SCOPE and IDEAL of Guidance

SCOPE

Coming to Qur'anic Guidance in respect of its Scope: Based, as it is, on the Monistic Principle of Evaluation and the consequent Comprehensive Principle of Integration, it covers, on the individualistic levels; the spiritual, the moral, the intellectual, the aesthetical and the physical dimensions of human personality, and on the collective level; the social, the economic, the political - in fact, all the dimensions of society - creating thus a theo-centric individual, a theo-centric social order, a theo-centric culture and a theo-centric civilization.

IDEAL

Thus, in the concept of Religion which the Holy Qur'an projects, i.e. the concept of the religion of Islam, the following scheme of life emerges. Man's highest merit - nay, his basic function - is the worship of the One True God, Allah (51:56). This worship is to be undertaken by him, however, not merely as a creature among the creatures but as the Vicegerent of God - as a fully-integrated being committed to a cosmic mission. Namely, he has to realize the principle of of integration at its highest, because God's Personality enshrines the Perfect Ideal of Integration, and he is His vicegerent. As such, his worship should be dynamic, consequential, and comprehensive in its nature; which means that it should not be confined only to the act of Prayer but also to: 

1. the development of his personality in all dimensions;
2. the establishment of a godly society in which human beings can live a full and integrated life in love, justice and wisdom;
3. the unraveling of the mysteries of Nature for establishing his status vicegerency and for comprehending the majesty and the glory of God.

It is in this perspective that the Holy Qur'an makes the pursuit of physical science - indeed, of all knowledge, and the active struggle for the spiritual and moral emancipation of humanity, and the establishment of social, economic and political justice, acts of worship.

M Fazl-ur-Rahman Ansari (1914-1974) in The Qur'anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society Vol I - page 116-117 - Islamic Book Trusts, Kuala Lumpur 2001.

The DEEN in BYTES Series | Ramadhan Specials 1: THE PRE-RAMADHAN PREPARATIONS

ALLAH  s.w.t says,

“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.” (Al-Baqarah: 183)

The goal has been laid down: to have taqwa, to become righteous, to become the Muttaqoon!

What is Taqwa?

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah states that taqwa includes:

“... doing everything that Allah has enjoined whether it is waajib (obligatory) or mustahabb (recommended), and avoiding all that He has forbidden, whether it is haraam (forbidden) or makrooh (disliked)...”

Prepare To Achieve Your Target

In order to have the privilege of (aiming to be) being among the righteous, we have to start now. Think about preparing ourselves with this goal for Ramadan and then, let this goal become a part of our lives too insha’Allah. So, among the actions that can be taken are:

1. Fasting The First Half Of Sha’ban:

‘A’ishah  r.a said: “The Messenger  s.a.w used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Sha’ban.” (Bukhari 1833, Muslim 1956)

2. Begin The Countdown

Put your social media to beneficial and productive use. Share Ramadan posts, tips, ahadith, articles, ayahs and so on. When the hype goes up, the excitement grows and the preparation increases ten folds! By this, you will get into the spiritual ‘groove’ quite early, thereby, increasing your acts of ‘ibadah.

3. “Stock” Your Mind

Seek knowledge. Read, read and read more! Gather information on the sunnah practices to be observed during Ramadan, how to enhance rewards in this blessed month, how to purify yourselves, how to please Allah  s.w.t and so on. The topics are endless and so are the resources.

4. “Mirror Mirror On the Wall!”

Look past your skin, flesh and bones, deep into your soul. You know what kind of haraam activities you are involved in - big or small. Train yourself from now to get rid of them, one at a time. Punish yourself for repeating it and thank Allah s.w.t each time you refrain from it. Be a responsible Muslim, it’s time to learn self-control.

5. The Pre-Ramadan Plan

You know your life, your schedules and your commitments. Keeping these in mind, chalk out a daily/weekly task plan that should include at least one Islam oriented activity - nafl fasts, nafl salaah, dhikr, Qur’an recitation, reading an Islamic book/article, listening to a lecture, charity and so on.

