions. We need influential journalists who are willing to change the negative perception of Muslims in the media. We need people trained in the sciences of biology and physics so that we can excel in these fields and bring more contributions to science and recognition to the Muslim world. Certainly, these fields may not pay as much as the three previously mentioned, but they are still necessary. One day we are going to be wondering why we have so many doctors to heal the sick, but not enough teachers to heal the ignorant.
Another burden comes with the growing amount of Riba within our society. While we are training these higher professions we are also accumulating mass debt with interest as we send them to professional schools. Medical school alone, after completion, can costs up to half a million dollars. This is an extraordinary amount that can and has afflicted our youth in a monumental way. Besides the fact that they are incurring sin from holding this debt, it also limits them in that they are more focused on having to pay if off than giving their money in Zakat or Sadaqa.
Finally, we cannot forget how this mentality can actualize the potential for inordinate greed. With money comes responsibility that most of our youth are unable to bear, often times exceeding their necessities and overspending. We must remember that this sort of behavior will never satisfy a person: “I asked the Prophet (for some money) and he gave me, and then again I asked him and he gave me, and then again I asked him and he gave me and he then said, “This wealth is (like) green and sweet (fruit), and whoever takes it without greed, Allah will bless it for him, but whoever takes it with greed, Allah will not bless it for him, and he will be like the one who eats but is never satisfied. And the upper (giving) hand is better than the lower (taking) hand” (Bukhari). It is because we focus more on the rewards of the Dunya that we are not educating our children in the Deen and allowing them to succumb to such diseases as greed.
Misdirected Fundraising
We were all horrified by the recent events in Haiti, Chile, and Turkey, where massive earthquakes toppled the foundations of over populated metropolises, killing thousands. We are still overcome with shock at the conflict that transpired for three months during the winter of 2008 to 2009 in Gaza Strip, when nearly 1500 innocent Palestinians were massacred by the uncompromising lawlessness of the Israel government. And we are still struggling with the daily hate crimes and bigotry of Islamophobia in the western world.
By necessity of moral conscious for our fellow man and our Islamic duty, we send aid overseas, either in the form of money or supplies. These are admirable solutions and great examples of what our faith teaches and encourages. The problem, however, is that for many of the issues that we face in this world today as Muslims, we are approaching them in the wrong manner. While it is perfectly fine and justified to send aid overseas, it is only a temporary remedy to the many ailments in the world. The victims of earthquakes do need money, but what they need most is manpower to assist them in clearing rubble, rebuilding homes, acquiring medical attention, and much more. The victims of Israel’s oppression do need money and supplies, but sending these essentials over to them are but in vain, as the Israelis blockade our efforts, not allowing for anything to cross over Palestinian borders. What the Palestinians really need is a combined effort of those citizens under the collective states of the United Nations to change policies so as to prevent Israel from committing any more injustices and violations against human rights. And what the Muslims living in the West need most importantly, is not money to fund lawyers to defend the rights of those being oppressed, but more people to ally with so that these injustices are recognized and prevented at the highest level of government, ensuring that equal rights and protection are guaranteed for all persons living therein. How is it possible to accomplish these goals when we as Muslims are so dispersed throughout the globe, being one of the smallest minorities living in the major world powers? We are outnumbered and do not have enough allies to rally to our cause. Even though we boast about Islam being the fastest growing religion in the world, this is simply not the case. For the most part, our numbers are growing because of our high birth rates. One must not mistake the quantity of believers with their quality, however, as many of these children are being raised in homes that see culture as superior to religion. Further, while it appears that there are a growing number of converts in the West, the reality is that many of them leave Islam within the first year of their taking of the Shahada. Of all the converts to Islam in America alone, 60% leave, never to return. This is not a sign of progress nor is it something to proud of, but a significant blow that brings to light a great deficiency in our community. Why are these converts leaving? Why is that we cannot gain the support necessary to relieve our fellow brothers and sisters from the bigotry of others? Why is it that we cannot function as a unified group, enough to show that we are doing our part to help rid the world of its many evils? The answer to all these dilemmas should be apparent by now. The reason Muslims in America are struggling is because we have our priorities mixed up; we value temporary pleasures and temporary remedies. Our priorities should be focused more on educating our children and informing the non-Muslim world of our beliefs and who we are. Only with these two things will we have a strong enough foundation to begin changing things for the better.
