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Eight (8) Important Rules

On October 10th, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Uncategorized   /   Leave a comment

The 1st Rule

Whoever denies any matter that is “commonly known and immediately recognized by the Muslims to be of the Religion” blasphemes.[1]

The 2nd Rule

Whoever says, does, or believes anything that belittles Allah, His Messengers, His Books, His Angels, His Rules, His Promise, His Threat, His Rites (the Well-Known Practices of His Religion), or His Verses blasphemes.

The 3rd Rule

Whoever carries any belief in his heart, commits any action with his body parts, or says any statement with his tongue, that is considered blasphemy by consensus, and then utters the shahadah, then uttering the shahadah does not benefit him so long as he doubts about the judgment of blasphemy of such belief, action or saying. [2]

The 4th Rule

Whoever denies the meaning of a mutawatir[3] hadith blasphemes so long as the meaning is “commonly known and immediately recognized by the Muslims to be of the Religion.”[4]

The 5th Rule

Whoever intends to commit blasphemy in the future, hesitates whether to commit blasphemy,  makes committing blasphemy contingent upon the occurrence of an event, or orders another to blaspheme, blasphemes immediately.[5]

The 6th Rule

Whoever does any act which is only done by blasphemers blasphemes.[6]

The 7th Rule

Whoever wishes the permissibility of a matter that one knows was prohibited in all the sets of laws revealed to the Messengers of Allah blasphemes.

The 8th Rule

Whoever calls a Muslim a blasphemer without any reason blasphemes.[7]

[1] This knowledge refers to all matters which are commonly known to be of the Religion by both, lay people and scholars.  The one who denies such knowledge is judged as a blasphemer whether or not he knows that uttering such a statement results in one leaving Islam.

[2] Considered blasphemy by consensus means that there is no difference in opinions among the qualified scholars of Islam about the judgment of such belief, action, or saying.  Doubting about the judgment means that one does not have the firm conviction that what he believed, did, or said is blasphemy.  In this case, he remains as a blasphemer despite uttering the shahadah.

[3] Information transmitted by tawatur is one of three ways to know something..  Mutawatir refers to an incident that is witnessed and transmitted by a large number of people and passed down by numerous channels of transmission in such a way that all of those people could not agree to lie.

[4] This is blasphemy if the meaning is known by laymen and scholars to be of the Religion.  On the other hand, denying the wording of a mutawatir hadith is not blasphemy.

[5] This judgment of blasphemy applies whether the future means one second, one minute, one year, etc.  Hesitating to commit blasphemy is like for one to say in his heart, “Do I commit blasphemy or not?”  Making committing blasphemy contingent upon the occurrence of an event is like for one to say, “I will commit blasphemy if I lose all my money.”

[6] Examples are throwing al-Mushaf in the trash or prostrating to an idol, the sun, moon, or Devil.

[7] Without a reason means he attributed blasphemy to a Muslim: 1) without knowing that the accused committed blasphemy, 2) without knowing that the accused did something which the accuser thought was blasphemy, and 3) without just merely having the intention to draw a similarity between the accused and a blasphemer.

 

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Salvific Exclusivity

On August 23rd, 2011   /   Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim

Islam is the Only True Religion

 

It is a fundamental belief of Muslims that Islam is not only a divinely revealed religion from God, but rather that it is the only acceptable religion and the sole legitimate path to His acceptance. Such a belief is not an abstract, minute theological frivolity, relegated to the more finer points of obscure works, but rather a foundational premise that is explicitly mentioned throughout our Divine Texts and upon which Islam is based. To deny it is simply a repudiation of the foundations of the entire religion. In other words, one cannot seriously and earnestly make such a claim and remain a Muslim.

These are bold claims, no doubt. Many will find them unpalatable. Yet they are claims that are clearly substantiated throughout the entire Qur’an and in the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. These beliefs have been held unanimously by all theological branches of Islam, throughout its history. These beliefs also make complete rational sense; in fact to hold the contrary position is illogical. Hence, the salvific exclusivity of Islam is proven extensively by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, ijmāʿ (to such a level that ijmāʿ exists with groups whose opinion does not count), and human rationality (ʿaql).

But before even quoting one verse, this belief can be proven from the very crux of the faith, the testimony upon which the religion stands. The Testifications of Faith, which is the essence of Islam and by which a person enters the faith, states, “I testify that no one is God except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” No one can claim to be a Muslim until he or she believes in both parts of the Testifications of Faith.

For our subject matter, if any person were to claim that another being (Jesus, for example) is worthy of worship, it would be a direct negation of the first half of the testimony, even if he himself were not to worship Jesus. The mere theoretical acknowledgment of the moral permissibility to worship other than Allah contradicts this testimony. And for any person to deny the prophethood of Muhammad sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam is a denial of the second half. Hence, all those who refuse to accept Islam after hearing of it have, by that refusal, rejected both testifications.

 

The evidences from the Qur’an to substantiate this belief are simply too numerous to list here. All the verses that command mankind to worship Allah, or to single Him out in worship, or to submit to Him, or to believe in the Prophet or prophets, or command mankind to be righteous, can be understood as proof for this claim. So too are the hundreds of verses that divide mankind into ‘believers’ and ‘disbelievers’, affirming Paradise for the former and Hell for the latter. Likewise, those verses that criticize the theological doctrines held by Christians, Jews, or idol-worshipers are clear indications in this regard. If one were to compile all such verses, they would number in the hundreds if not thousands.

There are also many explicit verses on this subject matter. Among them is

 

which means: The only religion accepted by Allah is Islam. (Al `Imran, 19).  One of the last verses to be revealed is the famous, “Today, I have completed your religion for you, perfected My favors upon you, and have accepted Islam as your religion (dīn)” (Al-Ma’idah, 6). To claim that Allah accepts a religion other than Islam would contradict these verses, and numerous others.

 

Another verse, revealed in the context of the pagan religion of the Quraysh, states, “To you is your religion, and to me, mine” (al-Kafirun, 4). This verse was revealed in the context of an attempt by the Quraysh to find some type of middle ground between Islam and paganism; the verse delineates that the two religions are too distinct to have any common theological ground. In another verse, Allah explicitly states that both idol-worshippers and the People of the Book are considered disbelievers, “Those who disbelieve, from the People of the Book and the pagans, are of the denizens of the Fire; they shell dwell therein for all of eternity. They are the worst of creatures.” (al-Bayyinah, 6). The verse describes those who reject faith as being either of the People of the Book or of the pagans. In yet another verses (at-Tawbah, 29), Allah once again describes the Jews and Christians as not truly believing in Allah, nor in the true faith (dīn al-ḥaqq). In another verse, Allah states that the Jews and Christians shall never be fully pleased with the Muslims until they embrace their faiths. As a response to this, Allah states, “Say: the true guidance is the guidance of Allah. And if you were to follow their capricious whims (ahwā’) after the knowledge that has come to you, then you shall have no protector or guardian against Allah” (Baqarah: 120). A few verses later, the Christians and Jews are told that it is not their religion, but rather the religion of Abraham, that is the true religion, and included in that is belief in all the prophets. “Thus, only if they believe as you have believed shall they be rightly guided. But if they reject, then they are indeed at odds with you (shiqāq)…” (Baqarah: 137). There are many other verses where the Jews and Christians are chastised for claiming to be following divine truth, or for presuming that they follow Abraham.

Some of the most explicit verses regarding salvific exclusivity occur in the second longest Surah in the Qur’an, Surah Al-Imran. When one takes into account the context in which the Surah was revealed, these verses become even more poignant. The books of hadith, tafsir and sirah all inform us of a delegation of Christians that came from Najran to meet the Prophet. The Prophet spoke to them about Islam and invited them to the faith. It was during their visit that these verses were revealed. Keeping in mind that the verses were directed first and foremost to these Christians of Najran, it is impossible to understand them to mean anything except the salvific exclusivity of Islam. “The only religion accepted by Allah  is Islam,” states 3:19, which is then followed up by the even more explicit 3:85, “Whoever elects for himself a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and he shall be of the losers in the Hereafter.” This is perhaps the most unequivocal and straightforward verse in the entire Qur’an regarding Islam’s belief in its salvific exclusivity.