6. Sincere Dua’

Do not under estimate the power of dua’ and do not over estimate your capabilities. Remember that without the Will, Mercy and Help of Allah s.w.t, you cannot be successful. Ask Him to help you. Ask Him to make you steadfast in your pursuit, ask Him to help you attain His pleasure. We are the slaves of Allah s.w.t. Submit to Him with humbleness. Beg for His forgiveness, yearn for His Mercy, ask for His Guidance, for the ones who are truly guided are the ones guided by Allah!

7. Small Beginnings

Start small. Set achievable goals. Do not overburden yourself.

Make this Ramadan the turning point in our lives.

Excerpted and adapted from Aishah Ahmed, 19 May 2015 | http://blog.islamiconlineuniversity.com/the-pre-ramadan-preparation-the-taqwa-boost/

The DEEN in BYTES Series | HISN-ul-MUSLIM – part 2:

(DAILY DOA based on QURAN and AHADITH)

1.       WHEN WEARING A GARMENT:

"All Praise is for Allah who has clothed me with this garment and provided it for me, with no power nor might from myself."

الحمدُ للهِ الّذي كَساني هذا (الثّوب) وَرَزَقَنيه مِنْ غَـيـْرِ حَولٍ مِنّي وَلا قـوّة

2.       WHEN WEARING A NEW GARMENT:

"O Allah, for You is all praise, You have clothed me with it (i.e. the garment), I ask You for the good of it and the good for which it was made, and I seek refuge with You from the evil of it and the evil for which it was made."

اللّهُـمَّ لَـكَ الحَـمْـدُ أنْـتَ كَسَـوْتَنيهِ، أَسْأَلُـكَ مِـنْ خَـيرِهِ وَخَـيْرِ مَا صُنِعَ لَـه، وَأَعوذُ بِكَ مِـنْ شَـرِّهِ وَشَـرِّ مـا صُنِعَ لَـهُ

3.       TO SOMEONE WEARING A NEW GARMENT:

"May you wear it out and Allah replace it (with another)."

تُبْـلي وَيُـخْلِفُ اللهُ تَعَالى

"Wear anew, live commendably and die a shaheed."

اِلبَـس جَديـداً وَعِـشْ حَمـيداً وَمُـتْ شهيداً

4.       BEFORE UNDRESSING:

"In the name of Allah."

بِسْمِ الله

The DEEN in BYTES Series | FABRICATED HADEETH - part 2:

Hadith 4:

“Love the Arabs for three reasons; because I, Muhammad am an Arab, the Holy Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and the language of Jannah will be Arabic.”

Related by Al-Haakim in Al-Mustadrak (Vol. 4, p.87).

The Hadith Scholar Abu Haatim in Jarh Wa Ta’deel,, ‘The Invalidation and Acceptance of Transmitters of Hadith’ (Vol.3,p.359), said this Hadith is false.

In Islam we love people if they are mindful of their duties to Allah (swt) – not because of their race, language, tribe, nationality or wealth. Some Arabs governments in the world today happen to be greatest enemies of Islam and Muslims, thus we are not allowed to love these despotic leaders simply for being Arabs – just because we are obliged to practice Al-Walaa wal Baraa (to hate and love solely for Allah swt).

Allah said;

لَّا تَجِدُ قَوْمًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ يُوَادُّونَ مَنْ حَادَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَوْ كَانُوا آبَاءَهُمْ أَوْ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ أَوْ إِخْوَانَهُمْ أَوْ عَشِيرَتَهُمْ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَأَيَّدَهُم بِرُوحٍ مِّنْهُ ۖ

“You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred. Those - He has decreed within their hearts faith and supported them with Ruh from Him.” (Al-Mujaadalah 58:22)

It is worth mentioning when Rasulullah (saw) fought his first battle (Badr), he didn’t fight the Persians or Romans, but his own people the Arabs of Quraish. In this battle, Umar (ra) killed his own uncle and Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah (ra) killed his own father.

As for the language of Jannah, Allah (swt) knows best. However Allah (swt) shall say Salam to the believers after admitting them into Jannah, as explained by the verse;

سَلَامٌ قَوْلًا مِّن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ

"Peace," a word from a Merciful Lord. (Yasin 36:58)

End Note: Rasulullah said, “He who tells a lie on me intentionally, let him take his seat in the Hellfire” (Bukhari).