Freedom From Our Oppression
Avveroes Academy, an Islamic private school in Northbrook, IL, closed its doors in 2008, leaving nearly 70 students without a proper education all of which are now either not attending school, are commuting much longer distances for their education, or have been assimilated into a public secular institution. Avveroes is hoping to reopen by 2011. Another school, Furqaan Academy of Bolingbrook, IL, is situated in a small Mosque, which can barely contain its 60 plus students. The academy has, for a year now, desperately tried to purchase a new facility for its growing student body to no avail.
Avveroes Academy and Furqaan Academy both lack the needed funds to function optimally. They are not there as showpieces or for mere convenience, but for the sake of our children and their futures. Illinois is home to perhaps one of the largest Muslim populated communities in America, where some near 1,000,000 live. Why then are we allowing these schools to struggle? If we truly wish to succeed in the West, we need adequate educational facilities, teachers, and good environments, yet it seems our money is being channeled towards lesser priorities. We should be reminded that Allah (swt) makes it clear the status of education over everything else: “And say: Can you put on equal footing those who are learned with those who are not learned?” (39:9).
Likewise, Dawah organizations such as GainPeace and Al-Furqaan Foundation suffer from lack of volunteers and sufficient funds. GainPeace functions as a large Dawah networking service, providing information on Islam through several different mediums, including but not limited to call centers and one on one interaction via presentation tables and personal exchanges on the streets of Chicago. Al-Furqaan Foundation attempts to distribute Qur’ans to individual homes, hospitals, hotels, and retirement homes across America. Both also offer their own classes on Islam and Arabic for non-Muslims, new Muslims, and born Muslims alike. Their goals are admirable and are the precise direction that the Ummah should be moving towards for the sake of the Deen and our futures, yet these organizations are fighting to gain a foothold in the American culture. Are the 6-7 million hardworking Muslims nationwide really unable to assist in these noble endeavors? How many more converts do we have to lose or how many more of our children have to abandon their religion before we realize something has to be done?
No longer can we avoid our primary responsibilities towards our families and our community. No longer can we push in directions that yield little to no positive results, but merely waste our limited and precious resources. While temporary bandages seem to have an immediate affect, true change takes time and lasts longer. We must save our schools from becoming extinct, we must save our children from the negative influences of western society, and we must educate the non-Muslim world with the truth of Islam. We can only do this once we realize and accept our flaws, working together to no longer recollect the Golden Age of Islam, but to relive it.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi said, “I will demonstrate to the world that the Qur’an is a spiritual sun that shall never set and shall never be extinguished.” Thus his voluminous work, The Risala-e-Nur Collection, sets out to do just that. It expounds the truths of the Qur’an and shows that they can stand up to the scrutiny of science and logic, which is often used to discredit religion and Said Nursi invites his readers to reflect on the world around.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
What is the Risale-i Nur?
The Risale-i Nur collection is a six-thousand-page commentary on the Quran written by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi in accordance with the mentality of the age. Since in our age faith and Islam have been the objects of the attacks launched in the name of so called science and logic, Bediuzaman Said Nursi therefore concentrated in the Risale-i Nur on proving the truths of faith in conformity with modern science through rational proofs and evidence, and by decribing the miraculous aspects of the Quran that relate primarily to our century. This collection now has millions of readers both in and outside of Turkey. Thanks to the Risale-i Nur, the Turks managed to maintain their religion despite the most despotic regimes of the past decades. Although its author faced unbearable persecution, imprisonment, and exile, while no effort was spared to put an end to his service to faith, he was able to complete his writings compromising the Risale-i Nur and raise a vast group of believers who courageously opposed the oppression and preserved the dominance of Islam in the country.
Bediuzzaman understood an essential cause of the decline of the Islamic world to be weakening of the very foundations of belief. This weakening, together with the unprecedented attacks on those foundations in the 19th and 20th centuries carried out by materialists, atheists and others in the name of science and progress, led him to realize that the urgent and over-riding need was to strengthen, and even to save, belief. What was needed was to expend all efforts to reconstruct the edifice of Islam from its foundations, belief, and to answer at that level those attacks with a ‘manevi jihad’ or ‘jihad of the of the word.’
Thus, in exile, Bediuzzaman wrote a body of work, the Risale-i Nur, that would explain and expound the basic tenets of belief, the truths of the Quran, to modern man. His method was to analyse both belief and unbelief and to demonstrate through clearly reasoned arguments that not only is it possible, by following the method of the Quran, to prove rationally all the truths are the only rational explanation of existance, man and the universe.
Bediuzzaman thus demonstrated in the form of easily understood stories, comparisons, explanations, and reasoned proofs that, rather than the truth of religion being incompatible with the findings of modern science, the materialist interpretation of those findings is irrational and absurd. Indeed, Bediuzzaman proved in the Risale-i Nur that science’s breathtaking discoveries of the universe’s functioning corroborate and reinforce the truths of religion.
