Woman in islam

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

A man’s sitting next to his family is lovelier to God than him praying in my mosque.

Miracles of the Quran, the universe

Miracles of the Quran

The matchless style of the Quran and wisdom in it, are definite evidence, it is the word of God. In addition the Quran has many miraculous attributes, proving that it is revelation from God. One of these facts is scientific issues that we have covered them in 20^thcentury, but it is stated in Quran 1400 years ago. These facts could not have been ever known at the time the Quran revealed and this is more proving that the Quran is the word of God.

In the 7^th century, when the Quran was revealed, Arab society had many superstitious, lack of the technology to examine the universe and nature. These Arabs believed in everything they were told by their past generation, for example they believed the earth is flat and mountains are on its both sides and the sky is like a roof above them, they thought mountains are the supports of sky (the roof). But God answered them in Quran: God is he who rose up the heavens without any support. (Surah Al-Rad, Verse 2)

Quran revealed at the time when people knew little about astronomy, Physics or Biology and Quran explain the creation of universe, the creation of human being, the structure of the atmosphere and the delicate balance that makes life on earth, possible.

Let’s now take a look at some of scientific truth revealed in the Quran.

The creation of the universe

The origin of the universe is described in Quran In the following verse:

He is the originator of the heaven and the earth. (Surah Al-Anaam, Verse 101)

The conclusion astrophysics reached today, is that the entire universe gathered with matter and time and they came to existence as a result of a great explosion that occurred in no time. This event is known as the big bang which produced entire universe about 15 billion years ago.

Before the big bang there was not such a thing as matter, not even time or energy. It is described in Modern physic as metaphysic. They proved there should be non material power to make this explosion.

Only Allah is the greatest power to create everything.

The expansion of the universe

In holy Quran which was revealed 14 centuries ago at the time when the science of astronomy was still primitive, the expansion of universe was described like this:

And it is we who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily, it is we who are steadily expanding it.   (Surah Al- Dhariat, verse 47)

The word heaven stated in this verse, is used many times in Quran with the meaning of space and universe. Here again the word is used in this meaning, in other words in the Quran it is communicated that the universe expands, and it is a conclusion science reached today. Until 20^th century only view was the universe has a constant nature. The research observation and calculations carried out by modern technology however, revealed that the universe, in fact, had a beginning and it constantly expands. This fact is proved by observation of scientist in 1999, by telescope. They found out galaxies were moving away each other, it means expanding of the universe. This fact was explained in Quran when such a fact like this, was yet unknown by anyone. This is because of the Quran is the word of God, the creator and the ruler of the entire universe.

Orbits

Quran emphasize, each moves in a certain orbit.

It is he who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, they swim along each in an orbit.

(Surah Al- Anbya, verse 33)

It is mention in another verse too, that the sun is not static but moves in a certain orbit:

And the sun runs to its resting place. That is the decree of the almighty, the all-knowing.

(Surah Ya’sin, verse 38)

These facts communicated in the Quran have been discovered by astronomic observation in our age. According to the calculation of the experts of astronomy, the sun is traveling at the norm speed of 720,000 km in hour, in a particular orbit. This means that the sun travels roughly 17,280,000 km a day. Along with the sun, planets and satellites within the gravitation of the system of the sun, also travel the same distance, in addition, all stars in the universe are in a similar planed motion.

The entire universe is full of path and orbits such as this one, is described in Quran as follows:

By the sky full of paths and orbits.   (Surah Al- Dhariat, verse 7)

There are about 200,000,000,000 galaxies in the universe consisting of 200,000,000,000 stars in each, most of these stars have planets and most of those planets have satellite. All of these heavenly bodies move in an orbit. From millions of years each has been swimming alone in its own orbit in perfect harmony. Moreover many other things move through orbits like shooting stars. Not only the planets but also galaxies move in a norm speed and during this traveling no planet or space body collide each other. Indeed, it is observed some galaxies pass through each other, none of them touching each other.

Surely at the time Quran was revealed, human kind did not have any observation technologies, no modern knowledge of physics and astronomy. But it is mentioned in Quran because Quran is the words of God.

The protected roof

In the Quran, God calls our attention to a very interesting attribute of the sky:

We made the sky a preserved and protected roof yet still they turn away from our signs.   (Surah Al- Anbya, verse 32)

This attribute of the sky has been proved by scientific research in 20^thcentury. The atmosphere surrounding the earth has different kind of functions. For example it prevents meteorites which approach to the earth, clash with the earth. In addition, the atmosphere prevents the light rays coming from the space that are harmful to living being. Interestingly, the atmosphere let’s only harmless and useful rays, visible light near ultra violet and radio waves pass through. All of this radiation is vital for life. Near ultra violet rays, are so important for photosynthesis of plants and for survival all living beings. The most part of ultraviolet which is harmful return back to the space by the ozone layer and a limit part of that which is useful reach to the earth. The protective function of the atmosphere is not end here; the atmosphere also protects the earth from the freezing cold of space which is about -270 degrees centigrade. It is not only the atmosphere that protects the earth from harmful attacks, in addition, to the atmosphere; there is a magnetic layer like a shield to protect the earth from harmful radiation. This radiation which constantly comes by the sun and other stars is deadly to living things. If this magnetic shield did not exist, the massive energy from the sun would destroy life on earth. The energy of the one of the flashes of the sun’s surface is equal to 100, 000,000,000 atomic bombs similar one that dropped in Hiroshima. Surely a perfect system work high above the earth that scientist only know about it recently but 14 centuries ago we informed in the Quran about the atmosphere function as a protective shield.

The returning sky

The following verse refers to the returning function of the sky:

By heaven with its cyclical systems.(Surah Al Tariq, verse 11)

This word interpreted the cyclical in Quran translations also has meanings of sending back or returning. As known, the atmosphere surrounding the earth consist of many layers, each layer serves an important purpose for life benefit. Researches revealed that these layers have the function of turning the materials and thing which suppose to back into the space or back down to earth, let’s get more by some examples.

Troposphere, 13 to 15 km above the earth, sends the vapor rising from the earth surface, back to the earth that it causes rain.

The ozone layer which is around 25 km, reflect harmful radiation and ultra violet light coming from the space and turns both back into space.

The ionosphere, reflects radio waves broadcast from the earth back down to different parts of the world just like a passive communication satellite and that is why radio waves and TV broadcasting is possible everywhere on the earth

This fact of layers which was discovered centuries ago in the Quran, demonstrates the Quran is the world of God.

The layers of the atmosphere

Another fact about the sky is that, it has 7 layers:

It is he who created everything on the earth for you and then directed his attention up to heaven and arranged it into seven regular heavens. He has knowledge of all things.   (Surah Al- Baqarah, verse 29)

Then he turned to heaven when it was smoke (11). In two days he determined them as seven heavens and revealed in every heaven, its own mandate (12).(Surah Fussilat, 11-12)

The word heaven which appears in many verses in Quran refers to the sky as well as the entire universe.

Here it means the sky or the atmosphere that is made of seven layers. Indeed today it is known atmosphere consist on seven layers that are above each other, exactly as it is described in Quran. According to the researches atmosphere consist of seven layers. The layers differ in such physical properties as pressure and the types of gasses. These layers are named Troposphere, Ozone, stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and Exosphere. It is miraculous that these facts which are discovered by modern technology, are told in Quran thousand 14 centuries ago.

To be continued ……

The Holy Quran

The Holy Quran

The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɔrˈɑːn/) (Arabic: القرآن‎), literally meaning “the recitation”. Qur’an or Quran is the last revealed word of God (Allah), is the primary source of every Muslim’s faith and practice. The Quran was verbally revealed by Allah to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the angel Gabriel, gradually over a period of 23 years. The Quran is the only revealed book that has been protected by Allah from distortion or corruption.

God determined a kind of miracle for each prophet and the miracle of the prophet MUhammad (PBUH) is Quran. It deals with all the subjects that concern human beings, wisdom, doctrine, worship, science, life style, instructive stories, the story of the other prophets, woman, law, transactions, etc., but its basic theme is the relationship between God and His creatures.  At the same time, it provides guidelines and detailed teachings for a just society, proper human conduct, and an equitable economic system.

Note that the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Arabic only,  So, any Quranic translation, either in English or any other language, is neither the original Quran, nor a version of the Quran, but rather it is only a translation of the meaning of the Quran.

How the holy Quran is revealed?

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was elected by God to be the last prophet, as it was prophesied in other Abrahamic books. After 3 years, in Ramadan month, at the night of Qadr, when prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was praying in Hira cave (near Mecca) while he had stayed there for several days and nights, Gabriel revealed to him and God revealed Quran by this great angle to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Quran is sent to the prophet during 23 years, gradually.

The Quran’s details

Quran is divided to Surah and Aye (verse). Each Surah consists of several Ayes. Original meaning of Aye is sign or proof but miracle, advice and lesson are the meaning which mentioned for Aye in Quran:

…اَنّى قَدْ جِئْتُکُمْ بِایَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّکُمْ…

I have come to you with a sign from your creator and nurturer…  

 إِنَّ فِی ذَٰلِکَ لَآیَةً لَّکُمْ إِن کُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِینَ

… Surely, therein is a sign for you, if you indeed are believers.

(Surah Al-e-Imran, verse 49)

Limitation of each Surah and Aye is determined by the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and he had put them in a row according to the date of revelation. Quran is divided into 114 Surah.

The first Aye (verse) that revealed to the prophet was the first Aye of Surah Al-Alaq:

اقْرَ‌أْ بِاسْمِ رَ‌بِّکَ الَّذِی خَلَقَ

“[O, Messenger] recite in the name of Allah who is your creator and nurturer and who created all creatures of the universe.”

 And the last Aye was the Aye 281 of Surah Al Baqareh

وَاتَّقُوا یَوْمًا تُرْ‌جَعُونَ فِیهِ إِلَى اللَّـهِ ۖ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّىٰ کُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا کَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا یُظْلَمُونَ

“And be afraid of the day when you shall be brought back to Allah; then every person shall be paid in full what he has earned and none shall be dealt with unjustly.”

It is quoted from Ibn Abbas that this was the last Aye that revealed to the prophet and he put that after the Aye 280 of Surah Al-Baqarah by the order of Gabriel.

The first complete Surah that was revealed was Fatiha and the last complete Surah was Al-Nasr.

The shortest Aye is “مُدْهامَّتانِ” (Surah Al Rahman, verse 64) and the longest is 282 of Al-Baqarah which contains more than 30 terms.

Each Surah begins with بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم (in the name of Allah) except Surah Al-Toubeh.

Surah Al-Naml has 2 “بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم” , one of them is for the beginning and the other related to the prophet Solomon’s letter which had written for Bilqis, the queen of Sheba, and his letter have been began by “بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم”.

The shortest Surah is Al-Kowthar with 3 verses and the longest Surah is Al-Baqarah with 286 verses.

There are some verses In 4 Surah of Quran that are known as Sajdah (Prostration) verses:

Verse 15 of Surah Al-Sajdah, verse 37 Surah Fussilat, verse 62 Surah Al-Najm, and verse 19 Surah Al-Alaq.

These 4 Surahs are named Aza’em and if anyone read or listens to these verses, it is compulsion to prostrate after finishing the verse, right away.

“Makki” and “Madani” Surahs

Verses and Surahs of Quran are divided into main category, Makki (take place in Mecca) and Madani (take place in Medina). This division helps researches more and better. As it is said before, Quran is revealed during 23 years, through about 13 years of the prophet’s life, in Mecca and the rest in Medina.

Quran is like sea. Ordinary people watch the outside of the sea and they enjoy it. Even people who cannot swim, stay in the shore and enjoy watching and listening the sea. But people, who can swim, go into the deep like divers and just divers are the people who discover unique and worth full things.

In the most Surahs, Quran wants people to think to verses and get the valuable points of them because Quran is the last guideline book that is sent to the last prophet for all people in the whole world.

Quran is a book that can be interpreted in all centuries, clearly and it is just one of the miracles of Quran. This guideline book proves its divinity by itself, so it cannot be written by a human. By looking at the articles you will find some articles about the miracles of the Quran.

The Quran in English, online

We recommend the translation of Ali Quli Qarai

The merciful verses

(Prophet Muhammad (PBUH

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Prophet Muhammad, the mercy and blessings of Allah (God) be upon him, is the man beloved by Muslims and many of non-Muslims.  He is the man who taught us patience in the face of adversity, and taught us to live in this world but seek eternal life in the hereafter.  It was to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that God revealedthe Quran.  Along with this Book of guidance God sent Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) whose behavior and high moral standards are an example to us all. When Muslims declare their faith in One God, they also declare their belief that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the final messenger of Allah (God).

When a Muslim hears Prophet Muhammad’s name mentioned they ask Allah to send blessings upon him, it is named salawat (صلوات).  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was a man, a human being just like any other man, but it is his love for humanity that sets him apart. He longed for Paradise not only for himself but also for all of us.  He wept tears not for himself but for his nation, followers (Ummah امت).

