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Issue: "97"
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SName: "General"
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SOrder: "1"
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\r\n | \r\n QURAN \r\n |
Translation:
\r\n"We \r\n have fastened every person's omen (fate) to his/her own \r\n neck. "
\r\n[Al-Quran- \r\n Sura Al-Isra 17: 13]
\r\nTafseer:
\r\n- \r\n
- \r\n The \r\n causes that lead us to ultimate salvation, to our perpetual \r\n happiness or unending misery, lie within ourselves. \r\n It is the proper use of our natural faculties, our power \r\n of judgment and decision, our preference and choice \r\n which makes us earn either happiness or misery. \r\n\r\n
- \r\n People \r\n who do not understand things properly hold external \r\n factors to be\r\n
\r\n responsible for their fortune. - \r\n If people \r\n were to critically examine themselves, they would appreciate \r\n that the factors which had put them on the road to their \r\n destruction and ultimately led to their undoing lay \r\n within themselves - their own bad character traits and \r\n bad decisions. Their destruction was not thrust \r\n upon them by outside factors.\r\n \r\n
[Compiled from "Towards \r\n Understanding the Quran", by S. Abul Ala Maududi, \r\n vol. V, pg. 29]
\r\n | \r\n Signs \r\n Before the Hour- What have we prepared for it? \r\n \r\n |
> \r\n Mahdi - Dajjal \r\n - Jesus - Yajuj \r\n & Majuj <
\r\n After \r\n the lesser signs of the Hour appear and increase, mankind \r\n will have reached a stage of great suffering. Then \r\n the awaited Mahdi (peace be upon him) will \r\n appear; he is the first of the greater, and clear, signs \r\n of the Hour. There will be no doubt about his existence, \r\n but this will only be clear to the knowledgeable people. \r\n The Mahdi will rule until the False Messiah (Anti-Christ \r\n or al-Masikh al-Dajjal) appears, who will \r\n spread oppression and corruption. The only ones who will \r\n know him well and avoid his evil will be those who have \r\n great knowledge and Iman (faith). Th False Messiah \r\n (Dajjal) will remain for a while, destroying mankind completely, \r\n and the earth will witness the greatest Fitna (trial) \r\n in its history! Then the Messiah, Prophet \r\n Jesus (peace be upon him) will descend, bringing \r\n justice from heaven. He will kill the Dajjal, and there \r\n will be years of safety and security.
\r\n Then the \r\n appearance of the two tribes, Yajuj and \r\n Majuj (Gog and Magog), \r\n will take mankind by surprise, and corruption will overtake \r\n again. In answer to Jesus' faithful prayer to Allah, they \r\n will die, and safety and justice will return. This state \r\n of affairs will continue for some years, until the death \r\n of Jesus (peace be upon him).
\r\n [Taken from "The \r\n Signs before the Day of Judgment", by Ibn \r\n Katheer (Rahimahullah)]
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\r\n | \r\n <*> \r\n RaMaDan Special! <*> \r\n \r\n |
Crying \r\n in Front of Allah-It’s not impossible!
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\r\n When was \r\n the last time you cried? Not "crocodile tears", \r\n or a few drops of salty water from your eyes, or the odd \r\n tear that slipped down your face while watching Muhammad \r\n Al-Dura of Palestine screaming in agony as he was murdered \r\n by Israeli soldiers. I’m talking about a flood of tears \r\n that won’t stop. Tears that stain your face...because they’ve \r\n been there so long, their bitter saltiness hurts your skin. \r\n When was the last time you cried like a baby? Back when \r\n you, and all of us, were closer to our Fitra, our \r\n true nature.
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\r\n Ramadan \r\n is coming to an end! That’s enough of a reason to cry! But \r\n what’s even more important is to take stock of ourselves \r\n before it ends and we cannot benefit from its blessings \r\n any further. According to the Quran, the blessings of the \r\n Nigh of Power (Laylatul Qadr) are greater than \r\n the blessings of 1000 months (see Quran 97:3)! We can’t \r\n afford NOT to be crying in front of Allah, asking for all \r\n that we want in these last nights, seeking the Night of \r\n Power.
\r\n Crying happens \r\n when we remember how much Allah has blessed us with and \r\n how much we disobey Him. We can never repay Allah for everything \r\n we have, yet we still blatantly commit sins both big and \r\n small: whether it’s backbiting, taking and giving interest, \r\n treating our family badly, lying, doing good deeds to show \r\n off, cheating, etc. We should also remember how Allah puts \r\n us in difficulties and opens ways out of them for us, easing \r\n our burdens. Yet, we still disobey Him and take His Mercy \r\n for granted.
\r\n Abdullah \r\n ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said that he would \r\n rather shed two tears from the fear of Allah than give a \r\n thousand dinars in charity.
\r\n And the \r\n most telling example of a man who few would think would \r\n cry because of fear of Allah is Umar (may Allah be pleased \r\n with him). He was known for being strong, fearless, and \r\n uncompromising when it came to matters of faith. Yet, Abdullah \r\n ibn Isa said that Umar had two black streaks on his face \r\n because of constant weeping. He feared Allah so much that \r\n he said, "If someone announced from the heavens that \r\n everybody will enter Paradise except one person, I would \r\n fear that that person would be me." And this is the \r\n man who the Prophet (peace be upon him) was pleased with \r\n when he died. Umar also died as a martyr. Umar was one of \r\n the strongest believers. Yet he cried and feared Allah. \r\n
\r\n We have \r\n no reason not to cry in what’s left of Ramadan. Let’s be \r\n more contemplative and pray for an awareness of and forgiveness \r\n for our sins, as well as softness in our hearts. If Umar \r\n the brave and pious did it, we have even more need and urgency \r\n to do it.
