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Fortnightly Newsletter
(16th Decemberr '13 - 31st December`13) |
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www.studying-islam.org |
Compiled by: Azeem
Ayub |
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Reflection |
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In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious,
the Ever Merciful
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Forgiveness
God is Ever Merciful and we
always expect that He will deal mercifully with us and forgive our mistakes
even if we falter again and again. But often we do not show mercy to others.
There are instances which warrant clemency on our part but we choose to
become callous instead. If a person commits a mistake accidentally or does
so in ignorance and forgetfulness, we still scold and punish him. Similarly,
at times, we become harsh and unforgiving even after a person has made
amends and is genuinely sorry for his bad behaviour. Sometimes, we do not
forgive a person even after we have taken revenge. At other times, we
castigate someone for a small mistake or chide him much more than his
mistake calls for. Similarly, at times, we adopt an unforgiving attitude
towards a person who comes forward and confesses his mistake even before it
comes to our notice. No doubt, all these are instances which warrant
clemency and compassion from us. But we become callous, cruel and ruthless.
The Qur’ān says though a person
can avenge the wrong inflicted on him by someone, yet forgiving and forgetting
this wrong will earn great reward and indeed the pleasure of the Almighty.
Perhaps the most effective way
to become a forgiving and forbearing person is to keep a constant and watchful
eye on one’s own faults and blemishes. We expect God and our fellow human beings
to be magnanimous towards us by forgiving our faults. So we should all the more
be ready to forgive the faults of others.
However, there can be instances
which warrant an unforgiving attitude on our part. For example if a person is
not sorry for his mistake and repeatedly commits the same mistake. Similarly, if
a person does not realize his mistake and in fact shows arrogance in this
regard, we need not show mercy or compassion. We may do likewise if a person
continues to show carelessness and indifference in realizing that he has done
something wrong.
Perhaps,
the real test in this regard is to correctly and judiciously choose the
instances which merit our forgiveness and those which do not.
Author:
Shehzad Saleem
Topic URL:
http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=386
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In this Issue |
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Reflections
* Forgiveness
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Read & Reflect
* Religious
Tolerance:
The Islamic
Perspective
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Debate & Discuss
* Discussion Forum:
Arguments regarding
the Existence of God
Express & Explain
*
General Discussion
Forum:
Profile of a
True Muslim
Pause & Ponder:
*
Did God need
Creation?
Announcements
* "Quran for All"
Series: Surah
Ma'un
Uploaded
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* Successful
Participants
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Read and Reflect: |
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Religious Tolerance: The Islamic Perspective
Mankind seems to be divided by
religious categorisation. Some religious groups are more exclusive in their
approach than others. However, the approach of condemning people belonging to
other faiths, although it has become a much less pronounced problem in recent
times, has not vanished completely.
There have been many approaches
adopted by religious scholars belonging to different faiths to check the
tendency of growing bigotry amongst religious people. The Vatican adopted the
policy of Religious Inclusivism through its decree of 1967 which expressed
sentiments of cordiality for other important world religions. Words of sympathy
were also reserved in the decree for those who have chosen to follow the
approach of atheism.
There are, however, some
Christians scholars who believe that Religious Inclusivism, even though it is a
welcome improvement on Religious Exclusivism, still falls short of being fully
convincing. What has been presented by William Rowland, John Hick, and Paul
Badham is an approach to justify what they describe as Religious Pluralism.
According to this approach, all important religions are genuine human responses
to the same Transcendental Reality, even though influenced by the respective
cultural environments of the religious leaders. Thus all of them are
simultaneously correct, and all offer important insights into the understanding
of the Ultimate.
Both Religious Inclusivism and
Religious Pluralism promise more religious tolerance amongst those who choose to
adopt these points of view, although the latter seems to be more capable of
engendering true respect in the hearts of believers of one faith for the
believers in the other faiths.
