Sultan Murad IV, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623-1640, would often anonymously go into the midst of the people and see their state. One evening, he felt an uneasiness in himself and the urge to go out. He called for his head of security and out they went. They came to a busy vicinity, and found a man lying on the ground. The Sultan prodded him but he was dead and the people were going about their own business. Nobody seemed to care about the dead man lying on the ground.The Sultan called upon the people. They didn't...
Monday, July 31, 2017
Malik Bin Dinar and the Thief
A burglar scaled the wall of Maalik Bin Dinar's house one night and easily managed to get inside. Once inside the house, the thief was disappointed to see nothing worth stealing. Maalik was busy performing prayer. Realizing he was not alone, he quickly ended his prayer and turned around to face the thief.Without showing any signs of shock or scare, Maalik calmly extended greetings of peace and said, "My brother, may Allah forgive you. You entered my home and found nothing worth taking, yet I do not want you to leave without...
‘Umrah during the months of Hajj
Is it permissible to do ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj, on the basis that I will not do Hajj in the same year? For example, if I go to Makkah about half a month before Hajj, and I do the rituals of ‘Umrah, then I leave – is that permissible?.Published Date: 2010-10-16Praise be to Allaah. It is permissible to do ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj, and there is no difference of opinion amongst the scholars concerning that. And it makes no difference whether you intend to do Hajj in the same year or not. The Prophet...
If he did ‘umrah during the months of Hajj, intending to do Hajj in the same year, is he doing tamattu‘ even if he intended to do ifraad?
I am from Riyadh, and my mother and father were staying with me for a two-month visit in Riyadh, and we intended to do Hajj this year. We went to Makkah on the first day of Dhu’l-Qa‘dah to do ‘umrah, and we are going to stay in Makkah until Hajj, in sha Allah. We entered ihram for ‘umrah from the miqaat of as-Sayl, and I asked them not to say that it was ‘umrah as part of Hajj tamattu‘, because I cannot afford to pay the price for the hadiy (sacrificial animal), and we are going to do Hajj ifraad. Now they are in Makkah. What...
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Obligation of performing Hajj straightaway Is it permissible for a person who is able to do Hajj to delay Hajj for a number of years?.
Praise be to Allaah.If a person is able to do Hajj and meets all the conditions of it being obligatory, then he must do Hajj straight away, and it is not permissible for him to delay it. Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni: If a person is obliged to do Hajj and is able to do it, he must do it straight away and it is not permissible for him to delay it. This is the view of Abu Haneefah and Maalik. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) to the...
How many times did the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) perform ‘Umrah?
Praise be to Allaah.It was narrated from Qutaadah that Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) told him that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) performed ‘Umrah four times, all of them in Dhu’l-Qi’dah apart from the ‘Umrah which he performed with his Hajj: (he did) ‘Umrah from al-Hudaybiyah or at the time of al-Hudaybiyah in Dhu’l-Qi’dah; (he did) ‘Umrah the following year in Dhu’l-Qi’dah; and (he did) ‘Umrah from Ja’raanah when he shared out the booty of Hunayn in Dhu’l-Qi’dah. Narrated...
Islam In Persia
While the Ottomans were concerned mostly with the westem front of their empire, to the east in Persia a new dynasty called the Safavids came to power in 1502.The Safavids established a powerful state of their own which flourished for over two centuries and became known for the flowering of the arts. Their capital, Isfahan, became one of the most beautiful cities with its blue tiled mosques and exquisite houses.The Afghan invasion of 1736 put an end to Safavid rule and prepared the independence of Afghanistan which occured fommally...
Islam In India
As for India, Islam entered into the land east of the Indus River peacefully. Gradually Muslims gained political power beginning in the early 13th century.But this period which marked the expansion of both Islam and Islamic culture came to an end with the conquest of much of India in 1526 by Babur, one of the Timurid princes. He established the powerful Mogul empire which produced such famous rulers as Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan and which lasted, despite the gradual rise of British power in India, until 1857 when it was...