\r\n [Taken \r\n from http://www.soundvision.com/ramadan/10.cry.shtml] \r\n
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\r\n Don't \r\n leave your home for the Eid Prayer without reading, "14 \r\n Things to Remember For Eid day" \r\n
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\r\n Want \r\n this Eid to bring life and joy to your family?....the article \r\n "16 \r\n Things to Make this Eid Special for family" could be \r\n of some help, In-sha-Allah!
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\r\n | \r\n 'Tis \r\n The Season: The Muslim Perspective On Christmas \r\n \r\n |
\r\n
\r\n To a Muslim \r\n living in the West, the Christmas Holiday period is one \r\n of the most stressful times because of the differences in \r\n our attitudes towards holidays and celebrations from the \r\n status quo there.
\r\n The fundamental \r\n issue for Muslims everywhere is whether or not to celebrate \r\n Christmas. Their Christian colleagues may stress the secular \r\n aspects of the holiday and the need to comply with social \r\n customs in order to advance in society there. Many times \r\n I have been told to forget Christmas as a religious holiday \r\n and just consider it as a social occasion. Especially in \r\n the United States, failure to participate in business Christmas \r\n parties, makes oneself an object of ostracism. One needs \r\n to climb the social ladder to optimize one's chances for \r\n promotion, etc. and it is difficult to resist the \r\n pressure to conform.
\r\n Christmas \r\n and its Origins:
\r\n Many Christians do not \r\n realize that much of the celebration of Christmas is actually \r\n of pagan origin. When the date of Christmas was set by the \r\n Christian priests to fall in December, it was done at least \r\n in part to compete with ancient pagan festivals that occurred \r\n about the same time. The Romans celebrated the Feast of \r\n the Invincible Sun on December 25. The early church fathers \r\n elected to celebrate the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) \r\n on this date, although there was no particular reason \r\n to choose this date. In fact, many Christian scholars believe that \r\n Jesus (peace be upon him) was actually born in summer. This \r\n is consistent with the Quranic account of Jesus' birth, because \r\n there is specific mention of ripe dates falling \r\n on Mary (peace be upon her), in Sura Maryam, verse \r\n 25. It seems the early church elders redefined \r\n some of the pagan celebrations in Christian terms, rationalizing \r\n them as a celebration of some aspect of their dogma on the \r\n life of Jesus (peace be upon him). Nowadays, few may remember \r\n the reasons for the various customs that they practice. \r\n
\r\n Unfortunately, \r\n many Westerners feel that we Muslims should celebrate Christmas. \r\n They cite the example of many other non-Christians doing \r\n so, including many Jews, Hindus, etc. who join the merrymaking. \r\n They find it frustrating that many of us Muslims will not \r\n comply. It is regretful that they do not apply the same \r\n standard to themselves. They don't expect us to pressure \r\n them to celebrate our holidays nor do we Muslims put such \r\n pressure on them. After all, we Muslims must follow the \r\n Quranic verse 2:256: "Let there be no compulsion \r\n in religion." In fact I recently heard from some who \r\n consider it an insult that we won't celebrate it. However, \r\n I ask them. "Did Jesus (peace be upon him) or any of \r\n the other prophets celebrate their birthdays?" On what \r\n authority do they do it now?
\r\n Of course, \r\n there is also the problem of the children. They are bombarded \r\n with numerous advertisements for the toys and are essentially \r\n brainwashed so that they should expect something "under \r\n the tree" on Christmas Day.
\r\n Coping with \r\n the pressure:
\r\n To us Muslims, \r\n each and every thing we do is part of our worship of the \r\n One, Supreme God - nothing is excluded. We do not make any \r\n distinction between the secular and the religious. \r\n
\r\n Strictly \r\n speaking, for Muslims there are only two holidays, the two \r\n Eids. Namely, Eid-ul Fitr - the festival \r\n of fast-breaking immediately after the end of Ramadan - \r\n and Eid- ul-Adha - the festival of sacrifice during \r\n the major pilgrimage time. They do not celebrate birthdays \r\n (despite all the Western conventions to the contrary) - \r\n not even the birth of any of the prophets (peace be upon \r\n them all), including Muhammad (peace be blessings be upon \r\n him).
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\r\n Thus, we \r\n as Muslims cannot condone nor should we participate in those \r\n practices. It is not out of disrespect to Christian colleagues \r\n that this is done; rather, it is out of respect and love \r\n for Jesus (peace be upon him) and Mary (peace be upon \r\n her) and Allah Himself that we must refuse!
\r\n What we \r\n should really celebrate are the praises of Allah, Who is \r\n free of all imperfections, as stated in the Quran: "Therefore \r\n be patient with what they say, and celebrate (constantly) \r\n the praises of your Lord before the rising of the sun, and \r\n before its setting; yea, celebrate them for part of the \r\n hours of the night, and at the sides of the day: so that \r\n you may have (spiritual) joy. Nor strain your eyes in longing \r\n for the things We have given for enjoyment to parties of \r\n them, the splendor of the life of this world, through which \r\n We test them: but the provision of your Lord is better and \r\n more enduring." [Sura Ta-Ha (20): verses \r\n 130 - 131].
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\r\n [Compiled \r\n from " 'Tis The Season: The Muslim Perspective \r\n On Christmas" by Zeyd Ali Merenkov, \r\n M.D.]
\r\n Note:
\r\n You may also visit the following \r\n link to read Dr. \r\n Muzzammil Siddiqi's views \r\n on this issue.
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