Muslims have normally been
considered Religious Exclusivists, who would not hold people of other faiths
worthy of being offered respect for their religious commitments. There is,
therefore, felt a need to present an Islamic point of view on how Islamic
teachings propose to tackle the issue of religious plurality.
Islam, on the one hand takes a
firm position in confirming the unquestionable authenticity of its teachings, on
the other hand it also calls for genuine respect for all non-Muslims. Even
though there seems to be apparently a contradiction in the approach, a better
understanding of the various verses of the Qur’ān on the subject would suggest
that it is not necessarily so.
The correct Islamic approach
towards the non-Muslims is to assume that all of them have, as yet, not been
properly convinced about the authenticity of the divine origins of the teachings
of Islam. It is for the Muslims to help the non-Muslims to appreciate the
truthfulness of the Islamic teachings. That would require not only intelligent
preaching on their part but, perhaps more importantly, a behaviour of respect
for the fellow human beings, irrespective of their faith. The absence of that
behaviour on the part of some Muslims has been an important reason for their
failure to present Islam as a message which is worthy of being taken seriously
by the non-Muslims. Thus true religious tolerance is at the heart of a proper
Islamic behaviour. Thus it will be shown that all Muslims are required to be
extremely tolerant of other faiths and to continue their struggle to convince
them politely.
This approach is neither
Religious Inclusivism of the sort adopted by the Vatican, nor Religious
Pluralism as proposed by Rowland Williams, John Hick, and Paul Badham. It is, in
fact, a call for religious tolerance because of the possibility of lack of
proper communication of the true message of God. Since no body knows whether the
other individual has been communicated the message of Islam properly, therefore,
no Muslim has the right to condemn any non-Muslim on grounds of religious
differences.
Author:
Dr Khalid Zaheer
URL:
http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=572
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Debate and Discuss: |
General Discussion Forum:
Arguments regarding the Existence of
God
Existence does not
necessarily have to be physical. As regards Mermaids, their existence is
imaginary or fictional. Thus if it has a name it exists.
Secondly, denial does
not mean that that particular thing does not exist. One shall have to
provide the prove for the denial. Physical existence is an attribute. So
far it seems Mermaids do not have that attribute. Their existence is
fictional. Can you deny the fictional existence of Mermaids?
Thirdly, Allah is The
Creator of Universe and Claims to be so. I have not heard of anyone
claiming to be the creator of The Creator. Answer shall be provided when
the question arises.
This is your reply to
Mr. Hanif but I would like to present my comments on your reply and I hope
you wont mind.
Dear Mr. Hanif
You Said:
Existence does not necessarily have to be physical. As regards
Mermaids, their existence is imaginary or fictional. Thus if it has a name
it exists.
Comment:
I agree with you on that, existence doesn’t necessarily has to be
physical since their are many non-physical elements which have existence
but they are invisible for us.
As far as Mermaids are concerned, no doubt they are considered to be
fictional and imaginary but if it has a particular name, it doesn’t
necessarily mean that they exists, take an example of Aliens, they have a
name but so far their existence is just a hypothesis and their are no
explicit evidence which could really prove their existence.
You Said:
Secondly, denial does not mean that that particular thing does not
exist. One shall have to provide the prove for the denial. Physical
existence is an attribute. So far it seems Mermaids do not have that
attribute. Their existence is fictional. Can you deny the fictional
existence of Mermaids?
Comment:
I agree with you, denial doesn’t mean that a particular thing does not
exist but if it does exists then their has to be some explicit evidences
which should prove its existence.
You said:
Thirdly, Allah is The Creator of Universe and Claims to be so. I have
not heard of anyone claiming to be the creator of The Creator. Answer
shall be provided when the question arises.
Comments:
According to my limited knowledge, we have not heard anyone claiming
to be a Creator of the Creator but history tells us that during the period
of Pharaoh, People of Egypt use to worship him since he use to claim that
he was (Naoozubilah) God and he gives life and death to people but he never
provided any strong evidences to prove himself as God but still people use
to blindly worship him because they feared his power of kingdom.
