The Truth - Home

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This booklet is for every freethinking and broadminded human being whose goal is to find the truth. We encourage you to read this booklet with an open mind. For a few moments, please set aside your pre-conceived notions and take a critical look at what is presented. It will open before you a new dimension of your role as a human being in this universe.

When we want to talk about Islam as a way of life, it is a very difficult task especially in the West because of several misconceptions and stereotypes that are prevalent about Islam and Muslims.

Do You Know This Book

One of the surprising facts for most non-Muslims is that Islam has over 975 million followers all over the world. Islam has a revelation, a holy book, called the Quran which was revealed to the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, about fourteen hundred years ago. The Quran is the last and final revelation until the end of human existence on earth.

When we talk about Islam or Christianity, we should not consider some Muslims ‘ and Christians' wrongdoing as a way to judge Islam or Christianity.

As far as scripture goes, let us see what Dr. Maurice Bucailie said in his book The Bible, the Quran and Science, which was published by the American Trust Publications 1979:
"Thanks to its undisputed authenticity, the text of the Quran holds a unique place among the books of Revelation, shared neither by the Old nor the New Testament. In the first two sections of this work, a review was made of the alterations undergone by the Old Testament and the Gospels before they were handed down to us in the form we know today. The same is not true for the Quran for the simple reason that It was written down at the time of the prophet".
Somebody with a counter argument might ask,
"How would I know that the Quran is a revelation from Allah? Do you have any evidence?'
I have evidence that the Quran is a revelation from Allah and this evidence is presented in the next few pages. When the revelation of the Quran commenced in 622 A.D., it was a linguistic miracle. The Quran has a challenge in it. The challenge is for anybody to produce some thing like or similar to the Quran.

This challenge was presented in the Quran in Sura No.17, Verse No.88 which is translated as follows:
"Say : If the whole of mankind and Jinn were together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they back up each other with help and support."
Years passed and nobody was able to meet the challenge. Later (after several years) the challenge in the Quran was eased asking for anyone to produce even ten Suras like those in it. This was in the Quran in Sum No. 11, Verse no. 13 which is translated as follows:
"Or they may say, "He forged it" Say, "Bring ye then ten Suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than Allah! If ye speak the truth"
Again years passed and nobody was able to successfully meet the challenge. Later the challenge was eased for the second time to produce one Sura like or similar to the Suras in the Quran.

The challenge (to anyone) to produce one Sura was presented in the Quran in more than a Sura, one of them was in Sura No. 2, Verse No. 23 which is translated as follows:
" And If ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers besides Allah, if what you say is true."
Since then more than fourteen hundred years have passed, and nobody has been able to meet the challenge, and nobody will, because the Quran is the only existing book containing the word of Allah which no man can match or imitate. The most eloquent people in the Arabic language spent years going over and searching the Quran, trying to find any weak or Inadequate word or sentence, but they could not. They even went further, trying to find a way to substitute a word or a sentence in the Quran, hoping to convey a similar meaning as the original one, but they failed to do so. As a result of this, many people, especially linguists, throughout the last fourteen hundred years believed in the Quran as a revelation beyond any human capacity.

In the beginning of the modern ages, some non-Muslims argued that the appreciation of the Arabic language has declined even among the native speakers themselves, and that most of the non-Muslims cannot speak Arabic. They conclude that the Quran will not stay till the end of the human existence on earth as a miracle. This is not a valid argument because, there are still millions of people all over the world who have a very good command of the Arabic language and could appreciate the linguistic miracle of the Quran But the Quran has something else for the modem ages. Some people have noticed that there are many facts about the science of astronomy, human reproduction and other scientific fields in the Quran.

Modem scientists have been amazed by the accuracy of scientific information presented in the Quran. Some people wrote books about this phenomenon which attracted the attention of many people in the west-both Muslims and Non-Muslims.

One of these books is a specialized book in embryology entitled The Developing Human by Dr.Keith L. Moore, published by W.B. Saunders, 1982. In the third edition of this book, Dr. Moore said:
It is cited in the Koran, the holy book of the Muslims, that human beings are produced from a mixture of secretions from the male and the female. Several references are made to the creation of a human being from a sperm drop and it is also suggested that the resulting organism settles in the woman like a seed, six days after its beginning. (The human blastocyst begins to implant about six days after fertilization.) The Koran, (and prophet saying), also states that the sperm drop develops "into a clot of congealed blood" (an implanted blastocyst or a spontaneously aborted conceptus would resemble a blood clot.) Reference is also made to the leech-like appearance of the Embryo ..."
This was part of what. Dr. Moore wrote in his book Later, after more research and study of the Quranic terms used to describe the development of the embryo in the mother's womb and other related descriptions, Dr. Moore found that the Quranic terms and statements are amazing in their scientific accuracy. Therefore, Dr. ‘Moore decided to add a chapter to the next edition of his book to discuss the scientific accuracy of the Quranic version, which was revealed fourteen hundred years ago. In the seventh Saudi Medical Meeting, Dr. Moore wrote a paper about Human Embryology in the Quran and the Hadith. He said in the paper I was amazed at the scientific accuracy of these statements (in the Quran), which were made in the 7th century A.D.

Now the question Is: If the Quran describes these scientific facts with great accuracy, how, could it be a human work? Let us see what Dr. Maurice Bucaille said after he had read the Quran:
"My first goal was to read the Quran and to make a sentence by sentence analysis of it... my approach was to pay special attention to the description of numerous natural phenomena given in the Quran; the highly accurate nature of certain details referring to them in the Book, which was only apparent in the original, struck me' by the fact that they were in keeping with present-day ideas although a man living at the time of Muhammad couldn't have suspected this at' all... what initially strikes the reader confronted for the first time with a text of this kind is the sheer abundance of subjects discussed.., where as monumental errors are to be found in the Bible I could not find a single error in the Quran. I had to stop and ask myself:

If a man was the author of the Quran how could he have written facts in the seventh century A.D. that today are shown to be in keeping with modern scientific knowledge?...

What human explanation can there be to this observation? In my opinion there is no explanation; there is no special reason why an inhabitant of the Arabian Peninsula should have had scientific knowledge on certain subjects that was ten centuries ahead...It is an established fact that at the time of the Quranic Revelation, i.e. within a period of roughly twenty three years straddling Hegira (622 A.D.), scientific knowledge had not progressed for centuries and the period of activity in Islamic civilization, with its accompanying scientific upsurge, came after the close of the Quranic revelation."
In addition to what Dr. Bucaille said, there are more examples from different scientific fields other than embryology.

When I searched the Quran for verses which refer to scientific facts, I found a large number of such verses. I will try to give as many examples as the space permits.

The Quran states several facts about astronomy which were discovered in the late twentieth century. One of these facts is about the expansion of the universe. Let us see what Dr. Bucaille said about that:
The expansion of the universe is the most imposing discovery of modern science today it is a firmly established concept and the only debate centers around the way this is taking place.

It was first suggested by the general theory of relativity and is backed up by physics in the examination of the galactic spectrum; the regular movement towards the red section of their spectrum may be explained by the distancing of one galaxy from another.

Thus the size of the Universe is probably constantly increasing and this increase will become bigger the further away the galaxies are from us. The speeds at which these celestial bodies are moving may, in the course of this perpetual expansion, go from fractions of the speed of light to speeds faster than this.

The following Verse of the Quran Sura 51, verse 47 where God is speaking, may perhaps be compared with modern ideas;

"The heaven, We have built it with power. Verily We are expanding it. "Heaven" is the translation of the word "sama" and this is exactly the extraterrestrial world that is meant. "We are. expanding it" is the translation of the plural present participle" musi'una" of the verb "aus'a" a meaning" to make wider", more spacious, to extend, to expand."
Another example from a different scientific field is about the living things in general which we can find in more than one verse in the Quran. For example Sura 21, Verse 30 was chosen by Dr. Bucaille to present how the Quran talked about these scientific facts. The Verse is translated as follows:
" Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We got every living thing out of the water. Will they then not believe? "

The notion of "getting something out of something" does not give rise to any doubts. The phrase can equally mean that every living thing was made of water (as its essential component) or that every living thing originated in water. The two possible meanings are strictly in accordance with scientific data. Life is in fact of aquatic origin and water is the major component of all living cells. Without water, life is not possible. When the possibility of life on another planet is discussed, the first question is always: does it contain a sufficient quantity of water to support life?
From the Animal Kingdom there are so many facts stated in the Quran. One of these facts is about the source of the constituents of animal milk which has been described in the Quran fourteen hundred years before. It has been understood only in recent times. Let us see how Dr. Bucaille explained that when he made comments on Sura 16,Verse 66 which is translated as follows:
" Verily, in cattle there is a lesson for you. We give you to drink of what is inside their bodies, coming from a conjunction between the contents of the intestine and the blood, a milk pure and pleasant for those who drink it."

"From a scientific point of view, physiological notions must be called upon to grasp the meaning of this verse. The substances that ensure the general nutrition of the body come from chemical transformations which occur along the length of the digestive tract. These substances come from the contents of the intestine. On arrival in the intestine at the appropriate stage of chemical transformation, they pass through its wall and towards the systematic circulation.

This passage is effected in two ways: either directly, by what are called the ‘lymphatic vessels', or indirectly, by the portal circulation. This conducts them first to the liver, where they undergo alterations, and from here they then emerge to join the systematic circulation. In this way everything passes through the bloodstream..

The constituents of milk are secreted by the mammary glands. These are nourished, as it were, by the product of food digestion brought to them via the bloodstream. Blood therefore plays the role of collector and conductor of what has been extracted from food, and it brings nutrition to the mammary glands, the producers of milk, as it does to any other organ. Here the initial process which sets everything else in motion is the bringing together of the contents of the intestine and blood, at the level of the intestinal wall itself. This very precise concept is the result of the discoveries made in the chemistry and physiology of the digestive system. It was totally unknown at the time of the Prophet Muhammad and has been understood only in recent times. The discovery of the circulation of the blood, was made by Harvey roughly ten centuries after. The Quranic Revelation. I consider that the existence in the Quran of the verse referring to these concepts can have no human explanation on account of the period in which they were formulated."
The last example I would cite from Dr. Bucaille's book is what I consider a very interesting one, because this example illustrates where the Quran showed the people facts that have not even been discovered without the help of the information given in the Quran. This example is about the story of the Pharaoh and Moses which was presented in the Quran in more than one Sura.

The Verses which inspire Dr. Bucaille to do the research around this incident are in Sura 10, Verses 90 to 92, which means as follows:
"We (Allah) took children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh with his hosts pursued them in rebellion and hostility till, when the fact of his drowning overtook him he said: I believe there is no True God except the God in whom the Children 0] Israel believe. I am of those who submit themselves to Him. (It was said to him)' Now! Thou has rebelled and caused depravity: This day We save thee in thy body so that thou mayest be a sign for those who come after thee' But verily, many among mankind are heedless of Our signs.
This is what the Holy Quran said about the story of Moses and the Pharaoh and the sign Allah left for the people who come after the Pharaoh to see who has a revelation from Allah and who does not have.

Let us hear from Dr. Bucaille how he conducted research to verify this Quranic story:
"In June 1975, the Egyptian high authorities very kindly allowed me to examine the parts of the Pharaoh's body that had been covered until then. They also allowed me to take photographs...

What may already be derived from this examination is the discovery of multiple lesions of the bones with broad lacunae, some of which may have been mortal although it is not yet possible to ascertain whether some of them occurred before or after the Pharaoh's death. He most probably died either from drowning, according to the scriptural narrations, or from very violent shocks preceding the moment when he was drowned or both at once.