The imortance of the Risale-i Nur cannot be overestimated, for through it Bediuzzaman Said Nursi played a major role in preserving and revitalizing the Islamic faith in Turkey in the very darkest days of her history. And indeed its role has continued to increase in importance to the present day. But further to this, the Risale-i Nur is uniquely fitted to address not only all Muslims but indeed all mankind for several reasons. First it is written in accordance with modern man’s mentality, a mentality that, whether Muslim or not, has been deeply inbued by materialist philosophy: it specifically answers all the questions, doubts and confusions that this causes. It answers too all the ‘why’s’ that mark the questioning mind of modern man.
Also, it explains the most profound matters of belief, which formerly only advanced scholars studied in detail, in such a way that everyone, even those to whom the subject is new, may understand and gain something without it causing any difficulties or harm.
A further reason is that in explaning the true nature and purposes of man and the universe, the Risale-i Nur shows that true happiness is only to be found in belief and knowledge of God, both in this world and the Hereafter. And it also points out the grevious pain and unhappiness that unbelief causes man’s spirit and conscience, which generally the misguided attempt to block out through heedlessness and escapism, so that anyone with any sense may take refuge in belief.
To conclude
The Holy Quran addresses the intellect as well as man’s other inner faculties. It directs man to consider the universe and functioning in order to learn its true nature and purposes as the creation and thus to learn the attributes of its Single Creator and his own duties as a creature. This, then, is the method that Bediuzzaman employed in the Risale-i Nur. He explained the true nature of the universe as signs of its Creator and demonstrated through clear arguments that when it is read as such all the fundamentals of beliefs may be proved rationally.
When this method is followed, a person attains a true belief that will be sound and firm enough to be withstand any doubts that may arise in the face of the subtle attacks of Materialism, Naturalism and atheism, or the materialist approach to scientific advances. For all scientific and technological advances are merely the uncovering of the workings of the cosmos. When the cosmos is seen to be a vast and infinately complex and meaningful unified book describing its Single Author, rather that causing doubt and bewilderment, all these discoveries and advances reinforce belief, they deepen and expand it.
Man’s most fundamental need is the need for religion, the need to recognize and worship Almighty God with all His Most Beautiful Names and attributes, and to obey His laws; those manifest in the universe and those revealed through his prophets. In explaining the message of the Quran, Almighty God’s final Revealed Book, brought and perfectly expounded by His final Prophet, Muhammad (PBUH), and Islam, the complete and perfected religion for mankind, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi demonstrated in the Risale-i Nur that there is no contradiction or dichotomy between science and religion; rather, true progress and happiness for mankind can, and will, only be achieved in this way, the way of the Quran.
Here is powerful example of the Quran’s centrality in how Prof Jeffrey Lang came to know Islam and ultimately became Muslim.
“You can not simply read the Koran. Not if you take it seriously. You have to surrender to it already or you fight it. It attacks tenaciously, directly, and personally: it debases, criticizes, shames, and challenges. From the onset it draws a line of battle and I was on the other side.”
Why did he become a Muslim? His daughters would one day ask. He did not consider the choice that he made would affect generations to come. He is not a scholar of Islam. He writes about how it is to be Muslim from a Christian background, and being a minority in the Muslim community. He hesitated writing this book, because he felt it was too personal. He grew up catholic. He grew up with a mathematical and scientific mind. He gave up on being Catholic, long before he became Muslim. He became agnostic. He felt that being Catholic that it was not a logical religion. He felt that he alone created his existence. He began to feel mentally very lonely. He studied and received his doctorate in Mathematics, and yet he felt this was not enough.
He met a woman student who came to him for help. She was a Muslim woman, and she was covered head to toe. He felt that Muslim women were oppressed. His perception of Muslim women completely changed. She was a graduate student and teaching assistant and very capable of handling her students. He felt that there was a beauty and calmness about her.
He became very interested in religion and started going back to the Catholic church, but it did not satisfy his soul. Another Muslim student came into his life, His friend gave him a Quran.
He states:
“You can not simply read the Koran. Not if you take it seriously. You have to surrender to it already or you fight it. It attacks tenaciously, directly, and personally: it debases, criticizes, shames, and challenges. From the onset it draws a line of battle and I was on the other side.”