Their were several people who claimed to be Gods but how would you
convince an atheist that their is no God but Allah (swt)?
So you agree that
denial does not mean that a particular thing does not exist. Thanks for
accepting my point.
Allah is The Creator of the universe.
In the known history I have not been able to find anyone other that Allah
who claimed to be the creator of the universe. If you know someone kindly
introduce it to me.
People have been worshiping many imaginary gods since the beginning of the
time but have you ever heard any of them making any such claim.
aijaz47
Main Entry: alien
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : a person of another family, race, or nation
2 : a foreign-born resident who has not been naturalized and is still a
subject or citizen of a foreign country; broadly : a foreign-born citizen
3 : extraterrestrial
Main Entry: alien
Pronunciation: ‚†-l‡-„n, ‚†l-y„n
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin alienus, from
alius
Date: 14th century
1 a : belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing : strange b
: relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or
government : foreign
2 : differing in nature or character typically to the point of
incompatibility
synonyms see extrinsic
–alien£ly adverb
–alien£ness \-l‡-„n-n„s, -y„n-n„s\ noun
Main Entry: alien
Function: transitive verb
Date: 14th century
1 : alienate, estrange
2 : to make over (as property)
Above are the meaning of the word Alien from the Merriam-Webster
Collegiate dictonary.
This is in reply to
your question "who created Allah?"
My answer is that if it is created then it is not Allah.
Allah is the Supreme Creator.
jxmedina
I must say that I have not read through the other area where this
topic was discussed, but I wanted to make just a couple of comments.
Denial does not take away existence, and for me, atheists that I have
known in college, affirm Allah's exists in their very denial. Because if
something is nonexistence then there is no reason to deny it. One can only
deny something, but cannot deny nothing. This is my opinion.
Also, I agree there are things that exist that are physical and
intangible. Does courage not exist because we cannot see it or touch it?
Does fear not exist although we cannot see it or touch it? How about love?
How about thinking? Thoughts and memories are intangible, but we all know
they exist. But again, it does depend on what type of existence is under
investigation. We see the power and creations of Almighty Allah in
everything and everyplace, and everyone. Allah created all things whether
we choose to believe or not, it takes nothing away from the fact that He
exists. May Allah guide us all.
Kindly go to Forums>
History of Quran> Collection under Abu Bakar ( may Allah be pleased with
him).
Jhangeer Hanif (modeator)
You write:
Existence does not necessarily have to be physical.
Comments:
I think you want to
say that existence does not have to be 'actual'. Because we know that
mermaids do not actually exist; they are fictitious in contrast to
reality. We are not taking about the nature of God's existence -
spirirtual or physical; we are talking about whether it is actual or not.
Hence when we talk about mermaids, we know that their existence is not
actual or real. Is this the case with God?
You write:
Secondly, denial does not mean that that particular thing does not exist.
One shall have to provide the prove for the denial. Physical existence is
an attribute. So far it seems Mermaids do not have that attribute. Their
existence is fictional. Can you deny the fictional existence of Mermaids?
Comments:
In the second
response, you are again confusing 'actual or real' with 'physical'. I am
not talking about the nature of existence. I am talking about whether
something really exists? Hence the stress is on real. I had written
About second argument, If someone denies the existence of mermaids, they
are right in doing so. This does not prove the existence of mermaids -
which no one has ever been foolish enough to profess. Does it?
I meant to say that their existence is not actual. So if someone denies
that mermaid in reality does not exist, they would be right in doing so.
You write:
Thirdly, Allah is The Creator of Universe and Claims to be so. I have not
heard of anyone claiming to be the creator of The Creator. Answer shall be
provided when the question arises.