 

There are also numerous ḥadīths regarding this issue, once again too many to be listed in such a brief article.  Of the most explicit hadiths in this regard is that narrated by Imam Muslim in his ‘Book of Faith’, under the heading, ‘Concerning the obligation to believe in the prophethood of our Messenger Muhammad.’ The Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam is reported to have said, “I swear by Him under whose Control my soul is, no Jew or Christian hears about me, and then dies without believing in what I have been sent with, except that he will be of the denizens of the Fire.” The hadith is quite explicit.; also note that the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam attached a condition to this, and that is that the message of his prophethood reach this person.[1]

 

From a rational standpoint, this belief too makes sense. The claim that there are alternative religions acceptable to Allah defeats the very purpose of revealing the message of Islam, and of sending the Prophet Muḥammad salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. If Christianity, for example, is an acceptable path to achieve God’s salvation, then what was the need to send another prophet, and another Book, and add yet another religion to the many religions on Earth? The claim that other religions are morally acceptable to God is a direct challenge to the very coming of the Prophet Muḥammad salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

As a further rational proof, most religions do hold some type of belief about salvific exclusivity. Logically, they can’t all be correct, as such beliefs are mutually exclusive. If a person claims that God is a father through whose alleged son is the only path to God, and another person claims that to believe God has a son disqualifies you from being on His path in the first place, then there is no common ground for extending salvation to the opposing group (although there might be a lot of common ground on other fronts).

 

 

Iman (Faith-Belief) defined:

Given the aforementioned concerning the central Islamic tenet of salvific exclusivity, it is natural to proceed to define what Iman (belief) is and what it entails.  Just as it is well-established through multiple religious texts that Islam is the only true religion, so it is also known that there are certain matters such that the one who does not believe in them could not be a Muslim.  For instance, one verse near the end of the second chapter contains what means: The Messenger [Muhammad] believes (amana) in what was revealed to him from his Lord, as do the Believers (Mu’minun).  All of them believe (amana) in Allah, His Angels, Sacred Books, and Messengers.  We do not discriminate from among the Messengers of Allah.”[2] (Al-Baqarah, 285).  This verse clearly states that all the believers believe in Allah, His Angels, Books, and Messengers.  Hence, the one who were to deny any of these matters could not be a believer. This explicit verse is further supported by the Hadith of Jibril, when he asked the Prophet what Iman is, and the Prophet,  sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “Iman (Faith) is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Judgment Day, and in Destiny—of both the good and the evil.”

 

Furthermore, the illustrious Imam Abu Hanifah said in his famous work al-Fiqh al-’Akbar, “Islam and Iman are inseparable;they are like the front is to the back.” That is, the person who does not have Iman (Belief) is not a Muslim, and the person who does not have Islam is not a Mu’min (Believer).  The person who is not a Believer (Mu’min/Muslim) is a disbeliever, i.e., a kafir.

 

People of the Book  (Ahlul-Kitab)

The phrase Ahlul-Kitab can refer to both the genuine followers of the previous Messengers, Musa and Jesus or it can refer to those people who later claimed to follow those Prophets (i.e., the Jews and Christians) but committed blasphemy (kufr).

 

Now, the Jews and Christians cannot be called ‘Muslims’ (nor can they Islamically be called ‘believers’, as per the statement of Abu Hanifah) for numerous reasons, some of which was mentioned above.  One general reason why they are not believers is that neither the Jews nor the Christians believe properly in Allah, because they ascribe many unbefitting attributes to Him, such as exhaustion (a doctrine which the Qur’an refutes in Al-Baqarah 2:255), ignorance (Al-Anfal 8:17), having a child (Maryam 19:88-92; At-Tawbah 9:30; Yunus 10:68), being a triune entity (Al-Ma’idah 5:72), incarnation into a human (Al-Ma’idah 5:73), and being in space and time (Ash-Shura 42:11).

Secondly, the Jews and Christians do not even make a pretense to believe in Prophet Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wasallam.  To reject even a single Prophet of Allah is disbelief, as mentioned in surat An-Nisa’ (4:150-151), and they refuse to accept the Prophethood of the best of all the Prophets.  The Qur’an commands us to follow the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wasallam,[3] and  says of those who do not believe in the Prophet Muhammad:

 

which means: “And whosoever does not believe in Allah and His Messenger – then indeed, Allah has prepared Hell for the disbelievers.” (Al-Fath, 13)

Confusion Regarding Al-Baqarah 2:62

 

Al-Baqarah, 162 means:

 

“Certainly those who believe (amanu) and those who Hadu and the Nasara and the Sabi’ina who believe in Allah, and the Judgment Day and do good deeds, they shall have reward from their Lord, they shall not fear nor shall they grieve.”(Al-Baqarah 2:62)

 

This verse refers to those who held the correct belief in Allah, had Iman, and were genuine followers of their respective Prophets.[4] This Verse does not refer to the Jews, Christians, and Sabeans who ascribe unbefitting attributes to Allah and reject the Divine Message of Prophet Muhammad.

 

These verses should make it all the more clear that Islam is the only religion of salvation.

 

 

Ultimate Destination of the Kafir

 

Just as the Islamic texts are explicit in clarifies the boundaries of of what one must necessarily believe and accept to be called a believer, they also are unequivocal in describing the consequences of dying in a state of disbelief.  The substantiation of this position can be proved through numerous places in the Qur’an, among which are the verses

 

 

which mean, “Verily, Allah has cursed the disbelievers (kafireena), and has prepared for them a flaming Fire (Hell) wherein they will abide forever.” (Al-Ahzab 33:64-5)   Other verses concerning this issue mean,  “Certainly, those who disbelieve (kafaru) and die as disbelievers (kuffar), upon them is the curse of Allah, the angels, and the humans.  They shall abide in Hell forever never having their torture lessened.”  (Al-Baqarah 2:161-2)

 

And Allah knows best.

[1] Mentioned in a hadith above was a condition for a disbeliever to be condemned to Hellfire, and that is that he/she had heard the call to Islam.  By “hearing the call to Islam,” all that is required is that the person heard the basic message of Islam, that is, that no one is God except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.  Any sane person who hears this in a language he or she understands, and has reached puberty, is accountable.  It is not a condition to be accountable to have had the theological details of Islam explained at length, then to have rejected them after having understood them.  To put it another way, one’s accountability and one’s state of belief or disbelief are independent; anyone who is not a Muslim, whether this person is accountable or not, is still called a disbeliever.  As for the one who has not met the three conditions of accountability, namely sanity, pubescence, and hearing the basic call to Islam, then he/she is unaccountable, and if he/she dies while still being unaccountable, even as a disbeliever (kafir), then he/she would go to Paradise in the Hereafter.

[2] This does not mean that Muslims do not recognize that some Prophets were of a loftier status than others, for the Qur’an informs in Al-Baqarah, 253 that Allah has endowed some Prophets with a greater status than other Prophets.  Muslims do not discriminate among the Prophets in the sense of accepting the prophethood of some of them while rejecting other Prophets.  (This matter is further clarified in An-Nisa’ 4:150-151: Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers and wish to discriminate between Allah and His messengers and say, “We believe in some and disbelieve in others,” and wish to adopt a way in between–those are truly the disbelievers (al-kafirin). And We [Allah] have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.)

[3] Say [O Muhammad]: ‘If you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will accept you and forgive you for your sins….’ Say: ‘Obey Allah and the Messenger,’ but if they turn back, then certainly Allah does not accept the disbelievers (kafirin).” (Al `Imran 3:31-32)

 

[4] This Verse was revealed when the Companion Salman Al-Farisi asked about the fate of those religious people who had taught him and instructed him about the signs of the final Prophet.  Allah revealed Al-Baqarah, 62 with the meaning that those people who were genuinely following the Prophet of their era would be saved in the Hereafter.

 

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Pure Love

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

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What is Kufr?

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information   /   Leave a comment

There has been a recent trend among quasi-traditionalist writers and speakers that promotes an ideology that undermines the very foundation of Islam—namely, an ideology that attempts to erase the distinction betweenIman (Faith or Belief) and kufr (disbelief)—that is, to confuse the distinction between the Muslims and the disbelievers.  The Believers (i.e., the Muslims) are clearly defined in the Qur’an.  Al-Hujarat, 15 means:

The Believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger [Prophet Muhammad] and have no doubt.

Abu Hanifah said: “Iman [Faith or Belief] and Islam are inseparable.  Every Muslim is a Believer, and every Believer is a Muslim.”  Faith (Iman) is to believe correctly in Allah, and to believe correctly in the Messenger of Allah (Prophet Muhammad).  Believing correctly in Allah entails believing in One Perfect Beginningless Creator, Who is the Creator of everything, and that Allah absolutely does not need anything.  Allah is Incomparable.  Allah is unimaginable.  Allah is not a material or spiritual being.  Allah is Eternal and not subject to development or change.  Allah existed before time, direction, or space.  Allah is the Creator of time, direction, and space; hence, Allah is not in time, direction, or space.

