By Mufti Ibrahim Desai, South Africa
In the name of Allah most Gracious Most Merciful.
Allah Taala states that one reason for this Ummah being titled as the best of Ummahs, is the practice of 'commanding good and preventing evil'.
Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) states, "Whosoever from among you witnesses evil, he should change it with his hands. And if he is unable to do so then he should change it with his tongue. And if he is unable to do so with his tongue, then he should at least consider it to be wrong. And this is the weakest stage of Imaan." (Mishkat)
Hadhrat Nuْmaan bin Basheer (Radhiallaahu anhu) says that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ءlayhi Wasallam) gave an example of people sailing on a boat having an upper deck and a lower deck. The people from the lower deck require water and request water from the people of the upper deck. The people from the upper deck refuse water so the people from the lower deck decide to make a hole on the floor of the ship and get water from the sea. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) said, "If the people from the upper deck don't stop the people at the bottom from making a hole, the ship will sink and all the people travelling will drown." (Mishkat vol. 2 p. 436)
Similarly, if people do not prohibit evil and sin in the society, the entire society - innocent and evil - will equally suffer.
Hadhrat Abu Hurayra (Radhiallaahu anhu) states that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) said, "Command good and prohibit evil or else Allah will send such a punishment that will destroy everyone." (Ibid)
The above quotations of the Quran and Ahaadith of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) are clear that commanding good and prohibiting evil is an emphasised injunction of Allah and His Rasul. Every person must carry out this injunction. All the Prophets (alayhimus salaam) followed the footsteps of their respective Prophets and after the demise of their Prophet, they carried out the same mission. The Sahaaba of Rasulullah (Radhiallaahu anhum) spent their entire lives in commanding good and prohibiting evil. Since there is no Prophet to come, every Ummati of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) is the deputy of the Prophet and has to carry on the mission of the Prophet. The people of Tabligh Jamaat sacrifice their time, wealth and comforts to undergo difficulty and hardships to go in the path of Allah - to carry out this Sunnah of the Prophets - commanding good and prohibiting evil.
As far as the Tabligh Jamaat is concerned, it is our humble view that they are acting upon this injunction of Allah Taala and are fulfilling this obligation of Shariah. the Jamaat advocates strict adherence to the Sunnah and confines itself within the ambit of the Shariah. The purpose of any individual taking part in the noble work of Tabligh is firstly to reform oneself and dutifully save mankind from the fire of hell. The overwhelming success of the Jamaat is mainly because of the manifestation of the six points which involves the purification of the Naffs and the entity of Tawheed.
The word 'Tashkeel' literally means 'to form'. In the terminology of Tabligh, it means to urge the people to give time, to come out in the path of Allah for self reformation and propagating good for a number of days 3, 7, 40, 4 months, 1 year, etc. The number of days is also not compulsory, it is only recommended just as it is recommended that a person studying first aid, for example, serves one month as practicals. While he will not be an expert in medicine, he will know the basic things to do during an emergency. Similarly, a person going out for 3 days, 40 days, 4 months, etc. does not become an expert on Shariah, but he will learn the basic requirements of Shariah. The more time he gives, the more he will learn and perfect himself. The time frame is not a criteria according to Shariah.
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai, www.ask-imam.com FATWA DEPT.
think about it..r u one of the ummah who r ready to go in d path of Allah?
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
FaSTinG in SyAWaL
He who fasts in the month of Ramadhan followed by 6 days in Syawal, it is as if he has fasted for 1 year (Al-Hadits)
As Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, President of the Fiqh Council of North America, explain:
It is highly recommended to fast six days of the month of Syawal, but it is not obligatory. Those who want to fast can fast after `Eid Al-Fitr any six days during Syawal.
It is not required to fast six days continuously without any interruption. One can fast according to convenience any time during the month.
It is the month of Syawal: a month of joy and a month of freedom. We should also not consider Ramadhan as the only month for us to perform ibadah.
If in Ramadhan we had controlled our tongues from talking or conversing inappropriately, we should continue to do so for the rest of our lives. If in Ramadhan we had controlled our eyes from looking at things most despicable, it does not mean that after Ramadhan, we could return to our old ways.
Perhaps there are among us who feel that there were many shortcomings done in the last Ramadhan. Perhaps the ibadah were not performed perfectly and perhaps missed the opportunity to get the benefits of the 1000 months.
Verily Allah, The Almighty offers us the opportunity to His servants. It is up to us to seize the opportunity.
In this month, there are many acts which can be performed to complement and continue from our acts in the past month.
The complementary ibadah referred to is the six days fast in the month of Syawal - whether it is performed continuously or alternately in Syawal. The fast of 6 days in Syawal has many benefits. Amongst them, as reported in a hadith which means: He who fasts in the month of Ramadhan followed by 6 days in Syawal, it is as if he has fasted for 1 year.
It means that if you complete the fast of 1 month of Ramadhan and continue with 6 days of fasting in Syawal, you will be rewarded with the rewards of someone who has fast for 1 full year.