The connection of these lesions with the deterioration whose sources have been mentioned above renders the correct preservation of the mummy of the Pharaoh somewhat problematical, unless precautionary and restorative measures are not taken very soon. These measures should ensure that the only concrete evidence which we still possess today concerning the death, of the Pharaoh of the Exodus and the rescue of his body, willed by God; does not disappear with the passage of time.

It is always desirable for man to apply himself to the preservation of relics of his history, but here we have something which goes beyond that: it is the material presence of the mummified body of the man. who knew Moses, resisted his pleas, pursued him as he took flight and lost his life in the process. His earthly remains were saved by the Will of God from destruction to become a sign to man, as it is written in the Quran.

Those who seek among modern data for proof of the veracity of the Holy Scriptures will find a magnificent illustration of the verses of the Quran dealing with the Pharaoh's body by visiting the Royal Mummies Room of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo!"
These are a few examples just to illustrate what I am talking about in this booklet. There are over a hundred of these examples in several scientific fields in the Quran which all have been proven to be scientifically true; in this Book which was revealed fourteen hundred years ago. Anybody who would like to examine more of these concepts could read the Quran and find out for himself or, an interested person could get Dr. Bucaille's book The Bible The Quran and Science, which is available in bookstores and check the accuracy of what he referred to. Not only Dr. Bucaille and Dr. Moore, but many scholars have researched these concepts and a lot of this research was presented on September 23rd, 1985 in the conference which was held in Cairo under the title of The Scientific Concepts in the Quran.

Several papers were presented at the conference. One of the most interesting papers was from Dr. T.V. persuade, a professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada, about human reproduction. Another interesting paper was presented by Dr. Marshal Johnson Ph.D., the Director of Daniel Baugh Institute, Philadelphia, U.S.A., also about embryology in the Quran. Dr. Johnson said at the conference that he started to use the Quranic terms in teaching embryology to his students because they were more accurate and easier to learn than the terms in textbooks.

Dr. Arthur Elson from the City University in London, U.K., stated that he was amazed by the scientific accuracy of the statements which had been made in the Quran. He had no doubt in his mind that these were not human words because these facts had lust been discovered recently.

I would like to quote a Verse from the Quran which may sum up the purpose of having these scientific facts in the Quran as signs for the people.

The verse is from Sura 41, Verse 53 which is translated as follows:
" We (Allah) will show them (the unbe lievers) Our signs in the farthest regions, and within their own selves until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth."

What is the Quran all about?

The Quran is written in beautiful prose that continues to be marvelled by the experts of the Arabic language. But it is not merely a literary masterpiece.

The Quran contains scientific facts and explanations that fascinate scientists of all fields. But it Is not an encyclopedia of science.

The Quran mentions stories of people and places in the past with vivid detail. But it is not merely a book of history.
So what is Quran ?
The Quran is a revelation from the Creator of this universe to all human beings.

Its most important message is the Unity of God - that there is only One Supreme Being who has no partners and is not dependent on anyone or anything. He is the Creator of everything and the whole universe is in His control. He is the only One worthy of being worshipped.

It is impossible for the created to fully comprehend the Creator - so the Quran makes us aware of Him by mentioning His Attributes. He is the most Merciful, the Loving, the Majestic, the Oft-Forgiving. The name that He has chosen for Himself is Allah. In His infinite mercy, Allah has not left mankind to wander searching for the correct path. He has revealed the Quran which includes a code for all people to follow. Islam is not just a set of beliefs. It is a complete way of life which covers all spheres of human activity - the social, economic, political, educational as well as the spiritual. Islam enjoins good manners for every occasion and stresses treating people, particularly relatives and neighbors, with kindness. The family enjoys a high status in Islam - it is viewed as the nucleus of society.

Allah has also sent messengers to guide mankind to the truth and to be an example for others to emulate. Stories of these messengers starting from Adam and including those of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and ending with Muhammad ( may peace be upon them all ) are found in the Quran.

This final revelation from Allah to mankind has been safeguarded from any alteration. Since the Quran has been preserved in its original Arabic it has not lost any meaning in translation to another language. Millions of people from all parts of the world have memorized the complete Quran. So even if all printed copies of the Quran were destroyed it would continue to live in the hearts of these people.

What do Muslims believe?

There is only one God, Allah, who alone is worthy of being worshipped.

Mankind has been guided at various times by the messengers of Allah of whom the most prominent were Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. The final message was sent to the last prophet, Muhammad, which replaces all previous messages. None of the prophets claimed to be god or part-god - they were human and were obedient to Allah.

Finally, I want to inform you that Islam is the universal message of Allah to all mankind and prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the last and final messenger of Allah. Therefore, Allah will not accept any way of life except Islam. He said in the Gracious Quran which is translated as follows:
" And any one who chooses a way of life other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him and in the hereafter he will be one of the losers. " (3:85)

The Final Book

Some people reject God because they can find no evidence for Him which satisfies both their hearts and minds simultaneously. Then there are others who accept God on the basis of emotional or irrational reasons which satisfy their hearts, but leave their minds unsure. These two groups of people have never found a satisfying answer to the question of their relationship with God. Then there are yet others who have found the correct path which God intended for us: to accept Him and His message to us using our minds first and foremost, and the heart follows easily and naturally as a consequence.

Instead of searching for the answer, there are also some people who chose to simply brush the question aside and ignore it unfortunately. This is the easy way out of what appears to be a very difficult, mysterious question which may seem to have no final solution. Most of these people are unaware of a very powerful message which completely and unequivocally establishes the correct path to God. This message squares with both the mind and the heart, and it has no equal since it comes to us straight from God Himself.

The message comes in the form of a book. In fact, God has given us several Books of guidance through the years, but each one was ultimately corrupted and changed by dishonest people. Each Book essentially contained the same fundamental message as the previous Books. Mankind was expected to guard these Books from harm, but unfortunately failed to live up to this expectation. Slowly but surely, each Book was edited and tampered with, destroying its authenticity. This is partly why God kept sending us more revelations.

However, almost 1400 years ago, God sent us another Book with the same basic message as the earlier ones, but with a small but very important difference. This time, God decreed that this Book would be the last Book sent down to us because God would protect it Himself. Regarding this Final Book, God said,

"Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high this reminder: and behold, it is We who shall truly guard it" [Holy Quran 15: 9]

Today, if we compare the 114 chapters in every copy of this Final Book with each other, we will find they match perfectly word for word - from the oldest copies made 1300-plus years ago to the ones printed just a few hours ago. No human hand has changed it.

The rational person has every right to be doubtful, of course, if he or she has never read this book. For such people, here is a small sample of what the Final Book contains. Suppose we wanted to ask God several questions about Him and about ourselves. Short of Him speaking to us directly (such a privilege has been granted to only one person out of all humanity), the Book has the best answers one can find. It is on the strength of these answers that an honest person may be struck with the conviction that the Final Book is from none other than God Almighty. Again, here is only a small part of the information one might find.

Ruling on Celebrating the Birthday of the Prophet

The commands mentioned in the Quraan and Sunnah to follow the laws of Allaah and His Messenger, and the prohibitions on introducing innovations into the religion are quite clear.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad to mankind): ‘If you (really) love Allaah, then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quraan and the Sunnah), Allaah will love you and forgive you your sins’”
[Al Imraan 3:31]

“Follow what has been sent down unto you from your Lord (the Quraan and Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah), and follow not any Awliyaa’ (protectors and helpers who order you to associate partners in worship with Allaah), besides Him (Allaah). Little do you remember!”
[al-Araaf 7:3]

“And verily, this is My straight path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His path”
[al-Anaam 6:153]

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The most truthful of speech is the Book of Allaah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, and the most evil of things are those which are newly-invented.”

And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates anything in this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), that is not part of it will have it rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 2697; Muslim, no. 1718).

Among the reprehensible innovations that people have invented is the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the month of Rabee al-Awwal.

They celebrate this occasion in various ways:

Some of them simply make it an occasion to gather and read the story of the Mawlid, then they present speeches and qaseedahs (odes) for this occasion.

Some of them make food and sweets etc., and offer them to the people present.

Some of them hold these celebrations in the mosques, and some of them hold them in their houses.

Some people do not limit themselves to the actions mentioned above; they include in these gatherings haraam and reprehensible things, such as free mixing of men and women, dancing and singing, or committing actions of shirk such as seeking the help of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), calling upon him, seeking his support against their enemies and so on.

Ruling on celebrating the Prophets birthday

Celebrating the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is forbidden and is to be rejected for a number of reasons:

1 – it is not part of the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or of the khaleefahs who succeeded him.

Since this is the case, then it is a forbidden innovation,
because the Prophet (pbuh) said: “I urge you to follow my Sunnah and the way of the rightly-guided khaleefahs after me; adhere to it and cling to it firmly. Beware of newly-invented things, for every newly-invented thing is an innovation (bid’ah) and every innovation is a going-astray.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 4/126; al-Tirmidhi no. 2676).

Celebrating the Mawlid is an innovation and goes against the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):
“This day, I have perfected your religion for you”
[al-Maaidah 5:3]

because it is adding something extra and claiming that it is a part of the religion, but the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not bring this.

2 – Celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is an imitation of the Christians, because they celebrate the birth of the Messiah (peace be upon him).

Imitating them is extremely haraam. The hadeeth tells us that it is forbidden to imitate the kuffaar, and we are commanded to differ from them.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them” (narrated by Ahmad, 2/50; Abu Dawood, 4/314).

And he said, “Be different from the mushrikeen” (narrated by Muslim, 1/222, no. 259) – especially with regard to things that are the symbols or rituals of their religion.

3 – Besides being bidah and an imitation of the Christians, both of which are haraam, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is also a means that leads to exaggeration and excess in venerating him, which even goes as far as calling upon him (making duaa to him) and seeking his help, instead of calling upon Allaah, as happens now among many of those who observe the bidah of the Mawlid, when they call upon the Messenger instead of Allaah, and ask him for support, and sing qaseedahs (odes) of shirk praising him, like Qaseedat al-Burdah etc.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade going to extremes in praising him, as he said: “Do not extol as the Christians extolled the son of Maryam. For I am just His slave, so say, the slave of Allaah and His Messenger” (narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4/142, no. 3445; al-Fath, 6/551), i.e., do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the Messiah and venerated him until they worshipped him instead of Allaah.

Allaah forbade them to do that when he said (interpretation of the meaning):
“O people of the Scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allaah aught but the truth. The Messiah ‘Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allaah and His Word, (“Be!” — and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rooh) created by Him”
[al-Nisaa 4:171]

Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade us to exaggerate concerning him lest the same thing happen to us as happened to them, so he said: “Beware of exaggeration, for those who came before you were destroyed because of exaggeration” (narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 5/268; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan al-Nasaa’i, no. 2863).

4 – Observing the innovation of the Prophet’s birthday opens the door to other kinds of bidah and being distracted by them from the Sunnah.

Hence you find that the innovators are very active when it comes to bidah and very lazy when it comes to the Sunnah; they hate it and regard those who follow it as enemies, until their entire religion is innovated anniversaries and Mawlids. They have split into various groups, each of which commemorates the anniversary of its imaam’s birth, such as the births of al-Badawi, Ibn Arabi, al-Dasooqi and al-Shaadhili. No sooner do they end the celebration of one birthday but they start the celebration of another. This results in exaggeration concerning these dead people and others, and in calling upon them instead of Allaah, believing that they can bring benefit and cause harm, until they deviate from the religion of Allaah and go back to the religion of the people of the Jaahiliyyah of whom Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And they worship besides Allaah things that harm them not, nor profit them, and they say: ‘These are our intercessors with Allaah’”
[Yoonus 10:18]

“And those who take Awliyaa (protectors, helpers, lords, gods) besides Him (say): ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allaah’”
[al-Zumar 39:3]

Discussing the specious arguments
of those who celebrate the Mawlid

Those who think that this bidah should be continued produce specious arguments which are flimsier than a spider’s web.