Believing in Prophet Muhammad entails believing he was truthful in everything he conveyed from Allah, whether it be the matters of the unseen (such as, the Angelic realm), the previous Prophets and Messengers, the (authentic) Divine Books, the events of the Afterlife, such as, the Judgment Day and the ultimate dwelling in Paradise or Hell.  Also, one must accept the superiority of the Sacred Law that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

Furthermore, one must also believe that all the Prophets were men of outstanding character and righteousness.  All the Prophets were Muslims; they were truthful, honorable, virtuous, handsome, courageous, intelligent, and wise men who called people to the correct belief in the Creator.  Allah supported the Prophets with miracles to demonstrate their truthfulness in what they conveyed.  None of the Prophets committed disbelief, enormities, or sins that would indicate baseness of character.  Allah has informed us of their truthfulness; hence, we must believe in all of them.

Kufr (disbelief) is the opposite of Iman (Faith).  Linguistically, kufr is derived from the verbal root k-f-r, which literally means “to conceal or cover.”  However, in the terminology of Islamic Doctrine, anyone who does not have Iman (Faith) commits kufr (disbelief).  The person who commits disbelief is called a kafir (pl. kafirun, kafirin, kuffar).  Hence, every non-Muslim, whether atheist, agnostic, Jew, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Zoroastrian, or the like is a kafir.  This is mentioned in the Qur’an:

Whoever does not believe in Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad], then certainly Allah has prepared for the disbelievers (kafirin) a raging fire. (Al-Fath, 13)

There are three general categories of disbelief:

A) Ta^til: the denial of Allah’s Attributes, such as, for one to claim that Allah does not know everything, or to claim that Allah is not the Creator of everything.

B) Tashbih: the resembling of Allah to the creations in one way or another, such as, claiming Allah is an idol, the sun, moon, a human, or that Allah has a size or form or exists in a direction, location, or time.

C) Takdhib: the belying or rejecting what is well-established and commonly known in the Religion, such as, the obligation of the five daily prayers, fasting during Ramadan, the hijab for the woman, and the prohibition of alcohol, stealing, murder, fornication, and homosexuality.  (It is important to note that simply doing a prohibition or neglecting an obligation does not constitute disbelief (kufr) unless one deems the sin permissible, for deeming the sins permissible is, in essence, rejecting what Allah revealed, and the one who rejects what Allah has revealed can’t be considered a Muslim.)

Other examples of disbelief (kufr) would be for a person to mock the Sunnah of the Prophet, to intentionally throw the Qur’an or other religious material in the trash, or to assist another to commit disbelief.

The disbelievers are of two general categories: those who are legally accountable (mukallaf) and those who are not.  Any non-Muslim who is sane, pubescent, and has heard the Shahadah (Declaration of Faith) in a language he understands is considered an accountable kafir, and is obligated to immediately embrace Islam.  On the other hand, if the non-Muslim was prepubescent, insane, or never heard the Declaration of Faith, then he is not accountable.

As for the accountable disbeliever (kafir), if he dies in such a state, he will have no reward in the Hereafter.  Al ^Imran, 85 means:

Whoever elects for himself a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.

Furthermore, the Qur’an promises the (accountable) disbelievers everlasting torture in Hell.  Al-Baqarah, 161-162 means:

Surely, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers (kuffar), upon them is the curse of Allah and the angels and men; condemned therein forever, their punishment shall not be lessened.

Because some extremists have made takfir (deemed others kafir) without justification, does not mean that Muslims should become apologists and abandon making a distinction between Believers (i.e., Muslims) and disbelievers (i.e., kuffar).  Nonetheless, in making this distinction, it does not justify acts of terror and murder in the name of “Islam.”  To the contrary, Muslims must be moderate and learn their Religion according to the genuine traditional methodology of Sunni Islamic scholarship.  Muslims in the West should work diligently to invite non-Muslims to Islam with good manners and by demonstrating the truthfulness of the Islamic doctrine. Furthermore, Muslims should be magnanimous, and forbearing in their dealings with other members of the society–but without distorting or compromising their Faith.

Praise be to Allah, and Allah knows best!

 

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Jesus the Son of Mary

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Prophets   /   Comments Off
Praise and thanks belong to the Creator

There has been much controversy surrounding the life of Jesus and the nature of his message and mission.  God-willing, in this short pamphlet, we hope to shed some insight into the genuine teachings of Jesus, the Messiah.

Jesus was born to the best of all the women whoever walked the face of the Earth, namely, the Virgin Mary.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem and he grew up in Palestine.  While he was still young, he and his mother traveled to Egypt.  Later, he returned to Palestine.  At the age of thirty, the mission of Jesus began.  The Creator made Jesus a Prophet and recipient of Divine Revelation.

Jesus was an Israelite Prophet–that is, a descendant Prophet Jacob (Israel).  Prior to receiving Divine Revelation, Jesus followed genuine Mosaic Law—the Divine Guidance and Holy Scripture given to the great Prophet, Moses.  Jesus’ Laws were similar to the Laws of Moses.  Both Prophets enjoined prayer and fasting and forbade fornication, the worship of idols and images, and the eating of swine.

Jesus taught the same message about the Creator that all the Prophets before him, such as, Moses, Abraham, Noah, and Adam taught.  The Creator is Perfect and does not change, and the true belief in the Creator does not change.  All the Prophets (including, Jesus) taught: “Worship the Creator and none of the creations.”  All the Prophets taught that the Creator is One without partners—no one other than God makes things exist.  All the Prophets taught that the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting.  The Creator has Knowledge and Power over everything.  The Creator cannot be compared to anything—therefore, God is not a physical or spiritual body, nor is God an image. Whatever you imagine in your mind, the Creator is absolutely different from that.  Jesus taught that the Creator does not need any of the creations, and that the Creator exists without being in a direction or a place.

The true monotheistic (i.e., belief in One Perfect God) message of Jesus was corrupted and replaced by the pagan idea of a Trinity.  Jesus never taught that he was God or a part of God, nor did he teach that he was an offspring of God.  The Trinity was an attempt to compromise the pure monotheistic message of Jesus with the belief of heathens who were using Jesus’ name to spread their own ideas… and their idolatry.  It was not until the year 325 C.E.—three hundred years after God made Jesus leave this world—that the Roman Emperor Constantine (who was a pagan sun worshipper at the time) made the Trinity the official Christian doctrine.

Furthermore, it is a fact of history that Jesus never ever called his religion Christianity!  Similarly, the New Testament is not the original Evangel—that is, the God-given Holy Book sent to Jesus.  Instead, the present day New Testament is simply a book of hearsay and unconfirmed reports about what Jesus allegedly said and did—written by authors whose identity cannot be proven.  This book was not completed until three hundred years after Jesus was here on Earth!  And lastly, the oldest New Testaments are not in the language that Jesus taught his followers (that is, Syriac).  Instead, the oldest available New Testaments (which, incidentally, are simply fragments from pages of very old manuscripts) are in Greek—and no one knows who translated them!  Since Jesus did not instruct his followers in Greek, it is obvious that the New Testament cannot be the Holy Book of Jesus.[1]

The name “Christianity”, its doctrines (such as, the Trinity), and its book (the New Testament) are all man-made corruptions of Jesus’ true message.  They are NOT from the teachings of God Revealed to Jesus—but from men with evil intentions who wished to distort the Message of this honorable Prophet.   With that said, it would lead the truth seeker to ask one basic question: “What exactly did Jesus teach?”

All the Prophets taught the same essential message about the Creator.  Jesus was not a Christian.  Prophet Moses truly did not call his religion Judaism or Christianity.  And obviously, Abraham, Noah, and Adam could not have been Christians or Jews—yet, they all had a religion.  In truth, all the Prophets followed the same religion—the religion of Islam.  Islam means, “surrender to the Will and Orders of God”.

Prophet Muhammad came about 600 years after God made Jesus ascend safely to the Heavens.  Prophet Muhammad renewed the call to believing in the Oneness and Perfection of God.  Prophet Muhammad came with hundreds of astounding miracles to prove that he is a Prophet sent by God, and God has protected the Message of Prophet Muhammad from being lost.

God is One.  God is Incomparable and Free-of-Need.  God is not a body and cannot be crucified.  God cannot be murdered or harmed, and God does not die.  God is Perfect and does not undergo changes.  God did not become a baby; God does not have babies; and babies are not born in sin.  Also, God does not need someone to be killed to forgive the sins of others.  One does not bear the sins of another, but rather, each person is accountable for his (or her) religious belief and his actions and will be judged by God accordingly.  This is what Jesus taught.