He was greatly affected by the Koran, and decided that he needed to talk to someone. He went to a mosque that was in the basement of a church. He had a great deal of emotional difficulty because the experience was too much for him to handle. He thought maybe he could walk and turn away. There were other men inside the mosque that persuaded him to stay and to embrace Islam. After a very touching moment with the Imam, he decided to convert to Islam. Emotionally, anyone who reads this first chapter, which I can inadequately convey, would very deeply be moved to tears.
His book is very dense reading. Every line is filled with conviction and knowledge which he wishes to convey. One can tell that he is extremely well read and full of self searching. He tells us that he understands what other new converts are struggling through.
He states that the Koran is the integral to the life of a Muslim. To the first Muslims, the language was spellbinding. The Koran sought to reform not to destroy the culture. It brought religion in a novel way. Religion must be more than an exercise in logic. Being a Muslim, there is no division between secular and spiritual, all of life is a sacred experience. The Koran is the revealed word of God.
God is addressing humanity. The Koran represents the mission of Muhammed pbuh as the restoration and the culmination of the Prophets.
The proof of Allah existence in within His signs:
“Do they not travel the land, so their hearts learn wisdom? (26:7)
Do they not examine the earth?(26:7) Do they nor look at the sky above them?”(50:6)
The implication within these questions that the evidence of this the truth of this message is to be found in the study of history, cultures and the nature among them.
“Read in the name of your Lord who created man from a tiny thing that clings….(96:1-5)”
Revealed the Prophet…Gabriel squeezed him and told him to read.
Reading and the ability to do so was considered to be a very divine gift. In reading the Quran, one finds beauty, coherence, transcendence and wisdom.
The Koran cannot be translated. It is only an interpretation when it is translated to another language and has no chronology in it like Bible. Islam also does not divide sacred and secular. Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) is a human instrument of who Allah speaks through.
The Koran is very scientific, for it describes many situations in nature from the fine particles that may be atom, to the development of child in the womb, the discovery how the earth rotates on its axis, to many other natural phenomenon, to the lives of bees and insects, to the expanding of the universe. What is amazing about the Koran that it explains these things in details.
The Koran states:
“He who created the Heavens one above the other. No fault you will see in the creation of the most Merciful. So turn your vision again. Do you see any flaw? Turn your vision and again your vision will turn back to you dazzled and defeated. (67:3-4)
God is more merciful than vindictive. He is more intent on saving more merciful than throwing into Hell fire.
What I feel that Lang writes in his book, is his experience and his profound amazement of what is in the Koran, from his personal view, with his scientific and mathematical background, that he found a great deal of logic in what impressed him in the Koran, what he could not find in the Catholicism that he grew up with.
Lang writes a great deal about Hadith in his book. Some of the Hadith he feels are more controversial than others. Some are more authentic than others. For new Muslims, this can be very confusing. The Koran does not delve into Prophet Muhammed inner personality. But when Prophet Muhammed feels concern over the Ummah, Allah tells the Prophet, that he is only the messenger. Throughout the Koran and the Hadith, Prophet Muhammed shines through. Lang states that to have had been the elect of God, to have won the love of his disciples so effortlessly, to have changed society and history to the extent that he did, he was surely much greater than merely the Arab ideal. Lang states that he must have possessed the kind of concern, compassion and spirituality that we can poorly approximate in ourselves. He was swift to dispense God’s will impartially, Prophet Muhammed was very concerned about justice. Even if his daughter Fatima were to steal, the same type of justice that was given to others, she would have to face it. The book describes how his early followers greatly loved the Prophet. Lang is very sincere in belief in the Prophet (pbuh). Critics have said of him that he is searching in the dark, about Islam, but I feel that he comes to the conclusion that he greatly believes in Prophet Muhammed’s mission and believes that Prophet Muhammed is a great mercy to mankind. I personally feel that those who become Muslim go through a questioning period and not blind faith. Many with great love and devotion accept Allah and his messenger with strong conviction. It takes time to get rid of all the baggage from the other faith that one has been brought up with.
There is so much inside this book, that it is so densely filled with information, that it is difficult to condense his ideas and thoughts into a short overview as this. In another chapter, he writes about the Ummah, and how Islam is a religion of equality, in everything you do within Hajj, within the prayer, in fasting, and other acts of worship, you do as a group effort. There is a great deal of unity in Islam. There is a great deal of responsibility to one’s parents and toward family. There are roles between husband and wife, although each of them have a different role to play, each are equal in the eyes of God. Each have the same amount of duty and worship towards God. There is a small segment on the relationship between husband and wife, our duties towards each other. Also one can divorce if one is not satisfied in the marriage, but it is something that Allah truly dislikes. He covers many different topics, that he struggles with, and what he has learned upon his journey.