These specious arguments may be dealt with as follows:
1 – Their claim that this is veneration of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):

The response to that is that the way to venerate him is to obey him, do as he commanded and avoid that which he forbade, and to love him; he is not to be venerated through innovations, myths and sins.

Celebrating his birthday is of this blameworthy type because it is a sin. The people who venerated the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) the most were the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), Yet despite this level of veneration, they never took the day of his birth as an ‘Eid (festival). If that had been prescribed in Islam they would not have neglected to do that.

2 – Using as evidence the fact that many people in many countries do this.

The response to that is that evidence consists of that which is proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and what is proven from the Prophet is that innovations are forbidden in general, and this is an innovation. What people do, if it goes against the evidence (daleel), does not prove anything, even if many of them do it.
“And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allaah’s path”
[al-An’aam 6:116]

Nevertheless, in every age, praise be to Allaah, there have always been those who denounce this bidah and state clearly that it is false. Those who persist in following it after the truth had been explained to them have no proof.

3 – They say that by celebrating the Mawlid they are keeping the memory of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) alive.

The answer to that is that the memory of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is constantly kept alive by the Muslim, such as when his name (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is mentioned in the adhaan and iqaamah and in khutbahs, and every time the Muslim recites the Shahaadatayn after doing wudoo and in the prayers, and every time he sends blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in his prayers and when he is mentioned, and every time the Muslim does a waajib (obligatory) or mustahabb (recommended) action that was prescribed by the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). In all of these ways (the Muslim) remembers him and the reward equivalent to the reward of the one who does that action goes back to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Thus the Muslim constantly keeps the memory of the Messenger alive and has a connection with him night and day throughout his life through that which Allaah has prescribed, not only on the day of the Mawlid and things which are bidah and go against the Sunnah, for that puts one at a distance from the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the Messenger will disown him because of that.

The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has no need of this innovated celebration, because Allaah has already bestowed veneration and respect upon him, as He says:
“and raised high your fame”
[al-Sharh 94:4]

For Allaah is not mentioned in the adhaan, iqaamah or khutbah, but the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is mentioned after Him; this is sufficient veneration, love and renewal of his memory, ad sufficient encouragement to follow him.

Allaah did not refer to the birth of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the Quraan, rather He referred to his Mission, and says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Indeed, Allaah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves”
[Al Imraan 3:124]

“He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves”
[al-Jumuah 64:2]

4 – They may say that the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday was introduced by a knowledgeable and just king who intended thereby to draw closer to Allaah.

Our response to that is that bidah is not acceptable, no matter who does it. A good intention does not justify a bad deed and even if a person died as a knowledgeable and righteous person, this does not mean that he was infallible.

5 – They say that celebrating the mawlid comes under the heading of bidah hasanah (“good innovation”) because it is based on giving thanks to Allaah for the Prophet!

Our response to that is that there is nothing good in innovation. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates anything in this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), that is not part of it will have it rejected.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 2697; al-Fath, 5/355).

And he said, “Every innovation is a going astray” (narrated by Ahmad, 4/126; al-Tirmidhi, no. 2676).

The ruling on innovations is that they are all misguidance, but this specious argument suggests that not every bidah is a going astray, rather there are good innovations.

These people have no proof that there is any such thing as a “good innovation” apart from the words of Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) concerning Taraaweeh prayers, “What a good innovation this is.” (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, 2/252, no. 2010 mu’allaqan; al-Fath 4/294).

They also said that things were innovated which were not denounced by the salaf, such as compiling the Quraan into one volume and writing and compiling the hadeeth.

The response to that is that these matters had a basis in Islam, so they were not newly-invented.

Umar said: “What a good bid’ah” meaning innovation in the linguistic sense, not in the shari sense. Whatever has a basis in Islam, if it is described as an innovation, is an innovation in the linguistic sense, not in the shari sense, because innovation in the shari sense means that which has no basis in Islam.

Compiling the Quraan into one book has a basis in Islam, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had commanded that the Quraan be written down, but it was scattered, so the Sahaabah compiled it in one volume so as so protect and preserve it.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led his companions in praying Taraaweeh for a while, then he stopped doing that, lest that become obligatory on them. The Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) continued to pray it separately during the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and after his death, until Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with them) gathered them behind one imaam as they used to pray behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). This was not an innovation introduced into the religion.

Writing down the hadeeth also has a basis in Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that some ahaadeeth should be written down for some of his companions when they asked him for that. In general terms writing it down during his lifetime was not allowed, for fear that the Quraan might be mixed with things that were not part of it.

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died, this fear was no longer a factor, because the Quraan had been completed and arranged in order before he died.

The Muslims compiled the Sunnah after that in order to preserve it and keep it from being lost. May Allaah reward them with good on behalf of Islam and the Muslims, because they preserved the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) from being lost or being tampered with.

We may also say to them: why was this act of thanksgiving, as they call it, not done by the best generations, the Sahaabah, Taabi’een and followers of the Taabi’een, who loved the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) most and who were most keen to do good and give thanks? Are those who introduced the innovation of the Mawlid more rightly-guided than them? Do they give more thanks to Allaah? Definitely not!

6 – They may say that celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (pbuh) is indicative of their love for him; this is one way of showing that, and showing love of the Prophet (pbuh) is prescribed in Islam!

The answer to that is that undoubtedly loving the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is obligatory for every Muslim; he should love him more than he loves himself, his child, his father and all the people – may my father and mother be sacrificed for him – but that does not mean that we should introduce innovations for doing so that have not been prescribed for us. Loving him dictates that we should obey him and follow him, for that is one of the greatest manifestations of love, as it is said:

“If your love is sincere then obey him; for the lover obeys the one whom he loves.”

Loving the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) implies keeping his Sunnah alive, adhering firmly to it, and avoiding words and deeds that go against it. Undoubtedly everything that goes against his Sunnah is a reprehensible innovation (bidah) and a manifest act of disobedience. That includes celebrating his birthday and other kinds of bidah. A good intention does not mean that it is permissible to introduce innovations into the religion. Islam is based on two things, purity of intention and following [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)].

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Yes, but whoever submits his face (himself) to Allaah (i.e. follows Allaah’s religion of Islamic Monotheism) and he is a Muhsin (a doer of good) then his reward is with his Lord (Allaah), on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve”
[al-Baqarah 2:112]

Submitting ones face to Allaah means being sincere towards Allaah, and doing good means following the Messenger and implementing the Sunnah.

7 – Another of their specious arguments is when they say that by celebrating the Mawlid and reading the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) on this occasion, they are encouraging people to follow his example!

We say to them that reading the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and following his example are required of the Muslim all the time, all year long and throughout his life. Singling out a specific day for that with no evidence for doing so is an innovation, and every innovation is a going astray.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 4/164; al-Tirmidhi, 2676). Bidah does not bear any fruit but evil and it leads to a person distancing himself from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

In conclusion, celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), whatever form it takes, is a reprehensible innovation. The Muslims should put a stop to this and other kinds of bid’ah, and occupy themselves with reviving and adhering to the Sunnah. They should not be deceived by those who promote and defend this bid’ah, for these types of people are more interested in keeping innovations alive than in reviving the Sunnah; they may not even care about the Sunnah at all. Whoever is like this, it is not permissible to imitate him or follow his example, even if the majority of people are like this. Rather we should follow the example of those who follow the path of the Sunnah, among the righteous salaf and their followers, even if they are few. Truth is not measured by the men who speak it, rather men are measured by the truth.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you lives (for a long time) will see many differences. I urge you to follow my Sunnah and the way of the rightly-guided khaleefahs who come after me. Hold on to it firmly. Beware of newly-invented matters, for every innovation is a going astray.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 4/126; al-Tirmidhi no. 2676).

So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) explained to us in this hadeeth what we should do when there are differences of opinion, just as he explained that everything that goes against his Sunnah, be it words or deeds, is a bidah, and every bidah is a going astray.

If we see that there is no basis for celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, whether in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or in the way of the rightly-guided khaleefahs, then it is one of the newly-invented matters, one of the bidahs which lead people astray.

This principle is what is implied by this hadeeth and is what is indicated by the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Obey Allaah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority. (And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination”
[al-Nisaa 4:59]

Referring to Allaah means referring to His Book, and referring to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) means referring to his Sunnah after he has passed away. The Quraan and Sunnah are the reference point in cases of dispute.
Where in the Quraan or Sunnah does it indicate that it is prescribed in Islam to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday?
Whoever does that or thinks that it is good must repent to Allaah from this and from other kinds of bidah. This is the attitude of the Muslim who is seeking the truth. But whoever is too stubborn and arrogant after proof has been established, then his reckoning will be with his Lord.

Eating food that is distributed on the Prophet’s Birthday (Mawlid)

Firstly:
There is no festival in Islamic shareeah that is called “The Prophet’s Birthday”. Neither the Sahaabah nor the Taabieen nor the four imams nor anyone else recognized such a day as part of their religion. Rather this festival was introduced by some ignorant Baatini innovators, then the people began to follow this innovation but the imams have denounced it in every time and place.

Secondly:
Based on this, everything that the people do specially for this day is regarded as haraam, innovated actions, because they intend thereby to keep alive a festival that has been introduced into our religion, such as holding parties, offering food and so on.

Shaykh al-Fawzaan said in al-Bayaan li Akhta’ ba’d al-Kuttaab (268-270):
The commands in the Qur'aan and Sunnah to follow that which has been prescribed by Allaah and His Messenger and the prohibition against introducing innovations into the religion are well known. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم to mankind): “If you (really) love Allaah, then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quraan and the Sunnah), Allaah will love you and forgive you your sins”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:31]

“[Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) to these idolaters (pagan Arabs) of your folk:] Follow what has been sent down unto you from your Lord (the Qur’aan and Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah), and follow not any Awliyaa’ (protectors and helpers who order you to associate partners in worship with Allaah), besides Him (Allaah). Little do you remember!”
[al-A’raaf 7:3]

“And verily, this is My straight path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His path”
[al-An’aam 6:153]

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces anything into this matter of ours that is not part of it will have it rejected.” According to a version narrated by Muslim: “Whoever does any deed that is not part of this matter of ours will have it rejected.”

Among the innovations that people have introduced is celebration of the Prophet’s birthday (Mawlid) in the month of Rabee al-Awwal. There are various ways in which they celebrate this occasion:

Some of them simply gather to read the story of his birth, or they listen to speeches and qaseedahs (odes) on this occasion.

Some of them make food and sweets etc, and offer them to the people who attend.
Some of them hold these celebrations in the mosques and some hold them in their houses.

Some of them do not limit themselves to what we have mentioned, rather their gatherings include haraam and evil things such as men mixing freely with women, dancing and music, or acts of shirk such as seeking the help of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and calling upon him or seeking his support against their enemies, and so on.

Whatever kinds of celebrations they are and whatever form they take, they are undoubtedly bidah and haraam innovations that were introduced long after the time of the best generations.

The first one who introduced this innovation was Abu Sa’eed Kawkaboori, the king of Irbil, at the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh century AH, as was mentioned by the historians such as Ibn Katheer, Ibn Khalqaan and others.
Abu Shaamah said: The first one who did that in Mosul was Shaykh ‘Umar ibn Muhammad al-Mulla, one of the well known righteous men, and the ruler of Irbil and others followed his example.

Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer said in al-Bidaayah (13-137), in his biography of Abu Sa’eed al-Kawkaboori:
He did the Mawlid in Rabee’ al-Awwal and celebrated it with a great celebration. …

Then he said:
Al-Sabt said: Some of those who attended the feast given by the king on some of the Mawlids said that this feast included five thousand roasted heads, ten thousand chickens, one hundred thousand bowls and thirty thousand plates of sweets. And the Sufis sang from Zuhr until Fajr, and he himself danced with them.
Ibn Khalqaan said in Wafiyaat al-A’yaan (3-274):

When the first of Safar came, they would adorn those domes with all kinds of fine adornments, and in every dome there was a group of singers and a group of puppeteers and musical players, and they did not leave any dome but they installed a group there.