If a person sincerely loves Jesus and wishes to follow his religion, he cannot do so by following the misguided doctrines of Paul and man-made doctrine of the Trinity.  He must believe the truth about Jesus as reported by the final Prophet, Muhammad, who lived 1,400 years ago.  For a person to earn the ultimate success, which is, to dwell forever in Paradise, one must believe in the Absolute Oneness and Perfection of God, and one must believe in the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad while testifying with the Declaration of Faith with the intention to become Muslim.  One says:

“I BEAR WITNESS NOTHING IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP EXCEPT ALLAH, AND I BEAR WITNESS MUHAMMAD IS THE PROPHET OF ALLAH.”[2]

By saying this, one becomes Muslim—and one becomes a genuine follower of the Religion of the honorable Prophet Jesus and all the other Prophets.

Praise be to the Creator and the Creator knows best!!!

[1] The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 3, page 694 says: “The contents of the New Testament as we have it today were not fully compiled until the fourth century….  But alas, we do not have the autographs [handwritten originals], or any of the very earliest copies.  Of the New Testament writings, the greatest period of textual change and alteration was in the second century…” [our emphasis]

 

[2] Allah is the name of the Creator (God) in the Arabic language.

 

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Raising the Children Islamically

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Moderation   /   Comments Off

Allah is addressing the believers and telling them to protect themselves and their families from a hellfire whose fuel will be the stones and the people. Al-Hakim reported that Imam ^Aliyy explained this ayah by saying that it means you should go and acquire the knowledge about the matters of the religion and teach that to your families.

It is mentioned in the hadith that is agreed upon by Muslim and al-Bukhariyy, through the route of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said what means: Every child is born with the inclination to worship Allah correctly and then the parents of the children work on them to make them Jews or Christians or Majus.

Know fellow Muslim that raising the children correctly is one of the most important and emphasized matters in al- Islam. The child is a trust in the hands of his parents. His heart is a very dear and precious jewel, which is devoid of any decoration, and the child is likely to become decorated with deferent things. The child is likely to incline towards what he is pushed to be inclined to. If the child is helped to get used to doing the good things, then the he will grow up doing the good things. If he gets used to doing the good things, he will be happy in this world and in the hereafter.

The parents who taught him those good things would share the reward that the child would get also. Similarly, everyone who had a hand in teaching this child and raising him the right way will have a share in that reward. That is because the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said what means: The one who shows or points to the good thing, is like the one who is doing that good thing. It is also mentioned in the hadith that whoever had two daughters, and raised them well and taught them the good manners, then he will be in al-Jannah (Paradise) because of that.

However, if this child is made accustomed to the evil; if he is neglected and is treated like animals are treated, then he will be among the losers and will be in trouble. Also, the sin would be on the neck of the person who was the guardian of that child.

Protecting the children would be by raising them correctly; by showing them the good manners, and teaching them by warding off the bad company from them. And how many there are those people who are of bad company nowadays?

Among the things that we should take care of in raising the children, is to not let them get accustomed to enjoying a lot of material comfort even if they were permissible. The Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said what means, Beware of enjoying a lot of material comforts, because enjoying these material comforts is not one of the traits of the good pious Muslims.

Nowadays, it is rare to find people who deliberately avoid enjoying material comforts. This is especially true in this country (the U.S.A.). Many people have never in their life experienced how it is to live without having these material comforts. Some of them never saw a person who voluntarily chose to live without material comforts. Shaykh ^Abdullah Al-Harariyy mentioned that he spent one month with another Shaykh, and Shaykh ^Abdullah was describing the disinterest of this Shaykh for worldly things. He said that for one month, he didn’t see him eating anything except bread and tea. When they heard this, some of our brothers asked Shaykh ^Abdullah, then you must not have been eating anything except bread and tea. Shaykh ^Abdullah was silent when they said this.

The guardian or the parent should not let his child get accustomed to living too comfortably. He should not let them love wearing clothing to show off or that their hearts get attached to loving to get nice clothes or nice cars or nice houses. Their hearts should not be attached to such things. Also, he should not let them get attached to the means of getting these material comforts. The guardian does this so that the child would not waste his lifetime chasing those things, trying to find ways to get them. If you look around you will find a lot of people just doing that; just chasing the means of getting these material comforts. Why is this? It is because they grew up doing those things and learning that this is the thing to do. The child should be protected at an early age from such things.

So the children need to be watched from the beginning. The parent should not let anyone nurse the child or take care of the child except a pious woman who eats halal (permissible) food. This is because the milk which is produced from a woman who eats food which is haram (prohibited) has no barakah (blessing) in it. So if the child grows up nursing from this milk, which was produced from the haram food that the woman was eating, then his flesh would grow from that haram. His attitude would be inclined towards al-haram; towards al-khabith (evil things).

The parent can watch the temperature of the child. If he finds that his child is shy of doing certain things, and he is decent about doing other things, then this is good news for the parent. This tells him that the nature of that child is good. When this is observed coming from the child, it would give good news that when this child becomes pubescent his mind will be “perfect” (the best that can be). When the child has the shyness to do indecent things, then the parent would use this shyness to raise the child.

The first thing that over comes the child when he becomes two or three years of age is the great desire to eat. So the child should be taught how to be polite about asking for food. For example, the parent would teach the child to take the food only with the right hand. This is something important. The Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam saw a man eating with his left hand, so the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam advised him to eat with his right hand. The man said, I cannot do it. Then the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam made a du^a against him saying what it means “may you be unable to do that, nothing prevents him from doing that except arrogance.” And immediately, that man was unable to raise his hand to eat with it. We teach the child to eat with his right hand, because Sayyidah ^Aishah, the wife of the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam used to use his right hand for eating and for at-taharah (purification) and he used to used to use his left hand for al-istinja’ and other things like that. This was related by Abu Dawud.

The child should be taught to say bismillah at the beginning, before eating because the devil eats with the person who left out saying bismillah at the beginning. Teach the child that when he is eating temperature of the child. if s al-khabith (evil things).

as eating, then his flesh would grow from that ha with other people from the same dish of food, he should take from the side that is closest to himself, and he should be taught to chew well and not eat too fast (taking one bite after another without stopping). Teach him not to stain his clothes with his hand, which has food on it. He should use his three fingers (the thumb, index and middle finger) of the right hand and he should be taught not to use five or ten fingers. Sometimes, let him have only bread and water as his meal. This is so that he would not always expect to find meat in the meal that he is getting. If someone gets used to having meat with every meal, then his heart gets attached to it. This desire for the meat may lead him to haram. Sayyiduna ^Umar used to teach the people not to get used to having meat all the time. He saw one of his children wanting to have meat and he asked him, “Do you always buy everything that you desire?”

The parents should make eating a lot to be something ugly in the eyes of the child. The child should be taught that overeating is something ugly. This is done by teaching the child that the one that over eats is like the animals, and also by praising the child who does not eat a lot. Teach him to love not to caring about food (not wanting it), and to be content with a little of it. If the child ate enough to prevent any harm from coming to him, then the parents should not encourage the child to eat more. This is for the benefit of the child himself. There is a hadith which means that the human would not fill any container that is worse than filling his stomach. The Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said what means: “it is enough for the human to get some small morsel, or bites that would keep his back straight. If a person wants to eat more than that, then he should leave one third of the space for food along with one third for fluid and one third for air.” (Ahmad, at-Tirmidhiyy, an-Nasa’iyy)

Concerning clothing, he should be taught to love white clothes, because the Prophet sallallahu ^ alayhi wa sallam praised clothes which are white also it is related that the Prophet sallallahu ^ alayhi wa sallam wore clothes which were green, and that he wore an ^ imamah (turban) which was black on the day that he conquered Makkah. It is also related that in the battle of Badr, when the angels came down to help the Muslims, they had ^ama’im (turbans, which were orange).

The child needs to be protected from associating with children that are accustomed to living luxuriously and wearing luxurious clothes. Likewise, prevent him from associating with children who pay a lot of attention to these things. Protect him from associating with someone who would encourage him to want those luxurious things.

If the child is neglected at the beginning of his growth, then most of the time he grows up with bad manners; to be a liar, to be envious; to be argumentative; to be noisy; to get involved in things which are not his business. He may grow up to be a person who laughs a lot. Laughing a lot affects the heart- it makes the heart die. To smile at another Muslim is a good thing, and whoever smiles at another Muslim with a good intention, will have the reward from Allah. A lot of people spend their time laughing. This is a waste of time, and it makes the heart die. If the child is neglected, then he would grow up like this. If you look at the kids who are 10,11,12,13, you will find that most often, their situation is like what we have mentioned here. The child grows up with the inclination towards acting indecently. By the will of Allah, if we discipline that child properly, he will be protected from falling into such things.