As it is written in the Quran, Muslims also believe in the same Prophets mentioned in Jewish and Christian traditions, including Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Jesus (PBUT), and they believe that all prophets came with the same message – to worship God alone, without partners, sons or daughters.  There is a difference, however, between all other prophets and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).  Before Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), prophets were sent to particular people in particular places and periods.  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) however, is the final Prophet and his message is for all of humankind.

Allah tells us in the Quran that He did not send Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) except as a mercy for humankind.  “And [O, messenger] we did send you as a grace to the human society [for their guidance].”  (Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 107)

Allah did not say Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent to the people of Arabia, or to men, or to the people of the 7^th century.  He made it clear that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was a prophet like no other, one whose message would spread far and wide and be applicable in all places for all times.  Muslims love him, respect him and follow him.  They hold him in such regard that for many it is emotionally painful to see or hear their beloved mentor ridiculed or disrespected.

Throughout history and around the world non-Muslims have shown great respect and honor to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and he is considered influential in both religious and secular matters.  Mahatma Gandhi described him as scrupulous about pledges, intense in his devotion to his friends and followers, intrepid, fearless, and with absolute trust in God and in his own mission.  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught Islam as a way of life, founded an empire, laid down a moral code and instituted a code of law focusing on respect, tolerance and justice.

Muslims do not worship Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); they understand that he is only a man.  However, he is a man worthy of our utmost respect and love.  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) loved humanity so much that he would weep out of fear for them.  He loved his followers with such deep and profound devotion that God remarked on the depth of his love for us in the Quran.

“Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger (Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty.  He (Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) is anxious over you (to be rightly guided, to repent to Allah, and beg Him to pardon and forgive your sins, in order that you may enter Paradise and be saved from the punishment of the Hell-fire, for the believers he is full of pity, kind, and merciful.” (Surah Al-Taubah, verse 128)

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught us to love Allah (God) and to obey Him.  He taught us to be kind to each other, to respect our elders, and care for our children.  He taught us that it was better to give than to receive and that each human life is worthy of respect and dignity.  He taught us to love for our brothers and sisters what we love for ourselves.  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught us that families and communities are essential, and he pointed out that individual rights although important are not more important than a stable, moral society.  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught us that men and women are equal in the sight of Allah and that no one person is better than another except in respect to his or her piety and devotion to Allah.

Birth in Mecca

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was born in the city of Mecca in Arabia in the year 570 A.D. (12^th Rabi’ al-awwal) He was from a noble family and tribe; He belonged to the Bani Hashim clan, a part of the Quraysh tribe. Tradition places the year of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant, which is named after the failed destruction of Kaba in Mecca that year by the Aksumite king Abraha who supplemented his army with elephants (Kaba is a building at the center of Islam’s most sacred mosque, in Mecca. It is the most sacred site in Islam. From any point in the world, the direction facing the Kaba is called the Qibla. Muslims pray into direction of Qibla. For the first time, Abraham (PBUH) built it with his son Ismail).

He was an orphan, having lost his father even before his birth, His father, Abdullah, died almost six months before Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was born. He lived with his mother until he was two years old, but when his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib (from the Bani Hashim clan) found out that Muhammad’s life was in danger, sent him to Halimah (as a foster-mother) and her husband in the deserts. As Muhammad (PBUH) was the last prophet and his signs was written in divine books, so the enemies of God were going to kill him as their ancestors killed the other prophets.

At the age of six, Muhammad (PBUH) lost his biological mother Amina to illness and he became orphaned. For the next two years, he was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, but when Muhammad (PBUH) was eight, his grandfather also died. He then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of Bani Hashim.

While still in his teens, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) accompanied his uncle on trading journeys to Syria gaining experience in commercial trade, the only career open to Muhammad (PBUH) as an orphan. When Muhammad (PBUH) was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccan’s caravan to Syria, he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammad (PBUH)’s career as a prophet of Allah. Bahira warned Muhammad and his uncle, he also knew there were some unbelievers who were going to kill the last prophet.

Due to his upright character and his honesty he acquired the nickname “al-Amin” (Arabic: الامین), meaning “faithful, trustworthy” and “Sadiq” meaning “truthful”^.

At the age of 25, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) got married to his wifeKhadijah,, who was the first woman to believe Muhammad as a prophet, so she was the first Muslim woman.

Khadijah was a 40-year-old widow woman from a noble Christian family. She was a wealthy business woman, when she heard about Muhammad al-Amin (Muhammad who is trustworthy) hired him for her trade. But after she saw some signs in him, the signs which was prophesied in the Bible, she got to know that he should be the last prophet. She liked Muhammad (PBUH) and finally she offered a marriage proposal to him. Since Khadijah was a virtues woman, Muhammad (PBUH) accepted her proposal. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had just one child from lady Khadijah, a daughter, Lady Fatima (PBUH). Lady Fatima (PBUH) was the only child of the prophet, she is one of 14 infallibles. (The prophet Muhammad, Lady Fatima (PBUH) and 12 Imams). She had a main role inImamate.

Several years later, according to a narration collected by historian, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was involved with a well-known story about setting the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaba. The Black Stone, a sacred object, had been removed to facilitate renovations to the Kaba. The leaders of Mecca could not agree on which clan should have the honor of setting the Black Stone back in its place. They agreed to wait for the next man to come through the gate and ask him to choose. That man was the 35-year-old Muhammad (PBUH), five years before his first revelation. He asked for a cloth and put the Black Stone in its center. The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the right spot, and then Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) set the stone in place, satisfying the honor of all.

The religion Islam

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) hadn’t been worshiping idols while the most people of Arabia had been doing that. He was believer of the Abraham religion. He had been doing the practice of praying alone for several weeks every year in a cave on Mount near Mecca. During one of his visits to Mount Hira, the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the year 610 A.D, and commanded Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to recite verses which would later be included in the Quran. Upon receiving his first revelations, he was deeply distressed. After returning home, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was consoled and reassured by Khadijah. He also feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed. So he started to preach secretly.

Around 613, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) began to preach to the public (Surah Al-Shu’ara, verse 214) by the order of God. Most Meccan people ignored him and mocked him, though a few became his followers. There were three main groups of early converts to Islam: younger brothers and sons of great merchants; people who had fallen out of the first rank in their tribe or failed to attain it; and the weak, mostly unprotected foreigners.

The opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism. However, the Quranic exegesis maintains that it began as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) started public preaching. As the number of followers increased, he became a threat to the local tribes and rulers of the city, whose wealth rested upon the Kaba, the focal point of Meccan religious life that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) threatened to overthrow. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s denunciation of the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Kaba. The powerful merchants attempted to convince Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to abandon his preaching by offering him admission into the inner circle of merchants, and establishing his position therein by an advantageous marriage. However, he refused both.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers, the Muslims, were persecuted severely. They were subjected to torture, imprisonment, and expulsion, economic and social boycotts. Many of them were killed because of their beliefs. But they remained patient and steadfast, and they held onto their religion of Islam. Sumayyah bint Khabbab, a slave of a prominent Meccan leader Abu Jahl, is famous as the first martyr of Islam; killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith. Bilal, another Muslim slave (black man) was tortured by Umayyah ibn Khalaf who used to place a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) continued to teach his message to the people in secret and in public.

After 13 years of enduring these conditions, the Muslims immigrated to Medina, a city more than 400 km (260 miles) north of Mecca. This migration of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D is called “The Hijra”. That day was the first day of “Lunar calendar” for Muslims.

The Muslims established the first Islamic nation in Medina, and were able to practice their religion freely for the first time. As the Muslims began to gain more followers and establish their power in Medina, their old enemies in Mecca became very uneasy. They saw that the balance of power was switching in favor of the Muslims as Arab tribes started to accept Islam. They attacked the Muslims and after several battles, the Muslims gained the upper hand. The Muslims then sent a large and well equipped army to Mecca to end the attacks once and for all. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) instructed his army not to harm anyone who did not engage them in fighting. Upon seeing the strength of the Muslim army, the people of Mecca surrendered without fighting. The Muslims entered Mecca once again, this time in a position of power. They entered to the city in peace. It was the promise of God to Muslims.

The Muslim captured many warders, including many of those who had persecuted, tortured and killed Muslims for 13 years before they immigrated to Medina. The warders were gathered in front of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He asked them: “What do you think I will do to you?” Knowing how they had treated Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers, the warders were afraid that their fate would be death as a punishment for their crimes. However, Muhammad (PBUH) said: “You are all free to go!”

After this point, the spread of Islam became even faster. Arab tribes began to come to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) one by one to declare their Islam. Within ten years, despite of several attacks by enemies, Islam had spread throughout Arabia and some other countries and became one of the main powers in the Middle East.

According to the Quran, one of the main roles of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment (Surah Saad, verse 70/ Surah Al-An’am, verse 19). Occasionally the Quran did not explicitly refer to Judgment day but provided examples from the history of extinct communities and warns Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s contemporaries of similar calamities (Surah Fussilat, verse 13–16).

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not only warn those who rejected God’s revelation, but also dispensed good news for those who abandoned evil, listening to the divine words and serving God. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s mission also involves preaching monotheism: The Quran commands Muhammad (PBUH) to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord and instructs him not to worship idols or associate other deities with God (Allah).

The key themes of the early Quranic verses included the responsibility of man towards his creator; the resurrection of the dead, God’s final judgment followed by vivid descriptions of the Hell and pleasures in Paradise; and the signs of Allah in all aspects of life. Religious duties required of the believers at this time were few: belief in God, asking for forgiveness of sins, offering frequent prayers, assisting others particularly those in need, rejecting cheating and the love of wealth (considered to be significant in the commercial life of Mecca), being chased and not to kill newborn girls. Prophet Muhammad is known as the prophet of mercy and kindness.

To know more about Islamic laws refer to “what is Islam?”

To know more about the prophet Muhammad personality and life style, refer to ….

Isra and Mi’raj

In 620 A.D, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) experienced the Isra and Mi’raj, a miraculous journey said to have occurred with the angel Gabriel in one night. At the beginning of the journey, the Isra, he have travelled from Mecca on a winged steed (Buraq) to “Al-Aqsa Mosque” in Jerusalem. Then, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have toured heaven and hell, and spoke with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (PBUT), he also could talk with God (Allah) without seeing him, this journey is called Mi’raj. This event was as a spiritual and a physical journey.

Martyrdom and tomb

In 632, at the end of the tenth year after Hijra (migration to Medina), Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) completed his annual Great Pilgrimage, known as Hajj. That was then, the Prophet (PBUH) delivered his famous speech, determined his succession (Imam Ali (PBUH)) that known as The Farewell Sermon near the pound of Khum (Qadir Khum). In this sermon, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) advised his followers not to follow certain pre-Islamic customs. He declared that an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab. Also a white has no superiority over black, nor does a black have any superiority over white except by piety and good action.

Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his society, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked his male followers to “be good to women, for they are powerless captives in your households. You took them in Allah’s trust, and legitimated your sexual relations with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words …” He told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness.

A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) fell ill due to poisoning (to see more refer to Articles: “The Martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)”) and suffered for several days with fever, head pain, and weakness. He martyred in 632 A.D, in Medina, at the age of 62 or 63. He was buried where he died in his own house. This place is known as Masjid al-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) now. The Green Dome above the tomb was built in the 13th century, although the green color was added in the 16th century.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) accomplished his mission of delivering the message to humanity. He has left us with the holy Qur’an (the word of God) and Ahl Al-Bayt (12 Imams (12 leader) from his progeny). Through his sacrifices and those of his followers, Islam today is the largest and fastest growing religion in the world. One out of every five people in the world is a Muslim. It is for this reason that Michael H. Hart (an astrophysicist born in New York City in 1932), in his book in 1978 “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History”, ranked Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the single most influential person in the history of the world.

After Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s martyrdom some Muslims followed his successor, Imam Ali (PBUH), they are known as Shia Muslim. The others followed the caliphs after the prophet (PBUH), they are known as Sunni Muslim. To know more, refer to “Imamate” , “Saqifah” , “1st Imam- Ali (PBUH) ” , “Shia, Sunni, differences“.

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? What is Islam

What is Islam?

God in His mercy had sent messengers to convey us, to different peoples, in different times. Each prophet came with guidance and miracles that were relevant for his time and for his people, but the message was the same: That there is only one God and worship is for him alone.

This “Islam” is the same as the religions brought by all the prophets of God. Islam is the same as the religion of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all) but with more details. God has in His Grace, addressed this issue to man in His final revelation, the Noble Quran.