But most of what these innovators do on this day is making food of various kinds and distributing it and inviting people to eat. If a Muslim joins in this action, eats their food and sits in their gatherings, then undoubtedly he is taking part in keeping the innovation alive, and is cooperating in it, and Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Help you one another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allaah”
[al-Maa’idah 5:2]

Hence the fatwas of the scholars state that it is haraam to eat food that is distributed on this day and on other innovated festivals.

THE TWO EIDS REPLACE ALL HOLIDAYS

Hadith - Abu Dawood #1134, 1/675, Narrated Anas Bin Malik
The Prophet came to Medina with two days they played in.
The Prophet said, ‘What are these two days?’ They said, ‘These are two days we used to play in, in our Jahiliyah.’ The Prophet said, ‘Allah has replaced them with two better days: Eid Al Adhaa and Eid Al-Fitr’.

We ask Allaah to help us adhere to His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger until the Day when we will meet Him. May Allaah grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.

Make Peace.....its one of the Noblest Things
by Asma bint Shameem

We decided to meet for lunch. We were all excited. After all, we were getting together after a long time. As we sat at our table, we started talking, catching up on all that had happened in the past few years, when I noticed a bit of tension developing between two of my friends.

Then, all of a sudden, right before my very eyes, before I knew it, it blew up into a horrible argument. Angry words flew between the two of them and before I could do anything to stop it, both my friends stormed out of the place, vowing to never talk to each other ever again!

"Subhaan Allaah! ....what just happened here?" I said to myself, trying to digest the horrible incidence that just took place. Two of my dear friends fighting with each other!

Many of us face something similar several times in our lives......our families and loved ones arguing over something so trivial, our friends not talking to each other over the littlest of things, people shunning each other and staying angry, even years after the matter took place, to the extent that sometimes they dont even remember why they are fighting!

And we all know people who may not be openly fighting and arguing, yet we know that there is definitely some kind of either hostility or jealousy between them, or even some kind of misunderstanding amongst themselves.

So whats a Muslim to do in such a situation?
Stand by and watch?!!
Definitely NOT.

What is required from us in such a situation is that we make peace between them for the sake of Allaah.

"The believers are nothing but brothers, so make peace between your two brothers and beware of Allah that perhaps you may be shown mercy." (Al-Hujaraat:10)

And, noble, indeed is the act of making peace and reconciling between two arguing parties. In fact, it is superior to voluntary fasting and sunnah and nafl prayer.

The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said:
“Shall I not tell you of something that is better than fasting, prayer and charity?”
They said: Yes.
He said: “Reconciling between two people, for the corruption of that which is between the hearts is the shaver (destroyer). It is the shaver, and I do not say that it shaves hair, rather that it shaves religious commitment.”
(al-Tirmidhi- hasan)

Subhaan Allaah!
Better than fasting, prayer and charity!
That just goes to show you how important it is for us to reconcile between people.

In fact, it is so important that, although lying is haraam in and of itself, yet, Allaah has permitted even lying in order to reconcile between people and to remove discord and conflict. This is because of the great negative consequences conflicts and arguments have, on the religious commitment of individuals as well as communities.

Umm Kalthoom said that she heard the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) say: “He is not a liar who reconciles between people, conveying good messages and saying good things.” (al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

She also said: "I did not hear him (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) grant any concession concerning anything that the people say of lies except in three cases:
reconciling between people, war,
and what a man says to his wife,
or a woman says to her husband. (Muslim)

Reconciling between disputing parties is a means of earning great rewards.

Allaah says:
"There is no good in much of their private conversation except for someone who enjoins giving of charity, good deeds generally or making good that which is between people. Whoever does that seeking the pleasure of Allah, We will give him a great reward." (An-Nisaa: 114)

However, while making peace between disputing parties, do remember that Islam has a particular methodology and approach to this issue. It is not a matter of simple "conflict resolution". We cannot simply negotiate and compromise until we reach something agreeable to both of them because it may very well be unjust or not in accordance to Islaam.

As Muslims, we add Allah into the equation.

Instead of evaluating the two positions in relation to each other, we have to examine each of them in relation to what pleases Allah Subhaanahu wa Taala.

For, it is quite possible for two Muslims to be in dispute with each other and yet, neither of their positions be acceptable according to Shareeah - even if the other side were to accept it.

So when two Muslims or two groups of Muslims disagree or fight, it is upon us to call all of them to what Allaah says in that matter.

Allah said:
"If two groups of believers get into a fight then make good that which is between them. Then, if one side transgresses against the other, fight the transgressors until they return to the order of Allah. If they so return, then make good that which is between them with justice and be equitable. Surely, Allah loves those who are equitable." (Al-Hujaraat:9)

So, if you know anybody out there, arguing, not talking to one another, shunning each other, or simply having distrust and ill feeling towards some other fellow Muslims, go ahead and make peace between them.

Do it for the sake of Allaah, remembering the reward and asking Him to accept it from you. Not only will it bring you immense reward and forgiveness from Him, but it will be one of the noblest things that you would do.

Ali ibn Abi Talib said: "One of the things which brings forgiveness is making your fellow Muslim happy."

Anas said: "Whoever made peace between two, Allah gives him for every word the [reward of] freeing a slave."

Abu Umama said: "Walk a mile to visit a sick person and walk two miles to visit your brother for the sake of Allah and walk three miles to make peace between two."

Remind yourself and them that a Muslim should avoid division and difference completely. Avoidance, hatred, rejection and envy all destroy the Muslim community and render it vulnerable to all forms of fitna. If, however, someone does get into such situations of dispute, then they have a maximum of three days after which they should solve the dispute and end the bad feeling between them.

The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: "Do not boycott one another, do not turn away from one another, do not hate one another and do not envy one another. Be slaves of Allah, brothers. And it is not allowed for a Muslim to avoid another for more than three days." (al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

And: “Whoever forsakes his brother for a year, it is as if he has shed his blood.” (Abu Dawood- saheeh by al-Albaani)

May Allaah remove all forms of enmity and ill feelings amongst us and enable us to love each other for His sake Alone. Ameen..

HIJAB is there in Hindu and Christian Books Also
- Zakir Naik

Lets analyze what the Hindu Scriptures have to speak on modesty ?

It is mentioned in the Rig Veda Book no. 8 Hymn no. 33 V. no. 19
“When Brahma has made you a woman, you should lower your gaze and should not look up. You should put your feet together and you should not reveal what the garment and the veil conceals.”

So the Rig Veda says that the woman should wear the veil.
They should lower their gaze and should not stare.

It is further mentioned in Rig Veda Book no. 10 Hymn no. 85 V. no.30
“Unlovely is the person is the husband who covers his thighs with the garment of his wife. “

So the Rig Veda says that wearing the clothes of the opposite sex is prohibited.

It is further mentioned in the Mahavir Charitra Act 2 Page 71 that
When Purshuram comes, Rama tells his wife Sita that “He is our elder, please lower your gaze, and put on the veil. “

Rama tells his wife Sita to put on the veil and to lower her gaze.

If you read historical books, the books talking about the Coin Age, the Age of the Gupta and the post Gupta age, there are coins , on which there are pictures of the Indain woman wearing the veils and the veil are going upto their shoulders, some go upto the arms. There are many Indian woman in the villages who wear the veils, some of the woman even cover their faces.

So,if you analyze, even the Hindu Scriptures say that a woman should wear the veil. That the woman should lower their gaze.

Now lets look at the Christian Scriptures...

Matthew 5:27-28
You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery'
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart

Wearing of opposite sex clothes not allowed
Deuteronomy 22:5
22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

I Timothy 2:9
And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.

Punishment for a women who does not cover her head

I Corinthians 11:5-6
11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven

The Noble Qur'an - Al-Ahzab 33:59
And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things) and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not to show off their adornments except only that which is apparent (like palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer dress like veil, gloves, head cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms, etc.)
and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their son’s, their husband’s sons, their brothers or their brother’s sons, or their sisters sons or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex.
And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And beg Allah to forgive you all O believers, that you may be successful.

Because followers of hindu and christianity does not wear hijab , This implies either they do not follow whats written in it or they themselves know that thier holy book is not the word of god and is not worthy of not being followed.
So be it.

But do not point your fingers on followers of Islam, because we belive and we know that the Quraan is the word of God and we obey by it.

Watch :
Hindu Women Questions Dr. Zakir Naik about Hijab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp5ORAqZIlA

Correct Hijaab

Firstly:
(It should cover all the body apart from whatever has been exempted).
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e. screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

This aayah clearly states that it is obligatory to cover all of a woman’s beauty and adornments and not to display any part of that before non-mahram men (“strangers”) except for whatever appears unintentionally, in which case there will be no sin on them if they hasten to cover it up.

Al-Haafiz ibn Katheer said in his Tafseer:

This means that they should not display any part of their adornment to non-mahrams, apart from that which it is impossible to conceal. Ibn Mas’ood said: such as the cloak and robe, i.e., what the women of the Arabs used to wear, an outer garment which covered whatever the woman was wearing, except for whatever appeared from beneath the outer garment. There is no sin on a woman with regard to this because it is impossible to conceal it.

Secondly

(it should not be an adornment in and of itself).
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“… and not to show off their adornment…” [al-Noor 24:31].

The general meaning of this phrase includes the outer garment, because if it is decorated it will attract men’s attention to her.

This is supported by the aayah in Soorat al-Ahzaab (interpretation of the meaning):
“And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance” [al-Ahzaab 33:33].

It is also supported by the hadeeth in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are three, do not ask me about them: a man who leaves the jamaaah, disobeys his leader and dies disobedient; a female or male slave who runs away then dies; and a woman whose husband is absent and left her with everything she needs, and after he left she made a wanton display of herself. Do not ask about them.”
(Narrated by al-Haakim, 1/119; Ahmad, 6/19; from the hadeeth of Faddaalah bint ‘Ubayd. Its isnaad is saheeh and it is in al-Adab al-Mufrad).

Thirdly:
(It should be thick and not transparent or “see-thru”)
- because it cannot cover properly otherwise. Transparent or see-thru clothing makes a woman more tempting and beautiful.

Concerning this the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “During the last days of my ummah there will be women who are clothed but naked, with something on their heads like the humps of camels. Curse them, for they are cursed.” Another hadeeth adds: “They will not enter Paradise or even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from such and such a distance.”
(Narrated by Muslim from the report of Abu Hurayrah).

Ibn Abd al-Barr said: what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) meant was women who wear clothes made of light fabric which describes and does not cover. They are clothed in name but naked in reality.
Transmitted by al-Suyooti in Tanweer al-Hawaalik, 3/103.

Fourthly:
(It should be loose, not tight so that it describes any part of the body).
The purpose of clothing is to prevent fitnah (temptation), and this can only be achieved if clothes are wide and loose. Tight clothes, even if they conceal the colour of the skin, still describe the size and shape of the body or part of it, and create a vivid image in the minds of men. The corruption or invitation to corruption that is inherent in that is quite obvious. So the clothes must be wide.

Usaamah ibn Zayd said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave me a thick Egyptian garment that was one of the gifts given to him by Duhyat al-Kalbi, and I gave it to my wife to wear. He said, ‘Why do I not see you wearing that Egyptian garment?’ I said, ‘I gave it to my wife to wear.’ He said, ‘Tell her to wear a gown underneath it, for I am afraid that it may describe the size of her bones.’” (Narrated by al-Diyaa’ al-Maqdisi in al-Ahaadeeth al-Mukhtaarah, 1/442, and by Ahmad and al-Bayhaqi, with a hasan isnaad).