When the child becomes seven years old, mumayyiz, then let him be occupied with learning the Islamic knowledge. The first thing to teach this child is that Allah is clear of any resemblance to his creation, and other essentials of the belief. He should also be taught the rules of at-taharah and as-salah (prayer), and after that he would be ordered to perform as-salah and as-siyam (fasting). After teaching all of that, he would taught what is haram to put into the body and the sins of the tongue, the hand, the foot, the eye, the heart, and the body. He would be taught to be afraid to fall into these things and that they are dangerous. One should not say what some ignorant people say: “this is only a child and he is not aware of what you are teaching him.” These ignorant people should be told what imam al Ghazaliyy said in ‘Ihya ^Ulumid-Din. After mentioning the issues pertaining to the belief, he said what means: “you should know that what we mentioned from the matters of the belief should be offered to the child at the beginning of his growth. At first he would just memorize them. Then, as he grows, the meanings of these matters would become clear to him bit by bit.”

Then, teach the child al-Qur’an; then about the sayings of the righteous Muslims, and the stories about the things that happened to them. Ibn al- Jawziyy has a book Hifthul-^ ilm in which he lists things that should be memorized. He said that first the child should be taught to memorize some things about the belief, then to memorize the summary about the rules of al fiqh, then to memorize from al-Qur’an. If the child memorizes things early in his life, then it will be easier for him to memories them later on.

Imam ash- Shafi^iyy memorized al-Qur’an at the age of 10. Why? How did he do that? He did that because his mother took care of this matter. His father died when he was small and his mother was the one who took care of this. Similarly, when Imam Malik was seven years old, his mother used to dress him in the outfit of the students of Islamic knowledge, and send him to teachers. Should watch him and follow up of his learning.

Teach the child the stories about the pious Muslims, so that the love for those righteous Muslims would be implanted in his heart. This is a very important thing. If he knows about them, and he loves them, then it will be easier and more natural for the child to follow their example.

After this, when the child does good deeds and shows a good manners, then he should be honored and rewarded for those good deeds and those good manners with something that makes him happy.

If the child makes a mistake once, it should be overlooked. He should not be told, We know about what you did, especially when the child makes a lot of effort to hide it from the family. However, we don’t leave it but we let him know in an indirect way that this deed was a bad deed. If he does it a second time, then scold him and tell him. Don’t ever do that again. He shouldn’t be blamed too often for doing a bad thing, because if he hears that scolding too much it will lessen the affect of those words.

Let the child have awe in his heart towards his father, so if his father wants to talk with him, it will be more effective. Let the parents treat the child in such a way that the child has a great respect for the father. In this way the words of the father would have a great effect on the child. The mother would threaten the child sometimes with the authority of the father.

Let the child be prevented from sleeping during the daytime out of laziness such as the kind of sleeping which usually comes after overeating. However, sleeping in the daytime with the intention of being able to get up and pray at night is something which is praiseworthy. So don’t let the child get used to sleeping in the daytime, which leads to laziness. Prevent the child from sleeping all the time on soft beds, so that this body would be tough. He should be taught to get accustomed to rough clothing, food, and beds. Sayyiduna ^Umar said what means, Get tough. Get used to a rough life and follow the example Ma^add in that respect. (Ma ^add was one of the grandfathers of the Prophet who used to live a rough life). It is related that the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam was asked which person is among the best of the people, and he said what means: “he whose food and laughing is little.

The child should have some physical activity during the daytime, so that laziness would not be one of his characteristics. He should be taught not to walk fast so he doesn’t trip and hurt himself. He should be taught not to boast or brag among his friends about something which his father owns. Teach him that the high rank lies in giving to others not in taking from others. It is mentioned in the hadith what literally means, The upper hand is better than the lower hand (al-Bukhariyy). This means that the person who pays charity and gives to other people is better than the person who goes and asks others. Give me-give me. If this person who is asking for things was not a poor person, then he is sinful for asking people for the things. If a person has enough to support himself, begging, and asking people to give him something would be a sinful act.

Layth Ibn Sa^d one of the tabi^in (the generation who followed the companions of the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam) was very, very generous. It is related that Imam Malik gave him a platter of dates as a gift. He returned the platter to Imam Malik full of gold. It is mentioned that when he used to go for al-hajj, he used to go in three ships. He used to live in Egypt, so he would cross the red sea to go to Arabia to perform the Hajj. One of these ships would be for himself and his family, and one ship would be for his kitchen and those who worked on the ship, and one ship would be for all of his guests that he was taking to al-hajj. How would this man be so generous so that it would be easy for him to spend all this money on these people? It was because he grew up knowing that to be high in status is by giving and not taking.

Once, Imam ash-Shafi^iyy so that he wouldn’t have to get down from his animal. Imam ash-Shafi^iyy said to his servant: whatever money you have, give it all to his man. These people got used to this kind of giving because they grew up doing it. They knew the weight such an act has on the Day of Judgment. This is way it should be taught to the child.

Teach the child not to let his heart get attached to loving this world. His heart should not be attached to gold and silver. Our Shaykh, Shaykh ^Abdullah used to have a Shaykh whose name was Shaykh Muhammad ibn^Abdus-Salam. This Shaykh would not feel comfortable when he had money around him until he had spent it all. Only then would he feel relaxed and at ease.

Teach the child the proper way to sit. He should not extend his legs crossing one over the other in the presence of other people. Teach him not to sit among people turning his back to them. Teach him not to yawn in the presence of others because preventing yourself from yawning is a good thing to do. If you can’t prevent yourself, you should cover the mouth with the hand.

Prevented from talking a lot, meaning talking with words that have no good in them. It should be pointed out to him that talking too much is a sign of impoliteness. The Shaykh said that talking a lot is a sign of imperfection. Don’t let the child get in the habit of swearing for everything such to say ‚I swear by Allah or wallahi. This is so he would not get in the habit of this and then he might swear about something that is not true.

Teach the child not to be the one who initiates talking, when the talking is not useful. He should be taught not to talk except when he is asked a question, and to answer only as much as the question requires. Teach him to listen carefully to the people who are talking to him, especially to those who are older than him. Teach him to stand up for those people who are pious Muslims, out of respect for them. Teach him also to make a space for such pious Muslim to sit. Prevent him from saying words that have no use, and from cursing and saying words which are ugly. Don’t let him mix with people who are used to cursing and saying useless and ugly words. This is because these types of words have an affect on the child, and eventually he will start saying them.

The essence of teaching the child good manners is to protect him from bad company. The Prophet sallallahu √ôalayhi wa sallam said that the person is affected by those whom he accompanies, so let everyone watch but whom he accompanying (Abu Dawud). The young boy should be taught that if he is hit not to cry and scream because this is the habit of the females. After having assigned a certain time for him to study, then he should be permitted to play in any good way that does not make him tired.

He should be taught to obey his parents, and his teachers, and those who teach him good manners.

Teach him that death interrupts the enjoyment of this life. Remind him that this world is a place we are passing through and it is not a place we will remain. The Hereafter is the place where we will remain. Death is expected at any time, so teach the child that the wise person is the one who takes provisions in this world and prepares for the Hereafter.

If the upbringing of this child was correct in accordance with what was mentioned, then when this child becomes pubescent, the effect of this upbringing would appear and he would be successful. These words would be fixed in his heart just like engraving would be fixed on a stone.

However, if the upbringing of this child was disagreement with what was mentioned; if arrogant, bragging, having the desire for food and getting dressed up, then his heart would be repelled from accepting the truth. Just like dry sand thrown towards a wall won’t stick to that wall.

So the basic matters are the ones that should be taken care of. The child is a creation of Allah, and he has inclinations towards good or evil. Most often his parents are the ones who make him more inclined towards one side or the other, either towards good or towards evil.