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Jesus said that he is the way and that no one can come to God except through him. What do Muslims say about that?
Muslims believe that Jesus, on whom be peace, was indeed the way. This means that he showed the way by which people should approach God. He expected that people should follow him and imitate him. His early followers were called followers of the way because, obviously, they followed Jesus, and Jesus was the way (see Acts 9:2; 18:25; 19:9; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14; 24:22). They were also called Christians, which means 'imitators of Christ' (see Acts 11 :26). This shows that the early followers of Jesus copied and imitated him.Jesus...
Muhammad is dead. But Jesus is alive. Doesn't that mean that Jesus Is superior to Muhammad?
Muslims believe that Jesus and Muhammad were both prophets and messengers of Allah. Peace be upon both of them. Muslims will not belittle any of God's prophets or reject their message. The Qur'an tells us to declare our faith in all of the prophets including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and that we should make no distinction among them (see Qur'an 2:136; 3:84; 2:285). This means that since each of them preached the true message of God, it would be wrong to say we believe in some but not in others.The prophets themselves were...
What does Islam say about Domestic violence?
Islam condemns domestic violence. Once a number of women came to the prophet, on whom be peace, to complain that their husbands had beaten them. The prophet announced that men who beat their wives are not good men. The prophet also said: Do not beat the female servants of Allah.Allah knows that life is not always a bowl of cherries. And so He stipulates that a man must be kind to his wife even if he happens to dislike her (Qur'an 4:19). Allah offers a good reason as to why men should not dislike their wives. Allah says that...
What are some of the rights given to women in Islam?
The Qur'an places men and women on a similar relationship before God, and promises both the final goal of paradise for those who believe and do right (see Qur'an 3:195; 4:124; 16:19; 40:40). The Qur'an also speaks of similarity in terms of creation. God tells us that He created a single soul and from it its mate, then He made countless men and women from those two (see Qur'an 4:1) The Qur'an does not contain the belief that the man alone is created in the image of God. Because of this fundamental similarity between men and...
He missed Jumu‘ah and prayed Zuhr, then he found a mosque where they were praying Jumu‘ah
I missed Jumu‘ah prayer in my usual mosque, and I prayed Zuhr instead of Jumu‘ah. But on my way back to work, I came across a mosque where they had not yet prayed Jumu‘ah. My question is: should I pray Jumu‘ah with them and cancel my Zuhr prayer, or is the Zuhr prayer that I did before that sufficient? Please advise me, may Allah reward you.Published Date: 2015-04-16Praise be to Allah.We put this question to Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak (may Allah preserve him) and he said: What appears to be the case – and Allah...
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
He wants to do Hajj first and his father wants him to get married first
Will I be disobeying my father because of the following? 1. My father (may Allah have mercy on him) wanted me to start looking to get married, but I refused because I wanted to complete my postgraduate studies.2. The money that I saved was sufficient to get married (the marriage contract only). Please note that I have a job.3. Then I was not able to travel in order to complete my postgraduate studies, so I decided to start a small business in the hope that I could earn some money with which...
The True Religion of God By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips- Part 2
Part 2Recognition Of God The question which arises here is : How can all people be expected to believe in the one true God, given their varying backgrounds, societies and cultures? For people to be held responsible for worshipping the one true God, they all need to have access to knowledge of Him. The final revelation teaches that all humans being have the recognition of the one true God imprinted on their souls as a part of their very nature with which they are created. In the seventh chapter of the Qur’an (Al-A’raaf,...
The True Religion of God By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.- Part 1
Which Is The True Religion Of God? Part 1Each person is born in a circumstance which is not of his own choosing. The religion of his family or the ideology of the state is thrust upon him from the very beginning of his existence in this world. By the time he reaches his teens, he is usually fully brain-washed into believing that the beliefs of his particular society are the correct beliefs that everyone should have. However, when some people mature and are exposed to other belief-systems, they begin to question the validity...