Fifthly:
(It should not be perfumed with bakhoor or fragrance)
There are many ahaadeeth which forbid women to wear perfume when they go out of their houses. We will quote here some of those which have saheeh isnaads:
Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Any woman who puts on perfume then passes by people so that they can smell her fragrance, is an adulteress.”
Zaynab al-Thaqafiyyah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you (women) goes out to the mosque, let her not touch any perfume.”
Abu Hurayrah said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Any woman who has scented herself with bakhoor (incense), let her not attend ‘Ishaa’ prayers with us.”
Moosa ibn Yassaar said that a woman passed by Abu Hurayrah and her scent was overpowering. He said, “O female slave of al-Jabbaar, are you going to the mosque?” She said, “Yes,” He said, “And have you put on perfume because of that?” She said, “Yes.” He said, “Go back and wash yourself, for I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: ‘If a woman comes out to the mosque and her fragrance is overpowering, Allaah will not accept any prayer from her until she goes home and washes herself.’”

These ahaadeeth are general in implication. Just as the prohibition covers perfume applied to the body, it also covers perfume applied to the clothes, especially in the third hadeeth, where bakhoor (incense) is mentioned, because incense is used specifically to perfume the clothes.

The reason for this prohibition is quite clear, which is that womens fragrance may cause undue provocation of desires. The scholars also included other things under this heading of things to be avoided by women who want to go to the mosque, such as beautiful clothes, jewellery that can be seen, excessive adornments and mingling with men. See Fath al-Baari, 2/279.

Ibn Daqeeq al-Eed said:
This indicates that it is forbidden for a woman who wants to go to the mosque to wear perfume, because this causes provocation of men’s desires. This was reported by al-Manaawi in Fayd al-Qadeer, in the commentary on the first hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah quoted above.

Sixthly:
(It should not resemble the clothing of men)

It was reported in the saheeh ahaadeeth that a woman who imitates men in dress or in other ways is cursed. There follow some of the ahaadeeth that we know:
Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the man who wears women’s clothes, and the woman who wears men’s clothes.”
‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: ‘They are not part of us, the women who imitate men and the men who imitate women.’”
Ibn Abbaas said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed effeminate men and masculine women. He said, ‘Throw them out of your houses.’” He said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) expelled So and so, and ‘Umar expelled So and so.” According to another version: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men.”
‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘There are three who will not enter Paradise and Allaah will not even look at them on the Day of Resurrection: one who disobeys his parents, a woman who imitates men, and the duyooth (cuckold, weak man who feels no jealousy over his womenfolk).”
Ibn Abi Maleekah – whose name was ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Ubayd-Allaah – said: “It was said to ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), ‘What if a woman wears (men’s) sandals?’ She said: ‘The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed women who act like men.’”

These ahaadeeth clearly indicate that it is forbidden for women to imitate men and vice versa, This usually includes dress and other matters, apart from the first hadeeth quoted above, which refers to dress only.
Abu Dawood said, in Masaa’il al-Imaam Ahmad (p. 261): “I heard Ahmad being asked about a man who dresses his slave woman in a tunic. He said, ‘Do not clothe her in men’s garments, do not make her look like a man.” Abu Dawood said: “I said to Ahmad, Can he give her bachelor sandals to wear? He said, No, unless she wears them to do wudoo’. I said, What about for beauty? He said, No. I said, Can he cut her hair short? He said, No.”

Seventhly:
(It should not resemble the dress of kaafir women).

It is stated in sharee’ah that Muslims, men and women alike, should not resemble or imitate the kuffaar with regard to worship, festivals or clothing that is specific to them. This is an important Islamic principle which nowadays, unfortunately, is neglected by many Muslims, even those who care about religion and calling others to Islam. This is due either to ignorance of their religion, or because they are following their own whims and desires, or because of deviation, combined with modern customs and imitation of kaafir Europe. This was one of the causes of the Muslims’ decline and weakness, which enabled the foreigners to overwhelm and colonize them. “…Verily, Allaah will not change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their state themselves …” [al-Ra’d 13:11 – interpretation of the meaning].

If only they knew.
It should be known that there is a great deal of saheeh evidence for these important rules in the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and that the evidence in the Qur’aan is elaborated upon in the Sunnah, as is always the case.
Eighthly:
(It should not be a garment of fame and vanity).
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever wears a garment of fame and vanity in this world, Allaah will clothe him in a garment of humiliation on the Day of Resurrection, then He will cause Fire to flame up around him.’”
(Hijaab al-Marah al-Muslimah, p. 54-67).

Should he obey his father and buy him alcohol?

Allaah has enjoined upon sons to honour and obey their parents.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad): Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Join not anything in worship with Him; be good and dutiful to your parents; kill not your children because of poverty — We provide sustenance for you and for them. Come not near to Al-Fawaahish (shameful sins and illegal sexual intercourse) whether committed openly or secretly; and kill not anyone whom Allaah has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islamic law). This He has commanded you that you may understand”
[al-Anaam 6:151]

And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour”
[al-Isra 17:23]

This obedience is obligatory, unless they tell you to commit shirk (associate others in worship with Allaah) or to commit sin.

Because there is no obedience to any created being if it involves disobedience towards the Creator.

Alcohol is forbidden according to the Quraan and Sunnah and scholarly consensus.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al‑Ansaab (stone altars for sacrifices to idols, jinn etc), and Al‑Azlaam (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaytaans (Satans) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful.

91. Shaytaan (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allaah and from As‑Salaah (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?”
[al-Maaidah 5:90-91]

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed ten with regard to alcohol:
the one who squeezes it (the grapes etc),
the one for whom it is squeezed,
the one who drinks it,
the one who carries it,
the one to whom it is carried,
the one who pours it,
the one who sells it,
the one who consumes its price,
the one who buys it
and the one for whom it is bought.”
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1259; Ibn Maajah, 3381.

To sum up, it is not permissible for you to buy alcohol for your father, or to obey any created being if it involves disobedience towards Allaah, even if that will make him angry and make him pray against you, because he is sinning by doing that, and his duaa carries no weight in shareeah.

It was narrated from Aaishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever pleases Allaah by angering the people, Allaah will suffice him, but whoever angers Allaah by pleasing the people, Allaah will leave him to the people.” Narrated by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh, 1/115; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2311.
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=27281&ln=eng&txt=alcohol

Buying items from stores that sell alcohol

Firstly:
The Muslim should avoid places in which Allaah is disobeyed as much as possible. Hence it is better for you to support Islamic stores which do not sell things that Allaah has forbidden, and advise their owners to supply things that you need, because that will benefit all concerned, you and the store owners.

Secondly:
As for buying what you need from the stores asked about, there is nothing wrong with that inshaAllaah, especially when there is a need for that and these items are not available in other stores that do not sell haraam things.

But you should go to those stores only as much as is necessary and the more you can avoid entering them, the better.
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=59870&ln=eng&txt=alcohol

Her husband drinks alcohol; should she stay with him?

With regard to the ruling on her staying with him, it is permissible for her to do so if she is certain that she and her children will be safe.

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: I think that if she has advised him and he has not responded, then she has the right to ask for an annulment of the marriage. But there may be reasons why she cannot annul the marriage, because she has children and annulment may cause further problems.

If his sin does not reach the level of kufr, then there is no sin on her if she stays with him for fear of evil consequences.

But if his sin reaches the level of kufr, such as if he does not pray at all or does not belive in Allah, then she should not stay with him a second longer.
Al-Liqa al-Maftooh, Q. 518.

Secondly: Our advice to her is that she should weigh up what is in her best interests, and consult her family and relatives, who know her situation best.

Then she should ask Allaahs guidance (by praying istikhaarah), for Allaah will never let her down. As the report says: No one loses by praying istikhaarah and no one regrets consulting others. Whether she chooses to annul the marriage or to stay, let her accept what Allaah has decreed for her and be patient and seek reward.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“but give glad tidings to As‑ Saabiroon (the patient)”
[al-Baqarah 2:155]

http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=47335&ln=eng&txt=alcohol

Can he eat at a restaurant where alcohol is served?

If it is possible to eat elsewhere then it is not permissible to eat at these places, because that involves cooperating with them in sin and transgression, which Allaah has forbidden.

If it is not possible to eat elsewhere then it is permissible to eat there in cases of necessity, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship”
[al-Hajj 22:78]

“Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope”
[al-Baqarah 2:286]

But he should not eat or drink anything except that which Allaah has permitted.
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=13025&ln=eng&txt=alcohol

Ruling on medicines that are mixed with alcohol

It is not permissible to mix medicines with alcohol, because alcohol must be thrown away.

It was narrated that Abu Saeed al-Khudri said: We had some wine belonging to an orphan, and when al-Maaidah was revealed (i.e., the prohibition of khamr or alcohol), I asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about it and I said, “It belongs to the orphan.” He said: “Pour it away.”
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1263; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

Secondly:

If the medicine is mixed with alcohol, and the percentage of alcohol is so great that this medicine is intoxicating, then it is khamr and it is haraam to take it.

If the percentage of alcohol is very low and it does not intoxicate, then it is permissible to take it.

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (22/110):

It is not permissible to mix medicines with intoxicants, but if it is mixed with alcohol, if drinking a lot of it will cause intoxication, it is haraam to handle it and drink it, whether a small amount or a large amount. If drinking a lot of it will not cause intoxication, then it is permissible to handle it and drink it. End quote.

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said:

With regard to some medicines that contain alcohol, if the effect of the alcohol in the medicine can be seen in the form of intoxication, then it is haraam, but if no effect is seen, and the alcohol is only added to it as a preservative, then there is nothing wrong with it, because the alcoholic content does not have any effect.

SUJUD AS-AHW

(PROSTRATIONS TO MAKE UP FOR FORGETFULNESS)

It has been authentically proven that the Prophet (pbuh) used to occasionally forget while he was in prayer.

He said, instructing his followers:
“I am only a human being, I forget like you forget, so if one of you forgets (in his prayer) he should prostrate twice (extra) in his (final) sitting.” (Ahmad)

How to Perform Two prostrations (sajdah) for Forgetfulness

Prostrate twice either before the taslim (peace greeting) or after it. Both are authentically reported from the Prophet (pbuh.)

He said:
“When one of you becomes uncertain in his prayer and doesnt know how many units (rakaat) he prayed, three or four, he should cast away his uncertainty and build on what he is sure about (i.e. the lesser number), then prostrate twice before the taslim.” (Bukhari)

In the incident related to Dhul-Yadain (where the Prophet (pbuh) prayed two units instead of four, then completed the remaining unit after his attention was called to the lapse), he performed sujud As-sahw after the taslim. (Agreed upon.)

It is preferable to try to follow the sunna as closely as possible, performing sujud before the taslim or performing sujud after the taslim in different situations as mentioned in the hadith. In all other situations he has the choice.