Listen to the situation of a great waliyy. Sahl ibn ^Abdullah at-Tustariyy said that when he used to be three years old, he used to get up at night and watch his uncle (from the mother’s side) praying at night. One day his uncle told him, Wouldn’t you remember Allah, the one who created you? So he said, How would I remember Allah? His uncle said, In your bed when you want to sleep, say in your heart, three times without moving your tongue, Allah ma^ii, Allah sees me, Allah knows about me. (If the child had been taught to clear Allah from resemblance to the creation, then he would be told to say Allah ma^ii, if he hasn’t been taught about at tanzih, we would tell him to say Allah knows about me). So Sahl said that he said that thing in his heart for many nights, and then he told his uncle about it. Then his uncle told him, now say it every night seven times. So he said that he did that, and he told his uncle. His uncle told him to say that every night eleven times. So Sahl said that he did that and after that the sweetness of these words came into his heart. Then, after a year his uncle told him, memorize what I told you, and keep on doing it until you enter the grave. It will be beneficial to you in this life and in the Hereafter. Sahl said that he kept on doing this for years, and that it gave him great enjoyment. Then, one day his uncle said to him, O Sahl, if someone knows that Allah knows about him and that Allah sees him, he would he disobey Him? Beware of sins. Then Sahl said that they sent him to al-kuttab which is the place where al Qur’an is taught to the children. He said that he learned al-Qur’an and memorized it when he was six or seven years old. He said that he used to fast a lot. His basic food was barley bread (which is not delicious like wheat bread) without salt without the food that is usually eaten with the bread. He said that he went out for years, going from one place to another on the earth, seeking good things. Then he came back to Tustar, his town. He said that he used to stay up all night praying as often as Allah enabled him to do. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said that he never saw Sahl eating salt until he died. Look at the case and condition of this man who reached a high rank among those whom Allah loves. This is the case of the person who grew up properly and whose religious upbringing was Islamically correct.

Exert effort in raising your children in a manner that is pleasing to Allah. We should remember the saying of the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam which means, when a person dies, wherever he does that would earn him more reward would be stopped, except for three thing: a charity which is jariyah (a charity which people continue to benefit from his death), knowledge that people would benefit from, or a child who is righteous that would make du^a for his parents (Muslim). This means that after his death, the parent would benefit from the du^a of his righteous child. Most of the time, this matter would not be without work and effort from the parents.

One should not make excuses about being too busy to raise his children correctly. Because raising the children is something which deserves that the parents allocate the required time and effort for it.

And Allah knows best.

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God Exists without a Place

On August 21st, 2011   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

“Before there was a place, there was a God.”

The true belief in God is not based upon blind faith.  God gave the human beings minds by which they can reason and distinguish truth from falsehood and delusions from reality.  The true belief in God is supported by sound rational proofs, as well as, authentic Holy Scripture.

God is the Creator of all, and everything besides God is a creation.  This includes, light and darkness, distance and direction, motion and stillness, time and place.  God is Eternal and does not undergo changes.  God is as God always was.  God created Heaven and does not reside in Heaven.  God is not everywhere, for “every-where” (or every place) is created by God, and God does not need any of the creations.

God is not in us, for God is not contained.  God is not a material or spiritual being.  God is not a body and does not have the characteristics of bodies.  God is not divisible—consequently, God does not have parts and does not father children.  God is absolutely different from the creations.  Whatever one imagines, the Creator is completely different.

The Muslims believe that God is clear of all imperfection.  It is the unanimous belief amongst the Muslims that the Creator exists without being in a place.  This was the belief of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived 1,400 years ago, the early generations of Muslims (As-Salaf), and the later generations of Muslims (Al-Khalaf).  The Muslim Scholars and Sages mentioned many statements declaring that God is free of residing in a place.

Prophet Muhammad said: “God was [before the creation] and there was nothing else.”  Imam `Ali said: “God was [before the creations] and there was no place; and God is as God was.”  Zayn Al-`Abideen said: “Glory be to God, the One Who no place contains You [that is, God].” Also, he said about the Creator: “No place surrounds You.”  Ja`far As-Sadiq said: “Whoever believes that God is in something or on something or from something commits polytheism (shirk).  Because if God were in something, God would be contained, and if God were on something, God would be carried, and if God were from something, God would be a creation.”

The later Muslim Scholars (Al-Khalaf) also declared that God exists without a place.  Ahmad Ar-Rifa`i said: “The ultimate knowledge about God is to know that God exists without a how [kayf] or a place.”  The author of Al-`Aqidah Al-Murshidah said: “Allah existed without a place and willed for the existence of time.  God is not bound to time and is not designated with place.”  Al-Ghazali said: “Allah, the Glorified, existed without a beginning and there was no place.  God is not a body, indivisible particle [“atom”], or bodily characteristic; God is not on a place or in a place.”

Muslims believe that Allah (the name of the Creator in the Arabic language) is not a body.  Abu Hasan Al-Ash`ari said: “Whoever believes God is a body is ignorant of his Lord and is a non-believer.”  Imam `Ali said: “Whoever believes our God is limited is ignorant of the Creator who is worshipped.” Abu Ja`far At-Tahawi said: “God is clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs, and instruments.  The six directions do not contain God as is the case with all the created things.”

It is the belief of all Muslims that God is not a body and does not occupy a place.  God is Free-of-Need (Al-Ghaniyy and As-Samad).  Places are other than God—they are creations, and God is not in need of any of the creations.  God existed before the places existed.  God is Perfect.  God did not change from existing before and without a place to existing within and in need of a place.  God is not contained.   God is not dependent on anything.

The Holy Qur’an (the Muslims’ unchanged book of Scripture) declares that Allah existed before any of the creations (57:3), that Allah does not need any of the creations (3:97), and in Ash-Shura, 11 (42:11) the Qur’an says:“There is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is similar to God.” From the Qur’an, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, the numerous sayings of the Muslim Scholars, as well as, the sound rational proofs, the Muslims can demonstrate that the Creator does not reside in a place, for created things exist in places, and God absolutely does not need or resemble any of the creations.

The seeker of truth should be aware that there are extremists who claim to be Muslim, but say that the Creator has body parts and exists above the ceiling of Paradise (Al-`Arsh).  These people reach this misguided conclusion because they insist on distorting the meanings of the Qur’an.  It is enough to discredit to such people that the reknown interpreter of Qur’an, Fakhr-ud-Deen Ar-Razi, said: “Allah is clear of being in a place or direction, or on al-`Arsh or al-Kursiyy.”

Also, there are those who claim to be Muslim, but they teach a doctrine of racial hatred in the name of Islam.  On the one hand, they claim that white people are evil by nature, but on the other, they claim that God was born to a white woman in the year 1877!  It is enough to discredit these people to mention that the Qur’an says what means:  “God does not give birth, and God was not born.  God is Incomparable and has no equal.”

Islam is a religion of moderation in both its practices and in its beliefs.  Muslims believe in the existence of God while at the same time, recognizing that God is absolutely different from the creations.  Muslims use their minds to recognize the existence of God, while at the same time, Muslims are certain that God cannot be encompassed by the imagination. It is essential that one understands that the Lord of creations is not similar to the creations.  Muslims believe that God alone deserves to be worshipped, and that God sent many Prophets throughout history to guide people to the truth.  Prophet Muhammad is the last of the Prophets—and God gave him miracles to prove that he was truthful.

The real success is based on being a God-fearing person who prepares him or herself for the inevitable reality of death by following the authentic Laws of God.  The beginning of guidance is having the correct belief in the Creator and testifying with the Declaration of Faith to enter the fold of Islam.  To become a Muslim, one simply says:

“I bear witness nothing is worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

 

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The Belief in Prophet Muhammad: an Overview for Fresh Converts

On August 21st, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Prophets   /   Comments Off

Muslims believe that Muhammad (son of ^Abdullah, the son of ^Abdul Muttalib, the son of Haashim, the son of ^Abdu Manaaf, of the noblest Arab tribe: Quraysh) was God”s last Prophet and Messenger (may Allah raise his rank). He was sent to both Jinn (invisible beings that God created from fire– the non-Muslims among them are called devils) and all mankind. He was born in Makkah, but immigrated to Madinah where he is buried.

A prophet is someone who receives a revelation to teach Islam, whereas a messenger is a Prophet that brings new rules that his followers must follow. Muslims must believe in all prophets, such as Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah and Adam (the first prophet) and that they all taught the same belief; that there is no god but God, the Creator of everything. Muslims must also believe in the books Allah sent to them, such as the Qur”an for Prophet Muhammad and Injeel for Jesus.

Allah created the Prophets with attractive attributes so that people would believe them when they taught Islam, such as: honesty, trustworthiness, intelligence, courage, beauty and good manners. Muslims must accordingly believe that the prophets never (even as children) lie, cheat, steal anything, betray or do anything indicating meanness or lowly character, such as committing adultery or even intending it. They are all born Muslims and never commit blasphemy, such as believing that Allah has a partner or a son, or worshipping celestial bodies, or believing that Allah resembles His creation or that He has created attributes, or doubting Allah”s existence, or hesitating about any of these blasphemies. They are truthful about everything they say about this life and the next, as well as about what happened in the past. The best human beings are the Prophets (may Allah increase their honor), and the best Prophet is our beloved Prophet Muhammad.

A prophet supports his claim of prophethood by miracles. A miracle is an extraordinary event that happens in support of a Prophet”s claim to Prophethood. His opponents cannot duplicate it.