He also talks about how the greater Jihad is not just going to war to fight for human rights but the struggle of righteousness within ourselves, which is the greater Jihad.
By Sr. Stephenie Bushra Khan – MuslimBridges Team
Source: http://www.muslimbridges.org/content/view/860/35/
You can purchase a copy of Jeffrey Lang’s Struggling to Surrender here. Your purchases support our Quran dawah project.
We at Al-Furqaan Foundation would like to wish Eid Mubarak to the Muslims across the globe.
Allahu akbar Allahu akbar Allahu akbar
Laa ilaha illa-llah
Allahu akbar Allahu akbar
Wa li-llahi-l-hamdAllah is Greatest; Allah is Supreme!
There is no absolute reality but Allah
And Allah is Greatest,
And to Him rises up all praise.
In conjunction with Eid ul Fitr, we present to you two new lectures courtesy of our education division, the Furqaan Institute of Quranic Education.
2. Approaching the Subject of the Mahdi
How do we Muslims of the 15th century Hijri understand the Prophet’s (SAW) words when he tells us of the Mahdi and the whole end of times scenario? On a blessed night of the past Ramadan, Shaykh Omar Baloch shared with us the attitude in which we should see this subject.
Watch the lecture here.
To enrich our reading of the Quran in the coming month of Ramadan, Al-Furqaan has embedded the summarized translation of Tafsir Ibn Kathir published by Darussalam on our website. Click here to browse the page. Produced below is a brief description of Tafsir Ibn Kathir:
Tafsîr Ibn Kathîr, by Isma’il bin ‘Amr bin Kathîr al-Dimashqî (d.774/1372) under the title Tafsîr al-Qur’ân al-Azîm, one of the better-known books on tafsîr, perhaps second to Tabarî, with more emphasis on soundness of reports, in particular rejection of all foreign influences such as isrâ’îlîyât, discussing the sanad of various reports often in detail, which makes it one of the more valuable books of tafsîr. Makes much use of tafsîr al-Qur’ân bi’l Qur’ân, referring a reader to other relevant ayat on the topic discussed. This book has been printed on various occasions (in 8 volumes) and an abridged version (mukhtasar) has been edited by Sâbûnî.
No English translation available.This book although of greatest importance to Muslims has been widely ignored by the orientalists. (description taken from islamic-awareness.org)
As Ramadan looms ahead, we would like to give the simple reminder that the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will complain to Allah on the Day of Judgment that his people neglected the Qur’an (Surah al-Furqan 25:30). Neglect of the Qur’an is of different levels, as Ibn al-Qayyim writes:
“The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was sent down, a guidance for mankind, clear proofs for the guidance, the Criterion; so whoever amongst you witnesses this month, let him fast it.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:185)
Ibn ‘Abbas narrates “that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) was the most generous person, and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would come to him every night and he would rehearse the Qur’an with him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Ramadan is a time to reconnect with the Quran. We leave you with a lecture delivered by Shaykh Omar Baloch titled “Are You a Ramadan Mu’min?”
[pro-player type="mp3"]http://www.al-furqaan.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/omar-baloch_are-you-a-ramadhaan-mumin.mp3[/pro-player]
Courtesy of Columbus Dawah
by Mustafa Masih
We live in a time where many people conciously or subconsciously feel that the idea of hell, jahannam, is unfair. If Allah SWT loves His creation, they argue, why should he create Hellfire? How can a Merciful Creator justify punishing His creation?
To appease the anguish of imagining hellfire underneath our feet on the Day of Judgment, we conjure wishful thoughts of Allah as Al-Ghafur (Most Forgiving) and Al-Rahim (Most Merciful). We should take heed of the perished nations of the past as mentioned in the Quran for their transgressions.
The horrifying torment of Hellfire as depicted in the Quran lends credence to the adage that human beings are much more motivated by the stick than the carrot. How can there be a moral society in which the people have no concept of being accountable for what they do? It is due to the same reason that an average person would not speed on the highway for fear of getting a traffic ticket.
Thus it is pivotal for us to be reminded of hellfire to stay on the straight path. To forget the reality of the stick is like being neglectful of cops waiting to catch a driver speeding.
Fear and Hope
Having said this, it is not to deny that Allah is All Merciful. The believer should always live between fear and hope (bayna al-khauf wa al-raja). When you are blessed with good health, you should instill fear of incurring the wrath of Allah SWT. When you are in hardship, have hope, raja‘, and bear patiently for it is merely a trial from Allah the All Merciful. When you are poor, know that Allah is the one Who provides whom He Wills. When you are rich, do not forget that Allah knows what you spend with your wealth.