“Do they seek other than the religion of Allah (God)? When to him submit all creatures in the heavens and on the earth; and to him, they shall all be returned (83). Say [O, messenger]: “we believe in Allah (God) and in what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the sons of Jacob and what was given to Moses, Jesus and to [other] messengers from their creator and nurturer; we consider no discrimination between one and another among them and to Allah, we are submitted”. (84)
(Surah Al-e-Imran, verse 83, 84)

Man was to follow each prophet when he came, till the advent of another prophet Thus the latter prophet was followed since there was new guidance relevant to that latter time.  Miracles were also for that time and for those people. All this is evident. For example, when Jesus (PBUH) said to the Children of Israel:

“And I have come to attest what was before me of the Torah and to make lawful to you certain things that were forbidden before; I have come to you with a Sign from your creator And Nurturer, so fear from the disobedience of Allah’s commands and obey me.” (Surah Al-e-Imran, verse 50)

Consequently, God has sent the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as His last messenger to mankind. This implies that he must come with a complete and clear guidance, and a clear proof, for all humanity and all times till the Last Day. Otherwise the message is void. Also, the message must be confirming the previous messengers of before. The revelation, guidance, and miracle he received is the Quran.

Now, let’s see more about this last religion, Islam.

Islam (/ˈɪslɑːm/; Arabic: اسلام) is a verbal noun originating from the root “S-L-m” which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, safeness and peace. It is an Abrahamic religion articulated by the Quran. It is revealed to the prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the last prophet of God. The adherent of Islam is called Muslim. Today, Muslims are known in 2 main groups: Shia and Sunni.

In Islam God is called Allah. Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance “Tanri” in Turkish, “Khodā” in Persian or Ḵẖudā in Urdu.

Allah is described in Surah Al-Ikhlas in the Quran as: “Say [O, Messenger!]: “Allah is the one and the only creator (1) Allah is the Absolute independent,[free from all attachment](2) Neither he has a son nor a daughter, nor he is born of any other being (3) And there is no equal, no match and no mate for Allah, the Almighty (4).” (Surah Al-Ikhlaas)

Allah is the term with no plural or gender used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews to reference God. In addition, Muslims and Jews repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), comparing it to polytheism.

In Islam, Muslims are not expected to visualize God. God is described and referred to by certain names or attributes, the most common being “Al-Rahman”, meaning “The Compassionate” and “Al-Rahim”, meaning “The Merciful”.

In Islam, Allah is viewed as a personal god who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls him. There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God who states, “…And [through the embracing knowledge] we are nearer to him [Human] than his jugular vein.” (Surah Qaf, verse 16)

Also, the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by Allah’s sheer command, “…Be, and it comes to existence,”

General Principles of Islam

In Islam there are 5 main principles are called Osul-e-Din (the principles of the religion):

• Tawhid (Shia and Sunni belief)
• Nabuwwah (Shia and Sunni belief)
• Ma’ad (Shia and Sunni belief)
• Adalah (just Shia Belief)
• Imamate (just Shia Belief)

Tawhid (Oneness)

In Islam, Tawhid means to assert the unity of God, it is not just unity of Allah Almighty but also Uniqueness, as defined in Quran Surah 112(Al-Ikhlas), He is not born of anyone nor gave birth to any one, nor is any one like Him. The opposite of Tawhid is “Shirk”, which means “Association” or “Partnership” in Arabic. In Muslims view, polytheism and idolatry is known as “Shirk”.

Tawhid is the most important principle that each Muslim must believe it. Also, Tawhid is mentioned in the other Abrahamic religions. (Uniqueness and unity of God is distorted in Christian religion)

Nabuwwah (Prophet Hood)

“Nabuwwah” means “Prophet Hood”. It comes from the world “Nabi” that is mentioned in Old Testament too, as the meaning of God’s messenger. Nabi denotes that God has appointed Prophets and Messengers to teach mankind the religion. Religion is the perfect system of how to live in “peace” or “submission to God”. Prophets are Messengers which are appointed by God to bring the message of God to people and spread that message while the Imam (leader) is appointed by God to protect that message since ordinary people will fail to do so.

If people were left with the message alone, the true message could not survive long and would have undergone changes. Imams were therefore appointed to take care of the message and prevent people from going astray after the last prophet.

Nabi receives inspiration in three ways. Sometimes, God reveals directly to his heart. Sometimes, God reveals facts on something such as mountain or tree (like Moses who Allah spoke to him by a tree). The third way of revelation is sending messages to the Nabi (prophet) by an angle.

Ma’ad (The Day of Resurrection and judgment)

Yaum al-Qiyamah or “Day of the Resurrection“, also known as “Day of the Account”, “Day of the Gathering”, and the “Great Announcement”.

Ma’ad is a fundamental tenet of faith in Islam. After the annihilation of this world, Allah will raise mankind for Judgment. The trials and tribulations of Resurrection Day are detailed in the Quran.

In Surah al-Zalzalah describes this as, “then he who has done a particle-weight of good shall see it, [and shall receive the reward for it] (7). And he who has done a particle-weight of evil shall see it [and shall receive the recompense for it] (8).” (Surah Al-Zilzal, verse 7, 8)

Also, The Quran lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell, such as disbelief in God, and dishonesty; however, the Quran makes it clear God will forgive the sins of those who repent. Deeds, such as charity, prayer and compassion towards animals, will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as an eternal place of joy and bliss, with Quranic references describing its features and the physical pleasures to come.

They believe the time of “Resurrection Day” is preordained by Allah but unknown to man. Every human, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, is held accountable for his or her deeds and are judged by Allah accordingly.

In fact, Allah revive human to reward benefactors and punish wicked as he has promised in all Abrahamic religions especially in the Quran.

Adalah (justice)

Adalah is described in Shia theology as one of the principles of Islam. It comes from the root “A-D-l” as the meaning of justice. Adalah is a quality of Allah that includes following meanings:

• It means everything Allah does is based on benefit and wisdom
• It means all human are the same before Allah and they are equal, no one is superior than the others unless by virtue
• It means Justice, i.e. Allah never ignores even the smallest positive or negative deeds of mankind
• It means Allah has created every creature in right position, by materials that exactly is needed for that creature and finally, there are an equality and appropriateness through all creatures and phenomena in the whole universe
• It means the creation of the whole universe is based on a purpose and nothing is aimless or vain

 Imamate (Leadership)

As it is mentioned before, Imam should continue the revolution of the prophet and be leader after the prophet. Islam prescribes very high qualification for a divine leader. He should be the most knowledgeable, the wisest, and the most gallant of all people. He should also be immune from every kind of sin, mistake and error. So, Imams are determined by God, before and their names and their signs is revealed to the prophet. This is just described in Shia theology as another principles of Islam.

Other important issues in Islam

Testimony (Shahadah)

The Shahadah (شهاده), which is the basic creed of Islam that must be recited with the specific statement:

اَشهدُ انْ لا اِلٰهَ الا الله و اَشهدُ انَّ محمّداً رسولُ الله

“‘ash’hadu ‘an-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa ‘ash’hadu ‘anna muhammadan rasūlu-llāh“, “I testify that there are no deities other than Allah alone and I testify that Muhammad is his Messenger.”

This testament is a foundation for all other beliefs and practices in Islam. Muslims must repeat the shahadah in prayer, and non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.

Prayer (Salah/صلاه)

Daily prayers, called Ṣalah or Ṣalat in Arabic, Namaz (نماز) in Persian, must be performed five times a day. Salat is intended to focus the mind on God, and is seen as a personal communication with him that expresses gratitude and worship. Salat is compulsory but flexibility in the specifics is allowed depending on circumstances. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language, and consist of verses from the Quran. The prayers are done with the chest in direction of the Qibla (Kaba, Mecca) though in the early days of Islam.

A Mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name, “Masjid”. The word “Mosque” in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated to Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, “collective mosque” (Masjid jāmi). Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also important to the Muslim community as a place to meet and study. Al-Masjid al-Nabawi the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina was also a place of refuge for the poor. Modern mosques have evolved greatly from the early designs of the 7th century, and contain a variety of architectural elements such as Minarets.

Fasting

Fasting, (Arabic: صوم‎ ṣawm), Rouzeh/روزه in Persian, avoiding from food and drink (among other things) must be performed from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan (Lunar month). The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to Allah, and during it Muslims should express their gratitude for and dependence on him, atone for their past sins, and think of the needy. Sawm is not obligatory for several groups for whom it would constitute an undue burden. For others, flexibility is allowed depending on circumstances, but missed fasts usually must be made up quickly.

Alms-giving

“Zakat” (Arabic: زکاة‎ ) is giving a fixed portion of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy and for those employed to collect Zakat; also, for bringing hearts together, freeing captives, for those in debt (or bonded labor) and for the (stranded) traveler. It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe to the needy because their wealth is seen as a “trust from God’s bounty”. The Quran and the Hadith(the quotes of Prophets and Imams) also urge a Muslim to give even more as an act of voluntary alms-giving called Sadaqah (صدقه).

Hajj Pilgrimage

The pilgrimage, called the Hajj (Arabic: حج‎) has to be done during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime. Rituals of the Hajj include: spending a day and a night in the tents in the desert plain of Mena, then a day in the desert plain of Arafat praying and worshiping Allah, following the footsteps of Prophet Abraham (PBUH). Then spending a night out in the open, sleeping on the desert sand in the desert plain of Muzdalifah, then moving to Jamarat, symbolically stoning the Devil ( the symbol of Devil is Obelisk) recounting Prophet Abraham’s actions. Then going to Mecca and walking seven times around Kaba which was built as a place of worship by Prophet Abraham (PBUH), Then walking seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah recounting the steps of Prophet Abraham’s wife, while she was looking for water for her son Ismael in the desert, before Mecca developed into a settlement. The purpose of all is first to be far from all material relations and just think about God, and second to remind Abraham’s sufferings about establishing the religion of God and be thankful that we are not from idolatries.

Jihad

Jihad means “to strive or struggle in the way of Allah”. Depending on the object being a visible enemy, the devil, and aspects of one’s own self (such as sinful desires), different categories of jihad are defined. Jihad, when used without any qualifier, is understood in its military aspect. Jihad also refers to one’s striving to attain religious and moral perfection. Some Muslim, especially Shia, distinguish between the “greater jihad”, which pertains to spiritual self-perfection, and the “lesser jihad”, defined as warfare.

Jihad is the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law and declared against illegal works, terrorists, criminal groups, rebels, apostates, and leaders or states that oppress innocent people.

Etiquette and diet

Many practices fall in the category of Adaab (behavior) and Islamic dietary laws, or Islamic etiquette. This includes greeting others with “Salam” or “as-salamu `alaykum” (“peace be on to you”), saying Bismillah (“in the name of Allah”) before meals, and preferring to use the right hand for eating and drinking. Islamic hygienic practices mainly fall into the category of personal cleanliness and health. Circumcision of male offspring is also practiced in Islam. Islamic burial rituals include “funeral prayer” over the bathed and enshrouded dead body, and burying it in a grave.

In Islam, guests are known as the friends of Allah and Muslims are wanted to respect their guests and welcoming them as best as possible. Islam wants human to be like brothers and sisters so that help each other, be well-behaved, respect to each other especially to the elders, women and children.

There are some restrictions for Muslims foods include not having pork products, blood, carrion, and alcohol. All meat must come from an herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of Allah. Permissible Food for Muslims is known as “Halal” food.

Family life

The basic unit of Islamic society is the family, and Islam defines the obligations and legal rights of family members. The father is seen as financially responsible for his family, and is obliged to cater for their well-being. The division of inheritance is specified in the Quran, which states that most of it is to pass to the immediate family, while a portion is set aside for the payment of debts and the making of bequests. Marriage in Islam is a civil contract which consists of an offer and acceptance between two qualified parties in the presence of two witnesses. The groom is required to pay a bridal gift (Mahr) to the bride, as stipulated in the contract.

In Islam, Mother has the main role of children breeding and training, that is why Allah gave a mother mercy and patience (two of his qualities). A Muslim woman should be able to bring honest and nice children up who have advantages for their society, those children can make a family in the future and as a result, we will have an excellent society.

Women in Islam

Status of woman in Islam is incomparable to the other religions or ideologies: In Arabia or some other countries, before Islam, men had been buried alive girls. Women had no rights whatsoever and were treated no better than a commodity. Not only were they enslaved, but they couldn’t also be inherited as a possession. They were subordinate to their fathers, brothers, and husbands.

In Hindu scriptures, the description of a good wife is as follows: “a woman, whose mind, speech and body are kept in subjection, acquires high renown in this world, and, in the next, the same abode with her husband”. It was believed that a woman should cremate when her husband was dead as she was alive.

In Egypt, people were putting a bowl of honey just near the corps of dead men body, not women dead body because they believed just the soul of men would return. Women were not allowed to touch holy books or texts but they were used for scarifying.

In Athens, women were not better off than either the Hindu or the Roman women. Athenian women were always minors, subject to some male – to their father, to their brother, or to some of their male kin. In Roman law a woman was even in historic times completely dependent. If married she and her property passed into the power of her husband. The wife was the purchased property of her husband, and like a slave acquired only for his benefit. A woman could not exercise any civil or public office or could not be a witness, surety, tutor, or curator; she could not adopt or be adopted, or make will or contract.