If we analyse that hadith, we can conclude that it corresponds to Allah’s commands in Surah Al An’am verse 160 which means: “He that does good will have ten times as much to his credit. He that does evil shall only be recompensed according to His evil. No wrong shall be done unto any of them.”
From this verse, we can see that the 30 days of fasting that we have endured in Ramadhan equates to 10 months of fasting! And the 6 days of fasting in Syawal would equate to 2 months. Thus, we will complete 12 months of fasting, which would equate to fasting for 1 whole year!
This is explained in another hadith which means: “Allah will reward every good act ten times over. And so 1 month of good deeds will sow the equivalent of 10 months of rewards. And 6 days after ‘Eid Fitr completes the 1 year.”
This is the benefit Allah has offered to us for us to reap. For those who may have missed the benefits from the previous months, this is an opportunity which you should not miss. The 6 days of fasting in Syawal is like a Rawatib prayer that completes any incomplete prayer. And surely in the course of our fasting in Ramadhan there must have been numerous mistakes that we have made. By fasting 6 days in Syawal, it creates an opportunity for us to atone for those mistakes in our fasting.
Let us increase our ibadah in this significant month in Islam. And may our good deeds be rewarded and accepted by Allah, The Almighty.
As Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, President of the Fiqh Council of North America, explain:
It is highly recommended to fast six days of the month of Syawal, but it is not obligatory. Those who want to fast can fast after `Eid Al-Fitr any six days during Syawal.
It is not required to fast six days continuously without any interruption. One can fast according to convenience any time during the month.
It is the month of Syawal: a month of joy and a month of freedom. We should also not consider Ramadhan as the only month for us to perform ibadah.
If in Ramadhan we had controlled our tongues from talking or conversing inappropriately, we should continue to do so for the rest of our lives. If in Ramadhan we had controlled our eyes from looking at things most despicable, it does not mean that after Ramadhan, we could return to our old ways.
Perhaps there are among us who feel that there were many shortcomings done in the last Ramadhan. Perhaps the ibadah were not performed perfectly and perhaps missed the opportunity to get the benefits of the 1000 months.
Verily Allah, The Almighty offers us the opportunity to His servants. It is up to us to seize the opportunity.
In this month, there are many acts which can be performed to complement and continue from our acts in the past month.
The complementary ibadah referred to is the six days fast in the month of Syawal - whether it is performed continuously or alternately in Syawal. The fast of 6 days in Syawal has many benefits. Amongst them, as reported in a hadith which means: He who fasts in the month of Ramadhan followed by 6 days in Syawal, it is as if he has fasted for 1 year.
It means that if you complete the fast of 1 month of Ramadhan and continue with 6 days of fasting in Syawal, you will be rewarded with the rewards of someone who has fast for 1 full year.
If we analyse that hadith, we can conclude that it corresponds to Allah’s commands in Surah Al An’am verse 160 which means: “He that does good will have ten times as much to his credit. He that does evil shall only be recompensed according to His evil. No wrong shall be done unto any of them.”
From this verse, we can see that the 30 days of fasting that we have endured in Ramadhan equates to 10 months of fasting! And the 6 days of fasting in Syawal would equate to 2 months. Thus, we will complete 12 months of fasting, which would equate to fasting for 1 whole year!
This is explained in another hadith which means: “Allah will reward every good act ten times over. And so 1 month of good deeds will sow the equivalent of 10 months of rewards. And 6 days after ‘Eid Fitr completes the 1 year.”
This is the benefit Allah has offered to us for us to reap. For those who may have missed the benefits from the previous months, this is an opportunity which you should not miss. The 6 days of fasting in Syawal is like a Rawatib prayer that completes any incomplete prayer. And surely in the course of our fasting in Ramadhan there must have been numerous mistakes that we have made. By fasting 6 days in Syawal, it creates an opportunity for us to atone for those mistakes in our fasting.
Let us increase our ibadah in this significant month in Islam. And may our good deeds be rewarded and accepted by Allah, The Almighty.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
TSUNAMI WAVES – WHAT IT TELLS?
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
It is the tradition of our Creator and Sustainer that when He sends warning signals to His creatures, the humans on earth, it comes so swiftly and suddenly that man remains stunt as how it happened and why so ferociously. Natural calamities are occurring throughout the globe every now and then but only a few get recorded in human history and the rest are forgotten with the passage of time. Earthquakes, tidal waves and cyclones accompanied with flood of unprecedented nature are the worst form of events. They destroy tens and hundreds of thousands of people with colossal loss of property and infra structure. They “visit” the human abode when human atrocities and violation of human rights become unbearable. Zulm [oppression] becomes the creed of the day. Exploitation is rampant everywhere. Falsehood, lies and “concocted” stories overwhelm the truth. The dignity of man is constantly transgressed by his own specie. Justice is no longer traceable in human society anywhere at individual, national or international level. Transgression and inconsistencies dominate and become the law of the world everywhere. Human society, unfortunately, is passing through the same crisis. It is the human creation and Allah hates it in all its forms and shapes. The Creator sends warning signals of natural calamities one after the other. So the humans may get lesson, repent and correct their affairs to be fair with justice to all [Al-Qist].
