Religious Knowledge vs. Pretentious Knowledge
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMThe scholars of Islam revered religious knowledge above all else. This is all the more true for the great imams, like Abū Hanīfah, Mālik, al-Shāfi`ī, and Ahmad b. Hanbal. At the same time, their reverence was born of the value they knew that religious knowledge had for people’s faith...
Inspiration
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMHe was a leading accountant who had a problem trying to uncover a case of embezzlement. He had spent three years trying to find a solution to it without success. In the middle of the night, he was awakened by an inspiration and he took up a pen and spent a long time ...
Gifts & Talents Are Treasures
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMGifts are like treasures in many ways. They are rare. Gifted people, according to certain specific criteria, constitute somewhere between two and five percent of the total population. In truth, all people are gifted in one way or another, but this is only realised...
Sharia law draws rave reviews in Indonesia's Aceh
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMOn a recent Friday, three stragglers sat sipping the dregs of their coffee as the city of Banda Aceh closed up around them. The gates of the café, like those of shops up and down the street, had been drawn and the streets were clearing of cars. Soon, sharia policewomen...
Our Beliefs about the Pain in Our Lives
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMA man complained about all the misfortunes he had in life, one after another, as if his existence was a succession of sorrows and tribulations. He rarely had a reason to smile. That was not his only problem. He always ...
A Son's Complaint: 'Let Me be Me'
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMA young man once came to me with a complaint. He spoke to me about how he wanted to transfer from his neighbourhood high school to another one far away from his home. When I asked him why, he told ...
The Difference between Islamic & Interest-Based Finance
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMFinance aims to facilitate economic transactions and real economic activity. Real activity refers to transactions that directly involve economic production or consumption. Finance becomes necessary when there are insufficient funds to complete the requisite transactions....
Self-Criticism
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMThe state of the Muslim world today, whether we speak on the level of individuals, families, communities, or nations, is best described as a state of “backwardness”. So why do we try to gloss it over, defend it, justify it, and advocate for it? Why do we accuse those who ...
They Are Famous
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMAlbert Einstein, who set forth the theory of relativity, had an exceptional mind. He was the father of modern physics, and his name has become synonymous with genius.
The Danger of Pride for Islamic Work
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMHe said: “This is just my nature. I feel joy at other peoples’ good fortune. This is why I wish to point out to you some things about your prayer, especially since I see how concerned you are to follow the Sunnah.”
Avoiding the First Person Pronoun
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMSome people have gotten into the habit of avoiding the first person singular pronoun, as if it were an act of piety to do so. When they are compelled to say “I”, they hasten to add: “...and I seek Allah’s refuge form that ‘I’.” I once told a young man...
Know Thyself
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMA beggar was in the habit of sitting on the side of the road. He had been doing so for the past thirty years. One day, a stranger passed him by. The beggar stretched out his hat and muttered to the man: “Give me some of your loose change.” ...
Paying attention to our children
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMWhen we pay attention to our children, we learn a lot. When a child exhibits aggressive or rebellious behavior, it is an act of self-assertion. When a child destroys an object ...
When co-inheritors die simultaneously
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMA man and his wife have died in a car accident. It is not known which of them died first. How do we calculate their separate estates so they can be distributed to their respective relatives?
Celebrate the Eid
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMThe joy of breaking the fast comes every night in Ramadān when we complete the day’s fasting, and it comes as well at the end of Ramadān when we complete the entire month. We feel joy at the end of Ramadām for fulfilling our duty to our Lord
Which perfumes are suitable for women?
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMQuestion: The Prophet (peace be upon him) preferred to use musk, from all the perfumes. Can women use musk? Or is it better for women to use camphor? Which perfume is best for women according to the Prophet?
Asserting that Laylah al-Qadr is the 27th Night
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMIt is strongly recommended to actively seek Laylah al-Qadr throughout the month of Ramadān, especially during the last ten nights. Allah’s Messenger said: “Seek out Laylah al-Qadr in the odd nights during the last ten nights of Ramadān.”...
What fasting means to us
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMFasting is meaningful. It is prescribed for us so we can benefit in many ways. If we pause to contemplate on this matter, we will find much to enrich our thoughts and we will better appreciate the greatness of Islam, and that Allah wishes ...
Ramadan, Socialism and the Neighbor's Beat-up Car
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMWhen I was a child, I obsessed with socialism. It was not only because my father was a self-proclaimed socialist who read every book that a good socialist should read, but also because we lived in a refugee camp in Gaza under the harshest of conditions. Tanks roamed...
Ten Tools to Strengthen Ourselves against Sin
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMWe need to cultivate in ourselves qualities that will help us stay away from sin and make it easy for us to repent when we fall into sin. The following ten qualities can give us the strength and resolve we need: ...
Globalization
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMQuestion: Globalization, if it is applied in an Islamic context, will it be allowed or prohibited? Answer: Today, the Western world is proposing the idea of globalization. It has the resources ...
Prayer is better than sleep
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMWhen young Muslims meet others for the first time and find out that they are Muslim, often one of the very first questions they ask each other is, “Do you pray?” It’s as if this is their touchstone to see if the person they have met...
Avoiding extremism in religion
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMQuestion: What are some of the means of avoiding and warning against extremism in matters of religion?
Marriage with Christian or Jewish woman
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMIt is lawful for a Muslim man to marry with a woman from the People of the Book (the Jews and the Christians). Allah says: “Lawful unto you in marriage are not only chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book revealed before...
Ten Levels of Generosity
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMGenerosity is a noble trait, and Allah loves those who possess it. It is sign of strength and true human feeling, and it wins the hearts of the people. Generosity comes in many forms. We can be generous with our wealth, our time, our knowledge, and our labour.
Training the heart
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMCan you control the feelings in your heart? We have a tremendous power to influence our hearts as long as we believe we can and know how to approach it. It is only impossible for those who come with the attitude: “It is a waste of time, since I am not ...
Love for Jesus can bring Christians and Muslims together
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMAnd thou shalt assuredly find those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ to be the nearest of them in love to the believers. That is because amongst them are savants and monks and because they are not proud. (Al Quran 5:83)
Fasting Six Days of Shawwal after Ramadan: ‘Like Fasting the Entire Year’
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMHadrat Ayyub Al Ansaari (R.A.) relaties that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said, “Whoever fasts Ramandaan and follows it with six days from Shawwal it is as if they fasted the entire year.” [Muslim]
Man wants to divorce his wife so that his friend can marry her
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMIs it permissible for a person who has two wives to divorce one of his wives so that his close friend who is unmarried and whom he truly loves for the sake of Allah, can marry her? This is what one of the Companions did. The person who ...
Make Your Habitual Acts Good Ones
By Admin Webmaster 2/6/2016 10:31:10 AMWe carry out many of our activities mechanically without thinking about them, like walking, typing, eating, dressing, enunciating, and driving. Some activities become so automatic that if it would confuse us if we tried to think about them. For instance, We do not consider...