The woman in Judaism was in the rank of a servant. The father had the right to sell his underage daughter. She had no right to inherit if her father had no male offspring. It is stated in the Old Testament (the distorted Torah) that the woman should not inherit as long as there are males in the family; rather, she is part of the inheritance if her husband dies, and the nearest male relative to the husband would inherit her.

Woman was believed to be the source of evil and sin. They considered her impure especially on the days she was menstruating and whoever touched her during this time became impure for seven days. They blamed her for the expulsion of Adam from paradise, but in Quran, Allah says, Satan fooled both Adam and Eve together and never knows Eve as the reason of expulsion of Adam.

There was widespread Christian belief that the woman had no soul. In 586 A.D, the Council of Macon was held to decide whether the woman was a body that had a base soul or that she did not have a “saved” soul. They made an exception to Mary (PBUH), may God exalt her mention, because she is the mother of Prophet Jesus (PBUH).

Paul declared that the woman is the source of sin, the basis of every evil and the fountainhead of every abominable act. St. Bonaventure said to his disciples, “When you see a woman, you should not think that you saw a human being or even a beastly being. Rather, you saw the devil in person.”

Jews and Christians believe Eva fooled Adam and she was the reason of quieting from heaven, but in Quran it is mentioned that Devil (Satan) fooled both of them and Eva never was the cause of fall from heaven.

In the pre-Islamic period, the Arabs regarded the woman as a piece of property or as rubbish. When the husband died, his guardian would cover the wife of the deceased with his garment and she could not remarry. They used to prevent her from remarrying until the young matrimonial guardian would grow up and then decide whether he wished to marry her or give her in marriage to anyone else and take the dowry as long as she was not his mother. If she was his mother, he would not marry her. The woman had no rights and she did not inherit anything. She was considered a source of humiliation and shame.

Islam prohibited all this and allocated for her a specific share in inheritance. Allah the Almighty Says: “there is a share for men and a share for women from what is left by parents and their relatives as heritage whether the property be small or large, it is a decreed share” (Surah Al-Nissaa, verse 7)

Moreover, the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era did not only deprive the woman of inheritance but also deprived her of life itself. When some of them begot a female child, they would dig a hole and throw her into it and heap dust over her. What is worse and more disgusting is that once, a father was away travelling when his wife gave birth. When he came back, he took his grown up daughter from her mother, dug a hole while she removed the dust from his clothes, and then, took her by surprise, pushed her into the hole, afterward, heaped dust over her while she was screaming for pity. But his heart did not soften for her. This situation is described in the Quran when Allah the Almighty says: “and when the female infant, buried alive, shall be questioned (7). For what sin was she put to death? (8)”   (Surah Al-Takwir, verse 8, 9)

Some mothers used to fear this painful destiny. So, the mother would dig a hole by herself during her pregnancy. If she delivered a girl, she would throw her into the hole in order to save her from the tragedy that would take place when the father would have returned from traveling. Some mothers would strangle their baby daughters after delivering them.

Some fathers’ faces used to turn dark when they received the news that their wives had given birth to a girl because of their intense hatred for girls, and they would be hesitant whether to bury her alive or bear the humiliation and let her live. Allah the Almighty Says: “and when the news of the birth of a female child is broken to one of them, his face darkens and he hides his inward grief and anger (58). He hides himself from his folk shamefully [regarding the news] and he wonders whether he should keep her with contempt, or bury her beneath the dust? Verily, evil is their judgment [regarding such discrimination] (59)   (Surah Al-Nahl, verse 58, 59)

Their hatred for girls was based on two reasons: First, girls do not take part in wars. Second, they feared that the girl may later become a source of shame. Despite their fear of shame, strangely enough, we find that many Arab tribes were quite lenient in the face of prostitution and that they used to force their slave girls into prostitution until Allah the Almighty revealed the verse forbidding this act: “do not force your maids to prostitution when they are chaste just in order to benefit from the perishable goods of this worldly life; and if the slave-girls do such filthy act under compulsion, Allah is the merciful forgiving (33). (Surah Al-Nur, verse 33)

Women in the pre-Islamic era used to expose their adornments and entice men. Noble verses of the Quran were revealed to prohibit Muslim women from imitating the disbelieving women just as Muslim men were prohibited before them from imitating the disbelieving men. Allah the Almighty Says: “And stay very often in your houses; do not exhibit your beauty and ornaments as the manner of the women of the time of ignorance; establish prayer, and pay alms and obey Allah and his messenger. Verily, Allah’s will is to remove away impurity from you, the people of the messenger’s household and to purify you thoroughly (33).” (Al-Ahzab, verse 33)

The Quran dedicates numerous verses to Muslim women, their role, duties and rights. In Quran, woman is named as the relaxation for man, as Allah says: “and of Allah’s signs of power is that he created mates for you from your own kind, [i.e., human being] to seek peace and happiness from one another and he caused love and kindness between you; and in all these there are signs of Allah’s power and divine wisdom for men of thought” (Surah Al-Rum, verse 21).

Allah wants men to care about women, love them, speak them softly, not to strict or hurt them because woman is divine trust. If a man slap or hurt a woman, he should pay atonement to her.

Right to vote, have been given to the women In the United State, by 1920, but the right of voting was given to the women in Islam more around 550 A.D. Islam knows the woman as the base of family and because of that the great responsibility of upbringing is taken on woman shoulders, i.e. motherhood.

Allah gave to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), a daughter as the only child, Lady Fatima (PBUH), when woman was known as nothing among Arabian people. Islam encourages women to educate and take part in social activities. In addition Allah put 12 Imams in his daughter generation and it also proves the importance of woman in Islam.

In Islam, a Muslim woman can only have sex after her “Nikah” (lawful marriage contract), with one Muslim man; sex is permitted to her only with her husband. There are a lot of rules about sex in Islam; also importance of woman’s satisfaction is mentioned. Islam admonishes Muslim women to dress modestly in garments that do not reveal the extremities to any man other than their husband, father, certain male family members, small children and male slaves free of sexual needs. The Quran specify limitations of covering by clothes, however, do not specify particulars, style or design of the clothing and other dress forms; clothing has varied widely across Islamic regions. Styles have changed over the centuries.

In Islam, there is no difference between men and women’s relationship to God; they receive identical rewards and punishments for their conduct. Many classical Islamic scholars, supported female leadership. In early Islamic history, some women took part in political activities.

Women have played an integral part in the development and spiritual life of Islam since the inception of Islamic civilization in the seventh century A.D. Lady Khadijah (PBUH), a businesswoman who became the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, was also the first Muslim woman. There have been a large number of female saints throughout the Islamic world.

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Hijab, far from the body image dissatisfaction to

Hijab, far from the body image dissatisfaction

Hijab and Islamic societies: far from the body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders of Westernised society

Body image is defined as “one’s satisfaction with his or her body.” ¹⁵

In Westernised society, body image dissatisfaction, eating disorders and other psychological disorders as a result of being unhappy with oneself are rampant. Media and society promote a certain kind of image of the “ideal woman”. This article will examine the incidence of these disorders, the reasons for this body image dissatisfaction and the way in which hijab and living in an Islamic society provide some protection from this panacea. One major consideration is of course the absence of values education in the West that are tied to a religious/cultural tradition. “Values” in the West seem to be largely taught through glossy magazines and mainstream media these days

First of all, here is a general overview of Islamic teachings regarding “diseases of the heart” (emotional /mental ailments), and also the Islamic attitude towards food. This entails discussing how wellbeing and contentment are defined in Islam

Imam Ali (PBUH) says in Nahjul Balagha: “More terrible than physical malady is the sickness of heart…better than wealth is physical health. More preferable than physical health is the piety of the heart.” ⁵

Although this is the Islamic point of view, it is of course also the universal, common sense approach to “wellness”; without psychological (mental, emotional) health, one is unable to partake fully in life, let alone be a productive working member of society, or parent. This is because psychological disorders affect the physical body and result in physical maladies, eating disorders being an obvious example

 When a particular part of the body is sick the whole body is under terrible pain and life becomes difficult. Similarly when one is afflicted with a spiritual malady one feels remorse in this worldly life also. He continues to be afflicted even after his death…sometimes he is even inclined to commit suicide. The best prevention is to keep the heart pure from defects. ⁵

When a believer of one of the monotheistic religions becomes afflicted with an emotional/psychological disorder, he must worry also about the impact of this “disease of the heart” upon his hereafter, as our sins, flaws, afflictions must be accounted for in the hereafter

With feeble body there is very little chance of his soaring very high spiritually. ⁷

A feeble body is not just one that is weak, because it is being ill-fed; it is also one that has become weakened due to the impact of emotional/psychological stresses. A person who suffers from any psychological ailment, or even just a person who is afflicted by a ‘broken heart”, is unable to achieve their full potential, as their heart has become tainted by the affliction

It is narrated that the Prophet (PBUH)said: “If the heart is pure, the entire body will also be pure. If the heart has wickedness, the nature of the person too will be depraved.” ⁴

This is acknowledgment that emotional health is key to our overall well-being. Islam suggests, “Reason dictates and religion commands us to make every effort to cure the disease of our heart. We must care more for the well-being of our heart.” ⁵

Specifically, regarding (healthy) eating, Islam prescribes the following

Imam Sadiq (PBUH) has been reported as saying: “If people are moderate in having food, they will have healthy bodies.” ³

Here are some statistics on body image dissatisfaction, and on eating disorders – it remains to be said that there is a relative wealth of information on the topic, with particular focus on these disorders in Western society, yet no concrete solutions have been put forward by researchers

• Up to one third of young Australian women experience episodes of binge or overeating ⁹
• 17 % of women reported episodes of overeating, 16 % reported binge eating and 10 % reported compensatory behaviours such as vomiting, use of laxatives or diuretics and fasting in an Australian study. ⁹
• In a survey of 803 American adult females, 50 % reported dissatisfaction with their physical appearance, specifically with their weight. ¹²
• Almost 80 % of the fourth grade girls in the US are watching their weight. ¹¹
• In a study of 106 Australian school and university students, 94 % desire to weigh less than their actual weight. ¹³

However, strikingly, in another study, for only 2 % of an African-American sample, does beauty mean having an attractive face and body! ²⁰   There is a different way of conceiving of beauty other than the “Western” idea that it is all in the looks.

Initially, though, let us conceive of this narrowly fixated Western model of beauty. For example, of one of the most popular toys for young girls, the Barbie doll, it is said that “the waist and stretched limbs caused the teenage girls in the West and other countries to avoid eating during their growth age.” ⁸ It is widely accepted that Western media, magazines exclusively promote the ideal woman as slim, even verging on thin. Sadly, it has also been reported in studies that “the emphasis placed on thinness in the West, besides resulting in negative self-evaluations, is considered to be an important factor in the aetiology of eating disorders.” ¹⁴  There is however another factor at play here; it is not just about images paraded in the media – sadly, it goes much deeper than that, it goes to the fundamental values of a society.

(Western) society clearly defines women’s status in terms of their bodies and appearance. ¹⁷

Despite supporting equal rights and women’s liberation, society has prescribed specific standards of body attractiveness and a very narrow range of beauty shapes for females.¹⁸

Interestingly, some societies do not promote the same values, and in these societies, body dissatisfaction and thus eating disorders are not at all prevalent.

The cultures that had a high incidence of eating disorders also had the thin ideal. On the other hand, no culture that did not have the thin ideal was found to have eating disorders. ¹⁷

Islamic culture of course promotes different values for a woman: a woman’s physical beauty is only secondary, especially as it is covered by her hijab. In a study of eating disorders amongst Caucasian-Australian and Pakistani first year university students, aged from 17-22, “although all the groups identified a similar body shape as the “ideal”, the Australian and Pakistani-Australian females expressed significantly higher levels of body dissatisfaction than did the Pakistani females. The Australian females expressed greater dieting and bulimic tendencies.”¹⁰

In conclusion, there are several reasons why an Islamic society and women covering up (wearing hijab) makes women much less susceptible to body dissatisfaction disorders.

1. An Islamic society is one in which the beauty of a woman is defined more in terms of her character attributes, her piety;
2. In an Islamic society a woman is not so much bombarded with images of the “Western, thin, half-dressed and heavily made up perfect (?) woman” in media, in her day-to-day life.
3. Even in a “Westernised” society, a woman observing hijab as a Muslim woman will have a different way of conceptualizing her self-worth (considering the purification of her character, her inner beauty more important). The act of covering up itself reminds the woman that her beauty is much more than what is visible on the outside.