This life, this dunya, is no more real than the Hereafter. The human soul, the ruh or nafs, is a most indestructible creation of Allah SWT that no nuclear weapons can annihilate. The great Imam Al-Ghazali, left a poem under his pillow upon his death in which the first lines read “I was a shell. Now the shell is open and I am free.” Know that the real self is not our body. If a person loses his hand, it does not mean the person lost his self. His self is his soul, the ruh.
Just as This Life is Real, the Next Life is Even More Real
As the Prophet SAW said, the bodies of people in Hellfire will be made bigger. Why? So that they can feel more pain. This is the reality of it. Yet we should not understand this as meaning there is no mercy from Allah SWT. His Mercy is everywhere and as Imam Ibn Taymiyyah states, the Mercy of Allah SWT is felt even in hellfire because the person is given the ability to tolerate this punishment.
Punishment in the Grave
This raises the question of why should there also be punishment in the grave. The punishment in the grave is given as a kafarah (atonement) so that perhaps it will put you in a better more pure state before you stand in front of Allah SWT on the Day of Judgment.
Another reason is that it is the angels who will question you in the grave. Whereas in the Hereafter Allah SWT is the one who will question you. The angels can only see what you do externally, the Shari’ah aspect, and question those acts but they do not know what is in your heart. Only Allah will take you into account for that in the Hereafter.
The Hellfire
After the stage of barzakh in the grave, a person proceeds to walk on the sirat, the straight path. Underneath this path is the hellfire, a fire that is alive, constantly trying to reach and grab every single person into its pit. The person’s first test is salat, the obligatory prayers. If its rights were not fulfilled, he goes falls down into hellfire and takes the punishment. Then the person will be brought to the beginning and start again. Then, perhaps the person participated in riba, and that is haram, he falls down again. This cycle is repeated until Jannah is reached.
For such a horrifying punishment, keep in mind that Allah SWT does not put us in a situation that is unfair for us. We are between His Justice and His Mercy. For the people in Hellfire, the mercy of Allah SWT is that they can bear the punishment. In fact, we don’t even deserve Jannah for it is only by the Mercy of Allah that He grants us Jannah insha Allah. Therefore, we ask for Allah’s Forgiveness because He is Al-Ghafurur Rahim.
In the hellfire, we will neither be dead nor alive. This is mentioned in Surah Al-A’la, “Wherein he will neither die nor remain alive.” The reality of hell fire and jannah is something no human being has full comprehension, not even the Prophet SAW.
Our knowledge of the Hereafter is merely a taste of its reality. It is analogous to the guest who is first given an appetizer as he enters the host’s home. Everything we know of the hereafter, is like this appetizer. The real delight of Jannah and torment of Jahannam cannot be comprehended in this physical world. For example, the people in the hellfire will have their skin burnt and then the skin comes back. This is only something we can imagine. The point you should understand is that Allah is saying verily His punishment is severe indeed.
Note that when Allah mentions in the Qur’an the delight of Jannah, it is matched by mentioning the opposite, Jahannam. Both of these realities have to be kept in mind.
What About Those Who Do Not Know the Truth?
In the aqidah of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah, we believe that Allah will not punish anyone until He sends them a messenger. It is the justice of Allah SWT to not punish who the message did not reach them. This is mentioned in the beginning of Surah Yasin for example. We cannot say anything about the people that did not receive the message in our aqidah. What is clear is the warning for those who the message reached.
The condition of those who did not receive the message is like the narrative of Luqman Al-Hakim. No messenger reached and no book of Allah reached Luqman The Wise. It was from his own fitrah, his human nature, to come to the conclusion that there must be Allah. We believe it is the natural predisposition of human beings to know of a Supreme Being just like we feel hungry when we don’t eat. A person with good fitrah knows thath this whole vast gigantic universe did not come by accident. It is in this light how Luqman advised his son, “O my dear son, do not associate partners with Allah, because this is the greatest oppression.” It is the ultimate denial of your master.
There is no way to determine who the message did not reach. For these people, there has to be some element of tauhid, some belief in their hearts of the Lord of the heavens and the earth. However this should not be our preoccupation. We should be concerned about our own state of iman. It is sufficient to know that Allah will not punish whom the message did not reach. We can merely say that as far the Shariah is concerned, the person died as a non-Muslim. Whether he believes in Allah in his heart, that is a matter for Allah to judge.
Injustice
Let’s say a Muslim is in hellfire for stealing. And some non-muslim is also there for committing the exact crime. In this case, the punishment for both of us is the same. The treatment from Allah for the same sin is the same punishment.
