|
|
|
|
|
|
Compiled by: Azeem Ayub |
|
|
Reflections | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In the Name of Allah, |
Why Clarify Misconceptions about Islam?
"Imagine if Iran takes over Russia and Australia, the way it is going to manipulate the rest of the States .....and finally it will be able to destroy the United States completely."
As I listened to
these lines on one of the political forecasting TV shows this evening I thought
that generally the factor of sticking to some misunderstood values regarding
Islam has caused lots of confusion & as a result, problems to the Muslims around
the world.
Author: Dr Henna Khan
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In this Issue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reflections | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Read & Reflect
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Debate & Discuss * Discussion Forum: Family & Marriage: Core Issues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
* General Discussion Forum: Shab-e-Barat - Importance?
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Directives of Fast Author: Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Tr. by Shehzad Saleem
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ فَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُ وَأَن تَصُومُواْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ يُرِيدُ اللّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلاَ يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُواْ الْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُواْ اللّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ (2: 183-185) Believers! Fasting has been made for you as it was made for those before you so that you become fearful of God. These are but a few days, but if any one among you is ill or on a journey, let him fast a similar number of days later; and those who have the capacity [to feed a needy] should feed a needy in place of it. Then he who does a virtuous deed of his own accord, it is better for him and if you fast, then this is even better for you if you but knew. It is the month of Ramadān in which the Qur’ān was revealed, as a book of guidance for mankind and in the form of manifest arguments which are a means of total guidance and a means of distinguishing right from wrong. Therefore, whoever among you is present in this month, he should fast. And he who is ill or on a journey should fast a similar number of days later on. [This leniency is because] God desires ease for you and not discomfort. And [the permission given to travelers and the sick to feed the needy has been withdrawn because] you can complete the fasts [and thus not be deprived of the blessings of fasting] and [for this purpose the month of Ramadān has been fixed so that in the form of the Qur’ān] the guidance God has bestowed to you, you glorify God and express your gratitude to Him. (2:183-185)
In these verses, the Almighty
has directed Muslims to fast in accordance with the sharī‘ah which has
always existed regarding the fast in the religions of the Prophets. The Qur’ān
has stated that the fast has been made obligatory for the Muslims in the same
manner as it was made obligatory for earlier peoples. A few number of days have
been fixed for this ritual. This last statement is meant to raise the spirits.
The implication being that if the blessings of Ramadān are kept in
consideration, then 29 days or 30 days are not a long period; they are a
relatively short period and a person instead of becoming anxious should make
himself ready to fully reap their benefits. After these introductory statements, the real directive is mentioned. It is said that people who are unable to fast because of illness or travel should make up their missed fasts by either fasting later or by feeding a poor person. This directive ends with the words: فَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُ وَأَن تَصُومُواْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (Then he who does a virtuous deed of his own accord, it is better for him and if you fast then this is even better for you, if you but knew it). In other words, this atonement for not fasting is a minimum requirement which should be fulfilled. However, if a person feeds more than one needy person or does some other virtuous deed as well, then this will prove better for him. And to Allah even better is that a person instead of feeding others makes up the missed fasts in other days.However, the very next verse beginning with the words شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ shows that the permission to feed a needy for a missed fast was later revoked. Consequently, the whole directive has been repeated after this verse while omitting the words beginning with وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ and ending with إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ. Since it is difficult to fast in days other than Ramadān, the Almighty did not make it incumbent until people got used to it. Hence, it has been said in the Qur’ān that feeding the needy for missed fasts has been revoked so that people could keep their missed fasts and are thus not deprived of the blessings hidden in them.This then is the real directive of the fast. It seems that after receiving this law, certain questions arose in the minds of the Muslims. One of these questions related to having sexual intercourse with the wife in the nights of the Ramadān. This notion probably originated because among the Jews, the next fast would start right after one had broken his fast and they would consider eating and drinking and having sexual intercourse with the wife as prohibited. Muslims thought that they too would have to follow the Jews in this matter. However, some Muslims in spite of thinking so deviated from the view they held. This was something unseemly because if a person considers something to be a requisite of religion and still does not act according to it regardless of the fact that it is actually a requisite or not, then this is not permissible to him. The Qur’ān has called this attitude as deceiving one’s conscience and has clarified:
أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ الصِّيَامِ الرَّفَثُ إِلَى نِسَآئِكُمْ هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَّهُنَّ عَلِمَ اللّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ فَالآنَ بَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَابْتَغُواْ مَا كَتَبَ اللّهُ لَكُمْ وَكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّواْ الصِّيَامَ إِلَى الَّليْلِ وَلاَ تُبَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللّهِ فَلاَ تَقْرَبُوهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ آيَاتِهِ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ (187:2) It is now lawful for you to lie with your wives on the night of the fast; they are apparel to you as you are to them. God knew that you were deceiving yourselves. He has relented towards you and pardoned you. Therefore, [without any hesitation] you may now lie with them and [without any hesitation] seek what God has ordained for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of the dawn is totally evident to you from the black thread of night. Then complete the fast till nightfall and do not lie with them [even at night] when you are stationed for i‘tikāf in the mosques. These are the bounds set by God: do not approach them. Thus He makes known His revelations to mankind that they may attain righteousness. (2:187)
After this clarification made
by the Qur’ān, the statutes on which the law of the fast and the
i‘tikāf
are based are as follows:
1. The fast is abstention from
eating and drinking and from having sexual intercourse with the wife with the
intention that a person is going to fast.