Modesty is a human quality that can be proposed for mankind, regardless of any cultural or religious tendency. ²

Perhaps it is time for Western societies to embrace the values of other cultures in which outer appearance is only secondary to a good character. This can only be achieved through a complete overhaul of the portrayal of women in all media. An Islamic society offers an easy path towards this goal. Naturally, the adoption of Islamic values would provide a shift towards a society that is shaped by religious faith, and Islam is able to permeate the entire fabric of society, so to make it one that is based on the divine qualities in the human being.

The reason why the man of today has become so miserable and restless is that he has distanced himself from his Lord. He looks at everything but not at God. He trusts everyone and everything except God. ⁶

Bibliography

• Lantern of the Path (Imam Jafar Sadiq (a); Hadith by the Sixth Imam)
• Mahdi Mahrizi, Woman
• Sayyid Hussain Sheikh al-Islami Tooyserkani, Taqwa (Piety) Advice of Ahl al-Bayt
• Allamah Muhammad Baqir Majlisi,Ain-Al Hayat, The Essence of Life
• Ayatullah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dastghaib Shirazi, Qalbe-Saleem, Immaculate Conscience
• Allamah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dastghaib Shirazi, Moral Values of Qur’an, a Commentary on Surah Hujurat
• Sayyid Muhammad Husayni Beheshti, Muhammad Jawad Bahonar, Philosophy of Islam
• islampfr.com, The Effects of Barbie Dolls on Children, Pt 1
• UQ News 28 June 2016
• Nargis Mahmud, Nadia Crittenden,A cross-cultural examination of body image among young females: exploring the role of value orientations (2000)
• Kilbourne, J., Still killing us softly: Advertising and the ) obsession with thinness (1994
• Cash, T F, and Henry, P E, Women’s Body images: The results of a national survey in the US (1995)
• Abraham et al, Eating behaviors among young women (1983)
• Nasser, M, Eating disorders: the cultural dimension (1988)
• Berscheid, Walster, and Bohrnstedt, The happy American body: A survey report (1973)
• McCarthy, Thin ideal, depression and eating disorders in women (1990)
• Fisher, Body consciousness (1973)
• Crook, M, The body image trap (1991)
• Levine et al, The relation of sociocultural factors to eating attitudes and behaviours among middle school girls (1994)
• Parker, Nichter, Vuckovic, Sims, and Ritenbaugh, Body image and weight concerns among African American and White adolescent females: Differences that make a difference (1995)
• Islampfr.com

PROPHET OF ISLAM IN THE WORD OF THE WISE

Prophet of Islam in the word of the wise

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1

The most influential figure in history

Michael Hart, born in April 28, 1932, is a physicist, a mathematician at Cornell University, holds a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Pearson, juris consult, an expert in computer science and a faithful American

.He published a book by the title of “100” in 1978. This book ranks 100 people who were the most influential persons in history

.More than 500,000 copies of this book have been sold all over the world since then and it has been translated into 15 languages

.The first rank belongs to prophet “Muhammad” (PBUH) in this book

He has written a detailed explanation about the reason why he has dedicated the first rank to “Muhammad” in the second print of his book that an abstract of it can be read below

: He says

“This choice may surprise some people but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive

Since there are roughly twice [the latest estimate is that there are more than one thousand million Muslims in the world] as many Christians as Muslims in the world, but “St. Paul” was the main developer of Christian theology and its principal proselytizer. “Muhammad”, however, was responsible for both the theology of Islam and its main ethical and moral principles. It is probable that the relative influence of “Muhammad” on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of “Jesus Christ” and “St. Paul” on Christianity. He may well rank as the most influential political leader of all time

From the 100, a Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History

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2

Goethe, the famous German poet has composed a poem by the title of “the song of Muhammad” after knowing Islam and its messenger. This poem is composed from the perspective of the prophet’s closest relatives; Imam Ali (PBUH) (his cousin, son-in-low and successor) and Lady Fatima (PBUH) (his daughter and his only offspring). Goethe has described all steps of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) call and guidance among the people using metaphors and symbols in his poem

Johann Wolfang von Goethe: Mahomets-Gesang

Ein “Mevlid” von Goethe, aus west östlicher divan

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3

: (The famous Irish writer, George Bernard Shaw, says about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH

“He must be called the savior of humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving the problems in a way that would bring the much needed peace and happiness. He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come. HIS NAME IS “MUHAMMAD”. He was born in Arabia in the year 570 CE, Muhammad started his mission of preaching Islam, the religion of truth and the submission of man to One God, at the age of forty and died at the age of sixty-three. During this short period of 23 years of his prophethood, he changed the complete Arabian Peninsula from paganism and idolatry to worship of one God, from tribal quarrels and wars to national Solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined living, from utter bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation of a people or a place before or since. And imagine all these unbelievable wonders in just over two decades

The Genuine Islam’ Vol. 1, No. 8

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4

: Leo Tolstoy

“There is no doubt that Prophet Muhammad is one of the greatest reformers who served the social framework profoundly”

The Rule of Prophet Muhammad

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5

: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

.“Muhammad, had very sound views; he thoroughly unified his political system”

The Social Contract (1762), p. 131

islampfr.com

FASHION VICTIM

Fashion Victim

The extension of modernity in West and its gradual or sometimes hasty spread all over the world caused the culture of modernization and innovations institutionalize in social values. This influences on all aspects of human life little by little, from type of clothing to common people’s literature. This characteristic of modernism was followed by a new territory which is interpreted as fashion victim

Western societies have been the motherland and the manifestation of modernity and modernism. The process of modernization and spreading new plans and fashions are being done by West orientating and westernization in other places such as third world countries especially those countries which are religious. So nowadays we should say fashion victim is one of the most primary ways to implant western life style in human through the media industry and propaganda

The important point is this that the scale of the promotion and normalization of fashion has been spread in such a way which fashion victim has become not only an inseparable part of modern human’s life, but also has produced a huge income for those who involved in this industry. This industry has become so powerful whose fashion designers not only are effective on their followers’ manner by propaganda and make them to follow their products, but also they have earned billions of dollars and even have influenced on global macro policy

Now we show an example to illustrate how people’s manner is changed and adapted by the patterns which actives produce in this industry, and consider the depth of the influence of media on promotion of fashion and fashion victim

Studies shows that 1960s is considered as a period which the standards of fashion victims evolved fundamentally. In this period Barbie doll was introduced as the symbol of fashion victim and a pattern for young girls in the world. Unfortunately this doll which has become a popular toy all over the world is made based on the characteristic, the body, and the face of a German slut

Regarding to the standards of this doll and the long term effect on the children who played with this seemingly toy, Hollywood gradually started to use those famous super stars that were look like to the doll in order to promote new luxury life style. This process continued so far which the beauty was defined according to what Hollywood had introduced. Hollywood was deciding who is beautiful or ugly through the standard life style which introduced to the world, while this beauty was different from what other people have accepted in their cultures

Afterward, youths saw the super stars’ body then compared themselves with them. So they started an intensive competition with themselves and others in order to be more similar to the super stars. They tried to get nearer to Hollywood standards beauty by surgical operation

This process which has started at 1970s, now is prevailing and globalizing more than before through the spread of the usage of mass media such as satellite channels and internet. Nowadays the standard beauty in the world changed to an identical thing which is the similarity to Hollywood super stars and one who is far from this standard, concentrates his or her endeavor on achieving those standards by various and expensive efforts. All these efforts impose high expenses on families. Meanwhile, these efforts make drug, cosmetics, and western clothes market brisk and huge money that is earned by them

The important thing is that the Hollywood standards are introduced and spread in the world as a standard beauty very fast, while the real appearance of those who has become a criterion of beauty are absolutely far from what they are shown in the movies and favorite TV Series, in fact they do not exist in real world

Many abnormalities in clothing, behaviors, way of living, and people communication become a huge disaster in present societies. If nobody prevents these disasters, it will lead to a cultural and social transformation in few years later. This transformation makes people a group of infantry who perform western policy in their country. In this way a good condition will be prepared to destroy and decline the society from inside and outside

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WORLD WAR Z”, A BRIEF REVIEW – PART 2“

World War Z”, A brief review – part 2“

part 1

In this movie, Israeli soldiers are the peacekeeping troops who may be in danger by zombies at any moment. They are the protectors of the Jew’s Jerusalem and the refugee Muslims. Interestingly, they are the brave soldiers who fight with zombies to death

Then, the peaceful people in that square, some holding Israel’s flag and some holding Palestine’s flag, start singing a hymn in Hebrew calmly and peacefully and  they enjoy their happiness in an intimate environment. Jews are practicing their own rituals and Muslims are praying together. A casually dressed Jewish girl, face to face with a veiled Muslim girl, are singing a Hebrew peace hymn

Arab Muslims welcome peace and take refuge in Israel and under the shelter of this land’s tranquility they are filled with joy

At the moment, a helicopter passes over the crowd with the camera that shows the view of the other side of the tall security walls where the zombies are moving towards the walls but hindered by the big West Bank barrier

Zombies are sensitive to the noise and it stimulates and attracts them to the center of the noise. The loud noise of the peace party stimulates them and leads to their insane attack to the walls. Scattered zombies climb up each other’s head and body and make a hill of zombies so far that its height reaches the height of the walls quickly and pour into Jerusalem. Jerusalem falls, too. The huge number of zombies and their blitz and fast attack leaves no place for resistance

In the meantime, only a slim boy and a frail old man are not attacked. It appears as if zombies don’t see them. Gerry sees these scenes while he is on the run

The hand of the Israeli female soldier who is responsible for protecting Gerry and is escorting him to the airport, gets bitten by one the zombies and Gerry cuts off her hand immediately to prevent her from becoming a zombie

This woman accompanies Gerry till the end of the story. They can reach the plane just before it takes off. Gerry looks out the window and sees Jerusalem and Dome of the Rock surrounded by bloodshed and smoke and is attacked by zombies and the last defense fort is also collapsed by the zombies

Now, Gerry is sitting on the last plane, along with homeless and wandering Jewish refugees that could take off before zombies attacked the airport while they along the pilot have no clear destination. This scene is repeatedly depicted on condition of Jewish refugees in other movies in different ways

After treating the wound of Jewish female soldier, Gerry goes over the scenes of zombies’ attack and a few people who haven’t been targeted by zombies in his mind and figures the zombies weak points

According to the guidance of a UN agent he goes to Wales, to the world health organization and its equipped laboratories, where the doctors of one ward themselves have become zombies

The researchers are studying zombies. They know that bullets don’t stop them but there is also no other way but to shoot them in the head. There, Gerry examines his hypothesis. He has already realized that those who haven’t been targeted by zombies, are the patients suffering from Typhus, Meningitis and so on. Therefore, he injects the microbes of these diseases into himself and realizes that his method works and he passes the zombies without being seen

In this way, zombies realize that those who are infected by these diseases are dying and therefore they do nothing to them

Soon, the vaccines that are made using this method are distributed all over the globe as a camouflage and a shield against zombies, and a few remaining people in the world, are vaccinated and start confronting and killing the zombies

Then a huge pile of dead zombies are shown that bulldozers are gathering and setting them on the fire

! At this point someone anonymous says: It’s settled! It’s over with! There’s no forgiveness in hell! Whatever goes to hell, stays in hell

Then, Gerry is the narrator who says: If you can fight, fight! Help each other, be prepared for anything

And the last sentence which is the most amazing one is uttered at the end of the story: Our war has just begun

Although the character of “zombies” is a repeated theme that has been used in several movies such as: “Resident Evil”, “I am Legend”; and PC games such as “Call of Duty”, the “World War Z” for the first time, transforms the wild zombies who have no identity that are created in the research center and occupied the U.S. in the “Resident Evil”, to the zombies who have identity and occupy the world by their astonishing fast growth

The last remaining city is Jerusalem and the last defense forts are the security walls made by Israelis. The movie reveals its intent very soon, zombies are the Muslims who are progressing and conquering the strongholds of the world quickly while the last fort they still couldn’t capture is Israel that due to the Jewish ethnic sentiment, the Jews are the only grandchildren of the Isaiah and zombies cannot conquer them

What does the movie intend to convey by depicting this quick spread? During the recent years, uncontrollable wave of conversion to Islam among the citizens of the U.S. and Europeans has terrified Zionists and colonial countries. Maybe the quick spread in the movie refers to this contagious wave of people converting to Islam

The Israeli army shelter particular Muslims who come to them in the movie and they sing the  peace hymn together with Muslims and wave the flags of Israel and Palestine while dancing, so that these refugee Muslims don’t turn into violent zombies. In the entire movie, however, it is impossible to ignore the anti-Zionist identity of zombies and the constructions such as the security walls and it is impossible to consider any identity for zombies other than being Muslims

The movie mustn’t be even watched from any viewpoint other than that of a Zionist or it will be nothing but an imaginary movie that a part of it is recorded in Jerusalem

But, from a Zionist point of view, what is the virus that has captured the world quickly and no one has the resisting power against it while it is going  to take Jerusalem out of their hand soon