The Prophet (pbuh) said:
“If a person added to his prayer or detracted from it, he should perform two sajdah.” (Muslim)

The Situations Which Call for sajdah As-sahw
If one makes taslim before the completion of the prayer, he should stand, complete the remainder and then perform two sajdah at the end of the prayer.
If one adds something to the prayer. The proof follows: The Prophet (pbuh) once prayed five rakaat. He was asked, “Has an addition been made to the prayer?” He said, “Why do you so ask?” They said, “You prayed five rakaat.” Then he prostrated twice after the taslim. (Agreed upon).
If one forgets the first tashahud. The proof follows:
”The Prophet (pbuh) led them in Dhuhr one day and in the second rakaat he stood up after the second prostration (sajdah) without sitting. The people stood up with him. When the prayer was (almost) over and the people were awaiting the taslim, he said takbir (i.e., Allahu Akbar) while sitting, performed two prostrations before the taslim, and then made the taslim. ” (Bukhari)
Also mentioned in hadith is one who forgot to sit for the tashahud, then remembered before he stood all the way up. He should return to the sitting posture. However, if he is fully standing before he remembered, he should not sit back down, but at the end of the prayer, he should perform the sujud as-sahw.
If one is unsure how many rakaat he prayed. The Prophet (pbuh) said:
”If one of you becomes uncertain in his prayer, so that he does not know how many (units) he prayed – three rakaat or four, he should cast off what he is uncertain about, and build on what he is sure of, then perform two sajdah before making the taslim. So if he ends up praying five rakaat, his prayer will be taken as complete and if he prayed correctly it is like rubbing Satans nose in the dust. ” (Muslim).
If one is unsure about how many rakaat he prayed, he should go with the lower number. The Prophet (pbuh) said:
”If one of you is not sure between two and one, he should treat it as one (rakaat); and if he is not sure between two and three, he should treat it as two; and if he not sure between three and four, he should treat it as three. Because the uncertainty is in the extra rakaat. Then he should complete what is left of his salat and perform two sajdah while sitting before he makes taslim.” (Ahmed and others.)

DO YOU want to KNOW who a good PERSON is ?

Whoever is good with the creators: the true creator (i.e. Allah) and transitory creator (i.e. parents), is a good person and will be protected from hellfire. On the otherhand whoever is not good with them then he will be destroyed both in this world and in the hereafter.

Narrated by AbuHurayrah, "Allahs Messenger (pbuh) said: Let there be smeared with dust the nose of the person in whose presence I am mentioned, and he does not invoke blessing upon me. And let the nose of that person be smeared with dust who has the opportunity to see the month of Ramadan and it comes to an end without his securing pardon for himself. And let the nose of the person be smeared with dust who finds alive his aged parents, both of them or one of them, and through them (by serving them) he does not enter Paradise(Al-Tirmidhi 927)

The Three top most critical fundamentals/deeds which will save you from hellfire:
·                     Blessings in broader view "The daily five times prayer (i.e. Salah)"
·                     Ramadhan fasts
·                     Sincere to parents(through service+money+good talk)

Many people have been trapped or become prey particularly when dealing with someone who apparently looks like a pious person or having religious degrees such as sheikh, murshad, Hafiz, Alim, Ameer Jamaat etc or having big beard or having marks on his forehead of worship etc. but at the end he may come out as a mushrik and a fraud.

Please note Mushrik (i.e. idolater) in the sense is that person actually worships his own soul and desires. Therefore he is joining God with his own desires. In other way he is a Muslim (i.e. surrendering) to his own evil desires but not a Muslim (i.e. surrendering) to real God(i.e. Allah)

As per Quran 25:43,"Have you ever seen the one who has taken his own desires as his god? Would you take the responsibility of guiding him?"

The five fundamentals of Islam will certainly guide you towards the right path if you are sincere and devoted. The reflections of these five fundamentals must be appeared in your actions & dealings and the least actions are doing good to parents and neighbors. Otherwise he will be not more than an apparent or so-called Muslim and most certainly he is nothing but a hypocrite.

Formula to find good person

If you are looking for good person then the formula is to find his relation with creators (i.e. with true God Allah) and transitory creator (i.e. his parents).

Please note a person may apparently be good with God (i.e. praying 5 times a day and fasting) but he may be bad with his own parents, actually that person is a hypocrite and is devoted towards showing-off and nothing more.

That particular person will never be good with anybody though it appears doing good deeds but actually he is the one who worship his own soul and certainly will never help you when you are actually in need of him.

On the contrary a good person is one who is sincere to God (i.e. through praying + fasts at least) and as-well as sincere to his own parents. (i.e. through service+money+good talk) and this particular person will be protected from hell fire.

Any person who is not good with his parents will be destroyed both in this world and in the hereafter. Please note and remember he will never be your friend. His talking about religion and piety is nothing but a show-off and hollow from inside. So dont bother about him but be cautious.

·   SALAH: It is the best tool to Invoke salat on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

We listen the call (adhan) daily five times a day for prayer and in each call there are two times the name of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is declared and a total of ten (10) times at least his name is mentioned before us. Whenever, we hear his name we must send blessings on him. The best method to send Allahs blessings are described in the daily prayers (i.e. Durood Ibrahim).

Narrated Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila, Kab bin Ujrah met me and said, "Shall I not give you a present I got from the Prophet?"
Abdur-Rahman said, "Yes, give it to me."
I said, "We asked Allahs Apostle saying, O Allah's Apostle! How should one (ask Allah to) send blessings on you, the members of the family, for Allah has taught us how to salute you (in the prayer)?

He said, Say: O Allah! Send Your Mercy on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your Mercy on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.
O Allah! Send Your Blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent your Blessings on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.' "(Bukhari 4.589)

The above Hadith shows the proper method for sending salat (i.e. blessings) on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Saying short salat i.e. to say "sallallahu wa alaih wa sallam" is not the authentic form of sending salat on prophet. However, it is a common practice to send short salat immediately but it is not sufficient and you have not fulfilled the complete commandment. Please note it is compulsory to send full salat as mentioned in the above Hadith.

Please note how a person who sends short blessings on prophet and ignore daily prayer in which full salat is mentioned. Therefore we must pray daily five times a day at their regular stated times as adhan is being called.

Our ideal persons and "best model" must be none other than beloved prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and prophet Ibrahim (alaih Salam). In Quran, Allah specifically stated "uswah" of these two prophets.

Allah says in the Quran regarding Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): "You have indeed, in the life of Rasool-Allah, the Best Model'" (Q33: 21) and regarding for prophet Ibrahim (pbuh): "You have an excellent example in Ibrahim (Abraham) and his companions". (Q 60:4)

We must believe in all prophets but best "uswah" for us are in these two prophets. We must copy and imitate them in religious duties and worship. Furthermore, this religion is called as "religion of Abraham". So, how can we ignore prophet Ibrahim (alaih-salam)? Prayer is the best tool to send blessings on both of them as mentioned in the above Hadith.

If someone says only short "salat" though it will be acceptable but actually he is doing injustice to prophet Ibrahim (alaih-salam). Saying short blessings are not the proper method of sending blessings and therefore, it is not fully acceptable because it is not complete. It will only be completed fully as recited in prayers.

Besides, Allah says in the glorious Quran that "The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves and his wives are as their mothers…" (Q33:6).

Also refer to Q9:120, Therefore Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) must be dearer to us than ourselves. And regarding Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Allah says in the Quran that he is the one who is the most nearest to prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) and a follower of him.

As per Quran 3:68, "Behold, the people who have the best claim to Abraham are surely those who follow him-as does this prophet and all who believe (in him)–and God is near unto the believer."

Therefore, this is the religion of Ibrahim (alaih-salam) and therefore we must send blessings on him as well. We must pray daily five times a day. Salah is one of the most critical fundamental of Islam, without this there will not be any prosperity neither in this world and nor in the hereafter.

With the above discussion invoking blessings on prophet Muhammad (pbuh) means to invoke blessings on Prophet Muhammad (swas) and as well as prophet Ibrahim (alaih-salam) and prayers are the best tool for this commandment.

There are some people who are good with the parents but they are not dedicative towards the real creator Allah. For those who are missing prayers, Allah says in the Quran 19:59, "But after them there followed a posterity who missed prayers and followed after lusts: soon then will they face Destruction."—

Furthermore, As per Quran 74:42-43, "What brought you into hell?" They will answer: "We did not use to offer the Salah (prayers),

·   THE PURPOSE OF SALAH

Check whether it is just a physical exercise or stopping you from evil?

The main purpose of salah is to stop you from shameful and evil deeds. Check whether your prayers stopping from evil deeds or not, otherwise it is nothing more than a physical exercise and you will be a bad person.

As per Quran 29: 45, "Recite from this Book (Al-Qur'an) which has been revealed to you and establish Salah (Islamic prayers). Surely Salah keeps one away from shameful and evil deeds; and surely the remembrance of Allah (during your prayers and Allahs mention of your name in response to your prayers) is the greatest of all deeds, Allah knows what you do."

A person who is regularly praying but he is not good to his own parents and not good to his neighbors at least for that particular person Allah already told in the Quran that he actually does not believe in the day of judgement but he believes in his own desires and show-off. Allah used word "wail' for such persons in the glorious Quran. The immediate reflection of your prayers must be on your neighbors. You must be good with your neighbors and you should never hold simple assistance, otherwise you will not be a good person but a bad person and most likely be a hypocrite.

As per Quran 107:1-7, "Have you seen the one who denies the Day of Judgment? He it is who drives away the orphan with harshness and does not encourage the feeding of the poor. So woe to those who offer Salah (prayers), but are neglectful of their Salah (offer Prayers but disregard the very purpose of establishing Salah - to have the fear of Allah and be mindful to the needs of other people); those who make a show of piety and refuse to share the necessities of life."

As per Quran 4:142, "Surely the hypocrites try to deceive Allah, whereas, in fact, He has reverted their deception to them; when they stand up for Salah they stand reluctantly, merely to be seen by people and do not remember Allah but a little"

Our beloved prophet said: "He will not enter Paradise whose neighbor is not secure from his wrongful conduct". (Muslim hadith 74 by Abu Hurayrah)

Also refer to holy Quran, chapter 4: 36; which state as follows: "Serve Allah and join not any partners with Him: and do good to parents kinsfolk orphans those in need neighbors who are near neighbors who are strangers the companion by your side the way-farer (ye meet) and what your right hands possess: for Allah loveth not the arrogant the vainglorious";

The bottom line is he has to rectify his prayer and pray with full attention and devotion and stop doing shameful and evil deeds and pay the full amount of charity and don't deceive the God but fear Allah and know that Allah knows the secrets of our hearts.

Quran says you are the best nation because of enjoining good and forbid evil. Please note in this enjoining good the least is you must do good service to your parents and forbid evil i.e. the least is not to harm your neighbors irrespective of religion, cast and color.

As per Quran 3:110, "You are the best nation which has ever been raised for the guidance of mankind. You enjoin good, forbid evil, and believe in Allah. Had the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) believed, it would surely have been better for them; among them some are believers but most of them are transgressors."

to be contd...

Yours brother in Islam
Abdul Hameed khan

When Last did you Hug or Kiss your Child ?

I ran into a stranger as she passed by, "Oh excuse me please" was my reply. She said, "Please excuse me too; I wasnt watching for you."
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later that day, cooking the evening meal, My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. "Move out of the way," I said with a frown. He walked away, his little heart broken. I didnt realize how harshly I had spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, a still small voice came to me and said, "While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse. Go and look on the kitchen floor, You will find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue. He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.

" By this time, I felt very small, And now my tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found them out by the tree. I picked them because they are pretty like you. I knew you would like them, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I am very sorry for the way I acted today; I should not have yelled at you that way."

He said, "Oh, Mom, thats okay. I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

"The Messenger of Allah (Sallahu Alaihee Wasallam) kissed Hasan bin Alee and Al-Aqra bin Haabis sitting with him.
So Al-Aqra said:

"Indeed I have 10 children and I have not kissed any of them."

So the Messenger of Allah[pbuh]looked at him and said:

"Whoever does not have mercy, would not be given any mercy."
[Hadith, narrated by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim.]

This hadith shows us that whoever does not have mercy towards young children, then he himself would be prevented from receiving any mercy. This is because the rewards and recompense of actions are based upon and will be the same as the type of action that is done.

As comes in another Hadith:
"Have mercy on those on the earth The One in the Heaven will have mercy on you."

In our hectic lives and in trying to realise our materialistic ambitions let us not be oblivious to those who are truly near and dear to us.

To most people you are just a number to someone you may mean the world!