The DEEN in BYTES Series | FIQH201 Fiqh Mu’amalat – part 2:

TRADE TRANSACTIONS

Trade is permissible according to the Quran, Sunnah, consensus of Muslim Scholars, and analogical deduction.

Among Quranic Dalil:

وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ

“…and Allah has permitted trade…” (Al-Baqarah 2:257)

And,

لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَبْتَغُوا فَضْلًا مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ

“There is no blame upon you for seeking bounty from your Lord (during Hajj)….” (Al-Baqarah 2:198)

Among Sunnah/Hadith dalil, Rasulullah said:

“The seller and the buyer have the right to keep or return goods as long as they have not parted. If both parties speak the truth and point out the defects and qualities (of the goods), then they will be blessed in their transaction. But if they tell lies or hide something, then the blessings of their transaction will be destroyed.” (Bukhari 2079, Muslim 3836)

Consensus of Scholars:

Muslims scholars uniformly agree on the permissibly of trade in general.

Analogical deduction:

Trade transactions are permissible because people’s needs are interdependent, and people grant nothing for nothing. A person does not give what he has, money or goods, in return for nothing, so wisdom necessitates the permissibility of trade in order to enable people to get their needs.

VALIDATIONS OF TRANSACTIONS

Trade transactions can be validated by means of a verbal formula, or an actual one.

The ‘verbal formula’ expresses the seller’s agreement on the sale, verbally, eg; “I sell it to you” and the buyer’s verbal acceptance when he say, eg; “And I buy it”.

The ‘actual formula’ is the act of exchange itself, when the seller is given the usual price and the buyer takes the commodity, without any verbal declaration.

Sometimes, trade transactions are validated by both verbal and actual formulas. 

Shaykhul-Islam Taqiyyud-Din (ra) said;

“There are some ways of exchange. First, when the seller only gives a verbal acceptance and the buyer takes the commodity (without declaring his acceptance). For example, a seller may say to the buyer, ‘Take this piece of cloth for a dinar,’ and the buyer takes it (without saying a word). The same ruling applies when the price is a given material; for example, the seller may say to the buyer, ‘Take this piece of cloth for yours’ and then the buyer takes it.

Second, when the buyer declares his acceptance and the seller only gives him the commodity whether the price is a given material or the sale is on credit (and the buyer is honestly guaranteed to pay).

Third, when neither the seller nor the buyer speaks (about the price) for there is a custom to that effect.”

(Majmu’ Al-Fatawa: 29/7-8)

NEXT – conditions to be fulfilled to make a trade transaction valid.

 (To be continued – main ref: Salih Al-Fawzan, A Summary of Islamic Jurisprudence II, 2006)

The DEEN in BYTES Series | FIQH101 Evolution Of Fiqh – part 2:

THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIQH

The development of Fiqh, falls into 6 major stages; Foundation, Establishment, Building, Flowering, Consolidation, Stagnation and Decline.

1.      Foundation: Era of Prophet (saw) (609-632CE)
2.     Establishment: Era of the Righteous Caliphs, from the death of the Prophet till middle of 7^th century CE (632-661CE)
3.      Building: From the founding of the Umayyad Dynasty (661CE) until its decline in the middle of 8^th century CE.
4.     Flowering: From the rise of Abbasid Dynasty till (mid 8^th century CE) till the beginning of its decline (mid 10^th century CE)
5.    Consolidation: The decline of Abbasid Dynasty (around 960CE) till the murder of the last Abbasid Caliphs at the hand of the Mongols (mid 13^th century CE)
6.      Stagnation and Decline: From the sacking of Baghdad (1258CE) to the present.

The above mentioned stages will be described with special reference to relevant social and political context of the respective periods. Insights will be given into the evolution of Madzhabs (schools of Islamic Legal thoughts) and their contributions to Fiqh. It is hoped we will be able to appreciate the fact that all Madzhabs have contributed in different degrees to the development of Fiqh, and that no single Madzhab can properly be claimed to represent Islam or Islamic Law in its totality.