Is this unjust? How do human beings know what is just and unjust? We know justice not by experiencing justice, but through experiencing injustice and vice versa. Since we have established above that everyone is treated with the same punishment for the same crime,.the issue of justice versus injustice is a false dichotomy.
In surah al-Bayyinah, Allah SWT says we are created to be exclusive servants of Him. In addition, we are to establish regular prayer and give zakat. This is the pure servant. After that, Allah SWT mentions hellfire for the people who do deny His signs. For hellfire, the description is khalidina fiha (they will dwell therein). In the next ayah, Allah describes jannah as khalidina fiha abada (they will dwell therein forever). So Allah does not attribute hellfire with “abada” (forever) as is attributed to for jannah. In addition, the Prophet SAW says whoever has a mustard seed of iman, he will come out of hellfire and will enter jannah.
The common denominator of people in hellfire is that they have lost their humanity. Allah SWT describes in Surah Al-Maun the characteristics of those who denied the impending judgment. “Have you considered him who calls the judgment a lie?” When these people feel accountable to no one, their fitrah dies.
Fitrah and Gratitude
Talking about fitrah, there is a very subtle point in surah Luqman where Allah says “We gave Luqman al-hikmah (wisdom) so that he gives shukr (gratitude). This is how you tell whether a person has good fitrah. He does shukr to whoever does good to him. We observe that among the non-muslims, one of the qualities of those who convert to Islam is that they had good feelings towards their parents. Likewise for Luqman, he advises his son to have gratitude to his parents. This is human fitrah. People who have lost fitrah lose the feeling of gratitude to repay people’s kindness.
So as you grow older, your knowledge increases. However, if your fitrah is diluted, you cannot see the world as it is supposed to be seen despite the knowledge that you gain. If you have a clean heart, and you get the knowledge around you, you will see it in its reality.
Hence people with a corrupted fitrah cannot undertand tauhid (monotheism). Only with a pure fitrah can you see the Oneness of Allah. The urge of shukr is like how a child’s sense of shukr towards the mother. As he grows, he starts to have friends, relatives. and know the universe. When the urge of shukr is there, some of them start thanking the monkey, the cow, the sun and so on. This is all incomplete until the person recognizes that this whole universe is created by one Being. When we do things to filth our fitrah, we become deaf, dumb and blind as Allah mentions in Surah al-Baqarah. These people will not return because their fitrah is dead. Thus Allah says He seals their hearts (khatam Allahu ala qulubihim). They have hearts, but they can’t see with their heart.
The Heart is Dominant Over the Brain
If the brain is smart but the heart is jealous, the brain interprets everything according to that jealousy. The brain merely calculates what the hearts see. “They have hearts that have no understanding”. For them, good and bad is measured in terms of pleasure and pain. This is hedonism. The pop culture around us promulgates such an ethic of pain as bad and happiness as good.
When Allah says they have eyes that cannot see, it is referring to their hearts. Abu Jahl had clear eyesight, but his heart is the one that was blind. They are like animals. Rather, they are worse than animals. They have reached a point of no return. We have to be vigilant that we do not corrupt our soul with sin to the point of no return. This is the state of the soul of people in the global corridors of power to utter such statements as the lives of innocent Palestinians being akin to coackroaches who “we should just step on.” How can there be no hellfire for such people as these whose hearts cannot see? Clearly, Allah has set hellfire for such people of inhumanity.
The Punishment of Hellfire Purifies Your Sins
As for those who have not reached perfection that Allah SWT wanted, the hellfire for them is a source of purification. Even in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), we know that fire purifies. You take the skin of an animal, tan it, and it becomes pure. Thus, we are tormented in hellfire so that when we enter jannah, our hearts are like the purified ones. For example, there will be no idle talk in jannah, this is such a pure state of fitrah the average Muslim will attain after the “purification” of hellfire. Note, however, that hellfire is a most severe punishment that nobody can bear for even a moment.
Some ahadith point to the fact that the hellfire will ask when people are thrown in it, “Is there any more humans?” Jahannam will never be full. It will constantly ask Allah, “Is there more?” Then Allah puts His Foot in the hellfire, and the hellfire will say enough. Some ulama like Ibn Taymiyyah says this is the justice of Allah. Ibn Arabi has a similar opinion.