Beside the event of sending Jews to Nazis concentration camps, 1972 Munich Massacre and the 1973 Arab–Israeli War (also known as Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War) , what would be the next threat to Israel which made them build the security walls around Jerusalem

? Who are these people that bullets have no power to stop them? Who wants to conquer Jerusalem in the real world

What is the role of the security walls in Israel and why they are so similar to forts in the movie? Why have people been building walls in this land since 2000 years ago

? Why is the plane carrying the Jewish people, as the last means of rescue, again wandering aimlessly and has no clear destination

? What is the war that has just begun according to the last sentence in the movie

These questions can help us in solving the puzzle behind the movie. It would be useful to refer to the Quran and study some similarities

 : The Verse 14 of Sura Al-Hashr [59:14] says

They will not fight against you all together except in fortified cities, or from behind walls

: Also the Verse 7 of Sura Al-Isra reads

 “So when the second of the warnings came to pass, (We permitted your enemies) to disfigure your faces, and to enter your Temple as they had entered it before, and to visit with destruction all that fell into their power.”  (17:7)

From now on, they are looking for a way to hide from the eyes of zombies, and the next time, after their failure, by recognizing the weakness of zombies, destroy them once and for ever

Passing the security walls reminds a critic of the vehicles crossing the walls of the Zion city in the “Matrix Trilogy”. Anyway, in the category of imaginary “Apocalyptic” movies, the aggression against Israel and Zionists is being depicted during the recent years. Unlike, “Matrix” and other movies which finally show the Zion (the Mount Zion) as the last remaining city of mankind, the “World War Z” frankly and openly depicts Jerusalem as the last city of mankind which is under attack

islampfr.com

WORLD WAR Z”, A BRIEF REVIEW – PART 1“

World War Z, A brief review – part 1

Part 1

In Philadelphia, everything was as usual until suddenly the audience get surprised by the incursion of wild humans who are running quickly and attacking. It becomes clear that these men were infected by a certain type of virus and as a results have acquired inhuman characteristics. The name “zombie”, is a well-known name which has been used previously in several movies and games

Zombies attacked the people of Philadelphia and by biting them they make another zombie within 12 seconds. The duration of transformation of the humans into the zombies is so fast that there is no time for any reaction or running away

The leading man of the movie, Gerry Lane, is a former investigator of the United Nations who has spent many years of his life in the countries which are involved it war and conflict, but for dealing with his family issues and the problem he faced in his job in the UN, he left the job forever

Soon, the audience will encounter a world that is captured by zombies and Gerry Lane, the investigator of the UN is summoned for the service because of his specialty. The service which is beyond his personal problems with the UN, thus immediately he accepts the cooperation with the UN

His dependence on the United Nations evokes the sense of being neutral and independent in the viewers

He leaves Philadelphia for Newark, New Jersey where he and his family are taken to the aircraft carrier far from the coast by rescue helicopters. There, a deal is offered to him: if he accepts to cooperate with an epidemiologist and his secret team in finding the patient “zero”,  i.e. the first person who has caught the disease, he and his family members can be safe forever on the aircraft carrier. Then he gets on the military helicopter to go to South Korea

He is clearly investigating how the virus was created and how it is spread all over the globe.  South Korea, is the first place where the existence of the zombies has been reported, but there is no significant point in South Korea, except a weapon dealer who had a connection with the CIA and had been selling weapons to the North Korea, and now he is apprehended by the UN soldiers. The dialogue between Gerry Lane and him may be the  summary of the movie when Gerry asks

 Man: They sell the virus to all of their advocates

? Gerry: Why’d you sell guns to the North Koreans

 ? Man: Why not

? Gerry: Are they surviving this

 Man: Indeed they are

 Gerry: Using your guns

 Man: Guns are useful; they have influence

? Gerry: How then

Man pulls off the last remained tooth in his mouth with difficulty from the root and says: They took the anatomical power of zombies, they beat all 23 millions in less than 24 hours

 The greatest feat of social engineering in history. It’s brilliant. No teeth, No bite, No great spread

 Gerry: Bullshit

? Man: Why do you have to burn them to ashes to get them to finally stop

? Why do they move like a plague? Why is the Israel winning

? Gerry: How is Israel winning

 Man: They sealed off their entire country. Days before the zombies attacked men

 First to know, first to act

Gerry: People have been building walls there for two millennia

Man: Yes, that’s over, all those thousands of years of work finished a week ago. Impeccable timing is all

Then he introduces Jurgen Warmbrunn to Gerry to meet him in the Jerusalem and find his answer

Warmbrunn thought the cause of erecting the wall was a rumor at first, but when he investigated the matter, he found out that it was true. He heard about zombies in a communiqué by Indian army for the first time

On the way of visiting the Israeli West Bank barrier in Jerusalem, he tells Gerry that Jews never anticipated  that they might end up in Nazis force labor camps in 1930 or might get massacred in the 1972 Olympic games or even they didn’t believe the Arabs’ war against Israel in 1973, although they  had observed  the Arabic armies movements

But this time, learning from the possible dangers, Warmbrunn, a Mossad employee of high rank, detects this danger, builds the West Bank barrier of Jerusalem as a way out of to save Israel

Then, he takes Gerry to a house, to see the security walls of Jerusalem form its window.  High walls and strong constructions which are as strong as the current west bank barrier in the occupied Palestine

These are the way out and the solid walls of Jerusalem, two of the most secured ramparts of Israel, Warmbrunn says

? Watching the people who have Islamic and Arabic appearances enter the city, Gerry asks: Do you allow people to enter

Every person we save is one less zombie to fight, Warmbrunn says

... be continued

part 2

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The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his Wives

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his Wives

An attempt to explain why the author of this article fell in love with the Prophet Muhammad and Islam

Writing about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) of Islam is a gigantic undertaking.  I must confess that I am neither a scholar, nor have I studied Islam for a great many years, so every single statement I make comes with the limitation of one who has great love, but is still lacking in great subject knowledge, and indeed in correct expression at times.

The main reason I am undertaking this article is because it is through the personality of the Prophet (PBUH) that I found Islam, and in particular through recognising him as an embodiment of all those attributes that we associate with “good”. As I had misconceptions about why he had so many wives, it was striking that it was my revised understanding of the relationship with his wives that made me embrace Islam

If I succeed in communicating to the reader the exemplary, infallible character of the Holy Prophet, and thus the most special person in the history of Islam, this undertaking is worthwhile. I hope to shed some light on the significance of his taking several wives and indeed the love he shared in his marriages

(The general personality of the Holy Prophet (PBUH

With the cynicism and lack of morals rife in our 21st century, it is difficult for some to even imagine a character as unblemished and pure as the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The infallibility which he possessed was of course because of his being chosen as the final Prophet by God. To grasp such a fine character, we should think of all the positive attributes a person may have, and then understand that the Prophet possessed every single one of them, and possibly even ones we did not think of.  Fortunately, there are many traditions that narrate his exemplary character

The uncle of the Prophet’s first wife, Khadijahh, said of the Prophet, “his only defect is that he is the root of nobility and greatness and a branch of esteem and honour and incomparable in high morals, famous for his knowledge and excellence…his defect is that he is the moon of the earth and the sun of the sky. His talk is sweeter than honey and his character exemplary in beauty.” Hayat Al- Qulub

An equally beautiful anecdote is this one: “Once, when they came to the Prophet promising him wealth and power, the prophet told them, using metaphorical language, that if they were to put the sun in the palm of his right hand and the moon in the palm of his left hand he would not turn away from obeying the unique God or refrain from performing his mission.” (Shi’ah

As the Holy Prophet is held in high esteem, “there is nobody who does not know the virtues and grace of Muhammad (PBUH) and does not desire to give his daughter in marriage to him.” (Hayat Al-Qulub

The Holy Prophet’s marriage to his first wife, Khadijahh, is a beautiful love story

When the Prophet is 25 years old, he meets Khadijahh, who at that point in time is 15 years older, 40, and who has been married twice before him. Khadijah is described as a woman of considerable wealth, beauty, and intellect, and also as a lady of noble character. “Since Khadijah is convinced of Muhammad’s gracefulness and greatness, she is ready to marry him.” (Hayat Al-Qulub

It is narrated about her that when she first meets the Prophet, she says, “By Allah, in my eyes, whatever is there in this world is nothing in comparison to you. By Allah, O Muhammad! I consider myself a slave girl for you…how can one who loves you more than her life give anything else than affection to you…” (Hayat Al-Qulub)

Lady Khadijah used her great wealth after her marriage to the Prophet to assist him to promulgate Islam, and she sacrificed all her wealth for this, without ever complaining about the privations of her new life. Fifteen years into their marriage, when the Prophet (PBUH) was aged 40, and she was 55, his Prophethood started. Lady Khadijah bore him 1 children, of whom Fatima Zahra would go on to marry the Prophet’s cousin, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (PBUH). The fruit of this union would be the Prophet’s grandchildren, the Second Imam, Imam Hassan, and his brother, the Third Imam, Imam Hussain, as well as their sister Lady Zeinab.

It is narrated that when Lady Khadijah died, “the bliss for Muhammad, of married life, also departed with her. To the end of his life, he reminisced about her, and remembered her with love, affection and gratitude.” (A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims)

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was 50 when she died at 65 years of age, and in their 25 years of marriage she was the only woman he married. The marriage of the Prophet to Khadijah serves as an example to all married couples on how to conduct themselves.

.The wives of the Holy Prophet had a role to play during the Prophethood

In the history of Islam, the role of women in the promulgation of the faith is significant, as are the traditions of them being witness to significant decisions.

Shias and Sunnis have in continuous narrations, mentioned that the first man (male) to believe in the holy religion of Islam was Ali Ibn Abi Talib (PBUH), and the first female was Lady Khadijah (PBUH). (Hayat Al-Qulub) As was already mentioned, she was a great support to her husband in the early days of spreading the message of Islam.

This is narrated by Ibn Babawayh from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (PBUH) through :authentic chains of narration

The Holy Prophet said to Umm Salma (in presence of Ali Ibn Abi Talib): “O Umm Salma, listen to this and be a witness that Ali Ibn Abi Talib (PBUH) is my Vizier in the world and the hereafter.” (Hayat Al-Qulub) This is a significant message, and the Prophet delivers it with his Umm Salma, his second wife, as a witness.

The Prophet (PBUH) takes eleven wives after the death of Lady Khadijah

Even after his first wife dies, he initially takes only one new wife, often referred to as Umm Salma, a widow with 5 children, and his only wife for four years. He goes on to marry another widow, and also two women who are captives and whom he frees, then marries. One of these eleven wives gifts herself to him. He “often tried to win the loyalty of a clan or tribe by marrying one of its women.” (eg. Umm Habiba bint Abu Sufyan, Safiya bint Akhtab) (A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims)

“When Mohammed Mustafa (may God bless him and his progeny) died in 632, he had nine wives in his harem.”  (A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims) This is a fact which is often misunderstood by the West; having more than one wife is not common practice in the West, indeed is generally illegal to do so. Considering that several of these wives were widows, or had been divorced, there is obviously a different motivation at play here.

“All the wives of the Holy Prophet except Ummu’l – Mu’minin Khadijah are of equal rank.” (Peshawar Nights) There were also two special slave girls whom the Holy Prophet did not marry though. One of these two slave girls was Mariya, the only woman except for Khadijah who bore him children; she gave birth to Ibrahim, however, the child died in his first year of life.

Only one of his wives was a virgin when he married her. As everything has a purpose, there is a purpose to the Prophet taking widows and divorced women for wives, as well as captives to whom he restores their freedom.