Comments:
About the third argument, the atheist would simply say that I do not see
him make such a claim. Because, if he were to see God as making a claim,
he would not question his existence since it would have been empirical for
him.
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Express and Explain: |
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General
Discussion Forum:
Profile of a True Muslim
I see the current
discussions on Qur'an Sunnah and hadith and then ask myself, among all these
diversifications where lies the true Islam and the true Muslim. I confess that
my knowledge is very limited, but the desire runs high to learn and to serve.
I ask myself, what does religion mean to me and
what is its importance ? why is it necessary? I think of it as a beacon, energy
and force of guidance to succeed. For me According to religion, the purpose of
our lives is to please God; which leads us to Paradise. To attain this we need
to develop purification. This encompasses positive enhancement and moulding of
the good in our soul, and purification and purging of the bad. The purpose of
religion is to help us attain purification; both in our individual and
collective lives. In the Qur'an, God states, successful is he, who has cleansed
himself (87:14). Simply cut out the bad and enhance the good.
I ask myself how did Islam spread at the time of
Prophet (sws) and sahabha? By dialogue, lengthy debates or discussions,
munaazarah, by sword, by force? I look at the personality of prophet
(sws) the
Qur'an addresses him as 'We sent you thee not, but as a mercy for all creations"
21:107.As I understand the sahabha were not the biggest scholars of religion but
believed in "sameena wa attanah" listened and obeyed. Whatever they learned the
practically applied and demonstrated in their lives. The Qur'an was completed in
over 20 years and we must remember they did not have e-mails, computers to
spread it. The prophet
(sws) was called sadiq and ameen by the non believers.
In Qur'an I have the guidance and in prophet's
(sws)
life I have the practical demonstration to succeed. How did the prophet react
with the nasranees in Madinah, allowing them to pray on Sunday in Masjid i Nabwi.
What did the prophet pbuh say to aal i Yasser when they were torchered in Makkah?
did he say he will resort to suicide bombing and avenge them? his response was,"
patience ! Allah has promised Paradise".
For Muslims of today, what has become important is
to say namaz and fast for a month and follow a particular sect and accumulate
knowledge as stipulated by that school of thought and negate all the other
views, sometimes accusing them of being misguided and also warning them of
serious consequences in their eternal future. Why do we forget that we are a
Muslim 24/7. We are a Muslim every time we say or do anything. Accountability is
for everything. Only Allah knows our eternal fate. The Qur'an says
Indeed, those who have believed [in this Prophet]
and those, who became Jews and the Nasaaraa and the Sabians, whoever [truly]
believes in God and the Day of Judgment and does good deeds; they shall have
their reward with their Lord and they shall neither have fear [for the future]
nor any remorse [for the past].
On one side the sunni's and shiat's are fighting on
the other side some negate hadith others make it a source of religion. So where
lies the deen i haq? I ask.
Is it just coincidence that Muslims everywhere are
being humiliated and are the laughing stock of the entire world. The word Muslim
has become almost synonymous with terror, anger , rage and disruption?
It is not about just knowledge but its practical
application. How we conduct ourselves, how we present our religion to other
Muslims and non Muslims. I find abundant knowledge and big scholars but alas! I
struggle to find a true Muslim Why?
assalamu alakyum.
Where on the net can I find the meaning of various Dua's used in Salaat.
I really appreciate
for a very thought provoking article trying to hit the root cause of all the
problems without being fooled by the symptoms.
Why do we need religion? Why should we be Muslims?
I guess this is the basic question that all the scholars must be focusing on.
Is religion an external thing being imposed by us
on ourselves? or its the sound of nature from within ourselves, as claimed by
the Muslims (they say that every child is born on his fitrah and hence is
Muslim). If religion is the answer or sound of our inner selves then we first
need to identify the basic questions that rise from within? We should not only
determine those but finding an answer of those questions must also hold a
significant place within our lives. This is described in Quran as Noor upon Noor.