Believing in Prophet Muhammad entails believing in his teachings. Some of these are about what is to come in the future, such as:

  • the torture in the grave for non-Muslims and sinful Muslims
  • the pleasure in the grave for good Muslims
  • the questioning of two Angels in the grave (except for Prophets, martyrs, and children)
  • the Resurrection of all people, Jinn and animals from their graves
  • the gathering of all people on the Plain on the Day of Judgment
  • the Scale with pans and a fulcrum on which deeds are weighed
  • the Bridge which connects the Plain to Paradise and extends over Hell
  • the suffering of non-Muslims in Hell forever because they did not believe in Islam
  • the suffering of the Muslims that Allah did not forgive in Hell for some time (before entering Paradise)
  • the Day of Judgment that begins with the resurrection and ends when all those who will be in Heaven for eternity are in Heaven, and all those who will be in Hell for eternity are in Hell
  • the Basins from which the followers of each particular Prophet will drink and quench their thirst forever before entering Paradise
  • the intercession of Prophets, Angels and great Muslims (by the Will of Allah) by which some Muslims benefit by being forgiven or suffering less
  • the everlasting pleasure of the Muslim”s body and soul in Paradise (even those who will suffer in Hell first)
  • the greatest pleasure in Paradise, which will be to see Allah without Him being in a place, direction, distance or shape (because Allah is the Creator of time and place and does not exist in them; He is not seen as a creation is seen, and cannot be imagined).

Muslims are further required to believe:

  • that Angels are beings Allah created from light, are completely obedient to Him, and never sin; Angels are neither male nor female, and they do not eat, sleep or drink.
  • that all things both good and bad happen according to God”s will.
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The Islamic Belief in God: An Explanation to Fresh Converts and Non-Muslims

On August 21st, 2011   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

The utterance “Allah” in Arabic means “the one who is attributed with Godhood,” which is the power to create. To create is to bring something into existence, whether it is a physical entity, an act or an attribute. No one and nothing has the power to create except Allah, and everything else is His creation. He alone exists without a beginning, and everything else is created and sustained by Him. Therefore, only He deserves to be worshipped. He does not need anything, but everything in existence needs Him.

With this understanding, it is perfectly acceptable to use the word “God” in English referring to Allah. However, it is important to understand that when Muslims refer to “God” as “He,” they do not mean that He has gender. God is not male, female or neuter, as He is not a creature or an object. He is attributed only with complete perfection, and is clear of created attributes, such as having children, a partner, a rival or a wife.

The attributes of the Creator do not resemble the attributes of the created, because His attributes are without a beginning or an end. He is not limited by time or space; He is their Creator and all that exist in them including light, darkness, cold, heat, nature, atoms, color, good and evil. Our imaginations are limited, so we cannot imagine Him. That is why Muslims say: “God is different from whatever you imagine in your mind.”

When Muslims say that God is “one,” they don’t mean “one” as in a number; they mean that he does not have a partner, equal, rival or part. Idol worshippers believe God has a partner or a counterpart. This cannot be true because if one wants one thing and the other something else, then the one that did not get what he wanted cannot be God since he was defeated.

As for those who believe that God has parts, such as the Christians who believe in the trinity, they must also be wrong, because parts need each other to form a united whole, and whatever needs cannot be God. In addition, one of the obvious proofs of the Creator’s existence is the existence of this universe. Whenever we see something composed from parts, we say: “someone has put it there.” For example, when you see a car, you know that this car has a beginning; someone put it where it is now. If this is true for a simple car, then what about the entire universe? If one accepts this argument, then one must also accept that God is free of the attributes that makes one say “someone must have put it there”, such as weight, volume, length, width, shapes, limits, boundaries, composition, physical movement, physical distance and physical direction. In other words, you must accept that God does not resemble His creation. This is what Muslims mean when they say, “He has no equal,” i.e. nothing resembles Him.

Muslims believe that God is attributed with perfect and limitless Life, Sight, Hearing, Speech and Knowledge, because death, blindness, deafness, dumbness, and ignorance are weaknesses. However, His Life, Sight, Hearing, Speech and Knowledge do not resemble ours; the words are the same, but the meanings are completely different. For example, God’s attributes have nothing to do with instruments, such as a body, a soul, an eye, an ear, a mouth, a language or a brain. Rather, they are perfect attributes of God that have no beginning, no end, no sequence and do not change.

In addition to the above, it is clear that God specifies the things that exist and their characteristics, and that He brings them into existence. We must conclude then, that He is attributed with will and power. His attributes of will and power do not have a beginning or an end and they do not change, as is true for all God’s attributes. In the above, we have mentioned some of what Muslims must know and believe in regarding the Creator. However, God’s attributes are not limited, because God cannot be limited, bounded or deficient in any way.

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Masters of Humanity

On August 18th, 2011   /   Islamic Information, Prophets   /   Leave a comment

In the name of Almighty God

Praise and thanks be to the Creator Who is glorified from all imperfection.  We ask the Creator (Allah) to exalt the honor of our Prophet Muhammad, and protect his Nation from the things he feared for it.  May Allah enlighten our hearts with knowledge and sincerity and enable us to follow the path of the Prophet and the righteous Muslim scholars.

Praise and thanks be to Allah for the numerous Prophets whom Allah has sent to humanity throughout the ages. All the Prophets were Muslim (i.e., followers of the Religion of Islam).   A Prophet is a recipient and conveyor of God’s Divine Revelation. Usually the Prophets received Divine Revelation through the agency of the Angel Gabriel (Jibril).  There are special Prophets called, Messengers.  A Messenger is a Prophet who receives a new set of Sacred Laws.  Prophets (who are not Messengers) receive Divine Revelation, but not a new set of Laws–they follow the Laws of the previous Messenger.  Hence, every Messenger is a Prophet, but not every Prophet is a Messenger.

The Prophets have the greatest mission, which is, to convey the Creator’s Holy Revelation to the people. They inform the people about the correct belief in the Creator.  The Creator is perfect and does not change; hence, the correct belief about the Creator does not change.  All the Prophets taught that there is only One Creator, and that there is absolutely nothing similar to the Creator. The Creator is Incomparable and cannot be imagined.  The Prophets taught that the Creator does not need any of the creations, and that the Creator exists without being in a direction, or a place, or being subject to time.  All the Prophets taught about Destiny, i.e., whatever God has willed to be shall be–whether it is good or evil.

The Prophets inform people about how to worship the Creator, as well as, the events of the Hereafter, among other things.  Allah supported the Prophets with miracles to demonstrate to the people that they were indeed Prophets.  A miracle is an extraordinary event performed by a person claiming Prophethood.  The miracle cannot be outdone or matched by someone attempting to discredit a Prophet, and the extraordinary action complies with his claim.

The Prophets are the masters of humanity, and they are examples of human perfection.  All the Prophets were truthful, trustworthy, honest, intelligent, God-fearing and God-reliant, patient, handsome, courageous, and had all the praiseworthy traits that a human being can possess.  The Creator protected the Prophets from blasphemy, major sins and minor demeaning sins (before and after receiving Revelation).  All the Prophets believed without doubt that their Lord is One, Knowledgeable, Powerful, Eternal, and Everlasting.  None of the Prophets committed, robbery, adultery, unjust killing, insincerity in worship, or other major sins.  Also, none of the Prophets committed lesser sins that are belittling in nature, such as, stealing something of trifling value, or looking at a woman with a desirous look (that is forbidden to him).  It is true that some of the Prophets did commitminor sins, however, those sins were not belittling in nature.*

Among the long line of honorable Prophets is the first human being, Prophet Adam.  Prophet Adam was a tall, handsome, articulate, and intelligent Prophet of Allah.  Adam was not a stooped over grunting monkey-man.  Other Prophets include, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Job, Solomon, Zachariah, John, and Jesus the son of Mary.

The last Prophet sent to the people is Prophet Muhammad.  He is the last and the greatest of all the Prophets.  Prophet Muhammad was born around the year 570 C.E. in the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula.  At the age of forty he began to receive Sacred Revelation.  For the next twenty-three years, Prophet Muhammad invited people to the religion of Islam.  Tens of thousands of people believed in Prophet Muhammad and followed him.  After his death in the year 632 C.E., Islam continued to spread far beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

Prophet Muhammad, like all the Prophets, performed miracles. Among the miracles of Prophet Muhammad was the springing of water from between his fingers; feeding many people from small amounts of food; healing the sick and injured in extraordinary fashion; prophecy regarding liberation of Constantinople (Istanbul), and the circumstances of death for some of the honorable Companions.  Prophet Muhammad’s greatest miracle is the inimitable Qur’an.  It is the final Sacred Scripture Revealed to humanity and will remain in its original form until the end of this world.