?What qualities should one look for in a spouse

Imam Jawad (PBUH) wrote in a letter: “Whoever solicits you in marriage and you are convinced of his religion and his honesty, then do unite with him in wedlock.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

Once a man told Imam Hussain (PBUH) that he had a daughter and asked whom he (PBUH) would advise him to give her to in marriage, and he said: “Give her in marriage to someone who (has Faith and) fears Allah, Almighty and Glorious, because he will love and respect her, and if he becomes angry with her, he will not hurt her.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

These are not the qualities that are the main motivators in many Western marriages, it seems. Yet the importance of faith in shaping a good person is narrated in many traditions;

Imam Musa Kazim (PBUH) narrated from his father Imam Sadiq (PBUH) from the Holy Prophet (PBUH) who said: “However much the Faith of a man increases, his regard for women increases.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

Imam Sadiq (PBUH) said: “Everyone who intensifies love for us (Ahl al-Bayt) intensifies love for his wife, too.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

The special relationship between faith and felicity is illuminated in this narrated tradition from the Holy Prophet (PBUH):

“The example of my household (Lady Fatima Zahra (PBUH) and the twelve Imams) is like that of the Noah’s (PBUH) ship. Who so ever boards it will get rescued (salvation) and the one who opposes the boarding of it, gets drowned.” (Fascinating Discourses)

?What are the standards of behavior expected from spouses

The teachings of the Holy prophet reveal great tenderness and steadfastness towards the wife and even 1,400 years later provide a comprehensive guidance to married couples. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:” Any man who is patient with the wife who is bad tempered, and seeks that patience from Allah, He bestows him the reward given to the thankful ones.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

Imam Baqir (PBUH) said: “He who takes a woman (marries) should certainly respect her, because the wife of anyone of you is a means of your pleasure, so the one who marries a woman should not spoil or disgrace her (by disregarding her respectable rights).” (A Bundle of Flowers)

“An ardent (honourable) one never at all commits adultery.” (Fascinating Discourses)

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:” A man’s word telling his wife: “I love you” never will quit her heart.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

“Islam does not permit the burdening of wives with heavy duties.” (For a Better Future)

Amir al Mu’mineen Imam Ali (PBUH) said: “The worst man is he who restricts his household.” (A Bundle of Flowers)

Unjust control of a man over his wife is not justified: “When Islam gave this guardianship to man, it ordered him to be fair, honest, and wise. If man is not so, then the wrong lies in man himself and not in the verdict of guardianship.” (For a Better Future) The husband has the right to convey guardianship to his wife as well; guardianship is a positive thing as long as the husband has positive qualities. (For a Better Future)

Regarding having several wives, the Prophet (PBUH) said,” He, who has two wives but does not treat them equally concerning sentiment and financial affairs, will come on the Day of Resurrection handcuffed and bent over, and then he will enter into the fire.” (For a Better Future)

 The Holy Prophet had regard for women in his final moments of life

“According to existing traditions, the last words on his lips were advice concerning slaves and women.” (Shi’ah)

Summing up my points, I hope it has become apparent that

• The Holy Prophet was a person endowed only with good attributes
• His marriage to Khadijah is a very special love story
• His subsequent marriages provided security for divorced, widowed women, freedom to captives, the joining of tribes through marriage into other tribes
• The traditions narrated through the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH) can illuminate to us in the 21st century how to achieve marital felicity

Zeinab Saani

Australian writer

Bibliography

Hayat Al Qulub, A detailed Biography of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Abu Ali al Fadl ibn al Hasan Tabarsi, Beacons of Light

A Bundle of Flowers; from the Garden of Traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) and Ahlul Bayt (PBUH)

Abdul Adkeem al-Muhtadi al-Bahrani, For a Better Future

Sayyid Ali Ashgar Kazwy, A Restatement of The History of Islam and Muslims

Sultanal-Waizin Shirazi, Peshawar Nights

Fascinating Discourses of Fourteen Infallibles (PBUH)

Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai, Shi’ah

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The revealing debate of Imam Hassan (PBUH)- P 3

The revealing debate of Imam Hassan (PBUH) with Muawiyah and his Supporters

Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Speaking to Amr ibn Othman

“O Amr ibn Othman! You were unable to realize the wicked deeds of Muawiah due to your stupidity. You are like the mosquito who told the palm tree: Beware, I want to take off! And the palm tree answered: I never even felt your presence, let alone be worried about you taking off! By God I do not feel that it is in your interest to act in enmity towards me, let alone give me any hardship. I shall tell you that which is related to your words.”

 “Are you insulting Ali due to his ancestry? Or do you consider him far from the Holy Prophet? Or has he behaved wrongly towards Islam? Or has he ruled unjustly? Or was he fond of the worldly matters? If you claim any of these you shall be a liar. On your claim that the blood of nineteen men of Bani Umayyah is upon us from the War of Badr: they were killed by God and his messenger…”

 “The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: “When the number of the children of the toad (meaning the Bani Umayyah as shall be seen later below) reaches thirty, they shall pass Gods property among themselves and humiliate His servants and do corruption towards His book, the Holy Quran. When their number reaches 310, damnation shall come to these against the others. When their number reaches 475 persons, they will be wiped out faster than chewing on a piece of date. After this speech Hakam ibn Abolaass came forward wishing to talk on this issue, but the Holy Prophet said: Be quiet as the toad can hear.”

“When the Holy Prophet had a dream about the Bani Umayyad taking the Muslim Nation’s affair into their hands after him and became very disturbed, God the Almighty sent this verse of the Holy Quran: “The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.”  Meaning (experiencing) the Night of Qadr is better than 1000 months (that the Umayyad Caliphes ruled). I bear witness for and against you that after killing Imam Ali (PBUH), your Caliphate shall not last more than 1000 months, as God the Almighty has informed in the Holy Quran.”

Toward Amr ibn al Aass

“You Amr ibn al-‘As! You who hate Imam Ali and are cursed and abortive, you’re nothing but a dog. Your mother was adulterous. You were born in the bed which was common among several men, then a group of men of Quraysh were fighting over you, including Abusufyan ibn Harb, Walid ibn Mughayrah, Othman ibn Haarith, Nasr ibn Haarith bin Kalde and Aas ibn Wael who considered you as their son. Eventually, the man who was the lowest in terms of ancestry and the most vicious in terms of position and the most adulterous one overcame and took you as his son. You’re talking about your hatred of Muhammad (PBUH) with this background?”

 “Aas ibn Wael imputed the Prophet to sterility; as one whose name and way would be forgotten after he dies. So God sent the verse: “For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from Future Hope).” [108:3] Your mother was the woman who went to Aabd Qays clan’s houses, places and valleys for adultery. You are the one who was always an enemy of the Prophet and denied him most.”

 “You were one of the men who went to Najashi on a ship. Those worthless people who went to Ethiopia and were about to get Ja’far ibn Abi Talib and the immigrants killed; but your Plot and scheme failed as you lost credit and your lies were revealed. The infidel’s words trampled and the words of God won.”

“And about what you said about Othman, shame on you, O unbeliever! You are the one who made fight against him and ran to Palestine waiting for result. When you heard about his death, you took refuge with Muawiyah! You are such a mischievous person! You sold your belief and faith for another one’s vale. We don’t blame you for the hatred and lack of compassion towards us, since both in the time of ignorance and the time of Islam you have been the enemy of Bani Hashim. You satirized the Prophet with Seventy verses of your poetry. Then the Prophet said: “My Lord! I don’t long to rime, anathematize him 1000 times for every verse in which he satirized me.”

 “You Amr ibn al-‘As! You chose to deal your faith and religion with the worldly gain of another. You sent gifts for Najashi and went to him for the second time, not learning from the first time! You meant to get Ja’far ibn Abi Talib and his companions killed, and when you could not get what you wanted, you colluded against your friend, Ammarah ibn Walid.”

Toward Walid ibn Aqabah

“And you Walid ibn Aqabah! By God I don’t blame you for your hatred towards Imam Ali, since he whipped you for dipsomania, and also killed your father in the battle of Badr. How do you dare to revile him while God named him as true believer and named you as debauchee in 10 verses in Quran? Like the verse in Sajdah surah which says: “Is then the man who believes no better than the man who is rebellious and wicked? Not equal are they.” [32:18] or like the verse in Hujurat surah which says: “O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.” [49:6]Why do you even talk about Quraysh while your father was from Safuryah and his name was  Zakwan.”

 “And about what you think, that we killed Othman; Talha and Zubayr and Ayesha didn’t dare to say such thing, how dare you?! If only you could ask your mother about your real father, she would leave Zakwan and claim that Uqba ibn Abu Mu’ayt was your father to get the benefits of his position. While God will punish you and your parents in the world and hereafter for all your wickedness, he would not oppress his servants.”

 “Walid! By God you are older than the man who you consider to be your father, so how do you dare to revile Imam Ali?! If you knew about your real father and realized that you don’t have any relation with the man who you consider as father, as your mother told you before: “Oh my son! By God, your father was more evil than Uqba.”

Toward Attbah ibn Abu Sufyan

“And you Attbah ibn Abu Sufyan! You are out of your mind and I shouldn’t answer you! You lack any reason, so I cannot blame you; there is no hope for you. If you revile Imam Ali, I won’t be surprised. You do not even match the bondsman of his bondsman. But remember, God is waiting to punish you and your parents and your brother. You are son of the father that God describes them in Quran:” Labouring (hard), weary, – The while they enter the Blazing Fire, –The while they are given, to drink, of a boiling hot spring, which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.” [88:3-7]

“Do you threaten to kill me? So why didn’t you kill the man who slept with your wife? While he inseminated your wife and imputed his child to you! Woe to you! It’s better to take revenge on him than to threaten me.”

“I don’t blame you for reviling Imam Ali, because he killed your brother in the battle. Imam Ali and Hamzah (peace be upon them) were among those who killed your grandfather who deserved the fire and torment of Hell for his evil deeds. Imam Ali was the one who exiled your uncle by the Prophet’s (PBUH) order. And about what you said that I wish to be Caliph, I should; because people are begging me to be the Caliph. But you are not like your brother (Muawiyah) and your father, since your brother was the one who rebelled against God more than others and sought to kill Muslims more than others and also sought the position that was he did not deserve. He deceived people while God plans and the best of planners is God.”

“And about what you said that Imam Ali was the worst person of the Quraysh for the Quraysh, I swear he never humiliated the dead and never killed any innocent.”

...to be continued

The revealing debate of Imam Hassan (PBUH)- P 2

The revealing debate of Imam Hassan (PBUH) with Muawiyah and his Supporters

Part 2

Part 1

Speaking to Muawiyah

“Muawiyah! I’m talking to you, you Ungodly! In this debate no one reviled me but you, these people didn’t revile me, you did. All these Profanities are from you. You are the one who oppresses, feuds and grudges us. You did this to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and now again continue doing it [with his descendants]. You Ungodly; I swear if this debate took place in The Mosque of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Emigrants and the Ansaar were around us, they could not give speeches like this and could not greet me the way they did.”

 “O you who have collaborated against me! Do not deny the truth that you are aware of; and if I say something untrue, do not confirm it.”

“Muawiyah! I shall First of all remind you of some things, although I cannot say fully how villainous you are!”

“I swear to God! Did you know the man whom you reviled has prayed towards 2 Qiblas, while you considered him as perverse and worshiped the Laat and Uzza idols? Imam Ali (PBUH) pledged allegiance 2 times, Pledge of the Tree (Pledge of Ridwan) and Pledge of the victory (Fath). And you Muawiyah! You disbelieved on the first pledge and broke the second one.”

Imam continued: “I swear to God, am I right or not? Do you remember Ali was with the Prophet in the battle of Badr and he was carrying the banner of the Prophet while you were against the Prophet and with the Polytheists? Muawiyah you were worshiping Laat and Uzza and wanted to fight against the Prophet. Ali was with the Prophet in the battle of Ohod while you fought against them. Ali was with the Prophet in the battle of Ahzab and you had the Polytheists’ banner in your hand. These facts show that the Prophet was always satisfied with him on these occasions.”

Imam continued: “You know when the Prophet (PBUH) environed Bani Qurayza and Bani Nadir, he sent Umar ibn Al-Khattāb from Immigrants and Sa’d ibn Mu’adh from Ansar to fight. Sa’d was wounded and Umar and his men were overtaken by fear. Then the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Tomorrow I will send a man to fight who loves God and his Prophet and God and his Prophet love him. He is a warrior who fights and never runs away. He will never come back until God has granted him victory.” After these words, Abu Bakr and Umar and others from the Immigrants and the Ansar tried to take the Prophet’s permission but he called Ali who had pain in his eyes, the Prophet healed him by his slobber. Then he asked him to go and fight, he went and didn’t come back until he gained victory. Muawiyah! When all these events happened you were in Mecca and were the enemy of God and his Prophet. Is the man who loved God and his Prophet equal with the enemy of God and his Prophet?”

“I swear you are not truly a Muslim yet! You are saying something that you do not believe with your heart.

Did you know when the Prophet (PBUH) went to the Battle of Tabuk, he chose Imam Ali (PBUH) as his surrogate without any abominations? When the Tartuffes blamed Imam Ali for this position and He told the Prophet: do not leave me in Medina, I’ve never left you alone in any battles. The Prophet answered: you are my Successor and caliph in my family just like Aaron was with Moses, then he took Imam Ali’s hand and said: Listen to me! One who loves me, loves God and One who loves Ali loves me. One who obeys me, obeys God and one who obeys Ali, obeys me.”

Imam Hassan (PBUH) continued: “By God! Did any of you hear about the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) sermon in Hajj al Wida?! That he said “O People, I left the Holy Quran for you so that you do not stray in the future, so take your oath of allegiance and observer every Halal and Haram. Believe in the Mutashabeh verses and confess that you believe in the Quran that God has sent you. Love my family (Ahl al Bayt)! Love those who love them and help them against their enemies. The two (the Holy Quran and the Ahl al Bayt) shall be among you and never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise). Then while he was on the pulpit (minbar) he called Imam Ali and raised his hand and said: “O’ God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him, O My Lord! Do not bless anyone who is hostile to him (neither in the world nor the Hereafter) and put them in the lowest place of Gehenna (hell).”