If we don't feel any sound from within ourselves then this religion is just an
external thing and will merely be used for specific occasions, slogans, demands
from government etc etc etc, while the daily life will be empty from it.
Pakistan is a classic example of it.
The only thing religion does, in my humble and
extremely limited knowledge is that it makes the life after death an issue for
humans in a way that this issue not only encompasses his whole life but also
becomes the top most priority. (Quran says that Allah has sent his messengers as
Bashirs and Nazirs).
Secondly it tells us that purification is the only
way you can succeed in life hereafter. Thats what the whole philosophy of
religion revolves around. And while giving his Shariah Allah doesn't give a
comprehensive list of all the things that we need to do it only picks up a
handful of issues and gives his guidance. Why is that? If we had to be purified
then we of course need a long and big list of things we need to do to be
successful. From Quran we know that Allah hasn't created humans without any
guidance. Rather humans have built-in not only concept of good and bad but also
the details of them upon which the collective human history itself is the
biggest evidence.
So keeping above and the issues faced by Muslims in
mind, what we need to do is:
a) Get rid of the fancy and hallucinative glasses
of Islam that we use to betray ourselves and hide from the ground realities.
b) Just start thinking that we are a natural and
normal human beings and what should we do. This will not only help us look at
and accept the ground realities but will also help us understands the laws
governing the success of individuals and the rise/falls of nations. There will
be some question also to which the Islam has the answers.
May Allah show us the right path and give us the
courage to accept and follow it.
enclosed is a
response from another web site which in my opinion is the correct reflection of
Muslims
Just wanted to add an observation. We Muslims wail
for progress, talk about the glorious past of our ancestors. Wish there was a
scholar that would work to that end, salvage our past and lead us in a new
direction. We wait for messiahs, for Imams, for leaders.
But when we get some, we spend no time in ripping
that person to pieces.
It's the same when people were waiting for leaders
in the Age of Prophets, but as soon as a Prophet would reach them, they'd turn
around and persecute them.
It's like we have made up our minds already on what
Islam should be or should not be. We talk of women rights against a back drop of
honor killings, foul hudood laws on rape, and wish they were changed, Yet when
someone does aim at them, we critique those very scholars.
We want to return to pristine Islam, to the older
scholars, but we refuse to believe the allowance of the Prophet on women leading
prayers, we say to hell with Ibn Rushd who emphasized reason. We refuse to even
talk on controversial issues, while at the same time emphasize Islam's tradition
of dialogue.
We are mired with contradictions as a people.
In my humble
opinion, at every step of life when I encounter a scenario, I have two options,
to react like myself, or to think how my religion would expect me to react.
Not surprisingly my way is always different,
emotional, impulsive and reactive to situation. Whenever I have distanced myself
and thought about the Islamic way, it is invariably the correct way. Foe me the
journey of life is to try and make these two ways amalgamate somewhere.
usmani790
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
GOOD MUSLIM
Muslim is one who is willing to give up pleasure
for long-term gains (Aakhirah).
Muslim is one who has the ability to settle
differences without resentment or anger
Muslim is one who perseveres despite setbacks.
Muslim is one who knows life is too short to waste
in idle activities.
Muslim is one who has no prejudice, intolerance,
hatred or revenge.
Muslim is one who has the capacity to face
disappointments and adversity without becoming bitter.
Muslim is one who accepts his mistakes and who does
not complain that the rose bush has thorns but rejoices that it bears roses.
Muslim is one whose needs conform to the Qur'anic
commands and those of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Muslim is one who makes Jihad (struggle) to change
things, which he can and who lives in peace with things that he cannot change.
Muslim is one who gently and constantly questions
himself/herself "AM I A MUSLIM?"
A Muslim meets his brother with a smiling face (he
restrains from anger and is forgiving). The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Do not think
little of any good deed even if it is just greeting your brother with a cheerful
countenance [face] {MUSLIM}. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Your smiling at your
brother is an act of charity {Sadaqah}" {al-TIRMIDHI who said it is Hasan gharib}.