2. This abstention is from
fajr to nightfall; hence eating and drinking and having sexual intercourse
with the wife during the night is permitted.
3. The month of
Ramadān has been fixed
for fasting; hence it is obligatory for every person who is present in this
month to fast.
4. If owing to sickness,
travel or any other compelling reason a person is not able to keep all the fasts
of Ramadān, it is incumbent upon him to make up for this in other months by
keeping equal number of the fasts missed.
5. The pinnacle of the fast is
the i‘tikāf.
If a person is
given this opportunity by God, he should seclude himself from the world for as
many days as he can in a mosque to worship the Almighty and he should not leave
the mosque except because of some compelling human need.
6. During i‘tikāf, a
person is permitted to eat and drink during the night but he cannot have sexual
intercourse with his wife. This has been prohibited by the Almighty. This law regarding the fast is substantiated by the consensus of the Muslims and by their perpetual adherence to it and the Qur’ān too has explained it to a great extent. Following are the explanations afforded by the words and deeds of the Prophet (sws) regarding the fast:
i. The Ramadān should begin
with the sighting of the moon and it should end with it too. The Prophet (sws)
is reported to have said: “Begin the fast with the sighting of the moon and
break the fast with sighting it too. Then if the weather is not clear, end the
month of Sha‘bān by completing thirty days.”[1]
ii. Fasts should not be kept
just one or two days before the Ramadān begins. The Prophet (sws) did not
approve of this practice and remarked that the only exception to this is the
person who keeps fasting.[2]
iii. One should eat the
sahūr (pre-fast meal) before beginning the fast. The Prophet (sw) asked
people to eat it because eating it brings blessings.[3]
iv. If the adhān begins
and a person has a plate in his hand, then he should go on to finish what he is
eating; there is nothing wrong in this.[4]
v. During the fast a person
can be intimate with his wife in whatever way he chooses except for having
sexual intercourse with her. ‘Ai’shah (rta) narrates that during the fast the
Prophet (sws) would kiss her and press her closely to him.[5]
vi. The fast can be kept in
the state of janābah (ceremonial uncleanliness). ‘A%i’shah (rta) narrates
that the Prophet (sws) sometimes would begin the fast in this state and then do
ghusl (the ceremonial bath) after the time of fajr.[6]
vii. If a person eats
forgetfully then this does not break the fast. The Prophet (sws) remarked that
it is Allah who has fed him.[7]
viii. The Prophet’s way of
observing i‘tikāf was to sit in a central mosque during the last ten days
of the Ramadān. ‘A%i’shah (rta) narrates that a person who has sat for
i‘tikāf should not go to visit the sick, nor participate in a funeral
procession nor go near his wife nor go out of the mosque except for some
compelling human need.[8]
ix. Intentionally breaking the
fast is a grave sin. If a person commits this sin he should atone for it. The
atonement which the Prophet (sws) prescribed was the same as the one the Qur’ān
has prescribed for zihār. However, it is evident from the Hadīth that
when the person expressed his inability the Prophet (sws) did not insist on it.[9] x. The supplication ascribed to the Prophet (sws) for breaking the fast is:
ذهب الظماء و ابتلت العروق و ثبت الاجر ان شاء الله تعالى “The thirst has been quenched, the canals are brimming with water and if God wills then the reward of this [fast] has also been acknowledged.”[10]
(Translated from Ghāmidī’s Mīzān by Shehzad Saleem)
[1]. Bukhārī; No: 1810; Muslim, No: 1081. [2]. Muslim, No: 1082. [3]. Bukhārī; No: 1823; Muslim, No: 1096. [4]. Abū Dā’ūd, No: 2350. [5]. Bukhārī; No: 1826; Muslim, No: 1106. [6]. Bukhārī; No: 1829; Muslim, No: 1109. [7]. Bukhārī; No: 1831; Muslim, No: 1155. [8]. Bukhārī; No: 1921; Muslim, No: 1171; Abū Dā’ūd, No: 2473. [9]. Bukhārī; No: 1834; Muslim, No: 1111. [10]. Abū Dā’ūd, No: 2357.