At that moment, the hellfire will be made full by this act of Allah. People with no iman will go into a state of non-existence. After all that punishment, like what Ibn Arabi says, maybe because of Allah’s mercy, he will put them in jannah. This is however not the popular opinion but so we know there is also this opinion and Allah knows best. Most ulama say the people of hellfire will be put into a state of non existence. There is also a third opinion which says hellfire is forever and jannah is forever. What is meant in this opinion is that the abodes of hellfire and paradise is forever but the people will either end up in Jannah or, as for the ones who still deny Allah, will cease to exist.
However, the essential message is that nobody will want to be in hellfire. The Hereafter is such that somebody who is suffering so much in this world, when Allah puts them in jannah, he will forget all of that suffering. When Allah puts a rich person in hellfire, he forgets all the luxury he had in this world.
Surah Al-Mulk begins with tabarakal lazi biyadihil mulk. So blessed is in whose hand is kingship. He has the ability to do all things. Here, qadr also means measurement. So Allah has measured everything, the qudrah of everything. The one who created death and created life. He created death before he created life. Because death is not a state of non-existence. Death is a state of existence in a different form. Like water heated into vapor.
He made life and death, to see who amongst you does the best deeds. The One who created the seven heavens one above another. You will never find in the creation of Allah any faults. Then Allah says, look into space, do you see any faults? And Allah says look again. Your eyes will come back tired, but you will not find fault in Allah’s creation.
The sky is dunya, these galaxies are all as-sama ad-dunya. Adna means closest, worthlest, smallest. Masabih is the bright starts etc. We made the starts hit the shaitan. Then Allah says those who deny their rabb, their caretaker, for them is the punishment of the hellfire. and what a bad returning place to go.
As they go down into the pit of the hellfire, you will be hearing the hellfire as if snatching you in. Why? Has no one come to warn you about this hellfire? You ignored, pretended it did not exist? Yes of course.
All it takes to get out of hellfire is only if we actually listened. If only we used our brain, we would have not been of the people of the hellfire. You did not listen to sincere advice. What Islam has to say is simply common sense. It is so much common sense, its like the analogy of when you are in a great palace, and you are sitting, waiting for your food. Someone is coming serving your food, everything is provided, would you deny there is a great owner of that palace?
In surah Ibrahim, in the last scene of the hellfire, when everyone is finally in hellfire, they will ask angels how to get out, they will try to escape, but not able to. They will then plead Allah, though that will not help. they will all gather together and see iblis (known as Lucifer in the Biblical tradition) in the hellfire. They say to iblis you are the one who’s the real culprit. This happens because when you are tormented in hellfire, you want to have someone to blame for such a punishment. So everyone assembles in front of iblis, and after everyone’s done everything, pleaded all they can, Iblis says, “Allah promised you a true promise, I also promised you but I can’t keep my promise. I had no power and control over you. I called you and you answered. I gave you waswasa. a thought. and you answered me. i have no control over you and you have no control over me. I do kufr, I deny you, reject you for all sins you did before.” Then Allah says “Indeed for the wrongdoers is a very severe punishment.” When all that it takes for you to avoid this is common sense.
You see everything has distance with Allah. Angels have fixed ranks before Allah. The sun can’t get closer to Allah. But Adam was given the choice. This is statement of Ibn Abbas, that Adam was given choice to come as close as he wanted with Allah. But it comes with a danger. That if you don’t struggle to get as close as you can to Allah, there is the danger of the opposite, Hellfire. This is the ni’mah that is given to no one. So you have this blessing, and you will be punished if you dont use this blessing right.
And at the end of the day, we are His property. To Him will we all return.
A group of brothers and sisters in Chicago, IL clean up the streets and call people to Islam in the process, but not without some struggles along the way.
Credit to WasatStudios
Artistic Imagery of the Qur’an: A Visual Translation of Surah Al-Fil (The Chapter of the Elephant)
by Khurram Murad
One: One member, should, first, make a presentation of the results of his study.
Two: The rest should then join in, further elaborating, correcting, modifying, raising questions, or providing answers.
Three: If all the members are required to study, then you may either designate beforehand who will do the presentation; this will result in better standards of presentation; this will keep everyone alert and working hard.
Four: It will always be useful if at least one member of the circle is more knowledgeable and has access to sources. He would, then, during the discussion, overcome any deficiencies and shortcomings in the original presentation. He may also set and steer the tone and direction of discussion.
Five: If one member who is learned in the Quran participates, he should not intervene from the beginning. Rather he should let the participants say what they want to say, and only then, gently correct them if they are wrong, or add to their knowledge. His method should be suggestive and interrogative rather than discursive.
Six: Towards the end, one member, preferably the leader or teacher, should always sum up the broad message of the passage, its main themes, its call to action.
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