The Muslim should always be pure of heart and
should have a cheerful and friendly face. He should meet his brother with warmth
and smiles. There's no excuse--Prophet Muhammad (sws) always had a warm smile
on his face even though he went through hardships, torture, and suffering in
this life.
"... [those] who restrain anger and pardon {all}
men- for Allah loves
those who do good." [Translation of the Qur'an-Al-Imran
3:134]
The true Muslim restrains his anger and is
forgiving. He does not see any shame in doing so, rather he sees it as a good
deed which will bring him closer to Allah (SWT).
He has a good attitude towards others and treats
them well. Anas (RA) said: "I served the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) for ten
years, and he never said to me 'UFF!'. If I did something, he never said, "Why
did you do that?" And if I did not do something, he never
said, "Why did you not do such-and-such? [Agreed
Upon]
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Among the best of you are
those who have the best attitude (towards others)". [Agreed upon]
He (SAWS) also said: "Nothing will weigh more
heavily in the balance of the believing servant on the Day of Resurrection than
a good attitude (towards others). Verily Allah hates those who utter vile words
and obscene speech." [Al-Tirmidhi, Hasan Sahih hadith]
The true Muslim has a good attitude. He is humble
and soft and gentle in his speech. He does not use bad language or insult
others. He is patient, gentle, forgiving, tolerant, cheerful, and sincere
towards others.
A true Muslim
submits to the truth when revealed to him.
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Pause and Ponder: |
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Did God need Creation?
Question:
Why did God create
us when, as His attribute assamad shows, He does not need anyone?
(Mr. Mudassar Sha Ziarat Ka Ka Sahib)
Answer:
Dear Mr Sha
assalamu ‘alaykum
The word samad denotes a large rock which is used as a shelter against enemy
attack. The word also began to be used for the leader who is the shelter and
saviour of his people. In Psalms, God has often been referred to as a rock:
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer; and God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn
of my salvation, and my high tower.
I will call up the Lord, who is worthy to be
praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. (Psalms 18:2&3)
The attribute assamad (the rock which is the
shelter and saviour of all) does not signify indifference on God’s part it
refers to be Being whom one relies on and in whom one reposes one’s trust.
However, there is no doubt about the fact that God
does not need Creation, Creation needs Him. This fact is alluded to by His
attributes ghaniyy (free from Want) and aHad (Alone). The attribute ghaniyy has
come in the Qur’ān with Hamīd to moderate the effect of ghaniyy by indicating
that in spite of being ‘free from all want’, God is also the source of all
things worthy of praise and gratitude. Therefore, we, Hs subjects should never
abandon hope in His benevolence and mercy. Similarly, after aHad (Alone), the
attribute assmad leaves no room for the misconception that God is just the first
cause that created everything and is now indifferent to our needs and
requirements. Such misconceptions can incline a man to other beings for the kind
of help one must ask only God for. In other words, these two attributes (aHad
and assmad) tell us that even though God is Unique and Alone, He is not
indifferent to our needs, for it is He who is the rock which is our shelter.
Regarding your question as to why God created us,
we can only say that it Is futile and improper to ask questions the answers of
which are definitely beyond our reach, futile because the answers do not relate
in any way to the responsibility life entails and improper because it ill
becomes the beneficiary to demand the reason for his benefactor’s generosity.
Suffices it for us to know that life is a
privilege, a gift from God – a rare chance to earn the everlasting life of
bliss. That is what we should be concerned about, for there is no loss greater
than losing this chance and no success greater than successfully availing
oneself of it. May Allah give us the wisdom and the strength and the courage to
avail ourselves of the opportunity life has afforded us. Amen.
God be with you.
Yours faithfully
Asif Iftikhar
see:
http://www.studying-islam.org/querytext.aspx?id=870
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