URL : http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=90
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Discussion Forum: Family and Marriage: Core Issues
basmar04
URL : http://www.studying-islam.org/forum/topic.aspx?topicid=2605&lang=&forumid=42
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Discussion Forum:
Shab-e-Barat – Importance? hkhan (moderator)
We all have
eaten lots of varieties of halwas as children for this famous night and
burnt our clothes with candles and hands with wax
but when we do a serious
study we find out that actually there is no such thing as a 'shab-e-barat'.
It has no basis in authentic Islamic sources. Such festivals have become
famous in the last few hundred years, mostly trying to race with the
cultures and nations who have lots of feasts and celebrations in their
faiths like Sikh community has multiple birthdays of various gurus nearly
every month, Buddhists observe multiple meditation events and so on (check
out 'Religious Events' series in our interfaith forums on this site
student1
Please correct me If I am wrong, does
Shab-e-Barat means the day when Prophet
Muhammad (sws) was born?
shah_625
No student1,
Shab e Barat is the night of 15th Shaban, and it is thought that this
night is very special because destinies are made by Allah on this night.
What your referring to is 12 of Rabi-ul-Awal. Thank you for correcting me, yes I agree with your understanding of this issue but their are certain hadiths in which Prophet (sws) is reported to have said that "he use to pray to Allah (swt) and ask for forgiveness during this day".
shah_625 Those Hadith are weak according to many experts of hadith.
atifrafi
I do agree with comments of brother
shah_625 but have some points which I need to clarify:
Please your comments
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Ninety-nine Names of Allah
Answer: The Holy Qur’ān tells us that every good attribute that we may think of originally belongs to Allah. To quote some verses:
The fairest names are Allah’s. (7:180)
His are the most beautiful names. (17:110)
Allah! There is no God but Him. His are the most beautiful names. (20:8)
Therefore, every good name that springs to our mind actually belongs to Allah because He is absolute good. The fact we must keep in mind is that while the Holy Qur’ān asserts that all beautiful names are Allah’s, nowhere does it claim that it has imparted to mankind an exhaustive list of His names. I therefore see nothing wrong with inferring good names of Allah from the Holy Qur’ān as well as from the Hadīth literature. Care however must be exercised that we do not ascribe to Him any name which in reality is not good.
I agree with you that we must avoid deriving such names as Adārr. We however can explain this name that although Allah does not cause harm to anyone in the minutest sense, He, it is, who allows bad things happen to someone, as per the divine law that He has established, sometimes through natural phenomena and sometimes through human beings themselves.
The Hadīth regarding memorizing the ninety-nine names of Allah has been reported in many great works of Āhādīth namely Sahīh Bukhāri, Sunan Tirmadhī, Sahīh Muslim and Musnad Ahmad. I quote here one from Sahīh Muslim:
Abū Hurayrah narrates: There are ninety-nine names of Allah, whoever commits them to memory would go to Paradise. Verily, Allah is odd [Allah is one and it is an odd number] and He loves odd numbers. (Muslim, No. 4835)
This Hadīth actually conveys to us that anyone who really believes in these ninety-nine attributes of Allah and always remembers them truly will be compelled to live a good life avoiding all the unseemly acts that may emanate from him in case He forgets the Lord. Thus, he, by remembering His Lord with all His attributes, will become entitled to enter Paradise because of the God-fearing life he leads in this world.
As for you question how this Hadīth could have been a source for deriving ninety-nine names of Allah, I would like to say since this Hadīth mentioned the figure ninety-nine, many people set about collecting and identifying the intended names. Thus, they ended up making a list that we have today with us. I personally feel that these Āhādīth only attempted to convey that there are innumerable good names of Allah. They did not intend to fix a number. The Holy Qur’ān also supports this viewpoint since it mentions that all good names are Allah’s.
wassalam
Jhangeer Hanif
|
Announcements: |
|
Course "Belief in the Hereafter"
Launched
Successful Participants
|
|
Youtube Videos
E nglishUrdu Articles QnA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Muslim Scientists and Islamic Civilization
|
|
|
Please give us your valued feedback on our guestbook:
|
|
| ______________________
|
|
Studying Islam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||