Friday Nasihat 15 June 2007

Jumada al Awwal 29, 1428, A.H. - June 15, 2007, C.E. Living the Quran An-Nisa (The Women) Chapter 4: Verse 28 Better Substitute "And Allah desires to lighten your burden, for the human being was created weak." One of the merits of Islam is that it shows mercy towards people in that whenever it forbids something it provides a better substitute with which to replace it. Islam forbids usury but allows profitable business. Islam forbids gambling, but allows winning prizes in contests of shooting, racing, wrestling, etc. Islam forbids adultery but urges Muslims to marry as soon as they can support a family. Islam forbids drinking alcohol but allows all other good and healthy drinks. Islam forbids what is bad in food but allows what is good and nourishing. The same principle can be traced through all the teachings of Islam. For assuredly, Allah has no desire to make people's lives difficult, narrow, and circumscribed; on the contrary; he desires ease, goodness, guidance, and mercy for them. Source: "The Principles of Halal and Haram" - Yusuf Al-Qaradawi Understanding the Prophet's Life Privileged Relationship A delegation of fourteen religious leaders from Najran (Yemen) had visited the Prophet in order to question him about the new religion, about his faith, and of course about the status of Jesus in Islam. The Prophet answered their questions, pointing out the link between the two traditions, Islam being the continuation of the prophet Jesus's message, but he categorically rejected the dogma of the Trinity. He invited them to worship the One God and accept Islam as the last Revelation. The Najran delegation refused to accept the Prophet's message. Before they left, the members of the delegation wanted to perform their prayers inside the mosque. The Companions present thought it fit to oppose them, but the Prophet intervened: "Let them pray!" They prayed in the mosque, facing east. The delegation went home. The Christians had come to Medina, inquired about the message, listened to the contents of the new religion, put forward their arguments, prayed inside the mosque itself, then gone back without suffering any harm, remaining Christians and perfectly free. The first Companions were not to forget the Prophet's attitude. They were to draw from it the substance of the respect that Islam demands of its faithful, whom it invites to go beyond tolerance, to learn, listen, and recognize others' dignity. The command "No compulsion in religion" is in keeping with this respectful approach to diversity. With Christians, as with all other spiritual or religious traditions, the invitation to meet, share, and live together fruitfully will always remain based on three conditions: try to get to know the other, remaining sincere (hence honest) during the encounter and the debates, and, finally, learning humility in regard to one's claim to possess the truth. Source: "In The Footsteps of the Prophet" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 115-117 Blindspot! Weak Determination If I were to describe my state, then I am never content with reading books, and when I see a book that I had not seen before, it is as if I have found a treasure. I looked at the catalogue of books at the Madrasah al-Nizamiyyah, and it contained around 6,000 books... And if I said that I read 20,000 books, then in truth it would be more, and I was then still a student. I benefitted from reading those books by observing the lives of the early people, and the extent of their memorisation, their determination, their worship, the diversity of their disciplines, of which one would not know had one not read those books. Thus I disliked the current state of people and looked down on the weak determination of student nowadays. And to Allah is all praise. - Ibn al-Jawzi Compiled From: "The Value of Time" - Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah, p. 36