The vast tract of land from the coast of Indonesia to East Africa, the countries living within the belt of Indian Ocean have lately become the hot bed of diplomatic “treacheries”, foreign hegemonies, economic exploitation in the name of monopolizing oil and industrial raw material resources and political maneuverings. It has become the arena of demonstrating and testing the military muscles: first by the Russian desire to reach warm waters of Indian ocean and then by Uncle Sam to capture and dominate the heart of Muslim world and its natural resources in close cooperation with the game plan of International Zionism that is gradually unfolding itself towards fulfilling its centuries old dream of Greater Israel. The destruction of Afghanistan, the so-called war of independence to secede Aceh from the Island of Sumatra, the pagan life of Bali in the heart of Muslim land, the denial of human rights to the people of Kashmir, the atrocities in Gujarat, the denial of human rights to the vast majority of scheduled cast in India by its Brahamanic ruling coterie, the “occupation” of Pakistan by US diplomatic forces, the devastation of Iraq by the allied forces of the USA and UK, the unprecedented tyranny of Israel over the innocent Palestinians and vice versa, the “suffocated” human life in the Persian gulf States and Saudi Arabia at the “behest” of the USA, the misuse of oil wealth by princely Sheikhs of the Middle east, the tyrannies of Hafiz Asad in Syria, Hassni Mubarak in Egypt, Ghadafi in Libya, Ali in Tunisia, the constant turmoil in Somalia at the hands of war lords, they all together provide more than sufficient justification for the natural calamities to fall in this region as warning signals to others and to the people of South East Asia and Africa.
The Tsunami Waves of Sunday last [December 26, 200] spread disaster, death and destruction in the coastal lines of ten countries living within the belt of Indian Ocean. It has so far killed more than 75,000 people and the death toll is rising rapidly. Millions have become homeless. The waves that were caused due to a severe earthquake at the coast of Sumatra 6 mile deep under the sea created Tsunami waves that hit lands on its path 3000 miles away to the coast of Somalia at an extraordinary speed of 500 mile an hours, three times stronger than the hardest hit cyclonic storms. Unfortunately, Indian Ocean has no system to alarm the people of the area about the forthcoming Tsunami waves in advance. These waves travel under the sea and surface their monstrous head near the coast only when there is no time to escape from its ferocity. People were swayed away in its fury. Most of the coastal towns and villages washed away. The tidal waves of about 30 feet high just dumped everything that came in its path as pieces of garbage. It had happened after 40 years just to warn the humans that their Creator and Sustainer is not “sleeping”. He is very much alive to the situation, sending warnings after warnings to correct their life-pattern and be obedient to Him alone. The warnings are equally both for the tyrants and the oppressed.
The dominant countries of Europe and America, including the countries like India, China and Japan, must learn that these Tsunami waves can also “visit” their luxurious coasts and ports at any time without giving any signal. They all are within the active “review” of their Creator and Sustainer. He is giving them some respite to ponder over their atrocities and inhuman treatment with the underdeveloped nations. If they do not stop their game of exploitation, occupations and hegemonies to subjugate other people and their natural resources, the day is not far off when these “arrogant” nations may encounter the same fate as it is faced today by the people of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Somalia, and others. God forbid, similar waves of Atlantic or Pacific Oceans if “visit” the countries around the Atlantic and Pacific belts, it may destroy the entire edifice of Modern civilization on which Europe and America are feeling proud of. The losses in this area will be insurmountable of what had happened only yesterday to the countries of Indian Ocean. Europeans and American must learn this lesson and recast their national and foreign policies on the basis of justice and peace before it becomes too late. The wrath of the Creator and Sustainer is hovering on their heads. It may grab them any time but Bush-Blare-Zionist axis is unmindful of the consequences of their game plan and will awake only when the Tsunami waves will overpower them and break their “haughty” heads. That day is not far off.
Equally, it is a clear warning to the people of Asia and Africa to wake up, get rid of the usurpers in their respective lands, establish justice and human rights in their life pattern otherwise, natural calamities like earthquakes and tidal waves will again “wash” their land as happened with a Jews habitation near the coast who were treacherously playing trick with the prohibition on Day of Sabbath. They didn’t stop the devilish characters from playing bad game. When the punishment of Allah fell on that habitation all the people were destroyed except those who were admonishing the people not to play foul with the injunctions of God. [Ref: Verses 163 -166 of Surah Al-Airaf] The people of Asia and Africa are guilty of keeping silence and doing nothing to throw away the tyrannical regimes of their respective lands from power and get the democratic process restores in its place.
The Tsunami waves are natural phenomenon that comes to serve warning signals both to the oppressors and the oppressed. The earth belongs to Allah not to UN, Bush, Blare or Putin. Allah gives latitude to the oppressors to a certain extent but when it reaches to climax of committing Fasad and filling the earth with transgression and no Khair [good] is left in them, they are overthrown by the Creator and Sustainer and someone else is given chance to rule the this world with justice. So these sudden and so powerful waves are open warning signals for both camps the oppressors and the oppressed. They must act and act fast to fill the earth with justice and fair play. The days of repentance are running away fast from them.
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