“By God! Did you know that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) told Ali (PBUH): “You are the one who disperses the wicked from my pool’s side in the day of judgment, just as any one of you disperse wandering camels from among your own herd.”

 “By God! Did you know that when Imam Ali went to the Holy Prophet during the illness that led to his demise, the Prophet cried. Ali asked: “Why do you cry, O Messenger of God?” He replied: “I am crying as I am aware of the enmity and vengeance that my people have towards you in their hearts, which they will not reveal until I am gone.”

 “By God! I ask you, did you know that when the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was passing away, all his family gathered around him and he said: “My Lord! These are my family (Ahl al Bayt and Etrat). O Lord! Love those who love them and help them against their enemies.” Then he said: “My family is like Noah’s Ark for you, everyone who boarded will survive and the ones who fall behind will drown.”

“By God; did you know the companions of The Prophet, when he was alive, congratulated Imam Ali! Did you know Imam Ali was the first person among the companions of the Holy Prophet who prohibited all the blessings for himself; following which this verse was sent by the Lord: “O ye who believe! make not unlawful the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you, but commit no excess: for Allah loveth not those given to excess. Eat of the things which Allah hath provided for you, lawful and good; but fear Allah, in Whom ye believe.”[5:87-88]

 “Imam Ali (PBUH) had the erudition of Manaya, judgment Knowledge, discernment of truth vs. falsehood, science, and knowledge of Quran. Ali was one of the 10 persons whom God had informed that they are believers. But you were among a small group who had been anathematized by the Prophet. I bear witness that all of you had been anathematized by God through the Prophet’s tongue.”

“By God! Do you know that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) sent after you (Muawiah) to write a letter to Khalid ibn Walid when he had overtaken the Bani Khazimah tribe. The messenger of the Holy Prophet returned three times to inform him that Muawiah was busy eating. The Holy Prophet cursed you and asked God the Almighty: “Oh lord. Afflict Muawiah with never ending hunger …”

 “By God, am I right or not?! You Muawiyah! You and your father were riding the red camel, you were riding and your brother who’s here was harnessing. The story is for the battle of Ahzaab when the Prophet anathematized the rider and the inhibitor, your father was the rider, and you were the one riding the camel and your brother was the inhibitor.”

“By God! Did you know that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) anathematized Abu Sufyan seven times: first one was when the Prophet left Mecca and entered Medina and Abu Sufyan came from Sham! He abused the Prophet and reviled him and threatened him with death and tried to attack the Prophet, but God saved   him.”

 “The second one was when Abu Sufyan left the convoy and gouged it from the Prophet.

And the third one was in the battle of Ohod, when the Prophet said “God is with us and you don’t have any helper”. Abu Sufyan answered: “We have the Uzza which you don’t have.” So that God and the angels and the Prophet and all the believers anathematized him.”

 “The forth one was in the battle of Hunayn, when Abu Sufyan brought the Quraysh and Hawazin and Uyainah and the Ghtfan’s and The Jews. Then God smote them. God named them in the Ahzab and Fath Surahs.”

 “Muawiyah! You were in Mecca and were a polytheist like your father. But Imam Ali was a follower of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) at that time.”

 “The fifth time in this verse where God the Almighty has said: “and the sacrificial animals, detained from reaching their place of sacrifice”. (Fath: 25). O Muawiyah, On that day you, your father and the Polytheists of Quraysh blocked the way of the Holy Prophet, so God cursed your father in such a way that the curse will be with him until the Day of Judgment.“

 “The sixth time it was in the War of Ahzab, when Abu Sufyan brought the group of Quraysh and Ayeneh bin Hesn ibn badr brought the Ghatfan Group, and the Holy Prophet cursed their guide, their followers and the one who led it forward until the Day of Judgment. The Holy Prophet was ask about the believers who were among the followers, he replied that the curse does not affect the believers. But there is not even one among their guides who is a believer, one who has accepted the call and one who is saved.”

 “The seventh was in the War of Thanieh when twelve people attacked the Messenger of God, seven of them were from the Bani Ummayah and five from the Quraysh. God and his messenger cursed all who took part in the War of Thanieh and those who guided them.”

 “By God! Do you know that when people took oath with Othman, Abu Sufyan went to him in the Prophet’s Mosque and said: “O son of my brother! Is there anyone who is against us?” He replied: “None”. Abu Sufyan said: “So pass the Caliphate among the youth of Bani Ummayah one after the other, I swear to the one who the life of Abu Sufyan in His hands that there is no Heaven and no Hell.””

 “By God! Do you know that when people took oath with Othman, Abu Sufyan held Hussain’s hands and said to him: “O brother, come with me to the Baghi.” When they reached the middle of the Baghi, Abu Sufyan pulled Hussain with him and shouted as loud as he could: “O you who have passed away and are gone! The Caliphate for which you fought is now ours and your bones have rotted away.” Hussain told him: “May God disgrace you in old age and turn your face into an ugly one!” Then he took his hands out of Abu Sufyan’s and left him alone ….

 “These are what you should be ashamed of. Can you bring such examples from us?! Muawiyah, among things that will bring you damnation is that when your father Abu Sufyan decided to become Muslim, you sent the poem which is famous among the Quraysh to stop him from accepting Islam. Among things that you should be ashamed of is the fact that Omar ibn Khattab appointed you as governor of Shaam, but you betrayed him. When Omar appointed you as governor, you were awaiting his death. Worse than all these is the fact that you fought Ali (PBUH) while you were aware of his brilliant past and his wisdom and knowledge. Ali was more deserving in the eyes of God and people for the Caliphate than you. It was you who at midnight betrayed the people and caused the blood of many persons to be shed with your deceit and false claims. Your action was same as one who does not believe in the Day of Judgment and is not worried about punishment in the hereafter.”

 “The worst of places is awaiting you when your life ends, but the best of places is for Ali (PBUH). God’s torment will be awaiting you.”

“O Muawiyah! These were all the things that you should be ashamed of. I will not recall the rest of your shameful background and evil traits to shorten the talk.”

...to be continued

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The revealing debate of Imam Hassan (PBUH)- P 1

The revealing debate of Imam Hassan (PBUH) with Muawiyah and his Supporters

Part 1

The late Shaikh Tabarsi in his honorable book, Ratiocination, quoted the debate that took place between Imam Hassan (PBUH) and Muawiyah and his Supporters. The debate was made by order and conspiracy of Muawiyah to Contempt and Subjugate Imam Hassan (PBUH), but the result was nothing but disgrace for Muawiyah and his Supporters. The Riwayah text in Ratiocination book is

Shaabi and Abu Mikhnaf and Yazid ibn Abi Habib said: There was no day in which an event had been held and a group gathered together who made more Contention and yelling and exaggeration than the day that Muawiyah bin Abu Sufyan, Amr ibn Othman ibn Affan, Amr ibn Aass, Atbah ibn Abu Sufyan, Walid ibn Atbah ibn abi Maeet and Muquaayrah ibn Shouba, gathered and colluded

Amr ibn Aass said to Muawiyah: Why don’t you summon Hassan ibn Ali, since he is doing the same as his father and making adherents. If he ordered, it would be obeyed and if he said something it would be accepted. These two points would elevate his position. I hope you summon him, so that we can bring down the position of him and his father and vituperate them. That is why we are here

Muawiyah replied: I fear that he answers us in an unanswerable way. Swear to Lord, I always abominate him and turn my face away whenever I see him. If I call him, I will behave in impartiality between you and him. Amr ibn Aass said: “Do you fear that he would overcome us?” He answered: “No.” Amr ibn Aass said: “So summon him

Atbah said: “I disagree, swear to God you could not defeat him with your power, but he will come with his whole gut, since he is from the family who has men fighting.”

When he sent an envoy to Imam Hassan (PBUH) and he said that Muawiyah summons him, Imam asked: “Who else is with him?” He said their names. Imam asked: “What do they want? I wish God send his punishment upon them!” Then he asked his servant to give him his clothes. He said: “Oh Lord! I distance from their evil by relying on you and take refuge in you from their evil and ask for your help against them, so by whatever means or whenever you want, annihilate them on your power, you’re the most Merciful.” Then he said to Muawiyah’s envoy: “These are the liberation words that I intone.”

When Imam Hassan (PBUH) came into Muawiyah, he welcomed the Imam and shook his hands. Imam told Muawiyah: “Your welcome means I’m safe?” Muawiyah said: “Of course, they didn’t listen to me and summoned you to make you confess that Othman was killed innocently by your father. Now hear what they say and confute them without considering my position.”

Imam answered: “Praise the Lord! This is your place and in your place there must be your permission. I swear if I confute them in what they considered, I’ll abash at your reviling, and if they overcome you, I’ll abash at your failure. Which one of these will you admit? If I knew that they’ve plotted out, I would bring from Bani Hashem of their numbers. Although my solitude and their assemblage is frightening to me, God the Almighty will always protect and support me. Now tell them to start to talk, there is nothing more than the power of the Great and Almighty Lord.

Start of the debate by words of Othman ibn Affan’s son

Amr ibn Othman ibn Affan started his speech and said: “I never thought after killing Othman who was the Caliph, Abdul Muttalib’s sons could survive, while Othman was their niece and he had the virtuous position in Islam and The Holy Prophet respected him. What they did to him was too bad and they killed him because of rebellion and sedition and jealousy. They wanted something they don’t (didn’t) deserve. With all the dignity and background that he had with God, the Prophet and Islam! Oh! What a pity that Hassan and Abdul Muttalib’s sons who are Othman’s murderers are still alive while Othman’s blood was shed! In addition, killing of nineteen of the Umayyads who had been killed in the Battle of Badr is on you.”

 Amr ibn Aass’s words

After Amr ibn Othman, Amr ibn Aass started to talk and after praising God, said: “You, the Son of Abu Turab! We have summoned you to make you confess that your father poisoned Abu Bakr Siddiq and was accomplice in killing Umar Farouk and killed Othman Dhun-Nurayn. Your father asked something he did not deserve and received his retribution.” Then he explained the story of Othman’s killing and blamed him, then continued: “Abdul Muttalib’s sons! You have no right to rule on this land. Hassan! You consider yourself as the Commander of the Faithful while you don’t have enough wisdom and tact, how do you think this way, while you’ve been rejected and you’re well-known as the ignorant of Quraysh? This is your fate after what your father did. We called you to be here and hear our Profanity to your father and yourself. Now, you have no power and no right to stop us or impugn. If you think we’re lying, say something, and if not it’s better that you know that you and your father are the worst in the world. And about your father, God killed him himself and there was no need for us to do it. But you are under our decision and we are free to choose; if we kill you we won’t be guilty in the eyes of neither God nor people.

 Attbah ibn Abu Sufyan’s words

Then Attbah ibn Abu Sufyan started his speech, he said: “Hassan! Your father was the worst of Quraysh for the Quraysh, he broke up with them more than any other and killed them more than anyone else, you’re one of Othman’s Killers, we have the right to kill you because of that, and based on Qur’anic injunctions we should do Qisas, and we will. God took our revenge of your father and killed him. You hope that you would be Caliph while you don’t deserve it among others.”

Walid ibn Aqubah’s words

After Atbah, Walid ibn Aqubah bin abi Maeet gave a speech like others and said: “Bani Hashems’! You were the first persons who carped Othman and relucted against him, and because of your Greed to rule broke up with him and killed him. Your desire for this humble and worthless vale made you kill people.”

Muquaayrah ibn Shouba’s words

Then Muquaayrah ibn Shouba started to talk. He was cursing Imam Ali (PBUH) overall. Then he said: “Hassan! Othman was killed innocently. There is no way to exculpate your father from killing Othman. Infact we suspect that your father accompanied, gave shelter and defended Othman’s killers and wanted him dead. He had a long sword and tongue and killed living people and caviled the dead. The Umayyads were better than Bani Hashems for the other. Hassan! Muawiyah for you is better than you are for Muawiyah.”

“When the Prophet was alive, he always had animosity towards him, before the Prophet passed away, your father provoked people against him and decided to kill him, and the prophet always knew these. Then your father refused to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr until he was brought forcefully, then he machinated and killed Abu Bakr by poison. Then he disclaimed with Umar and tried to behead him. And then it was Othman’s turn. The blood of all these persons is on your father. And now what will God do with him?!!

God says in the Holy Quran; authority and power are on the Avenger of blood and here Muawiyah is the avenger of blood (of Othman), so that if we kill you and your brother, we do the right thing; Ali was not more important than Othman. Abdul Muttalib’s sons! God did not confine Kingship and prophecy in your bloodline.” He said these and took silence.

Imam Hassan’s (PBUH) answers

Imam Hassan (PBUH) started to talk and said: “Praise God for guiding your first ancestors by our first ancestor and your last descendants by our last descendant, Peace be upon our Sayyed Mohammad and his dynasty. Now, listen carefully to what I say and then tell me what you get out of it.”

....to be continued

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