Fiqh is not determined by any one school of thought acting alone. All Madzhabs have been important instruments for the clarification and application of the Syari’ah. Together, Fiqh and Syari’ah should be unifying forces that unite all Muslims regardless of place, time or cultural background.

In fact, the only infallible ‘Madzhab’ which deserves to be followed without any questions is that of Prophet Muhammad (saw) himself – only his interpretations of Syari’ah can be considered divinely guided and meant to be followed till the last day of this world. All other Madzhabs are the results of human effort, and thus are subject to human error.

As Imam Asy-Syafi’e wisely put;

“There isn’t any of us who hasn’t had a saying or action of Allah’s Messenger elude him or slip his mind. So no matter what rulings I have made or fundamental principles I have established, there will be in them things contrary to the way of Allah’s Messenger (saw). However, the correct ruling is according to what the Messenger of Allah said, and that is my true ruling.” (Collected by Al-Hakim and Ibn Qayyim)

 (to be continued – main ref: Bilal Philips, The Evolution of Fiqh, 2006)

The DEEN in BYTES Series | AQEEDAH101 Fundamentals of Tawheed – part 2:

Categories of Tawheed

TAWHEED literally means ‘unification’ (making something one), or ‘asserting oneness’ – and comes from the Arabic word ‘wahhada’ (to unite, unify or consolidate).

Technically, when used in Tawheedullah, it means ‘realizing and maintaining of Allah’s unity in all of man’s actions which directly or indirectly relate to Him’. The belief that Allah is One, without partner in His dominion (Rububiyyah), One without similitude in His essence and attributes (Asma’ was-Sifat), and One without rival in His divinity and in worship (Uluhiyyah/Ibadah).

These 3 aspects is the basis for the categories which the science of Tawheed has been traditionally divided – overlapping and inseparable – to the degree that omitting one will break the requirements of Tawheed. The omission of any is referred to as Shirk – the association of partners to Allah – in other words, idolatry.

The word Tawheed does not actually occur in either the Quran or Hadiths. However, when Rasulullah sent Mu’adz Ibn Jabal as governor of Yemen, he told him; 

“You will be going to Christians and Jews (Ahl al-Kitab), so the first thing you should invite them to is the assertation of the oneness of Allah (Yuwahhidu Allah).”

The 3 categories are commonly referred to as;

1.       Tawheed ar-Rububiyyah (Unity of Lordship): Affirming that Allah is one, without partners in His sovereignty.

2.       Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat (Unity of Allah’s Names and Atributes): Affirming that they are incomparable and unique.

3.       Tawheed al-Ibadah (Unity of Allah’s worship): Affirming that Allah is alone in His right to be worshipped.

This division was not done by Rasulullah or the Sahabah as there was no necessity to analyze such a basic principle in this fashion – however the foundations of each are all implied in the verses of the Quran and its explanations.

The requirements arose after Islam spread outside of Arabia, and absorbed their culture. When these new Muslims wrote or discussed their various philosophical concepts of God, confusion arose. There were others who secretly worked from within to destroy the Deen actively propagate distorted ideas among the masses to tear down the first pillar of Iman.

The early Khalifahs and Governors were closer to Islamic principles, and the consciousness of the masses was higher due to the presence of Sahabah and their students. So, demand for elimination of open heretics received immediate response from the rulers. But, later Ummayyad Khalifahs were more corrupt and cared little about such religious issues, the masses also were less Islamically conscious and more susceptible to deviant ideas. And as greater number entered Islam, and the learning of more conquered nation were absorbed, execution of apostates and heretics was no longer used to stem the rising tide of heretics.

So the Muslim Scholars of this period rose to meet the challenge intellectually. They systematically opposed the various philosophies and creeds by categorizing and countering them with principles derived from the Quran and Sunnah. And thus the Science of Tawheed emerged with its precisely defined categories and components.

The process of specialization occurs simultaneously in all of the other areas of Islamic Knowledge too. So, although these are studied separately and in more depth, it must not be forgotten that they are all part of the systemic and organic whole – Islam itself.

(to be continued – main ref: Bilal Philips, The Fundamentals of Tawheed, 2005)