So…honestly,
When LAST DID YOU KISS OR HUG your child

When was the Last Time you Raced
with your Wife?

You might mockingly or disapprovingly smile, yet the question remains, for it bespeaks an invitation to you to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, in his kind attitude toward his wives.

If you claim to follow and love the Noble Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, Sunnah, in keeping a beard, cleaning your teeth with a Siwaak (tooth stick) and shortening your clothes to reach above the ankle, you are likewise required to emulate him in the way he treated his spouses .

Moreover, the leniency, mercy and patience of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, with his wives is not merely his tradition, but an obligation confirmed by many Quranic verses, among which is the one in which Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And live with them in kindness.} [Quran 4:20]

He (pbuh) said: "He is the best amongst you who is the kindest towards his wives and I am the kindest amongst you towards my wives."

Thus, racing was a compassionate gesture of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, in order to be friendly and open with his wives.

Aaishah [Allah be pleased with her] narrates that
as a young and thin girl, she was once accompanying the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, on one of his journeys. He, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam asked his Companions to move ahead of them, which they did. He, sallaallahu alayhi wa sallam, then asked to race with her; she did and won.

Some time later, after she had forgotten about this, she was with the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, on another of his journeys and he wanted to race her. She wanted to excuse herself, by telling him she could not, since she had gained some weight, but he, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, insisted. They raced and this time he (pbuh) won; so the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, laughed and said; “This [is] for that.”

Some husbands contend that they do not race with their wives because they are too busy and have many responsibilities. Our retort is that by no means can they be busier than the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, who bore the responsibility of conveying the Message of Islam to the entire world.

He also led the army in combat alongside running errands for his family and doing household chores. Nevertheless, all this did not stop him from twice racing with his wife Aaishah[RA] .

Other husbands might argue that the streets are not a suitable place for racing; so, they can surely take their wives away from people, on a picnic.
Moreover, competition is not just in running.

One can compete to win in a permissible electronic game or general knowledge quiz, in which one can ask each other questions and keep score.

A third group of husbands believes that such competitions may cause their wives to become too bold and eventually challenge them.

This is not true, because the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, raced with his wife, so this is an act to be followed, for copying his behaviour with his wives can bring nothing but good.

Also, modern research has established that being kind and easygoing with ones wife makes it easier for her to be mindful of you.

There are lessons to be learned from the aforementioned incident related by Aaishah concerning the Prophet’s, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, kindness toward his wives.

1- The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, was the one to ask for a race both times.

This teaches husbands that they should take the initiative in such competitions. Wives may be too busy with housework or fear rejection or, as is the generally innate nature of women, be too shy to propose such an idea.

However, on their part, they should try to urge their husbands when they see they are free and in a good mood.

2- A husband should not incessantly brag of superiority over his wife.

We notice that the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, outran Aaishah after she had already outran him the first time.

3- Alternately, a husband should neither always deliberately lose for the sake of his wife or the competition would be meaningless.

The factor that decided the win of Aaishah the first time was her youth and fitness, and when she put on some weight, the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, outran her.

4- A husband should remember that such competitions are just for amiability and fun. Neither of the spouses should get worked up or a row could ensue and the activity would lose its desired aim. This can be understood from the reaction of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, who only cheerfully referred to his win to counter that of Aaishah's .

Verily in the noble way of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam is there a recipe for happiness.

Ruling on making up missed prayers

With regard to missing prayers, one of the following two scenarios must apply:

1 – When you miss a prayer unintentionally, for a legitimate shari excuse, such as forgetting or sleeping, although you are basically very keen to perform the prayer on time.

In this case you are excused but you have to make it up as soon as you remember it.

The evidence for that is the hadeeth narrated in Saheeh Muslim (681) which tells how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions slept and missed Fajr prayer, and the Sahaabah began to ask one another,
“What is the expiation (kafaarah) for what we have done by neglecting the prayer?”
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said. “Sleeping does not mean that you are neglecting the prayer. Rather neglecting the prayer means not praying one prayer until the time for the next prayer comes. Whoever does that let him pray when he remembers it.”

This does not mean that a person should sleep deliberately when a prayer is due, until he misses it, then use sleep as an excuse, or neglect a means that would help him to do the prayer, and then take that as an excuse.

Rather he must make use of all the means he can, as the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did in this case, when he appointed one person to stay awake and wake them up to pray, but that person was overcome by drowsiness, so he did not wake them up. This is the case in which a person may be excused.

2 – When you miss a prayer deliberately. This is a major sin, and it is so serious that some of the scholars stated that the one who does this is a kaafir. (as it says in Majmoo Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Samaahat al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 10/374).

The one who does this has to repent sincerely, according to scholarly consensus.

With regard to making up the prayer, there was a difference of opinion among the scholars as to whether or not it would be accepted from him if he makes it up afterwards.

Most of the scholars said that he should make it up and that his prayer is valid, although he is a sinner (i.e., if he does not repent – and Allaah knows best), as Shaykh Ibn Uthyameen quoted from them in al-Sharh al-Mumti, 2/89.

The view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) is that it is not valid, and that it is not prescribed for him to make it up.

He said in al-Ikhtiyaaraat (34): “It is not prescribed for the one who misses a prayer deliberately to make it up, and the prayer, if he makes it up, is not valid; rather he should do a lot of voluntary (naafil) prayers. This is the view of a group among the Salaf.”

One of the contemporary scholars who regarded this view as more correct is Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him); he quoted as evidence for that the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), will have it rejected.” (Agreed upon).

So you must beware of this and strive to perform all the prayers on time, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, As‑Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours” [al-Nisa’ 4:103]

What to do when one misses a prayer

Anas ibn Maalik said: “The Messenger of Allaah SAW (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you sleeps and misses a prayer, or forgets it, then let him pray it as soon as he remembers, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘… and perform al-salaah for My remembrance.’
[Ta-Ha 20:14]” (Reported by Muslim, 1104).

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allaah SAW (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever forgets the prayer, let him pray as soon as he remembers, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘… and perform al-salaah for My remembrance.’ [Ta-Ha 20:14]” (Reported by Muslim, 1097).

Anas ibn Maalik reported that the Messenger of Allaah SAW (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever forgets a prayer, let him pray it as soon as he remembers, for there is no expiation for it except this.” (Reported by Muslim, 1102).

Should he pray the present prayer or the prayer he missed?

The Muslim should maintain the habit of praying regularly on time, for Allaah praises the believers who, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And those who guard their Salaah (prayers) well” [al-Ma’aarij 70:34]

If a person has an excuse and he missed a prayer, then he has to make it up, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps and misses it, the expiation for this sin is to pray it when he remembers it.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Masaajid wa Mawaadi’ al-Salaah, 1103)

If you miss a prayer, then you have to pray that prayer first, then pray the current prayer; it is not permissible to delay (making up the missed prayer). It is commonly thought among the people that if a man misses a fard prayer, he should make it up with the corresponding fard prayer of the next day, so that if, for example, he missed Fajr on one day he can only pray it with Fajr on the second day.

This is wrong, and it goes against the teaching of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in both his words and deeds.

It was narrated that he said: “Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps and misses it, then let him pray it when he remembers it.” He did not say, let him pray it on the following day when the time for that prayer comes, rather he said, “let him pray it when he remembers it.”

With regard to his actions, when he missed a prayer on one of the days of the campaign of al-Khandaq, he prayed it before the current prayer, which indicates that one has to pray the missed prayer and then pray the current prayer.

But if he forgets and prays the current prayer before the missed prayer, or he was ignorant and did not know (of the ruling), then he prayer is valid because he has an excuse.

(See Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, vol. 12, p. 222)

The hadeeth about the prayer on the day of al-Khandaq was narrated by al-Nasaai from Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Saeed from his father, who said:

“The mushrikeen kept us busy on the day of al-Khandaq and distracted us from praying Zuhr until the sun set. Then the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded Bilaal to call the iqaamah for Zuhr prayer, and he prayed it, then he called the iqaamah for Asr and he prayed it, then he called the adhaan for Maghrib then he prayed it as he usually prayed it, on time.” (al-Adhaan, 655; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, no. 638)

The action of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) indicates that it is obligatory to pray the missed prayers in the right order. But if there is only enough time left to pray the current prayer, then he should pray the current prayer, then pray the ones that came before it.

In what order missed prayers should be made up

It is obligatory to make up missed prayers in the proper order, according to the majority of scholars.
Ibn Qudaamah said (al-Mughni, 1/352): In conclusion, it is essential to offer missed prayers in order.

This was stated by Ahmad in several places… and a similar view was narrated from al-Nakhai, al-Zuhri, Rabeeah, Yahya al-Ansaari, Maalik, al-Layth, Abu Haneefah and Ishaaq.

Al-Shaafa’i said: It is not essential, because one is making up an obligatory prayer that has been missed, so it is not essential to offer them in order, as with fasting… Once this is established, then it is essential to offer them in order even if they are many. This was stated by Ahmad.

Maalik and Abu Haneefah said that they do not have to be offered in order if there are more than a day and a night of prayers, because doing that with regard to more than that period would be too difficult. So the obligation is waived, just like making up missed Ramadaan fasts in sequence.
End quote from al-Mughni, 1/352.

From this it may be understood that offering missed prayers should be done in sequence according to the majority of Hanafis, Maalikis and Hanbalis, except that the Hanafis and Maalikis do not say it is obligatory if the prayers of more than one day and one night have been missed.

The way in which the missed prayers are made up in order is to do the missed prayers in the same order as the prescribed prayers.

So whoever misses Zuhr and Asr, for example, should pray Zuhr first, then Asr.

But the obligation to do them in order is waived in the case of one who forgets or was ignorant, or if there is the fear that the time for the current prayer will end soon, or if one fears missing out on a prayer in congregation – according to the more correct view.

If a person owes two prayers, Zuhr and Asr for example, and starts with Asr by mistake or because he is unaware that the missed prayers should be offered in order, his prayer is valid.

If he fears that if he starts with the prayers he missed the time for Asr prayer will end, then he should pray Asr first, then pray whatever prayers he owes.

Similarly if he enters the mosque, should he offer the current prayer with the congregation or make up what he has missed first?

Ahmad, according to one report which was also favoured by Shaykh al-Islam, was of the view that he does not have to offer the prayers in sequence if he fears that he will miss out on praying with the congregation.

But in this case he should join the congregation with the intention of offering the missed prayer. So if a person has missed Zuhr and he comes to the mosque and they are praying Asr, he can pray with the congregation with the intention of praying Zuhr, and it does not matter if his intention is different from that of the imam. Then he can pray Asr after that.
See al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/138-144.

Missed asr prayer and maghrib started in masjid

Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taimiyya (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) said that he should pray maghrib with the imam (prayer leader), then pray asr afterwards, as agreed upon by all leading scholars. The question of does he repeat maghrib has two scholarly opinions: the first is that he repeats.

This is the saying of Ibn Omar, Malik, Abi Hanifa and Ahmad in what is most well-known about this issue. The second opinion is that he does not repeat.

This is the saying of Ibn Abbas, the Shafiei madhab, and the second opinion of Ahmads school of thought.

The latter is more correct, for Allah did not make it obligatory on the person to pray a salaat twice if he has feared Allah as much as he can (wallahu alam [and Allah knows best]).1

From the book What Should You Do in the Following Situations... ?
1 Majmooa Fatawi Ibn Taimiyya 22/106.

DO YOU want to KNOW who a Good PERSON is ?
(2 of 2)

read 1st part from
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/message/895

· REGARDING PARENTS:

We must be very kind and lowly to our parents and must help them with wealth and service.

Allah says in the Quran not to speak even "uf" to parents.

Those men who are slaves to their wives will tell you not to speak "uf" to wives but they scold to their own mothers and have ill-will against them.