The miracles of Prophet Muhammad are numerous and were seen by many witnesses who reported them to large numbers of people.  Those reports were compiled and verified by the meticulous work of many reliable Muslim scholars, such as, al-Bukhari, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, and Imam Muslim.  Hence, we know that Prophet Muhammad is indeed a Prophet.  He is the greatest of the Prophets and the most influential human being God has ever created, as his historical legacy well testifies.

It is obligatory upon us to believe in Prophet Muhammad and follow his Religion–the Religion that was taught by all the Prophets–i.e., the Religion of Islam.  One becomes a follower of Islam by saying and believing in the Declaration of Faith which is:

I bear witness that no one is God except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

This is all that is necessary for one to become Muslim.  One does not need witnesses to become Muslims.  Islam is the only acceptable Religion to God and the only Religion that will grant us true safety and security in this life and the Hereafter.

Praise be to Allah, and Allah knows best.

[1]* The stories ascribing major sins and humiliating actions to the Prophets in the Bible and some corrupted English translations of the Qur’an are categorically false.  For example, no Prophet drank alcohol, committed incest, ordered people to commit blasphemy or was guilty of worshipping the planets or the sun.

 

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Precious Pearls

On August 18th, 2011   /   Islamic Information   /   Leave a comment

This is an elucidation of the Creed of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah:

1. Allah is One, without any partners.

3. Allah is the Eternal without a beginning. Allah is Everlasting without an end.

6. No delusions can conceive Allah, and no comprehension can fathom His Reality.

7. Allah does not resemble the creations.

14. Allah had the attribute of Lordship before the existence of the creations.

17-20. Allah brought the creations into existence in accordance with His Knowledge.  Allah meted out matters for them.  Allah appointed their times of death. Nothing about the creations was hidden from Allah before He brought them into being, and Allah knew what the creations would do before He created them.

22. Everything happens according to Allah’s decree and will, and Allah’s will is fulfilled.

27. We are certain that Muhammad, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, is Allah’s chosen servant, and selected Prophet, and Allah’s Messenger whom He greatly honored.

30.  Prophet Muhammad is the one who has been sent to all the jinn and all humanity with Truth and Guidance and with Light and Illumination.

32. Whosoever ascribes to Allah a human characteristic blasphemes.

37. Allah is supremely glorified from having boundaries, extremities, sides, organs, appendages, or devices.  None of the six directions contain Allah, as is the case with all of the creations.

63. Faith (Iman) consists of believing in Allah, His Angels, His Sacred Books, His Messengers, the Judgment Day, and the belief that the destiny–both the good of it and the evil of it, the sweet of it and the bitter or it–is all from Allah.

96. Allah’s Religion on the Earth and in the heavens is the Religion of Islam. Allah revealed:

إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ

“Certainly the only Religion accepted by Allah is Islam”. [Al `Imran 3:19]

And Allah revealed:

وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلاَمَ دِينًا

“I [Allah] have accepted Islam as your Religion”.

[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]

100. We ask Allah to make us firm in our belief and seal our lives with it and to protect us from variant ideas, scattering opinions and evil schools of view, such as, those of the Mushabbihah [those who ascribe to Allah created characteristics], the Mu^tazilah and the and Jahmiyyah [those who denied some of Allah’s Attributes], the Jabriyyah [the deniers of human will], the Qadariyyah [the deniers of Destiny], and others like them who go against the Sunnah and Jama^ah and have allied themselves with error. We renounce any connection with them and in our opinion they are in error and on the path of destruction. We ask Allah to protect us from all falsehood and ask His grace and favor to do all good.

Ameen.

 

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The Creator is Greater

On August 17th, 2011   /   Islamic Information   /   Leave a comment

“Whatever one can imagine, the Creator is Greater.”

God gave us minds so that we could distinguish between right and wrong—truth and falsehood.  Our minds can be used to understand what is proper to believe about God and what is not proper to believe about God.  Consequently, we use our minds to know that idols do not deserve to be worshipped, because idols are something made by humans—idols are in need of the people who make them and give them their characteristics.  That which is made by something else cannot be the Eternal Creator.

Likewise, the sun is not deserving of worship, for the sun is also not eternal—it is a creation–and is in need of someone else to give it its characteristics.  And likewise, we should know that none of the creations should be worshipped.  The Creator–and only the Creator–is deserving of worship.

The Creator is Incomparable–nothing is similar to God.  God is not an idol, or a planet, or an animal, or a human, or a spirit, or a light, or a “force of nature.”  God is not a body and has no shape or place.  God is not similar to anything that we may see with our eyes or might imagine in our minds.  We can use our minds to know what is correct to believe about God—but we cannot use our minds to imagine God.

A wise person once said: “Think of the things God created, and do not attempt to think of the Reality of God.”  All the creations stand as proof that there must be a Creator.  However, the creations and the Creator are not similar to each other.  This is why Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said: “Whatever you imagine, God is different from that.”

Muslims believe that God is not an image—but that God created all images and is not similar to any created thing.  God existed before there was space; God is Eternal; God does not change.  That being the case, common sense tells us that the Creator is not an object, is not a form, and cannot be portrayed by a picture or an image.  Furthermore, we know that God is Beginningless. God created both light and darkness.  Our imaginations cannot come to conceive of something existing and there was no light or darkness—yet, we know God existed before the creations and neither light nor darkness existed.  God was before the creations and there was nothing else.  This indicates that God is completely beyond our imagination.  These are also common sense proofs that show the claim that the human being has the alleged image of God is categorically false.

The great Muslim Scholars mentioned many statements that the Creator is far too great to be imagined.  Among them is the saying of Muhammad Idris Ash-Shafi`iyy.  He said: “Whoever seeks to know his Creator, and concludes that his Creator is something that his mind can imagine, then he is a mushabbih [that is, a pagan who resembles God to the creations].  If he settles on pure non-existence, then he is an atheist.  If he concludes that God exists, and admits that his mind can not conceive God, then he is practicing Tawhid [that is, Islamic monotheism—the belief in the Absolute Oneness and Perfection of God].”

Ibn `Asakir said: “God is not grasped with delusions or thoughts.”  Imam `Ali said: “My Lord, the Glorified, is Al-Awwal [that is, God exists without a beginning].  God is not from anything, nor mixed with anything, nordeluded about, nor is God a human who would be sought, nor is God veiled, thus contained, nor did God exist after God had not been existing.”

Abu Ja`far At-Tahawi said: “Delusions do not reach God, nor is God encompassed by the minds.”  Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, the first of the Muslim rulers after Prophet Muhammad, said: “Knowing that one can not imagine God is a knowledge in itself, and attempting to imagine God is disbelief and paganism.”

The imagination is related to those things that are perceived by the senses.  God cannot be compared to what we see in the creations—consequently, a picture of God cannot be formed by the mind.  Furthermore, the person who worships an image in his mind is in reality no different from the idol worshipper.  The idolater worships a shape he has formed with his hands, and the one who worships a mental image, worships a shape he has formed in his mind.

In summary, the Muslim Belief is the only belief that clears God from all imperfection.  The Muslim Belief states clearly that God is absolutely Free-of-Need and that God is clear of having any created characteristics.  Muslims believe in One, Perfect, Eternal, Incomparable God who has knowledge and power over all the creations.  Muslims can demonstrate the validity of their Belief with sound rational proofs that anyone willing to listen to reason will recognize as being true.

God sent numerous Prophets throughout history.  They all taught the same belief about the Creator: God is One and there is only one correct belief in God.  God is Eternal and does not change—therefore, the correct belief in God does not change.  The Prophets were all Muslim, and they were all men of great integrity who called the people to worship and obey their Creator.  Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses were all Prophets, as was Jesus.  Jesus instructed the people in the ways of worship, but his Divine Message was altered and corrupted by misguided men.  About six hundred years after Jesus was on Earth, Prophet Muhammad—the last of the Prophets—renewed the call to believing in One Perfect Creator.

God gave all the Prophets miracles to prove to the people that they are truly Prophets.  It is confirmed by numerous eyewitnesses that Prophet Muhammad performed hundreds of miracles, and these miracles have been carefully documented.  The person who wishes to be safe in the Hereafter needs to follow the Divine Message for this era in human history—namely, the Divine Message Prophet Muhammad conveyed from God.

The Religion of the Prophets is one.  There is One God and one true Religion–the Religion of Islam.  For one to become Muslim, a person simply says:

“I bear witness nothing is worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

May God guide us to the acceptable deeds and the good endings.  And Allah knows best!

 

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