Please remember at old age the mentality of parents becomes like children, and they need more attention towards them and therefore we have to deal with them kindly and intellectually, and particularly where there is a quarrel between mother and wife. In that case you must incline towards parents and try to convince your wife intellectually and in a smart way.

Our beloved prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said to marry those women who are religious otherwise you will be a loser. People who are looking only beauty and wealth at the end they will belong to losers only.

Please note religious women take care of you and your parents, and the outcome of this marriage will be a very comfort, a peaceful and prosperous family.

Todays another problem is "old aged shelters". These are nothing but orphanage. It is vice versa. Please dont put your parents in old aged homes. It is a must on you to serve them, talk to them politely and serve them from your hearts. It is the responsibility of sons to take care of their parents as they take double the share than daughters in inheritance.

But dont follow westerners who used to kick their parents out of their homes to old aged homes and they never bothered about them and even when they die they dont attend their funerals. For such people there will not be any prosperity except destruction.

Narrated Abu Huraira, The Prophet said, "A woman is married for four things, i.e., her wealth, her family status, her beauty and her religion. So you should marry the religious woman (otherwise) you will be a loser."(Bukhari 7.27)

Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As: "A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: Apostle of Allah, I have property and children, and my father finishes my property. He replied; You and your property belong to your father; your children come from the pleasantest of what you earn; so enjoy from the earning of your children ( Abu-Dawood 3523)

Narrated by AbuUmamah: A man said, "Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) what rights can parents demand from their children?" He replied, "They are your Paradise and your Hell."(Tirmidhi 4941)

As per holy Quran 17:23, which state as follows: "Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life say not to them a word of contempt nor repel them but address them in terms of honor".

Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar: "A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, "Messenger of Allah, I have committed a serious sin. Can I do any act of penitence?" He asked him if he had a mother, and when he replied that he had not, he asked if he had a maternal aunt. On his replying that he had, he said, "Then do kindness to her."( Al-Tirmidhi 4935)"

As per Quran 2: 215, "They ask you what they should spend in charity. Say: "Whatever you spend with a good heart, give it to parents, relatives, orphans, the helpless, and travellers in need. Whatever good you do, Allah is aware of it."

· RAMADHAN FASTS

As per above Hadith, "And let the nose of that person be smeared with dust who has the opportunity to see the month of Ramadan and it comes to an end without his securing pardon for himself."

Please pay attention on the words: "it comes to an end without securing pardon for himself". It means a person got the opportunity of Ramadan but spent all the month without changing his evil life style.

Allah says in the Quran: "Allah never changes the condition of a people until they intend to change it themselves"(Q13:11)

PURPOSE OF FASTING:

Check whether it is a hunger strike or creating taqwa in you?

The main purpose is to create taqwa (i.e. God fearing) otherwise it is nothing but physical exercise for hunger strike. Check your fasts if taqwa comes out of it then your fasts are doing well otherwise it is useless! You must keep it in mind that you have to pray and supplicate Allah continuously and regularly in such a way that you should feel secured pardon from Allah.

Women are displaying their beauty and figure in films and serials and elsewhere, which is forbidden in Islam. So a person who is watching such things must stop from it and repent soon and ask Allahs forgiveness.

Please note it is a month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness, and whose end is freedom from Hell (tirmidhi614). So a person who spent all this month without securing pardon is nothing but a bad person and he will not be protected from hell fire.

As per Quran 2:183, "O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that ye may (learn) self-restraint."

Narrated AbuHurayrah, Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "Many a one who fasts obtains nothing from his fasting but thirst, and many a one who prays during the night obtains nothing from his night prayers but wakefulness." (tirmidhi)

Shaytaan Deceives

Iblees once came to Hazrat Musa and told him, "you are the chosen messenger of allah and have been blessed with the privilege of speaking directly to Allah. I wish to repent, so please intercede on my behalf before Allah so that he may accept my repentance."

Hazrat Musa was happy and thought that Shaytaans repentance would put an end to sins.

He therefore made wudu, performed salah and prayed to Allah. Allah told Hazrat Musa , "Iblees is lying. He merely wishes to deceive you. If he is really sincere, test him by telling him to prostrate before the grave of Hazrat Adam . If he does this, his repentance will be accepted."

Hazrat Musa was extremely overjoyed, thinking that this was a very easy condition for Iblees to comply with.

When Hazrat Musa informed Iblees about the condition, Iblees became a whirlwind of fire and said, "I did not prostrate to him while he was alive, how can I prostrate to him when he is dead ?

Nevertheless, you have done me a good turn by interceding on my behalf. I shall therefore inform you of 3 conditions wherein you should be wary of me.

1) When man is angry, I run in his veins like his blood.

2) I incline the heart of the person fighting in jihad towards his wife, children and wealth, thereby causing him to desert the battlefield. Shaytaan also attempts to dissuade the student of Deen in this manner. Strengthening one's resolve may combat him.

3) When a strange man and woman are in isolation, I become the emissary between the two and incline each one towards the other. I remain engaged in this task until the two are tainted in sin."

[extracted from Tanbeehul Ghafileen]

How I came to Islam - by Yusuf Islam
From Musician to Muslim by Allah's Will

All I have to say is all what you know already, to confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as given by God - the Religion of Truth. As human beings we are given a consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of creation. Man is created to be God's deputy on earth, and it is important to realize the obligation to rid ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this chance is not likely to be given another, to be brought back again and again, because it says in Qur'an Majeed that when man is brought to account, he will say, "O Lord, send us back and give us another chance." The Lord will say, "If I send you back you will do the same."
MY EARLY RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING
I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in his original nature - it is only his parents that turn him to this or that religion. I was given this religion (Christianity) and thought this way. I was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact with God, so we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in fact the door to God. This was more or less accepted by me, but I did not swallow it all.
I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have respect for the faith of my parents.
POP STAR
Gradually I became alienated from this religious upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my God, the goal of making money. I had an uncle who had a beautiful car. "Well," I said, "he has it made. He has a lot of money." The people around me influenced me to think that this was it; this world was their God.
I decided then that this was the life for me; to make a lot of money, have a 'great life.' Now my examples were the pop stars. I started making songs, but deep down I had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that if I became rich I would help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we make a promise, but when we make something, we want to hold onto it and become greedy.)
So what happened was that I became very famous. I was still a teenager, my name and photo were splashed in all the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to live larger than life and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated (with liquor and drugs).
IN HOSPITAL
After a year of financial success and 'high' living, I became very ill, contracted TB and had to be hospitalized. It was then that I started to think: What was to happen to me? Was I just a body, and my goal in life was merely to satisfy this body? I realized now that this calamity was a blessing given to me by Allah, a chance to open my eyes - "Why am I here? Why am I in bed?" - and I started looking for some of the answers. At that time there was great interest in the Eastern mysticism. I began reading, and the first thing I began to become aware of was death, and that the soul moves on; it does not stop. I felt I was taking the road to bliss and high accomplishment. I started meditating and even became a vegetarian. I now believed in 'peace and flower power,' and this was the general trend. But what I did believe in particular was that I was not just a body. This awareness came to me at the hospital.
One day when I was walking and I was caught in the rain, I began running to the shelter and then I realized, 'Wait a minute, my body is getting wet, my body is telling me I am getting wet.' This made me think of a saying that the body is like a donkey, and it has to be trained where it has to go. Otherwise, the donkey will lead you where it wants to go.
Then I realized I had a will, a God-given gift: follow the will of God. I was fascinated by the new terminology I was learning in the Eastern religion. By now I was fed up with Christianity. I started making music again and this time I started reflecting my own thoughts. I remember the lyric of one of my songs. It goes like this: "I wish I knew, I wish I knew what makes the Heaven, what makes the Hell. Do I get to know You in my bed or some dusty cell while others reach the big hotel?" and I knew I was on the Path.
I also wrote another song, "The Way to Find God Out." I became even more famous in the world of music. I really had a difficult time because I was getting rich and famous, and at the same time, I was sincerely searching for the Truth. Then I came to a stage where I decided that Buddhism is all right and noble, but I was not ready to leave the world. I was too attached to the world and was not prepared to become a monk and to isolate myself from society.
I tried Zen and Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology. I tried to look back into the Bible and could not find anything. At this time I did not know anything about Islam, and then, what I regarded as a miracle occurred. My brother had visited the mosque in Jerusalem and was greatly impressed that while on the one hand it throbbed with life (unlike the churches and synagogues which were empty), on the other hand, an atmosphere of peace and tranquility prevailed.
THE QUR'AN
When he came to London he brought back a translation of the Qur'an, which he gave to me. He did not become a Muslim, but he felt something in this religion, and thought I might find something in it also.
And when I received the book, a guidance that would explain everything to me - who I was; what was the purpose of life; what was the reality and what would be the reality; and where I came from - I realized that this was the true religion; religion not in the sense the West understands it, not the type for only your old age. In the West, whoever wishes to embrace a religion and make it his only way of life is deemed a fanatic. I was not a fanatic, I was at first confused between the body and the soul. Then I realized that the body and soul are not apart and you don't have to go to the mountain to be religious. We must follow the will of God. Then we can rise higher than the angels. The first thing I wanted to do now was to be a Muslim.
I realized that everything belongs to God, that slumber does not overtake Him. He created everything. At this point I began to lose the pride in me, because hereto I had thought the reason I was here was because of my own greatness. But I realized that I did not create myself, and the whole purpose of my being here was to submit to the teaching that has been perfected by the religion we know as Al-Islam. At this point I started discovering my faith. I felt I was a Muslim. On reading the Qur'an, I now realized that all the Prophets sent by God brought the same message. Why then were the Jews and Christians different? I know now how the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and that they had changed His Word. Even the Christians misunderstand God's Word and called Jesus the son of God. Everything made so much sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One Who has created everything. The Qur'an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and God's creation in general. Do you realize how different the sun is from the moon? They are at varying distances from the earth, yet appear the same size to us; at times one seems to overlap the other.
Even when many of the astronauts go to space, they see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of space. They become very religious, because they have seen the Signs of Allah.
When I read the Qur'an further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but I felt that the only answer for me was the Qur'an, and God had sent it to me, and I kept it a secret. But the Qur'an also speaks on different levels. I began to understand it on another level, where the Qur'an says,
"Those who believe do not take disbelievers for friends and the believers are brothers."
Thus at this point I wished to meet my Muslim brothers.

CONVERSION
Then I decided to journey to Jerusalem (as my brother had done). At Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat down. A man asked me what I wanted. I told him I was a Muslim. He asked what was my name. I told him, "Stevens." He was confused. I then joined the prayer, though not so successfully. Back in London, I met a sister called Nafisa. I told her I wanted to embrace Islam and she directed me to the New Regent Mosque. This was in 1977, about one and a half years after I received the Qur'an. Now I realized that I must get rid of my pride, get rid of Iblis, and face one direction. So on a Friday, after Jummah' I went to the Imam and declared my faith (the Kalimah) at this hands. You have before you someone who had achieved fame and fortune. But guidance was something that eluded me, no matter how hard I tried, until I was shown the Qur'an. Now I realize I can get in direct contact with God, unlike Christianity or any other religion. As one Hindu lady told me, "You don't understand the Hindus. We believe in one God; we use these objects (idols) to merely concentrate." What she was saying was that in order to reach God, one has to create associates, that are idols for the purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers. The only thing that moves the believers from the disbelievers is the salat. This is the process of purification.
Finally I wish to say that everything I do is for the pleasure of Allah and pray that you gain some inspirations from my experiences. Furthermore, I would like to stress that I did not come into contact with any Muslim before I embraced Islam. I read the Qur'an first and realized that no person is perfect. Islam is perfect, and if we imitate the conduct of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) we will be successful. May Allah give us guidance to follow the path of the ummah of Muhammad (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Ameen!
-- Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)